Journey to the West 012

My name is Da Huang, and I am a wolf demon.

I first began to ponder my own identity because I drank from a spring one day. It was said that spring had the power to awaken intelligence in all living things. When I went back later for another drink, the spring had already dried up.

Knowing nothing, I wandered the deep mountains. Sometimes I would encounter creatures called humans. I was somewhat afraid of them; they looked very formidable.

That was until I met a being who could speak, just like me. It seemed to know much more than I did. From that day on, it took me back to its cave dwelling and told me to call it Brother Bear.

Later, everyone started calling it the Great King, so I did too. It was a basic sign of respect.

However, the Great King itself didn't seem conscious of this title. It never seemed to care what others thought of it, spending its days either wandering aimlessly or foraging for wild fruits.

A vegetarian bear? Just listen to that, does it make any sense?

But it truly was a vegetarian.

Sometimes I would hunt small animals to eat. Although the Great King never stopped us, it also never came over to watch. I knew the Great King was single-mindedly dedicated to cultivating the righteous path.

What is the righteous path?

I didn't know. I only knew that roasted rabbit tasted better than raw rabbit. Perhaps that was the true meaning of gaining intelligence.

My task was to patrol the mountain, mainly to avoid encounters between the fellows from our cave dwelling and humans. Humans seemed both afraid and disgusted by us. The Great King said that since they didn't like us, we should just stay out of each other's way.

But one day, I overheard a conversation that infuriated me.

Those two people actually slandered our Great King, accusing it of eating the young girl they had offered as tribute! What nonsense! I had overheard them whispering before; they clearly didn't want their own newborn daughter and used it as an excuse to abandon her outside. Somehow, that became an "offering."

I couldn't hold back and immediately returned to the mountain to tell the Great King. Honestly, it was pointless; I knew the Great King wouldn't trouble them over it. It just felt strange, like I had been tattling quite a few times already.

The Great King looked very tired, though I didn't know what it had been doing.

As expected, it didn't hold a grudge against the villagers. Instead, it gave me a name: Da Huang. To tell the truth, I thought it sounded quite nice.

Then the Great King gave names to all the demons. Although the Great King was stronger than all of us, its cultural level wasn't very high either. I figured out its naming pattern: it went for the simplest options.

But everyone was happy; after all, we all had names now.

The Great King ordered us to mobilize collectively. It said it was going to do something big. I didn't know what that was until we surrounded a village stronghold.

Listening to the terrified screams from inside, I felt momentarily lost.

Then the Great King ordered us to kill the people.

We all hesitated and didn't act.

The Great King took the lead. Those humans fought back with blades in their hands, so I had no choice but to act as well.

The feeling of killing humans wasn't much different from hunting, but it still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

That day, the Great King told us some stories about humans. It seemed to understand humans well. It said the people we killed were bad, they were bandits. It recounted some deeds of these bandits. I suspected it made them up because the human bandits in its stories were incredibly, terribly evil.

Demons weren't that cruel.

Demons might kill and eat people, but they rarely tortured them. Could those bandits really be worse than demons? That seemed impossible.

As we cleared out one bandit camp after another, we gradually grew accustomed to it.

Then the Great King led us to invade the territories of other demons.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous. I knew very well those demons were stronger than us. But the Great King's performance startled me. It had been hiding its true strength, really.

I watched as it effortlessly picked up several demons who looked very powerful and smashed them against the gate. Once, twice, thrice. The heavy stone gate shattered. Watching those demons, I could almost feel their pain.

Honestly, I felt a chill in my heart at that moment. The Great King's methods were somewhat brutal.

We successfully stormed in. Since it was our first time attacking other demons, I was even thinking about what tone, posture, and excuse to use to give us a righteous cause. But the Great King's single statement—that it was here to seize territory—threw all my preparations into disarray.

Though, thinking about it, that was also correct. Why bother finding a reason for fighting over territory?

The Great King was truly powerful. That old fox was whipped around like a toy. I was dumbfounded watching it.

A Qi was left behind by the Great King there, tasked with managing the place's operations.

I felt a bit envious, but also relieved, because I thought it was still better to follow the Great King.

When we left, A Qi watched our departing figures with great reluctance, but it vowed to carry out the Great King's orders faithfully.

Our reach spread across the surrounding area, to the point that once the banner of our Sunward Cave appeared, the local minor demons would actively come out to surrender. Of course, some stubbornly resisted, but they all died. The Great King never seemed to show mercy to resisting demons.

The companions around me grew fewer and fewer. They were all assigned to different cave dwellings to be in charge.

No, I should say, to be the demon in charge.

But the Great King said that sounded awkward.

Now, only I remained following behind the Great King. And before us lay a vast lake, so large you couldn't see the other side.

I felt delighted, even wanting to jump in for a swim. I rarely saw such a big lake. The Great King said, "This is called the sea."

I didn't understand. Isn't it all the same? Until it tricked me into taking a sip of the water from this big lake. It was salty and bitter; I almost vomited up my breakfast.

Watching the Great King laugh at me, I felt troubled. Why did it seem so split? One moment like a mischievous child, the next a ruthless commander, and then again the Great King we all knew.

"Da Huang, from now on, Sunward Cave is yours." The Great King lay on the sandy beach and suddenly said this.

I sat up abruptly.

"What do you mean?" Sunward Cave is mine?

I had a bad feeling about this.

The Great King gazed in a certain direction and murmured, "Originally, I had a more dangerous idea. But... you all can't take this risk with me. And I can't let you take this risk with me either."

That day, it told me many things. The Great King said my brain worked better than the others', so I must remember it all.

It really overestimated me.

There was something about management methods, something about life philosophies... I found the most useful thing was the cultivation method it taught. You have to understand, we cultivated purely by instinct, very, very slowly. Some demons even increased their power by eating humans or demon cores. A cultivation method? That was something you only got if a celestial being instructed you.

I can't guarantee I remembered everything else, but I memorized that cultivation method firmly.

I could guess the Great King had some grand undertaking it wanted to do. I didn't want to become its burden.

The Great King sent me away. It said it missed Sunward Cave a little and told me to go back and check on it, tidy up a bit, and pull some weeds.