The kitten turned back around, meaning to steal another bite off Chong Yin’s chopsticks, only to meet the man’s gaze, clearly enjoying the show, and immediately felt a wave of shame and fury.
That bastard was mocking him.
Bai Xiaonian let out an inward snort, lifted his chin, and decided he’d had enough of playing games with Chong Yin. They’d been at this for so long now that his little belly was practically caving in from hunger.
But now that the two of them had locked eyes, even though Bai Xiaonian no longer wished to spar with Chong Yin, Chong Yin was determined to keep it going.
Chong Yin reached out and grabbed the kitten’s fluffy little tail, preventing him from going after any more food.
A cat’s tail was another sensitive spot, and the moment his tail was seized, the kitten bared his teeth and spun around to bite at Chong Yin’s hand. Chong Yin dodged with lightning reflexes, then instead caught the kitten by the scruff of the neck, lifting him up close.
Chong Yin arched an eyebrow, staring at the kitten. “Little cat, it seems you’re tired of living, stealing food right out of my hands.”
The kitten’s eyes darted about, feigning complete incomprehension.
Chong Yin let out a light laugh, then suddenly picked up his chopsticks and plucked up a bite of food.
“Didn’t you seem to enjoy the food from my chopsticks? Then let me satisfy you,” Chong Yin said.
With that, he brought the food up to the kitten’s mouth.
It was a bite of baby cabbage. The moment the kitten spotted it, his eyes went wide.
No cat in existence would eat cabbage, this Chong Yin was clearly doing it on purpose.
The kitten turned his head away, refusing the offering.
But the Demon Lord, once his temper flared, was not one to be trifled with either. If the cat wouldn’t eat, Chong Yin was determined to make him.
So the chopsticks pressed toward the kitten’s mouth once more, and Chong Yin added, in a tone of veiled threat, “If you refuse to eat what I feed you today, that’s the same as defying me. And defy me, and you may find yourself without any food at all from now on.”
“Would you rather starve, or eat what I’m offering?”
Under this barrage of threats, Bai Xiaonian felt a sharp pain in his chest, in his very liver and lungs.
Bai Xiaonian had always loved food above all else, if Chong Yin wouldn’t let him eat, that was as good as taking half his life. What was even the point of being reborn, if he had to live like this?
The kitten glared at Chong Yin for a long moment, but in the end, he had no choice but to lower his proud head and, thoroughly displeased, swallow the food Chong Yin offered.
Chong Yin’s mouth curved with satisfaction as he patted the kitten’s head, looking, in Bai Xiaonian’s eyes, exactly like a petty tyrant reveling in his small victory, which only made him angrier still.
Cabbage was, to Bai Xiaonian, absolutely revolting. He’d always preferred meat, and ever since being reborn as a cat, he couldn’t tolerate a single bite of vegetables.
The little cabbage sat in Bai Xiaonian’s mouth as he chewed and chewed, only managing to swallow it with great difficulty.
Just as he’d finally gotten it down and let out a sigh of relief, he looked up to find another bite, this time a piece of carrot, already waiting at his mouth.
Bai Xiaonian: “…”
He decided that tonight, once Chong Yin fell asleep, he was going to claw open the man’s throat and let the blood gush out, unstoppable…
Just as the kitten was scheming these dark thoughts, Chong Yin had already, without mercy, shoved the chopsticks straight into his mouth.
Bai Xiaonian: “…”
“Eat quickly. I’m a busy man, I don’t have all day to feed you.” Chong Yin tormented the cat with cruel efficiency, all while maintaining an air of wronged innocence, as if he were the one being inconvenienced.
Furious, the kitten bared his teeth and hissed, accidentally spitting the carrot in his mouth straight out, directly onto Chong Yin’s handsome face.
The air seemed to freeze solid in an instant. Nearby, Liu Huan clapped a hand over her mouth in horror, too frightened to move a muscle.
Chong Yin clenched his jaw, his chest heaving with fury, his sharp eyes darkening to black, killing intent radiating off him as he stared unblinkingly at the kitten before him.
That gaze felt almost tangible, Bai Xiaonian’s entire body ached under its weight.
The kitten rose onto his toes, hunching his back, preparing to bolt.
Chong Yin accepted the handkerchief that a trembling Liu Huan hurriedly offered, wiped his face clean in one swift motion, then slammed his hand on the table and rose to his feet.
“Bang—”
The sound of the table being struck echoed through the hall, followed immediately by the rustling thud of everyone present dropping to their knees.
No one dared spit anything onto the Demon Lord’s handsome face, this cat clearly had no regard for its own life, but why did it have to drag a whole room of innocent people down with it? Everyone silently cursed their misfortune, tears welling up, their bodies trembling like sieves.
Bai Xiaonian was frightened too. He knew perfectly well what Chong Yin’s temper was like, when they were simply roughhousing, Chong Yin never actually lost his cool, but if he genuinely grew angry, things could turn ugly fast.
Before his rebirth, the worst he’d ever angered Chong Yin, the man had tied him up and beaten him, then locked him away in confinement. Chong Yin’s aura back then had been thick with killing intent, even now, just remembering it sent a chill down Bai Xiaonian’s spine.
With that thought, the kitten scrambled to flee even faster, leaping down from the table, even if it meant aggravating his already-injured paw, he had to escape from Chong Yin’s clutches.
But the kitten never landed on the floor. Instead, he landed directly in Chong Yin’s hand.
Chong Yin scooped the cat up and brought him close, his long, narrow phoenix eyes narrowing, then he smiled, a sinister, chilling smile, his voice carrying a bone-deep cold that made everyone shudder.
“Someone, take away all the meat dishes. Once the meal is finished, throw them to the Beast Garden.”
With that, before Bai Xiaonian could even react, Chong Yin flung the kitten onto the table, then swept his sleeves and strode out of the hall, judging by the direction, likely headed for the bathing pool.
Bai Xiaonian scratched at his own head in frustration, his gaze distant and unfocused.
At this point, Bai Xiaonian still had no idea just how dangerous the Beast Garden truly was. The onlookers all watched the palm-sized kitten with unmistakable pity in their eyes.
Bai Xiaonian meant to go find Chong Yin and reason things out properly, but before he could even climb down from the table, several demon soldiers in black armor marched into the hall, their bearing fierce and menacing. Bai Xiaonian instinctively backed away several steps.
With his injuries, his movements were hampered, and he hadn’t gotten far before the demon soldiers seized him.
One of the soldiers said, “We’ve been ordered to deliver this cat to the Beast Garden.”
Only then did Bai Xiaonian realize Chong Yin hadn’t been joking with him at all.
Liu Huan, though reluctant to see it happen, didn’t dare defy the Demon Lord’s orders either, and could only watch helplessly as the kitten was carried away.
As for what exactly the Beast Garden was, Bai Xiaonian still remembered that when he’d first arrived at the palace, he’d been set down right at its gate, and even then, he’d sensed an overwhelming, oppressive dread emanating from the place. It surely wasn’t somewhere good.
A sense of impending crisis welled up inside him, but it was already too late to flee. All he could do was let the demon soldiers stuff him into a cage and carry him off to the Beast Garden.
The kitten clawed at the bars of his cage, ears drooping, curled into a furious little ball, silently cursing Chong Yin a hundred times over in his mind.
This man was simply far too petty. So what if he’d spit on his face, was that really worth this much fury?
However handsome that face might be, it was still just two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, hardly precious enough to warrant this kind of treatment.
While Bai Xiaonian was busy privately badmouthing Chong Yin, they arrived at the gate of the Beast Garden before he even realized it.
The group didn’t pause, carrying the caged kitten straight into the garden.
At the very center of the garden was something resembling an arena, with a massive circular platform surrounded by tiered seating. Right now, two spirit beasts were locked in combat at its center.
Bai Xiaonian looked closely and, to his shock, recognized one of them as the very white tiger who had tried to nurse him on the day he’d first arrived at the Demon Palace.