Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

However, none of these things mattered to Gou An; he simply regarded them as ordinary observations from his travels.

That evening, Gou An took Fatty to the next town and prepared to find an inn to rest.

Unfortunately, the town was so small that there was no inn, which left Gou An speechless.

However, while strolling around, Gou An noticed something.

Many households in this small town have a yellow talisman pasted on their doors, with patterns that are the same exorcism talismans sold by the Taoist priest Qingfeng in the neighboring town during the day.

Although they couldn't find an inn, there was a dilapidated courtyard in the town that was empty and could barely be considered a place to shelter from the wind, so Gou An took Fatty Ya there to stay.

After nightfall, the town was quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog.

After the fat girl fell asleep, Gou An took out a pile of spirit stones and slowly absorbed them to increase his demon power, becoming so engrossed in cultivation that he couldn't extricate himself.

In the middle of the night, Gou An was suddenly awakened by a commotion in the distance, and then began to cry out.

Gou An didn't go to check what had happened until the next morning when he learned from passing residents that another child in the town had been stolen by a monster the night before.

The family whose property was stolen from did not buy any exorcism talismans!

The news quickly spread throughout the town, and the other residents who had not bought exorcism talismans were terrified. They frantically inquired about where they could buy more talismans, and panic ensued.

The family whose child was stolen told everyone that a sudden gust of wind blew open the window last night, and a large bird flew into the house and snatched the child. It was so fast that they didn't have time to react.

Gou An ignored the news and simply led the donkey and Fatty away.

Since someone from the sect has already investigated this matter, I won't bother with it anymore.

But the chubby girl, who was munching on a steamed bun, happened to see the mother of the family whose child had been lost slumped on the ground, crying and recounting what had happened.

Curious, he asked Gou An, "Immortal Master, you possess such great supernatural powers, won't you help her?"

"We don't need to bother with this, someone's already helping us!" Gou An said, leading his donkey away.

"If you don't help her, no one else will." The chubby girl pouted, no longer enjoying the steamed bun in her hand.

"You forgot about that old man Qingfeng from yesterday? Didn't he say he came specifically to investigate this matter?" Gou An replied calmly.

"But..." Fatty continued, "That old man also said that he can't protect everyone."

"Then I can't protect everyone!" Gou An still didn't want to get involved.

"But Immortal Master, didn't you meet her?" the chubby girl asked innocently. "Just like when you met my mother and me, meeting someone is fate, isn't it?"

When Gou An heard what Fatty said, he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

I am a demon, how can I be like a human cultivator?

Before she could answer, the chubby girl continued, "With your abilities, Immortal Master, you can definitely help that aunt find her child very easily, right?"

Gou An opened his mouth, wanting to refuse, but seeing the chubby girl's innocent face, he swallowed his words.

My physical body is indeed that of a demon, but I have always believed that my soul is human and have always wanted to cultivate in the direction of becoming human.

But every time something happens, he always uses the excuse that he is a demon to shirk responsibility.

Over time, Gou An sometimes almost forgot that he was once human, and began to resemble a pure monster more and more.

If things continue like this, Gou An is starting to fear that he will completely turn into a monster and forget that he was once human.

"Should I help?" Gou An looked into Fatty's eyes, hesitating.

"Yes!" the chubby girl nodded. "Mother said that immortals always help the weak!"

Seeing the expectant look on Fatty's face, Gou An really couldn't bear to disappoint her.

"Then I'll give it a try!" Gou An finally nodded in agreement.

Seeing that Gou An agreed, Fatty finally showed her innocent smile again, and the steamed bun in her hand smelled delicious once more.

So Gou An walked up to the woman and said to her, "I can help you find your child, all you need is a piece of clothing that your child wore."

Upon hearing Gou An's words, the woman stared blankly up at him, a glimmer of hope finally appearing in her despairing gaze.

Gou An quickly left the town, using the scent left on the child's clothes to track the direction the child's scent was heading.

That's the biggest advantage of being a dog—the tracking skill is maxed out.

To make it easier for him to act alone, Gou An summoned Liu Dayong from the Palm Heaven Map and asked him to stay in town to help take care of the children.

He then searched alone, following the scent of the lost child.

The scent traveled deeper into the mountains, and the closer they got, the stronger the demonic aura became, along with the increasingly pungent odor emanating from the various strange birds.

Just as Gou An had guessed, there were not just one or two of these strange birds, but a whole flock of them.

With so many strange birds gathered together, there must be a king bird in charge.

Although it was strange that such a large flock of strange birds appeared in this place, Gou An didn't want to investigate the reason. It would be most convenient to kill them all when the time came.

So Gou An concealed his presence and disguised himself as an ordinary wild dog to quietly approach, avoiding attracting the attention of these strange birds.

Following the scent, Gou An eventually found a cliff valley in the forest, where he could faintly hear the cries of children coming from inside.

From a distance, the silhouette of that strange black bird can be seen everywhere near the cliff valley.

Some perched on trees, others on protruding rocks on the cliff face; a large, dark flock, at least a hundred at a glance.

Just as Gou An was about to transform into human form and charge in, he twitched his nose and smelled another scent.

Following the scent, Gou An actually saw the figure of Qingfeng Daoist, walking towards the cliff valley.

He found this place too?

Gou An frowned slightly, restrained his actions, and prepared to let him take the lead.

To Gou An's surprise, Master Qingfeng walked straight in, and the strange birds on the way didn't react at all when they saw him, as if they knew him.

How could this happen?

Gou An felt it was a bit outrageous for a moment, but it also aroused his curiosity.

So he temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​taking action and continued to pretend to be an ordinary mountain dog, slowly making his way towards the valley entrance.

Meanwhile, in the valley.

Qingfeng Daoren walked in happily. Inside, there were many cages holding children around ten years old, or even younger.

"You're back so early today?" A figure sat in the valley, his voice hoarse and aged, dressed in a black robe.

"The talismans are selling better and better now, there's no need to think of any other way!" Qingfeng Daoren replied with a smile.

As he spoke, he took out a storage bag from his pocket, which was filled with silver.

The man in black robes reached out and grabbed at the storage bag, which flew directly into his wrinkled hand.

"Not bad!" The man in black put away his storage bag and tossed a pill to Daoist Qingfeng.

Qingfeng Daoist was overjoyed after receiving the pill and quickly swallowed it.

"Master, what should we do next?" Qingfeng Daoist asked after swallowing the pill.

"Just pick a few not-so-bright kids and send them back!" the man in black robes continued. "Just say you rescued them from the demon cave, and test the spiritual roots of the others one by one."

"Those without spiritual roots should be thrown out as bird food."

"Those with spiritual roots will be brought back to the sect!"

Upon hearing this, Daoist Qingfeng asked with some concern, "But if we let these children go back, aren't we afraid they'll leak the secret?"

"Just give them two mind-altering pills!" the black-robed man said calmly. "When they lose their memories, just tell those mortals that it was caused by a monster devouring their minds."

"This way, I can also boost my sect's reputation!"

"Disciple understands!" Qingfeng Daoist nodded immediately, then walked to the cage and began to select a target.

Gou An watched this scene from behind a crevice in the rocks and couldn't help but shake his head.

How come these people are all so wicked? Aren't there any good people among them?

Compared to them, Gou An even felt that some monsters were more kind-hearted.

Once he was certain that only the man in black robes and Daoist Qingfeng were below the cliff, Gou An slowly walked out.

Hearing the noise, the man in black robes turned his gaze over.

When he saw that it was just a yellow-haired stray dog, he merely frowned slightly, raised his hand, and condensed a ball of spiritual energy to shoot over.

But just as the ball of light was about to hit Gou An, Gou An simply tilted his head slightly and dodged it.

The glowing ball eventually struck a rock behind them, shattering it into pieces.

"Um?"

Having failed to land his first blow, the man in black realized something was amiss.

The next second, Gou An's demonic aura began to leak out, and he stood up upright, eventually transforming into human form.

"Demon!" The man in black robes stood up on the spot, his body surging with spiritual energy, and he assumed a fighting stance. The hood covering his head slipped down, revealing an old face covered with wrinkles.

Upon seeing this, Qingfeng Daoist was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground and quickly retreated to the side.

"What? Someone who raises so many demonic beasts is afraid of me?" Gou An rubbed his face. He hadn't transformed into his original form for a long time, and he was still a little unaccustomed to the sudden change.

Gou An's eyes flashed with golden light, revealing that the black-robed man before him was a cultivator at the Core Formation stage.

"What do you want to do?" the man in black asked warily, his eyes narrowed as he refrained from making any rash moves.

"I was asked to come and find a child!" Gou An glanced at the group of children. Although he couldn't pinpoint the child directly, he could sense that the woman's child was still alive.

"A monster helping mortals find their children?" Upon hearing this reason, the man in black robes looked even more suspicious.

"What? Is it not allowed?" Gou An shrugged.

"Heh!" The man in black chuckled coldly, then questioned, "You're not joking with me?"

"Are we that close? Why would I joke with you?" Gou An flipped his wrist, took out the Divine Iron Hammer, and then silently charged up his power.

Seeing that Gou An had revealed his weapons, the man in black robes grew increasingly gloomy. He spread his palms and then condensed two balls of spiritual energy.

"If you want to make a move, don't think I'm afraid of you!" The black-robed man's spiritual energy surged, and his aura exploded.

This also gave Gou An a clearer understanding of his cultivation level: Core Formation Realm, Yuan Dan stage, but he had not yet condensed his Golden Core.

At the same time, the strange birds that had been outside also gathered around, forming a dense, dark mass that surrounded Gou An.