Chapter 194: I’m One Scared Little Mouse
Chapter 194: Chapter 194: I’m One Scared Little Mouse
At her stall, Lu Wu still didn’t have any customers, so she was amusing herself.
’I’ve never slacked off on my cultivation. Right, System?’
But her break didn’t last long. Huohuo returned with a mountain of rabbits.
Gazing at the gruesome state of the dead rabbits, then at the pleading eyes of the little beasts, Lu Wu could only roll up her sleeves and continue making rabbit heads.
She skinned, soaked, blanched, and boiled them until they were cooked through.
Lu Wu had the whole process down to a science, even finding time to chat with the foxes.
"So, you’re saying other demon beasts are on their way? They want to eat rabbit heads to get rid of that black qi? No problem."
Lu Wu was always generous when it came to cute little animals.
But the reality of the situation far exceeded her expectations.
At first, she thought it would only be a few foxes. She never expected the variety of demon beasts to keep growing.
Foxes, squirrels, eagles, spiders...
Birds, beasts, and insects—the whole menagerie was there.
They hid timidly in the nearby woods, watching the human, Lu Wu.
They knew humans existed, but many of the demon beasts had never seen one before.
Tall, fair-skinned, slender, and fragrant.
This human was different from what they had imagined.
Unlike the two foxes who had eaten the rabbit heads and were now fawning over her, many of the demon beasts just peeked at her cautiously from a distance.
Lu Wu’s attention was drawn to a particular group of squirrels.
They were hidden in the dense canopy, tails curled around their bodies, with only their beady little eyes peeking out cautiously.
Whenever Lu Wu’s gaze shifted toward them, a squirrel would tremble, its eyes would roll back, and it would collapse against a branch.
One unlucky soul even fell right out of the tree. Fortunately, a nearby demon beast caught it, preventing what would have been a fatal fall.
Of course, the falling object and the potential casualty were one and the same squirrel.
Even from a distance, Lu Wu could sense the palpable fear emanating from the group of squirrels.
’It’s like they see me as some kind of monster.’
"Yip!"
The male fox tugged on Lu Wu’s sleeve and began to tell her a story.
Apparently, these squirrels were Heaven-devouring Rats, once an incredibly powerful type of demon beast. In their adult form, they could grow to be hundreds of meters tall, truly living up to their name.
As their bodies swelled, so did their egos.
In short, they got full of themselves.
When they learned that the lands occupied by humans were even vaster, they decided they wanted to conquer humanity and enslave them.
But they were about to learn that there’s always someone stronger.
The Heaven-devouring Rats were powerful, but they were no match for the strength of human Cultivators.
The battle that followed was cataclysmic.
Of course, it was only the Heaven-devouring Rats who saw their world go dark.
Countless Heaven-devouring Rats died in that war. The survivors lost all courage to fight humans again and scurried back into the great mountains, never daring to venture out.
Since then, each successive generation of Heaven-devouring Rats has grown smaller and weaker, eventually dwindling into their current form.
But even after all this time, a deep-seated fear of humans still flowed through their very bones.
The moment they laid eyes on Lu Wu, images of their ancestors’ tragic demise flashed through their minds.
In that instant, the squirrels saw King Yan himself beckoning to them.
The shock was so great that the timid little squirrels’ legs gave out, and they fainted on the spot.
Lu Wu sighed, moved by the story. According to the male fox, the ancestors of many of the demon beasts present had similar dealings with humans.
However arrogant they were when they left the mountains, that’s how utterly defeated they were upon their return.
Humans: the indescribable... the eternal enemy of all beasts.
They harbored a bone-deep fear of humans.
If they weren’t unable to resist the encroaching black qi in their bodies, they would never have shown themselves before a human like Lu Wu.
SHIVER SHIVER SHIVER!
As the male fox explained, Lu Wu began to connect the stories to the behavior of certain demon beast species.
As her gaze drifted over them, those demon beasts began to tremble violently.
...
Lu Wu touched her face. ’I’m not that scary, am I?’
After a moment’s thought, Lu Wu glanced at her system interface and cleared her throat.
"I’m sorry. I was wrong."
As she spoke, Lu Wu’s eyes fell upon the reward she’d received from the system after her last mission.
It was a pair of... rabbit ears.
The fluffy white rabbit ears were pink in the center.
The fur was soft, and the long ears felt just like real ones to the touch.
When she first got this item from the lottery, Lu Wu had seriously suspected the system was trying to get her into some kind of weird fetish.
As it turned out, the system’s foresight was impeccable.
The item’s function was simple: when worn, it would disguise her as a giant rabbit, completely concealing her human aura.
’Isn’t this the perfect tool for dealing with these demon beasts who are terrified of humans?’
Lu Wu put them on and gave her head a little shake.
For a moment, it really felt as if the ears had sprouted from her own head.
’But these beasts have already seen me. Will this thing even work?’
As she wondered, she heard a commotion stirring among the demon beasts.
Translator activated.
"Huh? Where did that human go?"
"Human? What human? All I see over there is a rabbit."
"Yeah, just a slightly taller rabbit with some impressive chest muscles. But it’s definitely a vegetarian."
’Those aren’t chest muscles.’
As their hushed whispers reached her, Lu Wu pulled out a mirror. She saw that her appearance was unchanged, aside from the pair of ears on her head.
’This thing can alter the demon beasts’ perception?’
A System product is a quality product.
"System, I love you."
The system never responded to Lu Wu’s deadpan confession of love.
The perceptual shift was incredibly powerful. Even the three foxes she had been interacting with looked dazed for a moment before they too began to see Lu Wu as a tall rabbit who sold rabbit heads.
It was as if their memories had been completely replaced.
However, according to the item description for the rabbit ears, these effects were only temporary. The moment she took them off, the demon beasts’ memories would return to normal.
"Get your rabbit heads! Delicious spicy rabbit heads!"
A large pot of rabbit heads was ready.
With their perception altered, the demon beasts now saw Lu Wu as a harmless rabbit—a rabbit who could help them get rid of the black qi.
The spicy rabbit heads still looked a little terrifying, but the beasts bravely took a step forward anyway.
After all, no matter how scary the food looked, it couldn’t possibly be scarier than a human.
"THUMP!"
A soft thump sounded on the stall. Lu Wu looked over and saw that a squirrel had placed a Spirit Fruit on the counter.
"Squeak!"
A trade. That was what the squirrel meant.
Compared to humans, interactions between demon beasts were much simpler: if you wanted something, you had to trade for it.
What surprised and delighted Lu Wu was that as soon as the squirrel produced the Spirit Fruit, her system interface lit up.
[Task Progress: 1/100]
The system had registered this as a transaction, which meant that making sales would complete her task.
Lu Wu couldn’t help but break into a wide grin.
"Thank you, little squirrel."
Lu Wu gave the little squirrel an extra rabbit head, a small consolation for having nearly been scared to death earlier.
Yes, this was the same unlucky little squirrel that had fainted and fallen out of the tree just a moment ago.
With the squirrel having set an example, the other demon beasts followed suit.
Spirit Fruits, medicinal herbs, ores—the variety was immense. Lu Wu even spotted a few Spirit Stones.
In short, all the demon beasts were trading their most valuable possessions for rabbit heads.
These beasts were rich!
And they were spending it!
Watching her task progress shoot up, Lu Wu was instantly energized.
Let the sales begin.