Chapter Fifty-Four: Righteous Mouse

  (Continue to ask for Sanjiang tickets!)

  Chen Jianchen slapped his palm out, and before he even got close, the "Ding" character on his palm shone brightly with a burst of light that shot into the ghostly creature's body like a needle.

  With a burst, the originally gigantic ghost object was like a balloon being pierced, and with a hiss, it rapidly underwent a huge transformation, shrinking to the size of a fist in an instant, trembling violently on the ground.

  Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a grayish-white furry mouse, its eyes shrunk into a ball, unable to move. And next to it was a palm-sized piece of rotten cloth-like thing.

  It's actually a mouse demon!

  Chen Jianchen was taken aback and couldn't help but laugh, feeling a bit puzzled. He thought about whether he should kick it away or not, when suddenly the mouse demon jumped up, struggled to get up, and bowed its head to Chen Jianchen, saying in a human voice: "Please spare my life!"

  The words are somewhat vague and unclear, but they are indeed human language without a doubt, and can be understood.

  "Huh? You can actually talk?"

  Chen Jianchen was shocked.

  The two little paws of the mouse spirit were placed together, and it replied with a bow: "I, a small mouse, had the good fortune to eat an elixir pill, which transformed my laryngeal cartilage, so I can speak some words."

  So it was, Chen Jianchen suddenly realized, he bent down and picked up the piece of leather, took a closer look, wasn't this the painted skin?

  It's just this piece in front of me, with faint and damaged strokes, scattered and broken, as if it had been smashed. I don't know if it was originally like this or if it was pierced by Chen Jianchen's righteous energy just now.

  Qingyun Daochang said that the painted skin is a kind of magical instrument, made from human skin. As for the craftsmanship, Chen Jianchen didn't understand it, and he also heard Daochang say that above the magical instruments are the magical treasures.

  It can be big or small, with astonishing power, understanding and communicating with spirits, able to fly in the sky and escape into the earth, a true treasure of the law.

  That is the legendary existence, with a survival rate of phoenix hair and unicorn horn.

  Chen Jianchen's face sank: "Mouse demon, since you have gained wisdom and intelligence, you should stay far away from the mortal world, cultivate your mind in peace, why do you want to haunt people in their homes?"

  The mouse demon was frightened by him and quickly kowtowed, saying: "It's all because the little mouse is greedy for the desire of mouth and tongue, originally wanted to make some oil to drink..." One by one, he told the whole process clearly.

  It was originally an ordinary mouse, which accidentally entered an ancient tomb during a digging process. The ancient tomb was the burial place of a monk, where a dan medicine was left, with a fragrance that filled the nostrils. The mouse's appetite was greatly opened, and it swallowed the dan medicine in one mouthful, unexpectedly opening up its spiritual intelligence, and even transformed its laryngeal prominence, allowing it to learn human speech.

  To know the general demon class, you have to cultivate to be able to transform into a human form, or borrow some magical instruments to assist. This mouse demon is good, one step to heaven.

  In the tomb, the mouse demon was still searching for a painted skin. With it on, it could transform into a fierce ghostly appearance to scare people, which suited its taste just fine. Although it had opened up its spiritual aperture, its cultivation hadn't even reached the realm of a yin spirit, and with its weak and small body, it didn't have any skills to protect itself. With this painted skin, it could scare away its natural enemies.

  This mouse demon was born timid, but also greedy. Not long after opening his mind, he was a bit confused and didn't understand human emotions. After discovering the Geng family's oil shop, he rushed into the oil barrel to drink without hesitation, feeling very refreshing. When someone approached, he pretended to be a ghost to scare them away, which led to a series of accidents.

  After listening, Chen Jian felt somewhat amused.

  People have a hundred faces, and this demon also has a hundred faces. It's not just one personality trait. The common saying is that mice steal oil, but I didn't expect this mouse demon to be so intelligent and still love drinking oil...

  The mouse demon saw Chen Jianchen hesitate for a moment, not knowing how to deal with himself. Although he hated to escape immediately, his limbs were still soft and couldn't move at all. He quickly kowtowed on the ground, knocking his forehead until it was slightly damaged and bleeding. His mouth kept saying: "Sir, spare my life! Let me follow you wherever you go, up the knife mountain, down the oil pan, into the water, into the fire..."

  These words of his were all learned from the workers who imitated the Geng family in their daily lives. Now, they are fluent and eloquent when spoken, with a few tears shed, showing great potential as a bootlicker.

  Chen Jianchen's heart skipped a beat, and he said in a deep voice: "Are you really willing to serve me?"

  The mouse spirit heard this and immediately swore an oath: "A thousand truths, ten thousand certainties, if I go back on my word, may I be drowned in a vat of oil."

  Chen Jianchen chuckled: "Alright, you may have been mischievous and scared people, but you've never actually done any harm. Your nature is still decent. If you're truly willing to follow me, I won't treat you unfairly. In the future, when there's an opportunity, I'll even give you a secret manual for cultivation and guide you onto the right path."

  This is bribery.

  As expected, the two bean-sized small eyes of the mouse spirit suddenly emitted light.

  It's just beginning to open its spiritual wisdom, the universe is vast and boundless, but it has no idea where to go or what to do, completely without a sense of direction. If it follows Chen Jianchen, there are ways to learn, that would be a great opportunity, if missed, it would be hard to find again. To know that generally when cultivators see it, they immediately cast a spell to eliminate it and then feel relieved.

  The mouse demon didn't know that Chen Jianchen wasn't a traditional cultivator, it only knew that Chen Jianchen was extremely formidable. Just now, with one palm strike, he immediately unleashed a powerful pressure that made the mouse demon's soul fly away and its spirit scatter, making it impossible for it to muster up any resistance, and could only obediently await death.

  It feels like when it was still an ordinary mouse and met a cat.

  Arch enemy.

  Chen Jianchen is its powerless arch-nemesis.

  "The mouse pays its respects to its master!"

  The mouse demon immediately knelt down with all six limbs - the so-called six limbs, in addition to its four limbs and head, even included its tail.

  He had inadvertently subdued a mouse demon and Chen Jianchen was somewhat excited, saying: "Have you ever had a name?"

  The mouse demon was somewhat embarrassed and scratched his head with his paw, replying: "After the little mouse became enlightened, he gave himself a Buddhist name called 'Dongtou Laozu'."

  Chen Jianchen chuckled: "This name is too common, why don't I change it for you, how about that?"

  The mouse demon hastily said: "Please, master, bestow a name."

  Chen Jianchen thought for a moment, then said: "Let's just call you Xiao Yi, I hope you can be a loyal and righteous demon, don't bring disaster to humans."

  The mouse demon listened and liked it very much, saying: "Thank you, master, for giving me a name."

  Chen Jianchen made a deal with it, setting out three rules to restrict its daily behavior: it was not allowed to run wildly or speak human words at will.

  Xiao Yi readily agreed, and Chen Jianchen was the first to obey.

  It got the painted skin that was destroyed by the righteous energy, became a waste skin, and could no longer be used, only to be thrown away as garbage. However, its body is small and nimble, and there are many places to hide, so it doesn't need to pretend to be a ghost to scare people anymore. The painted skin is gone, but it doesn't feel like anything is missing. Under Chen Jianchen's command, it crawled into a cave and fell asleep with a snore, trying to calm its frightened heart.

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