[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take":3,"chapter-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-6":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","If You Will Not Reject Me, I Wish to Bow and Take You as My Adoptive Father",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2276733,4454,"Chapter 6: Chapter Six: Encounter with a Demon","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-6",6,"\u003Cp>The night was a curtain draped over the boundless earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stars were crystals studding the curtain; the crescent moon, the tender, longing eye of the Immortal Chang’e peering from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, the dunes were a tomb beneath the curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over fifteen thousand Sand Barbarians were herded together; the wounded groaned softly, the exhausted curled on the ground, snoring deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the Sand Barbarian camp, several bonfires burned; Shu cavalrymen, still clad in full armor, sat around the flames, resting on their weapons, waiting for dawn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sssss~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dark red point suddenly shot up from the southeast; the whistle carried on the wind, faint as a ghost’s sob.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing, who had been feigning sleep, jolted upright and glanced toward the southeastern night sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he hurried toward the large leather tent erected on the ruins of the Sand King’s palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thin threads of red light seeped through the tent’s seams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he drew closer, he could distinctly feel intense heat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if a great furnace lay hidden within the leather tent, its temperature several times fiercer than the outdoor bonfires.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“General, General Guan, something’s happened.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing did not rush in, only called softly outside the entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan’s lazy voice came forth; the red light and heat gradually faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A ‘Three-Petal Flower’ cloud-piercing arrow rose in the southeast, colored crimson. It must be our brothers out hunting Sand Barbarians—they’ve encountered a threat beyond their strength,” Song Changqing said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zoong~~” A three-zhang-long beam of golden light shot out, swept across the southeastern sky, then swiftly retracted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shhhhlaa~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ox-hide flap was flung open from within; General Guan, still fully armored in the night, strode out with heavy steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face was grim; he bellowed, his voice shaking the wilderness: “Iron Cavalry, all of you! Saddle your horses, assemble outside my tent!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing said, “General, the night is too thick for cavalry to ride out. You mount Chiyan, and the men can run there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan glanced at him and sneered, “Do you think I’d take you dozens of li away to fight a river demon right now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not Sand Barbarians—river demons?” Song Changqing exclaimed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan turned toward the southeast, his voice low: “It’s a fish demon, barely transformed, still wearing a fish head the size of a windmill.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I looked, it was swallowing Zhu Tong and the others whole, bite by bite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed to sense my gaze, and turned its head to lock eyes with me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan had gathered the Iron Cavalry not to rescue Zhu Tong or Zhang San, but to consolidate his strength to protect himself—he feared the demon would follow the “Immortal’s Eye” back to this camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, over two hundred cavalrymen, whether in black armor or leather light cavalry gear, stood in neat formation outside General Guan’s tent, each holding his horse’s reins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their commotion naturally stirred the Sand Barbarians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sand Barbarians dared not move, but huddled together, whispering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the dim firelight, their furtive glances revealed both fear and ferocity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear of the Shu cavalry slaughtering them, yet also the resolve to die as ferocious beasts and bite off a piece of their enemy’s flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You—you, old barbarian chief—come here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After watching warily for a while, the Sand Barbarians received no cavalry charge—only Song Changqing approached, pointing at the old man in leopard-skin skirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Song, you’re calling me?” The old barbarian offered a sincere, groveling smile, scurried over, and whispered in a strange tone: “I never had the chance to report to Master, but my daughter and several Sand Barbarian maidens are eager to serve your lords.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing stared at him in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man had called him “Master Song.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had never revealed his name to the barbarians—clearly, the old man had been eavesdropping on their conversations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the Iron Cavalry had ever used his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I need to ask you something.” Song Changqing paused, then added meaningfully, “I chose you, not others, because during the afternoon interrogation, you spoke clearly—you’re intelligent. I hope you stay that way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian nodded vigorously. “I understand, Master. You ask, I answer. I’ll obey a thousand times, never speak out of turn.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing nodded and led him before General Guan and the Iron Cavalry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just him?” General Guan frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, the others are dull and stupid—ask ten questions, get no answer. This old barbarian is a seasoned elder among the Sand Barbarians—one man equals a dozen.” Song Changqing said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan asked the old barbarian, “Are there any demons near these dunes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian pondered, then replied swiftly: “My lord, this is a wild, uncivilized land far from the teachings—we certainly have spirits and demons, but they’re not common. I don’t know which one you mean.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell me everything you know,” General Guan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian said, “First, several years ago, a wild demon—or perhaps a passing one—flew down from some western hill. Its name was ‘Iron Beak Golden Wing Eagle.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why call it a wild demon or a passing one?” Song Changqing asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Iron Beak Golden Wing Eagle landed right on the dunes. In broad daylight, it pecked children, pecked adults—it killed twenty or thirty in a row.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If it were a demon living nearby, and it wanted to eat people, it would take only one or two at a time—call it slow, steady feeding. How could it be so reckless, so wasteful?” the old barbarian said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, that makes sense.” Song Changqing nodded, then asked, “So the Iron Beak Golden Wing Eagle has flown away—wait, no!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly remembered, “Earlier, when I asked you about Sand Barbarian Yu, you mentioned the ‘Iron Beak Golden Wing Eagle’—was it killed by Sand Barbarian Yu, or was it another golden-winged eagle?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian sighed. “Only that one—it nearly wiped out our tribe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That beast pecked to death many. Our tribe’s warriors couldn’t let it go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The chieftain led over a thousand warriors to surround it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But it was a demon—its head was iron, its beak steel. Arrows and spears struck its back, only feathers fell; no blood, no flesh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If not for Yu’s poisoned arrow, who knows how many more would have died? In the end, it still flew off unharmed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You have poisoned arrows too—why didn’t they hurt the eagle demon?” Song Changqing asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No blood, no effect—even the deadliest poison won’t work!” the old barbarian said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So Sand Barbarian Yu was born with divine strength, able to draw a bow of a thousand jin?” Song Changqing exclaimed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian said, “She’s strong, yes—but she couldn’t pierce the eagle demon’s hide.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, I get it—it’s the eyes!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the Iron Cavalry suddenly cried out, “No matter how tough its bones, its eyes can’t withstand the sharpness of armor-piercing arrows!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian’s expression turned strange. “Yu did shout, ‘Aim for its eyes!’ But while everyone shot at the eagle’s eyes, she quietly circled behind it. When the demon flapped its wings and leapt high, she shot an arrow straight through its anus.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A three-chi bone-piercing arrow—half buried inside. Blood sprayed. The eagle screamed, thrashed for less than a quarter-hour, then died.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only after the eagle was dead did she crawl out from behind the warriors, step on its head, and boast: ‘You knew it might be a spirit—how could you not guess it understood human speech? I shouted ‘eyes’ on purpose, so your arrows missed, so it grew arrogant and exposed its rear!’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why shout at all? Why not just sneak a shot at its eyes?” the black-armored cavalryman frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the old barbarian could speak, General Guan sneered, “Only fools think an eagle’s eyes are its weakness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look at the corpses on any battlefield—how many fatal wounds are to the eyes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even ordinary men instinctively dodge objects flying toward their eyes—how much more so a sharp-eyed eagle that’s become a demon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, General Guan frowned again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mentioning Sand Barbarian Yu reminded him of the imperial envoy’s orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Old barbarian, continue.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Another time, about five years ago—it was Yu again—who used an iron hook to fish up a man-eating clam by the Liusha River.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That old clam was larger than a table. Not a wild demon, but just as lawless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A creature its size should eat only a child, at most.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But it crawled ashore, spat poison mist over the rice paddies, and knocked down the women gathering fruit—then bit off each of their heads.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Five years ago?” Song Changqing doubted. “How old was Sand Barbarian Yu then? Could she even fish up a man-eating clam?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She only cast the hook. We dragged the clam ashore. We used poisoned hooks—we poisoned it first,” the old barbarian said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go on.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Two years ago, a one-eyed wolf demon wandered near the dunes. Yu again told the hunters to aim for the eyes, while she hid behind and ambushed the wolf’s anus.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We don’t know if it died—it took Yu’s arrow, howled, clamped its tail, and vanished. No one’s seen it since.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And there’s more...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian was skilled at reading expressions; seeing the Shu cavalry’s keen interest in “Sand Barbarian Yu,” he focused entirely on tales of her heroic demon-hunting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These aren’t demons,” General Guan said. “They haven’t even taken human form—barely awakened from absorbing the essence of sun and moon. I want news of true demons—those who’ve shed their beast forms.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian thought, then said, “About two hundred li south, there’s another dune, with denser forests. Rumor says a tree demon lives there—no one knows what it looks like, but all who’ve seen it are dead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Further southwest, about three hundred li, Sand Barbarians once saw half a tiger corpse—the tooth marks were thicker and longer than table legs. And there’s...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old barbarian spoke endlessly, recounting every “ghost story of the dunes,” true or false, real or imagined, for half an hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could’ve gone on longer... if only he’d had a bowl of water to wet his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan, however, had excellent restraint—even as the man clearly spun lies, he didn’t interrupt his “dune legends.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when the old barbarian began to choke, his voice dry and halting, did Hu Chen cut in: “Are there any fish-headed demons with blue scales?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Definitely!” the old barbarian replied firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan and the Iron Cavalry perked up, ready for the crucial detail—when the old man shook his head and added, “But I’ve never seen one, nor heard of one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan exploded in rage: “You dog’s son! You’ve never seen one—how dare you swear they exist?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Sand Barbarian explained: “My lord, I’m an honest man. You ask, I answer truthfully—no evasion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You asked if there are fish-headed demons with blue scales—yes, they must exist.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though I’ve never seen one, nor heard of one—this is the Eight-Hundred-Li Liusha River.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Liusha River certainly has no shortage of fish demons; whatever you want, you can find it here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want your dog’s head!” General Guan swung a massive slap, sending Old Sha Man flying two meters away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a commotion suddenly erupted from the dim distance, as some Sha Men cried out excitedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Guan’s eyes shot out three-zhang beams of golden light, sweeping over the source of the noise, then he retracted his divine radiance and said calmly, “Zhu Tong has returned alive—go fetch him immediately.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhu Tong?” The black-armored knights were both shocked and delighted; several of them immediately turned and ran downward.\u003C\u002Fp>",1922,"2026-06-20T00:29:13.334Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","a5bf7a47afb1a897ebfc52582a9720879945726871497d12bf87b86be794d510","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-7","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-5",840,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fif-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-cover.jpg"]