Caught Off guard in the Face

"Sir, this is the Hongque Building!"

Little Rabbit led Du ke through the long street, stopping in front of a small bungalow at the end of the long street.

Du ke bit down on his pipe, looking towards the small building, and couldn't help but click his tongue. This bungalow really looked too inconspicuous.

Yellow mud walls, straw roof, and two shabby wooden doors that creaked with every gust of wind.

In front of the door stood a ten-foot flagpole, hanging a triangular pheasant flag.

The flag hung limply, and the embroidered pheasant on it was blurred and unclear.

It looked completely out of place along the whole street.

Not to mention the other shops in the Monster Market, even the area in front of their doors were much more lively than here. Yet in front of the Hongque Building, it was quiet with hardly a monster to be seen.

Noticing Du ke's change of expression, Little Rabbit quickly said: "Sir, don't judge the Hongque Building by its appearance, there is a whole new world inside."

"You'll know once you go in."

"Have you been inside before?"

"No, I just heard it from other monsters."

"Alright!"

Du ke blew out a puff of white smoke while also flicking out a gold ingot.

"Wait for me out here, I'm going to take a look inside."

"Oh, watch your step inside, sir!"

Little Rabbit hurriedly went forward to open the door for Du ke and Shisan. After they entered, Little Rabbit closed the door and quickly left the area in front of the Hongque Building, running to squat down near a stall not far away.

As Little Rabbit swallowed the gold ingot into her belly, she also glanced at the juicy carrots on the nearby stall, swallowing a few mouthfuls of saliva before regaining focus, staring at the doors of the Hongque Building for fear of missing Du ke when he came out.

"Little Flute, did you attract another customer?"

While Little Rabbit was waiting for Du ke, the Stall Owner also took the chance to tease her when there were no customers around.

"Got lucky with an opening today."

Little Rabbit smiled at the Stall Owner, but was soon stuffed with a carrot.

"I... money..."

Before Little Rabbit could say anything, the Stall Owner laughed, "It's just one carrot, go ahead and eat it."

"Poor child, it’s so hard for you to provide for a whole household."

"It’s fine, I’m used to it."

Little Rabbit bit into the carrot and looked towards the doors of the Hongque Building again. Seeing the little rabbit so attentive, the Stall Owner just chuckled and stopped interfering.

For stall owners at the end of the street like him, they barely had any customers, might as well entertain this little rabbit.

........

"Just a front counter?"

Having just entered the Hongque building, the first thing Du ke noticed was that there was only one front counter inside the Hongque Building, and no one was behind the counter. The entire bungalow was silent.

"People... no, where are the monsters?"

As Du ke called out, there was a sound of flapping wings from the beam above his head.

"Here, over here! Why are you yelling so early in the morning!"

A Colorful Parrot flew down from the beam and landed on the counter.

This Colorful Parrot was about the size of a house dog, with barely any demonic energy, and a pair of eyes that could fall asleep at any moment.

The parrot glanced at Du ke and immediately yawned while flapping his wings.

"Sorry, we don't do business with unfamiliar faces."

"Go back to wherever you came from!"

Just as the parrot was about to fly back onto the beam, Du ke said, "Hey! What kind of shop turns away new customers?"

"That is the rule of our Hongque Building. We don't do business with new customers. If you want to enter the Hongque Building, go find a few regulars to vouch for you!"

The parrot flew onto the beam but immediately flipped over to hang upside down from it, looking at Du ke and sneering, "But for an outsider demon like you, it is impossible to find someone to guarantee you."

"I'll say it again, go back to wherever you came from!"

"Refusing business even when money is offered?"

Du ke frowned and asked the parrot back. The parrot yawned and casually mocked, "For a kitten like you, how much money could you possibly bring even if you have it?"

"Any piece of information in our Hongque Building starts from one spirit stone, with no upper limit!"

"Have you seen spirit stones? Do you know what they look like?"

"This is not a place where you can buy information with gold ingots. I advise you to go back to wherever you came from!"

After speaking, the parrot yawned again, his eyes drowsy, as if he would fall asleep at any moment.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," the parrot smacked his mouth, "What I just said is also one piece of information sold by our Hongque Building."

"Heh, you heard it without paying, consider yourself lucky."

"Alright, hurry up and scram, don't disturb my sleep!"

Hearing this, Du ke frowned. The Hongque Building had been established for over sixty years?

Yet the Monster Market had only been recently established. The shops inside were founded earlier than the Monster Market itself? This was too unbelievable!

Or was there some inside story behind this?

"Hey kitten, are you leaving or not!"

The Colorful Parrot spread his wings, letting out a yawn.

"Ah... I still want to sleep. Don't waste grandpa's time, okay?"

"I'm here to buy information."

Du ke looked up at the parrot. Unwillingly, the parrot reiterated, "I already said, we don't do business with new customers!"

"I have money."

"Even with money, we..."

Before the parrot could finish speaking, his expression froze, and the words stuck in his throat.

This was because a silver elixir had landed on the ground, and as soon as it appeared, the parrot stared fixedly at it.

The Colorful Parrot's feathers stand on end subconsciously as a voice screams in his mind.

Get it, get it, get it no matter the cost!!

"Oh, you dropped your snack!"

Du ke looked at the Falling Moon Elixir that had fallen to the ground with a frown, "How careless!"

Shisan whimpered twice and wagged his tail.

"Forget it. It's dirty after touching the ground, just step on it!" Du ke said.

Upon hearing this, the parrot's eyes immediately bulged out. He watched as Shisan lifted his paw and crushed the Falling Moon Elixir into smithereens.

The elixir turned into silver dust on the ground and quickly dissolved, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Here, I'll give you a few more."

Du ke took out a few more Falling Moon Elixirs and fed them to Shisan. The parrot's gaze followed the elixirs in Du ke's hand.

Du ke fed one to Shisan, and dropped the remaining two onto the ground.

"Why did you drop them on the ground again?"

"Woof woof!"

After Shisan swallowed the one he was fed, Du ke said, "We don't need the ones that got dirty."

"Alright, step on them..."

"Don't step on them!!"

The parrot let out a sharp shriek and fell straight off the beam, crashing loudly onto the ground.

Disregarding the pain from the fall, the parrot charged towards the two Falling Moon Elixirs on the ground.

Before he could reach them, Shisan stepped on them first and crushed them.

After the Moon Essence Pill was trampled into powder, it quickly dissolved and vaporized, returning to heaven and earth.

This scene made Colorful Parrot's heart ache. His intuition told him that this thing was of great benefit to him.

But now it was trampled to pieces.

For him who witnessed this, what was trampled wasn't that pill, but his heart!

"You cat!!"

Colorful Parrot glared at Du ke furiously. Du ke just laughed out loud, "What are you doing?"

"Can't I handle my own stuff?"

"I...." Colorful Parrot was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say. After all, what the white cat said was reasonable too. It was his stuff, so he could do whatever he wanted with it.

"Originally when you saw this pill, I should have charged you money. But seeing that I'm magnanimous, I won't quibble with you."

Du ke took a puff of his cigarette and blew out a wisp of white smoke at Colorful Parrot, shaking his head, "Alas, demonic beasts from the countryside are so pitiful, making such a big fuss over a few pills!"

The corner of Colorful Parrot's mouth twitched, but he didn't know how to retort either.

He also didn't expect this slap in the face to come so swiftly and unexpectedly.

"Alright, I see there's nothing special about Hongque Building, just a pile of weeds."

"Let's go, Du ke will take you to eat something nice."

As Du ke spoke, the dogs also walked towards the exit. Colorful Parrot hurriedly shouted, "Don't go!"

"What is it!" Du ke turned his head back, glared with his golden eyes, and emitted his demonic energy, engulfing the entire room in an instant.

"You think I'm that easy to bully?!"

As the churning demonic energy in Du ke's eyes raged, even the counter started cracking.

Colorful Parrot's body trembled, his eyes rolled back, and he screamed internally that this was impossible.

This cat only looked like an ordinary mundane creature that gained awareness. How could he possibly possess such powerful demonic energy!

This energy was no weaker than a great demon that attained the Dao!

Could he have attained the Dao?

But that wasn't right either. Hongque Building had a registry of all great demons who attained the Dao. As the front desk receptionist, how could he not recognize one?

But this aura, this energy was definitely genuine.

Could it be some great demon who had just attained the Dao?

Just as Colorful Parrot was lost in thought, an old madam as tall as a human emerged from behind the counter.

This old madam wasn't from the mundane brothels of the mortal world, but a large bird with a crown on her head, ashy brown back feathers, wrinkles on her chest and neck, and yellow beak and eyes.

The old madam was also wearing tassels and a tight cheongsam, with her yellow eyes restlessly darting around.

As soon as the old madam appeared, she looked towards Du ke. With just one glance, her heart skipped a beat, clearly recognizing Du ke's background.

The old madam briskly walked out from behind the counter, smiling ingratiatingly, "Oh my, what wind blew the young master of Mao City over?"

The old madam had just smiled at Du ke when she immediately scolded Colorful Parrot, "You little shovel, what do you eat to have the audacity? When the young master of Mao City is here, how dare you upset him? Do you not want your feathers anymore?"

"Mao City....." Colorful Parrot muttered to himself, then looked at Du ke incredulously, "Mao City Spirit Cat?!"