Chapter 65: Spiritual Wine as Encouragement, A Promise Worth More Than Gold

The one-eyed demon's questioning was merely a small interlude for the gathered demons. With the arrival of the three demon generals and the demon king, the atmosphere atop Flat-Top Peak was instantly driven to a climax.

At this moment, Mo Fan noticed that the one-eyed demon not far away had stood up, walked over to the Fourth General Fang-Tooth, and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

Seeing this, Mo Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Although he could not hear the exact words spoken by that fellow, he could largely guess that it had something to do with the scorpion demon.

"Could it be that it wasn't that one-eyed wretch who wanted to track down the scorpion demon, but the Fourth General Fang-Tooth?"

A trace of alarm arose in Mo Fan's heart. The more he thought about it, the more probable this possibility seemed. What puzzled him, however, was what sort of secret the scorpion demon possessed that was worth the Fourth General sending someone to hunt him down.

Moreover, this surely wasn't the first time.

Mo Fan still remembered that when he and Red-Eye returned to Black Wind Mountain half a month ago, they had spotted the one-eyed demon lingering outside the scorpion demon's cave dwelling.

On that occasion, the one-eyed demon's expression had also been extremely unsightly, as if he had returned empty-handed.

"Could it be related to the contents of that human skin?"

Mo Fan was suddenly struck by this realization.

After the scorpion demon died, everything in his pouch had fallen into Mo Fan's hands. If there was truly anything worthy of attention, it seemed to be only that piece of human skin!

In the distance, upon hearing the one-eyed demon's report, Fang-Tooth's expression grew somewhat gloomy. He immediately turned his gaze toward Mo Fan and the other demons.

"Vanished... Where do you think that old poisonous scorpion could have gone?"

Fang-Tooth looked down at the one-eyed demon before him, his gaze carrying a hint of coldness.

"This... This subordinate doesn't know. This subordinate believes that poisonous scorpion must have fled Black Wind Mountain," the one-eyed demon replied, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Fled Black Wind Mountain..."

Fang-Tooth sneered, then spoke indifferently: "You tell me, why didn't he flee sooner or later, but chose to flee precisely at this time?"

"This subordinate has no idea..."

"That old poisonous scorpion's strength is not weak. Previously, he even relied on the rules of Black Wind Mountain and that pheasant demoness's backing to go head-to-head with this general. Do you think an old monster like that would suddenly become afraid of me and flee Black Wind Mountain?"

Fang-Tooth chuckled dryly, his expression then hardening as he said calmly: "Go and investigate. Since that old poisonous scorpion has been gone for half a month, find out which tent's roster those minor demons were reassigned to during these past two weeks."

"General, are you suspecting...?"

Hearing this, the one-eyed demon's heart stirred faintly.

...

The Sun-Basking Tournament was held as scheduled. According to the rules established by the Black Wind Demon King, all mountain-patrolling corporals were required to dispatch their subordinate minor demons to participate.

Mo Fan was naturally no exception. He continued to use the scorpion demon's old method, drawing lots to decide the participants.

However, to encourage his subordinate demons to participate more actively in the competition and to build up sufficient prestige among them, Mo Fan directly offered spiritual wine as a reward.

"Whoever draws the winning stick, win or lose, will receive a flask of unranked monkey spiritual wine!"

"If you win, the rewards bestowed by the Great King and the three generals will be split evenly between yourselves and me!"

As soon as Mo Fan said this, the minor demons broke into an uproar, causing even Lu Tantian and He Feifei to cast sideways glances at him.

"Brother Lai-Bao, you're playing for quite high stakes here!"

Lu Tantian licked his lips, looking at Mo Fan with some surprise. He truly hadn't expected this fellow to actually possess spiritual wine; it was somewhat beyond his expectations.

"I managed to acquire some spiritual wine the last time I went down the mountain. Since I don't drink much anyway, I figured I might as well use it as a reward to encourage my subordinates to participate actively, and also to make the three generals and the Great King happy!"

Mo Fan smiled, then turned to look at Da-Li and the other minor demons, asking, "What, is a flask of spiritual wine not enough to tempt you to draw lots?"

"This..."

The demons looked at each other in dismay. The rabbit demon Red-Eye suddenly asked, "Master, are you really willing to give away spiritual wine?"

Naturally, he knew what this spiritual wine was, having been the one to help Mo Fan steal it in the first place.

"Naturally. What, do you doubt that your master won't keep his word?"

Mo Fan smiled, looking back at Red-Eye, and said, "If I were truly a demon devoid of integrity, I wouldn't have shared that flask of wine with you last time."

"Hehe... Of course I believe in Master. In that case, I'll draw the first lot!" The rabbit demon Red-Eye smiled with some embarrassment.

"You are my personal attendant demon; you can skip this preliminary round," Mo Fan glanced at the rabbit demon.

"Master, good wine is already a rare commodity here on Black Wind Mountain, and unranked spiritual wine is even scarcer. So I don't want to miss this opportunity."

Red-Eye smiled, and sure enough, he was the first to approach Mo Fan and begin drawing a lot.

Following Red-Eye, the rest of the minor demons excitedly stepped forward to draw their lots one by one.

In the past, they had feared drawing lots the most, but now they were practically praying to draw that specific winning stick, because it meant they would obtain a flask of spiritual wine, saving them an untold amount of cultivation time.

For this group of lazy demons, the humiliation of losing the Sun-Basking Tournament didn't even amount to a fraction of a percent compared to the value of the spiritual wine. Naturally, it was a gamble worth taking.

However, after a round of drawing lots, it was none other than Red-Eye that wretched fellow who drew the winning stick, sending him into ecstatic joy as he bounded onto the arena.

As soon as he stepped onto the arena, this fellow prostrated himself directly beneath the pomegranate skirts of the Demon King's concubines.

This time, it was a genuine prostration... so much so that even after collapsing to the ground, his body was still twitching slightly, terrifying the concubines and causing them to turn pale with fright.

"Useless wretch, hurry up and drag that fellow back here!"

Mo Fan's expression darkened. Although he had long known that Red-Eye was a quick-draw in every sense, wasn't this just a bit too fast?

Not only was he fast, but he was also a disgrace, actually frightening the concubines. If this caused the Black Wind Demon King to fly into a rage, he would be implicated as well.

Fortunately, far from angering the Black Wind Demon King, this scene instead threw him into a fit of hearty laughter. He immediately declared, "This little rabbit demon is quite interesting; this fellow must participate in all future preliminary rounds!"

The Black Wind Demon King's single remark sealed the future tragic fate of Red-Eye.

The winner of the preliminary round was a minor demon Mo Fan had never seen before, but he didn't pay it much mind.

There were at least over a hundred demons in the entire Black Wind Mountain, and he simply didn't have the energy to get acquainted with every single one of them.

Once the preliminary rounds concluded, the official Sun-Basking Tournament began. This was the most exciting time of every month, because even more demons participated than in the preliminary rounds, with actual demon corporals taking the stage!

Although the rewards offered by the Demon King and the three demon generals were generous, Mo Fan possessed self-awareness. Knowing what kind of good-for-nothings his subordinate demons were, he naturally didn't harbor any grand expectations of winning, yet he still offered unranked spiritual wine as he had moments before to encourage the crowd.

"You fellow, you are already a corporal master; you could entirely skip offering rewards to make your subordinates participate."

"With just a single word from you, which of them would dare refuse?"

"Why bother wasting such precious spiritual wine?"

Lu Tantian licked his lips, looked at Mo Fan, blinked, and chuckled, "How about this—give the spiritual wine to me, and I'll have my subordinate demons participate on your behalf instead!"

Lu Tantian's words instantly caused the expressions of Mo Fan's subordinate demons, as well as the two deer demons standing behind Lu Tantian, to turn rather ugly.

However, as a personal attendant corporal, Lu Tantian didn't care at all. Just as he had said moments before, as a corporal master, his words were absolute commands to the minor demons—commands that could not be disobeyed!

Mo Fan glanced at the fellow. He hadn't expected this deer demon to be so greedy that he would willingly sell out his own subordinates just for a flask of unranked spiritual wine. Truly a beast.

"No need. I understand Brother Lu's intentions, but I am different from you, so there is no need to say any more."

Mo Fan smiled, his words making his subordinate demons feel considerably better, and they began drawing lots one after another.

"Spirit Crane, do you think that toad has something wrong with his brain?"

"He could clearly save the spiritual wine, yet he insists on using it as a reward. Is he burning money just because he has too much of it?"

Lu Tantian felt rather depressed and could only seek comfort from He Feifei beside him.

"No, not only is his brain fine, but he is extremely clever!"

"He is using those two flasks of spiritual wine to cement his status in the hearts of these minor demons!" He Feifei pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Wait... is that really necessary?" Lu Tantian still couldn't quite comprehend.

"That's why you're just a stupid deer who only knows how to be greedy!"