Chapter 80: Grandpa, Spare Me!
Half a day later, the southeastern coast.
“Grandpa, living grandpa!”
“Spare old pig’s life! As long as grandpa spares old pig’s life, old pig will serve you as an ox or a horse for the rest of his days!”
“Wuu… wuu…”
“Living grandpa…”
Ten Spirit-Puppet Vajra held down a massive demonic pig from above. No matter how it struggled madly, it could not move in the slightest.
Zhu Gangkai looked at his swollen belly, his heart filled with desolation.
If I had known, I wouldn’t have rushed in for merit.
“Are all humans this savage…”
Zhu Gangkai’s mouth twitched, on the verge of tears.
He had originally seen that the situation was bad and immediately prepared to slip away.
Who would have thought they would surround him without a single word.
Then came a crackling barrage.
What made him vomit blood even more was that although these puppets were not all that strong, they were hard and could take a beating!
The key point was that there were so many of them!
He, a dignified fifth-rank Great Demon, actually had no power to fight back. He could not even flee!
This was simply going too far!
No, going too far against a pig…
In the distance, Lu Qingyang looked at the pig demon that spoke human language, looking both miserable and comical, and could not help but laugh out loud.
“Heh, this one’s pretty smart, knowing to beg for mercy.”
“But… begging for mercy is useless!”
As for the Demon Race, after Venerable Xuanji had offended Lu Qingyang, Lu Qingyang had essentially blacklisted the entire race.
After all, his ledger currently had only one name on it: Venerable Xuanji!
Until that debt was collected, these other Demon Race members were merely interest.
At this thought, Lu Qingyang slowly raised his hand, about to order Jiangxin to finish off the pig demon.
But at that very moment, the pig demon seemed to know its death was near, and suddenly shouted.
“Don’t kill me! I’ve defected! I’ll tell you the Demon Race’s plan!”
“Hm?”
Hearing this, Lu Qingyang’s brow arched slightly, and he immediately signaled Jiangxin to stop.
But a Soul Transformation Great Demon — without some means, I can’t control it…
Zhu Gangkai was worthy of being a pig clan… pig spirit. It seemed to have heard Lu Qingyang’s inner thoughts.
Before Lu Qingyang could speak, it directly opened its soul.
A pig-shaped phantom slowly floated above its head.
“Oh? This pig is quite sensible.”
Looking at the undefended Demon Race soul, Lu Qingyang waved his hand and sent a mark across several li.
“Swoosh!”
The mark instantly flew into the pig demon’s head.
“Alright, Jiangxin, have that pig demon withdraw its true body and come find me in the main tent.”
Having successfully planted the slave mark, Lu Qingyang also let out a breath of relief.
Now, with a single thought, he could destroy the other party.
Naturally, he was not afraid of it going mad or betraying him.
“Yes, Master!”
Jiangxin accepted the order and instantly took control of those Spirit-Puppet Vajra, releasing Zhu Gangkai.
Zhu Gangkai regained his freedom. He was first delighted, then his face fell as he transformed into human form.
“Master says for you to go to the main tent. Please proceed quickly.”
Jiangxin’s indifferent voice came from the mouth of one of the Spirit-Puppet Vajra beside Zhu Gangkai, scaring him into a full-body shudder.
Looking at the dense crowd of ten Spirit-Puppet Vajra around him, he felt a chill down his spine.
“O-okay!”
Zhu Gangkai nodded like a chicken pecking rice, then leaped into the air and flew off…
Inside the main tent, Lu Qingyang fiddled with the spell sandbox of the southeastern coast, silently pondering.
“Huff huff~”
Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Along with a muffled voice.
“Living grandpa, old pig has arrived.”
“This pig demon… come in.”
Lu Qingyang’s mouth revealed a trace of a playful smile as he spoke calmly.
“Rustle~”
The tent flap was lifted, and a figure two meters tall, fat and sturdy, with a large rear, squeezed in.
It was Zhu Gangkai.
“Living… living grandpa…”
After entering, Zhu Gangkai immediately bowed respectfully, his tone humble.
“Mm.”
Seeing this, Lu Qingyang narrowed his eyes, sizing the other up.
This fellow was quite sensible. He had not tried any tricks, nor attempted to undo the slave mark.
Otherwise, at the slightest abnormal movement, Lu Qingyang would not spare it for even a moment!
“Sit down and talk.”
After a moment’s thought, Lu Qingyang slowly spoke.
“Thank you, living grandpa, for the honor.”
Hearing this, Zhu Gangkai hurriedly responded.
Then, trembling with fear, he sat down across from Lu Qingyang.
“What’s your name?”
Lu Qingyang picked up the spiritual tea on the table and took a sip.
“Reporting to living grandpa, my name is Zhu Gangkai.”
Zhu Gangkai answered honestly.
“Pfft—”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a cup of fine third-rank spiritual tea was sprayed out by Lu Qingyang.
“Cough cough cough…”
After a violent fit of coughing, Lu Qingyang recovered and looked at the other with a strange expression.
“Cough… what’s your name?”
“Zhu Gangkai, of course. Does living grandpa think old pig would lie to you?”
Zhu Gangkai blinked, looking simple and honest.
“Are you sure you’re not messing with me?”
Lu Qingyang’s mouth twitched slightly.
“Living grandpa, how would old pig dare mess with you? Everything I said is true.”
Zhu Gangkai twisted his rear and stood up, clearly anxious.
He was truly afraid of making Lu Qingyang unhappy and being wiped out with a wave of his hand.
“Cough cough cough… fine, sit down and talk.”
Lu Qingyang coughed dryly, then waved his hand, indicating he believed him.
After all, if Zhu Gangkai dared to toy with him, that would truly be seeking death.
“Yes yes yes…”
Hearing this, Zhu Gangkai hurriedly scurried up to Lu Qingyang.
“Speak. What plans does the Demon Race have, and how did you cross the Demon Domain to reach the Central Region?”
“Also… you’re being a demon traitor. Won’t your clansmen be affected? Aren’t you afraid?”
Putting down the teacup, Lu Qingyang looked Zhu Gangkai straight in the eye, a mysterious light flickering in their depths.
This was the key reason he had kept Zhu Gangkai alive!
If not for needing to familiarize himself with the Demon Race’s situation before killing Venerable Xuanji in the future, he would not have bothered wasting words on it.
But who would have thought that Zhu Gangkai’s next sentence would leave Lu Qingyang dumbfounded again.
“Hehe, living grandpa, you don’t know.”
“Our Demon Race’s plan this time is to send us to our deaths.”
“Hm?”
“What do you mean? Explain clearly.”
Lu Qingyang frowned and pressed in a deep voice.
“Ah…”
Sighing, Zhu Gangkai’s face was full of grief and indignation, looking like a martyr going to his death.
“Living grandpa, you don’t know!!”
“Although our Demon Race is powerful, the Demon Domain is barren and the races are numerous.”
“On top of that, the Demon Race can breed. One litter is dozens or hundreds, and they live long. After so many years, the Demon Domain has long been overcrowded…”
…
After a long while, Lu Qingyang rubbed his temples and fell into silence.
So, the Demon Domain’s periodic attacks on the humans of the Central Region were to reduce their own burden!
There was no central plan at all, no sinister scheme. It was all to reduce population pressure.
And incidentally plunder humans, inflicting heavy damage.
If they could conquer a few provinces in one go, that would be a rare joy seen once in a century.
As for why Zhu Gangkai was willing to drive his tribe to their deaths, it was naturally because the Demon Race’s higher-ups had given the order.
Moreover, his tribe already had a large population. Sacrificing some to leave resources for the tribe and himself — that was a profitable deal.
Because of this, he felt no guilt at all in being a demon traitor.
As for how they had crossed over, according to him, it was because the Demon Race also had artifact refiners!
And they had even developed a one-way teleportation formation.
Only, due to technical issues, the formation seemed to be random.
Often, more Demon Race members died in transit than were killed by humans…
“Your race… really is…”
Only after a long time did Lu Qingyang manage to utter a few words, unsure how to evaluate it.
But now that the matter had been fully questioned, this pig demon…
At this thought, Lu Qingyang slowly raised his head and looked at Zhu Gangkai…