Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Banquet

A few days ago, the sky was draped in a gentle, persistent rain.

Under the cloak of night, strange sounds echoed through the woods of Mount Yue—some from nocturnal creatures, others stirred by the mountain wind rustling the trees.

In this spring hunting season, no experienced trapper would let such an opportunity slip away—least of all Wang Lei, renowned for his skill in Hangdu.

He set out at dawn with three companions, laying traps where wild beasts were most likely to roam. Their work finished, they stumbled upon an unexpected boon. By examining the marks on tree trunks and the droppings left behind, Wang Lei noticed that a herd of sika deer had recently come to Mount Yue.

“Chief Wang, this is bigger than any deal we could’ve hoped for,” said Wu Jiang, the youngest of the party, licking his lips. It was his first time joining the hunt, and he hadn’t expected such luck.

“Sika deer are treasures from head to tail. Their hide and meat fetch a handsome price,” Old Li, with his thick beard, spoke with emotion—his son was about to marry, and money was tight.

Wang Lei’s face showed delight, but he quickly regained his composure. Years of hunting had taught him to see beneath the surface.

Sika deer are herd animals, migrating through the mountains, only pausing in autumn to breed—the prime time for hunting. Yet spring had barely begun, and the herd should have been deep in the mountains or high upon the peaks. Their sudden appearance on the outskirts of Mount Yue was most unusual.

“Hansheng, what do you think? Why would sika deer appear here?” Wang Lei turned to a quiet, middle-aged man whose face was marked by a scar stretching almost across his head.

Chen Hansheng, just past forty, had spent most of his life in the army and had seen much of the Nine Provinces. In the hunting party, only Wang Lei’s position outranked his, and Wang Lei often relied on Chen’s experience.

“This is strange,” Chen said. “Sika deer are timid creatures, most fearful of humans, so they never approach the mountain’s edge. If we’re finding them here, it means something far scarier drove them away.”

“What could it be—a bear? We could hunt it, too, sell the meat,” Wu Jiang said with excitement. The other hunters were all capable men. Even a tiger would think twice before crossing them; bears didn’t scare them.

“Bear, my foot,” Old Li muttered, feeling a tinge of dread after Chen’s words. He spat and cursed.

The group fell silent, unsettled. The mountain’s depths hid more than they could imagine; they had once witnessed a wild monkey nearly turned monster, terrifying beyond belief.

Had it not lost interest in them, Wang Lei and the others wouldn’t have survived.

Wu Jiang, however, hadn’t been there then, and felt no fear.

“Let’s head home first. We’ll keep searching for sika deer tracks around here the next few days,” Wang Lei decided. The others agreed and made their way down to the small cabin at the mountain’s base, though Wu Jiang’s impatience was evident.

Back in the cabin, they ate some dried rations and soon drifted into sleep.

The waning moon hung high. In the middle of the night, Wu Jiang awoke with an urgent need and stepped outside. The others, half-asleep, heard the movement but didn’t react.

After relieving himself, a thought struck him. Not far from where they’d first found the sika deer tracks, he’d set a trap; perhaps it had already caught something.

His heart burned with excitement. He patted the hunting knife at his waist—if he found a lone sika deer, even just its hide would bring him a fortune.

“Fortune favors the bold, not the timid. If you want wealth, you must take risks,” he muttered, glancing back at the cabin before stealthily heading toward the trap. The closer he got, the quicker he moved.

When he arrived, he could see from a distance that the trap had been triggered—something was moving inside.

“This is my chance. Skin the deer in secret, hide it somewhere, and come back for it later,” Wu Jiang schemed, his steps growing lighter. Ten paces from the trap, he could clearly hear the sounds coming from within.

“Gah… gah… gah…”

“What sort of strange cry is that?” He felt uneasy, but greed won out as he approached the trap.

He peered inside by moonlight.

He froze, his eyes widening to their limit. His legs gave way, and he collapsed, dropping his hunting knife.

Inside the trap lay a bizarre creature—lizard-like in shape, covered in fish scales, its head reminiscent of a dragon but without horns.

Anyone familiar with such beasts would have been shocked; this was clearly a giant salamander.

The salamander opened its mouth, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. The trap’s spikes had failed to pierce its skin—it seemed to wait deliberately within.

Wu Jiang’s mind was gripped by terror. He turned to flee, never imagining such a monster would be caught.

The salamander let out another strange cry, crawling from the pit. Its scales scraped the earth as it moved, and its body began to change.

Flesh shrank, bones shifted with audible cracks. In an instant, the four-meter beast transformed into a humanoid creature just over three meters tall.

Its limbs were like a human’s, but its body was covered in fish scales, its head still that of a salamander.

With a flick of its tongue, the salamander demon licked its own eyes, cold indifference gleaming in its slitted pupils.

“The feast is about to begin. I mustn’t miss it this time… These men are lean, but they’ll do…”

Driven by instinct, Wu Jiang’s speed increased, covering the distance back to the cabin in half the usual time.

He burst inside, waking Wang Lei and the others with his commotion.

“What’s the matter? Why the panic?” Old Li grumbled, rubbing his red eyes.

“There’s a monster—I saw a monster out there,” Wu Jiang stammered, recounting his encounter with the salamander demon. Wang Lei and the others exchanged glances, their faces pale.

“This is bad! We must go, now!” Wang Lei exclaimed.

“It’s too late,” Chen Hansheng said, rising and drawing his long blade from beneath the straw mat.

The cabin door creaked open under their gaze, and the beast-headed, human-bodied salamander demon entered, bathed in moonlight.

“I’ve come to invite you to a feast,” it said.

Under the moon, a brief, muffled sound came from the hunter’s cabin, then all fell silent once more.