Chapter 42: Valley of Bewilderment, Datura

"Qing'er, aren't you coming down to pay respects to your Queen Mother?" Fox Lady spoke toward the cliff cave on the mountainside. Her voice carried across thousands of snowflakes. Though it was merely a wisp of her demonic soul, the voice sounded right beside Zhou Yu and little Qing, as if she were standing close by.

Zhou Yu was secretly startled; this mother-in-law truly seemed unfathomable. If Zhou Yu had known that this was merely a wisp of Fox Lady's demonic soul, he would have been even more utterly astounded.

Hearing Fox Lady calling from below, Zhou Yu had no choice but to push open the wooden door and step out to the entrance of the cliff cave.

The moment the door opened, the bitter wind rushed inward. Zhou Yu instinctively pulled little Qing behind him, shielding her from the biting gale.

This small gesture was not missed by Fox Lady. The look she cast at Zhou Yu softened slightly.

Little Qing poked her head out from behind Zhou Yu, clutching his waist, and timidly called out, "Mother Queen."

Fox Lady chided, "Aren't you coming down?"

Little Qing looked at Zhou Yu, a hint of pleading in her eyes.

Zhou Yu straightened up, locked eyes with Fox Lady, and then squatted down, carrying little Qing onto his back. With a slight exertion of strength in his legs, he leaped down from the cliff cave with little Qing on his back.

Ever since that night with little Qing, Zhou Yu had discovered that he could access a bit more of the black energy. After two days of adaptation, the energy within his body was now much more powerful.

Bursting through the snowflakes, Zhou Yu descended at high speed with little Qing on his back.

A flash of surprise crossed Fox Lady's eyes. The cliff cave was nearly fifty meters high; even a bear demon general, renowned for their formidable physical strength, would have to think twice before leaping down from up there. Yet this young man had just jumped straight down.

"Boom."

Zhou Yu landed on the snow with little Qing on his back, sending the surrounding accumulated snow scattering in all directions as a flurry of snowflakes flew into the air.

Upon landing, Zhou Yu carried little Qing step by step toward Fox Lady, his pace firm and steady, his gaze fixed straight upon her.

Seeing that Zhou Yu had landed safely and showed not a trace of timidity in her presence, Fox Lady's estimation of him rose even higher. Noticing that Zhou Yu was handsome and sturdily built, she found herself somewhat fond of this good-looking prospective son-in-law.

Arriving before Fox Lady, Zhou Yu gently set little Qing down and tenderly supported her hand.

After touching the ground, little Qing wobbled slightly before standing straight. Looking at Fox Lady, tears instantly streamed down her face.

"Mother Queen."

Little Qing lunged into Fox Lady's embrace, but her arms closed on empty air. With quick eyes and swift hands, Zhou Yu grabbed her and pulled her back into his arms.

Fox Lady said to little Qing, "This is not my true body, only a wisp of my demonic soul."

Little Qing wiped away her tears and said, "Mother Queen, Qing has missed you so much."

"Silly child, Mother Queen has missed you too," Fox Lady replied.

At this moment, Zhou Yu was stunned. When he heard Fox Lady say that this was merely a wisp of her own demonic soul, he was deeply shocked.

He had originally thought of himself as a minor expert of some standing—certain to win against a demon general, and capable of holding his own against a low-level demon king. Especially with his recent increase in strength, his confidence had grown even stronger.

Yet now, seeing that a mere wisp of Fox Lady's demonic soul could make him feel a faint sense of dread, he realized that his own strength was still far from sufficient before a top-tier demon king.

Fox Lady glanced sideways at Zhou Yu and let out a heavy "Hmph."

Fatty moved from the side to stand beside Zhou Yu and gave him a nudge.

Zhou Yu snapped back to his senses instantly. With the mother-in-law right before him, if he didn't initiate a greeting, was he supposed to wait for the mother-in-law to greet him first?

Coughing a few times under the mocking gaze of the colorful monkey, Zhou Yu made a formal bow toward Fox Lady and said, "This humble scholar pays respects..."

The words following the greeting remained unspoken for a long time. Part of the reason was that Zhou Yu felt shy, and another part was that he truly had no idea what kind of attitude Fox Lady held toward him.

Recalling the advice taught by predecessors back on Earth, Zhou Yu hardened his heart, pulled little Qing down to kneel with him, bowed to Fox Lady, and said, "This junior Zhou Yu pays respects to Mother-in-law!"

Fox Lady took a step back, clearly not expecting Zhou Yu to be so bold. Recovering from her surprise, she repeatedly said, "Good, good, good."

Those three "goods" came straight from the heart. Seeing that Zhou Yu was young, handsome, and deeply protective of little Qing, she had already grown rather fond of him. Noticing further that his strength was quite respectable, she accepted him in her heart. Now, seeing that Zhou Yu possessed such a sense of responsibility, she could not help but praise him.

Fatty beamed with joy at this and offered congratulations repeatedly from the side.

The colorful monkey found it all rather uninteresting. He had originally expected Zhou Yu to be heavily mocked, but he never thought this fellow would be ruthless enough to lower his pride. Truly thick-skinned! That was the colorful monkey's assessment of Zhou Yu.

"This is indeed a joyous occasion. The wind and snow are fierce here, and the little princess has only recently taken human form with a relatively weak constitution. We should move elsewhere to talk."

With these words, Fatty led the group toward a nearby cave. This cave had been temporarily dug out yesterday by Fatty himself, leading a hundred wild boar soldiers, specifically to provide the colorful monkey with a place to settle. As a true king of a clan, how could he sleep in the wilderness?

Although the cave had been dug in a hurry, thanks to the large number of workers, it was quite spacious and appeared rather grand.

Various crude living utensils were arranged inside the cave, with stone tables, stone chairs, and stone beds all present.

Fatty lit the oil lamps on the cave wall. After everyone had stepped inside, he closed the cave door and served a table full of rare treasures and exotic fruits.

Watching Fatty busy running about, Fox Lady said, "Fatty, stop fussing. This deity is merely a wisp of a demonic soul and cannot eat food."

Fatty slapped his own bulky pig head and exclaimed, "Aha! My pig brain! How could I have forgotten?"

Fox Lady said, "If your brain is considered poor, then no one in the entire demon race can be called smart. Sit down quickly."

And so, five figures sat around a stone table laden with various fruits.

The colorful monkey squatted on a stone stool, grabbed a banana, peeled it, took a bite, and said, "Lady Fox, since you have already agreed to the affair between little Qing and my brother, shouldn't our two clans also form an alliance?"

Fox Lady glanced at the colorful monkey and said, "There is no rush for this matter. For now, although I have agreed to Qing'er's affair, but..."

Fox Lady looked at Fatty, who caught her meaning immediately and chimed in, "I wonder who on earth that fellow who broke into the Fox Clan is?"

This question was precisely what Zhou Yu and the colorful monkey wanted to know most, and also what Fox Lady most wanted to discuss. Yet, constrained by pride, neither side had asked, and Fatty's question came at the exact right moment.

"I am not clear on that fellow's exact origins, but he is indeed immensely powerful. Even with the combined strength of our entire Fox Clan, we are no match for him," Fox Lady said.

Upon hearing this, the colorful monkey chuckled and said, "What if you add us? Within the Fox Clan, aside from you, Lady Fox, there are probably very few with genuine combat capability."

The colorful monkey did not say this without reason. The Fox Clan was an extremely peculiar race; its members usually possessed no combat ability unless they reached the realm of a demon king. Even ordinary male foxes only gained fighting strength upon reaching the demon general level, such as the green-robed white fox, but such foxes constituted a tiny fraction of the entire clan.

Fox Lady did not get angry; she merely cast a light glance at the colorful monkey and said, "Colorful monkey, it is not that this deity belittles you, but with your level of strength, you can at most fight the Wild Boar King. Encountering any other demon king, you would undoubtedly be defeated."

The colorful monkey smiled and nodded, though his hand was already tightly gripping his golden cudgel.

"Mother Queen, that bad guy is so strong, what should we do?" little Qing said worriedly.

Fox Lady did not speak; instead, she looked at Zhou Yu. She had long since learned from Fatty that inviting her to Huaguo Mountain was Zhou Yu's idea, so she wanted to see what kind of good plan Zhou Yu might have.

Zhou Yu gave a low cough, straightened his posture, and said, "I actually do not know how powerful the bad guy in little Qing's description is, nor do I know whether my method is feasible, but I feel that for little Qing's sake, we must give it a try."

Fox Lady nodded.

"My thought is this: can we use poison or medicine against him?" Zhou Yu said.

Fox Lady frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "This method has indeed not been tried, but given his strength, ordinary poisons are unlikely to work, while potent poisons are difficult to conceal."

Though Fox Lady did not spell it out, she made it clear that this method was unsuitable.

Zhou Yu was not discouraged. He continued, "Why must we use poison? Other things should work as well."

"Other things?" the colorful monkey, Fatty, and Fox Lady spoke in unison.

Zhou Yu nodded and then said, "I don't know if you have ever heard of something that, while not a poison, is even more corrosive to the bone marrow. Consuming it causes hallucinations and mental trance."

"Wine!" the colorful monkey chimed in first. "Drink too much and you get drunk; once drunk, you naturally fall into a trance and hallucinate."

The oil lamp inside the cave flickered unsteadily in the cold wind slipping through the crack of the door. After a moment of silence, Fox Lady said, "Although wine indeed has such an effect, you must realize that anyone who has reached the realm of a demon king has a thoroughly enhanced constitution. Getting them drunk is nearly impossible."

The colorful monkey scratched the back of his head with some reluctance, yet he had to admit that Fox Lady's words were entirely correct. He then focused his attention back on the banana he had bitten into, muttering, "In my view, we should just go and fight him directly. I refuse to believe we can't beat him. Lady Fox, your strength is feared deeply even by the five great demon kings. Add myself and Zhou Yu, and we count as another demon king. If we pick some elite demon soldiers, altogether it should equal at least three demon king-tier experts. Can we really not defeat him?"

Fox Lady glanced at the colorful monkey and said, "That may be so, but his strength far exceeds yours. No matter how many of you there are, it is useless. Quantity cannot make up for this gap."

Silence fell temporarily within the cave.

Zhou Yu asked again, "Is there no plant nearby that can induce hallucinations?"

Actually, what Zhou Yu wanted to mention were the substances that ruined countless lives in his past life, but he did not know if the Dao of Immortality and Illusion possessed them. Logically speaking, the geographical environment here was similar to Earth's, so they should exist.

Fatty pondered for a moment, slapped his thigh, and said, "There is!"

Everyone turned to look at him simultaneously.

Fatty wobbled his fat face and said excitedly, "Datura flowers in the Valley of Illusions!"

Hearing this, Fox Lady nodded and said, "Datura flowers do indeed have that effect, and it is extremely potent. Furthermore, since they are not poisonous substances, this is indeed feasible! However, it is winter now; do these flowers still bloom?"

Fatty said, "Whether they bloom or not doesn't matter; the key is that I can get them!"

Hearing this, Zhou Yu set his mind at ease. It seemed this world indeed possessed such things.

The group then discussed the plan in detail, talking until nightfall before finally arriving at a relatively thorough strategy.

Thinking of the seven-day deadline given by that person, Fox Lady felt that time was rather tight and asked Fatty, "How long will it take you to acquire the datura?"

Fatty thought for a moment and replied, "In the past, when it was inconvenient for me to act openly, it would have taken me seven days of maneuvering just to contact the Flower King of the Valley of Illusions. But now, I think it will only take three days."

"Most importantly, we can now provide a sufficient quantity of trade goods," Fatty added.

Hearing this, Fox Lady said, "Very well! I give you three days. As for the trade goods, name whatever is needed; anything I, the Fox Lady, possess, you may have."

Fatty smiled and said, "That won't be necessary; grain alone will suffice. The fruits and grain currently on Huaguo Mountain are enough to trade for all the datura in the Valley of Illusions."

Among the demon race, grain remained the most vital resource of all.