The Desolate Ridge, Origin Mountain.
In a cave hollowed out within one of the peaks, just a few steps inside, one could see scattered wine jars and bones littering the ground.
The current nominal leader of the Desolate Ridge—Hu Qi.
At this moment, his tiger face wore a look of dejection as his massive frame slumped on a crude stone throne.
Endless melancholy weighed on his heart as his amber eyes shifted to the left, where the equally miserable face of an old fox met his gaze.
Hu Qi’s voice was thick with frustration as he reproached:
"Po Suanpan, your schemes aren’t working. Didn’t you say that by raising a banner, we could trick other demons into building me a palace and have them handle all the messy chores?"
"And now? Look outside! That thing you call a palace? Mud slapped onto crumbling rocks—tall, sure, but I don’t even dare lean against it for fear it’ll collapse!"
"Two days in, and when it rains outside, it rains inside too—except inside, it’s mud raining down!"
"It’s already collapsed twice from the rain alone! At this point, I’d rather just stay in the cave. At least here, it doesn’t leak!"
The old fox hung his head low, his left paw unconsciously fiddling with an aged abacus beside him.
Hu Qi shook his head slowly, his tone growing even more despondent:
"Po Suanpan, you also said that once we had lesser demons under us, they’d handle everything. That I could just order whatever food I wanted, whenever I wanted."
"And now? The moment I open my eyes, how many demons are already asking me, ‘What’s for food today?’"
"Food? I don’t even know what the hell I can eat myself!"
"And on top of that… not just the Xuanwu Kingdom, but even the Xia Dynasty nearby has gathered a bunch of immortal sects, ready to pincer us from both sides."
"That’s the right term, isn’t it?" Hu Qi scratched his side with a claw. "This time, listening to you really screwed me over."
"At this rate, my tiger hide’s gonna end up as someone’s rug sooner rather than later."
Hearing this, the old fox couldn’t help but lift his head, his voice tinged with resentment:
"I told you from the start, we’d have to put in the work ourselves. But you wanted it easy—had to go with this ‘council system,’ even had other demon kings recruit more demons!"
"Those demon kings don’t care about the details! Whoever made the mess has to clean it up! And then you didn’t even want to manage things—since when does anything come that easy?"
"Now we’ve got too many demons and too little land. This place was already barren—how could it possibly support this many mouths?"
"Back when the mountain was swarming with demons, you said it looked mighty impressive, that this was the grandeur a tiger demon deserved. Still feeling grand now?"
"And now, with a fight looming, you’re still stuck in council debates. Who the hell fights a war like this? We’re done for."
Hu Qi knew he was at fault and didn’t argue. Back then, Po Suanpan had tried to talk sense into him for days, and he hadn’t listened to a word.
After all, when swarms of demons had cheered him as the "Savior Demon King," his tail had practically wagged itself off.
Given the current situation, he couldn’t entirely blame the old fox.
Besides, the bond between him and Po Suanpan was forged in life-and-death struggles.
His Golden Core cultivation? Po Suanpan had nearly died to secure that for him.
Among beasts, the camaraderie of shared hardship ran deepest.
Hu Qi rubbed his paws together hesitantly before suggesting:
"Po Suanpan, what if… we just run? Screw this demon king business. With my cultivation, I can just find another mountain."
The old fox let out a bitter laugh. Some things weren’t so easy to abandon.
The momentum of the Desolate Ridge’s demon horde had already been set in motion, and the ridge itself couldn’t sustain them all.
At this point, their only option was to feed war with war.
Either plunder humans for food or let the dead demons stop eating—either way, it was a brutal form of "cutting costs."
This was a war cart that wouldn’t stop rolling.
Either expand until everyone was fed, or be torn apart and used as firewood.
Given the circumstances, the latter was practically inevitable.
Could they really expect their enemies to be even worse off?
Po Suanpan knew better than anyone that the Desolate Ridge had no real strategy—just empty slogans barely holding morale together.
A few defeats, and the whole thing would collapse.
And those defeats would come swiftly. Every recent rumor and report said the Xuanwu Kingdom was preparing to strike in earnest.
Time was running out.
Especially for Hu Qi, the figurehead. If war broke out, he’d be the first head to roll.
In the cave, the rhythmic clicking of Po Suanpan’s abacus echoed.
Hu Qi’s brow furrowed, but he stayed silent. This was the old fox’s thinking pose.
The beads he moved weren’t just numbers—they were calculations of strategy.
After a long silence, Po Suanpan finally spoke, his voice slow and deliberate:
"At this point, just running won’t cut it. That Demon Lord… he’s got his own agenda. Whether we live or die means nothing to him."
"This situation is exactly what he wants. If we try to flee and ruin his plans, your tiger head will be the first thing he rips off."
Hu Qi nodded grimly. After all, what kind of "good demon" hid under a heavy black cloak, never showing his face?
Even an illiterate tiger like him knew that Demon Lord was up to no good.
But since Po Suanpan had brought it up, Hu Qi racked his brain before whispering:
"So… you’re thinking we take out that Demon Lord first, then run?"
"No. Too risky." Po Suanpan’s gaze turned icy. "The human texts speak of a stratagem called… ‘The Cicada Sheds Its Shell.’"
Hu Qi had no idea what "The Cicada Sheds Its Shell" meant, but if Po Suanpan had a plan, he’d follow it.
A demon had to know his limits.
Hu Qi took a swig of wine, his voice still tinged with reluctance:
"Us demons… will we ever have a way out?"
Po Suanpan reset the abacus beads and answered softly:
"The human records say that in ancient times, humans asked the same question."
"The wheel always turns. But those who’ll see it… won’t be us."
Hu Qi chuckled. "Books written by humans—of course they’d paint demons as the villains. Can we trust that?"
Po Suanpan sighed.
"Of course. Humans hold grudges far longer than demons."
"Steal one fruit from them, and they’ll carve it into murals for their descendants, swearing to exterminate every last ‘fruit-thieving demon.’"
Hu Qi shuddered.
"Humans… are damn terrifying."
"Master, a letter from the Central Plains has arrived for you."
Chen Baiqing stepped into her master’s chamber, holding an envelope.
Her gaze fell on Chu Xingchen, who was intently studying a map spread across the table.
For this coming battle, her master was far more serious than even their eldest senior sister had anticipated.
He had once told her: "Where you sit determines how you think."
He was human. Of course he would plan for humanity.
Chu Xingchen beckoned, and Chen Baiqing handed him the letter.
He opened it, his eyes scanning the few short lines within.
After a long silence, he sighed.