The Village Chief’s Curse and the Water Monkey’s Vengeance

Cough, cough! What exactly do you mean I was controlled by the Heart-Eating Demoness? You must elaborate; are all those cherished memories nothing but lies?

Tou, having uttered his pronouncement, dismissed the matter entirely. Yet, the Village Chief, his beard bristling and eyes wide with indignation, found himself utterly unwilling to accept such a claim. The memories of his time with the Heart-Eating Demoness were, to him, his most treasured possessions. How could he possibly reconcile himself with the idea that his mind had been controlled, that every emotion he felt was a fabrication?

Despite his century of life, he clung to Tou’s leg like a petulant child, relentlessly pestering him to reveal the unvarnished truth.

“You old pervert! Get off me, you damn nuisance!”

With the old man clinging to his leg, Tou was overcome with profound disgust. He cursed him vehemently, shaking his leg with all his might, desperate to dislodge him. Yet, the Village Chief clung steadfastly to his thigh, much like a sloth clinging to a sturdy tree, proving impossible for Tou to shake off.

“My love for the Heart-Eating Demoness was genuine,” the Village Chief insisted, his grip unyielding. “Unless you tell me the truth, I won’t release you!”

“This is infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!” Tou exclaimed, seeing no other recourse. “Fine, release me first, and I’ll tell you everything!”

“Cough, cough! You won’t trick this old man so easily,” the Village Chief rasped, his eyes glinting with a shrewd wisdom. “I won’t let go until you tell me.”

In his heart, Tou had indeed planned to have Four-Master whisk him away from this place the moment the Village Chief released him. However, fate, as it often does, had other plans. He could only tap Yue Ye Si’s shoulder, his voice laced with impatience:

“Master, please, quickly clarify things for him! I can’t stand having this old pervert clinging to my leg any longer!”

“Well…” Yue Ye Si murmured, stroking her chin thoughtfully. She possessed the clearest understanding of the situation, but given the many personal secrets intertwined within it, she chose to speak only in general terms.

“All those memories you cherish are mere illusions, meticulously crafted by the Heart-Eating Demoness to claim your heart. Had you offered it, you would have become nothing more than her puppet, devoid of any conscious will. Surely, you must have recognized it yourself, how those beautiful moments, no matter how hard you try, remain utterly unforgettable, as if they were indelibly planted within your very mind!”

“Unforgettable!” the Village Chief murmured, raising his head to fix Yue Ye Si with a gaze filled with intricate emotions. Having lived for countless years, he had encountered a myriad of events and people, yet the only memories that remained vivid were those from his youth, when he first met the Heart-Eating Demoness.

He had, eventually, married, yet the identity of his wife, the mother of Qiao Qiao’s father, his former family members, and even his martial brothers from the sect, all eluded him now. Not a single one could he recall.

Only the memories shared with the Heart-Eating Demoness persisted, a relentless curse that replayed itself in his mind every single night. He yearned to forget them, yet found it utterly impossible!

He had long suspected these memories were a curse, but had stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. How many years did he have left to live, after all? His true desire had been to carry this secret to his grave.

Now, with the truth laid bare, a profound sadness enveloped him. This curse, he realized, had been sustained by the sacrifice of all his other memories, stripping away joy and leaving only a profound, fabricated sorrow.

“Alas!” The Village Chief sighed deeply, releasing Tou’s leg. He shook his head, a picture of profound weariness, and slowly made his way towards his wheelchair, appearing as though he might collapse at any moment.

Ji Jie, seeing his distress, quickly stepped forward to support the Village Chief. His demeanor suggested he had recalled something profound, and eager to learn more about the Heart-Eating Demoness, she tentatively inquired, “Grandpa! What’s happened? You seem terribly unwell!”

“I’m merely old,” the Village Chief replied, waving a dismissive hand. “Those matters hold no importance now. Oh, but wait, little girl, you wish to know about the Water Monkeys, don’t you? Ask away, I assure you I’ll be perfectly clear. Once this is settled, I simply wish for some peace and solitude.”

Unwilling to recount such a humiliating episode, the Village Chief artfully diverted Ji Jie’s attention with a drawn-out response.

“Oh, well, alright then,” Ji Jie conceded, a touch of disappointment in her voice, realizing she couldn’t press the Village Chief further. “Grandpa, I have a general grasp of the Water Monkey situation, but there are a few points I still don’t understand.”

“This village is protected by a formidable formation,” she began. “Demonic beasts of the Golden Body realm simply cannot breach its defenses, and would instead suffer its retaliatory attacks. Given the intelligence inherent to such powerful creatures, they shouldn’t be so foolish as to undertake such a thankless and futile endeavor by attacking the village’s formation. Why, then, are they doing it?”

The world was vast, with humanity occupying only half of its expanse, leading to a landscape of sprawling territories and sparse populations. It was simply impossible for humans to eradicate every demonic beast within their domains.

Each human settlement was invariably encircled by dense, sprawling jungles—territories often ten times the size of their own inhabited areas—where countless demonic beasts thrived.

Traveling from one village to the next often demanded an hour or two even for a skilled martial artist; for an ordinary person, it could easily consume half a day. Such distances truly underscored the vastness of the land.

For the safety of their inhabitants, every settlement, during its inception, employed skilled professionals to erect formidable defensive formations. For low-level demonic beasts, crossing the threshold of such a formation guaranteed instant demise. While these formations might not possess the power to slay a Golden Body realm demonic beast, they were equally impervious to destruction by such formidable creatures.

For high-level demonic beasts to attack these formations within human territory was, unequivocally, an open challenge, a blatant declaration: “I am here; come and fight me!”

Demonic beasts possessing any degree of intelligence would instinctively conceal themselves. Thus, for a creature as seemingly simple-minded as the Water Monkey to launch such a desperate assault, Ji Jie surmised that something profoundly serious must have transpired, compelling it to seek vengeance against the villagers.

“About half a month ago, we captured a few Water Monkeys,” the Village Chief admitted without hesitation. “I presume this is the cause of the current troubles.”

“Ah, so you’re the one who took its children!” Ji Jie exclaimed, a sudden realization dawning upon her. “It’s simply come to retrieve them. Couldn’t you have just returned the young monkeys?”

Tou, as if witnessing the entire grim sequence of events, was assailed by a wave of disgust. He mused that if he were ever captured, his own master would undoubtedly move heaven and earth to reclaim him.

“It’s already too late,” the Village Chief stated, his eyes filled with a chilling indifference as he shook his head. “Had I only known those monkeys were the offspring of a Golden Body realm demonic beast, I would never have killed them.”

In truth, he had already carved out their hearts and consumed them. He offered no further details, preferring to keep this gruesome fact hidden from the others.

“I comprehend the situation now,” Ji Jie declared. “The Water Monkey has indeed injured numerous villagers and caused significant damage to our structures. However, I still implore you to rescind this bounty, or at the very least, change it to expulsion. You caused the death of the Water Monkey’s offspring, and yet you still wish for it to die? Don’t you find that utterly merciless!”

Xiao Yuan, being of the demonic race, understood firsthand that discovery by humans invariably led to death. Even with her own protection, Xiao Yuan had faced human animosity, ultimately unable to escape the grim fate of being hunted.

Ji Jie was determined not to let such a tragedy unfold before her eyes again. She firmly believed that not all demonic beasts were inherently evil; Xiao Yuan, for instance, was a kind-hearted demon. While she couldn’t vouch for the Water Monkey’s nature, its attacks on humans, provoked by the slaying of its children, were nothing short of a righteous act of vengeance.

The Water Monkey’s transgression did not merit death; merely driving it away would suffice.

While her reasoning seemed sound, Tou vehemently disagreed. If the Water Monkey were simply released, what would become of his bounty?

Without spirit stones, with such a bounty of delicacies available in this world, he would be reduced to merely gazing longingly, a prospect, he declared, that would be utterly agonizing!

His heart seethed with a thousand objections. He pointed an accusatory finger at Ji Jie, this “waste” who dared to unilaterally suggest withdrawing the bounty, and erupted in a furious tirade:

“Bastard! Who gave you permission to ask such questions? By having him revoke the bounty, are you trying to starve me to death on the streets? You worthless dog, they ought to sell you to a vendor of dog meat *roujiamo*; at least then you’d be worth a few of those!”