I hurried back to the living room to check. Sha Wuji was sleeping soundly, snoring. His hand that had held the spear and his front were now clear of any obvious injuries—could it be?
I turned Sha Wuji over and lifted his clothes. As expected, on his back was a shallow, pink lightning bolt pattern identical to Old Daoist Sun's!
"Jiao Long Shan Dian!" I exclaimed. How had she unleashed it without moving?
But at least I knew Sha Wuji was temporarily safe. Being struck by that thing only caused him to fall unconscious.
Shen Xingyue and Yaoyao also saw the lightning bolt on Sha Wuji's back. Knowing he was alright, they dared not make any further moves.
I returned to the bedroom and cupped my hands in greeting. "Great Immortal, please calm your anger. We can discuss this."
The woman raised her chin and stated with an irrefutable tone, "After my daughter hatches, she must eat people to regain her vital energy. Otherwise, all our efforts will be in vain. This is non-negotiable."
Yaoyao and I were indifferent. Whether she ate people or not had nothing to do with us, as long as she didn't eat us.
But Shen Xingyue was a Shabiya, tasked with preventing demons from eating people. She opened her mouth, then closed it. After a moment's thought, she suddenly smiled. "This is not difficult. Didn't you just say that the Chiyou organization would definitely come to rob you when your daughter hatches? Demons eating demon hunters, we Shabiya can turn a blind eye to that."
Indeed, that was the case. After the battle at Laogua Ridge, the eight demons had eaten their fill, and the "Mohe" suffered heavy losses. Such a significant event had occurred; Shen Xingyue couldn't possibly be unaware, yet she hadn't pursued our responsibility. This indicated that the Shabiya did not interfere in the conflicts and killings between demons and demon hunters. They only stopped demons from eating innocent people.
The woman smiled slightly. "That would be for the best."
"Good!" I declared with a grand gesture, feigning magnanimity. "Then we can help you guard the ceremony. However, I also have a request—this request is not excessive, and I'm sure you can agree to it."
"Tell me about it," the woman said, her attitude towards me slightly better than towards Shen Xingyue. She was always smiling, perhaps due to the good first impression I had made on her.
"After your daughter has eaten the 'Chiyou' and regained her vital energy, she must not randomly eat innocent people anymore, or it will be difficult for us." I conveyed Shen Xingyue's true intention for her.
The woman thought for a moment and nodded slightly. "You speak reasonably. I can agree to this condition."
Mustering my courage, I took a step forward and extended my right little finger. "Words are not enough; let's pinky swear!"
"Hahaha!" The woman, amused by my seriousness, clutched her stomach with laughter. But in the end, she still extended her finger and hooked it with mine.
"Um... Great Immortal, perhaps you could release my brother here? He also needs to guard you!" I tentatively asked again.
"Heh, that's not up to me. I wasn't the one who did this to him just now."
"Oh?"
The woman pointed to the green egg on the table. "She did it."
It seemed that way. Earlier, when Old Daoist Sun and the other five had fainted, Yaoyao had mentioned that as long as the egg was removed, they would wake up on their own, indicating that their unconsciousness was controlled by the egg, not the crocodile demon far away.
"Oh." I turned to the egg again and said respectfully, "Little Immortal, would you be so kind as to release him?"
I noticed that the green egg had grown considerably. When it first came out of the basement, it was only the size of a goose egg; now, it was the size of an ostrich egg.
The woman gently stroked the egg and murmured something in a strange language for a while, perhaps crocodile speech.
The green egg's light gradually intensified, becoming somewhat blinding, making it impossible to look directly at it. Suddenly, with a hum, a green halo rippled horizontally from the center of the egg. The halo, like Saturn's rings, spread outwards at a not-too-fast pace (about one meter per second). It moved out of the bedroom, passed over Sha Wuji's body, and a green light descended, enveloping him.
Two seconds later, Sha Wuji opened his eyes and sat up like a zombie, his eyes vacant, as if he didn't know what had just happened.
The green light vanished, and the egg returned to its original faint green color.
It seemed he had been released.
I went over and helped Sha Wuji up. "Brother, are you alright?"
Sha Wuji rubbed his head. "It hurts a bit, but I'm fine. What happened just now?"
"It's good that you're alright, no need to ask," I said with a smile, giving Yaoyao and Shen Xingyue a look. They understood, cupped their hands in farewell to the crocodile demon, and exited the bedroom.