Chapter 79: The Ordinary Yet Extraordinary Little Demon

As mentioned earlier, both Little Mole and most members of the Ground Mouse Gang are demons that already lived near Cangyun Mountain. Although they don’t belong to any peak of Cangyun Mountain, they form a loose group around the foot of the mountain, and such demons are not rare; in fact, they are the real mainstream within Xiangshou County.

These are what you would call ordinary demons, or what we might refer to as “unaffiliated stray demons.”

They haven’t formed partnerships with humans to become spirit pets, leveraging their power and resources for cultivation, nor have they found a way to join the Twelve Peaks of Cangyun. Instead, they’ve been struggling at the bottom of society, working tirelessly for meager resources.

Life is indeed tough, but the Ground Mouse Gang is relatively united. With the protection of the Digger King, the surrounding ordinary stray demons don’t dare bully Little Mole too much. Moreover, underground-dwelling demons are quite reclusive; having lived busy yet stable lives for nearly a hundred years after becoming sentient, they hardly interact with the outside world.

However, strange events began to unfold in recent months.

Initially, for reasons unknown, the Digger King suddenly summoned its underlings, announcing that it would take them to Yangyuan County in the Westland to handle a certain matter.

Yangyuan County lies in the southern part of the spirit kingdom and is a thousand mountains away from Xiangshou County, located in the center of the continent. It would take nearly a month of travel, so naturally, the demons were reluctant to leave their homeland and venture into unfamiliar territory, thus they opposed it or inquired about the specific purpose of the trip.

Yet the Digger King’s attitude was remarkably firm on this matter, showing no intention of providing explanations and even stating that those unwilling could leave the Ground Mouse Gang.

Given its accumulated prestige and strength, the demons of the Ground Mouse Gang had no choice but to reluctantly agree and set off through mountains and rivers to Yangyuan County.

Upon arriving there, the Digger King and a few powerful rat demons under its command became even more mysterious.

They frequently disappeared for entire days with no idea of what they were up to, and regarding the upcoming tasks, they merely instructed the members of the Ground Mouse Gang to spread out, utilizing their underground advantages to gather important intelligence from various aspects throughout Yangyuan County, and report back periodically without clarifying what they intended to do.

As one of the members of the Ground Mouse Gang, Little Mole was naturally given the same task.

It was because of this that she accidentally stumbled into Yangyuan City’s official inn during an information-gathering mission, where she found the spirit meat hidden underground and, by chance, was caught red-handed by Bai’er and Miss Vilyric.

After that night, Little Mole returned to the gang but didn’t dare to share this incident with the other demons; she buried it deep in her heart.

Soon after the incident with the Earth Dragon in Yangyuan County broke out, the Digger King returned, summoning the scattered members of the Ground Mouse Gang, declaring their business there was concluded and they must immediately return to their base in Xiangshou County.

Thus, the demons inexplicably completed a round trip and returned to the vicinity a few days ago.

Little Mole didn’t understand what those big shots had done; she was just a little demon, but going home was good news, which filled her with immense joy.

She thought this matter had come to a close, but unexpectedly, stranger things continued to follow.

Not long after returning to their lair, a person suddenly arrived at the Ground Mouse Gang’s base.

That’s right, a person, not a demon.

For a gang made up entirely of demons that seldom interacted with humans, this was an exceedingly strange event. While they didn’t harbor hostility towards humans and occasionally collaborated with them, how could they allow an outsider into such a crucial place as their base?

However, since this person was brought by the Digger King and a few core members of the gang, for some reason, they raised no objections. Although the demons were puzzled, it ultimately didn’t stir up significant turmoil, and the person settled down temporarily at the base.

The appearance of this person was quite unusual; at first glance, one could tell they were not ordinary. According to the Digger King’s claim, this person was a renowned pharmacist specially invited to help everyone recover their health and vitality, considering the hard work the gang had put forth during their last operation.

While some members found this a bit suspicious, the Digger King had led the Ground Mouse Gang for over a hundred years, and naturally, they wouldn’t overly question its statements. With the lead of some core members, they began taking the so-called “Essence Recovery Pills” provided by this person multiple times over the following period.

Whether this essence actually worked is hard to say, but soon enough, Little Mole encountered other problems.

It should be noted that she had previously consumed some spirit meat, accumulating a fair amount of spiritual power within her. She had intended to find a suitable opportunity to cultivate and see if she could advance to the next stage, so she had been in closed-door cultivation many times recently.

In cultivation, the most important aspect is having a clear mind and calm spirit.

However, for some reason, each time she reached the crucial moment of breaking through, she felt waves of inexplicable dizziness. Her usually focused spiritual senses became sluggish, as if something foreign was obstructing them, causing her efforts to come to naught.

After several failed attempts, Little Mole realized something was amiss.

If it had been before, this simple-minded little demon would surely have thought the problem was her own—perhaps she had encountered some mishap in her cultivation or accidentally ingested something unclean—never imagining other possibilities.

However, back at the Yangyuan City inn, when discussing the source of that spirit meat, she had overheard Ling Feng and Miss Vilyric talk about the “Demon-Suppressing Sect” and their methods of controlling demons.

They particularly mentioned that when infiltrating certain small demon groups, they typically first gained control over some key members and then used them to expand their influence.

This left a deep impression on Little Mole, so much so that after repeatedly failing to break through, she couldn’t help but suspect her own situation.

Moreover, when they had indicated that the spirit meat was actually made by the Demon-Suppressing Sect, just unfinished bait, Ling Feng had even inquired if Little Mole had been experiencing any abnormal symptoms recently, which alarmingly mirrored what she later felt!

With this in mind, she naturally linked the recent oddities of the Digger King to the unknown situation with the human, growing increasingly uneasy and finally realizing the problem.

Little Mole felt a bit scared but didn’t dare to raise a fuss within the gang, as she was just a lower-tier member, and this matter might involve the terrifying Demon-Suppressing Sect. She wasn’t sure how many companions could be trusted, so she could only subtly inquire among some closer friends.

As expected, everyone had experienced similar situations to varying degrees, yet couldn’t pinpoint the reason, thinking perhaps they had gone off track in their cultivation and planned to take a break.

This terrified Little Mole greatly.

She cautiously began secretly observing the human residing in the lair, discovering that they not only seldom left but also occasionally met alone with certain demons under the pretense of helping them recover their health. Those demons were generally powerful and held higher positions within the Ground Mouse Gang.

Thus, she was almost certain that this human was the mastermind behind the strange changes in the Digger King and others.

But knowing this, what could she do?

Little Mole was too weak, and her friends in the Ground Mouse Gang were in similar situations. Forget about resisting; escaping might even get her caught and pursued.

She had thought about seeking help from prominent figures in Xiangshou County or the peak leaders of Cangyun Mountain, but such beings were not ones that Little Mole could casually approach.

Naturally, a little demon’s social circle consisted of just other little demons, and the opportunity was singular. If the upper echelons of the Ground Mouse Gang had already been compromised significantly, any hasty action could lead to Little Mole’s absolute disaster. Thus, she hesitated about how and to whom she should turn for help.

Just when she was at this critical juncture, she unexpectedly spotted Vilyric and others who had arrived at the foot of Cangyun Mountain in Cangyun Town.

To be honest, Little Mole was unclear on their background, but these individuals were strong—really, really strong. This information came instinctively from her gut feeling as a demon and couldn’t be wrong.

Moreover, from how they spoke about the Demon-Suppressing Sect back then, it was clear that Vilyric and her group stood in opposition to this organization. Just these two points were already enough for Little Mole to consider them as potential allies for help.

However, Vilyric and the others were outsiders; having just arrived, Little Mole couldn’t figure out their intentions and purpose here. She had planned to observe for a while longer before making a decision…

But unexpectedly, she was caught again without any difficulty.

   

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