Chapter 70: Scheming Cat Demon, The General’s Grievance [Seeking First Subscription!!!]

“Now, everyone assemble!”

The Black General’s furious roar thundered across the gathering, ringing in the ears of every monster like a bolt of lightning.

In that instant, all the lesser demons knew something had gone terribly wrong—some major disaster had occurred. Otherwise, the General would never be so enraged. And it was certainly connected to the majestic black hawk that had briefly alighted earlier, daring to eat as it pleased right on the General’s table.

Countless thoughts surfaced in the minds of the monsters. For most of the lowly ones, the Black General’s fury was a rare spectacle. They might have been puzzled, curious, even a little excited or anxious, but none of them truly felt fear—only ignorance.

But for the leaders among the monsters, the matter was far more grave. When the dignified black hawk had eaten on the General’s table, all the leaders had grown tense, for the conversation between the General and the hawk had not been concealed. Many had overheard their exchange, at least in part.

Now, a somber seriousness had settled on every leader’s face.

As for Lu Fei, when the black hawk descended, he had immediately used the “Whisper” technique he’d learned from his second brother, the Crow Monster, and had caught every word of the exchange between the Black General and the hawk.

“Big brother… What do we do now?”

The Black General’s bellow swept over the crowd like a winter storm, prompting the former Crow Monster to shout at once. The red-skinned demon and the third mistress, the Cat Demon, also turned to look at Lu Fei, their squad’s leader.

What else could be done? Who would dare disobey the General’s command!

There was no time to hesitate. Lu Fei quickly swept all the food and wine from the table into his storage spell, stood, and ordered, “All of you, get behind me—stand in formation!”

“Form up, everyone, get in line!”
“Line up!”
“Stand close—why are you so far away? You idiot, do you want to fall out of the sky…”
“I’m scared! Even the Black Bull is standing upright…”
“Hurry, hurry…”

With a single command from the Black General, all the leaders got busy. Their experience showed. Under the direction of the ten leaders, the group—which had grown from a hundred to roughly a hundred and fifty lesser demons in the past half year—quickly assembled.

Just as the General had required before, the demons pressed close, packed as tightly as possible. The Crow Monster was squeezed face-to-face with the Toad Demon Jin Hua at the front, and behind, the solid bulk of the Yellow Ox Demon Lao Han pressed in. Trapped between them, it was an ordeal.

Even Lu Fei was not immune. As the leader, he stood at the front of his team, and the Cat Demon, Third Mistress, pressed right up against him. Lu Fei frowned but said nothing; after all, he had himself required every demon to get as close as possible, so the Black General would spend less demonic power lifting the whole group into the air.

Yet as the Cat Demon pressed closer, she suddenly reached out and tried to wrap her arms around him, but her short limbs couldn’t fully encircle her leader’s sturdy waist.

Lu Fei turned and glared at the short Cat Demon behind him. She quickly shrank back, not daring to look up, but still remained pressed against him.

Lu Fei ignored her, turning to fix his eyes on the grim-faced General ahead.

He did not notice the mischievous grin the Cat Demon wore behind him, nor how she gestured with her hands, recalling the solid width of her leader’s waist. She nestled her head against the only part of him not covered by cold iron armor.

Oblivious to what the Cat Demon was doing, Lu Fei focused on the Black General before him. The monster horde was about to set out—not just these here, but others on the mountain needed to be included or given orders to wait. The distance from here to the main mountain was great, even for the Black General it would take hours to fly. Most lesser monsters would never find their way if they were separated. Any stragglers would be a headache.

Eager to expand his ranks, the Black General was in no mood to lose a single subordinate without reason.

The wind and snow howled, icy gusts and swirling flakes pelting every monster’s face and body. It was bitterly cold, but the demons’ thick hides helped. Many wore nothing but grass skirts, yet now even the most robust shrank in on themselves, huddling together as if they’d grown younger by several years. The cold bound them even tighter.

The snow thickened. Soon, the long tables and everything around were buried in drifts, and even sight was blurred.

Suddenly, a white figure streaked toward them through the storm.

Seeing the figure of the Wolf Commander, the Black General immediately called out, “Is everything arranged?”

Landing, the Wolf Commander replied, “All arrangements are complete.”

The Black General nodded, face grim, eyes clouded with hidden worries.

The Wolf Commander saw this hesitation, and, noting the General’s reluctance to leave, asked quietly, “General, that black hawk from earlier—who was he?”

The Black General replied, “One of the overseers in the third lord’s lair—his strength is equal to yours.”

The Wolf Commander was silent for a moment, then pressed on, “So why did he come here just now?”

Though he had overheard the conversation, it was better to pretend otherwise.

“Hmph!” At the question, the General’s anger flared. He snorted coldly: “He said something has happened at the main mountain!”

“What does that have to do with us! We just survived a battle half a year ago—our numbers are barely a hundred, not even a tenth of the other generals’ forces! The lord took my treasure, tossed us into the smallest and most remote mountain—now, just when we need to recover…”

“Another war…”

In front of his own demons and his own commander, the Black General grew more agitated as he spoke, finally erupting in a snarl, “Do they want to see our Langlang Mountain wiped out completely?!”

The General’s rage was obvious to all: not only the Wolf Commander beside him, but also the other leaders, looking like snowmen in the blizzard, could see how much humiliation and grievance the General had suffered at the hands of the third lord.

Their hearts stirred with many emotions.

Among monsters, there is both unity and exclusion. They are loyal to their own horde, but outsiders are always shunned, just as any stranger crossing the border risks being eaten.

If, in that battle half a year ago, the Black General had died at the hands of the third lord, and the Langlang Mountain monsters were sent to Dahuang Mountain under another general, their fate would have been grim. They would be the lowest of the low, given the hardest, most dangerous, and most thankless tasks, beaten and punished more severely, and ultimately disposed of or eaten at whim.

Any monster with half a brain would know this. The leaders, even more so.

Thus, the wrongs suffered by the Black General were felt by all. The master’s shame is the followers’ shame. The old saying: “If the master is shamed, the servant dies.” While the bond between leader and general was not quite so absolute, the sentiment was the same.

The General’s humiliation was the humiliation of the entire Langlang Mountain horde—a bitter truth that weighed on every leader’s heart.

“General…”

At this, the Wolf Commander spoke softly, “Perhaps it’s not war—after all, Dahuang Mountain does not belong solely to the third lord. There’s the second lord, and the great lord as well. There’s no reason the other two would let the third lord be bullied without intervening. If someone truly invades Dahuang Mountain, it must be a powerful monster indeed. Someone that strong would not be something we could resist; surely the lords understand that too. Besides, Lady Hua and the others will be summoned as well, and their situation is much like ours.”

He paused.

The Black General was silent for a long time. When he finally looked up, his face had recovered its usual cold indifference. “Very well,” he said. “Let’s go and see for ourselves what upheaval could warrant summoning all the generals…”

With that, the Black General strode forward, swept his arm, and a vast black wind surged up, engulfing all the leaders and monsters.

Then, with the Wolf Commander at his side, the Black General mounted the black whirlwind, soaring into the blizzard and vanishing into the storm.

Dreaming Cat in the Deep Sea