Chapter 3652 — The Gluttonous Meng Zhou
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Before Meng Zhou came to the Welcome Pavilion, he had often feasted on spirit beasts from the deep mountains and old forests of North Island—though always the weaker Yellow-rank ones, or even rankless ones. For one thing, they were not too troublesome to catch; for another, it would not stir up too much commotion or draw others' attention. That last point was of the utmost importance.
Cloud Terrace Island was not the mortal world. There, so long as you had the strength, you could hunt spirit beasts however you pleased. But on Cloud Terrace Island you could not—even hunting the weakest of spirit beasts, once such a thing came to light, would spell enormous trouble.
The reason was simple: on Cloud Terrace Island, spirit beasts were cultivators just like humans, and once they grew powerful enough they too could take human form. On the road in pursuit of the Heavenly Dao, all stood on equal footing.
South Island of Cloud Terrace Island was, as everyone knew, the Isle of Spirit Beasts. It gathered the mighty clans of spirit beasts, whose power and influence in no way yielded to any human sect.
The proclamation issued by the spirit beast clans stated it plainly: anyone on Cloud Terrace Island who dared slay a spirit beast would be regarded as an enemy of the entire spirit beast race, and the feud would end only with death. And this proclamation, through the unremitting efforts of the spirit beast clans, had won the endorsement of several top-tier sects on Central Island.
Thus the lives of spirit beasts were guaranteed to some degree—not only those on South Island, but those scattered across the other islands as well.
Yet the true sphere of influence of the spirit beast clans was, in the final reckoning, confined to South Island alone. Human masters elsewhere might scruple in public, but in private they did not necessarily take that proclamation seriously.
Cultivators like Meng Zhou, long accustomed to feasting, would never slaughter a spirit beast wantonly in front of others—but behind their backs, the weak little spirit beasts that had gone into his belly numbered no fewer than eighty, if not a hundred. So long as no one discovered it and reported him, all was well: eat it clean, and neither man nor ghost would be the wiser.
"I wonder what kind of spirit beast it is!" Meng Zhou's eyes lit up, and he at once turned his head and began searching all around for that shape from a moment ago.
He had been at the Welcome Pavilion more than twenty days now, and hemmed in by his surroundings, he had not managed a single bite of meat. Pent up for so many days, his mouth had long since gone bland as a bird's feather. Now that a spirit beast had delivered itself to his doorstep, how could he possibly let it go for nothing?
The Spirit Jade Hall was heavily guarded within and without, but the corridor leading up to the mine entrance—that stretch alone—had no guards posted.
This suited Meng Zhou well enough. After all, if guards had been everywhere, he could hardly have gone about catching spirit beasts in broad daylight; otherwise he would surely have been seized as a suspicious character.
Yet after searching the whole length of the corridor, Meng Zhou simply could not find a trace of that spirit beast. He was just about to give up and slink back to the mining area in disappointment when, right before the great gate, he spotted that black-and-white figure once more.
"A ring bear?" Staring at the small figure ahead, which was sneaking furtively toward the gate, Meng Zhou's eyes went wide.
Standing upright it was not even half a man's height, with a round head and a plump, rolling body, covered from head to toe in creamy white down—save for the eyes, the ears, and the ring of fur about its chest, which were jet black. This was unmistakably a ring bear cub.
Of course, it could not be called a pure cub either. Judging by age alone, this ring bear was at least a dozen years old or more! RP