Slacker Second Gen C71

Chapter 71: Demon Lord (16)

Inside the bumpy carriage, Huai You Nong lowered his head once more to look at his daughter.

The face that resembled his own rested on his lap, revealing her profile. The soft flesh on her cheeks was slightly squeezed, making her lips pout.

Occasionally, Huai You Nong would admit to himself that his daughter was rather cute.

The child seemed to be eating something in her dreams, smacking her lips repeatedly and even drooling.

Huai You Nong had no choice but to wipe away the drool and manually close her mouth. But before long, she started grinding her teeth in her sleep again.

Creak, creak.

She never did this when sleeping in the palace. Perhaps she couldn’t sleep as soundly while traveling.

Huai You Nong pinched her cheeks to stop her from grinding her teeth.

Normally, when the child was awake, Huai You Nong would never show any interest in her.

But when she was asleep, and no one else was around, he would occasionally take a closer look at her, pinch her soft cheeks, and hold her tiny hands.

As soon as the child was about to wake up, Huai You Nong withdrew his hand from her face and assumed his usual indifferent expression, merely placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling due to the carriage’s jolts.

Qian’s little fists rested near her cheeks. Her eyes half-opened, and she nuzzled against Huai You Nong’s leg.

After opening her eyes, she followed her usual habit—remaining in a dazed state for a while.

She sat up in a trance, her head swaying unsteadily, hair in disarray.

Huai You Nong said coldly, “Sleeping for so long—how can a child your age even sleep this much?”

Hearing his nagging voice, Qian wobbled her head, then promptly slumped against his shoulder, shutting her eyes again as if planning to go back to sleep.

Before Huai You Nong could shake her awake, she suddenly jolted, rubbed her eyes, and mumbled to her father beside her, “I’m hungry. I want food.”

She hadn’t even fully woken up yet, but she was already asking for food.

Back in the Demon Palace, matters of food and clothing were handled by the guardians. Strictly speaking, this was the first time the esteemed Demon Lord had to personally feed a child.

“So troublesome.”

Muttering to himself, Huai You Nong grabbed a handful of her messy hair and ordered the bandit driving the carriage, “Stop at Xiling Path ahead.”

Xiling Path referred to a general area on the Demon Realm’s border. Those who frequently traveled near the border also used the name to refer to a small town at the foot of Xiling Mountain. Once past that town, one would be entirely outside the Demon Realm.

Because it was a major passage out of the Demon Realm, the place was a chaotic mix of different people, including cultivators from the cultivation world sneaking into the Demon Realm.

There was only one large inn in Xiling Path. Travelers of all kinds, regardless of status, almost always chose to eat and stay there.

The reason was simple—the innkeeper was an eccentric demon with profound cultivation. She had no interest in living in the Demon City and instead chose to run an inn on the border. No demons dared cause trouble on her turf, and no one dared to open a competing inn nearby.

The carriage stopped in front of the inn, and Huai You Nong took the child down.

Qian looked up at the “inn” and was stunned.

The entire structure was built from gray-red clay, resembling a giant ant nest. Numerous neatly arranged openings above served as windows.

Standing at the inn’s entrance, people looked minuscule—just like actual ants.

In terms of scale, it was indeed a “luxurious” inn, and its exterior harmonized with the desolate landscape of the border town.

Holding Huai You Nong’s hand, Qian was led inside the strange building.

Surprisingly, the interior was brightly lit, filled with numerous light sources even during the daytime. A faintly sweet fragrance lingered in the air.

Most of the red clay tables and chairs in the main hall were occupied by a variety of odd-looking individuals. Against the backdrop of some conspicuous guests, Huai You Nong and the child seemed rather inconspicuous.

Ignoring the others, Huai You Nong led Qian to an empty table.

A grinning waiter ran over, showing no sign of looking down on them despite their youthful appearances.

Qian knelt on the chair, sprawled onto the table, and said, “Menu! Menu!”

“We don’t have a menu here,” the waiter replied cheerfully. “Guests tell us what they’d like to eat, and we make it for them.”

Qian began to order, “Cola potato cakes!”

The waiter responded, “Never heard of cola potatoes, but we do have cakes.”

“Burger!”

“What’s a burger? If it’s buns you want, we have those.”

“Pineapple sweet-and-sour pork!”

“Never heard of pineapple either.”

“If you don’t have anything, how do you even run this place?”

A furious voice echoed through the hall.

It wasn’t the low-key Demon Lord and his daughter, but a group of similarly young people at another table. A girl among them was throwing a tantrum at their waiter.

“Every dish I ask for, you say you don’t have! And you had the audacity to claim you’d make whatever we wanted! Why don’t you cook yourself, then?”

The waiter continued to smile and said, “If the customer wishes to eat me, as long as you’re willing to pay, I can cut off a leg or an arm. Ears and eyes cost a bit more.”

The girl looked disgusted, assuming he was joking and teasing her, which only made her angrier. “Eat it yourself if you want! I’m not eating here anymore!”

Qian was distracted by the commotion, watching as the girl’s companions tried to calm her down.

Huai You Nong took one glance and immediately recognized them as disciples from the cultivation world’s sects.

Every so often, some clueless young cultivators would venture into the Demon Realm for “training,” only to lose their lives.

He had no interest in them. He turned Qian’s head back to face their own table. “Order your food.”

The waiter tactfully resumed his service. “We don’t have pineapple, but there’s plenty of meat. What kind of meat would the guest like?”

After some stumbling, Qian finally finished ordering and sat beside Huai You Nong, waiting for the food.

Ordering was troublesome, but the food arrived quickly.

Before long, several steaming dishes were placed in front of them. They didn’t look particularly appealing, but surprisingly, they tasted quite good.

She tried to pick up the round meatball with her chopsticks but failed multiple times. Since no one gave her a spoon, she had no choice but to stand up on her seat, stab the meatball with her chopsticks, and gnaw on it.

The meatball was too big, and her mouth was covered in sauce. At this moment, the same ill-tempered girl from earlier was once again making trouble for her companion.

She turned to the young man beside her and said, “Brother, I heard there’s a type of fragrant honey here that tastes amazing. Let’s order some and try it!”

A passing waiter replied, “Honored guest, our inn’s fragrant honey is produced in very limited quantities and is only sold to those who are fated to have it.”

The girl furrowed her brows angrily. “Not for sale? Are you deliberately going against me?!”

She then turned to her brother and complained, “Brother! Look at them! They’re bullying me on purpose. I don’t care—I want to drink it!”

Her brother seemed helpless against her tantrum. He got up and walked to the counter. Before long, a waiter brought over a small cup of golden, clear honey water and placed it in front of the girl. She finally looked smug, letting out a satisfied hum.

While gnawing on her meatball, Qian noticed the girl drinking the honey water and raving about how delicious it was. She turned to Huai You Nong beside her.

“Brother,” Qian called.

Huai You Nong had already noticed her gaze and knew exactly what she wanted to say. Before she could even speak, he coldly and mercilessly responded with two words: “Shut up.”

Not far from them, a family of three sat together, and the child clung to her parents’ necks, acting spoiled. “Dad, Mom, I want to drink that fragrant honey too!”

“Little kids can’t drink that. When you grow up, Dad will bring you here to try it.”

“No, no, no! I want it now!”

After a bit of fussing, she got her wish, and the family shared a cup of honey water.

Qian turned back to Huai You Nong and decisively changed her approach: “Dad!”

Huai You Nong: “Shut up.”

Qian was upset. Why did all the other kids (?) get to have some, but her dad-brother refused to buy it for her?

Throwing down the meatball in her hand, she latched onto Huai You Nong’s arm.

“I want it, I want it, I want it!”

“Brother, brother, brother, brobrobrobro!”

“Waaah! Waaah!”

Seeing that he wasn’t responding, Qian mimicked the little girl from earlier. She grabbed onto Huai You Nong’s neck with both hands and clung to him, bouncing wildly.

Huai You Nong pressed a hand against the table, his fingers nearly digging into the wood just to keep himself from being dragged under the table by this brat.

“Quiet down!”

The little troublemaker stubbornly pressed her forehead against his chin. With his current small frame, Huai You Nong was practically shaking under the weight of his chubby daughter.

“Fine, I’ll buy it for you! Now go sit down!” Huai You Nong pushed away her head, which had been rubbing all over him.

In an instant, the little brat became obedient, running back to her seat with a bright, overly sweet smile.

Huai You Nong looked at the sauce stains on his clothes, took a deep breath, rubbed his throbbing forehead, and waved a waiter over.

“Apologies, honored guest, but our fragrant honey is only sold to those who are fated—”

Seeing the gold piece Huai You Nong casually tossed onto the table, the waiter’s attitude changed as fast as Qian’s expressions.

“Right away, I’ll prepare it for you.”

Qian finally got to drink her sweet, sweet beverage. It was indeed delicious. She held the cup with both hands and unknowingly finished it all in one go.

As Huai You Nong wiped the grease off his clothes, he warned her, “If you start acting crazy later, I’m tying you up. Got it?”

Though this fragrant honey tasted like honey water, it was actually brewed from a mildly toxic flower nectar. The slight toxicity caused dizziness, much like being drunk, and induced hallucinations.

Sure enough, the girl who had drunk the honey earlier suddenly caused a scene. She drew her sword with a loud swish, pointed at the air, and shouted, “Die, demon!”

Then she stomped onto the table and performed a completely chaotic sword dance, terrifying her companions, who scrambled to drag her down.

Meanwhile, the other informed guests simply watched the spectacle unfold.

As for the little girl from the family, her parents were from the Demon Realm, so they didn’t let her drink much. She only muttered a couple of nonsense phrases before falling asleep in her mother’s arms.

Watching outsiders embarrass themselves after drinking fragrant honey was a long-standing tradition at this inn.

If someone lost control after drinking it and had no companions around, their fate might be even more tragic.

Soon, Qian also started hallucinating. She felt like the food in front of her was moving—especially the meatballs, which had suddenly grown tiny arms and legs, rolling around on the plate.

Huai You Nong noticed how she repeatedly stabbed at her meatballs with her chopsticks but kept missing. That was enough to confirm she was affected.

Qian finally managed to stab a meatball, but then she saw something terrifying—it had a cartoonish face drawn onto it, crying and cursing loudly. Immediately, she found it disgusting.

Her eyes darted around, unwilling to eat such a gross meatball.

Then, she turned to Huai You Nong and suddenly poked the meatball toward his mouth.

“For you.”

Huai You Nong looked at her suspiciously. His daughter couldn’t possibly be this filial.

There was no need to ask—who knew what she saw that meatball as?

“Brother, eat,” the child urged with a look of expectation.

Huai You Nong turned his head away, but Qian leaned on the table, stubbornly pushing the meatball closer and closer to his mouth.

Annoyed by her persistence, Huai You Nong eventually opened his mouth and ate the meatball.

Satisfied, Qian turned back and continued stabbing at the plate. This time, the meatball she speared turned into a struggling frog on her chopsticks.

She made a face of utter disgust before quickly shoving it toward Huai You Nong’s mouth again, coaxing him, “Brother, eat. It’s delicious.”

Huai You Nong sneered.

Did she really think he hadn’t noticed the look of absolute disgust on her face?

What a filial daughter!