Master Niu led Xiao Mo toward the stoves.

At Xiao Mo’s ears was nothing but the clatter of pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, the hiss of oil, and the sound of stir-frying.

“Little human thing, do you have a name?” Master Niu asked.

“Yes.” Xiao Mo nodded. “My name is Xiao Mo. Xiao as in the grass radical, and Mo as in ink.”

Master Niu waved his hand. “You do not need to tell me all that. I cannot read anyway. It is enough if I know how to say it.”

Xiao Mo: “...”

“My name is Niu Dali. I have great strength, so my name is Dali. I am only going to tell you the rules here, and some of the important rules of the residence, once. Remember them clearly.”

Master Niu spoke with both hooves clasped behind his back.

“First of all! There are four head cooks in this kitchen in total. I am one of them.” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Do you see those two stoves in the middle?”

“As for those two stoves, they are used to cook for only two people. One is the madam of our Tushan ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) residence, and the other is the young lady of our Tushan residence.”

“Remember this. As for those two stoves, you are not allowed to touch even the chopping board on them. Otherwise, if you are put to death, do not blame me.”

“And then, the other stoves are used to make food for the servants of the residence. Those stoves do not come with any special rules.”

“In the future, you will chop firewood, tend fires, and help me with odd jobs. If you are clever, then one day you may get the chance to take charge of a stove yourself and cook for the servants. In the future, marrying a human wife with big breasts and big hips and fathering a few plump sons is not impossible either.”

“If you are not clever, then you can spend your whole life burning firewood. You will not even get a whiff of a woman.”

“And in our kitchen courtyard, so long as it is food meant for the servants, you are allowed to eat it. Our Tushan residence is rich, and Madam is generous too. No one will begrudge you those few mouthfuls. Hurry up and put some flesh on that scrawny body of yours. If you drop dead from exhaustion, I will only toss you out to feed the wild dogs.”

“And lastly! This is also the most important part!”

Master Niu turned around and stared directly into Xiao Mo’s eyes as he spoke with grave seriousness.

“Remember this! The young lady of our Tushan residence likes to run all over the place. Other than female demons, you absolutely must not touch the young lady. Forget one of her hairs. You are not even allowed to touch her things!”

“Do you understand?”

“I understand, Master Niu!”

Xiao Mo nodded, and his gaze then fell on a pig demon not far away.

That pig demon had just finished stir-frying the twice-cooked pork. It even picked up a piece and tasted it itself, then, with a satisfied flick of its pig ears, plated the dish from the wok.

When Xiao Mo saw a pig demon eating pork, his brows furrowed, and his expression looked rather complicated.

Seeing the look on Xiao Mo’s face, Master Niu grinned. He casually picked up a piece of braised beef brisket from a wok, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed, looking as though he found it delicious.

“Boy, to us demons, those animals that have not awakened intelligence, even if they are of the same kind, are no different from livestock. We eat them, and that is all there is to it.”

“In the same way, in our eyes, a human like you is no different from the things in these pots.”

“It is only because your luck is good and you were sold into the Tushan residence. Otherwise, a human like you would have been stewed into soup long ago. The meat is useful and tastes good too.”

“Forget it... Talking about this to a little brat like you, you probably would not understand anyway.” As he spoke, Master Niu waved his hand. “Go collect your clothes. Start out by tending the fire and helping with odd jobs. From now on, you will sleep in the woodshed.”

“Yes, Master Niu.”

Xiao Mo nodded. He went to a storage room, collected two sets of clothes for the kitchen courtyard, then returned to the kitchen courtyard and carried firewood and tended fires for the cooks in the yard.

Although Xiao Mo’s body was thin and weak, he handled things cleverly and knew how to read the room.

After less than half a day, Master Niu felt that this human child was rather good. Perhaps in the future he really could become a cook.

Only after all the food for everyone in the Tushan residence had been prepared did it become the cooks’ turn to eat.

Though life in the kitchen courtyard was somewhat exhausting, Xiao Mo truly did eat rather well.

There was as much food as he wanted, and the dishes were rich enough.

After Xiao Mo finished eating and had barely rested for a short while, it was already time to begin preparing dinner.

That evening, after the sun had gone down, Xiao Mo finally finished a full day’s work. He ate dinner, heated some water himself, washed in the courtyard, and only then returned to the woodshed to sleep.

After a day of labor, Xiao Mo was utterly worn out.

Lying on the pile of firewood covered with bedding, just as Xiao Mo was gradually about to fall asleep, the voice of the system sounded in his mind.

Xiao Mo instantly woke up.

[You are an orphan named Xiao Mo, and in this world of the demon race, the status of humans is no different from unawakened pigs and dogs.]

[You were kidnapped and trafficked by the demon race while begging on the street, and in the end you were sold into the Tushan residence of Immortal Fox City.]

[Although you are not yet five years old and are worked to the bone every day, no matter what, you have managed to survive.]

[And you possess a dao root. On the path of cultivating dao arts, you may perhaps achieve no small accomplishments. It is only that you lack an opportunity to cultivate dao arts.]

[Task One: If the opportunity arises, please cultivate dao arts properly. The higher your accomplishments on the path of dao arts, the greater the reward you will receive when this life experience is settled.]

[Task Two: In the world of the demon race, the conflict between humans and demons is severe. The demon race oppresses humans more and more with each passing day, and a great war will eventually erupt. The Host may choose to join the human resistance army, or may choose not to involve himself in the conflict between humans and demons. Everything is to be decided according to the Host’s own will. According to the Host’s different choices, the Host will receive different types of rewards at the time of settlement.]

[Task Three: In the Tushan residence there is a mother and daughter pair, both of whom belong to the ancient Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan. The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox girl is the same age as the Host, and her constitution is special. Her bloodline gift far surpasses that of ordinary members of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan.]

[It is precisely because of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox girl’s special constitution that she must testify to the Way and ascend within one thousand years. Otherwise, even Heaven will not tolerate her, and she will perish with her body and soul destroyed.]

[The higher the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox girl’s realm, the richer the Host’s reward will be at the time of settlement. When she testifies to the Ascension Realm, the Host’s reward will reach its peak.]

[Note One: The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan is born through love, testifies to the Way through love, and may also die because of love.]

[Note Two: The reward for Task Three is the richest.]

[Note Three: When the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox girl reaches the Ascension Realm, all tasks will be settled. If in this life she does not reach the Ascension Realm, the Host will have two more lives to help her testify to the Way. After those three lives end, all tasks will be settled regardless of task progress.]

["The word 'love' is simple, but since time immemorial, nothing has been harder to understand."]

["The people of the world mock the fox clan for being trapped by love, but are the people of the world any different?"]

["Can the Host see through this word, 'love'?"]

As the voice of the Book of a Hundred Lives faded away, Xiao Mo’s mind returned to stillness once more.

Only the bright moonlight quietly spilled through the window, illuminating the dry, cold firewood and falling across Xiao Mo’s face.