I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

In Bai Qingyu's view, the monster named Ibaraki actually sat down opposite Shuten-dōji, and the two chatted and laughed. Unfortunately, Bai Qingyu couldn't hear what they were saying.

As she kept staring at him, Ibaraki seemed to sense it and would occasionally tilt his head to look left and right.

Bai Qingyu deliberately looked away, because there was nothing more to see. He had basically confirmed who Shuten's "best friend" was. Given Shuten's personality, it was impossible for someone who didn't get along with him to sit across from him and drink.

The word "best friend" actually explained everything, but at the time she still couldn't believe it and had a tiny bit of wishful thinking in her heart, thinking that maybe the other party was a female demon, and that Shuten didn't care about the other party's gender and just called her best friend.

"I hope Shuten-dōji's luck with women will lead him to meet a female demon, otherwise it's too strange. How could he suddenly become gay?"

Bai Qingyu doesn't discriminate against this kind of forbidden love, but when it happens to her own son, she can't quite hold back.

Bai Qingyu kept a close eye on Shuten-dōji from afar, not in a hurry to go home.

Shuten and Ibaraki drank and chatted for a full hour before finally setting off into the mountains. Bai Qingyu saw that as soon as Shuten entered the forest, a wolf demon appeared, followed by more than a dozen smaller demons.

Then the demons bowed down to Shuten-dōji, allowing him to take a big step forward on his path to becoming the demon king.

Shuten-dōji, who has always been clamoring to become the Demon King, finally has a subordinate today!

"This place is quite nice. This demon named Ibaraki is quite something. How did he manage to get to know me so well in such a short time?"

In Bai Qingyu's eyes, Ibaraki and Shuten's brotherhood was genuine, not a fake one. This could be seen in some small details. For example, when Shuten was accepting the submission of the demons, he laughed loudly, so busy bragging that he didn't notice the demons' movements. It was Ibaraki who kept an eye on him.

So Bai Qingyu is very curious about what exactly happened between these two demons that allowed them to develop such a good relationship in just one month.

Bai Qingyu continued to follow the group of little monsters, watching them head deeper into the mountains, seemingly to challenge other monsters.

Sure enough, after a short while, a snake demon came down from the tree, and a dozen or so small demons appeared around it, confronting the demons led by Shuten-dōji. Shuten-dōji stood at the front, arms crossed, looking disdainful. He started fighting the snake demon after saying only a few words.

There's not much to say about the process. Shuten-dōji is tough and strong, and he beats the snake demon with every punch. The snake demon's venom has almost no effect on Shuten-dōji. It tried to wear down Shuten-dōji with its agile movements, but it was chased around by Shuten-dōji's enhanced gourd.

No one knows what this giant gourd is spewing out. It's wrapped in black demonic energy and spews out like a machine gun, and the power is quite considerable.

Bai Qingyu was also quite surprised, as he had never seen Shuten-dōji use this skill before.

The battle didn't last long. With his size increasing dramatically, Shuten-dōji unleashed a charged Oni-ken that blew the snake demon's head off.

Shuten-dōji's fighting style is that simple and brutal. He doesn't bother to create distance and then unleash skills to exchange blows. When he fights, it's all about punches and blows. He's like a small tank, charging around and unstoppable.

You can hit me a lot, but I only need to punch you once to make you vomit blood.

It was that simple. Another group of little demons was taken down. Perhaps Shuten-dōji really is talented. He subdued a group of little demons in just two days. These little demons weren't strong, but there were quite a few of them, more than thirty in total.

Having always wanted to surpass the Black Wolf Demon, Shuten-dōji has now achieved it.

"Do we want to go in again?"

After taking in more than thirty demons, Shuten-dōji and a group of lesser demons chattered amongst themselves, seemingly determined to continue deeper into the mountains, even though it was already afternoon.

This mountain range is not small. Compared to the Ten Thousand Mountains, it is nothing, but it is already very large for these little monsters. There may be even more powerful monsters inside.

"Great demon..."

Bai Qingyu lowered his altitude slightly and released a little of his aura.

She wanted to see if there were any other powerful demons in the mountains; if so, she would have to go down and bring Shuten-dōji back.

The aura emanated but received no response for a long time. Bai Qingyu stared at Shuten-dōji carefully and found that there was a strange power entwined around him. This power seemed to be of the same origin as the baleful aura on Shuten-dōji's body.

Bai Qingyu didn't rush down, but instead looked towards the direction where Shuten and the others had set off.

A mountain range can remain green even in winter unless it is hit by a wildfire.

Directly ahead of Shuten and his companions lay an area completely different from the surrounding lush greenery. Everything in this area—trees, grass, and even the soil—was a strange gray. A gray, wispy substance permeated the air, as if all life in this region had been swallowed up by this gray aura.

Bai Qingyu's pupils constricted. If she remembered correctly, this area was fine just now. How could it have suddenly become like this?

The gray area felt to Bai Qingyu like countless fine needles piercing his body, a frantic warning from his demonic instincts. He gritted his teeth, abandoned his concealment, and swiftly descended, teleporting directly in front of Shuten-dōji and his group of demons.

A black phantom appeared, transforming into Bai Qingyu. Ibaraki and the surrounding demons immediately revealed their demonic powers upon seeing her.

Shuten-dōji instinctively wanted to attack, but upon seeing that the newcomer was Bai Qingyu, he lowered his fist and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Auntie, what brings you here!"

"I was worried about my child, so I came to check on him. Shuten-dōji, where are you all headed?" Bai Qingyu's expression was extremely serious. "Do you know what's ahead?"

Shuten-dōji paused, looked back at Ibaraki-dōji, then at the other yokai, and scratched his head. "Everyone said they'd take me to the Demon Gate, saying my power is similar to the Demon Gate's..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ibaraki grabbed Shuten's arm and looked at Bai Qingyu with wary eyes, "This matter should have nothing to do with you, sir."

"Irrelevant?"

Bai Qingyu pointed behind him, "Do you know what's there? What kind of strength do you have, Shuten-dōji, to dare come to a place like this?"

Even she felt that gray area was extremely dangerous. How could a group of weak demons whose strongest strength was only at the Golden Core stage dare to come here?

Even if the power in that place and the power of Shuten-dōji originated from the same source, Bai Qingyu didn't want to see Shuten-dōji recklessly barge in.

With a powerful stomp on the ground, Bai Qingyu's demonic power erupted suddenly. Countless fallen leaves beneath his feet were instantly swept into the sky by a gust of wind, and an overwhelming amount of demonic power poured down. More than thirty demons almost simultaneously took two steps back.

Ibaraki used one of his demonic claws to shield his eyes, fighting desperately to not retreat a single step. However, the force was too great, and he had to plow backward a palm's distance with his feet on the ground to regain his balance.

"See that? Even I feel that place is dangerous. How dare you encourage Shuten-dōji to go there? Do you want to use the power of the Demon Gate to kill Shuten-dōji?!"

Bai Qingyu took a step forward, and under the shock of the demonic power, her voice was no longer soft and melodious, but slightly deep and with a hint of electronic sound. If you listened carefully, you could also hear the cries of countless infants.

In the world of demons, strength has always been paramount. When Bai Qingyu unleashed his demonic power, the legs of more than thirty little demons went weak and they couldn't help but tremble. If Bai Qingyu were to unleash his power again, they would all kneel down on the ground.

It is evident that Bai Qingyu has improved considerably over this period of time.

"Aunt, you've misunderstood!" Shuten shouted, also holding one hand in front of him.

Bai Qingyu's demonic power stopped abruptly, and countless leaves that had been swirled up in the sky slowly drifted down, causing the demons to stagger and fall.

With a sigh of relief, Shuten hurriedly went over and said, "Aunt, you've misunderstood. It wasn't them who made me go; I wanted to go on my own."

He was truly helpless, but he couldn't help feeling a warmth in his heart. Shuten wasn't stupid; how could he not see that Bai Qingyu had rushed down so hastily because he saw the Ghost Gate? Because he instinctively sensed the danger of the Ghost Gate, he subconsciously thought that these surrendered demons harbored resentment and wanted to kill him, which led to this awkward scene.

To put it bluntly, it was Bai Qingyu who was worried about him.

Shuten-dōji then briefly recounted the events to Bai Qingyu. It was roughly that after Shuten-dōji subdued these underlings, he overheard some demons talking about the Ghost Gate. Since Shuten-dōji himself also had a premonition, he asked these demons to lead the way to the Ghost Gate.

Knowing she had made a fool of herself and ruined the prestige that Shuten had just built up, Bai Qingyu was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry, Aunt shouldn't have followed you here."

I wasn't embarrassed, but I felt mostly guilty.

Her outburst has caused Shuten-dōji to lose at least three points of prestige, if the prestige he had built was five.

Shuten-dōji didn't care much about this. If he were to betray him because of this, he might as well leave now. If he didn't betray him today, he would definitely betray him later.

"It's alright, Auntie. Shall we go to the Gate of Hell together?" Shuten scratched the back of his head and tried to ask.

Bai Qingyu nodded slowly, "Okay, go and take a look. If there is any danger, remember to leave immediately."

"I'm not stupid, I understand."

Shuten laughed heartily and led the group onward. When he reached Ibaraki's side, he nudged him with his elbow, raised an eyebrow, and gave him a meaningful look. His eyes clearly said something.

See? This is my aunt. Isn't she amazing?

Ibaraki remained silent. Bai Qingyu's intervention on behalf of Shuten-dōji was both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that it shows she really cares about Shuten-dōji; the bad thing is that this powerful demon is indeed meddling too much, which is not conducive to Shuten-dōji's development.

Bai Qingyu followed behind the group, and none of the little demons in the group dared to turn around to look, as they had been too frightened just now.

They set off quietly and finally arrived at the gray land that Bai Qingyu had seen.

Because of the delay, by the time they arrived, the Gate of Hell had already begun to slowly emerge.

Please vote for me! *sobs*

Volume 1: Chapter 101 Love Tribulation and the Maple Forest

Bai Qingyu had never heard of the Ghost Gate. The world was vast, and there were too many strange and wonderful things. Just like Shuten-dōji, Ibaraki-dōji, and the Ara race, Bai Qingyu did not believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.

The Ghost Gate slowly emerged, made entirely of stone, with countless twisted patterns carved on it. These patterns, when combined, resembled some kind of totem or writing. If viewed individually, they also resembled the shapes of demons. Many parts of them had even weathered away, suggesting that they had existed for a considerable time.

If it were just an ordinary, rustic stone door, it wouldn't be so bad. However, as soon as this stone door appeared, a gray substance, visible to the naked eye, emerged from the half-open door. It consisted of both cotton-like and granular substances. Wherever this substance passed, no matter what color it was, it would be stripped away and assimilated into gray.

Bai Qingyu saw that one of the rabbits was unable to dodge and was affected by the gray power, its body immediately stiffening on the spot.

"Wait, don't go over there yet." Shuten raised his hand, and the group stopped.

All the demons, hundreds of meters away, gazed up at the colossal Ghost Gate, their eyes filled with unconcealed shock and fear. Only the demons who lived here knew just how terrifying the Ghost Gate truly was; the power it unleashed could devour everything.

Moreover, they knew that the Gate of Hell could be opened, but what lay behind it was unknown to them, but it was certainly beyond their capabilities.

Bai Qingyu stepped forward, frowning as she gazed at the Ghost Gate from afar.

This gate to the underworld is extremely tall; if it were to emerge entirely from underground, it would be at least thirty meters high.

Not only were there countless ghosts and monsters carved on the door frame, but the same was true on the door itself. However, the carvings on the door were different from the distorted characters on the door frame; they resembled some kind of scripture. Bai Qingyu didn't know what they were, and her gaze turned to the other half of the door.

Originally, the Ghost Gate was not fully revealed, and it was impossible to see what was carved on the left door. As the Ghost Gate slowly emerged, Bai Qingyu's pupils shrank.

The pattern carved on the gate of hell... isn't that Shuten-dōji?

Yes, Shuten-dōji.

Bai Qingyu walked to the front of the group and stood next to Shuten-dōji.

The patterns carved on the Ghost Gate were indeed distorted, with hideous demon faces, but her intuition told her that it was definitely Shuten-dōji!

"Shuten, can you sense anything?"

"It seems possible."

Shuten tried to walk forward, and when he reached the edge of the gray area, he tried to reach out and touch it.

Bai Qingyu was on edge, ready to pull Shuten out at the slightest sign of trouble. But after a short while, Shuten not only seemed unharmed, he even took another step inside, half of his body entering the gray area.

There were still no major problems; these gray forces not only didn't devour Shuten-dōji, but seemed to actually like him.

Seeing this, Bai Qingyu felt a little relieved, but couldn't help but think about it again.

What exactly is Shuten-dōji?

The "demons" mentioned by cultivators are actually more accurately described as demons, monsters, and ghosts. This means that the category of demons isn't simply about wild beasts transforming into spirits. But here we've come full circle. Given so many classifications, which category does Shuten-dōji belong to?

What is the connection between this and the Gate of Hell?

The complete form of the Ghost Gate was revealed. The two gates were half-open, and the world behind them was completely dark, with nothing visible. The gray power emanated from the cracks in the half-open gates.

"If we open the door, will a lot of 'demons' like Shuten-dōji come out?"