Chapter 57: The Demon General (Part 2)

The sun was sinking in the west. As the last glimmer of light faded from the horizon, darkness began to envelop the land.

“Ah, I’m exhausted…” The crow demon flapped his wings as he landed, swiftly shifting into his half-demon form, listlessly making his way toward the stone cave.

“How is it that this is even more tiring than patrolling the mountain all day…” He entered the cave, his legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground with a sigh.

“Chopping firewood is certainly more taxing than patrolling,” Redskin chimed in, walking to the corner where dry wood was stored. He picked up an armful of logs and carried them to the stone stove, setting about kindling a fire.

A few strikes with the flint sent sparks onto a small bundle of soft tinder, which caught quickly. The firelight filled the cave, warming their vision and their spirits.

“We just finished half a month’s patrol, and now we’re ordered to chop firewood. I think Chief Bear is doing this on purpose—deliberately working us to the bone so we can’t go out to gather spirit herbs…” Seeing the stove ablaze, the crow demon, unwilling to move, rolled straight to the fire and looked up at Lu Fei by the stove. “Without time, we can’t search for spirit herbs. When the deadline comes, and the other lesser demons have all handed theirs in while we have nothing, what will we do, brother?”

Lu Fei ignored the crow demon’s habitual complaints. With a flick of his mind, a sturdy spotted deer appeared on the ground. He took out a dagger and began to gut the animal.

Redskin hurried over to assist. Working together, they soon stripped a complete deer hide, and hung the meat on the rack to roast.

“There’ll always be a way,” Lu Fei finally replied to the crow demon, giving him a nudge with his foot. “The water barrel is empty. Go fetch a barrel of water.”

The barrel Lu Fei spoke of was not a typical water jar. In the primitive, ragtag demon clan of Langlang Mountain, such things did not exist. Instead, they used a hollowed-out segment of a fine tree trunk, fashioned into a barrel—a technique inspired by the kitchen staff.

“Why am I always the one fetching water?” The crow demon struggled to rise, shuffled to the side of the cave, and picked up a heavy wooden barrel.

“Because you’re the fastest,” Lu Fei replied offhandedly.

“That’s true, I’ve always been quick,” the crow demon answered, pleased with the compliment, though something in Lu Fei’s tone made him uneasy. Unable to pinpoint the reason, he carried the barrel out of the cave.

“Brother, the crow demon is right,” Redskin said, still tending to the deer meat. “Chief Bear won’t keep us busy with chores forever, will he? Won’t he let us have time to gather spirit herbs?”

Lu Fei worked steadily, replying, “He won’t. Langlang Mountain isn’t ruled by him alone. Wait a few days; if he keeps assigning us tasks every day so we have no time to seek spirit herbs, I’ll go find Chief Wolf.”

If Chief Bear continued to harass the three of them, Lu Fei would have no choice but to speak to Chief Wolf.

Though he was reluctant to bother Chief Wolf over such trivial matters, there was no other way. He needed time to search for spirit herbs—and he also had to consider the feelings of the crow demon and Redskin. The hierarchy here was nothing like that of Earth. Chief Bear’s excessive troublemaking was a disregard for Chief Wolf’s authority. Lu Fei trusted Chief Wolf would teach Chief Bear a lesson in being a proper demon.

Of course, this was only if Chief Bear truly became unreasonable. So he had to wait, let Chief Bear overstep further, until the other demons could see the injustice, then complain.

“We’ll wait a bit longer,” Lu Fei said casually, his mind made up.

Redskin nodded—he always admired and trusted his elder brother.

“Brother, Redskin!” The crow demon’s voice echoed in before he appeared. “Look what I caught!”

He entered, bearing a heavy wooden barrel, his face alight with joy. Glancing at the fire, he asked, “Is Huang Gui not here yet?”

Redskin replied, “He’s on duty today, you know that.”

With a bang, the crow demon set down the barrel. “Of course I know, but it’s so late—he should be back by now…” He reached into the water, his hand transforming into a curved claw, and easily scooped out a fish about a foot long. “Look what I caught—we can have fish soup again tonight.”

He happily fetched an iron stew pot from the side of the cave. Yes, an iron pot—an old, battered vessel with several chips along the rim. It should have been sold for scrap, but the crow demon had befriended the kitchen staff and wheedled it from them after several days. Despite its age, the pot was still serviceable.

“Brother,” the crow demon asked as he gutted the fish with a sharp stone, “do you think there’s a way for Huang Gui to join us?”

Though he hadn’t spoken clearly, Lu Fei understood his meaning and shook his head. “Impossible. Serving under the deer demon chief is far better than being under Chief Bear with us.”

“But Huang Gui told me yesterday he wants to join us,” the crow demon insisted.

For a lesser demon to change allegiance, unless initially assigned, both the original and the accepting chiefs had to agree. It wasn’t difficult—usually a single word would suffice, and out of courtesy, the chiefs would allow it. Yet, if the two chiefs were at odds, things could get complicated.

Once Lu Fei advanced to demon general, he could claim Huang Gui. But until then, it was out of the question.

“Let him wait a bit longer,” Lu Fei said, shaking his head.

The crow demon, uncertain about the meaning of “wait,” was about to ask when footsteps sounded outside the cave.

Soon, a small, frail figure entered.

“Huang Gui, what happened?” The crow demon, seeing blood and scabs on Huang Gui’s body and face, cried out, “Who beat you?”

Hearing his voice, Lu Fei and Redskin turned to see several wounds on Huang Gui.

“Was it a fight?” Lu Fei asked, frowning.

“Yes, brother, but I won,” Huang Gui said, coming to the fire and helping Redskin with the deer meat. “I don’t get along with one of the deer demons under our chief.”

After Huang Gui explained, Lu Fei understood the reason for his injuries. He had a feud with a fellow deer demon under the deer demon chief. That deer bullied him, and with Huang Gui’s temperament, he wouldn’t stand for it—so they fought.

But the deer demon had a brother, and the chief was also a deer demon. The outcome was predictable: the frail Huang Gui was often bullied and ostracized among the deer demon chief’s ranks.

Today, during their assigned duties, he was grouped with the deer demon brothers. A few harsh words later, fists flew. Huang Gui faced two opponents. Though his wounds were severe, his adversaries were equally battered.

“Those damned plague deer, how dare they bully Huang Gui!” The crow demon, furious, jumped up. “Brother, let’s go avenge him!”

“Sit down,” Lu Fei said sternly, seeing his anger.

Though the crow demon was seething, he obeyed his elder brother and sat down in sullen silence.

Lu Fei spoke, “Huang Gui serves under the deer demon chief, and his enemies are also under that chief. Their conflicts can be settled among themselves. But we—under Chief Bear—are not part of their group. If we intervene to help Huang Gui against the deer demons, what do you think their chief will do?”

“If we really did that, how could Huang Gui stay under the deer demon chief? His situation would become even more difficult—more dangerous. The chief might even target him personally, and he could die…”

As Lu Fei calmly uttered the word “die,” Huang Gui and Redskin stopped their work. The crow demon fell completely silent, his face tinged with embarrassment.

“Brother…” Huang Gui suddenly asked, “Can I come under your chief?”