JOS Extra 7.2

The little Mountain God looked at his new friend, who raised his hand to push it back, showing obvious rejection. The child beside them was almost drooling. The little Mountain God had no choice but to turn and give the food to that child.

 

The little Mountain God sat next to him and heard the boy sobbing and asking, “Shouldn’t I help others?”

 

The little Mountain God quickly shook his head. “Of course not.”

 

The boy: “Then why?”

 

“Um…” The little Mountain God thought hard, but with his brain capacity, he couldn’t give a reasonable explanation that could comfort the boy.

 

The little Mountain God said, “You can’t be like this. I can take you out.”

 

The boy turned his head. “How are you going to take me out?”

 

The little Mountain God thought for a moment and said: “I can first eat you up, then take you out.”

 

The boy froze, snot sliding into his mouth, his eyes full of confusion. “Eat me up?”

 

The little Mountain God didn’t notice his fear and opened his mouth to demonstrate. “I can eat many people.”

 

His mouth stretched into an exaggerated arc, and for an instant, through his mouth, the boy saw not a tongue and throat, but a mass of deep black, bottomless mist.

 

“Ah!!” He instantly let out a sharp scream, trying to dodge.

 

Baldy walked over from the dining room. “What’s the noise? What’s the crying! Shut up!”

 

“He wants to eat me!” The boy grabbed Baldy’s pants leg to tattle, his instinct still to trust adults more, crying. “He wants to eat me, really eat me!”

 

Baldy looked at the little Mountain God in surprise.

 

The little Mountain God innocently grabbed his shirt corner and said: “I was just talking casually.”

 

Baldy was stunned.

 

What kind of place did this child come from? He was trafficked and still had the mood to threaten his companions.

 

The boy was crying torrents, hiccupped, and asked, “Will he eat me?”

 

Baldy: “No, he won’t.”

 

The boy asked softly again, “Really?”

 

Baldy got annoyed and kicked him. “Go sit over there. No more noise, or I’ll throw you out to feed the dogs!”

 

The boy was kicked to the ground, his crying voice stopping abruptly.

 

Being eaten by a little kid and being fed to the dogs…

 

Better being eaten by a little kid!

 

The people outside seemed to find it annoying, so they drove them all into the room, locked the door, and started drinking outside again.

 

“I want to go home…” the boy sat on the ground crying sadly. “I want to go home, I miss Dad and Mom. Why are they doing this.”

 

“They’re already discussing leaving.” A bigger boy said coldly. “After leaving here, you’ll never come back, and even if you come back, your parents won’t recognize you. You’ve been sold.”

 

The boy was frightened by what he said and lay on the ground kicking his legs. “Don’t do this, I don’t want to leave!”

 

The boy continued: “What’s the use of crying here? The more you cry, the more they’ll beat you. If you get beaten up badly, they’ll just break your hands and feet and send you to others to be a little beggar.”

 

The boy was scared speechless.

 

“So stop crying! If you’re a bit more obedient, maybe you’ll be sold to a better family!” the boy said. “You’re not a girl anyway – girls get sold to be wives.”

 

The room fell quiet, but was completely shrouded in an atmosphere of despair.

 

The little Mountain God stood up and said firmly, “I really can take you away! Look!”

 

He then swallowed the nearest child.

 

While everyone was still stunned, he quickly spat the child back out.

 

That child was still confused, blinked his eyes, completely unaware of what had happened.

 

The little Mountain God said proudly, “See! I told you so!”

 

Everyone wanted to scream, but the little Mountain God put his finger to his lips: “Shh——“

 

Several people forcibly held back their voices.

 

“I can swallow you like this, then take you out.” The little Mountain God said. “I’ll take you to find police officers, and then you can go home!”

 

The boy got up from the ground, crawled to the front of the little Mountain God, and bit his foot.

 

“Ow!” The little Mountain God jumped away angrily. “Why are you doing that!”

 

The boy’s eyes lit up. “How did you do that!”

 

The little Mountain God’s eyebrows twisted together, looking distressed. “Because I am…”

 

“I know!” the boy said. “Because you’re a Gundam! You have storage inside!”

 

“It’s a Pokéball! Can you summon things?”

 

“Are you Shenlong!”

 

“Are you Pleasant Goat?”

 

“Sailor Moon…” a girl said timidly. “Are you Prince Endymion?”

 

The little Mountain God: “…”

 

He felt his childhood was truly too pitiful. He didn’t know what Gundam was, didn’t know what Shenlong was, and didn’t know what Prince Endymion was either.

 

But he still nodded at the group of children.

 

It didn’t matter.

 

He didn’t want to be a child anymore – he wanted to be a great figure!

 

The little Mountain God lowered his voice and said, “Don’t cry, and don’t be afraid. I’ll take you home!”

 

Everyone nodded.

 

While several people were eating, the iron door locking them in was suddenly hit hard, causing even the wall to tremble.

 

The huge sound truly startled several people.

 

A man threw down his chopsticks. “Damn! What are they doing in there? Still haven’t learned their lesson? Damn bunch of little things still so restless.”

 

He got up to check, conveniently picking up a bundle of bamboo canes beside him, preparing to teach them a lesson.

 

When he walked to the door, the second impact sounded.

 

Feeling it up close, he realized something was wrong. Children could never have this kind of strength – there was something else inside.

 

But by the time he realized it, it was too late. His lips had just opened when spider web-like cracks appeared on the white wall near the door, and the iron door in his sight began to tilt.

 

In a flash, the man along with his unspoken words was directly crushed under the door.

 

The iron door’s thunderous collapse brought down the adjacent wall sections as well. Through the flying dust, the people outside shifted their gaze from bottom to top, finally settling on a tall, burly monster that looked like a monkey.

 

“Holy sh*t?”

 

Baldy heard the sound of his saliva rolling down his throat, completely dumbfounded.

 

The Mountain Xiao took a step forward.

 

Though clearly over two meters tall and a massive creature, it made no sound when moving. Its golden pupils coldly swept over everyone as it bared its mouth to reveal a set of gleaming white teeth.

 

Under the lights, it seemed to be surrounded by a layer of bloody glow.

 

The little Mountain God sat on its shoulder, raising his right hand and shouting the battle cry. “Charge!”

 

The Mountain Xiao clenched its fist and pulled back its lips at the people in front of it.

 

At midnight, City A’s suburban police station received a report. A child with a young voice said he had destroyed a child trafficking gang, and now over ten children were standing by the roadside waiting for rescue.

 

The police initially thought it was a prank, but another adult, reportedly the phone’s owner, said in a strange tone that it was real.

 

The police quickly dispatched on-duty officers to verify the truth. When they arrived, they found over ten children, covered in dust, standing by the roadside waving at the police car. Then, under their guidance, they found several wanted criminals who had been beaten unconscious.

 

The officers were dumbfounded.

 

…It was actually real! This was a major case!

 

The entire City A was in an uproar.

 

All the children were taken to the hospital for physical examinations, then their families were contacted based on their identities, while rapid interrogation of the criminals began to inquire about other missing children.

 

The little hero of them all, the legendary child – the little Mountain God – was taken aside for special treatment.

 

They couldn’t understand what the children were saying at all, only that it sounded very impressive. But if they couldn’t get answers… what did it matter, there were still the criminals.

 

Since it had gotten cold at night, the little Mountain God didn’t want to go for the examination, so a police officer brought him a blanket to drape over himself, then had him sit outside to wait.

 

The little Mountain God jumped up and felt his bottom.

 

“My pants are torn.” He opened his mouth to cry, then forced himself to hold it back. “My last pair of pants!”

 

And Dad still wouldn’t send him new pants!

 

The young officer looked at him with great sympathy.

 

“I’ll buy you an identical pair, just wait, let me search for the same style.”

 

The little Mountain God said dejectedly, “I don’t want them.”

 

The officer: “They’ll be the same.”

 

“I don’t want them!” the little Mountain God said. “The ones Dad gives are different!”

 

The officer carried him to a nearby chair and crouched in front of him to talk.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

The little Mountain God lowered his head. “Little Mountain God.”

 

“Little Mountain Ginseng?” the officer said. “Is that a nickname?”

 

(TL: 小山神 ‘xiǎo shān shén’=Little Mountain God; 小山參 ‘xiǎo shān shēn’=Little Mountain Ginseng)

 

The little Mountain God twisted the button on his chest.

 

That was clearly his real name!

 

The officer asked again, “What’s your full name?”

 

The little Mountain God didn’t speak.

 

The officer: “What’s your dad’s name?”

 

The little Mountain God: “My dad is called Jiang Feng.”

 

“Then do you have a name that everyone knows, something more formal? The name your dad would use when introducing you to others.”

 

The little Mountain God tilted his head and thought, then said, “Shaoling?”

 

“Jiang Shaoling.” The officer wrote a few strokes on paper and asked, “Do you know Dad’s phone number?”

 

“I know where he is.” The little Mountain God said. “I’m not lost, I just came to find him!”

 

He gave Jiang Feng’s phone number and address, speaking clearly with coherent thoughts.

 

The officer applauded encouragingly and began making the phone call.

 

Half an hour later, a figure bathed in pale yellow light pushed open the hospital’s main door and walked in.

 

“Dad!” The little Mountain God rushed over and hugged his legs, excitedly saying, “I was so amazing today!”

 

Jiang Feng picked him up and patted his back.

 

The little Mountain God rested his head on Jiang Feng’s shoulder, his whole body relaxing lazily as he said, “Dad, I want you to buy me new pants.”

 

He heard someone “mm” in his ear.

 

He said happily again, “I also want to eat that, that…”

 

“Mm.”

 

The little Mountain God said softly again. “I also want you to come see me often.”

 

After a moment, he heard the other person quietly agree to that as well.

 

~End~