On the official road amidst the forest,
Amidst the mess, fresh blood flowed freely along the intersecting marks on the ground.
The temperature of the mangled corpses had yet to dissipate, their flesh and blood becoming one with the muddy ground, twisted and shattered bones breaking through the restraints of skin, warm innards blossoming out from the abdominal cavity.
A young girl was dragging a white cat as she walked among the bloody, muddy flesh, followed by a tail-wagging wolfhound.
This girl was only six or seven years old, with a tender, young face. She wore a tight-fitting collar dress, her hair tied into two buns that swayed along with her steps.
The white cat being dragged in the girl's arms wore a pheasant feather crown, eyes like gold, fur like jade.
It could be said to truly be a divine and handsome creature.
Yet at this moment, this white cat's face was full of helplessness, because the girl had her arms wrapped under his front legs, swinging him like a strip of cat meat.
And the girl was barely over a meter tall, so when she dragged the cat, his tail dragged along the muddy ground.
"Little girl, I can't run away anyway, you keep dragging me like this - it's uncomfortable for me, isn't it uncomfortable for you?"
Du ke looked up at Su Qiluo and spoke out, but Su Qiluo stubbornly said, "It's not uncomfortable."
"Sigh."
Du ke let out a sigh. He understood clearly that this was the aftereffect of having left the little girl's side for too long.
Although the girl didn't say it outright, Du ke knew that she was afraid he would disappear again inadvertently.
And right now, the girl had previously been chased by assassins, so her sense of security was especially lacking.
Therefore, the stubborn girl was clinging onto Du ke now.
Du ke completely understood Su Qiluo's thoughts, so he simply let her be.
Shi San followed behind Su Qiluo, looking at the swaying tail of Lord Cat being dragged along. He opened and closed his mouth, but ultimately kept silent.
Nevermind, just obediently follow her.
If he spoke casually, he felt like Lord Cat would give him a fierce beating.
After the girl, cat and dog left the woods, not even half an hour had passed before a figure quietly appeared among the woods.
Surveying the horrific scene before him, this figure took out a white talisman from his body - the talisman was only as wide as three fingers - index, middle and ring finger - placed side by side, and as long as an adult's palm.
As soon as the white talisman was taken out, it rapidly changed color before the figure could do anything.
Staring at the changing color of the talisman, this figure murmured, "To think five demon beasts appeared at once and committed such evil deeds. If I report this to Eldest Madam....
"The situation may become even more interesting!"
As his words fell, this figure seemed to shatter like a bubble, disappearing without a trace.
...
"Auntie!"
Having just walked out of the woods while hugging the white cat, Su Qiluo immediately saw the blood-stained Yun Shan sitting cross-legged by the roadside regulating her breath.
Sensing this, Du ke immediately used his spiritual awareness to transmit sound to Su Qiluo, "Don't disturb her. She took my pill, her injuries have already recovered completely. She should be circulating internal energy now to dissolve the excess medicinal power."
"Just stay by her side."
"Oh."
Su Qiluo nodded as if she understood, laboriously hugging the white cat as she came to stand three steps away from Yun Shan, quietly waiting for Yun Shan to finish regulating her breath.
"General, how exactly did you get lost back then!"
As Su Qiluo waited for Yun Shan, she also asked about what exactly had happened when they were ambushed back then.
"Wasn't I hiding on top of the carriage to get away from this silly dog?"
Du ke glanced at Shi San. Seeing Du ke look over, Shi San immediately grinned with his tongue sticking out, revealing a silly smile.
Following the cat's gaze, Su Qiluo also looked towards the dog. The dog's expression instantly became serious and stern.
What are you looking at, didn't you say "Woof Woof" is ugly?
Seeing the dog's attitude, Su Qiluo rolled her eyes, but didn't pursue the matter further. Instead, she asked Du ke again, "Then what happened? What happened after?"
"Then, at the very moment of the bandits' attack, I was blasted off by the explosive shockwave."
Speaking of this, Du ke also felt a lingering fear in his heart now.
After all, things had happened too quickly back then. He simply didn't have time to react before being blasted off by the explosive shockwave and flames.
If his flesh and skin hadn't started strengthening by then, he probably would have been burned to charcoal on the spot.
"After being blasted away, I immediately lost consciousness and all perception of the outside world."
"Then....then what!"
The girl eagerly asked, "General, how did you learn to speak, and how did you get together with those mon...."
Du ke raised his paw to cover the girl's lips, hinting for her to be more conscious of Yun Shan.
Although he had spoken earlier, all the witnesses had already been killed by the Jujube horse essence and his fellow kinsmen.
And after the Jujube horse essence left, Du ke had directly communicated with the pheasant feather crown's spiritual awareness, thoroughly concealing his demonic energy.
Prior to that, Du ke had only revealed an extremely faint demonic energy, around the level of Flesh Transformation.
Just now, Du ke had also only used spiritual sound transmission to speak, not directly speaking out loud.
The reason was those words Su Xiuwu had said at XiuWu Pavilion - Du ke still remembered them clearly!
Demon beasts are not tolerated by righteous clans like the Su family!
The girl immediately understood Du ke's meaning. Somewhat embarrassed, she stuck out her little tongue in a cute manner.
"Sorry, General....."
"I'll tell you what happened next, just listen."
Du ke sighed, using spiritual transmission to tell Su Qiluo about his experiences over this period of time.
From barely surviving in Steaming Cloud Mountain, to recovering completely, searching for a way home in Steaming Cloud Mountain but accidentally stumbling into a demonic feast, and finally being sent back to his hometown in Miao City by Feitian Yecha.
Then tracing his ancestry and origins in Miao City, obtaining cultivation methods, and excelling at the Spirit Cat Ceremony. Finally, with the help of an elder brother, he managed to return to her side.
Du ke spoke for nearly an hour. During this time, Yun Shan remained in meditation. As he recounted his story, Du ke appropriately concealed certain parts of his past experiences.
Such as the existence of the Black Cauldron, and his experiences at Wutong Temple - Du ke did not mention any of that.
The former was the foundation of Du ke's livelihood, while the latter was far too bloody and sinister, unsuitable for a child to hear.
As Du ke recounted his past, the girl also frequently gasped and her expression continuously changed along with Du ke's past experiences. She hugged Du ke even more tightly.
Hmm, the girl's hug was more like a stranglehold.
Her arms wrapped around Du ke's ribs, squeezing his breastbone.
If not for his cultivated body, he really could have been strangled to death by the girl on the spot.
The girl's strength was not just for play - moreover, the girl had now entered the Internal Organs realm, so her strength increase was simply terrifying.
Before long, after Du ke finished his narration, Su Qiluo also said, "I didn't expect General to have gone through so many things during this period."
"It was all worth it to be able to return to your side!"
At Du ke's words, the girl's eyes immediately curved into crescents. She also lowered her head, burying her somewhat flushed cheeks in Du ke's fur.
Seeing Su Qiluo's appearance, Shi San next to her couldn't help but curl his lips, look at your virtue.
However, the dog's ulterior motives, Su Qiluo didn't know, even if she knew she wouldn't care like the dog.
The maid's mind was now completely focused on Du ke.
"Alright, alright, come back to your senses!"
Du ke patted the maid's arm, while also glancing at Yun Shan.
The vitality effect of his own elixir was still too strong. Even congenital warriors like Yun Shan found it hard to withstand the effects of the medicine, and needed a long time to recover.
It seemed he had to put all those elixirs back into the furnace.
And Du ke was not going to increase the potency by refining the elixirs again, but rather split the Vitality Pill into nine parts, weakening its potency.
After all, even top innate masters like Yun Shan needed so much time to recover. If given to others with weaker cultivation bases, the potency of the pills would probably make them explode on the spot.
"Hehehe...."
Raising her head, Su Qiluo chuckled foolishly at Du ke. Du ke helplessly sighed, and called the dog over, reaching into the bib in front of the dog's chest and taking out his own smoking pipe and tobacco.
"Let me smoke a pipe, release me for now."
After taking out his smoking pipe, Du ke also knocked on Su Qiluo's arm. Rather reluctantly, Su Qiluo let go of Du ke.
Regaining his freedom, the dog immediately ran to Du ke and obediently lay down to let Du ke sit on his back.
Du ke deftly got on the saddle on the dog's back, put the tobacco in the pipe, casually channeled internal energy to ignite it.
Biting the pipe stem, Du ke glanced at Yun Shan and saw that the woman was still immersed in her meditation. Then he looked at Su Qiluo.
"What are your plans next?"
"I'll listen to the general. Whatever the general tells me to do, I'll do it."
Squatting on the ground with her hands on her cheeks, Su Qiluo grinned foolishly at Du ke. Du ke knocked her head with the smoking pipe.
"You're almost a grown woman, how can you still have no opinion of your own?"
"With the general by my side, I don't need to worry about anything. What more could I want?"
"You silly girl!"
Du ke shook his head helplessly. In his heart, he also started thinking.
The maid's dependence on him was getting stronger after seeing him again.
But for a child, it was understandable!
Du ke himself needed to slowly think about how to help the maid get out of her current predicament.
He also had to teach the maid more skills.
Once the Yun family's direct descendants participated in the struggle for heir, it would be impossible to withdraw completely before it was over.
According to the information Du ke got, the Yun family members had to go through ancestral refinement before participating in the struggle for heir.
The Hongque Building's information mentioned that ancestral refinement was a special Yun family ritual with unknown specific content. But after going through ancestral refinement, it would make the Yun family bloodline boil, thus being restricted by certain entities within the Yun family.
In other words, it was now impossible for the maid to return home.
So what the maid needed to do now was to preserve herself in the struggle for heir, find a way to reach the final stage.
Also, Du ke had to vent the maid's anger fiercely.
Those bastards bullied the maid so much, Du ke had to avenge her.
Sucking on the pipe stem, Du ke squatted on the ground with her hands on her cheeks, staring straight at Du ke. No matter how much she looked, she never got tired of watching him.
Du ke ignored the maid's gaze, just silently thinking. Suddenly, an idea surfaced in his mind.
No matter where, no matter what form of struggle, its essence was always a contest of resources.
Compete for all kinds of resources for fighting and killing.
Wealth, manpower, connections, knowledge, these were all resources!
Whether it was ancient warfare or the modern warfare of Du ke's previous life, what was needed to wage war?
Money!
Just throw money at it!
Huge amounts of money thrown into it!
The heir struggle that the maid was participating in now was also a power struggle in essence, a power struggle over power transition.
As mentioned earlier, struggle required the consumption of resources, the consumption of money.
Du ke just happened to have plenty of money!
Not to mention anything else, the Moonlight Pill alone could bring him huge amounts of spirit stones. And Du ke had also been stuffed with so many good things by the Four-Eared Beast.
It could be said that Du ke's financial power was now comparable to that of several cities.
And this was without him going all out to produce the Moonlight Pill. If Du ke really put his full efforts into producing Moonlight Pills, the current economic system of the demon tribes would probably suffer a shock.
But it would only be a shock, and could quickly recover to its original state, even making its own adjustments. After all, Du ke now fully understood the demon tribes' reliance on and esteem for the Moonlight Pill during his previous trip to Cangzhou's demon market.
As long as he had Moonlight Pills in his hands, even demon kings could hire their services to him.
So.....
A different kind of smile appeared at the corner of Du ke's mouth as he released the pipe stem and looked at the maid.
"Maid, do you want to play with a Yun family heir for fun?"