Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

Zhuang Xing wanted Shou Mu to investigate the true nature of the monsters in this area, so he whispered in Shou Mu's ear, "Don't go with it yet, try to get some information out of it."

Shoumu heard his voice, his ears twitched slightly, and he started chatting with the cat demon.

"Do you really have food where you live?"

"Of course."

The cat demon seemed to sense that Shoumu was interested and moved closer.

"Brother, besides fish, we also have rats to eat where we live."

The cat demon tentatively broke through Shoumu's safe distance. This time, Shoumu did not retreat, although it was still on guard. Since it was going to put on an act, it had to go all the way.

It approached the cat demon like a silly country boy.

Most of the pilgrims who come down from the mountain are so foolish. They believe whatever the people in the temple say. Sometimes, when the pandas come to the pilgrims for food, the pilgrims will even pray for them, as if they regard them as gods.

Shoumu has seen plenty of people who are so naive and believe whatever they're told.

The more you see, the more naturally you'll learn.

Most importantly, you must have a yearning look in your eyes. Pretend to be hungry and craving food as you approach the cat demon.

Mice and fish are also on the panda's diet. The diet of red pandas is actually similar to that of cats. However, pandas mostly live in the forests of high mountains, where few people live and there is no oil or food, so there are no mice to steal rice or oil.

But red pandas have eaten mice before. When they're hungry, they're not picky eaters; they'll eat anything that's available.

They eat the moss growing on the ground, the bird eggs in the nest, and the grasshoppers that are jumping around. When they are starving, they will also gnaw on wild grass and tree bark.

But that was before. After coming to the Taoist temple, their tastes gradually became more discerning. Unless they were really hungry, Shoumu was unwilling to eat a mouse.

Even if you put a mouse in front of it, it won't have any appetite.

Despite thinking this to itself, it still acted as if it were very concerned and asked the cat demon for information.

"Will I be able to eat rats and fish if I go?" Shoumu asked.

“You’re a new demon, of course you can eat mice and fish.” The cat demon stretched out his paw and put it on Shoumu’s shoulder. “Brother, you don’t seem like one of those uncultured wild demons. Those wild demons come here and don’t say a word. When it’s time to fight, there are hardly any of them who can talk.”

“We don’t accept uncultured monsters; we only want cultured monsters like you.”

"Speaking of which, brother, do you have any brothers or sisters, children or grandchildren outside?" the cat demon asked with concern.

"Why are you asking this?" Shoumu asked.

“Brother, I care about you,” the cat demon said. “If you join the Demon Guild, we’ll be one family, and I’ll definitely help you get some benefits.”

"Besides, brother, you're a cultural freak, and I believe the people you know are also cultural freaks."

The cat demon suddenly peeked out and lowered its voice.

"Good brother, I don't usually say this to outsiders. In our Monster Association, as long as we can recruit a new monster, we get a share of the meat. When you bring your cronies over, we'll split the benefits in half. You eat the fish head and belly, and I'll eat the fish tail and skin. You eat the rat meat, and I'll gnaw on the rat bones. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Can we still share food?" Shoumu asked.

“That’s right,” the cat demon said. “We’re going to pull off something big. How can we do it if we don’t have enough brothers and sisters? Humans can get together to do great things, so why can’t we demons? Don’t worry, with my introduction, you’ll definitely get a good job, and there’ll be plenty of money to be made.”

Zhuang Xing felt that the cat demon's words sounded very familiar, every sentence sounded like he was just making empty promises, just like those people who wanted to fool people.

Zhuang Xing found the practice of getting a share of the spoils by bringing in a new monster very familiar. Could it be that next, there would be some other trick where bringing in five monsters would lead to promotion to squad leader, or bringing in ten monsters would lead to promotion to captain?

He muttered to himself, eavesdropping on the conversation between the cat demon and the panda.

It seems like the cat demon is fooling the panda, but in reality, it is the cat demon who is being fooled.

Before long, the cat demon revealed quite a few things.

"Don't worry, brother. Our Monster Association is a legitimate organization. Why would we trick you into going in to kill and eat you? Look, I'm just a little monster, aren't I? If a powerful monster were hungry and wanted to eat me, I would have been dead long ago."

"No, no, I can only tell you after you join, brother. Otherwise, if you run away halfway and reveal our plan, that would be bad."

"What? Brother, you really want to join? You have four brothers?! Sigh... I'm in a bit of a dilemma, but we hit it off right away, so I'll tell you. Actually, we're planning to rob someone's village. Heh heh, isn't that impressive? We're going to rob someone's village."

"The monsters above said that there's still enough meat and fruit to eat right now. Let's spread out in different places, conserve our energy, and train our demon soldiers. When it snows and we run out of meat, we'll pick a dark and windy night and rob those people of everything!"

"Brother, cat demons like us should take the lead and scout out the human villages first. The first demons to arrive will get the most food, and we'll definitely fill our bellies."

"What other monsters are there? No, no, I really can't say."

"What! I said you'd come with me right now."

"That's great! Okay, I'll make an exception and tell you one more time."

"But I don't know about other places. I know there are quite a few monsters in our forest. Besides cat demons, there are dog demons and fox demons. That's all. I heard there are wolf demons in other forests. They say the dog demons summoned them."

"Rat demons? Our demon society won't take in rat demons. Besides, rat demons live a very comfortable life. As long as people are full, they are full. They have been stealing food from people for a long time. I hate them so much that my teeth itch. If I ever see a rat demon, I will definitely twist off its head and gnaw on it."

...

(I didn't get back until after 10 p.m. I slept on the sofa in the countryside yesterday, and the snoring was deafening. I didn't sleep a wink all night and I'm really exhausted. I barely managed to write this chapter, and my eyes are already too tired to keep open. I've taken too many days off these past two days, but I'll definitely make time to catch up on the rest later.)

Chapter 319 Monster Meeting

From the conversation, Zhuang Xing understood why the cat demon was so enthusiastic.

It wasn't for any grand cause for the demon race; it was just to fill their stomachs.

It wanted to quickly recruit Shoumu into its group so it could get a share of the meat.

Thanks to the cat demon's eagerness, Shoumu easily extracted all the information he could from it, even finding out roughly how many demons were in the area.

According to the cat demon, this place is just a small outpost outside, with only about a dozen monsters scattered around.

Their task is to observe human villages, and the villages in the vicinity are all under their control.

Secondly, what they need to do is find a way to recruit more monsters to their side. With more monsters, things will be easier, and they can rob more human villages.

This Demon Association is an organization formed by several demon clans working together, along with some lesser demons recruited from outside.

Judging from this cat demon, this monster is loose-willed and undisciplined, like a pile of loose sand.

The monsters in the forest were just a bunch of insignificant little demons. Only the old fox demon in charge seemed to have some skill. The other cats and dogs, when they encountered an adult man, could only be chased by sticks.

It is precisely because of these weak monsters that they band together for warmth.

They were only forced to unite due to circumstances, much like bandits and robbers—a rabble that is no match for a regular army.

If Zhuang Xing wanted to subdue these minor demons, it wouldn't take much effort. However, he didn't come here to eliminate these demons. Putting aside whether these minor demons had committed any capital offenses, even if he were to eliminate demons here, he would inevitably alert the demons behind him.

Once real fighting begins, and demons and humans die, then peace talks will be out of the question.

Zhuang Xing then wanted Shoumu to infiltrate the monsters first and investigate further before he himself would speak with them.

His spirit still resides in Shoumu's ear.

The cat demon's cultivation level was too low to detect that he was eavesdropping.

The cat demon led the way through the bushes, saying he would take Shoumu to join the guild.

Beyond the bushes was a stream. The black cat licked its paws and walked upstream along the stream, with the red panda following closely behind, chasing the black cat's long, thin tail.

Before long, the black cat led Shoumu upstream.

Shoumu sniffed, then stuck his tongue back out and covered his mouth and nose, saying, "Why does it smell so strongly of fox?"

"Brother, don't worry." The black cat turned around and laughed. "This is a fox clan's bewitching spell. It can make people lose their souls. If people smell this, they will turn around on their own and won't be able to find us. It can also keep out those uncultured demons."

"Brother, follow me, I'll lead you through. Once we're inside, the smell won't be so strong."

“Um… okay…” Shoumu said, covering his nose.

Zhuang Xing didn't smell the fox odor, but he noticed that there were some signs of illusion around him.

The black cat led the panda through a shady grove and arrived at an open space.

"This is it." The black cat wagged its tail.

The grass there had been flattened, and several small sheds had been erected on the ground, with nests made of dry grass. There was also a patch of sandy mud. When the black cat arrived, the first thing it did was to go to the sandpit, squat comfortably for a while, then pawed at the mud and sand to bury the spot before shuddering and jumping out.

Around those small sheds, a few cats were lying lazily, purring and sleeping.

However, they did not see the dog demon. According to what the cat demon had said earlier, the dog demon was in charge of the daytime and the cat demon was in charge of the nighttime. Joining the guild did not include food. It was fine if accommodation was provided, but for food, one had to find it oneself. During the day, those dog demons were mostly out in the forest looking for food.

“Nighttime is when we cat demons are active. I usually sleep here during the day,” the black cat said. “But I just got up and felt a little hungry, so I thought I’d go to the other side of the river to try my luck and see if I can catch any fish.”

"I didn't expect to run into you, brother, instead of catching any fish, haha."

"Where do we go to get meat to eat?" Shoumu asked.

“Brother, just follow me,” the black cat said. “We need to find Commander Fox.”

Even when the black cat brought in a strange red panda, the cat demons lying on the ground only slightly opened their eyes to look at it, showing no intention of getting up.

Perhaps they had been in this place for quite some time and felt that no one would come, so they lowered their guard. Or perhaps these monsters were just naturally lazy and didn't even see a single monster on guard duty.

Those cat demons all looked thin and malnourished, as if they were too weak from hunger to move.

In short, Red Panda infiltrated the Monster Association in a very simple way.

"Commander Fox, I've brought another good brother with me."

The black cat stopped under a shed, where an old red fox with slightly dry fur lay listlessly in a nest of hay.

On the old fox's shed, it looked like a person making salted fish, with several dried fish hanging there. Besides the fish, there were also mice and sparrows. I don't know if salt was added, but they were just hanging there so openly, without any fear of the cats coming to snatch them.

The black cat looked at the hanging fish with envy, but only licked its paws and called out in front of the shed.

Hearing the black cat's words, the old fox raised his head, glanced at the black cat, and then looked at the red bear.

“Fox Leader, this good brother of mine also wants to join our Monster Guild,” the black cat said. “So I brought him along.”

"A panda?" The old fox stood up and examined the panda for a few moments. "Are you perhaps a demon from the panda clan? I went to look for the panda clan before, but I found that their territory had long since become a wasteland. I thought the panda clan was extinct, but I didn't expect to see one again."

Do you still remember our fox clan?

"I don't know," Shoumu said, pointing to the black cat. "It said there was food here, so I came."

The old fox sighed softly, "Alas, the panda clan has fallen to such a state; I wonder what will become of my fox clan."

"Is there anything to eat? If not, I'll be leaving." Shoumu only asked about food.

"Fox Commander, hurry up and get some food for my brother!" the black cat said anxiously. "Oh, and I want fish too."

The old fox didn't say a word, but with a flick of its paw, it tossed out a small fish.

Seeing this, the black cat pounced on it and began tearing at the small fish.