Chapter 51: Grandfather and Grandson

"This is just too unfair..."

"Why are we the first ones sent on patrol, and not some other monsters..."

"And besides, before we only had to patrol for three days at most, and now it's half a month..."

The three monsters hurried down the mountain, with the crow creature cawing continuously.

But at least he knew better than to be too loud.

"Shut up!"

Once they reached the foot of the mountain, Lu Fei finally stopped and turned to the crow creature, shouting, "How many times have I told you to restrain yourself!"

"Of course we all know that Leader Bear is doing this on purpose, but is that something you can just shout out?"

"And what makes you say Leader Bear is picking on us? Aren't there two other little monsters assigned to patrol just like us?"

"What if Leader Bear had heard what you just said?"

"He could easily break your legs, pluck every feather off you, chop off your wings, or even kill you for insubordination!"

"What would you do then?"

"What about me and Redskin? Would you have us avenge you?"

"We can't beat Leader Bear right now... and even if we could, there's still the chief above him, and the general, and the king!"

"......"

Lu Fei's face grew more and more severe, his anger mounting as he spoke, until at last he roared, "Are you trying to make Redskin and me watch you get yourself killed?!"

The crow creature, stunned by the barrage of scolding and that final outburst, was left speechless.

Right now, he was in his true, transformed form, fairly large in size. Yet, having been sprayed all over by his big brother’s spit, he didn’t dare make a sound or even twitch.

He had never seen his big brother this furious before.

Redskin, the little pig demon beside him, felt the same. He too had never seen his brother so angry.

But upon thinking carefully about what his brother had said, he realized it was all true.

If Leader Bear had heard the crow creature’s complaints on the mountain, who knows what would have happened.

Usually, Lu Fei’s scoldings were much milder. This time, he was truly provoked.

Still, he deserved it; his brother had told him so many times to be careful with his words.

Clearly, he hadn’t taken it to heart.

Now he was being scolded for it.

Redskin himself didn’t dare make a sound either, not even the faintest noise, for fear that his brother would turn his wrath on him as well.

The already quiet forest grew even more silent.

Only the occasional wind swept by.

After a while, the crow creature finally said meekly, "Big brother, I know I was wrong."

"I hope you're not just saying that, as you always do," Lu Fei replied, gazing at the crow with a stern look. "Otherwise, no one can save you."

"Let’s go. If we don’t set out now, we might not make it back before dark..."

Saying this, Lu Fei strode forward.

Redskin immediately followed.

The crow creature hurried after them as well.

But this time, instead of flying out ahead, he shrank down to the size of an ordinary crow and perched atop Redskin's head, whispering, "Why do you think big brother is so angry today?"

At this, Redskin cocked his head. "You really don’t know?"

The crow creature replied, "I know, it’s because of me."

"Then why are you asking?"

"Still, even if he didn’t get so angry, I’d know I was wrong..."

"If big brother doesn’t lose his temper, will you remember?"

"I will."

Redskin shook his head. "You won’t..."

"This time, I really will."

Redskin kept shaking his head. "You really won’t. Do you realize how dangerous it just was? If Leader Bear had heard you..."

The crow creature fell silent.

Whenever the crow and Redskin got into a bickering mood, Lu Fei instinctively tuned them out.

He was pondering Leader Bear’s intentions.

Just as the crow creature had said, Leader Bear had obviously assigned them to this patrol on purpose.

Because the order had just come down: every little monster was required to hand over a spirit herb every two months.

With the three of them, that meant three spirit herbs.

If they waited half a month before searching, all the obvious herbs would already be picked clean, making things much harder later.

But there was nothing he could say.

It had been mentioned before: the leader wielded great power over the lesser monsters.

Even though he himself was now a level-three demon soldier—the late stage of a demon soldier, as others would call it—he was still just a demon soldier.

If it weren’t for Wolf Commander looking out for him, he wouldn’t even be safe now.

In the end, it all came down to strength.

But at least he had his little companion.

Even if it was three herbs every month and a half, he felt confident.

At this thought, Lu Fei stopped dwelling on it and called back to his two chattering brothers, "Hurry up..."

With that, he dashed into the dense forest ahead.

Time drifted by.

When the blazing orb in the sky reached its zenith, directly overhead, a great river appeared before Lu Fei and his two brothers.

"We’re here. That’s the edge of the territory Leader Bear mentioned..."

Lu Fei’s eyes lit up and he hurried forward. Only when he got closer did he realize that the river before them was a full thirty or forty meters wide, with rushing waves, surging spray, and a swift current.

"Wow, what a huge river..."

Recovered from his earlier fright, the crow creature quickly flew ahead, gazing at the surging river in amazement.

But perhaps because he’d been attacked by a fish demon before, he was reluctant to fly too close to the river, even from the air.

Redskin came up beside him, his eyes also wide as he stared at the river.

For both of them, this was by far the largest river they had ever seen.

Redskin wanted to get closer for a better look, but Lu Fei stopped him. "We’ve been attacked by fish demons even in our old river—anything in this one will be much bigger..."

At his words, both monsters hurriedly backed away, distancing themselves from the river.

To Lu Fei, the river was nothing extraordinary. He glanced at his companions. "Who wants to leave a sign?"

Since they had patrolled this far, they needed to leave a mark, so they’d have proof if Leader Bear asked.

"I’ll do it..."

"I love this job..."

Saying so, the crow creature flew up to a nearby tree, quickly relieved himself, and then returned, delighted. "Done..."

"Let’s go, onward..."

Lu Fei continued patrolling along the riverbank.

"Big brother..."

Just then, the crow creature, soaring overhead, called out, "Look, over there..."

"Over there..."

Lu Fei looked in the direction the crow indicated and saw, on the opposite bank, several monsters with all sorts of heads.

"Hey, they’re monsters from Serpent Coiling Mountain..."

Redskin suddenly spoke as he gazed at the creatures across the river.

"How can you tell?" asked the crow.

"I recognize that toad spirit..."

Not only did Redskin recognize them; Lu Fei did as well.

Among them was the female rabbit demon he had once extorted.

"Hey, you brats from Wandering Mountain!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from across the river.

"Big brother..."

The crow creature shouted angrily, "They’re insulting us!"

"Then insult them back," Lu Fei replied.

Delighted, the crow turned and shouted across the river, "You grandsons from Serpent Coiling Mountain..."

"I’m your granddaddy..."