Ch 29: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

“Master, the tree demon from Lanruo Temple has sent an invitation, wishing to visit tomorrow.”

As soon as Jiang Lin opened his eyes, he heard someone speaking beside him. He took a few moments to gather his thoughts before looking at the speaker.

Tall and thin, with a pale face, lifeless black eyes, and blood-red lips—this figure resembled something straight out of a horror movie, clearly not human.

Indeed, “it” wasn’t human.

And Jiang Lin himself was no longer the White Tiger King but had become the Black Mountain Demon.

Black Mountain Demon? A Chinese Ghost Story? The world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio?

The speaker, receiving no immediate response from Jiang Lin, remained still, bowing respectfully as if waiting for Jiang Lin to fully recover.

This brief moment was enough for Jiang Lin to process all the information. The Black Mountain Demon was notoriously suspicious, and as the ruler of Black Mountain, he never allowed demons or ghosts to serve him.

The vast Black Mountain was filled with puppets, animated by the demon’s magic, and this particular figure was no exception.

As Jiang Lin took in the puppet’s appearance, he couldn’t help but feel disdain for the Black Mountain Demon’s taste. The puppet’s face was painted to be even more terrifying than a real ghost.

He looked around the Black Mountain Hall, which was shrouded in darkness and surrounded by chilling winds. It was no wonder that even though the Black Mountain Demon rarely left his mountain to cause trouble, the mere mention of his name had other demons and ghosts labeling him as a great demon lord.

“Tree demon?” Could it be the famous Tree Demon Granny? Is the story unfolding this quickly?

After a brief consideration, Jiang Lin nodded. “Very well.”

The puppet respectfully nodded back, emitting a sudden red light that flew towards a specific location in the southwest of Black Mountain.

This was how they communicated with the tree demon.

Once the puppet had sent the message, it stood frozen in place, silent and unmoving.

…Which made it even more frightening.

These puppets, devoid of self-awareness, remained on standby without their master’s orders. The original Black Mountain Demon was used to this, but after spending centuries in White Tiger Ridge—a place of birdsong, flowers, warmth, and light—Jiang Lin found it rather intolerable.

He waved the puppet away and brought Qingluo out from her jade space.

As soon as Qingluo emerged and saw the gloomy, dark hall, she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Daddy, it’s so dark here. It’s not comfortable at all.”

Jiang Lin gently patted her head. “Hmm, Daddy will find time to renovate this place.”

He led Qingluo out of the hall. From the outside, the hall looked even more eerie and terrifying, like a giant beast waiting to devour anyone who dared to enter.

Jiang Lin frowned, baffled by why these demons always made their living spaces so unnerving.

Living in such an environment for hundreds or thousands of years could turn even a normal demon into a psychopath.

If demons truly preferred this style, then why were the demons of White Tiger Ridge much happier living in beautiful houses?

The moonlight was bright that night, but Black Mountain was eerily quiet.

No other demons lived on Black Mountain, and even the birds and beasts instinctively sensed the danger of the area, staying far away.

Jiang Lin walked to a more open area and used his magic to create a small treehouse.

“We’ll make do here for the night,” Jiang Lin said.

Qingluo had no objections. Her body flashed with a green light, transforming into several lush vines that wound around the treehouse. The green leaves, tinged with jade, shimmered softly under the moonlight.

Actually, Jiang Lin could have done more, but even though he now had the body of a demon, he still maintained the habit of working during the day and resting at night. He really didn’t feel like building anything in the pitch-dark night. So, he took out a meditation cushion from his space, sat cross-legged in the treehouse, and closed his eyes to rest.

The night passed uneventfully.

The tree demon had mentioned visiting today, and naturally, that meant she would come in the evening.

Jiang Lin kept his promise to Qingluo and built a small courtyard. The courtyard resembled the one he had in White Tiger Ridge in the previous world, with clean blue stone floors and a beautiful picket fence.

In the afternoon, Jiang Lin used the puppet control magic he remembered from the Black Mountain Demon’s memories and changed the appearance of all his puppets. Before the apocalypse, his family was relatively well-off, and he had learned various hobbies, including painting. His painting skills weren’t at a master level, but he could manage to create something decent.

The once eerie puppets quickly transformed: there were identical twin children with little buns on their heads, a squirrel girl with ears and a big tail, and Jiang Lin even indulged in a bit of humor by painting a blonde girl with a red hood.

Ah, Little Red Riding Hood—probably no one would get the reference anymore.

After sending the puppets to prepare for the guest, Jiang Lin began to sort through the story of this world.

In the world of A Chinese Ghost Story, the main characters were, of course, the ghostly maiden Nie Xiaoqian and the human scholar Ning Caichen. The villain, naturally, was the tree demon.

Originally, the Black Mountain Demon had nothing to do with this plot. The problem arose when the tree demon decided to cling to the Black Mountain Demon and employed an age-old tactic—the beauty trap. And as fate would have it, the Black Mountain Demon, who had never been interested in women, actually fell in love with Nie Xiaoqian at first sight.

As it turns out, demons who oppose the protagonist, no matter how powerful, end up meeting a tragic fate. The Black Mountain Demon was eventually obliterated by a Daoist master summoned by Ning Caichen, with no chance for reincarnation.

Tonight, the tree demon might be visiting to offer a beauty, Jiang Lin thought lazily, resting his chin on his hand.

Whatever. He had no interest in getting involved in the drama between the two protagonists. He’d rather spend the time improving his strength by cultivating the Nine Spirits Technique.

But this demon body of his, being the essence of the vast Black Mountain itself, allowed his consciousness to easily perceive any part of the mountain. He had already noticed that Black Mountain was rich in spiritual energy and full of rare treasures—truly a remarkable place.

The builder’s instinct in his blood began to surge: leaving such a great place unused would be a terrible waste. Though he was short on manpower for now, weren’t some people coming to him tonight?

As night fell, clouds obscured the moon, casting the world into darkness. The wind picked up, signaling the movement of demons.

A dark red sedan chair, escorted by eight beautiful maidservants dressed in white, sped through the forest.

When they reached the Black Mountain’s boundary, the sedan chair came to a halt. The elegant maidservant on the left side softly said, “Grandmother, we’ve arrived at Black Mountain.”

“Hmm.” A seductive voice responded from inside the sedan chair, and a slender hand, with nails painted in crimson, extended from behind the curtain.

The eight maidservants in white followed the woman in the dark robe, bowing respectfully to the Black Mountain before them:

“Tree demon of Lanruo Temple, here to pay respects to the King of Black Mountain.”

xxx

Thandar: I have seen both the animation and live action versions of a A Chinese Ghost Story. I love both so much.