Chapter 115: Caught Stealing Food by the Mountain Lord
By the riverbank, a Toad was croaking “gurulu, gurulu,” singing its strange little song.
“Hiss~”
A bright red ribbon suddenly shot out from the surface of the river and coiled tightly around the Toad.
“Gurulu?!”
The Toad had no time to react before the red ribbon snapped back into the river, dragging the Toad down with it, leaving no trace.
Moments later, an enormous Anaconda, massive to the point of being terrifying, raised half its head above the water.
“Hiss~”
Only then did it become clear that what seemed to be a red ribbon was, in fact, this giant Anaconda’s forked tongue!
The one revealing itself on the river’s surface was none other than Mo Lin, who had just caused chaos at the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce.
Relying on the demonic art “Tide-Dragon Binding,” it had successfully escaped the pursuit of the Chamber’s Earth Rank expert and returned to the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore Mountain.
Mo Lin took stock of its gains.
From that excursion to the Chamber of Commerce, it had obtained Earth Vein Yin Marrow and three new demonic arts: “Lightning Orb,” “Water Manipulation Technique,” and “Tide-Dragon Binding.”
The resources it had swallowed inside the “Yisi” Room were being digested madly, and in time would be converted into energy for its progress.
If quantified, it was roughly equivalent to twice the amount of Purple Crystal Dragon Ore it had devoured before.
Speaking of Purple Crystal Dragon Ore, it must be said that swallowing a great quantity of it before heading to Yongzhou’s Chamber of Commerce had indeed benefited Mo Lin greatly.
At the very least, after casting “Tide-Dragon Binding,” Mo Lin’s demonic power had nearly run dry, its body felt unbearably heavy, and even swimming in the river had become exhausting.
Thus, it had just swallowed a Toad to restore a little strength—even if only a tiny bit.
But compared to its worn-out body, Mo Lin’s soul felt unusually vigorous.
This was not the false vigor of Mo Lin’s past life, like when a human pulled an all-nighter—where sleep would reveal exhaustion long since overdrawn, masked only by temporary stimulation.
No, at this moment, Mo Lin’s soul was genuinely clear and alert, without any sense of physical fatigue.
This must have been the benefit of consuming large amounts of Purple Crystal Dragon Ore.
It was easy to imagine: after its escape, the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce must have gone mad searching for it.
Mo Lin had no plans to stir up trouble during this time.
Although it did not fear the Yongzhou Chamber of Commerce, encountering them by chance would still be a nuisance.
Nestling in the mine to digest its harvest, while idly devouring Purple Crystal Dragon Ore to nourish its soul—such leisure days had a charm of their own.
With that thought, Mo Lin truly stayed in the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore mine for an entire month without the slightest intention of leaving.
As a result, the ores in the cave diminished at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Until one day—
“Crack.”
“Hm?”
Mo Lin, in the midst of swallowing Purple Crystal Dragon Ore, suddenly heard a strange sound, causing it to stop eating.
Over the past month, it had already digested all the resources it had swallowed from the “Yisi” Room, and its cultivation at the Mid Earth Rank had advanced yet another step.
“What’s that sound?”
In all this time, it had never heard any sound apart from its own eating.
Where was this sound coming from?
“Crack, crack.”
The sound continued.
Mo Lin pressed its ear against the wall and realized the sound came from the deeper side of the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore mine.
And from where it was now, it seemed only a thin layer of ore separated them. Judging by the sound, it was as if someone was excavating the ore on the other side.
Mo Lin frowned.
This was the Mountain Lord’s Purple Crystal Dragon Ore.
Besides itself, who knew of the little secret spot Bear had found for sneaking food?
This was outrageous.
As Mo Lin thought angrily, another possibility suddenly struck it.
What if the one on the other side wasn’t another sneaky eater like Bear and itself—but the true owner of the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore?
The thought froze Mo Lin in place.
Before it could react, the wall that had been sounding with constant “crack crack” noises suddenly split.
“Crack!”
The muffled sound broke through some barrier and rang sharp and clear in Mo Lin’s inner ear.
The ore wall before it collapsed.
Almost by instinct, Mo Lin cast “Spatial Imprisonment,” fixing the collapsing Purple Crystal Dragon Ore cave in place.
But Mo Lin had no mind to worry about such trivial matters as a cave-in, because right before it, a gigantic White Tiger was staring at Mo Lin in shock.
Clearly, this White Tiger had never expected to find a Anaconda Demon inside its private territory.
Mo Lin and the White Tiger stared at each other. Mo Lin coughed lightly, awkwardly.
“Yo, Mountain Lord, long time no see.”
The one who appeared after the ore wall collapsed was none other than the very “sole demonic beast king reigning over the mountain ranges for over a decade,” the Mountain Lord, as Bear had described!
The Mountain Lord now recognized its intruder—this was the very same Earth Rank Anaconda Demon it had encountered some time ago.
It had even extended an invitation to this Anaconda Demon back then!
Although it had been rejected, and soon after the Mountain Lord had been preoccupied with encounters with Jingchen, Zhu Dongfeng, and others, leaving it no time to pay attention to Mo Lin, it had no idea where Mo Lin had gone.
Never could it have imagined that their reunion would take place inside its Purple Crystal Dragon Ore cave!
The Mountain Lord cast a glance behind Mo Lin, only to see the cavern stretched open into a wide passage. Its eye twitched twice.
Could it be that this Anaconda Demon had started from one side, eating, eating, and eating nonstop, right into its territory, and today the two had coincidentally broken through from either side?
If not, then how else would this ore wall suddenly collapse?
The thought that at least half of its Purple Crystal Dragon Ore had fallen into this Anaconda Demon’s stomach ignited boundless rage in the Mountain Lord’s heart.
How long had it been?
How long since a demonic beast dared provoke it?
What now?
Not only had humans grown arrogant in recent days, but now even demonic beasts were reaching into its plate to steal food?!
Mo Lin, wary, kept its eyes fixed on the Mountain Lord, whose fur bristled and puffed until it nearly filled the entire cavern, clearly on the verge of fury.
Mo Lin’s heart sank bitterly.
“The living fish worries, the dead fish is at ease—ancients did not deceive me.”
Though not a fish but a snake, this month of ease had indeed dulled its vigilance.
Had it paid attention, it would have realized long ago it had eaten too far, at risk of being discovered by the Mountain Lord. Yet it hadn’t cared.
And now—caught red-handed by the Mountain Lord.
Still, Mo Lin wasn’t too nervous.
Back when they first met, it had been Mid Earth Rank. Now, it was still Mid Earth Rank.
Their levels were equal.
If the Mountain Lord made a move, Mo Lin could simply release its “Spatial Imprisonment,” collapsing the entire mine to delay the Mountain Lord and then flee.
Yet unexpectedly, after bristling until it nearly burst, the Mountain Lord’s fur slowly flattened.
It seemed to have calmed down.
The Mountain Lord looked at the giant Anaconda before it and opened its tiger’s mouth.