RIIDMDR chapter 115

 

Nan Xu found a cucumber and half a pumpkin in the kitchen. He held them up to the serow’s nose. The serow sniffed, then opened its mouth excitedly. Catching Nan Xu off guard, the serow bit down, taking Nan Xu’s hand along with the vegetables, and refused to let go.

Nan Xu tried to pull his hand back, but he couldn’t. Just as the serow was about to chew, Tingchuan pressed down on its head. The serow’s fear of Tingchuan was suppressed by the smell of food, and it tried to butt him instinctively. Tingchuan seized the opportunity and grabbed its horns. With a slight twist of his wrist, the serow seemed to be struck by a sharp pain. It stomped its hooves on the ground and let out a harsh cry.

The whole action happened in an instant. Nan Xu took the opportunity to pull his hand back; he had almost been bitten. His heart was still pounding from fear.

In the mountains, they had never encountered wild beasts before. The animals he usually saw were either small and harmless or had been killed by Tingchuan and placed before him. He had momentarily mistaken this mountain serow for a gentle reindeer from the zoo and lowered his guard. Little did he know that his good intentions of feeding the animal only made it want to vent its anger on him—the easy target.

A flicker of anger rose in Nan Xu’s heart. He had seen too much human suffering and had become gentler, more tolerant, and better at assessing situations. But that didn’t mean he would willingly let himself be bullied, especially not by a serow he meant to tame.

He threw the pumpkin and cucumber into the bamboo basket by the wall. Tingchuan withdrew his hand. The serow, still in pain, stared at Nan Xu’s empty hand with round eyes. It was angry at Nan Xu’s sudden change of mind, but it did not dare act rashly after the earlier lesson.

“I’m not feeding you anymore,” Nan Xu said. “You An, there’s some thick rope by the wood shed. Tie it there.”

You An looked toward Tingchuan. He had promised the big guy on the road that he would feed him well at the inn. Now, how was he supposed to explain this change of plans?

Tingchuan caught You An’s gaze and said with a faint smile, “If you don’t tie it up, are you waiting for the owner to roast its meat tonight?”

You An: …

Honestly, Nan Xu might actually do that.

Tingchuan pulled Nan Xu inside and carefully checked his hand. Seeing no wound, he finally relaxed. Most mountain beasts had a spiritual nature, but this creature truly lacked manners. If Tingchuan hadn’t reacted in time, would the creature have bitten Nan Xu’s hand off?

Tingchuan said nothing, but his expression darkened. “You want that as a mount? I’ll find you another one in the mountains.”

Nan Xu tilted his head in confusion. “We already have one. Why look for another one in this freezing weather?”

Tingchuan grunted but didn’t explain. Nan Xu suspected that Tingchuan just wanted to slaughter the serow for its meat. Maybe he was tired of chicken and wanted to try something new?

Outside, You An patted the serow’s head. “You heard him. I’ll still feed you, but why did you bite the head of the household? Show him some goodwill tomorrow, and your good days will come later.”

The serow ignored him, stamping its hooves loudly as You An dragged it toward the woodshed.

Half the winter had passed, and much of the firewood had been used. Although they’d gathered more during the recent clear days, there was still plenty of space left for the serow.

A long bamboo mat was nailed to the side of the shed to block the wind and snow. You An tied a thick rope around the serow’s neck, comforted it, and went back to the warm wooden house.

The next morning, the snow had stopped for a while. Nan Xu, You An, and Yao Lin cleared snow from the courtyard. While they worked, the serow behind the bamboo mat made noise to get their attention.

Nan Xu ignored it, intending to teach it a lesson. It wasn’t until after breakfast, when the smell of food still lingered in the air, that he took a basket of vegetables and lifted the bamboo mat.

After a night of hunger, the serow seemed calmer. Seeing Nan Xu enter, it stayed quiet. Nan Xu placed a pumpkin on the pile of firewood in front of it. The serow looked at Nan Xu, then at the pumpkin, as if it couldn’t believe it would get food so easily.

“Go on, eat,” Nan Xu said. “It’s fresh.”

The serow hesitated for two seconds, but hunger won. It began to eat greedily. In this frozen land, food was scarce. It quickly finished the pumpkin, so Nan Xu put a few cucumbers on the pile of firewood. This time, the serow didn’t hesitate. It ate happily and looked back at Nan Xu, asking for more.

Nan Xu met its gaze and couldn’t help but chuckle. He placed the empty basket on the ground, untied the rope from the post, and led the serow outside the courtyard.

Perhaps because Nan Xu had fed it before, the serow followed quietly without harming him. Nan Xu led the serow to the gate, loosened the rope around its neck, patted its white fur, and said, “Go on. You’re free.”

Serow: ?

It stared wide-eyed at Nan Xu, incredulous.

Nan Xu shrugged. He had already seen that the creature was intelligent. “Your obedience is just an act. You’re just waiting for a chance to get revenge. You don’t dare provoke the other demons in the inn, so I’m probably your target. Since that’s the case, why should I keep you and waste my food?”

The serow stomped its hooves in the snow as if to protest, but Nan Xu ignored it and urged, “Hurry and leave, or Tingchuan might still be thinking about your meat.”

Hearing this, the serow hesitated but eventually turned and left.

As its figure disappeared, Yao Lin poked his head out from the gate. “Owner, did you let the mount You An brought for you go?”

Nan Xu quietly replied, “Mm,” and said, “Let it return to the mountains for now. It’s too stubborn. The more you feed and coddle it, the more arrogant it will become. It won’t be easy to tame if we keep it here. It’s better to let it figure things out itself.”

Yao Lin blinked. “You mean…it’ll come back?”

“I think it will,” Nan Xu said casually. “But if it doesn’t, I’ll ask Tingchuan to catch it again. My basket of vegetables can’t just go to waste.”

Yao Lin looked at Nan Xu’s back and decided the owner wasn’t as harmless as he seemed. Sure enough, anyone doing business in the demon realm had a bit of a schemer’s streak.

—

After Nan Xu released the serow, no one else at the inn asked about it, as if it had never appeared on that snowy night.

You An was just happy not to have to tame it anymore. Zhixing, on the other hand, spent the winter indoors developing a fur care potion, using You An as his eager test subject.

As for Tingchuan, Nan Xu didn’t know what he thought. That night, he seemed ready to eat the serow, but when he saw the empty shed later, he said nothing and seemed in good spirits.

Life at the inn went on as usual. With the mountains covered in snow, no guests were expected. Just as Nan Xu predicted, after tasting his homegrown pumpkin and cucumber, the serow would surely crave them again, especially when food was scarce in this harsh weather.

Nan Xu spotted the serow’s tracks a week later—scattered hoofprints in the snow around the courtyard.

As the new year approached, Nan Xu prepared for the festival. Though the demon realm didn’t celebrate, he could still create the atmosphere himself as a human.

He began with cleaning, tidying every corner of the inn. He found two unopened blind boxes, probably rewards from an earlier mission, which he had forgotten about.

Opening the first box revealed a beautiful set of tableware with intricate designs and golden rims around the bowls and plates—far more elegant than his handmade pottery.

He put them away for the New Year’s Eve dinner, then eagerly opened the second blind box, only to stare at it speechlessly.

Was this a stack of scratch-off lottery tickets?

Would the system actually exchange ten million dollars for silver coins, even if he won?

He asked the system, but received no reply. Typical shameless attitude—probably no chance.

Out of boredom, Nan Xu scratched one. None of the icons matched the “lucky” ones—it perfectly avoided a win.

Unwilling to accept defeat, he tried two more times, but still nothing. So he took the remaining dozen tickets and went to find the others.

He found Yao Lin first. Having never seen anything like it, Yao Lin was curious. “Is the pattern painted on here? How can they all be exactly the same?”

Nan Xu roughly explained how human printing worked and urged Yao Lin to scratch one.

Yao Lin did as instructed—no prizes for guessing that. Nan Xu was both amused and annoyed. He was glad his luck wasn’t the only bad one, but he was also irritated that the blind box was so useless.

After explaining the rules, Yao Lin refused to believe that his luck was that bad. He took a few more tickets and scratched them quietly. Nan Xu didn’t bother to watch and instead handed one ticket each to Zhixing and You An.

Moments later, Zhixing said uncertainly, “I won.”

Nan Xu heard the system chime in his mind—10 silver coins. He froze, then realized it could actually be exchanged!

Sure enough, the ticket showed “10 silver coins.”

“I won, too,” said You An, holding up his ticket.

Nan Xu took it and, before he could look closely, heard another chime—this time for 500 silver coins. Money-loving Nan Xu jumped up in delight.

Then, he suddenly realized something and rushed toward Yao Lin, who was still scratching away in the corner.

Too late.

“I scratched them all,” Yao Lin said miserably. “Not a single win. Is my luck really that bad?”

Nan Xu: …

His heart ached as he clutched the last ticket, his hands trembling.

Don’t ask—he was just in pain. He and Yao Lin were the two unluckiest people here, and so many tickets had been wasted on them!

“Owner, would you like me to scratch that one for you?” You An asked confidently.

Nan Xu shook his head, his voice heavy with heartache. “Leave one for your uncle.”

You An regretfully pulled his gaze back; he had been enjoying the game.

A while later, Tingchuan came in. Nan Xu handed him the last ticket, explained the rules, and Tingchuan casually scratched it open.

As Tingchuan scratched, Nan Xu lay on the sofa, his mind buzzing with deposit notifications ranging from ten to a thousand yuan.

His gaze fell on the pile of worthless tickets nearby.

He was numb. Completely numb.

 

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Author’s note:

Nan Xu: A huge sum of money was lost.