Novel Full Chapter 457: But Are Not All People in This World the Same?
Master Niu led Xiao Mo toward the stoves.
All around Xiao Mo’s ears was the clanging of pots and ladles, the sizzling of oil, the sound of stir-frying.
“Little human thing, do you have a name?” Master Niu asked.
“I do.” Xiao Mo gave a nod. “My name is Xiao Mo. Xiao with the grass radical, Mo as in ink.”
Master Niu waved a hoof dismissively. “No need to explain all that to me. I cannot read. As long as I know how to say it, that is enough.”
Xiao Mo had nothing to say to that.
“I am called Niu Dali. My strength is great, so I am called Dali. I will only tell you the rules of this kitchen and the important rules of the residence once. Remember them well.”
Master Niu clasped his hooves behind his back and began.
“First! In this kitchen, there are four head chefs in total. I am one of them.”
“Do you see those two stoves in the center?”
“Those two stoves cook for only two people. One is the Madam of our Mount Tu residence, and the other is the Young Miss of our Mount Tu residence.”
“Remember this. Those two stoves, you are not to touch even so much as the chopping board. Otherwise, if you end up put to death, do not come blaming me.”
“Next, the other stoves cook for the residence’s servants and staff. Those stoves have no particular restrictions.”
“From now on, you will chop firewood, tend the fires, and assist me. If you are clever, you may have the chance to take over a ladle someday and cook for the servants. Who knows, in the future you might even find yourself a human wife with a full figure, father a few plump and healthy sons. It is not out of the question.”
“If you are not clever, you will spend your life tending the fire. You will not catch so much as a whiff of a woman.”
“And in our kitchen courtyard, anything that is made for the servants to eat, you can eat as well. Our Mount Tu residence is very wealthy, and the Madam is very generous. She will not begrudge you a few mouthfuls of food. Get some proper flesh on those bones of yours. If you work yourself to death, I will simply toss you out to feed the wild dogs.”
“Last of all! And most important!”
Master Niu turned around and looked Xiao Mo directly in the eyes with great seriousness.
“Remember this! The Young Miss of our Mount Tu residence likes to wander all over the place. Apart from female demons, do not you ever touch the Young Miss. Not a single strand of her hair, and not even her belongings!”
“Have you understood me?”
“Understood, Master Niu!”
Xiao Mo gave a nod, and his eyes drifted to a pig demon not far away.
That pig demon had finished cooking the braised pork, picked up a piece with chopsticks, tasted it, then gave a satisfied flap of its ears and plated the dish.
Seeing a pig demon eating pork, Xiao Mo’s brow furrowed with a complicated expression.
Noticing Xiao Mo’s face, Master Niu laughed, casually picked up a piece of red-braised beef tendon from the pot, put it in his mouth, and chewed with great satisfaction.
“Boy, for us demon folk, those animals that have not yet awakened their intelligence, even if they are of our own kind, are no different from beasts. We eat what we eat.”
“In the same way, you, as a human, are in our eyes no different from the things in this pot.”
“It is simply that you have the good fortune to have been sold into the Mount Tu residence. Otherwise, for a human like you, you would have been long since stewed in a pot. Useful and edible, all in one.”
“Ah, never mind… telling all this to a little brat like you, you probably cannot understand a word of it anyway.” Master Niu trailed off with a wave of his hoof. “Go and collect your clothing, and start by tending the fire as my assistant. From now on, you will live in the firewood room.”
“Yes, Master Niu.”
Xiao Mo gave a nod, went to a storage room and collected two sets of kitchen courtyard uniforms, then returned to the kitchen courtyard and began hauling firewood and tending the fires for the kitchen workers.
Although Xiao Mo was thin and slight, he was sharp-witted and had a keen eye for what needed doing.
By the end of half a day, Master Niu felt that this little human child was quite capable, and thought that perhaps one day he really could become a proper cook.
Only after all the meals of the Mount Tu residence had been completed did the kitchen workers finally get to eat.
Although life in the kitchen courtyard was tiring, Xiao Mo ate reasonably well.
There was plenty of food, and it was not short on substance.
After eating, Xiao Mo had barely rested for a little while before it was time to start preparing the evening meal.
In the evening, the sun set. After a full day’s work, Xiao Mo ate dinner, heated some water, rinsed himself off in the courtyard, and then returned to the firewood room to sleep.
After a full day of exhausting work, Xiao Mo was bone-tired.
Lying on the bed of straw spread across the woodpile, just as Xiao Mo was on the verge of drifting off to sleep, the system’s voice sounded in his mind.
Xiao Mo immediately became alert.
[You are an orphan by the name of Xiao Mo. In this Demon Realm, the status of human folk is no better than that of unawakened pigs and dogs.]
[While begging on the streets, you were seized and sold by demon traffickers, ultimately ending up at the Mount Tu residence in Immortal Fox City.]
[Though you are not yet five years old and are worked to exhaustion every day, you have survived regardless.]
[You possess a spiritual root, and in the pursuit of cultivating the Dao, you may potentially achieve considerable things. You only lack an opportunity to begin.]
[Task One: If the opportunity arises, cultivate the Dao diligently. The higher your attainments in the Dao, the greater the reward you will receive at the settlement of this lifetime.]
[Task Two: In the Demon Realm, tensions between the human and demon races are severe, and demon folk grow increasingly oppressive toward humans, leading inevitably toward a great war. The host may choose to join the human uprising army, or choose to stay out of the conflict entirely. All of it is left to the host’s own will. Based on the host’s choices, different types of rewards will be given at the time of settlement.]
[Task Three: In the Mount Tu residence lives a mother and daughter, both belonging to the ancient Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan. The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox girl is the same age as the host and possesses a unique constitution. Her bloodline gifts far exceed those of an ordinary Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.]
[Precisely because of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox girl’s unique constitution, she must attain the Dao and ascend within one thousand years, or else the Heavenly Dao will not permit her continued existence, and her body and soul will be destroyed.]
[The higher the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox girl’s cultivation level, the more generous the reward the host will receive at settlement. When she attains the Dao and reaches the Ascension realm, the host’s reward will reach its peak.]
[Note One: The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan is born of love, attains the Dao through love, and may also perish because of love.]
[Note Two: Task Three offers the most generous reward.]
[Note Three: When the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox girl reaches the Ascension realm, all tasks will be settled. If she does not reach the Ascension realm within this lifetime, the host will have two additional lifetimes to help her attain the Dao. After three lifetimes, regardless of task progress, all tasks will be settled.]
[The word ‘love’ appears simple, yet since time immemorial, nothing has been harder to understand.]
[The world laughs at the fox clan for being bound by love. But are not all people in this world the same?]
[This word ‘love,’ can the host see through it?]
As the voice of the Book of a Hundred Lives faded away, Xiao Mo’s mind returned to stillness.
Only the clear, pure light of the moon drifted silently in through the window, illuminating the dry, cold firewood, and falling upon Xiao Mo’s face.