Looking at the little mongrel, Ma Xiaoniu suddenly had a flash of inspiration. In Chinese history, there are four mythical creatures representing the four cardinal directions: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Why not create a pseudo-four cardinal directions creature himself? He already had the White Tiger—the little mongrel—so all he needed was a snake, preferably blue, and a tortoise. And what to use for the Vermilion Bird? An eagle? No, that wouldn't do.
Ma Xiaoniu wandered around again and bought a small, non-venomous snake, about the thickness of a child's little finger, entirely bluish-green. Then he bought a small turtle from a stall; it was only the size of a fingernail and cost one yuan. Finally, Ma Xiaoniu went to the poultry market and bought a small red rooster, intending it to be the Vermilion Bird!
Ma Xiaoniu only bought small ones, raising them from a young age so they would naturally be closer to him. Of course, if he had the Demon Eye, things would be much easier; one Demon Eye and they would be absolutely loyal to Ma Xiaoniu! Alas, it's a pity I don't know when I'll be able to get the Demon Eye again! Indeed, human greed can never be satisfied!
He teleported back home and placed the "Four Divine Beasts" in front of him. Naturally, the Four Divine Beasts would not stay in one place and obey commands. As soon as they landed, they ran around in all directions. In particular, the Three-Eyed Beast had already started bullying the Vermilion Bird!
They captured the "Four Divine Beasts" again, then put them in four small boxes, so the "Four Divine Beasts" couldn't escape now.
Ma Xiaoniu chuckled, but then he hesitated. The "Four Divine Beasts" had been running around wildly, but they were still small and easy to catch, and wouldn't cause any serious consequences. However, if they were forced to grow larger, things would be different. Imagine a python as thick as an adult's waist wriggling around, then swallowing a person whole…
Ma Xiaoniu shuddered. He only had two superpowers: life-inducing and teleportation. Clearly, if the scene he imagined actually occurred, the consequences would be severe!
Ma Xiaoniu pondered for a while, then suddenly his eyes lit up. Since he had teleportation abilities, distance wasn't a problem for him. So why not raise the "Four Divine Beasts" in a remote place? With that thought, Ma Xiaoniu put the box containing the "Four Divine Beasts" into his pocket, and then teleported to the Immortal Pavilion.
That's right! Shenxianjia, home to China's most mysterious primeval forest, is located here, rarely visited by humans, especially deep within Shenxianjia where there is no sign of human habitation. It couldn't be more suitable to keep the "Four Divine Beasts" here! In other words, so what if they are discovered? There are already many legends about Shenxianjia, what difference does a few more make?
After wandering around deep in Shenxianjia for half a day, we finally found a very secluded valley. The valley had a small entrance but a large interior, with an area of about ten miles in circumference. There was also a lake in the valley, which was quite large enough to hold an enlarged version of Xuanwu!
Ma Xiaoniu placed the box containing the "Four Divine Beasts" on the ground and first activated his growth-inducing skill on the Azure Dragon! The tiny green snake, originally only as thick as a child's little finger, visibly grew larger, quickly bursting the box. It expanded and lengthened, and in a short time, the little green snake disappeared, replaced by a giant python as thick as an adult's waist and over ten meters long! Of course, its true form was still a small green snake, as it was still a juvenile. What would it look like when it grew up? We can't wait!
Then, a growth-inducing skill was activated on the little mongrel. In just a short while, the little mongrel had grown into a super monster over two meters tall and four or five meters long! Keep in mind that an adult mongrel is much larger than its puppy! Perhaps in the future, the little mongrel could grow into a super behemoth tens of meters tall and several tens of meters long!
Then, it activated the growth-inducing skill on both the little rooster and the little turtle. The little rooster transformed into a giant rooster, over two meters tall and over three meters long, though its appearance remained that of a small chick—after all, only its size changed, not its age. The little turtle became a super turtle, over two meters tall and seven or eight meters long! One can only imagine how enormous this turtle will be in the future!
The four little guys have grown into four big guys, but their nature hasn't changed; they're still young. Especially the little mongrel—no, it should be called a big mongrel now—still has that adorable face, sticking out its tongue to lick Ma Xiaoniu. Ma Xiaoniu quickly dodges. Just kidding, it was fine before, but now, being licked is probably like taking a bath.
The Vermilion Bird was alright; after enlarging itself, it went off to hunt for food on its own. The Green Snake coiled up, flicking its tongue, which was over a meter long, and warily observed its surroundings. The Black Tortoise, with its four pillar-like legs supporting it on the ground, slowly crawled towards the distant lake.
Alright, the four divine beasts are all taken care of. Next up is the 24K gold! Originally, Ma Xiaoniu planned to deal with the 24K gold ring after returning home, but seeing this valley, he had a sudden idea: to find a secluded spot in the valley to nurture the gold ring. This way, the valley would be spacious enough for the ring to grow larger, and with the four divine beasts guarding it, it would be safer. Later, whenever he wanted to use it, he could just grab a hammer and smash off a piece. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
There are many caves in the valley, but finding one with enough space is not easy. After much effort, he finally selected one from countless caves with a sufficiently large interior! This cave is very well hidden; its exterior is covered by thick vegetation, and a huge boulder blocks the entrance, leaving only a narrow gap on the side, just big enough for one person to squeeze through. After walking about ten meters inside, the interior suddenly opens up. Ma Xiaoniu estimates that the interior space is about a hundred meters long and wide, and more than ten meters high. Of course, the space is irregular, and the ground is not flat; some places are lower, and some places are higher. But this is the largest cave Ma Xiaoniu has found!
He crushed the gold ring into a single piece, placed it in the center of the cave, and activated the growth-enhancing skill. The gold nugget rapidly grew, from the size of a fingernail to the size of an egg, then to the size of a basketball, expanding at a rapid pace. After a full hour, the entire cave, tens of meters in diameter and over ten meters high, was completely filled with gold! Ma Xiaoniu was thoroughly satisfied. This was almost equivalent to the gold reserves of a medium-sized country! Awesome!
Squeezing through the crack in the cave entrance, I looked up and saw a smooth valley floor, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, and lush vegetation. The lake in the valley reflected the sunlight, like it was covered in shimmering golden leaves. The Black Tortoise occasionally revealed its broad carapace in the lake, looking completely at ease. The Azure Dragon climbed a large tree, coiled around a thick branch, its tongue, over a meter long, flicking as it hunted for prey. The fluffy Vermilion Bird, its wings not yet fully grown, was chasing and pecking at a monkey, which squealed and fled in panic. The White Tiger was the most leisurely, lazily lying on the grass by the lake, basking in the sun, its eyes half-closed, occasionally licking its cheek with its large tongue.
How wonderful! Ma Xiaoniu decided that once he found a clever way to complete the system tasks and had enough free time, he would move to live in this valley!
Wait a minute, the valley is indeed lush with vegetation, but if we were to live there, wouldn't something be missing? Right, Ma Xiaoniu slapped his forehead, "It's missing some fruit trees!"
He teleported to Feng County. Actually, Jiuyan City was the closest to Shenxianjia, but Ma Xiaoniu wasn't familiar with the area. Standing in a remote corner of Feng County, Ma Xiaoniu checked his watch; it was already past four in the afternoon. Finding a suitable cave in the Shenxianjia valley had taken him a lot of time. (Recently, there has been a serious issue with transcoding, which motivates us to update faster. Please exit reading mode if you'd like. Thank you.)
===Chapter Eighteen===
They quickly arrived at the Fengxian Flower, Plant, Fish and Insect Market. The market was huge; the flower, plant, and fruit tree vendors were on the west side. After wandering around the flower, plant, and fruit tree section, they bought several saplings of every kind available. The total amount of saplings filled a small truck, demonstrating the wide variety. With no other option, they found a small truck, loaded the saplings onto it, and pretended to have the driver take them to a large open area outside Fengxian. After the driver left, Ma Xiaoniu used a teleportation technique to transport the saplings to the Shenxianjia Valley. Finding a suitable spot by the lake, he planted the saplings in a staggered fashion and then forced them to grow one by one. Soon, an orchard spanning over a hundred meters appeared before them. Each sapling was as thick as a water vat, over ten meters tall, and its massive canopy completely blocked out the sky.
Everything is ready, all that's needed is time! When autumn comes, the fruit trees will be laden with fruit, and just thinking about it is indescribably beautiful!
Of course, since we had decided to stay here permanently, we needed to find a place to live. Fortunately, while searching for caves that morning, we found one that was just right. The cave was located just a dozen meters from the edge of the orchard, and a lake was a few dozen meters to the right of the cave. The cave was sunny, dry, flat, and of a suitable size, making it perfect for long-term residence.
Of course, all of this will have to wait until the system tasks are completely resolved. Right now, my life is still in the system's hands! Who knows when the system will issue an incomplete task, and then I'll be dead!
Planting the fruit trees took quite a while. Looking at his watch, it was already past six o'clock, and the sky was gradually getting dark. Ma Xiaoniu glanced around and saw that the four divine beasts had all found places to rest. Ma Xiaoniu then teleported home.
After a long day of killing, searching for caves, and planting fruit trees, I felt quite tired. I quickly washed up, made some dinner, and then sat down on the living room sofa, opened my laptop, and logged into the demon forum.
I opened the case completion section and posted the Zhao Laohu case. As soon as the case was posted, the number of comments increased rapidly.
"Holy crap, could it be a sofa?"
"Who is this? Zhao Laohu? Holy crap, that's awesome!"
"This man's death was quite unusual! Pierced by a thousand arrows?"
"A demon truly lives up to his reputation as a demon!"
"Upstairs, who is Zhao Laohu?"
"Hey, this person doesn't have a demon logo on their face!"
Where can I buy that teddy bear over there?
"Hey, is that elephant that's become a spirit over there?"
"Hey everyone, this case is really strange. If you look closely, that bear over there is actually a person!"
"It really is you, you devil! I am Sun Weiran, the criminal investigation captain of Fengxian County Public Security Bureau. You have one hour to turn yourself in to the police station, or you will bear the consequences!"
"Huh? Sun Weiran is a bird?"
Same as above
Same as above
...
*Sizzle*
Interestingly, Ma Xiaoniu scrolled to the case submission area, where there were many more posts.
"Help! My husband is cheating on me, and the other woman is threatening me."
"Help! I've been scammed out of 1.5 million yuan, and the scammer is still at large."
"Help! I've been robbed, and I can't find the robbers!"
"Help! I've been raped, and reporting it to the police has been fruitless."