Chapter 7: So Hungry He’s Chewing His Tail

Lin Chuyun no longer had the energy to pay attention to what happened in the square. From everyone else’s perspective, he might have left after finishing his transmission. Only Lin Chuyun himself knew the reason he cut off there was entirely because he ran out of spirit power!

The residual spirit power in his body had been squeezed completely dry. That familiar sense of hunger slowly resurfaced. The little black cat curled himself into a ball. So hungry he couldn’t help but start chewing on his tail.

But although the tail could be caught and bitten, it ultimately couldn’t be eaten. Apart from a mouthful of fur, Lin Chuyun tasted nothing.

Why isn’t it time yet…

Just as Lin Chuyun suspected he was about to faint from hunger again, Feng Xixing finally fished him out of his embrace. Lin Chuyun didn’t even have time to see where he was before pouncing onto Feng Xixing. His little tail swished with extreme urgency. “Meow meow meow meow!”

Quick, quick, quick! Your Teacher is about to starve to death!

Feng Xixing already had an Ice Crystal prepared in his hand. Seeing this, he directly stuffed it into the little black cat’s mouth. Lin Chuyun wolfed it down ravenously. He felt the spirit qi dissolve within his body and only then did he feel like he had come back to life.

However… how come he felt like some kind of little succubus? It’s just that succubi drain life essence, while he drains spirit power.

Lin Chuyun helplessly rubbed his face, tossed the wild thoughts aside, and turned to look around.

The two seemed to be inside a mountain cave. The cave was very dark, with only the night pearl Feng Xixing had set aside emitting a faint glow. All four walls were covered with strange scratch marks, and the ground was littered with stones large and small, along with cuts from swords and blades.

“Meow meow?” Where are the others?

Seeing the little black cat regain its spirit, Feng Xixing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Earlier, Lin Chuyun had been almost completely motionless in his arms. If it weren’t for the faint trace of body heat he could still feel, Feng Xixing might have ignored the others present and directly fed Lin Chuyun the Ice Crystal.

Noticing Lin Chuyun was still looking around for the other disciples, Feng Xixing’s eyes darkened slightly. He gently explained, “We got separated.”

The little black cat flicked its tail, raising its head to look at him. But Feng Xixing simply leaned down, picked up the little black cat, and walked deeper into the cave.

Lin Chuyun, who was still waiting for Feng Xixing to continue, had his tail stiffen in mid-air.

Wait, that’s it?

Feng Xixing was simply a little displeased that the little black cat’s attention was on other people, especially since those “others” included Bai Linghan. After a moment of silence, he still quietly explained things to Lin Chuyun.

At the time, after Lin Chuyun’s sound transmission ended, Zhu Yan didn’t ask many questions. He merely cast a strange look at Feng Xixing, then took out the token to access Thunder Echo Grotto.

The token required a Nascent Soul stage cultivator’s spirit power to activate. Once activated, the entrance to the grotto appeared above the square. To ensure fairness, disciples entering the grotto were teleported randomly. They might appear right in front of a treasure, or they might be swallowed whole by a monster the moment they landed.

Feng Xixing was just randomly teleported into this cave. As for the others, he truly didn’t know where they were.

Lin Chuyun flicked his tail and, with a swift motion, darted out of Feng Xixing’s arms up onto his shoulder. Although Feng Xixing was only sixteen, his shoulders were broad and his legs were long. The little black cat perched there steadily without the slightest risk of falling off.

Seeing the little black cat sitting comfortably, Feng Xixing simply accepted Lin Chuyun’s new position.

This cave was enormous. Feng Xixing walked inside for a very long time without reaching the end. Even Lin Chuyun had changed from his initial standard sitting posture to slowly lying down, starting to flick his tail lazily.

“Meow…” How much longer…

Feng Xixing rubbed the somewhat bored little black cat. With his other hand gripping the night pearl, he continued forward. Seeing this, Lin Chuyun could only lie down helplessly, resting his little head on his front paws, staring blankly at the stone walls on either side.

To avoid falling off, the little black cat wrapped its tail around Feng Xixing’s neck. From a distance, it looked like Feng Xixing was wearing a black necklace.

Feng Xixing chuckled helplessly, casually playing with the furry tail a couple of times. Lin Chuyun was now completely used to his little disciple’s habit of playing with his tail. But the tail wasn’t used to it; the tail still had to express its displeasure.

So… the tail slapped onto the corner of Feng Xixing’s lips.

Rounding things out, it was like slapping the little disciple’s face.

Before Feng Xixing could even react, the little black cat that had been peacefully perched on his shoulder slid like a puff of smoke into the clothes on his chest. The entire fluffy ball curled up into a tight bundle, its tail clutched tightly in its paws.

As if… fearing he would steal the tail away.

Feng Xixing raised an eyebrow and reached out, catching the little kitten by the scruff of its neck, lifting it out of his clothes.

The little kitten seemed to have had its acupressure points struck. Both front paws tucked in front of its body, not daring to move an inch. Its jade-green cat eyes were full of panic. Too frightened, its ears had flattened into airplane ears, and even its tail was curled up in front of its little belly.

“Meow…” Lin Chuyun tried to beg for mercy.

Holding the little kitten up with one hand, Feng Xixing used the other to gently play with the tip of its tail and began to seriously consider, “Cat tail… I wonder if it tastes good?”

The cat pupils seemed to receive a fright, suddenly widening, their originally round pupils shrinking into slits.

Seeing Lin Chuyun’s utterly incredulous, clearly believing look, Feng Xixing couldn’t hold back any longer. He burst out laughing. He gently rubbed the little black cat’s ears, propping the cat ears back up. “Shizun, rest assured, how could Xixing possibly eat Shizun?”

Lin Chuyun looked at Feng Xixing dubiously. Seeing that his little disciple indeed didn’t seem intent on eating his tail, he let out an annoyed “Meow”, burrowed back into Feng Xixing’s clothes, and ignored him.

Feng Xixing poked the little fluffy ball a couple of times. Knowing he had teased too much, he didn’t force the cat out. Instead, he walked forward while gently coaxing it.

“Shizun, don’t be angry. It’s this Disciple’s fault. Shizun can punish me however you see fit. Xixing absolutely would never—” His voice suddenly stopped. The sound of his footsteps also ceased.

Lin Chuyun felt Feng Xixing’s body tense instantly. He had just wanted to poke his head out and look when Feng Xixing pressed him back down with a hand. Although it was only a fleeting moment, he still caught a whiff of a foul, fishy stench, similar to a mud pit.

Listening carefully, Feng Xixing’s breathing was also quietly deepening. Beyond that, another subtle sound faintly lingered around them.

The fur on Lin Chuyun’s body began to bristle. He strained his ears, listening intently to the sounds around him. The stones on the ground seemed to be moved by something, emitting a faint dragging sound, and also…

“Hisss—”

Feng Xixing suddenly jumped backward, dodging the attack. Lin Chuyun in his arms was thrown backward too, smacking directly into Feng Xixing’s chest. The little black cat was knocked dizzy, nearly falling from the lapel straight into Feng Xixing’s robes.

It’s a snake!!!

Ignoring his aching head, Lin Chuyun took advantage of Feng Xixing’s distraction to poke his head out of the clothes.

The night pearl had shattered. Without the light source, the entire cave was plunged into darkness. A feline’s exceptionally strong night vision allowed Lin Chuyun to clearly see the massive python coiled less than five meters in front of Feng Xixing.

The python was coiled into a heap, almost entirely blocking the cave entrance. Its eerie green tongue occasionally flickered in the darkness. Its blood-red snake eyes fixed on Feng Xixing, filled with brutal malice.

Lin Chuyun fully believed this snake could swallow him in one gulp. Fortunately, the python hadn’t discovered Lin Chuyun’s existence yet. Its snake eyes were tightly locked onto Feng Xixing.

He wondered if his little disciple could win this fight.

Lin Chuyun was somewhat worried, but could only hide quietly. However, if he observed carefully, he would find that the python wasn’t attempting to attack at all. Instead, sensing a crisis, it was trying to scare the enemy away.

It was his little disciple, whom he thought would be afraid, who hadn’t let his smile fade. In fact, it was deepening.

Finally, the python realized it couldn’t scare this terrifying human away. It could only rear up its body, its giant mouth gaping wide open as it lunged violently, wanting to swallow Feng Xixing whole into its belly.

Feng Xixing sidestepped, once again dodging the python’s attack. But this time, the spirit sword in his hand was already drawn. The sharp blade mercilessly stabbed at the python’s body, but it could only penetrate a short distance before being stopped by the snake’s skin.

The python thrashed powerfully. With a light snap, the sword blade broke directly.

Lin Chuyun felt his vision go dark. He wanted to smack himself to death.

Before disciples within the sect forged their own personal spirit sword, they all used the standard spirit swords provided by the sect.

These spirit swords could handle low-rank spirit beasts, but this giant python was clearly on the verge of Core Formation. Coupled with the inherently high defense of demon cultivators, it was roughly equivalent to a human cultivator at the Early Golden Core Stage. How could an ordinary spirit sword possibly break its defense?

He should have gotten his little disciple a proper sword first!

The python also realized this was its chance. Ignoring the sharp pain in its body, it turned its head and bit at the human cultivator. The foul-smelling snake maw was almost instantly right in front of Feng Xixing. The razor-sharp fangs were about to bite down on him.

The little black cat’s fur completely exploded. “Meow!!”

An inconspicuous black shadow flashed through the cave. Feng Xixing, who had been calm, suddenly changed color. The steady warmth against his chest suddenly vanished.

The giant snake had no idea what happened. It only felt a sudden, heart-rending, lung-tearing agony shoot through its eye. Its originally biting momentum abruptly halted, and it crashed heavily onto the ground.

Lin Chuyun had charged too fiercely. After clawing the python’s eye, he couldn’t control his trajectory at all. He could only barely adjust his posture mid-air with his tail before slamming directly into the stone wall.

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain…

The little black cat didn’t even get a chance to meow before falling heavily to the ground.

A double-hit combo.

“Uu…” It hurt too much. Lin Chuyun suspected his tail might have broken!

The blinded python rolled continuously on the ground, but Feng Xixing had no mind to pay it any attention. His eyes swept anxiously around the area.

“Shizun?”

But the noise the python made was simply too loud. He couldn’t hear any sound of the little black ball’s cries. Feng Xixing stopped holding back. An ice sword formed from spirit power mercilessly pierced through the python’s head, pinning it directly to the ground.

The python struggled twice more, then lay completely still.

Silence fell over the cave. Feng Xixing’s eyes intently scanned the floor around him. Every time at a moment like this, he really wished he could turn that black fur of Lin Chuyun’s white!

“Shizun?” Feng Xixing called out softly. “Shizun, where are you?”

There was no response from the cave. He couldn’t even hear another breath. The color in Feng Xixing’s pupils grew lighter and lighter. Faint black shadows began to slowly surface on his face.

“Me… ow.” A cry so faint it felt like an illusion sounded from a corner.

The black shadows on Feng Xixing’s face receded at high speed. He abruptly looked towards the direction of the sound and rushed over, kneeling down. He finally spotted the little black dumpling lying amidst the rubble.

The little black dumpling looked terrible. Its tail was caught among the stones. Its usually bright cat eyes were half-closed. Its originally pristine front paws were stained with blood—he didn’t know if it was the python’s blood or if the little black dumpling itself was injured.

Feng Xixing gently picked up the little fluffy ball, afraid that any overly large movement would worsen Lin Chuyun’s injuries.

Lin Chuyun noticed that the hands his little disciple used to hold him were trembling slightly.

He must have scared his little disciple terribly…

Lin Chuyun felt a bit guilty in his heart. But given another chance, he would still do the same. He simply couldn’t bear to watch his little disciple get bitten. After a moment’s thought, Lin Chuyun cautiously poked his head out and spoke in a soft, childish voice, “Meow…”

Don’t be afraid. Your Teacher is fine.