Chapter 16: A Bold Offer

“Thirty-three, thirty-four…”

The gray-skinned rat demon continued to diligently count the arrows on the ground, under the attentive gaze of the bear leader, watched by the crowd of lesser monsters.

“Go on, White Fur…”

From the back of the throng, the crow monster watched the rat demon hogging the limelight, unable to resist speaking up.

“Not yet, let’s wait a little longer…”

Lu Fei whispered as he looked at the rat demon laboriously counting arrows among the monster horde.

To replace the rat demon as the one counting for the bear leader would inevitably offend the rat demon. He, of course, had no fear of the rat demon. In human society, it may be immoral to step on others to rise, but in the wild, barbaric, violent, and cruel world of the demon tribe, where the strong thrive and the weak perish, such actions are perfectly normal.

Besides, this would bring him to the attention of the bear leader and other demons.

Yet, how to step up required skill. Having already assessed the rat demon’s abilities, Lu Fei remained calm, waiting for the perfect moment.

Just then—

A piercing, anguished scream echoed across the mountain.

Lu Fei immediately turned towards the source of the cry, and saw a tiger demon, armored and bearing a human body with a tiger’s head, whose head suddenly swelled before opening its bloody maw wide to bite off the head of a pig demon before it.

Lu Fei witnessed the grisly scene. The other lesser monsters who turned at the same time saw it as well, and their expressions grew tense.

The bear leader was here to inspect the completion of tasks, and so were the other leaders. That tiger demon was clearly one of them. The pig demon whose head was bitten off, Lu Fei surmised, had failed his task.

The king’s orders forbade leaders from casually slaughtering their underlings. Otherwise, the lesser monsters would have long been devoured. But any demon who failed a task or disobeyed an order was no longer protected.

Each time tasks were handed in, some unlucky creature would be executed or eaten by the leader.

Though the monsters were used to the sight, every instance still struck fear in their hearts, each dreading they might be next.

“Heh…”

At that moment, the bear leader turned, flashing a ferocious grin at his subordinates. The smile sent chills through their hearts.

The scent of blood could stir beastly desires.

Lu Fei guessed that seeing the tiger demon’s action had likely inspired the bear demon to similar thoughts.

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With that thought, Lu Fei became resolute in his decision to make his mark, to add weight to his presence. If the bear leader wanted to taste a lesser demon, he would not choose him, and so he could avoid an untimely demise before he had a chance to grow.

“Keep counting…”

Seeing the rat demon stop, the bear leader barked.

“Yes, yes…”

The gray-skinned rat demon nodded hurriedly, but when he looked at the piles of arrows beside him, he froze—he had forgotten where he had left off.

He had barely mastered the task, and now he was lost.

The rat demon’s face was anxious. Even knowing the bear leader couldn’t count, he dared not bluff, for fear the bear leader might remember the numbers just counted.

If he called out a number that didn’t match, he might end up like the pig demon—losing his head.

“Hm…?”

Noticing something was off, the bear leader voiced his suspicion.

“Whatever…”

The rat demon shivered at the sound of the bear leader’s voice and was about to risk calling out a random number when suddenly a stranger’s voice rang out.

“Leader, may I take over the counting?”

Lu Fei’s voice broke the tension.

The bear leader and the crowd turned, all eyes on Lu Fei.

Lu Fei pushed aside the monsters before him, stepped forward, and offered a formal salute—a gesture from ancient dramas, hands clasped together.

The bear demon, unfamiliar with this gesture, was momentarily stunned.

Yet, having lived over a hundred years and gathered some knowledge, he recalled that only humans or celestial beings greeted each other this way.

But what was with this white wolf demon?

“Where did you learn that?”

The bear leader quickly recovered and asked.

Prepared for this, Lu Fei replied, “Reporting to leader, I learned it in a dream.”

“In a dream…”

The bear leader’s face twisted in confusion, even more perplexed.

But he didn’t dwell on it, deciding it wasn’t worth pondering. Though the wolf demon’s words sounded mysterious—

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“You can count?”

The bear leader frowned at the white wolf demon and asked again.

Lu Fei nodded at once, “Yes, leader.”

“Then tell me…” The bear leader pointed at the rat demon. “Where did he leave off?”

Lu Fei answered, “He stopped at the thirty-eighth arrow.”

Hearing this, the bear leader felt certain the white wolf demon could indeed count, and had some ability. His answer was much more pleasing than the rat demon’s clumsy “first arrow, second arrow.”

The bear leader realized now that the rat demon must have forgotten his place.

He pointed at the rat demon and demanded coldly, “You, tell me—where did you leave off?”

The rat demon understood the bear leader intended to replace him. Panic etched his face, yet he truly could not recall his place.

He was about to repeat the number the wolf demon had just said, but when he glanced up and caught Lu Fei’s amused gaze, he abandoned the idea. Clearly, forgetting was a lighter offense than deceiving the leader.

So he confessed, “Leader, I was interrupted and forgot…”

Before he finished,

Bang—

The gray-furred rat demon was sent flying, crashing into a tree trunk.

“Useless trash…”

The bear leader struck the rat demon away and turned to Lu Fei, “What’s your name?”

He remembered the white wolf demon but not his name.

Hearing this, Lu Fei prepared to announce the carefully chosen name he had considered, but as the words reached his lips, he answered honestly, “Reporting to leader, I am called White Fur.”

He had already shown his uniqueness to the bear leader and for the future. For now, honesty was best.

His strength was still lacking. He could always change his name later.

The bear leader nodded, looking at the white wolf demon, “From now on, you’ll do the counting…”

“Don’t make any mistakes, or you’ll regret stepping forward.”

Seeing the fierce gleam in the bear demon’s bloodshot eyes, Lu Fei bowed slightly and replied, “Yes, leader…”

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