Chapter 50: The Seven Demons Descend the Mountain

When Zheng Fulu saw Zhu Changfa again, Zhu Changfa brought along his four siblings: the eldest brother Zhu Curls, the second brother Zhu Bangs, the third brother Zhu Silks, and the fifth sister Zhu Xiu.

The eldest brother had curly hair, while the second brother, third brother, and Zhu Changfa all shared the same strange appearance of bald heads with long strands of hair, looking quite eccentric. Only Zhu Xiu was exceptionally beautiful, with long hair cascading down to her ankles, yet she wore high-heeled shoes to keep her glossy, resilient hair from touching the dust, preventing it from sweeping the ground like a broom.

Zhu Changfa said, "The Pavilion Master has ordered our family of five to kill Big Head Yu."

Since these were assassins hired at a heavy price, Zheng Fulu needed to understand their capabilities. He asked, "I have never heard of these people in the martial arts world. May I ask how to address them? And what formidable skills do they possess?"

"With the five of us stepping out, let alone a mere Big Head Yu, even the Seven Fiends would be slaughtered just the same," Zhu Changfa said, picking up a tuft of hair to show off. "Our family has only one skill, and that is our hair."

As a bird happened to fly past, Zhu Silks immediately responded to her brother's words by flicking her hair. Her strands turned as sharp as blades, slicing the passing bird cleanly in half.

"Truly formidable." Zheng Fulu felt a sense of reverence toward these bald-headed fiends. Catching sight of Zhu Curls, he asked curiously, "I wonder what kind of lethal method this elder brother's curly hair employs?"

Zhu Curls suddenly shook his head violently, causing his hair to rub together and generate a massive amount of static electricity. With a rather disdainful look, he asked Zheng Fulu, "Do you dare to touch my curls?"

Seeing the electric sparks crackling on Zhu Curls' head, Zheng Fulu cast a glance at his disciple, Gao Liu. Gao Liu hesitated at first, but upon seeing his master's wide-open, angry eyes, he closed his eyes and reached out to touch the hair. Instantly, his entire body convulsed in spasms, white foam poured from his mouth, and the arm he used to touch the hair suffered extensive burns.

Zhu Fulu was quite amazed, completely forgetting to care about his disciple Gao Liu, and instead praised Zhu Curls: "Brother Curls, truly formidable! I am impressed, highly impressed!"

Zhu Curls became carried away and said, "It is good that you know my prowess."

Zhu Fulu was not afraid of spending money, only of failing to achieve his goal. Now that his wish was granted, he naturally said happily, "Then I must trouble you all!"

Zhu Changfa was more concerned with the main topic: "What about the money? Where are those ten thousand taels of silver?"

A sensible person is never afraid of spending money. Zheng Fulu produced a bank note and said, "It is from the General Treasure Bank. Taihu County has their branch."

Zhu Changfa took the silver note, examined it carefully, and finding no errors, tucked it into his purse. He then tossed the purse directly into the wind, whereupon a winged, three-legged monster bird flew down, caught the purse in its beak, and carried it away. With the payment delivered, Zhu Changfa said, "Let's go. Once we kill Big Head Yu, our siblings will wash our hands of the martial arts world, buy a large mansion in the mortal realm, purchase hundreds of acres of fertile land, and never live this life of killing and selling our lives for coin again."

Zhu Fulu asked again, "Could I trouble Elder Brother Zhu to release my two disciples? Those two disciples of mine have followed me for so many years; even if they haven't made great contributions, they have certainly endured hardships. I cannot just ignore their fate."

Zhu Changfa replied, "One fell to his death, and one survived. Look back—isn't he coming right now?"

Zhao Si was indeed walking over. His head had been replaced, yet his face remained unchanged, his voice was the same, and the first sentence he spoke was without a single flaw: "Master, Guo San is dead!"

Zhu Fulu felt an inexplicable sense of eeriness emanating from the disciple before him, yet he could not pinpoint what was wrong. He could only comfort him by saying, "It's good that you're back. I will send someone to deliver some silver to Guo San's family." Then, turning to Zhu Changfa, he asked, "Elder Brother Zhu, is there an inn around here? It is getting late, and we need a place to stay."

Zhu Changfa shamelessly declared, "Right, let's hurry. Where can we eat out here in the wilderness? I'm starving. I know there's an inn down the mountain; the food there is good and inexpensive, treating the young and old with equal fairness." With that, he and his siblings all boarded the carriage.

They rode in the crowded carriage, bumping along the road down the mountain. Sitting on pins and needles, Zheng Fulu still maintained a pleasant expression.

There was indeed a Mao Family Inn at the foot of the mountain. Outside the inn, the road was smooth, devoid of cart ruts or footprints. Inside, the inn was clean and tidy, with no mosquitoes or flies buzzing about. The innkeepers were two insect fiends—one with red fur, the other with yellow fur. Their upper bodies possessed four short arms, and instead of human legs, they had insect limbs, looking furry, naive, and cute. Of course, the timid would find them terrifying.

The five Zhu siblings were regular customers. Upon seeing regular patrons bringing a new guest, the red-furred monster naturally greeted them warmly: "It's been a few days! Why have you only arrived today? Please, take a seat. What would everyone like to eat? Second Brother, bring out the tea and pastries."

Zhu Changfa said, "Old Mao, your establishment is quite desolate."

The red-furred monster pulled a crying face and said, "If you hadn't come to eat soon, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to come at all anymore. This inn is about to close down for good."

Zhu Changfa asked, "How could business be so dismal?"

The red-furred monster seemed to have figured it out, sighing as he said, "I thought about it for a long time before I understood. Most fiends are used to sleeping in the wind and eating in the open; which normal person would come here to stay at an inn? Besides, apart from Sister Xiu, who enjoys my brother's cooking, it's hard to find anyone else whose palate suits it."

The yellow-furred monster had his own person of concern and asked Zhu Xiu, "Sister Xiu, I wonder if you'd like to eat some fried flies or mosquito cakes today?"

Zhu Xiu replied, "I want to eat moth pastries."

The yellow-furred monster said, "Good, good, good! I knew you loved them, so I saved them all for you!"

Hearing the names of these pastries, Zheng Fulu asked with revulsion, "Are there any other kinds of food?"

The yellow-furred monster asked, "We have meat rice. Would you eat that?"

Zhu Fulu asked, "What is called meat rice?"

The yellow-furred monster explained, "We wrap meat and flies together in gauze. The flies eat the meat and lay maggots. Then we use good meat to feed the maggots until they grow large. We call this stuff meat rice."

Zhu Fulu suppressed his churning stomach and asked, "Are there any vegetarian dishes?"

The yellow-furred monster said, "Yes, shredded radish in cold dressing, steamed taro, and boiled Chinese cabbage."

Zhu Fulu said, "Good, bring a portion of all the vegetarian dishes."

The yellow-furred monster first served the pastries for Zhu Xiu to eat—though anyone else would certainly have lost their appetite. Then he went off to cook. The red-furred monster brought over bowls and chopsticks, and Zhu Changfa asked with concern, "Old Mao, once this tavern closes, what do you brothers plan to do in the future?"

The red-furred monster distributed the tableware and asked, "Does Elder Brother happen to have a good business venture that makes money?"

Zhu Changfa said, "Bring the wine first. I do have a deal that makes big money. If you brothers aren't afraid of death, you can come along with us."

"Good, I'll go get the wine right now!" The red-furred monster eagerly scurried away to haul out the wine.

Zhu Changfa said to Zheng Fulu, "Master Zheng, this trip to Fiend Mountain is perilous. I would like to find two more capable helpers. These brothers have extraordinary martial arts skills and can lend us a helping hand."

Zhu Fulu smiled without a reply. Hearing that there was work, the red-furred monster's pace in fetching the wine was one of running upon coming and bounding upon returning. Beaming with enthusiasm, he successively carried over a dozen jars of wine, saying without a shred of heartache, "Since the tavern is closing anyway, today we brothers are going to drink to our hearts' content!" He then loudly proclaimed the crucial point: "Elder Brother Zhu, let it be declared first that you're paying for the wine!"

Zhu Changfa didn't mind and introduced him to Zheng Fulu: "Master Zheng, this brother of mine is just stingy, but as a fiend, he is definitely a good fiend. His skills are formidable too!" He then shouted to the red-furred monster, "Old Mao, show our Master Zheng a couple of your tricks!"

"My flying needles never miss their mark." Just as a fly buzzed by annoyingly, the red-furred monster plucked a red hair from his body and flicked it out. The stiff hair acted like a needle, pinning the fly firmly to the table.

The red-furred monster said, "Although my needle is small, if it pierces a human or a fiend, it can travel through the blood vessels into the internal organs, causing the victim to suffer excruciating pain before dying."

Having learned of his lethal skill, Zheng Fulu clapped and praised, "So Brother Mao is an unworldly martial arts expert!"

The red-furred monster confessed candidly, "Master Zheng, my name is Mao Dahong, and my brother is Mao Dazi. Originally he was the Purple-Furred Monster. Our parents hoped we would achieve great success and renown in the martial arts world, but after decades of wandering, I've grown old, my fur has turned yellow, and I still haven't made anything of myself. Now, I must thank Master Zheng and Elder Brother Changfa for providing us with a meal."