Chapter 40:
Appeasing the Cat
MO TIANLIAO stiffened and gulped, then nonchalantly grasped that clawed hand. “It’s cold at night. You should cover yourself up well, especially when you are furless.”
“Speak for yourself!” Qingtong glared at him with his night-vision eyes.
“You’re right, I don’t have any fur at all.” Mo Tianliao laughed despite himself. He brazenly sat on the bed and tucked the slightly chilly hand in. “But I have leaves.” He extended a hand to his master. The hand slowly transformed into green-veined wood. After a while, a tiny leaf sprouted from his fingertip, attached to a tiny stem for support.
Qingtong was about to kick the intruder off his bed, but his attention was drawn to the quivering leaf. Retracting his claws, he gingerly touched that tiny leaf. A small stream of regenerative life force spread along his fingertip, bringing a touch of refreshing coolness with it. He tapped it once, then tapped it again. The young, tender leaf nodded its head in tandem with the rise and fall of his finger. And then—snap—it broke off and fluttered down onto the blanket.
Mo Tianliao was a little speechless. He’d put an entire day’s worth of accumulated spiritual energy into sprouting that tiny leaf, and now it was gone, just like that.
Qingtong pulled his hand back under the covers and glanced at this silly disciple showing off his leaf. “Childish.”
As if you weren’t the one playing with it just now. Mo Tianliao snorted with an exasperated smile and shook his head. There was just no reasoning with His Feline Lordship. He changed his hand back to normal and tucked the blanket around his master; as he did, his fingers brushed against that delicate chin, and his heart fluttered.
“About today… I…” Mo Tianliao withdrew the hand that always couldn’t resist touching his master and folded both hands properly on his lap.
Qingtong glared at him, waiting to hear what excuse this insolent disciple could have for taking liberties with his master.
“I had no intention of taking advantage of you. I saw your lips bleeding, and I…” “Couldn’t help myself”? No, no. He couldn’t say that. “Wasn’t thinking clearly”? He’d be clawed to shreds!
“How dare you still make excuses after taking advantage of your shizun!” Qingtong sat up.
“Not like it’s a one-way street. You did the same to me later,” Mo Tianliao muttered in a small voice. His heart had ached when he saw His Feline Lordship’s bleeding lips, and in his panic, he’d held him and tried to stop the bleeding with his lips. When he realized just how inappropriate it was, he’d quickly let go, but his master himself had chased after him. How could he resist such a temptation?
Naturally, those sensitive cat ears had caught his grumblings. “Get out of here!” Qingtong raged, and kicked that insolent disciple off the bed. If it hadn’t been for that warm, enticing regenerative life force, he would have never done such a thing! He had been in so much pain he’d nearly passed out. The comfortable feeling that came out of the blue was like having someone scratch the intolerable itch on his chin, so of course he’d hold out his chin for this cat slave to keep scratching!
Mo Tianliao stumbled, his anger rising too. “You’re my cat to begin with. What’s wrong with a kiss?!” They’d often kissed when he was younger too, hadn’t they? While it was true that His Feline Lordship sometimes bit him, most of the time, the little fuzzball would let him smooch his face.
Qingtong froze for a moment, then slowly lowered his gaze and said nothing further. He lay back down with his back to Mo Tianliao.
Silence hung in the air. Mo Tianliao realized he might have gone too far. He sat on the bed with a sheepish expression. “Shizun, I…”
“You should go.” The cold voice sounded tired.
“I’m going over to unorthodox territory tomorrow, so I won’t be able to accompany you back to the sect.” Mo Tianliao grasped the shoulder of the man on the bed. “When you get back, have the sect leader check if your divine soul was injured. I’ll try to make a magical artifact that can isolate the soul force of the Spirit-Disciplining Horn when I get back.”
“Just go.” The hands concealed under the covers slowly clenched into fists. Qingtong shrugged his shoulder, shaking off his licentious disciple’s hand.
“Nope. I’m sleeping here.” Mo Tianliao removed his shoes and socks, climbed into the bed, and snuggled up to his master.
“You…” Qingtong turned to glare at him, just in time to meet the face snuggling up to him. Their noses touched. Their eyes locked.
“Pawpaw.” Mo Tianliao grinned as he poked his master with his nose. “Don’t be angry. I was the one at fault today. I was horny and I couldn’t hold back. If you’re still upset, you can—ouch! Ow, ow, ow!”
Poking a cat’s snout with your nose was a dangerous thing to do. A moment of inattention, and you might get bitten—hard. It was the same even if His Feline Lordship had turned into a cold, gorgeous shizun.
And so, Mo Tianliao, who had failed to appease his cat, covered his bitten nose and slunk downstairs to share a room with his senior.
The bed in the economy room was neither spacious nor soft, and it was mostly occupied by the tiger sprawled out in the center. Just his thick tail took up a good portion of the space. Even when he sensed someone approaching, he didn’t open his eyes but merely probed with his divine sense. Sensing it was his junior, he relaxed and went right back to snoring.
Mo Tianliao sighed. A core formation cultivator who still slept? Shouldn’t he be seizing the opportunity to mediate and cultivate, letting his weak shidi sleep in the bed instead?
He shoved the tiger toward the inner side of the bed, climbed up, and leaned against him. The soft, warm, furry belly was very comfortable. No wonder his master was so fond of leaning against this spot. The tiger, probably too accustomed to being bullied by his master, didn’t wake up even when someone lay on his stomach.
Mo Tianliao nuzzled against the thick fur. Tiger fur was coarse, not as soft as a cat’s fur. He pillowed his head on a hand and gazed quietly at the sliver of moonlight that filtered through the window gap. Slowly, he touched his lips, remembering the soft and sweet contact earlier. His heart inexplicably raced.
Think no evil! That was his own dear shizun! His very own cat! After silently telling himself this ten times and reciting the Heart-Purifying Inner Demon-Exorcising Mantra to himself, Mo Tianliao closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The next day, Mo Tianliao handed the flying ship over to his senior. Glancing at the still-closed door upstairs, Mo Tianliao instructed his senior to take good care of their shizun and left.
A divine artifact was so expensive that even auction houses only ever sold them at grand auctions held every few years. If someone else ended up buying Taishi, it’d be even more challenging for Mo Tianliao to get his hands on it. Time was of the essence. He had to hurry.
He had barely traveled three miles on his flying sword when he encountered a man standing in midair, his long, snow-white robe billowing in the wind. For a fleeting moment, he thought he’d chanced across an immortal who had descended and accidentally lost his way.
“Shizun!” Mo Tianliao hurried over. “Why didn’t you go back?”
“What were you thinking going to unorthodox territory with your cultivation at the foundation establishment stage?” Qingtong glanced at him. Mo Tianliao wanted that divine artifact, but he didn’t want to spend money—Qingtong could already guess what he was planning to do. If he went alone into the demon lair, all it would take was a single mistake and he would be blasted into smithereens. And he still had the nerve to leave his master behind and go alone?
“I’m not going to fight anyone.” Mo Tianliao’s lips spread into a wide grin. His Feline Lordship was worried about him, wasn’t he? He carefully inched closer and pulled on his master’s sleeve.
Qingtong huffed in response, but didn’t shake his hand off.
✦ ✦ ✦
Two days later, in the unorthodox sect territory, a guard hurried into Demon Lord Shidi’s demon palace and kneeled to report. “My lord, a foundation establishment artificer wishes to seek an audience with you.”
The demon lord narrowed his eyes as the beautiful women around him served him spiritual wine. Hearing this news, he frowned. “A mere cultivator at the foundation establishment stage?” he bellowed. “Who is he to seek an audience with me?” This was truly unusual. He was notorious in the demon realm for his brutality, but here this small fry was, asking to meet him. The sheer audacity!
The guard trembled. “He also asked me to pass along a message.”
“What message?” Lord Shidi sat up and scoffed. How dare a mere cultivator have someone pass him a message? If the message was pointless, he’d have his men tear him apart.
“He said, ‘I’m an old acquaintance, and I hope Hammer can spare me a moment to chat.’” The guard mopped at his brow. He didn’t know what the message meant, but the cultivator had a calm demeanor and showed no fear of the demonic cultivators guarding the doors, so the guard had ended up somewhat convinced by him.
Shidi’s eyes widened. Who was this person? His original name contained the word “chui,” which meant hammer. He’d lived for over a thousand years, and his family was long gone. The only one left who knew his real name was Duantian. But that dude had been dead for centuries…
“Bring him in!”
Mo Tianliao patted the cat hiding under his collar and followed the guard into the palace.
Shidi’s demon palace was built on a rocky mountain. It looked sinister and terrifying from the outside, but inside, it was grand and opulent. If someone wanted to build their palace in a treacherous location for the intimidation factor, though, they had to consider whether the location had abundant spiritual energy; after all, spiritual herbs and trees were an indispensable part of cultivation. It would be a mistake to assume that the rugged mountain outside was purely for intimidation—these were actually spiritual ore mountains of varying sizes, with a countless supply of spiritual stones contained within.
As for Shidi, an old, repeated customer of his, Mo Tianliao’s assessment was: foolish and rich.
✦ ✦ ✦
MINI EXTRA
A Demon Lord Must Have an Imposing Name
Demonic Cultivator A: I heard Lord Shidi is descended from the Yellow Emperor.
Demonic Cultivator B: I heard he came from a family of scholars.
Demonic Cultivator C: I heard… I can’t think of anything to make up!
Woodworker: Big Hammer! Come get your new weapon!