Chapter 57: What Happens When You Bite a Cat’s Ear…

Early the next morning, Feng Wu noticed one of the rooms was empty. Turning his head, he saw Feng Xixing emerging from the door next door, holding a smaller version of Lin Chuyun.

Feng Wu didn’t think much of it, simply finding this master-disciple pair incredibly clingy, even closer than Fang Tianyuan and Gu Jingshan had been back in the day.

As the two approached Feng Wu, he suddenly sensed something amiss. He sniffed hesitantly, then looked at Feng Xixing. “Why do you smell like a Tree Demon?”

Lin Chuyun was startled. He turned his head and subconsciously leaned close to his little disciple’s neck to smell, but he only detected a cold, clear scent, not sensing any other odor at all.

A tingling, numbing sensation came from his neck, feeling like a little kitten pawing at him. Feng Xixing’s heart skipped a few beats, a rare hint of constraint appearing on his face. “Shizun…”

Utterly oblivious to anything improper about his actions, Lin Chuyun failed to smell anything on his little disciple. He straightened up hesitantly and looked back at Feng Wu.

Feng Wu reached out helplessly, wanting to flick this little silly cat’s forehead, but Feng Xixing was shielding Lin Chuyun perfectly, giving him no opportunity. He could only roll his eyes and lower his hand. “Stupid, use your Spiritual Consciousness.”

Lin Chuyun had just failed to react immediately. After being reminded, he coughed lightly, a little embarrassed. His Spiritual Consciousness swept over Feng Xixing, and sure enough, he sensed a foreign aura.

Feng Xixing’s aura was always icy cold. But to Lin Chuyun, that coldness felt like a pool of icy spring water in scorching summer heat. It wasn’t piercingly cold; instead, it carried a sense of comfort. Yet now, it was as if a few fallen leaves had landed upon that icy pool.

Lin·Little Cat Demon·Chuyun was unhappy. His tail behind him flicked irritably, and the corners of his mouth visibly drooped.

Seeing this, although Feng Xixing was inwardly delighted by Lin Chuyun’s possessiveness, he couldn’t bear to see his master angry. He quickly explained, “It was probably left behind when that Tree Demon tried to ambush us last night.”

Feng Wu took a couple of steps into the room and indeed sensed the Tree Demon’s aura, the strongest concentration being at the window frame.

What he found strange, however, was that the trail of aura, which extended all the way to the bed, suddenly broke off, as if it had been forcibly erased by something.

Feng Wu couldn’t help but glance at Feng Xixing, feeling a bit surprised.

He didn’t actually know much about Lin Chuyun’s disciple. He only knew this person took great care of Lin Chuyun, was the champion of the recent Disciple Grand Competition, and that Fang Tianyuan seemed to care about this person a great deal, instructing him to pay extra attention to him on the journey.

Other than that, he knew nothing.

On the journey so far, besides noticing how meticulously he took care of Lin Chuyun, he hadn’t found anything unusual about him and had gradually relaxed his guard. Now, however, this incident made him realize something was off.

That Tree Demon the previous day was merely at the Transformation Stage, yet his aura was somewhat eerie. But this Tree Demon had clearly suffered a loss at Feng Xixing’s hands, a significant loss at that.

Hearing Feng Xixing’s explanation, the expression on Lin Chuyun’s face instantly shifted from anger to worry, mixed with a bit of self-blame. As his master, he had completely failed to notice the danger and instead let his apprentice protect him. He was utterly unqualified!

“Disciple, were you hurt?” Lin Chuyun lowered his head to sniff Feng Xixing again, but this time he was smelling for blood.

Feng Xixing’s expression became somewhat helpless. Perhaps because after transforming, he still retained some feline habits, his master’s thinking often lingered with the ways of his little black cat form.

The normal way a cultivator would check for injuries should be to probe their Qi Sea or sense their Spirit Power. Yet his master’s method was always—sniffing.

Allowing the little head to nuzzle around his neck freely, Feng Xixing deliberately lowered his head, letting Lin Chuyun’s ear tip brush against his lips.

Lin Chuyun didn’t notice his little disciple’s mischievous intention at all. After finding no smell of blood, he breathed a sigh of relief. Raising his head, he started saying, “That’s good, you’re…”

His voice trailed off, as if he had suddenly realized just how close he was to his little disciple. His rounded pupils abruptly widened further. The originally soft cat ears instantly perked up, a visible blush spreading to the tips.

Feng Xixing looked at those reddened ear tips, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He lowered his head with a hint of tentativeness, but before he could even touch those fluffy cat ears, the person in his arms had already slipped away.

Lin Chuyun, for once, got down and scampered over to Feng Wu’s side himself, head lowered as he urged, “Let’s go quickly, we still have a long way to travel.”

Feng Wu didn’t notice the awkward atmosphere between the two at all. He nodded upon hearing this. “Right, we must speed up. We still have a long journey ahead.”

Their trip to the Demon Realm was naturally not without preparation.

The cultivation methods for Half-Demons weren’t very common in the Demon Realm. After all, offspring of the Demon Race were scarce, and romantic unions between human cultivators and Demon Beasts were even rarer. However, the attitude of Demon Beasts towards Half-Demons was relatively friendly. There was even a city specifically inhabited by Half-Demons.

Angelica City.

It was said that the City Lord of this city was himself a Half-Demon, and one who possessed both Spirit Power and Demon Power.

The trio’s plan was to go to Angelica City first, to see if they could find a solution to Lin Chuyun’s problem there. If not, they would seek out the City Lord.

Angelica City wasn’t close to Cold City. Compared to Cold City, Angelica City was much nearer to the Demon Realm’s main city. At their fastest speed, it would take them half a month to travel from Cold City to Angelica City.

Seeing Feng Wu already heading downstairs, Lin Chuyun quickly followed, his back view clearly showing some panic. Feng Xixing narrowed his eyes slightly, following the two at a close but not overly near distance, but his mind couldn’t help drifting away.

Had his Shizun just been… shy?

Upon leaving the inn, the three headed in the direction of Angelica City. Just as they were leaving the city, however, Feng Wu and Feng Xixing both frowned simultaneously.

Feng Xixing reached out to stop the carriage. Feng Wu looked at the people blocking their path, his voice icy cold. “Get lost.”

“You!” One of the individuals was clearly angered by Feng Wu’s attitude. Stepping forward, he was about to reprimand him but was stopped by the Tree Demon standing in the middle.

The Tree Demon smiled faintly, yet he spoke towards Feng Wu. “I didn’t expect us to be so fated, meeting again so soon.”

Feng Wu would only believe that this was a coincidence if he were an idiot. If not for Fang Tianyuan’s warning, he would have long since taught this brat the immensity of heaven and earth. Rolling his eyes at the Tree Demon, Feng Wu’s tone held no courtesy whatsoever. “Scram.”

“You dare treat my young master like this! Do you know who he is? He is…” One of the attendants standing beside the Tree Demon couldn’t hold back anymore, stepping forward to speak.

But he had only spoken halfway when a flash of red light suddenly passed before his eyes. A scorching flame instantly ignited. The surrounding people scattered in terror. In less than a breath’s time, that Demon Beast had been reduced to a pile of ashes.

Feng Wu sneered, his phoenix eyes coldly gazing at the Tree Demon and his entourage. “Anyone else want to speak?”

No one dared to make another sound.

That flame had been able to burn a Transformation Stage Demon Beast to ashes in an instant. It was definitely no ordinary flame. Even if their young master wanted to save him, he wouldn’t have had time to act, let alone… knowing the young master’s ruthless nature, he wouldn’t blink even if he watched them all burn to death.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent. The Tree Demon’s expression soured slightly, but he quickly put on a smile again, taking the initiative. “It was Liu’s lax discipline. My apologies to you, Senior.”

Feng Wu had no intention of responding to him. He lightly flicked some non-existent dust from his sleeve.

The Tree Demon had never been so blatantly disrespected. A flash of killing intent appeared in his eyes. But recalling that eerie flame from just moments ago, he forcibly suppressed his killing intent.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that was unmistakably the Phoenix Fire of the Phoenix Clan.

The Phoenix Clan, remnants of the ancient phoenix bloodline, had long since retreated from the world. Why would an adult phoenix suddenly appear? Could it be that the Phoenix Clan intended to emerge into the world again?

The Tree Demon calculated somewhat in his mind. He had originally just wanted to snatch that human cultivator, but now he couldn’t help but overthink things. Making up his mind, the Tree Demon stepped forward and proactively introduced himself. “This Junior is called Liu An. May I ask the two… three of you, how should I address you?”

Feng Wu didn’t want to speak. Feng Xixing’s gaze remained lowered. As for Lin Chuyun… the moment Lin Chuyun remembered that this Tree Demon had tried to steal his family’s disciple yesterday, his anger flared up.

If it weren’t for the fact that Feng Xixing still hadn’t even glanced at the Tree Demon, Lin Chuyun would have bristled with fury long ago.

An awkward silence hung in the air. The Tree Demon couldn’t maintain his smile anymore. He stared coldly at the three of them, but his hand subtly changed a gesture.

Feng Wu instantly narrowed his eyes, sensing the aura of a Demon Beast suddenly appear nearby. He raised an eyebrow slightly, finding himself developing a bit of interest in this Tree Demon.

That newly appeared Demon Beast was at the Out-of-Body Stage. To have such a bodyguard following him around, this Tree Demon clearly couldn’t be some ordinary Demon Beast.

Feng Wu seriously considered Fang Tianyuan’s instruction—which stated not to initiate trouble. But if the other party came knocking on his door, even if he acted, Fang Tianyuan probably wouldn’t scold him.

Thinking this, Feng Wu turned to Feng Xixing. “Protect Little Chuyun.”

Feng Xixing nodded, reaching out to protect his little master in his arms. Although Lin Chuyun knew the situation was special, he couldn’t help feeling a bit self-conscious. His instinct was to slip away, but his little disciple had grasped his wrist.

The spot where his wrist was held felt as if it were on fire, the temperature rising rapidly. Lin Chuyun even felt the heat travel up his arm, all the way to the tips of his trembling cat ears.

Watching the ear tips in front of him constantly folding down and pricking back up, Feng Xixing suddenly had a strong urge to lower his head and kiss them. He wondered if his little master in his arms would bristle completely then, fur standing on end.

Feng Wu couldn’t be bothered to wait for that hidden Demon Beast to ambush them. Phoenix Fire materialized in his hand, and with a turn of his palm, he launched it towards the spot where the Demon Beast was hiding. That Demon Beast absolutely dared not let that Phoenix Fire touch him, so he had no choice but to reveal his position and dart out from the forest.

The guards behind the Tree Demon clearly recognized this Demon Beast, one of them exclaiming involuntarily, “Elder Huang.”

Lin Chuyun looked over curiously. However, upon seeing Elder Huang’s appearance, his mouth twitched.

Ever since he had crossed over into this world, the cultivators he met were generally not bad-looking. Even if not devastatingly beautiful, they were at least clean-featured and decent. Even that little mouse demon at the inn had an adorable, round face.

This Elder Huang, however, not only had withered, gaunt limbs but also a thin, cunning face. More importantly, Lin Chuyun could distinctly sense that the moment this Elder Huang appeared, a thick, bloody stench permeated the surroundings.

Feeling somewhat nauseated by the thick bloody smell, Lin Chuyun hurriedly turned his head and buried himself in his little disciple’s embrace.

The cool, cold aura quickly dispersed the blood-scented air. Lin Chuyun nestled obediently in Feng Xixing’s arms, resolutely refusing to lift his head.

Now… it was Feng Xixing’s ear tips that started to turn red.