Shock
In a fine villa, Seven was sitting with his legs crossed. It seemed to be a little too small, but it was actually quite luxurious to have a peaceful place like this for cultivation in a story world. Now other audiences were protecting Lam with their lives, but Seven was feeling at ease, even a little too at ease.
A woman was in the pond. She seemed to be sick, but still beautiful and charming, or even attempting due to the pathetic look on her face. But there was something sharp hiding under her beauty that couldn't be noticed by ordinary people unless they were really careful.
"Monk, I'm in pain," The woman said. She was covering her underbelly with one hand and frowning with a painful look that could make people worried about her.
But Seven said nothing and asked nothing. He just sat there as steady as a mountain, without a slightest move of his eyelids, as if he was asleep.
"Monk, the pain's killing me," The woman cried, "Come and take a look, I'm dying, for real!"
"Amitabh, your voice is full of energy, which is not the sign of a weak body, and it is not nighttime yet, the fetus won't come alive." Seven said, and then continued his meditation.
The woman forced a smile. She had asked for this, but was still uncomfortable that the monk had no sense of romance. Or he just pretended to be.
She reached out her hand, picked a lotus from the pond and smelled it, only to realize that she was not fond of the smell at all. She was used to the smell and feeling in her demon nest. Once out of it, she became anxious because the world seemed too big. Of course, the major cause was herself. She was weakened greatly.
She felt her raised stomach. Apparently, she was pregnant.
And that was the source of her anxiety.
Reaching a certain level of cultivation, she had become an advanced creature that could not conceive by having sex with lower-leveled toy boys. But this time, the essence of her demon energy had congealed and formed a new life. In a scientific phrase, she was fertilized by herself.
That was what she didn't want, but also what she was excited about. Pregnancy had put him in danger. She was not the only demon in that nest. Fearing the other demons might attack her while she was weak, she got out with the help of Seven.
Of course, she wanted to keep the baby instead of having an abortion, not out of the love of a mother but because she knew this baby was the essence of the world. After she gave birth to this baby and eat it, she would be dramatically enhanced both physically and spiritually. She just couldn't say no to that.
Even a vicious tiger wouldn't eat its cubs, but this woman was ready to eat her own baby from the beginning. Now, it was still two or three days away from the expected date of childbirth that she had sensed, and on that day, she would become extremely vulnerable. Therefore she needed protection. Seven had won her trust, and of course, she offered the monk a reward.
"Monk, those people really look like you. Why do you want them dead?"
"Amitabh, Buddhist says something should better be kept a secret."
The woman rolled her eyes at Seven, "Do you want them all dead, or just the Taoist?"
Seven still didn't answer. In fact, they had been like this since the day they left her nest.
The woman burst into a howl, then suddenly came close to Seven, held his face with both her hands and said ferociously:
"Of course you won't be satisfied with what I'm offering. Tell me, what else do you want?"
Seven remained sitting still, paid no attention to the woman's temper and continued chanting the Buddhism scriptures.
"Say something!" The woman was pissed off. She had always been irritable, now her pregnancy had brought her temper to an edge. If she hadn't left the nest and come into the bottom of the natural world, even herself had no idea what she would do when she was angry.
Seven slowly opened his eyes and looked right into the woman's eyes.
"I want a leg." Seven finally answered.
A leg. Of course, it was not Seven's leg or the woman's, but a leg of the baby in the woman's stomach. However, when Seven mentioned it to the woman, it sounded as simple as asking for a chicken drumstick.
"A leg. You want a leg?" The woman's pupils were flashing with different colors, "I'm not willing to share, but I can offer you one of my baby's legs, as long as you make a soul-bound oath that you will protect me until I give birth to this child."
Then, the woman started murmuring. Soon, a drop of blood appeared between her eyebrows and drifted away in the air between the woman and Seven.
"Monk, your turn to make the oath, then the heaven will hear it! Anyone to break this oath will be punished with thunder!"
Monks and Taoists would not make oaths casually, because they were more closely related to the natural laws than common people, and also more sensitive. Therefore, once oaths were made, they would probably be cursed for real if they broke them. Now, this woman had made an oath with the heaven and the hell as witnesses in such a story world that was filled with supernatural staff. Even Fatty could draw a lightning down, which indicated how "perspicacious" the natural laws were.
Seven didn't hesitate. He murmured something, then a drop of blood appeared between his eyebrows, merged into the woman's blood in the air and disappeared together.
The woman seemed satisfied, even she had to sacrifice one of her baby's legs. She was not sorry for the baby, only unwilling to share her food.
She took a bunch of grapes and start eating. But soon she stopped and slightly smiled:
"Monk, one of those guys didn't enter the cave."
Seeing the fox claw print, Su Bai rubbed his fingers for a second. Liang was twitching unable to talk because of the extreme pain.
Su Bai hesitated for a little while, but at last he put his fingers on that print and pressed gently.
Immediately, the print came to life. Liang's pupils totally turned into green, and his bulged body recovered to the normal shape.
"It's you."
Liang talked. But he sounded so unreachably proud and soft, as if it was going to melt the hearer's bones.
Su Bai smiled and nodded.
"It's me."
He knew who was speaking through Liang's body: the fox demon.
"You did not only refuse to serve me, but also stole the Exorciser I used for grinding my teeth! That's not a decent man's doing! My teeth are itching but I've got nothing to help with that!"
Su Bai shrugged, "Come on, can we talk in a normal way? You're using a man's body but talking like a girl… I can't stand this."
"Ha, the monk's right, you're no decent man. You're indeed shameless."
"Seven's with you?" Su Bai asked, "And you sound like he's your man. Great, I've always known that Seven's different, but I've never thought he could be so quirky. That monk has no interest in girls, but he's definitely into female creatures."
"You have learned everything you need from that guy already, haven't you? Why bother ask? Yep, the monk is with me. I've left the nest, and the monk gives me a massage everyday. He's been a good boy."
Su Bai closed his eyes while his mind was filled with different ideas. For about half a minute, neither Su Bai or the fox said anything.
At last, Su Bai broke the silence.
"Fox, are you dying?"
This time, it was the fox that fell silent.
After a while, the fox asked:
"Did I just took a bait?"
Su Bai nodded. "Sort of."
"Meet me at the backyard of the county government."
"You admitted you're dying, what do you want me to do? To burn Joss Money[1] for you?"
"The monk says, after this 'tongue' wakes up, ask him to write down his teacher's name and you'll know."
After that, the print on Liang's forehead immediately vanished. Liang woke up, held his throat with both hands and coughed heavily, with gastric fluid constantly coming out of his mouth.
Seeing that he wasn't gonna stop soon, Su Bai kicked him away. Liang rolled over several times and kneeled on the ground.
"Don't kill me… please… Please don't kill me… Please don't…"
Su Bai picked up a twig and threw it to Liang;
"Write down your teacher's name."
Liang paused for a second. He didn't expect such a weird request, but he just nodded under Su Bai's threat, picked the twig up and started writing on the soft soil.
Su Bai didn't understand why the fox ask him to do so. However, after Liang looked up and said "I'm done", Su Bai's look changed when he saw what Liang had written on the ground.
"Lam Chin-Ying" !
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Joss Money: literally "shade/dark money", also known as ghost money. Usually sheets of paper and/or paper-crafts made into burnt offerings common in Chinese ancestral worship. In traditional Chinese culture, it is believed that dead people will be living in an underworld society, so the living burn paper houses, paper cars and Joss Money for the dead in the hope that they can have a better life there.