Suddenly airborne, the kitten only then realized something was wrong. Straining to twist his head around, he saw that Chong Yin had woken up, and tilted his fuzzy head in confusion, his round, dark eyes full of innocent bewilderment.
As if asking why Chong Yin was awake so early.
Chong Yin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and flung the kitten aside. Sitting up, he warned, “From now on, during sleeping hours, you are not to play with that wretched bell of yours, or you’ll be sleeping outside instead.”
The kitten rolled over a couple of times on the bed, then blinked innocently and pitifully at Chong Yin’s words.
This Chong Yin was far too stingy, not even letting him play a little.
The kitten curled into a ball, glaring resentfully at Chong Yin.
Chong Yin paid him no further mind, lying back down to continue sleeping. The kitten sulked alone in the corner, seething with resentment, yet too timid to touch his little bell again.
Chong Yin closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them again. He reached out, scooped up the sulking kitten from the corner, and tucked it beneath the blanket, pressing a heavy arm over the kitten’s body to keep it from escaping.
“Behave yourself and sleep.”
Chong Yin’s low voice carried a note of warning.
“Meow~”
The kitten’s voice came out soft and petulant, clearly protesting.
But Chong Yin had already closed his eyes again, ignoring the kitten entirely.
The kitten squirmed a bit, but finding he couldn’t break free of Chong Yin’s arm, he had no choice but to give in, settling down obediently to sleep, no longer moving.
…
The next day, by the time Chong Yin returned from attending to his affairs, the kitten still hadn’t woken.
The kitten had spent most of the previous night causing a ruckus, and now he simply couldn’t wake up, sleeping straight through until noon without stirring.
Chong Yin read for a while, then suddenly found himself bored. Setting down his book, he rose and headed to the bedchamber to check on the kitten.
The kitten was sleeping soundly, curled up on his pillow, a soft little bundle of white. Chong Yin watched him for a while, and seeing no sign whatsoever that he was about to wake, couldn’t help but frown with displeasure.
He had never once waited for anyone to wake up before, let alone a cat. Unwilling to let it sleep any longer, Chong Yin reached out and pinched the kitten’s ear. The kitten merely rolled over, still showing no sign of waking.
Puzzled, Chong Yin reached out again, this time tugging at the kitten’s tail, calling out, “Foolish cat, wake up.”
At that moment, Bai Xiaonian couldn’t wake no matter what, he felt as though his entire body was wrapped in a soft cloud, a refreshing stream of spiritual energy flowing into him of its own accord, spreading through every limb and meridian, leaving him utterly at ease.
Within his sea of consciousness, Bai Xiaonian’s spirit encountered the Heart-Guard Bell’s spiritual form. Every divine artifact possessed a spiritual form capable of entering its master’s sea of consciousness to communicate with them.
The Heart-Guard Bell’s spiritual form appeared as a small white orb of light, circling around Bai Xiaonian, trailing a long tail of luminous light behind it.
“Master, I haven’t seen you in so long, waaah…”
The bell’s spirit was overjoyed, its entire form trembling and shaking as though it might fall apart.
Bai Xiaonian reached out, caught the wildly darting orb, pulled it into his arms, and squeezed it affectionately, equally overjoyed. “Old Piggy, I missed you too, it wasn’t the same going to the privy without you around.”
The Heart-Guard Bell: “…”
Back when Bai Xiaonian’s cultivation had still been shallow, before he’d learned to abstain from food, he had needed to use the privy just like any mortal. Complaining that it was boring, he’d taken to playing with the Heart-Guard Bell while seated on the chamber pot, insisting that made the whole experience far more entertaining…
Poor thing, a rare and extraordinary artifact, forced to accompany its master to the privy of all places. Every time the bell emerged from the outhouse, it felt as though its entire being reeked unbearably.
Fortunately, Bai Xiaonian’s cultivation had later advanced enough that he’d achieved the ability to abstain from food, his body ascending to a semi-immortal state that no longer required such crude bodily functions, sparing the bell that particular ordeal. But now…
Looking at Bai Xiaonian’s current body, a spirit beast cub with next to no spiritual power, one who hadn’t even achieved the ability to abstain from food, the Heart-Guard Bell felt alarm bells ringing within itself.
Could that miserable chapter of the past be about to repeat itself?
While the bell silently mourned its own fate, Bai Xiaonian asked curiously, “Old Piggy, how did you find me?”
The bell recalled, “It was your spirit and your blood, Master. Ever since we formed our blood pact, I’ve only ever recognized your blood and your soul. And with your spirit so weakened yesterday, it was easy for me to sense you.”
Bai Xiaonian suddenly understood, so the Heart-Guard Bell had been kept in that particular palace by Chong Yin all along. It seemed he had Chong Yin to thank for this, in a roundabout way, otherwise the bell would have ended up scattered somewhere out in the mortal world, likely causing no end of unnecessary trouble, and he might never have crossed paths with it again so smoothly.
“Master, there isn’t much time. Your spiritual power is still too weak, your sea of consciousness cannot sustain this connection for long. I need to channel spiritual energy into you now, to clear your meridians and give your cultivation path a head start.”
The Heart-Guard Bell spoke with firm resolve, and made to act on Bai Xiaonian at once. Hearing this, Bai Xiaonian hurriedly flung the little orb of light away, adopting a defensive posture, alarmed. “No need for that. Having lived this life again, I have no interest in walking that path of cultivation, dancing on the edge of a blade, ever again.”
The Heart-Guard Bell stared at Bai Xiaonian in astonishment. Bai Xiaonian had always been a fiercely competitive man, and this was the first time the bell had ever heard him speak of willingly settling for an ordinary life.
The bell hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “But Master, half of our contract has already been severed, and the other half of the blood pact was seized by the Master of the Vermilion Bird Palace. You can no longer command the Heart-Guard Bell, and without your cultivation, you have no way to protect yourself. Even though you’ve been reborn, you still cannot escape it, your soul remains that special ancient—”
“Foolish cat, wake up.”
Before the bell could finish speaking, Bai Xiaonian was suddenly yanked out of his sea of consciousness by some force. Opening his eyes, he found Chong Yin staring at him intently, unblinking.
“Meow?”
The kitten blinked in confusion.
Chong Yin’s brow furrowed. “Were you just caught in some sort of trance?”
Bai Xiaonian froze for a moment before he understood.
With Chong Yin’s level of cultivation, he would certainly be able to detect when someone had fallen into their own sea of consciousness, no wonder he’d pulled him out. A young spirit beast cub like this shouldn’t have been capable of opening its sea of consciousness at all, unless it had been forced open by some outside influence. The consequence of such forced entry was a severe drain on one’s spirit and vitality, if things went badly enough, it could easily prove fatal.
Bai Xiaonian caught a flicker of what looked like concern flash through Chong Yin’s eyes, and quickly rubbed at his own, assuming he’d imagined it.
“Meow, meow, meow…”
The kitten suddenly scrambled up, extending a little paw to point insistently at Chong Yin’s eyes, meowing on and on.
Unable to understand, Chong Yin swatted the kitten’s paw away and scolded, displeased, “Pointing at me, how improper. Careful, or I’ll have that paw removed too.”
At that, the kitten hastily withdrew his paw, tucking it protectively against his chest.
So he really had imagined it. This Chong Yin was cold and heartless, there was no way he’d ever worry about him.
“You were just trapped by this thing, weren’t you?”
Chong Yin’s deep eyes carried a knowing clarity that seemed to pierce straight through, and as he spoke, he reached out and flicked the bell hanging around the kitten’s neck, sending it chiming with a crisp, pleasant sound.
Drawn in by the sound, the kitten instinctively reached out a paw to play with the bell as well, only for Chong Yin to intercept it partway.
“Answer my question first.” Chong Yin fixed his gaze on the kitten, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Fighting back the itch in his paws and the temptation of the bell, the kitten forced his gaze away and looked up at Chong Yin.
“Meow, meow, meow, meow…”
The kitten let loose a flurry of frantic meows, gesturing wildly.
By the time he finished, Chong Yin’s expression had turned utterly black.
The kitten had rattled on at length, but Chong Yin hadn’t understood a single meow of it.