Chapter 146: Old Demons Meet Again

The black mist surrounding the great demon was completely sucked in by his violent inhalation.

At the same time, he knelt heavily on the ground.

The tremors and cracks on the ground were caused by this kneeling, showing it came from the heart.

Not far in front of Tang Luo knelt a man wearing tattered robes, with a weasel head and rat eyes.

His pair of soybean-sized small eyes, which should have been darting everywhere, were now motionless, not daring to glance sideways or stare directly.

"You're Xiao Zuanfeng, right?" Tang Luo said with a smile, his smile also sincere.

Xiao Zuanfeng, a minor demon on the Journey to the West, mixed around Lion Camel Ridge, his duty was to patrol the mountains.

At first, he was teased by Sun Wukong.

Later, no one knew if he was dead or alive, where he went—such minor demons, Tang Luo and his companions would not deliberately hunt down or exterminate completely.

But after all, he was a "famous minor demon," so Tang Luo still glanced at him a few more times.

Although his appearance had changed completely, now fully human-shaped, he still recognized him—this was an old acquaintance……no, an old demon!

A complete, rational old demon who could still recognize himself.

Not at all like the Xiaotian Dog on his shoulder, who only knows how to act cute!

Mutt, learn from others.

"Tang, Tang, Tang……" the "Great Demon" Xiao Zuanfeng, his words incoherent.

Just now, he was flying in midair, looking down at the person below, feeling slightly familiar, but never once thought of that monk from back then.

That monk from back then had a shiny bald head, wearing a red-and-white kasaya, the red part looked as if dyed with blood.

Completely unlike his current appearance!

But that face, Xiao Zuanfeng would never forget.

Xiao Zuanfeng remembered him shoving his arm into the Great King's mouth, saying to the Great King: "Come, eat, bite! My arm is right here, why won't you eat it?"

Poor Great King's mouth full of sharp teeth, scattered around, what could he use to bite?

That Sun Grandfather was merely irritable, but that monk was ferocious, brutal, and violent!

One moment he was saying "Amitabha Buddha," the next he changed to "Today, the monk merely wishes to save you all, or be saved by you all."

"It's me……" Xiao Zuanfeng knelt in the shallow pit formed by his kneeling, smiling more ugly than crying, "Tang Grandfather."

Why? Why, after finally escaping, upon emerging, did I meet him?

Even if I met Sun Grandfather, it would be better than meeting this monk.

After leaving Lion Camel Ridge, Xiao Zuanfeng encountered some other minor demons, they gathered together and chatted about the past.

"That was never the pilgrim seeking scriptures!"

"Who said Grandfather Sun was there to protect that monk?"

"I was wrong, I truly was wrong, I shouldn't have listened to other demons say that eating a pilgrim's flesh in one bite grants immortality. If I hadn't listened, I wouldn't have gone……"

Whenever hearing the words "monk," "Tang," "Xuanzang," or "scripture-seeking," they would involuntarily shudder three times.

Those years, Daoists were all puzzled.

Why did some demons, upon seeing a monk, run faster than dogs, yet upon seeing them, chase fiercer than wolves?

"Don't call me Grandfather, I'm not Sun Wukong, I don't like being called grandfather. And you call him grandfather, and me grandfather—wouldn't that mess up the generations?" Tang Luo said.

These simple, casual words made Xiao Zuanfeng shudder again, as if he had a cerebral thrombosis, shuddering three times for no reason.

"Yes, yes, Holy Monk." Xiao Zuanfeng changed his address.

"Alright, get up, kneeling is like bowing before a grave." Tang Luo said.

"No, no." Xiao Zuanfeng scrambled up by rolling and crawling, hunched over, his thin, small frame looking even more insignificant.

In his heart, this still wasn't small enough—he wished to shrink to the point where Tang Luo couldn't see him, that would be best.

Glancing sideways at the man before him with his peripheral vision, Xiao Zuanfeng noticed his appearance indeed differed greatly from that of the monk back then.

No wonder he didn't recognize him at first.

Having just escaped confinement, he was inevitably full of spirit, his mind heated.

Regretting the past, Xiao Zuanfeng wished he could return to just now, pull himself down from the sky, and give himself a thorough beating.

His eyeballs began to move involuntarily, while feeling anxious and uneasy inside, Xiao Zuanfeng also began to consider the current situation.

This place seems somewhat off.

Tang Xuanzang's strange attire aside, the surrounding heavenly and earthly qi is extremely thin.

After being sealed by that Northern Ice Old Man, how long has passed, and what exactly happened?

"I have something to ask you." Tang Luo said.

Xiao Zuanfeng is indeed a "native" of the Journey to the West world.

Tang Luo suffered severe injuries and fell into a coma, then inexplicably transmigrated back upon waking.

As for Xiao Zuanfeng—does he know something?

"How did you come here?" Tang Luo asked.

"Holy Monk Grand——" Xiao Zuanfeng swallowed the remaining "grand" character, "Where is this place? The qi is so thin."

"Don't worry about that, tell me what you've experienced since Lion Camel Ridge, highlight the important parts, skip the trivial details." Tang Luo said.

Xiao Zuanfeng replied timidly.

After Lion Camel Ridge, Xiao Zuanfeng's experiences had some ups and downs—hunting others, being hunted, having demons and people, having enemies and friends.

Later, by fortunate coincidence, he successfully completed full transformation, evolving from a minor demon into a "demon immortal."

Thereafter, Xiao Zuanfeng progressed step by step, continuing his cultivation, until one day—suddenly—the sky darkened! As if the earth had overturned, covering the heavens.

"The earth overturned and reversed?" Tang Luo frowned slightly, during his seclusion, it was as if no days passed in the mountains, cold ended without knowing the year.

Tang Luo also wasn't certain whether the time he suffered severe injuries coincided with the time Xiao Zuanfeng mentioned of the earth overturning and reversing.

If so, and if Little Whirlwind didn't deceive him, then the sudden attack he suffered that day was not aimed at him, but rather some kind of area attack?

But who could achieve that?

His secluded cultivation site was within the Ling Shan range, far from where Little Whirlwind hung out—separated by a hundred and eight thousand li.

Or perhaps it was a sudden, massive upheaval of heaven and earth?

"Then what?" Tang Luo asked.

"After that, I—I passed out from injury at the time." Little Whirlwind said.

"You passed out from injury?" Tang Luo asked.

"No, no! I fainted from fright." Little Whirlwind quickly corrected himself, having witnessed the heaven-and-earth upheaval, a sensation of the world being torn apart. Though he did sustain some injuries, the true cause of his fainting was terror, not injury.

"Continue."

"Later I woke up. I don't know why, but I ended up in a completely unfamiliar place." Little Whirlwind spoke without reservation.

"That's somewhat similar to my situation." Tang Luo frowned, thinking to himself.

Could it be a great calamity?

They were merely ships caught in the floodwaters of the great disaster, whether a massive vessel or a tiny skiff—none could escape.

On the contrary, a tiny skiff, due to its small size, or luck, or some other reason, might suffer less damage than a huge ship?

There may be some truth to that, but with too little information, one can only speculate—nothing can be confirmed.

"After that, I just trained hard, trained hard—" Little Whirlwind saw Tang Luo silent and continued.

"Until your divine art was perfected, you came out to show off and bully others?" Tang Luo interrupted.

"No, no!"

Little Whirlwind immediately dropped to his knees, slamming his head hard against the ground: "I dare not! After that, I devoted myself to vegetarianism and chanting Buddha, striving to be a benevolent demon—"

"Enough, stop the nonsense." Tang Luo couldn't be bothered to listen to Little Whirlwind's excuses.

Whether it was Little Whirlwind, grown strong as the Northern Darkness Old Ancestor described—bringing disaster to a region, ultimately severely wounded and sealed by the Northern Darkness Old Ancestor—or whether the Northern Darkness Old Ancestor actively sought out Little Whirlwind, only to kick an iron plate, pay with his life, and in truth, it doesn't matter.

Tang Luo's main concern wasn't that.

Getting even a few useful clues from Little Whirlwind's mouth would be enough.

"Little Whirlwind, how should I deal with you?" Tang Luo looked at Little Whirlwind and said.

Little Whirlwind again kowtowed like pounding garlic: "I truly dared do no wrong, Holy Monk, spare me……I am willing to follow at your side, saddle before horse behind, serve as ox and horse, loyal and unwavering, absolutely no divided heart, volunteering my bedding……"

It started off decent, sounding proper, but then descended into various misused idioms, incoherent speech.

"Enough, enough." Tang Luo cut off Little Whirlwind's words: "For now, stay by my side, let's see your performance."

Speaking truthfully, though clearly severely wounded and sealed, the current Little Whirlwind is genuinely not weak—he appears to have the level of a demon commander.

What is a demon commander?

According to the demon race's simple and crude classification, after gaining spiritual awareness, one can be called a "little demon."

One who can achieve true transformation can be called a demon fairy.

Above demon fairy is demon commander, capable of ruling a region.

To compare with humans, it lies between the mainstream human cultivation stages of qi refinement, foundation establishment, golden core, and nascent soul—specifically between golden core and nascent soul.

Most ordinary demon commanders are stronger than ordinary golden core cultivators but weaker than nascent soul cultivators.

Although the world's heavenly and earthly qi is extremely scarce, demon power consumption is point-for-point, essentially irreplaceable, yet before demon power is exhausted, Little Whirlwind remains a fairly dangerous figure.

Moreover, demon power can be replenished and restored through blood food.

Tang Luo could not possibly let him leave; he would surely keep him close.

Speaking of which, if the box was something an "ancient" god or demon carried out and hid, and Little Whirlwind was released by Tang Luo,

would he be treated like the Heavenly Howling Dog—regarded as Tang Luo's "pet," and brought into the next mission world when it opens?

"Let's go." Temporarily setting aside these thoughts, awaiting mission activation when they would naturally be confirmed, Tang Luo turned and left.

The Heavenly Howling Dog on Tang Luo's shoulder glanced at Little Whirlwind, lazily closed its eyes, tail drooping, swaying slightly.

Little Whirlwind dared not lag behind, following step by step behind Tang Luo.

The rather rugged and complex mountain path posed no difficulty for either human or demon.

Tang Luo strolled leisurely under the moonlight.

The Little Whirlwind following behind, head perpetually lowered, had already begun to lift slightly, his eyeballs constantly shifting.

If observed closely, one would notice that when looking at Tang Luo, his eyes—never pausing—seemed to have a momentary stillness, focusing intently.

Faint red light flickered intermittently.

"Holy Monk, the heavenly and earthly qi here……" breathing slightly heavier, Little Whirlwind asked.

"It is very scarce, but it has nothing to do with you." Tang Luo paused his steps, then continued forward.

"Yes." Little Whirlwind quickly lowered his head, tone fearful, yet murderous light flashed in his eyes!