Chapter 38 - I'm Begging You, Just Kill Me
A few minutes later, Chen Chen had led his group several kilometers up the road. Suddenly, he halted his horse.
"Zhang Ji, go back and see if they are killing each other."
Zhang Ji was very confused as he had no idea what Chen Chen meant.
Chen Chen did not bother to explain, instead, he continued, "If they are attacking each other, kill the leading knight."
"Oh? Got it!"
While he had his questions, Zhang Ji did not object to Chen Chen's order; instead, he began making his way back with his horse.
As Zhang Ji left, the group once again naturally came to a stop. However, Chen Chen still wasn't free from duties; he then began rectifying the two-tailed vixen he had just captured.
First, he used the Demon-binding Vine to bind the two-tailed vixen tightly. He then put the inner elixir into the box originally used to keep the Foundation-building Elixir.
He did not know the price of the box, but he knew that the box could block ethereality from spreading around. By placing the demon elixir inside the box, the two-tailed vixen would not be able to call it back.
As expected, upon seeing the demon elixir being placed into the box, the two-tailed vixen, tied into the shape of a muggle, displayed pure despair in its eyes.
"How can you be so timid, you bring shame upon other practitioners!"
The two-tailed vixen cursed aloud. Now that any hope of escaping was gone, there was no point to talk politely.
Hearing the demon's words, Chen Chen smiled and gave his response, "If I was actually timid, I would have killed you much earlier."
"Good, back to the main topic, you are the first monster I have seen, I want to ask you some questions."
Chen Chen had not slain the two-tailed vixen for a reason. This demon fox was not only the first demon that he had seen, but also the first cultivated non-human organism he had seen.
It clearly knew more about the world than some villager like him; he wasn't going to give up such a useful opportunity to squeeze out some useful information.
"Hmm, why should I answer your questions?" The two-tailed vixen straight up shut its eyes, having decided not to answer anything.
"Why? Let me show you what you have!"
After speaking, Chen Chen opened up a bag. Inside were a few sundries like rocks and bones, all of which could restrain demons.
"If you don't respond, I will hang this bag on your body, and use your skin as a toilet pad after you die."
The two-tailed vixen couldn't help but shiver as it stared at the contents of the bag. After a long moment of silence, it finally surrendered.
The demon was already doomed to die; why not attempt to die in a more comfortable fashion?
"Little lad, ask me anything, I admit defeat!"
"Which level of cultivation are you at."
"Equivalent to qi training level 8 practitioners like yourself."
"Qi training level 8? That's so weak… also, is your status of cultivation enough for you to show a human form?"
The vixen became very frustrated. The prime reason for its defeat, as it saw it, was that the lad it faced had too many items that countered demons----even treasures like Dragon-taming Wood.
However, even though its opponent relied on many tools, it still continued to laugh in its face.
"I can take on a human form because both of my parents have the ability."
"Do you know other demons? Are there any other demons nearby?"
...
At this point, Chen Chen had turned into a curious baby, asking questions nonstop. Originally, the two-tailed vixen found the questions rather annoying. However, after Chen Chen read the Classic of Demon Atonement out loud, its annoyance mostly disappeared, as it began responding to questions in a mechanical fashion.
Before Chen Chen had realized, thirty minutes had already passed. Moments later, the sound of marching horses appeared nearby; Zhang Ji had returned with his face full of complicated emotions.
"Brother, they actually killed each other. When I arrived, the leading knight was fighting with three of his subordinates; everybody else was dead."
After hearing Zhang Ji's words and hearing what he expected, he then asked, "Did you kill the leading knight?"
"As instructed." Zhang Ji responded with a solemn face.
"That's good."
"But brother, how did you know they were fighting among themselves?" Zhang Ji still couldn't understand the logic behind the knights fighting amongst themselves; as such, he asked Chen Chen as a last resort.
Chen Chen pinches the ear of the two-tailed vixen in his hands, answering in a plain tone, "I am not sure, but some of them will return regardless."
"Zhang Ji, you know that we have left information behind in the post. If nobody returns and someone asks in the post, do you think we will be blamed for them going missing?"
Cold beads of sweat began dripping from Zhang Ji's face.
At this point, they may be held accountable for the missing group of knights, as well as the death of the gentleman!
"Brother, you're so right! I do have much to learn."
"As for the reason for their infighting, it's not hard to deduce. Some of the knights would've wanted to go back, while others wouldn't. Then, they would have to fight to the death, for if those that returned had explained the situation, those that didn't return would have to face endless hunts."
As Chen Chen continued to explain, Zhang Ji's face began showing signs of bewilderment.
The vixen, meanwhile, began to speak in a despicable manner, "You humans just love fighting among each other. Why are there so many reasons?"
"Oh? How come humans fight each other a lot? Explain this to me clearly." Chen Chen's eyes let out a glimmer of light; his attention returned back to the vixen.
At this point, the vixen regretted overspeaking; however, since it dared not to remain silent, it began giving a few stories.
Chen Chen nodded nonstop as he listened; after stories were finished, he achieved a more thorough understanding of the world.
The country he currently occupied was called the State of Jin, behind which stood a powerful clan.
There were in total 36 provinces administered by the State of Jin; each of these provinces was protected by a clan, one of which was the Tianyun Clan.
In addition, there are also some minor clans scattered throughout the mountains.
Clans and the State of Jin mostly relied on each other, for they all faced a powerful enemy, the State of Zhou.
Practitioners in the State of Zhou practiced diabolism, and were at fundamental odds with the State of Jin, resulting in nonstop wars between the states and the clans behind them.
While the State of Jin generally united in front of the enemy, the relationship between provinces wasn't exactly harmonious. Scuffles of resources were normal, and even armed clashes weren't out of the question.
To that end, the two-tailed vixen's statement that humans loved fighting amongst each other was not unjustified.
"What is diabolism? Explain it to me. Also, do you know about the Tianyun Clan? How powerful is it?"
Hearing Chen Chen's barrage of questions, the vixen began longing to commit suicide by biting its tongue. Whoever the young man was asking the questions, he didn't seem like he knew anything about the world. He seemed more like a plain villager who knew nothing!
And the vixen was caught alive with its demon elixir removed, by this villager!
...
As time passed, the fleet finally left the deep forest and the mountains behind. Chen Chen still continued to dig up goods at times, but wherever he went, he kept the vixen next to him and asked it questions nonstop.
By this time, the fox was reasonably thirsty given the amount of talking, its pink tongue spitting out like a dog, breathing in and out fast.
"You can even do that? Are you actually a dog demon?" Chen Chen asked in surprise.
Listening to Chen Chen's question, the vixen finally collapsed with tears breaking streaming from its eyes, screaming, "What dog demon, you are the real dog demon with your nose! Just kill me, I beg you, I am done with these retarded questions!"