"Master, I'm ready," a voice reached Ronin from behind.
"Finally, I can escape from the bombardment of her questions," Ronin released a sigh of relief and turned to look at Hafiz, saying, "Good, let's go."
"Hmm," Hafiz nodded his head, and all three of them moved away from there.
After a few hours, they reached the forest and entered it. Soon, they arrived near the house. Ronin reached out his hand to knock on the door.
The door was slightly open, and she peeked outside. As soon as she caught sight of Ronin waiting, she hurriedly opened the door and jumped on him.
"Brother Ronin, you're back!" said Mei Ling with a bright smile on her face.
Ronin reached out to caress her hair and calmly said, "Yes, I'm back."
"Who is this little girl? Can she hug a demon lord?" thought Hafiz, his face showing surprise.
Ronin gently put her down. After she stood on the ground, she turned to look at Hafiz and Zhen Xia. Then she hurriedly hid behind Ronin before asking him, "Who is this zombie and boogeyman?"
"Zombie?"
"Boogeyman?"
Hafiz and Zhen Xia glared at Mei Ling. She shrieked, "Ha! They want to attack me, Brother Ronin, save me!" She tightly hugged Ronin's leg and buried her face in his clothes.
"Haha, Zhen Xia, Hafiz, don't mind her. Both of you stay in this treehouse and cultivate here for a few days. I have some work to handle, and I'll be back soon. Until then, take care of her," said Ronin while holding Mei Ling's shoulders, pulling her away from his leg, and then guiding her towards Hafiz and Zhen Xia.
Both of them wore wide grins on their faces. However, when Mei Ling looked at them, the hair on her body stood straight, and she felt as though she was being watched by two hungry wolves. She quickly freed herself and returned to hug Ronin's leg, pleading while shaking her head, "No... no... I don't want to stay with them alone. I'm coming with you. Please take me with you."
"Mei Ling, be a good girl and stay with them. I'll be back soon," Ronin said, rubbing her hair.
"No means no. Take me with you. I'm coming with you wherever you go," Mei Ling stated with determination.
Ronin let out a long, helpless sigh and agreed, "Okay."
"Yay!" Mei Ling exclaimed, then turned to Zhen Xia and Hafiz with a provocative expression.
"If you want to go, then go, girl. Who's stopping you here, anyway?" Zhen Xia remarked with a nonchalant look on her face.
Hafiz nodded in agreement with Zhen Xia's words.
"Hmph," Mei Ling pouted her cheeks, walked inside the house, and closed the door before the others entered the wooden house.
"Let her be. Don't disturb her for a few hours. She'll be okay when she's used to staying with you. Now, let's cultivate on the ground," Ronin suggested. He jumped down to the ground from the wooden house, followed by Zhen Xia and Hafiz. All of them sat down in a meditation pose on the ground and began cultivating.
On that night, Hafiz took on the role of hunting and returned with a large forest bull. Zhen Xia was responsible for butchering the prey, while Ronin took charge of grilling the meat over the fire. Finally, Mei Ling had the important role of eating. After craving meat for days, she had her fill that night.
"She ate as much meat as the three of us combined. Is she human or a beast in human form?" asked Zhen Xia, her face reflecting shock.
"She's neither human nor beast, but a demon," said Hafiz calmly.
"Demon? Yes, now that you mention it, I took a closer look. She does resemble a demon. But if she's a demon, why do you keep her with you? You know we're in the human continent, and if you treat demons kindly, you'll become a target for all humans," Zhen Xia stated firmly. Hafiz halted eating, looking to Ronin for his response.
Ronin shook his head and then began to remove his clothes.
"You... you... you're a demon?" Zhen Xia stammered.
"Yes," Ronin nodded in affirmation.
"When you were so close to me, helping me, and seeing how you covered your face and body in clothes, I thought you were a human with deformities, much like me. But I never imagined you didn't have any deformities; you're a demon. If you're a demon, then we humans are your enemies. So why have you been so close to me and made me join as your teammate?" Zhen Xia inquired, her brows furrowed and her grip on the knife in her hand tightening. Her stance seemed ready to pounce on him and strike if his answer didn't satisfy her.
"Because humans are not my enemies, but their greediness and despicableness are my real enemies. I want to exterminate those qualities, not humans," Ronin explained while pointing his finger at Zhen Xia.
"Yeah, what he said is true. If he hated humans, why would he save an ugly human like me? So all these years, humans have had misconceptions about demons?" Zhen Xia mused in a daze.
In reality, what Ronin said was partially correct and partially incorrect. As a human, he isn't interested in genocide, but he also won't spare any humans who try to obstruct him.
"Alright, you guys clean up all the mess and carefully store the remaining meat in whatever way you can. I'm taking her to bed," Ronin instructed. He reached out to hold Mei Ling in his arms and slowly carried her back to the wooden house. Once inside, he gently placed her on the bed.
Having obtained a halberd and a manual to learn the halberd fighting style from the elder, he went to a large empty area and started learning how to use the halberd.
Even though it was his first time, his abilities as a demon lord granted him exceptional comprehension and aptitude, making learning the halberd easier. He managed to grasp almost all the basic halberd moves in a single night.
The next morning…