Chapter 50: Demonic Soldier Summons, Lai Bao Presents Wine

To Mo Fan and Red Eye's surprise, the moment they stealthily crept back to Black Wind Mountain, they found that damn dog Laifu waiting for them for quite a while.

"Laifu?"

Red Eye narrowed his eyes at the sight and said, "Aren't you supposed to be patrolling the upper sector? What brings you to my patrol zone?"

"Why I'm here? Don't you two have any idea?!"

Laifu sneered, cleared his throat with deliberate rhythm, and announced, "Listen up, both of you! I've been waiting here on the orders of Master Heizi for a long time!"

"The Master's orders?"

Both demons were startled. Had their actions already been exposed?

"Listen well, you two. Your unauthorized departure from your posts has already reached the Master's ears, and this time, no one can save you!"

"The Master gave word: the moment you return to the mountain, you are to be detained and brought before him!"

Laifu spoke with an arrogant and overbearing attitude, which immediately enraged the rabbit demon, who demanded, "How did the Master find out? Was it you, you damned dog, who sold us out?!"

"Don't put it so harshly. I was merely concerned for your safety. Since Rattletail told me, naturally I had to report it to the Master so he would be aware and could decide how best to handle it," Laifu replied with a calm expression.

Rattletail?

Hearing this, Mo Fan's gaze flickered. Casting a glance at Red Eye, who was still locked in a dispute with Laifu, he understood everything.

This fellow had indeed been manipulated by Rattletail, who had used Laifu's personality to orchestrate this entire drama.

As for Rattletail's true objective, Mo Fan wasn't entirely clear yet.

If the goal was simply to kill Red Eye, there would have been no need to go to such lengths; he could have simply leaked the matter directly to the Black Wind Demon King.

Could it be that this wasn't targeted at Red Eye at all, but rather at the scorpion demon?

A thought suddenly struck Mo Fan, leaving him startled.

The conflict between the scorpion demon and the Fourth General was practically out in the open, but constrained by the rules of Black Wind Mountain and the Third General's face, Fang, the poisonous scorpion, hadn't dared to make a direct move against the scorpion demon.

Looked at in this light, the possibility seemed quite high.

Just as Mo Fan figured this out, another figure descended from the mountain.

Mo Fan looked up and saw a massive black beetle—none other than Number Six, one of the three personal attendants of the scorpion demon!

Standing atop the beetle's back were two other figures: Number Eight, the spider demon attendant, and Number Three, another personal attendant!

All three personal attendants had arrived. Once they landed on the ground, Number Eight looked at Mo Fan and Red Eye, saying indifferently, "Red Eye, Laobao, the Master wants to see you."

"Are you coming on your own, or shall we give you a hand?"

Number Three spoke calmly, yet an immensely powerful aura emanated from his body, locking onto the two demons instantly.

Feeling the fellow's astonishing demonic Qi, Mo Fan was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected this usually taciturn creature to be so formidable.

Judging solely by the density of his demonic Qi, he was already stronger than Mo Fan himself.

Even so, Mo Fan remained confident in his ability to kill this fellow.

Sometimes, cultivation level could not determine everything, especially in a life-or-death battle!

After several skirmishes, Mo Fan believed he had accumulated a substantial amount of combat experience.

"Did the Master really say that?!"

Red Eye gritted his teeth, his body trembling slightly, fists clenched so tight that his eyes grew increasingly bloodshot.

"Naturally the Master said it. You should know very well what you've done!"

Spider demon Number Eight said calmly, entirely unmoved by Red Eye's reaction.

The reason they were called personal attendants wasn't just a casual title. Any one of them plucked at random possessed absolute confidence to sweep away minor demons like Red Eye's patrol squad, so naturally, they weren't afraid of Red Eye making any trouble.

"Brother Eight, may I ask if we'll still make it back alive after going this time?"

Seeing the tense atmosphere between both sides, Mo Fan couldn't help but speak up.

This question was what concerned him the most.

If going meant facing the scorpion demon's wrath and execution, then going was out of the question; he would risk his life to escape Black Wind Mountain instead.

Although "Laobao" had arrived at Black Wind Mountain only recently, he had frequently bragged to these three demon-soldier attendants, especially spinning tales of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong, which had left the trio itching for him to tell more.

Thus, through these interactions, the demons had gradually grown familiar with one another.

"This..."

The spider demon hesitated somewhat when Mo Fan asked.

"Don't worry, Brother. I certainly won't run—and even if I wanted to, I couldn't outrun the three of you. Besides, I believe the Master won't be too harsh on us; after all, we are all working in his service!"

Mo Fan smiled, then spat out a small pottery jar—a makeshift chamber pot he had once fired in the Second Dog's tiger cave, which he had now filled with some spiritual wine stored in his internal bodily space using his demonic Qi.

"Three Brothers, here is some spiritual wine, my harvest from this recent trip out. I offer it to you three brothers as a token, so I hope you can put in a good word for us!"

Mo Fan smiled and handed over the chamber pot. Number Eight immediately took it, sniffed it, and broke into a broad smile, "Brother Laobao, you're far too polite!"

"Actually, it's not such a difficult matter to speak of. Though you two brothers left your posts without authorization, the Master has always been benevolent and naturally won't beat you to death over such minor trifles, so you can rest easy!" Number Eight laughed.

Hearing that this trip posed no threat to their lives, both Mo Fan and Red Eye breathed sighs of relief, and the latter's clenched fists gradually loosened.

"Many thanks, Brother Eight! We'll walk ourselves; we wouldn't dare trouble the three of you to escort us."

Mo Fan smiled, and together with Red Eye, they walked up the mountain, escorted by the three personal attendants.

Laifu wanted to chase after them to watch the fun, but remembering his patrol duties, he had no choice but to give up.

He had no desire to end up in the same wretched state as Mo Fan and Red Eye.

The journey was uneventful, and Mo Fan and his companions soon arrived at the Scorpion Cave.

Just as they reached the entrance, they saw One-Eye walking out, his expression rather unsightly.

As soon as he emerged from the cave dwelling, Number Eight and the other two attendants hastily saluted respectfully, "Greetings, Lord Dingmu!"

One-Eye ignored the three demons, instead fixing his gaze on Mo Fan and Red Eye, and sneered, "You two fools, actually throwing your lot in with this poisonous scorpion. Sooner or later, you'll be killed until not even your bones are left!"

With that, One-Eye strode away rapidly.

Yet from his parting words, Mo Fan acutely caught an unusual nuance.

Why would this fellow appear here? Could it be related to this trap?

Or was One-Eye trying to use this incident to blackmail the scorpion demon for some benefits?

Mo Fan could not be certain of these details, but one thing he did know: One-Eye had clearly failed to achieve his goal.

Once One-Eye was far out of sight, Number Eight called out into the Scorpion Cave, "Master, Red Eye and Laobao have been brought!"

"Hmph!"

The scorpion demon's voice echoed from within the dwelling. Moments later, he appeared at the entrance, his face cold as he glared at the two demons and said in a deep voice, "Do you two know your crimes?"

"Master, I know my crime! I know my crime!!"

"Please spare my life, Master! I'll never dare do it again!!"

Red Eye instantly dropped to his knees, kowtowing like pounding garlic, genuinely terrified out of his wits.

"Next time?"

"You still dare to think of a next time!"

Heizi the scorpion demon snorted coldly, stepped forward, and kicked Red Eye sprawling onto the ground, reproaching him sternly, "To dare leave your posts without authorization during patrol? If Grandfather Great King were to find out, every single one of you would be turned into a feast!"

"And you!"

Heizi turned his gaze to Mo Fan, speaking in a low, cold tone, "It's one thing for him to abandon his post, but you actually dared to follow suit. Have you truly grown tired of living?!"

"Master, I have been wronged! Venturing out this mountain was, first, to bring Red Eye back, and second, to present the Master with a surprise!" Mo Fan forced a bitter smile.

"A surprise?"

The surrounding demons grew intrigued upon hearing this, and Heizi also let out a cold snort, "Let's hope it's not a fright instead!"

"Rest assured, Master, it is certainly no fright. This time we managed quite a fortunate encounter out there!"

Mo Fan chuckled, then opened his mouth to spit out a large earthenware pot, which was filled to the brim with glittering, golden fine nectar and spiritual wine.

"This is... unranked spiritual wine?!"