The reply "Zixing, long time no see" in the cave seemed to remind people of the past.
The Toad Taoist stood at the bottom of the stone steps, with a purple aura emanating from his body. The aura gradually rose higher and then dispersed, revealing a fat old man in a gray robe with a bulging belly, a round chin, and a few tufts of long beard fluttering in the wind.
He stared at the man on the stone chair above him, waved his wide sleeves to restrain the purple air, and a smile appeared on his round face.
"It's only been a dozen years, why do you need to say 'long time'? I've been a little shy about 'long time no see' lately. The last time I met an old bald donkey he said the same thing, and it caused me bad luck for a long time."
The figure on the stone chair illuminated from above became interested when he heard this, and leaned forward slightly. The shadow covered by the firelight on one side fell on half of his face, and his mouth stretched into a smile.
"Oh? Looks like that old bald ass is courting his own death."
"I didn't eat him." The Toad Taoist turned his face away, "The old bald donkey is the father of my wife."
"Your wife's...father?"
The figure on the stone chair blinked and looked at the Toad Taoist opposite him. The other party also glanced at him from the side. After a moment of silence, he suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha... he's still your wife's father. A father-in-law is still a father-in-law. It's a big detour, but to be your father-in-law, that monk must not be an ordinary monk."
The monster in the cave knew Toad Taoist very well. It was not difficult for him to guess that his so-called wife was just the human woman buried in a grave near Mount Qishan.
The laughter continued, and the dim firelight filled the spacious cave. From the several extended cave passages, a few little demons tied with animal skins came out from time to time, placed wine on the stone table, and hurried back inside, not forgetting to look back at the short figure in the hall.
"… Our king invited this toad demon? I don't see how powerful it is."
"Your Majesty has invited me, so I have my reasons."
"Don't yell. How long have you been a monster? That's the old Purple Star monster. In the past, he ate whoever he saw. He ate many people from many major sects."
"Oh, this is amazing. Tell me, how do you eat it?"
"You opened your mouth and took it all in. What else can you eat? Fry it. Come on, go to the back and clean the fat pig and put it in the steamer. The king is waiting to be served."
The little demon who knew the identity of the toad was quite magical. He walked in the middle of the cave while talking. At the end was a wall room on the side of the fork. Several roots stretched out from the cracks in the stone, like a curtain hanging at the entrance of the cave. There was a fishy smell inside. The four little demons went in. It was much more spacious inside, with all kinds of pots, pans, and utensils.
A leading little demon ran to take down the steaming plate hanging on the wall, then turned back to urge the other three to hurry up.
"Go wash the fat pigs that we caught recently in the prison. Don't loosen the ropes, or they'll run away. I'll take the three of you and serve you to the guests."
Over there, the three little demons were also nimble. They opened the fence and saw a fat, big-eared figure tied up inside, lying on his side. His hair was like steel needles, his fangs were protruding outward, and he stared at the three of them with his big eyes and groaned.
"Hehe... Let me go, old pig! If you push me too far, I'll turn your hole upside down."
The three little demons patted the pig demon's head with their hands, brought a few basins of water, and lifted up the pig demon's thick and fat arms and thighs to wash them one by one, and they were also very tired.
"I told you to stop talking. Why are you pushing your way here? You've offended my king, and you still want to run away?"
"Hehehe~~~I, Old Pig, didn't mean to provoke him. I just came here to look for weapons."
The green-skinned little demon on the other side wiped the pig demon's armpits, raised his face and wrinkled it so much that it looked like bags under his eyes. "Then why are you nudging my second mother? Forget it, forget it, you won't be able to talk later, so hurry up and say more, or my king will be pregnant soon."
Side Face also said to the other two monsters: "Wipe it clean, we can still eat some leftovers later."
The bound and immobile pig demon glanced outside the fence and saw a little demon sitting on a stone, sharpening a knife. He twisted his body with all his might, stared fiercely with a pair of big copper bell eyes, and then... let out a roar like a pig being slaughtered.
“Hmmmm~”
…
Outside the noisy back cave, in the cave hall, the laughing and talking stopped. On the stone chair, the wolf demon named Gongsun Liao stood up, with a white fur cloak hanging around him.
"Zixing, I know you were badly injured. I specially prepared blood food for you to heal your injuries when you returned today."
After saying that, he raised his hands and clapped twice.
In the wall room connected to the cave hall, several sturdy gray-haired wolf demons carried out five men and women. They bared their teeth and kissed them, sniffed their necks and faces, and then threw them to the side of the cave hall and forced them to kneel down.
With trembling bodies, they looked at the gray-haired monsters standing on both sides, their faces turning pale. No one dared to call for help from the fat old man standing in front of them and the man in the cloak on the stone steps. The only person who could stand in this monster cave could be a monster.
Toad looked at the men and women kneeling in a row, the smile on his face remaining unchanged.
"That's all?"
"More than that!" The wolf demon waved his hand and sat on the stone chair. The wind brought by his fluttering cloak made the light on the brazier flicker.
"This is for your appetite. I'll also have a pig monster later. Once it's steamed, you and I can eat it together!"
The Toad Taoist fell silent and walked over to the young men and women. They could also hear the conversation between the two demons. They felt the fat old man approaching and were trembling with fear. One of the women, with disheveled hair and a dirty face, raised her dirty face, which was covered with tears, and her teeth were chattering up and down.
"Old Immortal, I don't want to die, please don't eat me, I don't want to die..."
The remaining four didn't dare to speak. When they heard the words that they were going to be eaten, they were so scared that they collapsed and hugged each other tremblingly.
The firelight flickered. Toad Taoist put his hands behind his back, snorted, turned aside, walked towards the stone steps, stuck out his bulging belly, and nodded slightly.
"It's so dirty, you want me to eat it? It doesn't look appetizing. So, wash it clean and leave it for me. I can eat it when I feel like it."
On the stone steps, the white wolf demon Gongsun Liao leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes.
"This is not the Zixing I know."
He raised his arm and waved at the wolf demons over there, asking them to take the five humans away. Then he opened his eyes, and his gaze seemed to shoot lightning.
In the beard, his lips opened, revealing his cold fangs.
"You have been tainted by too much human sentiment and have become weak. This is not a good thing."
"This is called elegance!"
Gongsun Liao snorted coldly and slapped the handrail with his palm, shattering the rocks and splashing them away: "You want to be a human!"
The Toad Taoist shook his wide sleeves, turned around and looked straight at him.
"Ever since I had spiritual consciousness, I have always wanted to be a human. Otherwise, how did Taoist Zixing come about?"
As the momentum surged, demonic energy swelled up the gray robe, purple air filled the air behind the toad, and in the mist, the shadow of a huge toad could be vaguely seen, lying on the ground and hissing.
On the opposite side, the white wolf demon was also shrouded in yellow smoke, and the shadow of a giant white wolf was walking on an isolated cliff.
When the atmosphere in the hall froze, a pig-slaughtering roar came from Dongjing at the back of the cave hall. The two demons, who were originally on the verge of a fight, were completely upset by the roar and stopped their demonic auras.
The Toad Taoist felt that the voice sounded familiar, so he asked:
"You caught a pig demon?"
"A foreign monster, do you know him?"
Gongsun Liao tilted his head and raised his chin towards a little demon: "Bring the pig demon up here before it's steamed."
After his monsters left, the empty cave hall was filled with the occasional crackling sound of a brazier, with some sparks rising into the air. The White Wolf Demon sat back on the stone chair, let out a sigh of relief, and softened his tone.
"Zixing, you are a demon after all, and this is your home."
Across the fire, Toad Taoist looked at the furnishings in the cave. Animal skins and human skins were spread on the walls of the cave. The air was filled with the smell of blood. He closed his eyes slightly.
“It used to be.”
In my mind, there are images of foothills bathed in the glow of the sunset, a mountain village with smoke rising from cooking fires, an old farmer carrying his hoe and returning home, a woman throwing a tantrum and cursing, a little ghost girl humming and singing in the painting, a white hen chasing me around and running into the vegetable garden, and an apprentice sitting under an old pine tree holding a book.
The corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously and he started laughing.
“… I have a family now.”