Chapter 136: Grandfather Hu

Roll and roll…

In truth, Hu Er’s walking did not quite qualify as rolling; it was merely that his physique was excessively round and his legs were too short. Consequently, every step he took resembled a tumble, and because of his shape, his gait was always a wobbling sway, making it look even more like he was rolling along.

After observing him carefully, Chen Jin determined that he hadn’t encountered some sort of comical fool, but simply a fat fox that resembled a pig.

According to the memories Chen Jin had obtained from the severed horn of the flood dragon, he knew that the number of foxes who had occupied this village and turned its residents into ghostly entities was not just one, but at least six. Chen Jin decided against capturing this fat fox immediately. Given how useless the creature appeared, it was highly likely he was merely a scout sent to survey the state of the village. If there was nothing left in the village, it would signal that it was safe for the others to return; however, if this fat fox died and failed to return, they would surely stay away.

Yet, Chen Jin was not one to yield the initiative to others. He decided to strike first, intending to use an illusion to control the fox and force him to lead the way.

He acted without hesitation. Chen Jin was enveloped in Yin-Shattered Essence, his entire body shrouded in grey, misty vapors that made him appear as though he were standing in darkness.

Chen Jin pinpointed the fat fox’s position by sound and crept forward silently.

He saw the short, stout creature rolling and fumbling through the ruins of the village. Because the fox had been rummaging through the ashes, his large, fat face was blackened and grimy, making him look even more ridiculous.

He seemed to be in a state of insatiable hunger, pressing his long, narrow tongue against a pile of long-dried cow dung. With every lick, his face took on a look of deepening pleasure, and he continued to lick with such urgency that he had completely forgotten his original mission.

Seeing this, Chen Jin began to wonder if he should even bother with a fox so profoundly stupid. Then, he casually cast an illusion upon him.

Human empathy only lasts for so long, depending on the person. Chen Jin pitied the foolish fat fox for exactly one second before his decisiveness took over, and he delivered a "grand gift."

*Snort, snort…*

Hu Er, the fat fox demon, immediately let out a sound like a horse’s whinny.

"Hm, very good." Chen Jin stepped out from the darkness, though his body remained cloaked in gloomy shadows.

"Bark like a dog," Chen Jin commanded.

*Woof, woof…*

Under Chen Jin’s control, the fat fox demon immediately barked. It seemed he was truly under Chen Jin's thrall.

"Change back to your original form," Chen Jin ordered.

*Pfft…*

The fat fox demon spat out a mouthful of yellow smoke, and his massive rear end released a puff of the same.

Chen Jin quickly waved his hand, summoning a gust of wind that swept the yellow smoke away, revealing the fat creature inside.

He had not reverted to his original form. After a moment’s reflection, Chen Jin considered that perhaps it was because he had blown the smoke away, or perhaps the creature was simply unable to change back.

Chen Jin leaned toward the former explanation, especially since the fox had reacted to his command—albeit in a bizarre way that made Chen Jin worry he had broken the illusion and was trying to flee. But looking at the fat creature now, drooling and acting like a pug, it was clear he was still under control.

"Change back to your original form," Chen Jin commanded again.

At this command, the fat fox demon began spitting yellow smoke once more. This time, Chen Jin did not intervene, allowing the smoke to cover him.

The yellow smoke roiled for about a minute before rapidly contracting, as if a great mouth had opened wide to swallow the two cubic meters of vapor whole.

Evidently, it was the fat fox demon Hu Er himself doing the swallowing.

However, once the yellow smoke was entirely consumed, Hu Er’s fat body remained unchanged. The rolls of fat were still there, and his human-like appearance remained the same.

Chen Jin found this strange. He did not know much about demons; even in the memories he had inherited, information on demons was scarce, as if they were merely insignificant supporting characters in this world.

But he could try asking the subject himself… or rather, the subject demon.

"Why can you not change back to your original appearance?" Chen Jin asked.

"Don't know," Hu Er replied foolishly.

Very well. It seemed that if Chen Jin wanted to get to the bottom of this, he would have to wait until he could ask Hu Er’s great-grandfather.

"How many foxes are there in total?" Chen Jin asked next.

"Five," Hu Er answered blankly.

"What kind of magic can you all use?" Chen Jin asked again.

"Very powerful magic," Hu Er continued to reply in his dull, witless way.

Chen Jin realized he had encountered the pinnacle of fox-demon stupidity; this guy was even dumber than a donkey. With such an oddity, Chen Jin hardly knew how to make use of him.

In Chen Jin’s eyes, this fat fox’s only remaining utility was to serve as a guide.

***

Spring brings lethargy, autumn brings fatigue, and summer brings drowsiness.

People grow old, and so do demons. As long as one has not ascended to become a Demon Immortal, no demon can escape the rule of having their life stripped away by time.

Grandpa Hu sometimes felt that death was drawing near. His old friends, whom he had eaten in the past, seemed to come looking for him, circling him and tearing at his flesh.

Not long ago, he had found this village. After settling in, the sensation had lessened significantly.

However, shortly after he had occupied the village and either eaten the villagers or turned them into walking corpses, a python demon had arrived. It appeared to be on the verge of evolving into a flood dragon. Neither he nor his fox descendants were a match for this single-horned python, so they were forced to retreat and find a nearby hill to use as a temporary base, hoping to one day reclaim the village.

Since moving to this hill, Grandpa Hu felt that his old nightmares had returned to haunt him, making him all the more desperate to retake the village.

For days, he had been working tirelessly to forge a magical artifact specifically designed to deal with draconic creatures—partly because he didn't want to encounter his "old friends" in his dreams. But such artifacts were difficult to forge, especially those meant for dragon-kin, and they required rare and precious materials. Grandpa Hu did not have enough of these, so he planned to extract the Yin-Shattered Essence and living souls from the villagers to fuel the forging.

He had once heard the phrase, "Man can conquer nature," and inspired by this, he felt he could use such resolve to forge an artifact to defeat the dragon.

Today, however, he heard from his foolish descendant that the python demon in the village had been slain by a human cultivator. Grandpa Hu was pleasantly surprised and set aside the materials he had spent days preparing.

Now, he simply waited for his foolish descendant to return with the good news.

"Hm? So fast?" Grandpa Hu, sitting atop the hill, watched from afar as the round Hu Er came rolling back.