Chong Yin flashed into the forbidden zone in an instant, the array here had been set by his own hand, so it held no power over him.
He searched every corner within the array carefully, but aside from a few drops of blood on the ground, there was no sign of the kitten anywhere.
Chong Yin’s emotions churned in complicated knots, his expression growing ever colder.
This kitten resembled that man from two hundred years ago far too closely. Chong Yin had hoped this little cat might stay by his side, keeping him company through his endless, tedious days. But the kitten’s intrusion into the forbidden zone, this was his one line, the place he allowed no one to pry into.
Chong Yin stepped into the inner hall, gazing at the furnishings within, then closed his eyes for a moment before turning to search for the kitten.
Following the trail of blood, Chong Yin finally found the kitten, already unconscious, curled in a corner of the room.
The kitten’s once snow-white fur was now stained red with blood, and his little paw was still clamped tight in an animal trap, nearly severed clean through.
Chong Yin’s pupils trembled. He crouched down, intending to pry the trap open for the kitten, but the next instant his gaze fell on an achingly familiar bell hanging from the kitten’s neck.
It was a vanishingly rare artifact, the Heart-Guard Bell.
Chong Yin’s expression changed drastically, his sharp gaze locking onto the kitten’s neck.
That artifact had long since recognized Bai Xiaonian as its master. It was the bracelet he’d worn close to his body throughout his life, never once removed. After Bai Xiaonian’s death, the bell had become nothing more than an ordinary bracelet, one that no one else had ever been able to wear again.
Yet now, somehow, it hung from the neck of a mere kitten…
Unless the bell had recognized a new master, there was no way it could be worn at all. Could it be…
Chong Yin’s expression shifted, again and again. Just then, the kitten’s body twitched. Chong Yin snapped out of his thoughts, let out a slow breath, and quickly pried the trap open with his hands.
Once he’d freed the kitten, Chong Yin used his spiritual energy to assess its condition. The kitten had lost a great deal of blood, its breath faint and shallow, had it not been for the Heart-Guard Bell shielding its heart meridian, it likely would already have been nothing more than a cold corpse.
Chong Yin thought for a moment, then reached into his spatial storage pouch and retrieved a thousand-year spirit herb. He applied it simply to the kitten’s wound, then used his spiritual energy to fuse the herb into the injury. The wound healed considerably at once. Only then did Chong Yin finally let out a small breath of relief, and carried the kitten out of the palace.
…
“Your Excellency, this kitten has consumed the thousand-year Frost Lotus. There’s no longer any serious danger to its life, it only needs some time to recuperate, and it will make a full recovery. Ah, and this wound must not touch water, or the injury may worsen and cause complications…”
The healer, trembling as he explained the kitten’s condition to the Demon Lord seated above, had already soaked through his robes with cold sweat by the time he finished.
On his seat, Chong Yin reclined lazily against the couch, the snow-white kitten cradled in his arms, his pale, elegant hand idly stroking the soft fur on its back. Although his face remained expressionless, in the depths of his dark, phoenix eyes, a cold killing intent was brewing, stirring an endless chill of dread in everyone present.
No one could guess how the Demon Lord intended to deal with the kitten that had trespassed into the forbidden zone, nor how he planned to punish the cook who had injured it.
By now, it was clear that the Demon Lord felt differently toward this unremarkable little kitten, he clearly wasn’t treating it as an ordinary pet. And yet, the cat had, after all, trespassed into the forbidden zone, in the end, it was still just a pet. Surely he wouldn’t go so far as to punish Consort Yi over a mere cat.
Consort Yi had, after all, been a gift personally sent to the Demon Lord by the mortal emperor not long ago. Laying a hand on her would mean grinding the mortal emperor’s dignity into the dust, and the Demon Clan already had more than enough enemies without adding an entire mortal empire to the list.
Just as everyone stood there anxiously, the Demon Lord on the couch finally spoke.
“Summon Consort Yi.”
A servant said, “Your Excellency, Consort Yi is already waiting outside the hall.”
Chong Yin raised an eyebrow slightly, his low voice as calm and still as an ancient well. “How thoughtful of Consort Yi.”
The servant wiped away a bead of sweat, nodded, and hurried out to bring Consort Yi in.
“Your Excellency, this humble concubine has been so terribly wronged—” The moment Consort Yi entered, she threw herself down beside Chong Yin’s leg, clinging to it and weeping with delicate, heart-wrenching tears.
Chong Yin’s gaze darkened. He lifted his foot slightly and kicked her away without the slightest mercy.
Chong Yin frowned, glancing with obvious distaste at the spot on his robe where Consort Yi had touched him.
Consort Yi fell to the ground, then quickly scrambled back up. Since childhood, she had trained in the art of pleasing men, and the moment she’d entered the palace, she’d learned all about the Demon Lord’s preferences, that he disliked physical contact with others and suffered from an obsession with cleanliness. That little display just now had merely been a test, to see whether the Demon Lord harbored any tenderness toward her.
But the result left Consort Yi disappointed all the same, and stirred a growing sense of unease within her.
She still hadn’t managed to win her way into the Demon Lord’s good graces, and yet that cat was allowed to be cradled in his arms. If the Demon Lord chose to side with the cat and hold this against her, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Consort Yi shivered, then quickly resumed her tearful, wronged expression. “Your Excellency, this humble concubine knows she was in the wrong to harm your beloved pet, but truly, it wasn’t intentional.”
“Your Excellency, surely you know how this cat has been stealing food from the kitchen day after day, and meddling with this concubine’s meals as well. Everyone has endured it for so long already. As your concubine, managing the household affairs is only my duty, I couldn’t simply ignore this matter, or the whole palace would be filled with complaints. I only meant to teach the cat a small lesson…”
Consort Yi went on defending herself at length, only to suddenly realize that the man on the couch hadn’t spoken in quite some time. The entire hall had fallen into a silence so complete it made her tremble. She opened her mouth, but found herself, in her panic, unable to make a sound.
Consort Yi lifted her eyes to meet the cold, striking face of the man seated above, and the instant her gaze met those deep phoenix eyes, eyes that seemed to pierce straight through to her very soul, something inside her seemed to collapse and shatter all at once.
It felt as though every one of her masks had been utterly seen through by Chong Yin.
Consort Yi’s face drained of color in an instant, her hands and feet trembling, her heart flooded with panic and terror.
Yet a sliver of reason still remained. She forced her expression back under control, resuming her air of wounded innocence, though it now looked strained and grotesque, barely holding together.
“Y-your Excellency…”
Consort Yi forced the hoarse words out of her throat with great difficulty.
Chong Yin’s eyes shifted slightly. Shifting the kitten in his arms, he leaned back against the couch, lifted his eyelids, and cast a lazy yet razor-sharp glance at Consort Yi. “Finished?”
Consort Yi bit her lip, her voice trembling even as she forced out the words. “Finished…”
“Then go pack your things. Prepare yourself for the dungeon, I’ve arranged everything for you. Do enjoy it, Consort Yi.” Chong Yin withdrew his gaze, lowering his eyes once more to the kitten in his arms.
One of the kitten’s paws was wrapped thick with bandages. Even in its unconscious state, the kitten’s body twitched from the pain, letting out uneasy little whimpers now and then.
Chong Yin pinched the kitten’s ear gently, an unreadable flicker crossing his deep eyes.
Consort Yi remained frozen on the floor for a long moment, unable to move, staring blankly at Chong Yin, certain she must have misheard.
The Demon Palace’s dungeon was already spoken of with dread even among mortals, the punishments within were said to be beyond cruel, unspeakably brutal. Consort Yi had heard whispers of it even within the palace, and she couldn’t believe Chong Yin truly intended to send her to such a place.
It wasn’t until demon soldiers entered the hall and seized Consort Yi by the arms to drag her out that she was finally forced to accept it was all real.
She struggled with all her might against the two soldiers’ grip, her once-beautiful face now utterly messy, twisted with panic.
“Y-your Excellency, please spare me. This concubine was wrong, I’ll change, please, spare me!” Consort Yi practically crawled her way to Chong Yin’s leg, screaming her pleas at the top of her lungs.
But Chong Yin only kept his gaze fixed on the kitten in his arms, not sparing her so much as a glance.
Consort Yi stared blankly at the cat cradled in Chong Yin’s arms, finally forced to admit that the Demon Lord’s feelings toward this little pet were truly different from anything else…
As the thought crossed her mind, something in her seemed to snap. In a sudden fit of madness, she pulled a dagger from her sleeve and lunged, plunging it straight toward the unconscious kitten in Chong Yin’s arms.