I nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Since this flood dragon is a fake dragon, are there any real dragons?"
Shen Xingyue rolled her eyes at me, "Have you ever seen one?"
I shook my head. How could I be so lucky?
"Dragons, qilin," Shen Xingyue ticked them off on her fingers, "phoenixes, taotie, and so on. These legendary animals are just legends. In reality, there are only the animals you know. Although we are in this line of work, we cannot dabble in feudal superstitions; we must believe in science."
"...You spend all day surrounded by demons, and you talk to me about believing in science," I couldn't help but laugh, "Then explain to me with science why animals can cultivate and transform into human form?"
"Have you seen maggots?" Shen Xingyue retorted.
"Yes, I've even caught them."
Shen Xingyue pouted, "You're so disgusting. Then tell me, what does a maggot turn into when it grows up?"
"A fly."
"And a cicada pupa?"
"A cicada."
"A tadpole?"
"A frog."
"If they can change so much, why can't demons?"
"...Alright, I can't debate you," I conceded.
"This isn't debating; it's biology. You studied it too, didn't you? It's just that humanity's exploration of demons hasn't reached the depth of Darwin's understanding of the animals on the Galapagos Islands, so the 'metamorphosis' from animal to demon hasn't been written into biology textbooks. Besides, on the food chain, demons are a species above humans. Humans, considering themselves the masters of the blue planet and ruling all food chains, how could they easily accept the existence of a species that soars above them?"
I suspected that what Shen Xingyue was saying was all part of their training at Shakespeare, after all, it was an official atheist organization that needed to brainwash its members with science.
Li Jingxiang, who had been sitting aside sipping hot water, finally caught the subtext in our conversation, "You mean my master was attacked by a demon?"
"That's likely." Shen Xingyue pulled on Sun Laodao's clothes, "To be safe, Xiao Li, you should take your master and relocate first. Take my car."
With that, Shen Xingyue handed the car keys to Li Jingxiang and asked for my help to carry Sun Laodao out and get him taken away.
As the sky in the mountains darkened early, nearing dusk, only Yao Yao, Shen Xingyue, and Sha Wuji remained in the villa.
To be ready to fight at any moment, Sha Wuji had transformed into a tiger. I had never seen such a large tiger before; it was a whole size bigger than the third tiger demon. It was five meters long, and when on all fours, it was almost Yao Yao's height, truly the size of a large sedan.
"Should we consider setting up a formation or something?" I asked Yao Yao.
"There aren't enough people, and it's not necessary," Yao Yao turned to Shen Xingyue, "Ask your subordinates where that egg is. My analysis suggests there's a seventy to eighty percent chance that after picking up the egg, the demon will return here. After all, the feng shui here is too good, and the egg is about to hatch. With hundreds of years of cultivation, it might not be willing to abandon it."
Shen Xingyue nodded and went aside to make a phone call.
"You mean that egg has been around for hundreds of years?" I asked in surprise. Logically, that shouldn't be the case. An egg hatches when its time comes. If it doesn't hatch, it's usually a rotten egg, with the embryo dead within. How could there be an egg that's been stored for hundreds of years?
"This is a method of demonic cultivation for the bird race—what you humans now call fowls. The mother itself has become a demon. After laying an egg with demonic energy, it can allow the young demon to cultivate within the egg, with the mother injecting demonic energy. This way, the speed of demonic cultivation is much faster than if it cultivated after birth. If nothing unexpected happens, the young demon can become human upon hatching." Yao Yao again filled a blind spot in my knowledge.
"But, such a small egg..." I gestured with my hand. It wasn't even enough for me to eat one meal. Could a person fit inside?
"It will grow bigger," Yao Yao smiled, pointing below my waist, "It's the same principle, just a bit more powerful than you."
Alright, that was also scientific.
We waited until past seven in the evening. The sky was completely dark, but the Yangzi alligator demon still hadn't made a move. I heard Shen Xingyue's stomach growl, as she had been on alert the whole time, and I was also getting hungry, so I went into the villa to look for food...