Yao Yao extended the middle finger of her other hand… what kind of counting method was this? It felt like an insult.
"The second difference: whether a demon has transformed into a human or not, they all possess a 'demon core' within them. Humans call it a 'night-shining pearl'."
Oh? So the legendary night-shining pearl was this thing!
"Night-shining pearls fetch an extremely high price in the market, thus giving rise to a profession: demon hunters. The higher the level of a demon, the more precious its inner night-shining pearl, and the more sought after it is by demon hunters."
"What about her? How much is she worth?" I asked, pointing at Xiong Xiaomeng.
"A demon that has transformed into a human has a night-shining pearl worth at least a thousand taels of gold to start," Yao Yao said.
That was the price from four hundred years ago. The "Full Manchu Archives" recorded the exchange rate between gold and silver back then. A thousand taels of gold was equivalent to ten thousand taels of silver, which, converted to RMB, was around 6 million yuan.
Xiong Xiaomeng and the others were newly transformed demons who had just taken human form. If they were ancient demons who had long since transformed, the price of their demon cores would likely be in the tens of millions of RMB. In today's society, aside from being a boss, only actors and streamers could achieve such immense earnings.
"Combining the above two points, we can infer the third point," Yao Yao placed a foot on my leg again, presumably substituting for her third middle finger. "Once a demon eats a human, Shabia can kill it, legally obtain the demon core, and sell it for profit, becoming their 'little treasury'. These guys are swimming in wealth."
I understood.
Humans hunt demons.
Shabia, manages demons and also hunts demons.
Demon hunters, specialize in hunting demons.
Hunting demons, is for obtaining night-shining pearls.
Rich people, like to buy demon's night-shining pearls.
Demons, eat humans.
Since the food chain, is also a chain of interest.
The world is bustling, all for gain.
The world is clamoring, all for profit.
The ancients indeed did not deceive me!
"Are there many demons in the human world?" I asked again.
"There are quite a few demons in animal form, but not many have transformed into human shape," Yao Yao said, gently rubbing my thigh with her sole as she picked at beans, continuing her explanation. "According to the classification by Shen Xingyue and others, those who have transformed into human form are all S-class ancient demons. Below S, in animal form, they are classified ABCd, with A being the weakest, considered novice little demons. D-class is the peak level for demons in beast form, their combat power even surpassing many humanoid demons. And it's said that above S, there are SS-class and SSS-class, but through Shen Xingyue's memories, I haven't encountered any. In my era, I also never witnessed such powerful humanoid demons."
"Then how can one identify a demon in a crowd?" I asked. Once a demon transformed into human form and it had been two or three days, their eyes would also assimilate, making them indistinguishable from humans, wouldn't they?
"That requires skill," Yao Yao chuckled, and with her two small feet, she hooked onto my lower back, leaning forward and moving from her chair onto my lap.
"...Your driving skills are not bad," I said with a wry smile. It seemed she was hungry again. If this continued, I suspected I would become even weaker than I was in my dreams last month.
Xiong Xiaomeng showed no signs of avoiding the situation, watching intently as Yao Yao demonstrated her skills on me.
Never mind, if she wasn't going to leave, she wouldn't leave. She wasn't an outsider.
"Taoists in the Central Plains... ah..." Yao Yao continued while driving, "Have techniques for physiognomy and bone-reading, which can identify demons—move back a bit, you can't reach—we shamans identify through qi-reading. Humans have three streams of qi, one at the head and two at the shoulders—don't move, I'll do the moving—demons have two streams of qi, no qi at the head, only above the shoulders..."
"Then, then what if there's only one stream of qi?" I asked.
"A dead ghost..." Yao Yao said softly.
"Why are you calling me that..."
Yao Yao bit my ear lightly: "Who called you that? I said, one stream of qi means a dead person, a ghost."
Qi-reading, impressive. No wonder Yao Yao could sense the eight demons coming to capture her. With so many humans densely packed, Yao Yao might not have been able to sense clearly. But at that moment, the only demons around were those eight, and it was likely that in Yao Yao's "eyes," each demon's aura was different, allowing her to distinguish them.
Back to the main subject, the bed.
I don't know if it was Yao Yao's mastery of the technique or my own weakness, but this time it was quick.
Ten minutes later, Yao Yao was full and went to take a bath.
I felt a bit weary and slumped on the bed.
Xiong Xiaomeng watched with great interest and quietly crawled over: "Hehe, I want to try too."