I Have a Golden Crow

”Wow~” As the taxi drove into Yu Family Village, Little Fen Yang couldn’t help but sigh in amazement.

Du Yu was also staring at the buildings full of ethnic flavor, lost in thought.

Looking around, the houses were old-fashioned and elegant, all of them made of tile and wood—so this is what they call a Miao Village?

On the way here, Du Yu had searched for Yu Family Village on his phone.

If you intentionally looked, there was no shortage of information online. Du Yu now knew what minority group the locals here belonged to.

As the vehicle gently came to a stop, the driver’s voice came from the front: ”The north side of the road is where some of the Yu Family villagers live their daily lives. Tourists are not allowed beyond this point.

The south side is the tourist area—you can explore as you like.

Please get off here, sir. You’ll see some very special sights.”

”Alright.” Du Yu scanned the code and paid. After getting off, he moved closer to the roadside.

This drop-off spot really was well chosen.

With the main road Du Yu was on acting as a dividing line, the north side was higher terrain—looking out, all you saw was green mountains and forests.

Up on the distant slopes, nestled in the dense woods, Du Yu spotted an iconic Miao-style stilt house.

Sweeping eaves and upturned corners, hanging corridors and wooden railings.

With Du Yu’s sharp eyesight, he could make out many exquisite carved designs on the building.

In the lush, mysterious, and peaceful woods, the corners of a few more buildings peeked through here and there.

”Damn~” Du Yu was pretty inexperienced and didn’t know much about this ethnic minority, so every little thing here felt fresh to him.

Rather embarrassingly...

When it came to the Miao race, the only thing that popped into Du Yu’s head was ”Gu” (poison magic).

Du Yu turned around and looked to the south side.

The terrain here was lower and more flat, with the architecture taking on a whole new look.

Aside from the wooden-tile houses, the south side had more modern, regular buildings. Looking farther out, Du Yu even saw a lively sea paradise.

The village’s layout was genuinely interesting—the north and south of the road were practically two different worlds.

Du Yu walked along the road, watching people swimming and playing out on the water.

Sea castles, spinning slides—all sorts of attractions that left Du Yu dazzled.

A place this good, but with so few tourists… they clearly didn’t do enough advertising.

Du Yu gazed at the clusters of kayaks farther out on the sea, and the roaring jet skis…

Who says people avoid the ocean?

They’re all having a blast here~

Whoa! Those thighs…

Hmm, but they’re nowhere near as nice as Li Mengnan’s.

Having been spoiled already, Du Yu couldn’t help but lose interest in the tourists and focused instead on the sights themselves.

That sea paradise he just saw was clearly for regular folks.

The one exclusively for Demon Tamers stood further east.

Following the signs, Du Yu walked and stopped, stopping once more in front of the ”Fruit Forest Charm Garden” gates.

There must be a bunch of rare Demonic Plants in here…

Good thing Bai Lan didn’t come along—even Du Yu was feeling tempted!

Three-fifteen in the afternoon, and the Charm Garden has a Yunnan Colorful Elephant show?

”Du Yu, Du Yu~ Why are you just standing there spacing out?” Little Fen Yang asked curiously.

”Forget it, the mission comes first,” Du Yu muttered, heading over to ask a Miao youth selling tickets.

But Du Yu was met with a cold shoulder—the guy wouldn’t say anything about the Yu Family.

With no way around it, Du Yu could only sulk away and head straight for the seaside.

The sea paradise for regular people was miles apart from the Demon Tamer’s sea paradise.

Du Yu figured it out—the so-called ”Yu Family Village” was obviously a holdover term, or maybe referred only to the original settlement deep in the mountains and forests.

After development, this place was really quite vast.

Du Yu wandered through alleys, dropped by a couple more shops. The owners were friendly but still gave him nothing.

At last, he arrived at the gates of the ”Sea Demon Tamer Paradise.”

Above the arched gate, the right side of the signboard was printed with all kinds of dazzling jellyfish. The left showed three sea Demon Beasts that looked a lot like orcas.

The color scheme was just like Chi Bear’s—black and white, super cute looking.

The tickets here weren’t too pricey, at least way cheaper than Chi Bear Paradise.

”Surely I’ll be able to find a Yu Family member here,” Du Yu thought to himself as he walked in.

He’d just passed a commercial street full of local culture when he spotted, out on the southern beach, a sea arena.

A massive square glass box set up right on the sand, letting the waves crash against it again and again.

On both sides of the top of the glass box stood a young man in ethnic clothes, and a tourist.

There were way more Demon Taming tourists here—there must have been a hundred people watching at least.

The Miao youth in black linen clothes was using the park’s mascot from the gate—an Illusory Jellyfish.

The tourist on the other side was using a pretty common Water Element Demon Beast—the Cave Salamander.

Through the glass, Du Yu could see two Demon Pets locked in intense battle inside.

Eh, seemed a bit more like a friendly scuffle than a real fight.

To Du Yu, the mysterious Illusory Jellyfish was honestly much more interesting than the battle itself.

Could that youth be from the Yu Family?

Du Yu patiently waited through a whole fight, but to his dismay, the young man was crazy busy.

The moment one match ended, a new challenger immediately stepped up.

The guy put away his Illusory Jellyfish and switched in a big Blue Crystal Swordfish.

The swordfish was ice blue all over, with bright, sparkling scales.

Even weirder—the Blue Crystal Swordfish had a long, slender mouth, like a fencer’s weapon?

Clearly, the linen-clad youth specialized in marine Demon Beasts—hardly something you’d see inland in Great Xia.

Du Yu looked around at the curious, excited crowd and realized it’d be hard to strike up a talk like this.

Should I get in line myself and go a few rounds with the guy?

But the only Water Element Demon Beast I had was the Ancient Demon Saint Celestial Cyan Porcelain.

If this king tossed a Celestial Cyan Porcelain at him…

That would be seriously messed up!

This isn’t just about upstaging—I’d end up flipping the whole Miao Village upside down!

Du Yu glanced left and right, his eyes landing on a map by the road.

Great Xia Bookstore!

Why are you everywhere?

Immediately, Du Yu’s eyes lit up.

To Du Yu, ”Bookstore” was just another word for ”loot!”

Loot could be cash—or it could be information!

Du Yu studied the map, then spun on his heel and walked off. At the end of a National Street, he finally spotted the Great Xia Bookstore.

”Ring~ ring~”

As the crisp bell chimed, Du Yu pushed open the door to find the place packed out.

The camera flashes made him squint.

Behind the bar, a few tourists were taking photos with a Miao girl.

Along the way, Du Yu had seen some Miao people—the young man on the arena earlier was like this—most of them wore plain linen shirts.

There was still local style, but it was all simple and toned down—clearly everyday clothes.

But the girl behind the bookstore’s bar was different.

Now that’s what you call dressed to the nines!

A hundred-fold pleated red skirt, every inch sparkling with silver ornaments.

Especially that Silver Phoenix Crown—ridiculously ornate, covered in sculpted dragons and phoenixes, almost lifelike.

The Miao girl looked sixteen, seventeen, noble and radiant.

Her smile was graceful as she posed for photos with tourist after tourist.

But when the bell over the door rang, the girl smiled kindly at the camera-toting visitors and raised her hand to pause them.

Then she turned to the newcomer: ”Is there anything I can help you with?”

Her voice was clear and sweet, with a hint of girlish delight.

”Uh…” Du Yu stumbled, instinctively glancing past her at the task board hanging on the wall.

The Miao girl asked by habit and then, for the first time, really looked Du Yu up and down.

Soon, the girl’s always-dignified smile turned a little shy.

To be fair, Du Yu was all geared up—hat, mask, everything—so the only thing visible was his eyes.

”Uh, do you guys...” Du Yu paused, his gaze a little odd.

The girl stared into Du Yu’s eyes, then suddenly snapped back to her senses.

A faint blush spread on her pale cheeks as she lowered her head slightly: ”W-what’s wrong?”

Du Yu: ”…”

Uh-oh!

Be careful what you wish for,

Gu magic, incoming!

The way she lowered her head, all shy and charming, was enough to kill a man…

Come to think of it, since the girl looked down, Du Yu suddenly noticed the Silver Phoenix Crown was decorated not just with dragons and phoenixes, but also with silver butterflies?

There were even lotus patterns and plum blossom spots.

The more Du Yu looked, the more amazed he was—this thing’s design was crazy complex.

”Hello?” the girl said softly.

”What are all these tasks?” Du Yu stopped looking at her, instead glancing up at the board.

The Miao girl answered, ”We regularly hold sea exploration and cave adventure activities. The details are listed in back.

Only Demon Tamers who meet the criteria can join.”

”Uh-huh…” Du Yu leaned his elbow on the bar, gazing out the window, ”I heard there’s a super old Demon Taming Clan here—the Yu Family.”

”That’s right.” Since Du Yu was staring outside, the girl snuck another curious look at him.

Du Yu: ”I wanted to ask a couple questions. Is there any way to get hold of a Yu Family member?”

The girl asked, confused, ”What do you want to know? I’m a Yu Family member myself.”

”Oh?” Hearing that, Du Yu looked over and met the girl’s dazzling eyes.

But just as he was about to say something, he hesitated.

There were too many people around, and plenty of tourists queuing up for photos with the girl.

The tourists waiting gave Du Yu suspicious looks—clearly feeling he was holding things up.

After a moment, Du Yu let a thread of Demon Soul drift out from his elbow on the bar.

Great Demon Tamer?

Instantly, every Demon Tamer around changed their expression!

At the very least, the few impatient tourists went totally silent.

The Miao girl stared at the wisp of Demon Soul, her soft white hand reaching out for it.

As she received Du Yu’s soul message and heard about the Sea of Sorrow clan, her eyes widened in shock.

After a while, embarrassment forgotten, she looked up at Du Yu: ”You… who are you?”

There’s a chance?

While she didn’t answer directly, she was clearly surprised.

Du Yu said, ”Relax, I’m not a bad guy.”

Of course, just saying so wasn’t enough—he pulled out his credentials and pressed them to the scanner.

The Miao girl lowered her head to check the computer screen.

Immediately, she put her hand to her mouth, her big eyes sparkling, ”Wow!”

The whole row of Library Rings on his profile was eye-popping.

But what really stunned the girl was the profile pic and name on the card: Du Yu!

”You—you’re Du… Du Du!”

Du Yu hastily said, ”Shh!”

”Mmm.” The girl doubled down, clapping her hand tighter over her mouth.

She blinked her beautiful eyes, then seemed to remember something.

Right away, she closed his profile on the computer, as if afraid anyone else would see it.

Watching all this, Du Yu had to laugh to himself.

Guess I’m a celebrity now~

Look at how starstruck she is—isn’t she just a little fan?

”I’m Yu Miaomiao.” The girl was a little excited, cheeks flushed, voice soft.

Du Yu looked at her Silver Phoenix Crown and nodded with a smile, ”Hello.”

”Just wait a minute, okay?” With that, Yu Miaomiao walked over to the break room.

A moment later, another Miao girl, also decked out and radiant, was led out by Yu Miaomiao.

She seemed a bit annoyed before coming out, but seeing Du Yu, instantly switched to an elegant, beautiful smile.

Looks like she’s the fill-in, huh?

Sure enough, Yu Miaomiao got her friend behind the bar, then went into the employee lounge.

Just as Du Yu was getting confused, the girl’s little head popped out by the door, the trinkets on her Silver Phoenix Crown tinkling softly.

Yu Miaomiao was a bit excited, waving her hand, ”Come here, over here.”

The crowd: ???

All the tourists lined up for photos looked totally stunned.

Even Du Yu was a bit dumbfounded: ”…”

Well, crap,

This could be a real problem!

I’m just saying, if she really knows some dark stuff…

Will this king make it out of Yu Family Village alive?