“The sixth life of the Book of a Hundred Lives (Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox) has been prepared.”

“In light of the host’s current cultivation realm and the strength of the host’s soul, it will not be necessary to seal the host’s memories in this life. However, the Book of a Hundred Lives will blur certain memories according to the limits of what the host’s soul can safely accept.”

“While protecting the host’s mental state and soul, the Book of a Hundred Lives will preserve the host’s memories to the greatest possible extent. The host may rest assured.”

“Memories blurred within the Book of a Hundred Lives will gradually become clear again as the host’s cultivation realm rises.”

“Will the host enter the sixth life?”

When the words of the Book of a Hundred Lives finished, two options appeared in Xiao Mo’s mind.

Yes.

No.

Xiao Mo did not hesitate.

He chose “Yes.”

He had been looking forward to the sixth life of the Book of a Hundred Lives for a long time.

“Please enter a name.”

“Xiao Mo!”

Xiao Mo once again entered his real name.

He had used his real name before, and he would use his real name now.

Even back when he played games in the past, he had always used his real name.

There was no special reason for it. Using a fake name simply felt uncomfortable to him. Without his real name, even experiencing another life felt less immersive.

The moment Xiao Mo entered the name, his consciousness wavered.

The next instant, everything went dark as he lost consciousness.

*****

“Hey! Human brat! Wake up!”

“Human brat! I told you to wake up—didn’t you hear me?”

“Are you sleeping like a corpse?”

SPLASH!

Through the haze of half-consciousness, Xiao Mo heard someone shouting at him.

Then a ladle of cold water was thrown straight onto his face.

Xiao Mo shuddered and suddenly opened his eyes.

As his vision slowly cleared, his mind gradually followed.

He pushed himself up and looked around.

Only then did he realize he was inside an iron cage, like a chicken or duck being kept for slaughter.

Around him were dozens of similar iron cages.

Inside the cages were boys and girls alike—every one of them only five or six years old.

Some children crouched in their cages, hugging themselves tightly, their faces filled with terror.

Some stared blankly, their eyes dim, as though they had already given up on the future without even knowing what it would be.

Others were secretly crying, yet too afraid to make a sound, terrified someone might notice and beat them.

Xiao Mo lowered his head and looked at himself.

Sure enough, he too had the body of a child only five or six years old.

The place where they were imprisoned was a dim warehouse.

The warehouse felt almost like a prison. Only faint sunlight filtered through the edges of the windows, casting weak beams into the darkness.

Those thin rays of light were the only sign of life in this gloomy place, the only way the children could tell whether it was day or night so that they would not completely lose their minds.

“Get up!”

“Damn it, all of you—get up!”

“If you keep sleeping, I’ll eat you all!”

“You want to end up cooked in a clay pot?”

The voice that had woken Xiao Mo rang out again.

Xiao Mo turned his head.

A pig demon stood there, shouting at the other children.

The creature had a human body and a pig’s head—its transformation clearly incomplete.

Whenever it shouted several times and a child still didn’t wake up, it scooped water from the bucket in its left hand and splashed it directly onto the child’s face.

CLANG.

Just as Xiao Mo was wondering where this place was—

The door was suddenly shoved open.

Hearing the sound, the pig demon hurried over.

Its large ears flapped constantly, and the pig tail behind it wagged back and forth like a dog’s.

“Oh my, Boss Gou! You’re finally here! This old pig has been waiting for you for ages!”

The pig demon fawned over a dog demon with a human body and a dog’s head.

Xiao Mo noticed that most of these demons shared the same appearance—human bodies with animal heads.

Perhaps their cultivation realms were too low to complete their transformations.

Or perhaps they intentionally retained some features of the demon race.

“How is that batch of goods I asked for?” the dog-headed demon asked coolly as it glanced at the pig demon.

“I’m telling you—this delivery is going to a very important household. You know the residence of that great person. Their standards are extremely high.”

“Don’t worry, Boss Gou.”

The pig demon rubbed its hooves together, grinning.

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“Look at this little girl here—three generations of servitude, clean background, smooth skin, decent looks.”

“And look at this little boy. Don’t mind how skinny he is. His bones are unusual—perfect material to train as a guard dog. Kids like this are easy to raise too.”

“And this one here—this little boy is also quite good. Handsome features. With a bit of care he’ll become fairer. When he grows up, whether you sell him to a brothel as a male companion for a good price, or keep him for your own household, he’ll be quite useful.”

As the pig demon spoke, it led the dog demon through the warehouse, introducing the children one by one.

The demons examined them like merchandise, stopping in front of each cage.

Wherever their gazes landed, the human children trembled violently, their faces pale with fear.

After a short while, the pig demon brought the dog demon to the cage holding Xiao Mo.

The dog demon looked Xiao Mo up and down.

Xiao Mo’s clothes were ragged, and his body thin and weak.

At the same time, Xiao Mo calmly observed the dog demon as well.

The dog demon grinned and bent down, drool hanging from its mouth.

“Little thing... aren’t you afraid of me?”

Xiao Mo quickly shook his head—then hurriedly nodded again, forcing a frightened expression onto his face.

If this were reality, he would indeed feel afraid.

But inside the Book of a Hundred Lives, after everything he had experienced, Xiao Mo felt far less fear.

Instead, he was already observing and gathering information about this life.

Seeing Xiao Mo’s reaction, the dog demon assumed the child had simply been scared stupid.

Satisfied, it straightened up and pointed at several cages.

“This one. That one. And that one.”

“And those two human girls.”

“I’ll take all five.”

“Yes, yes, of course!”

The pig demon nodded repeatedly.

Then it shouted at the workers nearby.

“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and pull those human brats out!”

“Wash them clean and change their clothes,” the dog demon added.

“Don’t let them dirty the lady’s courtyard.”

“Understood, understood! For these humans to enter that great lord’s residence—it’s the blessing of three lifetimes!”

After saying that, the pig demon slapped one of its subordinates with its hoof.

“What are you waiting for?! Take them to bathe! Put them in clean clothes! If you embarrass us, I’ll roast you all into suckling pigs!”

“Yes, master! We’re going!”

Several pig demons hurried forward, opened the cages, and dragged Xiao Mo and the others away.

*****

Half an hour later, the five children—including Xiao Mo—had been bathed and dressed in clean clothing.

They were pushed into a carriage.

Two quarter hours later, the carriage stopped.

The children were driven down.

Xiao Mo looked up.

On the tall plaque above the gate, two characters were written.

Tushan.