Chapter 46: Lingering Fear

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

The little creature that spat out the spirit medicine stood up once more and squeaked at Lu Fei, its posture clearly one of seeking praise and reward.

Lu Fei was certain that its squeaks carried precisely that meaning. Though it could not speak, it was exceptionally clever.

"Such a good child..." Lu Fei felt increasingly delighted, reached out to stroke the creature’s head, and smiled, "You’ve worked hard..."

As he spoke, his mind began to race. This time, the little one had brought back two pieces of spirit medicine and hadn’t eaten any of them. A reward was surely in order.

Having raised dogs before, Lu Fei understood this well. The question was what sort of reward.

Those two pieces of spirit medicine were crucial for his advancement to the rank of demon general. He had no intention of feeding them to the creature. Besides, since it could seek out spirit medicine, it must have eaten plenty in the past; missing out this time would not matter.

He believed the little one would agree.

But there was a caveat: he needed to offer something comparable to spirit medicine. Otherwise, it would certainly affect the creature’s trust in him—a matter of utmost importance.

"I’ve got it..."

Just as this thought struck him, Lu Fei’s eyes brightened.

In the next moment, a chunk of roasted meat, about the size of a grown man’s fist, appeared in his hand. Still warm, its aroma immediately caught the creature’s attention.

Fixated on the meat, the little one’s eyes could not look away. It hurried forward, grasping Lu Fei’s hand tightly with its front paws. Yet it was polite and understood its place; instead of biting directly, it clung to his hand and looked up, squeaking urgently, as if asking permission to eat.

Lu Fei was now increasingly adept at understanding its language, though mainly because of the creature’s intelligence.

He nodded, "Go ahead, this is your reward for today’s work..."

As he spoke, Lu Fei picked up two pure white, pigeon-egg-shaped fruits. He didn’t know their names or their grading, but the rich medicinal fragrance suggested they were not inferior to the Yellow-grade spirit ginseng he had extorted from the rabbit demon of Snake Coil Mountain.

"Take your time with the meat..."

Lu Fei held the two spirit fruits, watching the little one embrace the chunk of meat that dwarfed its own head. “I’ll keep these safe,” he said.

The creature made no protest, not even glancing at Lu Fei, absorbed in devouring the meat, its mouth glistening with oil.

Seeing the pristine white fur now stained with grease, Lu Fei felt a sense of incongruity. This little one was born to seek and consume spirit medicine—a creature of rare spirituality—now gnawing on a hunk of meat...

He wondered if this was good or bad for the creature, whether it might upset its stomach. But seeing how heartily it ate, Lu Fei believed that even if it got sick, the little one would be happy.

He stored the two spirit medicines in his internal storage space and watched as the creature had only managed to eat a fifth of the meat. Lu Fei decided not to give it any more for now, both as a form of hunger marketing and out of concern that its belly might not handle it well.

Even so, the chunk—several times larger than the creature’s head—was the smallest piece in Lu Fei’s storage.

"Take your time eating..."

Watching the creature struggle to finish, Lu Fei patted its head, then sat cross-legged and began his meditation.

He did not intend to consume the two spirit medicines immediately; first, because his recent rapid rise from first-grade to third-grade demon soldier had caused his demon energy to swell so quickly that he felt unstable, unable to wield it with ease. He needed time to refine and integrate it, until it felt as natural as moving an arm.

Second, he had just eaten a bellyful of demon meat today, which would provide a considerable boost to a minor demon like him. He needed to meditate and convert it into cultivation as soon as possible. Besides, his internal storage still contained plenty of meat—enough for him and the crow demon Red Skin to eat for days, as if he’d activated a cultivation acceleration buff.

Third—and most crucial—these two spirit medicines had been stolen from a nearby mountain, not far from Xinlang Mountain. With the peaks so close, the creatures there undoubtedly served under the Black-faced Third Lord.

More importantly, the demon group on Langlang Mountain had only recently arrived, and now a strange face had stolen spirit medicine from the neighboring peak. Naturally, suspicion would fall on the newcomers.

If the neighbors decided to investigate...

At this thought, sweat broke out on Lu Fei’s forehead.

If they came looking, they might find him. Though he had disguised himself last night, the power of great demons was formidable; his simple camouflage might fool lesser demons, but not someone as powerful as the Black General.

However, demons valued face and reputation above all. After so long interacting with them, Lu Fei understood well: even minor demons would fight fiercely over pride, let alone great ones.

The stronger a demon, the more they cared about appearances.

So if the neighbors really came, Lu Fei was almost certain the Black General would never let them search the lower-ranked demons just based on suspicion; if word spread, he’d be seen as weak. Besides, he had only just arrived—he needed to be tough to earn respect from other generals and even the Third Lord.

Among demons, truth and reason mattered little; power was everything.

And the neighboring mountain had only lost two pieces of spirit medicine. What was precious to Lu Fei would mean little to a demon of Black General’s rank.

They wouldn’t risk much trouble over such a trivial loss.

Thus, it was unlikely they would come searching tomorrow.

Having thought this through, Lu Fei exhaled deeply, wiped the sweat from his brow, his hand now damp with white fur.

This was the consequence of having eyes only for spirit medicine, heedless of everything else.

Upon careful reflection, he felt a lingering fear. “The gains are considerable, but the risks are too great. Best not to repeat it.”

“No, not entirely. With a treasure like this spirit-seeking mouse, hiding its talents would be foolish.”

“But I must avoid doing it where others have claims…”

With these thoughts settled, Lu Fei took a long breath, ceased his worries, adjusted his breathing, and began to practice the demon clan’s meditation technique.