Chapter 5: The Little Monster’s Summer 5

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

The enormous, piercing, and penetrating sound of the bronze gong instantly reverberated across the entire mountain. The little demons, ever sensitive to the sound that called them to wake each day, were startled awake the moment they heard the gong. After a few moments of confusion, they remembered—oh... it was time to get up.

Lu Fei, who was cultivating through breath and meditation, was also jolted awake the moment the gong blared. Though he wished he could complain about being woken in such a way every morning, certain that one day it would drive him to nervous exhaustion, he knew that if not for such rough methods, those little demons would never wake up.

For the lowly demons, “self-awareness” and “discipline” were foreign concepts. They were accustomed to obeying strength, power, brutality, and instinct—not anything else.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

The shrill sound of the gong continued.

Lu Fei opened his eyes and saw, on the stone bed opposite, the crow demon who had been startled awake and now sat bolt upright, as if a corpse revived, his gaze vacant, and beside him the little pig demon, Redskin, groaning as he woke.

“I feel like I just lay down...” said the crow demon, his eyes regaining their focus.

“You’re not mistaken. We really did only just lie down not long ago...” Redskin the pig demon rolled over and sat up, rubbing at the sleep in his eyes.

As the two demons talked, Lu Fei’s mind stirred.

Lines of faintly glowing white virtual data began to appear before his eyes.

[Host: Lu Fei]
[Realm: Level One Demon Soldier (36/100)]
[Technique: Demon Breathing Method (Beginner) (19/100)]
[Skill: Spearmanship (Beginner) (18/100); Archery (Beginner) (6/100)]
[Supernatural Power: None]
[Talent: Heavenly Wolf Devours Moon (Beginner) (7/100)]
[Soul Power: None]
[......]

“My realm score has increased by one, and my technique score by two...”

Watching the words and numbers float before his eyes, Lu Fei, who remembered every detail of his own panel, immediately noticed the changes.

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Such clear data—it meant he had been cultivating through meditation for four hours...

Lu Fei mused silently; he had already begun using the changes in the virtual panel as a way to measure time. Though as a demon now, he was highly sensitive to the shift in daylight.

“Leader Bear will definitely assign us tasks today. We need to get there early...”
“We should go...”
“Whitefur...?”

The crow demon’s voice sounded.

“Let’s go...” Lu Fei came back to himself, spoke, dispersed the virtual data, and got up from the stone bed.

Though his focus was mainly on the panel, he still heard the crow demon’s words. His ability to multitask was improving.

He tightened the gray bear pelt around his waist.

Lu Fei followed behind the crow demon, stepping out of the stone cave.

At the rear, Redskin the pig demon couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the glossy, slick gray bear pelt wrapped around Lu Fei. Feeling the touch on his backside, Lu Fei jumped, turned to look at Redskin, and barked, “What are you doing?”

Redskin scratched at the bristles on his neck and grinned, “I just wanted to see if it’s really soft.”

Lu Fei, seeing the silly-looking pig demon before him, replied irritably, “Well, now you know.”

Redskin nodded, “I know now. I want to get one for myself too...”

The crow demon chimed in, “Redskin, aren’t you afraid of Leader Bear?”

Redskin shook his head, “Not afraid. I’m planning to get some bird feathers. Wearing them will be even softer...”

The crow demon was momentarily stunned, “Why didn’t I think of that...”

Listening to their exchange, Lu Fei couldn’t help but interject, “If you two don’t hurry, we’ll definitely get whipped by Leader Bear today...”

When the three little demons arrived at the usual gathering point on the mountain, a crowd of little demons had already assembled.

From the memories of his predecessor, Lu Fei now understood the arrangement of the entire Langlang Mountain.

The chief was a wild ox spirit.

Below the chief were two commanders: the wolf commander and the sheep commander.

Below the commanders were the small leaders.

Langlang Mountain currently had nine small leaders.

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Each small leader managed between ten and twenty little demons. So, the number of demons on Langlang Mountain could be roughly calculated at around two hundred.

Lu Fei, the crow demon, and Redskin belonged to Leader Bear’s faction.

After spotting Leader Bear’s imposing figure, the three quickly joined the group of little demons under his command.

The crow demon, seeing familiar faces—and especially a gray-skinned mouse spirit just over a meter tall with a mouse head—was immediately seized by a desire to boast and socialize. He strutted over with head held high and noble steps.

Lu Fei glanced at the crow demon. He didn’t need to ask to know what that fellow would say—it would be nothing but bragging about last night’s trip to the human village.

Looking to the front of the lineup, Lu Fei saw the towering, muscular Leader Bear, his body over two meters tall, with a human form but a bear’s head, seemingly waiting for something.

Lu Fei recalled yesterday’s scene when he attended the chief’s meeting. Because the chief’s cave was small and there were too many demons, lowly little demons like Lu Fei had no right to enter. Gathered outside the cave, their view was blocked by the bigger demons—ox demons, bear demons, tiger demons, and elephant demons.

So yesterday, he and his two companions never even saw the chief—the wild ox spirit, the strongest and most powerful of all. In fact, the only time they heard his voice was near the end of the meeting, when the chief announced the upcoming battle with the monsters of Shepan Mountain, then admonished the lowly little demons.

That was the entirety of his experience attending the chief’s assembly yesterday.

In truth, with the virtual panel within his body, what Lu Fei needed most now was time—time for cultivation and meditation, so he could grow stronger. But he was still a weak, lowly demon.

If he didn’t want to leave Langlang Mountain, wander, and become a wild demon with no guarantee of survival, he had to obey orders.

What he cared about most now was when the battle with Shepan Mountain, announced by the chief yesterday, would begin. If possible, he hoped it would be delayed as long as possible.

Just as Lu Fei was silently praying, the once bright and sunny sky was rapidly cloaked by thick, ominous clouds.

Suddenly, a chilling wind arose, filled with shrill screams, curses, and cries, blowing across the mountain and turning the faces of all the little demons pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Sensing something amiss, Lu Fei forced himself to endure the cold, debilitating wind that left him feeling terribly weak, and struggled to look upward.

There, he saw a colossal, mountain-sized phantom looming above the mountain peak.