Chapter 7: The First Beastman Reader Appears
Yes, Fengxing immediately equated “demon beasts” with beastmen. After all, transforming between animal form and human form was a unique ability of beastmen.
Although he really wanted to punch that vicious wolf-shaped beastman to death, at the same time, as a beastman himself, Fengxing couldn’t help but feel a trace of resentment toward the author.
With so many species out there, why make beastmen the loathsome villains? Wasn’t that tarnishing their reputation?
Heaven knew, beastmen were actually a very friendly race.
After all, if they weren’t, the interstellar humans would’ve long since taken up their advanced weapons and wiped them out.
It wasn’t until later, when a little girl suddenly transformed into a fox and toyed with that massive wolf in the palm of her hand, that Fengxing’s mouth dropped open in an “O.”
Only then did he finally realize—the author was writing about the demon race, not beastmen.
Once beastmen reached adulthood, they could no longer revert to a childlike form.
Their human form grew larger in proportion to their beast form, and beyond that, they didn’t possess any kind of summoning skills.
After figuring that out, Fengxing’s interest in the book only grew stronger.
He quickly added it to his favorites—this was his habit.
Because if he ever put down a book he liked, he’d often find that he couldn’t locate it again no matter how hard he searched.
So, to prevent that from happening from time to time, whenever he came across a story that caught his attention, Fengxing would always add it to his collection before continuing.
What followed was Hu Sanli bringing the wolf demon back to the Demon Hunters’ Hall.
In order to keep her husband from noticing anything unusual, Hu Sanli often chose to cultivate at the Demon Hunters’ Hall.
And thus, Fengxing witnessed Hu Sanli’s peculiar cultivation method.
Her cultivation carried a strong sense of ritual. On nights when the moon was out, she would transform into her beast form and spit out her inner core toward the moon to cultivate.
This was the Fox Gazing at the Moon technique, allowing her to absorb the essence of the sun and moon.
Fengxing thought about the way their own people cultivated—it didn’t seem special at all. They just kept hunting, eating, drinking, and then growing bigger.
Fengxing suddenly felt that their method of cultivation was far too simple and crude, completely lacking in ceremony.
He lifted his head. The moon had just risen into the night sky.
Fengxing’s eyes lit up, and he opened his mouth wide, as if hoping an inner core would emerge from it.
Yet, even after his jaw muscles ached, nothing happened.
Fengxing couldn’t help but feel dejected.
His unusual behavior, however, was noticed by his childhood troublemaker friend, Yumo.
“Fengxing, what on earth are you doing?”
With a rustling sound, Yumo slithered over in his snake form, asking in surprise.
Fengxing closed his mouth and looked at Yumo with hopeful eyes:
“Do you think… maybe our tribe has some cultivation method they haven’t told us about? Like gazing at the moon at night, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon or something?”
Yumo burst out laughing without hesitation.
“What’s going on in that little head of yours?”
“If there really were some cultivation technique, you think your father wouldn’t tell us?”
Fengxing’s father was the current chieftain of the snake clan. He was very strict about educating the tribe. If there were truly a cultivation method, his father would’ve told them right away.
Fengxing knew this too, which only made him feel more disappointed.
Yumo, knowing well how his friend was, tugged the corner of his mouth.
“What, did you stumble on another one of those so-called brilliant stories again?”
“This one’s different—it’s really good,” Fengxing defended himself.
“In it, there’s a demon race that, like us, can transform between human and beast form.”
“What’s so surprising about that?” Yumo didn’t get it. “It’s just something created based on us beastmen as a prototype. You’ve seen stories like that before.”
“No. I have a feeling… this demon race is definitely different from us. It’s a new species with its own unique culture.”
At this point, Fengxing didn’t want to waste any more time with Yumo. He shoved aside the tall emerald-green snake—easily as tall as a man—and went back to reading on his light-brain device.
“Go play by yourself, don’t disturb me while I’m reading.”
???
Three question marks practically floated above Yumo’s head. Fengxing had never brushed him off so casually while reading before.
That made Yumo curious about the story too.
He flicked the tip of his tail against Fengxing’s waist. “Then once you finish, let me read it too.”
Fengxing had shared novels with Yumo in the past. Not wanting to be pestered again, he gave a half-hearted “mm” and agreed,
“Alright, I’ll be done soon. You can read it after me.”
Satisfied, Yumo coiled up his tail and waited quietly.
But what happened next was completely beyond his expectations. Within just a few minutes, Fengxing’s face suddenly flushed red—redder than the ripest fruit on the mountain. He even avoided meeting Yumo’s eyes.
Yumo’s curiosity was fully hooked. Lifting his snake head, he craned toward Fengxing’s light-brain.
“What did you just see? Your face is that red—let me see too.”
Normally, everyone’s light-brain came with privacy settings. Even if Yumo stuck his eyes right up against it, he shouldn’t be able to see anything on Fengxing’s screen.
But the strange thing was—Fengxing seemed to have forgotten this. His reaction to Yumo’s movement was huge.
With lightning speed, he shut down his light-brain. The device flickered twice and vanished. At the same time, Fengxing transformed into a snake and shot off across the mountainside, desperate to get away before Yumo could chase him down.
What else could Yumo do? Of course, he chose to give chase.
Fengxing’s speed was among the very best in the entire serpent tribe, so Yumo couldn’t keep up with him at all.
But that was fine. Having been his troublemaker friend since childhood, Yumo knew all of Fengxing’s weaknesses by heart.
“Fengxing, if you don’t stop right now, I’ll tell the chieftain you’re wasting your time on frivolous things and have him confiscate your light-brain.”
Yumo always used this trick, and it never failed. This time was no exception.
In the end, Fengxing had no choice but to stop reluctantly and present the title of the book he was reading with both hands.
Song Wenlan’s work had just started—barely over ten thousand words—and in a few minutes, Yumo had already finished reading all of it.
By the time he reached the last few descriptions, even the usually composed Yumo couldn’t help his pupils from contracting in shock.
In that moment, he finally understood Fengxing’s strange behavior. But so what?
Now that he had dirt on his friend, of course he wasn’t going to let it go without making a show of it.
Yumo slithered quickly away:
“I’m going to tell everyone—the dignified young master of the snake clan is actually reading this kind of thing!”
Just as Yumo knew Fengxing well, Fengxing had stayed behind precisely to prevent Yumo from spreading the word.
And now, that fear had come true.
Grinding his teeth, Fengxing lunged at Yumo.
The two immediately wrestled together.
Of course, Fengxing was stronger than Yumo. But since Yumo had the sharper tongue, in the end Fengxing had to agree to hand over ten days’ worth of prey in exchange for Yumo’s silence.
Not that the secret stayed hidden for long.
