Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Little Taotie’s Big Harvest
In the eyes of Tao Ti and Hua Jinyan, the oppressive darkness looked like swarms of locusts invading, terrifying and eerie.
Upon closer inspection, these were not locusts but clusters of dark shadows, ferocious Evil Spirits brandishing their fangs and claws.
The one leading them was the King of Ghosts, known as the Ghost King.
He had been lurking here for quite a while, just waiting for Hua Jinyan to appear. Devouring this boy, who radiated golden light and was full of Merit, would make him much stronger.
The Ghost King wore a black Cloak, his face shrouded in shadow, with dark mist rising from his body, creating an ominous and eerie presence.
Tao Ti’s eyes lit up. In her mind, this was one big piece of chocolate, the kind you could eat your fill of!
She dashed towards the Ghost King, and to the uninitiated, it might have seemed like she was rushing to embrace a long-lost father.
The Ghost King was startled and only then took notice of the little cloth doll.
From the little cloth doll emanated an aura of fierceness, terrifying!
The Ghost King became alert and kept retreating. To him, the slow-moving, leisurely-stepping little cloth doll suddenly picked up speed, even leaving afterimages.
Not good! It’s a trap!
This thought flashed through the Ghost King’s mind, but it was too late—he had been grasped by Tao Ti by the Cloak.
“Ah!” A shrill scream ordered the group of Evil Spirits around him to help him escape the bind, but although they were not in their right minds, they were still very sensitive to danger and none advanced.
They feared the Ghost King and thus followed his commands, but at that moment, they were more afraid of Tao Ti. In their eyes, Tao Ti was no longer a little cloth doll but had become something massive.
The little girl looked innocent and naive, cute and soft, resembling a delicious rice dumpling, but behind the little girl, a massive shadow appeared, a presence that all the Evil Spirits feared and trembled before.
The shadow was so vague, yet it filled the Evil Spirits with dread, too afraid to approach.
Tao Ti tugged at the Cloak, which turned into tufts of dark mist which she gathered up into bunches, forcefully snatching the Cloak made of dark mist from the Ghost King.
Exposed to the air, the Ghost King’s face was pale, like a man gravely ill. He exuded an air of gloom, his eyes dark and deep. Suddenly, his pupils turned from black to all white, the entire eye socket filled with nothing but white.
Tao Ti gathered up the Cloak into a piece of chocolate, which turned into a long, bar-shaped chocolate, looking just like a chocolate stick.
Biting into the chocolate stick, Tao Ti’s eyes sparkled with delight.
She looked up at the Ghost King, unafraid of his white pupils and even more eager to engage.
“Delicious! You taste so good!” Tao Ti said, her voice muffled as she nibbled on the chocolate stick.
It seemed that he had no means to deal with this formidable little girl!
The Ghost King, coward that he was, did not stand his ground. Before Tao Ti could reach him again, he turned and fled.
Leaving his followers behind, the swarm of locust-like Evil Spirits came to their senses. With the Ghost King running away, they too had to flee.
Seeing the Ghost King escape, Tao Ti felt extremely annoyed. She naturally wouldn’t let all these Evil Spirits get away. Like a wolf cub plunging into a flock of sheep, she howled, grabbing fistfuls of them, turning each into a piece of chocolate to stuff into her pockets.
By the time the sky returned to a brilliant azure, dotted with drifting white clouds, and the sun shone brightly, Tao Ti’s pockets were brimming.
Tao Ti, gnawing on the chocolate stick, walked back to the mountain gate where Hua Jinyan had long returned.
He was like bait that had fallen into a lake. As soon as the big fish appeared, the bait was swiftly pulled to shore and hidden, while the Fierce Beast, Little Taotie, was left to feast.
Looking at her full pockets and then at Hua Jinyan in front of her, Tao Ti reluctantly took out the smallest piece of chocolate from her pocket and handed it over.