Chapter 42: True Nature of the Demon King
A sudden fall, a roll, and only when her back hit hard stone did it finally stop.
Ouch, ouch, ouch… her horn hit her hand.
Ji Ma grimaced in pain and slowly lowered her arms from her head. Her limbs ached, her back hurt; her youthful body could no longer stand.
Instead of hurrying to get up, she chose to observe her surroundings first.
A dark cave, damp on the ground, with the scent of seawater in the air. In the distance, a large hole appeared above the cave, where faint firelight trickled in; she had just fallen through that hole, rolling into this winding cave.
It was likely caused by the ritual set up by the transcendent being earlier; he should be called “The Tidecaller.”
The rumbling of falling stones gradually subsided, with occasional small stones landing near Ji Ma. She realized she had rolled into a pile of rubble, far from the hole, and had probably gotten separated from the virgin who was doomed.
Ji Ma tried to stand up again, but a wave of sharper pain overwhelmed her, causing her small body to lose all strength.
Forget it; I might as well hide here. I’ll just wait until the virgin kills them all.
As this thought crossed her mind, she suddenly heard a cacophony of goblin voices.
A group of goblins appeared at the edge of the hole, descending along a rope.
Ji Ma immediately held her breath. The underground cave was winding and complicated; they might not find her.
At that moment, she heard an excited goblin shout from afar, “This, this, the stinky smell of a female long-leg person!”
Soon, a group of goblins climbed over stones, advancing in Ji Ma’s direction.
I forgot I have body odor.
Ji Ma almost cursed aloud; her small hands trembled, and she still couldn’t get up. Suddenly, she remembered that she had a healing potion on her, bought by George. This potion, containing extraordinary power, was particularly expensive and now came in handy.
She quickly took a small water pouch from her belt, drank it all in one go. A warm flow spread from her stomach, alleviating some of the pain throughout her body.
But the goblins’ voices were getting closer; she could already smell their stench.
She hurriedly crawled up but felt a sharp pain in her right ankle, as if someone was gnawing at it with teeth. Gritting her teeth, she stood up unsteadily and stumbled past the broken stone pillars, hoping the sound of falling rocks would mask the noise she made.
The farther she got from the hole, the dimmer the light became. She had just turned a corner in the winding cave when thick darkness enveloped her, the only glimmer of light coming from the torch held by the goblins less than twenty meters behind her.
Fortunately, Ji Ma could see in the dark.
She blinked, and the outlines of the stone pillars and the cave gradually became clear. No colors, just black and white.
“There’s that smell; the woman is very close.”
“Fool! You’ll scare her!”
An excited voice suddenly came from behind, colliding with her back. She panicked, realizing they were so close. Although she could see in the dark, her ankle was now injured. Without the healing potion, at most in another minute, she would be caught by a group of filthy goblins.
She was not their target for kidnapping. Given the nature of goblins, they would definitely take pleasure in playing with her little body.
What to do?
Ji Ma leaned against the cave wall, limping forward. The cave widened, and a narrow uphill path appeared before her, leading to a natural platform. Feeling the coins in her pocket, a sudden idea sparked in her mind.
Ji Ma hurriedly threw her backpack on the ground and retrieved the pouch of money from inside, opening it to scatter the shiny new coins on the pack.
The sound of goblins running over the rubble grew nearer. Ignoring the pain in her ankle, Ji Ma crawled and ran up the slope, lying low among the stone pillar forest of the high platform, desperately blending her small body with the outlines of the pillars.
Just as she lay down, faint firelight appeared around the corner, casting a touch of color on the black-and-white cave.
The goblins arrived with their torches. Ji Ma counted their numbers: one, two, three… there were no less than twenty. The once spacious cave was suddenly crowded.
“The smell is getting stronger.”
A small goblin lay on the ground, sniffing. It had a jeweled short sword at its waist. Ji Ma recognized it at once; it was the goblin that led the red-haired Zhuang earlier. It raised its head and said, “Right nearby!”
So close that Ji Ma could clearly see the hairs in its nose and the glint of fire in its red eyes.
The goblins raised their torches, scanning the area, and Ji Ma quickly squinted her eyes, pulling her cloak lower.
“Hmm?”
Some goblins had already noticed the footprints left on the slope, turning their gaze toward the stone pillar forest on the platform.
Ji Ma slowly closed her eyes, praying for the heavens to lend a hand.
Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out.
“Gold! It’s gold!”
Ji Ma quickly opened her eyes to see all the goblins rushing eagerly toward her backpack. The coins gleamed under the firelight, emitting an irresistible shine.
She breathed a sigh of relief; as long as they bit the bait, it would be fine.
“I saw it first; it’s mine!”
One goblin shouted as it pounced on the backpack. Instantly, the other goblins followed suit, scrambling for the pack, tugging it back and forth until the contents scattered all over the ground.
The scene fell into chaos until one goblin shouted:
“We still need to chase the woman; if we can’t catch her, we’ll all be feeding bears.”
Almost all the goblins shivered and ceased fighting over the backpack.
“Let’s take the gold and go catch the woman first.”
Some suggested.
Ji Ma knew that wealth would not let her escape her predicament; she was fully aware of that.
But at the same time, having once been a demon king and having ruled over hundreds of goblin tribes, Ji Ma understood the nature of these little monsters very well. To put it academically, it was called chaotic evil. They chose to band together only because they were weak.
Moreover, goblins had a strong reproductive capacity. A single goblin tribe’s population would soon exceed the limits of food supply.
All goblins understood, however vaguely, that the more brethren there were, the more likely they would starve. Many goblins would take preemptive action, secretly stabbing their partners in their sleep to reduce their competitors.
They did not trust each other.
Ji Ma knew how to exploit their nature. She opened her eyes of desire, and in her view, the greed emanating from the goblins’ chests formed seven intertwined and vivid clouds above their heads.
Among them, the blue cloud representing greed stood out the most, while the other clouds circled around it.
Ji Ma tugged at the blue cloud hard, again and again. The blue cloud swelled as if it were being inflated.
The goblins’ eyes lit up with red light; one goblin snatched Ji Ma’s backpack from a companion, shouting, “Give it to me!”
At the same time, its skinny little hands couldn’t help but dive into the backpack, squeezing the money pouch tightly. The sound of gold coins clattering was like a match lighting the flames of greed.
“I’m strong; I’ll take it.”
Another goblin shouted as it tugged at the backpack. Suddenly, it shivered, its red eyes widened, and it turned its head to look at the short spear at its waist. The sneaky goblin pulled out the spear and yelled aloud the shared desire of all the goblins present: “My gold!”
The first goblin fell to the ground. Above it, the spears intertwined, stabbing each other. The goblins collapsed into a bloody melee; once someone was injured and fell to the ground, those nearby rushed to kill it.
Fortunately, I recognized these goblins.
Ji Ma sighed in relief, a smile spreading across her small face. She rolled over, picked up the hand crossbow set aside, and with her thumb, laboriously pulled back the bowstring, aiming to observe the situation below.
The infighting had nearly reached its climax. A circle of goblin corpses lay scattered on the ground. Only three contestants remained in this gold contest, eyeing each other, panting, holding bloodied weapons.
No one dared to make a rash move.
Among these three goblins, only one was injured, and it was the smallest. It was the goblin that had deceived Zhuang before, clutching a bloodied short sword—thanks to its weapon advantage, it had made it to the finals successfully.
The other two uninjured goblins turned their gazes toward it. They seemed to reach a silent agreement: they would kill the injured one first.
The small goblin waved its sharp short sword, shouting, “I’ve killed eight with this thing; whoever kills me, I’ll stab them, stab them hard.”
Instantly, the other two goblins shifted their gazes away from it. None wanted to benefit another, but everyone wanted the gold.
“Let’s split it, three ways.”
“Fine, but let’s drop our weapons.” The greedy gazes turned toward the short sword in the small goblin’s hand.
“No!”
The latter shrieked.
The standoff resumed momentarily. Thankfully, Ji Ma, with her eager heart, was present; otherwise, who knew how long these greedy little monsters would stall.
She carefully aimed at the small goblin, but just then, another clever goblin said:
“If others come, we’ll have nothing.”
As its words fell, Ji Ma pulled the trigger, and a bolt pierced through its chest. The next moment, the spear and short sword stabbed from either side, killing it on the spot, the bolt in its chest trembling slightly.
“Enemies?”
Only then did they notice the attack. But at that moment, Ji Ma swung the tide; greed swiftly overtook reason, as the small goblin reacted first, stabbing its companion in the neck with the short sword—once, twice—killing it outright.
“My gold, it’s mine!”
It shouted, and the second bolt shot into its back. It gasped in pain, toppling to the ground, motionless.
Ji Ma stood up from the high platform, limping toward it with the well-strung hand crossbow, saying:
“Get up, little monster; I know you’re faking death.”
The small goblin “came back to life,” rising with the short sword in hand, raising its hands. Due to its tattered leather armor, the earlier bolt hadn’t killed it, and Ji Ma didn’t expect the crossbow to have much effect now.
Faced with the crossbow, the goblin trembled all over. Tears streamed down from the corners of its eyes, and with a whimpering voice, it pleaded, “Please, please spare me; I… I can help you carry the gold; I’ll throw my short sword to you right now.”
At the same time, its arm muscles tightened, planning to take the opportunity while Ji Ma relaxed her guard to throw the short sword and then bend down to grab the spear lying before it, rushing at Ji Ma.
Ji Ma nodded; indeed, she needed a laborer to carry the bag right now.
She pulled the trigger, and the bolt pierced the small goblin’s belly. Its eyes widened, and all it heard was Ji Ma’s explanation:
“I only told you to get up for a better aim, you fool.”
