With the addition of the Rabbit Demon, Mo Fan's team grew stronger, transforming from one demon and one tiger to two demons and one tiger.
During this time, Mo Fan removed the arrow from the Rabbit Demon's leg and chewed some wild herbs to apply to the wound to stop the bleeding.
Due to the injury on the Rabbit Demon's leg and the poison from the Demon-Drunken Pill, it couldn't walk for a while and thus enjoyed the experience of riding on the tiger.
Erha was extremely displeased with this, as in its eyes, a rabbit was merely food, and it never expected that one day a rabbit would ride on its head.
Despite its dissatisfaction, with Mo Fan, the unreasonable master, by its side, it dared not complain.
"Erha, don't be upset. This rabbit is leading us to find that Demon Mountain. If we're lucky, you might even undergo a Demon Transformation this time and become a true demon like your Grandpa Mo!"
To soothe Erha's discontent, Mo Fan had to paint a grand picture for it.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Erha stopped grumbling, and even its running seemed a bit more spirited.
"Lord Toad, you're already a fierce great demon, why do you still want to go to Black Wind Mountain?" the Rabbit Demon asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Stop calling me Lord Toad all the time. I have a name; just call me Mo Fan."
"Okay, Lord Toad!"
***
On the way to Black Wind Mountain, Mo Fan was in a good mood and didn't mind chatting with the Rabbit Demon. He said, "We demons who occasionally undergo Demon Transformation in the mountains still need to find some great demons to rely on. Firstly, to seek protection, and secondly, to find more methods of cultivation."
"I understand seeking protection, but why seek cultivation methods? Isn't it good to be a happy little demon?"
The Rabbit Demon lay on Erha's broad tiger back, tilting its head to look at Mo Fan.
Hearing such innocent words, Mo Fan smiled and said, "You think little demons are happy because you haven't encountered danger. Like when that Old Hunter wanted to kill you, you could only run away. But if you had mastered cultivation, would that Old Hunter dare to chase you? He'd be too scared!"
"That makes sense, but I've heard the demons of Black Wind Mountain are very fierce and often hold feasts to eat people. Aren't you afraid, Lord Toad?"
"It's natural for demons to eat people; what's there to be afraid of? But even if you're afraid, what can you do? To cultivate, you must muster the courage, or else, if you're afraid of this and that, how can you cultivate?"
Mo Fan shrugged. Having already eaten people, he naturally felt that demons eating people was justified.
It's just like humans eating various animals.
If demons didn't eat people, could they still be called demons?
The Rabbit Demon didn't understand, just tilted its head as if pondering Mo Fan's words.
"By the way, you mentioned something about Village Guardians and Demon Catchers before. Can you tell me about them?" Mo Fan suddenly asked.
He knew too little about this world, even less than this little Rabbit Demon, and was eager to learn more about it.
He was quite curious about the Human Race in this world. From the Old Hunter before, it seemed that humans here were not only powerful and domineering immortals but also ordinary people.
His book was still with him, and to understand its contents, he would inevitably have to interact with humans in the future.
The Rabbit Demon, without any other thoughts, quickly replied when Mo Fan asked, "Village Guardians and Demon Catchers are some of the more powerful people among the Human Race.
As far as I know, every village of the Human Race has a Village Guardian, seemingly to guard against us demons eating people. In short, they're quite powerful and have some means to rival us demons.
As for Demon Catchers, they're even more formidable. They don't have a fixed residence and travel everywhere. It's said that some powerful Demon Catchers even venture deep into our Demon Spirit Mountain Range to capture some of our powerful kin."
"Besides Village Guardians and Demon Catchers, are there any other powerful humans? Like immortals or something?"
Mo Fan asked again. Although Village Guardians and Demon Catchers were powerful, they seemed different from the witch he encountered before, and the mountain where that woman lived seemed to have an impressive background.
"I've heard there are even more powerful cultivators among humans, but I don't know much more." The Rabbit Demon shook its head.
Seeing this, Mo Fan realized that further questioning might not yield any other results, so he dismissed the idea of continuing to ask. He looked ahead at the peach grove that appeared, and his expression suddenly became much more tense.
Because the peach grove ahead was the residence of that group of crazy monkeys.
Erha also seemed to understand that this was the monkey territory and became much more cautious.
"Have we arrived at the Long-tailed Monkey's territory?" the Rabbit Demon asked, looking at the peach tree branches overhead.
"You know?"
Mo Fan looked at the rabbit in surprise.
"Yes, this group of monkeys is very troublesome. It's best not to go to the old peach tree where they nest, or you'll be chased as a wine thief."
The Rabbit Demon seemed to know this group of monkeys very well, and its words made Mo Fan understand why he was chased by the monkey group in the past.
So he was mistaken for a wine thief by these monkeys?
But where did the monkeys get wine? Could it be the legendary Monkey Wine?
Mo Fan pondered, then patted Erha's head and said, "Let's take a detour and avoid that big peach tree in the center."
With the Rabbit Demon's reminder, Mo Fan indeed avoided being chased by the crazy monkeys this time, though occasionally he could see a few monkeys secretly watching them from the trees as they left.
Although curious about the taste of Monkey Wine, Mo Fan didn't dare to risk his life.
After passing through the peach grove and several fierce beasts' territories, thanks to the Rabbit Demon's warnings, they managed to avoid danger. Finally, after traveling south for more than ten miles, they emerged from the dense forest into a more open mountain valley.
Looking from a distance, they could see towering mountains stacked upon each other.
Some peaks were shrouded in clouds and mist, giving a majestic and grand feeling.
"The big mountain ahead is Black Wind Mountain!"
The Rabbit Demon spoke, standing up from the tiger's back and gazing at the distant mountain.
After this journey, the effects of the Demon-Drunken Pill in its body had mostly subsided, and the wound on its leg had already scabbed over, showing amazing recovery.
"Gurgle…"
At this moment, Mo Fan's stomach growled, and he scratched his head awkwardly, not expecting to be hungry after just half a day.
He found that ever since undergoing Demon Transformation, not only had his appetite increased, but he also got hungry faster.
"Lord Toad, are you hungry? There are so many fresh green grasses here, the sweetest and juiciest. You can eat to your heart's content!"
The Rabbit Demon laughed, jumped off the tiger's back, and started eating on the ground.
Seeing this, Mo Fan's face twitched. He wrapped his tongue around a nearby blade of grass, pulled it into his mouth like lightning, and chewed it a couple of times, only to find it tasteless, like chewing wax, with an unpleasant grassy smell. He immediately spat it out.
"Damn, I'm a toad. Of course, I love meat the most. How could I start eating grass like this Rabbit Demon? I must be out of my mind!"
Mo Fan cursed inwardly and then sent Erha to hunt around.
The world is vast, but eating is the most important thing!
Since Black Wind Mountain was right in front of them, there was no rush.
However, after half an hour, Erha returned empty-mouthed, which made Mo Fan scold it and even give it a good beating.
A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled.
With no food to be found, they had no choice but to continue on their journey with empty stomachs, hoping to find something to eat at Black Wind Mountain.
Halfway there, Mo Fan saw a large white bird flying in the sky, circling above them.
"What a plump bird!"
Seeing this, Mo Fan immediately perked up. Already starving, he quickly took out a large bow, nocked an arrow, and shot!
"Little bird, little bird, come to your Grandpa Mo's mouth!"
Whoosh!
The sound of the arrow slicing through the air rang out, and the large bird was hit, letting out a miserable cry and cursing, "You wild demon, how dare you shoot me? If you have the guts, don't run. I'll go back to the mountain and get reinforcements!"
The white bird circled in the air and then flapped its wings, flying towards the distant Black Wind Mountain.
"This… a demon?"
Mo Fan was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that the white bird was actually a demon!
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan