!" The waiter hurriedly put on a smile and said, "It's like this, our small establishment currently doesn't have any meat dishes. If you'd like vegetarian food, I can prepare that for you right away!"
"Only vegetarian food?" Mo Xuan frowned. "Is this an inn or a vegetarian hall?"
"Sir, you're not from around here, are you?" The waiter didn't directly answer Mo Xuan's question, but instead asked in a roundabout way.
"That's right, I'm not local. So what? Does this place not sell meat to outsiders?"
"That's not what I meant!" The waiter said, "It's like this, our Qingliang Kingdom hasn't been peaceful lately!"
"Not peaceful? In what way?"
"Oh, it's like this. On Mount Tianyin, 5,000 li southeast of Qingliang City, a monster appeared, called the Great King Moling. This Great King Moling has vast magical powers and boundless abilities. Every month, he comes to Qingliang City demanding food. He only wants meat, raw or cooked, doesn't matter. Each time he demands 30,000 jin. If we don't have it, he'll eat people. His Majesty had no choice but to agree. But our Qingliang City doesn't produce meat itself, all the meat we need is brought in by merchants from various counties. Now with the world in such turmoil, and with this Great King Moling added to the mix, merchants have to take twice the usual route to enter the capital, and even the roads aren't safe. Three days ago, Great King Moling just came. To deal with him, we offered up all the meat in the entire city. Now, everyone in the city can only eat vegetarian food!" The waiter shook his head repeatedly as he spoke of the depressing situation, looking very sad.
"Such a thing has happened!" Mo Xuan's heart stirred upon hearing the waiter's words. "This demon is entrenched here, and no one can do anything about him?"
"Alas!" The waiter sighed, "If only someone could deal with him! That monster has great magical powers. His Majesty has sent troops to eliminate the demon several times, but they were all eaten up completely. I don't know how many masters and holy monks have been invited, but they've all gone without return. Look, just now another batch went. The leader was just appointed as the great general for demon elimination by His Majesty yesterday. Who knows what magical powers he has. Sigh, it looks like another batch going to their deaths. Those poor innocent soldiers!"
"If that's the case, just bring me some of your best vegetarian dishes. No wine, bring me a pot of tea instead!"
"Yes!" The waiter responded and went to the back to prepare the food. Meanwhile, Mo Xuan started to think.
In fact, when the waiter first mentioned the four words "Great King Moling," his heart couldn't help but stir, as if something was about to happen. "Could it be that the matter I calculated earlier that was related to me has to do with this Great King Moling?"
Thinking this, when the waiter came back with the food, he asked him for more details about Great King Moling. Then he started calculating again. This time, with more information, the calculation was much easier. Although he still couldn't figure out exactly what connection Mount Tianyin had with him, he vaguely felt that it might bring him great opportunities and benefits.
Realizing this, he lost interest in eating and drinking. After the waiter brought the food, he only ate a few bites before pushing the bowl away. He asked the waiter for directions to Mount Tianyin and then headed straight for it.
A distance of over 200 li was neither far nor near. Mo Xuan's monster energy wasn't abundant now, and he didn't want to waste it. So he used the unethical magic of turning stone into gold to buy a horse from the horse market. He left the city and headed straight for Mount Tianyin.
After riding southeast for about an hour, he finally saw a large mountain. The mountain was vast, blocking the sun and generating clouds. Sharp peaks stood tall; distant ranges stretched far. The mountaintop was densely covered with pines, the cliff base littered with stones. The pines stayed green through all four seasons; the stones remained unchanged for thousands of years. In the forest, one could often hear night apes cry; in the valley, demon pythons were often heard passing. Mountain birds chirped mournfully, mountain beasts roared loudly. Mountain deer and roe deer walked in pairs; mountain crows and magpies flew in dense flocks. Mountain grass and flowers were endless; mountain peaches and fruits were fresh in season.
Faintly, a whiff of demonic energy emanated, a demonic energy that felt strangely familiar to Mo Xuan.
"Strange? Could it be that this monster is like me, having become a demon after listening to teachings on Spirit Platform on Mount Fangcun? Why does it feel so familiar, and even somewhat intimate?"
Just as he was wondering, he suddenly heard screams and shouts from the mountain. Looking up, he saw it was the group of soldiers that had just rushed out from Qingliang Kingdom not long ago. Originally a troop of over 30,000, now less than 1,000 remained. They were running down from the mountaintop, their clothes, helmets, and armor in tatters, followed by groups of demon soldiers.
Mo Xuan saw that among those demon soldiers, there were monkeys, rabbits, foxes, wolves, badgers, raccoon dogs, and so on. All kinds of wild animals that could be named were present. They were all small monsters who had gained spiritual awareness after being affected by enlightenment magic. They charged forward fearlessly, chasing that group of soldiers who were crying for their parents. The golden-armored general Mo Xuan had seen earlier was now at the front of the troop. His horse was fine, but he looked somewhat disheveled.
"Great General for Demon Elimination?" Mo Xuan raised an eyebrow, a mocking smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Just as this group of defeated soldiers was about to escape from the territory of Mount Tianyin, suddenly, a demonic wind swept across the land. Mo Xuan's expression changed. He clearly felt a strong demonic power sweeping down from the mountaintop. He didn't dare to be careless, abandoned the horse he was riding, cast an invisibility spell, and hid in a dark place to observe secretly.
He saw that following that gust of demonic wind, a black cloud flew down from Mount Tianyin. The black cloud obscured the sky, and a suction force came from it. Those scattered and defeated soldiers couldn't escape that terrifying suction force. In the blink of an eye, most of them were s*ck*d up into that black cloud, and then there was no sound. The golden-armored general seemed to have practiced some techniques. A shimmering blue light appeared around him, seemingly resisting this suction force. However, this only delayed him for a few minutes. After his energy dissipated, he met the same fate as his subordinates and was s*ck*d up into the black cloud. At this moment, Mo Xuan finally saw the true face of that black cloud. At the same time, he also understood why he had felt so familiar.
It turned out that the black cloud was actually a giant crow. This Great King Moling was of the same kind as him. It was a crow spirit.