Er Gou came out at this moment, with a joyful expression, "Xin'er's daughter-in-law, my father agreed."
Xin'er cursed, "A dog's mouth cannot spew ivory," and then ran away as fast as she could.
Er Gou glanced at Mo Qi indifferently, then turned and left, "Let me make it clear to you first. You can live in our house, but you cannot run around or touch anything in the house, although we don't have much."
Mo Qi nodded, "I know, I know!" and followed him inside.
Outside the cave was a small entrance. Upon entering, it opened up suddenly. There was a skylight at the top, and the cave was quite well-lit!
A large living room greeted them, spacious and bright. Behind the living room were three rooms. Gou Er pointed to the room on the far right, "You'll stay in that room. If there's nothing important, don't wander around."
Mo Qi nodded and said, "I am an alchemist. Perhaps, apart from going out to find some spiritual herbs, I won't go out much."
"That's fine, but actually, there's only one kind of spiritual grass in the Demon Realm, called Demon Green Vine, and it's not very useful."
"How useful an item is depends on the person," Mo Qi said, quickly heading into his room.
At this moment, a cough came from the middle room, followed by a hoarse, old male voice that seemed to struggle even to speak, "Er Gou, Xin'er's guests are our guests. Do not be rude."
Er Gou casually replied, "Okay," and then went into the room on the far left.
Hearing that voice, Mo Qi's first thought was that the person was sick, and very seriously ill.
Since he was staying at someone else's house, it was only right to help them if he could!
So, without a word, he came out of his room and entered the middle room.
What met his eyes was a emaciated middle-aged man lying diagonally on a stone bed, coughing continuously, his whole body shaking from the coughs, as if his internal organs were about to shake loose.
After coughing, his nose and tears flowed together, making him look extremely disheveled.
In his hand, he held a spirit stone, from which wisps of black energy floated out, entering his body through his palm.
Seeing Mo Qi enter, the man was not alarmed at all. He moved his numb eyeballs, glanced at Mo Qi, slowly and generously wiped his nose, and returned his attention to the spirit stone in his hand, "I've made a fool of myself."
He said this to Mo Qi, though his eyes were not on him.
He seemed accustomed to being looked at with mockery, maintaining an indifferent expression, without any ripple of emotion.
Upon seeing the spirit stone, Mo Qi seemed to realize something and exclaimed, "Quick, let go of it! That is a vicious spirit stone."
The man was completely unfazed, showing no intention of stopping. A look of bitter despair appeared on his face, "I know. This is called a Sparrow Piece Spirit Stone. When you first absorb it, it makes one's magic power surge and spiritual energy flow abundantly. But once you stop, you feel unbearable discomfort, as if a hundred insects are gnawing at you, leaving you weak. Only by absorbing this spirit stone again can you get relief, and you are forced to continue absorbing it. In fact, during the absorption process, one's essence, energy, and spirit are continuously drained until they are emptied."
There was such a spirit stone in the world?
Truly, the world is full of wonders!
How to break this?
Mo Qi was momentarily at a loss.
Perhaps he could try to tie the person up and forcibly stop him from absorbing it.
"What happens if I stop forcibly?" Mo Qi asked.
"You will die of complete exhaustion."
Mo Qi was somewhat bewildered. It seemed truly unsolvable!
At this moment, Er Gou heard the commotion and came out of the middle room, walking up to Mo Qi and angrily saying, "Didn't I tell you not to wander around?"
The aura emanating from him at that moment gave Mo Qi a strange feeling, as if he were not a seven or eight-year-old child, but an adult.
Just then, the man felt he had absorbed enough and tossed the spirit stone aside. Surprisingly, his spirit seemed much better than before, his listlessness and decadence vanishing as if his stamina had been briefly replenished by absorbing the spirit stone.
To Mo Qi's astonished gaze, he stood up and berated Er Gou, "Get out of here. You have no business here."
Er Gou glared at Mo Qi resentfully and retreated.
"May I know your name, sir? I am Li Junren," the man said, cupping his fists towards Mo Qi.
Mo Qi returned the gesture, "I am Mo Qi. Please forgive me for any disturbance."
Li Junren waved his hand, "It's not a disturbance. I can tell you are from out of town, or even from outside the Demon Realm, and you are unfamiliar with our situation. We live in dire straits every day, not knowing when we might cease to exist, or our homes cease to exist. How can there be a disturbance in a home that doesn't exist?"
His words left Mo Qi stunned.
Was it that obvious that he was from the human world? Did he have a label on his face?
"I have to go to work at the mine. If I don't go to work, they won't give me the Sparrow Piece Spirit Stone," Li Junren glanced at Mo Qi again, "Brother Mo, please excuse me."
With that, he walked towards the door.
Mo Qi stepped aside to let him pass.
From his few words, Mo Qi gathered that "they" were using this vicious spirit stone to trap him and force him to work.
But how much longer could his body endure this?
In Mo Qi's bewildered gaze, Li Junren's figure gradually disappeared.
Mo Qi was very curious. He stepped forward to examine the Sparrow Piece Spirit Stone and even touched it. Immediately, he felt invigorated, as if millions of torrents were surging through his blood vessels. For that moment, he felt incredibly comfortable.
He knew he couldn't become addicted, otherwise, he would surely be unable to extricate himself. He immediately moved his hand away and turned back into his room.
Sitting on the stone bed, Li Junren's gaunt face and withered figure kept replaying in his mind, refusing to fade.
He intended to enter a state of meditation to cultivate, but for some reason, he couldn't.
Finally, he dejectedly gave up!
This seemed to be a vicious spirit stone that consumed mental energy, similar to what the Yun family brothers experienced. Perhaps he could try the Spirit Awakening Pill?
He immediately dismissed the idea, as Li Junren had said he would feel uncomfortable, as if being gnawed by a hundred insects, suggesting it was more than just the consumption of mental energy.
Moreover, how could mental energy repair itself after being consumed?
Everything in nature had its counterparts; creation in nature must have its wonders. For every male, there is a female; for every yin, there is a yang.
In this vast Demon Realm, there must be a spirit stone that could counteract this Sparrow Piece Spirit Stone.
But what spirit stone could do that?
He decided to go out and try his luck.
With this thought, Mo Qi walked out of the cave.
He walked along the foot of the mountain, looking around. He confirmed again that there was indeed no vegetation. There was a vine-like plant hanging down a cliff, which he guessed was the Demon Green Vine that Er Gou had mentioned. There were also trees, trees without leaves, everywhere.
And stones, stones were also everywhere. Occasionally, spirit stones were mixed among them.
He crossed several mountains in succession and found many spirit stones. At first, he threw some into his storage bag, but later he realized there were simply too many, scattered everywhere. It was unnecessary to put them in his storage bag, as he couldn't carry them all.
Perhaps this was the effect of the mysterious power of nature, closing one window while opening another.
The Demon Realm lacked spiritual herbs, but it was rich in spirit stones. In a sense, spirit stones could often replace spiritual herbs.
However, after searching for a long time, Mo Qi could not find any of those Sparrow Piece Spirit Stones.
Where could those spirit stones be found?
Could they have been deliberately manufactured by someone?
Lost in thought, his footsteps were also casual.
After an unknown amount of time, a commotion and argument reached him, drawing his attention.
Following the sound, he saw that amidst the desolate trees, there was a stone house, built quite neatly, square and regular. Compared to houses in the human world, it appeared simple, but its sturdiness seemed beyond that of human dwellings.
Mo Qi, purely out of curiosity to watch the excitement, walked brazenly into the family's courtyard.
Inside, there were two groups of people. One group was the owner of the house, a middle-aged couple, and a teenage boy of about fifteen or sixteen.
The other group wore uniforms. Mo Qi had seen this type of clothing on the battlefield; it was the uniform of the Demon Army soldiers. It seemed to be a simple armor woven from Demon Green Vine, with markings added, making them look quite presentable.
At this moment, two soldiers were dragging the boy's hand towards the outside of the courtyard wall.
The middle-aged couple, crying and wailing, held onto the boy's clothes, trying to stop the soldiers from dragging him away, "Officers, please be merciful. This is our only child. Don't let him be conscripted. He is the ninth generation heir. If anything happens to him, what will become of our family?"
Two other soldiers stepped forward to push the couple, kicking and cursing as they pushed, "Get out of here! Since the Demon Emperor ascended the throne, conscription for those aged sixteen to twenty has been a strict law, which no one can defy. Never mind if you are the ninth generation heir; even if you are the twentieth generation heir, you must join the army."
The boy, while shouting for his father, also cried loudly, struggling with his hands and feet, unwilling to be conscripted.
Several neighbors from nearby quietly walked in. Seeing this tragic scene, they couldn't help but intercede, "Officers, please be merciful and be flexible. This family is truly pitiful. Their ancestors committed evil in the human world and were pursued by the Heavenly Realm, forcing them to flee here. They were born in the Demon Realm and have lived a life of eating raw meat and drinking blood..."
A man who looked like a minor leader heard this and glanced askance at the neighbor, "Stop talking nonsense. It's as if no one else is in this situation. Everyone is in this situation, which is why we are going to war. Let's work together with one heart and one mind, charge out of the Demon Realm, ascend to the Heavenly Court, and fight for our rights, to change such a harsh living environment."
"Working together is right, but you also have to see if people are willing. If they are not willing, you can't just snatch them. I've seen people snatch money, but this is my first time seeing people being snatched," Mo Qi couldn't help but say.