Bai Xiaonian still didn’t know what he was hugging. All he cared about was saving his own tiny life, his four stubby legs paddling frantically. But before he could get very far, a large hand plunged into the water, pinched the kitten by the scruff of the neck, and hauled the palm-sized cat out.
The kitten was soaked through and utterly bedraggled. On instinct, he shook his head and body to fling off the water.
So when he looked up, the first thing he saw was a handsome face freshly speckled with droplets, clearly his own doing.
Chong Yin’s expression could no longer be described merely as “terrifying.” He glared at the outrageously bold kitten through gritted teeth, fury churning in his chest. The last time he’d been this angry was when that man had toyed with him.
Except that man had been dead for hundreds of years. Even in his anger, Chong Yin felt an odd, unexpected sense of familiarity.
A moment later, Chong Yin was amused by his own reaction. Truly absurd, feeling nostalgic over a cat.
He closed his eyes briefly, then, without the slightest hesitation, flung the dripping kitten away.
Bai Xiaonian didn’t expect Chong Yin to be so merciless. The fall nearly rattled every organ in his tiny body loose. He curled up on the ground, meowing weakly, as though he might die the next second.
Chong Yin glanced at the kitten by the edge of the pool and paid it no further mind.
In any case, a cat that dared provoke him today wouldn’t escape death.
Chong Yin had lost all interest in bathing. He rose from the pool, utterly unbothered by the kitten watching nearby, his lean, powerful body bare. With long, steady strides, he stepped out of the water and, with clean, elegant movements, picked up the robe waiting beside him and draped it over his shoulders.
Blood-red robes, ink-black hair cascading down, bare feet on the floor, he looked breathtakingly beautiful in a way that bordered on otherworldly.
Bai Xiaonian, sprawled weakly on the floor, let out a disdainful meow at the sight.
This man had always been so theatrical, as if he were trying to seduce someone every waking hour…
Just then, footsteps sounded outside, followed by Taoxi’s panicked voice from beyond the screen. “Y-your Excellency, a white kitten escaped from the Beast Garden and ran this way. I don’t know if it’s disturbed you…”
At her words, Chong Yin’s sharp gaze fell on the kitten on the floor. He said coldly, “Come in. Take it away.”
Taoxi trembled, on the verge of tears. This was it, she was surely about to be punished.
Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself and led a group of servants into the bathing chamber. Seeing the kitten lying limp on the ground and the Demon Lord’s face darkened with displeasure, her heart sank even further.
While several servants attended to Chong Yin as he dressed, others dealt with the kitten on the floor. Taoxi said, “Your Excellency, this insolent kitten, I’ll be sure to deal with it properly.”
Chong Yin glanced at the kitten and raised an eyebrow. “And how do you intend to deal with it?”
“Pluck its fur, skin it, feed it to the wild dogs,” Taoxi said, trying to please him.
Chong Yin didn’t answer right away. He strode straight out of the bathing area and settled lazily onto the couch in the main hall, his ink-black hair loosely gathered, one leg bent, his pale, bare foot resting on the edge of the couch, occasionally peeking out from beneath the hem of his crimson robe.
Even after serving His Excellency for hundreds of years, Taoxi was still momentarily stunned by how striking he looked.
“That method of yours isn’t enough,” Chong Yin said, tapping his bent finger idly against the table, each dull thud making people’s hearts tremble.
Taoxi snapped out of her daze and lowered her eyes. “Then, Your Excellency, what would you prefer…?”
Chong Yin’s lips curved upward, his phoenix eyes narrowing slightly, his voice light and indifferent. “Besides plucking its fur and skinning it, why not slice off a piece of its flesh every day and let it suffer a fate worse than death?”
Taoxi swallowed nervously and nodded quickly. “Yes, I’ll see to it right away.”
The fluffy little bundle cradled in a servant’s hands was having none of that. It opened its tiny mouth and let out a stream of protesting meows, cursing Chong Yin nonstop, unfortunately, all that came out were the tender mewls of a kitten, incomprehensible to everyone else.
Bai Xiaonian’s fur bristled with fury, his teeth bared. For such a small creature, he looked as fierce as a wolf cub in that moment. But no matter how ferocious he tried to look, his fluffy little body only made him seem even more adorable to everyone watching.
Chong Yin regarded the kitten with interest.
A spirit beast cub this young shouldn’t even have any intelligence yet, awakened. But this cat seemed to understand him, it was even protesting at him.
Chong Yin suddenly found this amusing. He was about to tease the cat further when he happened to look straight into its furious black eyes, and his heart gave an unexpected jolt.
A startling sense of familiarity washed over him. Chong Yin’s brow furrowed slightly, his hand pressing to his chest, his gaze never leaving the kitten.
“Those eyes of yours… why do they resemble someone’s so closely…”
The man in crimson robes stepped off the couch, barefoot, and walked toward the kitten.
Seeing Chong Yin approach, the kitten showed not the slightest fear. Instead, it scrambled up from the servant’s hands with an aggressive air, pushed off with its hind legs, and pounced straight at Chong Yin’s face the moment he drew near.
“Meow, meow, meow!”
Ungrateful, heartless creature!
The kitten swiped its little paw across Chong Yin’s handsome face over and over, cursing him without pause.
The servants standing around stared in shock, not daring to even breathe. The entire hall was thick with unbearable tension.
Chong Yin’s face turned dark as a pot’s bottom. He reached up, pinched the kitten by the scruff of its neck, and peeled it off his face. His phoenix eyes were dark and stormy, then, unexpectedly, he laughed, though the laugh carried a trace of anger.
“Well now… not just the eyes, but the temper too. This little cat is quite entertaining.”
Chong Yin took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then tossed the kitten to Taoxi. “Go wash it clean and bring it to my chambers. I’ll punish it myself.”
Taoxi and the surrounding servants froze, staring up at Chong Yin in shock, momentarily convinced they’d misheard.
It was the first time anyone had seen the Demon Lord change his own order. Still, as far as they were concerned, this kitten falling into Chong Yin’s hands directly would only mean a worse fate. The group exchanged silent, marveling glances before leading the kitten away as instructed.
Carrying Bai Xiaonian toward the bathing pool in the side hall, Taoxi muttered as she walked, “You little cat, you’ve got some nerve. His Excellency isn’t someone you can offend so carelessly. Now look what you’ve done, even if he tears you to pieces, no one could say it wasn’t deserved.”
Bai Xiaonian pursed his lips, utterly unafraid of this “Chong Yin” that Taoxi spoke of with such dread. Back when he himself had been Demon Lord, Chong Yin had been nothing but a good-for-nothing young master who spent his days tending flowers in the garden, drinking wine, and sipping tea, with nothing better to do.
He had no idea how the man had gone mad enough to become Demon Lord.
Before Bai Xiaonian could puzzle it out further, Taoxi had already brought him to the bathing area. Seeing how tiny the kitten was, she worried he might drown if placed straight into the bathing pool, so she fetched a basin of water instead, intending to place the kitten in it.
But the moment Bai Xiaonian caught sight of the water, his entire body bristled. He thrashed his short little legs, trying to flee. Taoxi held his legs firmly and said urgently, “Stop squirming. You’re filthy, and His Excellency despises anything dirty. If you don’t want to suffer an even worse fate, you’d better get clean quickly, that way His Excellency might be in a better mood when he sees you.”