Liu Huan quickly reached out to grab the kitten and pull it back, but another slender, elegant hand beat her to it, scooping the palm-sized kitten into its palm.
Liu Huan looked up to see it was Chong Yin. He had already cradled the kitten in his arms, its snow-white fur, set against his crimson robes, made an unexpectedly striking, harmonious picture: one man, one cat.
Not only Liu Huan, but every kneeling attendant in the hall froze in astonishment.
Chong Yin sat down in a chair, cradling the kitten without a word, then said in a low voice, “Summon the healer.”
Liu Huan, half a beat behind, quickly nodded and hurried off to fetch the healer.
Meanwhile, Chong Yin looked down at the pitiful, soft little kitten nestled in his arms and found, for once, that he couldn’t bring himself to set it down. So he simply kept holding it.
The kitten’s soft pink paws clung tightly to Chong Yin’s robe, its fuzzy little head rubbing against the fabric, letting out miserable little whimpers. Anyone watching would feel their heart melt, and the attendants found themselves suddenly understanding the Demon Lord’s uncharacteristic behavior.
His Excellency had always despised the closeness of any living creature, but faced with something this adorable… perhaps even His Excellency couldn’t resist.
Yet just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the kitten had escaped its fate, the little creature in Chong Yin’s arms suddenly let out a retching sound and vomited up a pile of filth, directly onto His Excellency’s robes!
The temperature in the hall plummeted to freezing in an instant. Everyone’s pupils shrank, their bodies trembling with fear. The man above them radiated a terrifying, violent aura, faint red light flickering in his eyes, he was clearly on the verge of losing all restraint.
Even the kitten in Chong Yin’s arms seemed to sense the danger. After finishing throwing up, it scratched at the mess a few times with its paw, as if trying to bury it like waste, attempting to hide what it had done. But it had vomited onto His Excellency’s robe, not dirt or sand, there was nothing to bury it in. After a few halfhearted scratches, the kitten shakily crawled away.
Chong Yin happened to be seated by the table, so the kitten climbed along his hand onto the tabletop, curling itself into a small ball behind the teapot in an attempt to hide.
Chong Yin’s gaze fell on the kitten as though he were looking at something already dead. Thick spiritual energy had already gathered in his hand, if he struck now, the kitten would be reduced to nothing but pulp.
Bai Xiaonian knew perfectly well how obsessively clean Chong Yin was, and he truly hadn’t meant to do it. He understood he’d just committed the one unforgivable sin in Chong Yin’s book, and with his current level of cultivation, there was no way he could withstand Chong Yin’s wrath.
The kitten scratched anxiously at his own ears, thinking hard, and then a spark of inspiration struck.
Just as Chong Yin reached out to deal with the kitten, it lifted its tiny paw and pressed it against his palm, gently scratching at the center of his hand with the barest tips of its claws, all the while gazing up at him with wide, innocent, pitiful black eyes.
Feeling the ticklish sensation against his palm, Chong Yin’s deep phoenix eyes met the kitten’s round ones. His breath caught sharply, his body going rigid, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
A moment later, Chong Yin closed his eyes, withdrew his hand, took a deep breath, and said through gritted teeth, “Prepare the bath.”
Seeing that His Excellency had spared the kitten after all, the attendants were utterly stunned, hurrying to prepare his bath in a daze, their steps feeling almost unreal beneath them.
None of them could have imagined that a cat could hold such weight in the Demon Lord’s heart. Even after all that, His Excellency still hadn’t laid a hand on it.
They couldn’t help but recall the incident a few days earlier, when an attendant had accidentally soiled His Excellency’s robe and had his arm severed on the spot, blood spraying everywhere in a scene of horrific violence.
Comparing the two now, it truly was like night and day.
Everyone sighed inwardly but didn’t dare say a word aloud, His Excellency’s thoughts were not something they could presume to guess.
Bai Xiaonian was also catching his breath after his narrow escape. Scratching Chong Yin’s palm was a trick he’d used before his rebirth specifically to win Chong Yin over.
Back then, he and Chong Yin had never gotten along, constantly needling each other. But whenever he’d angered Chong Yin and yet still needed his help, Bai Xiaonian had had no choice but to swallow his pride and coax the man. Somewhere along the way, he’d developed this habit of scratching Chong Yin’s palm.
Scratch Chong Yin’s palm, and his anger would fade.
By the time the healer hurried in with Liu Huan, Chong Yin had just finished bathing and emerged from the inner room in fresh clothes, though his expression remained thoroughly foul.
Liu Huan, not sure of what had happened, paused in confusion for a moment.
Chong Yin sat down on the couch with a dark face, cradling an exquisite teacup, sipping his tea without so much as glancing at the kitten on the table again.
The white-haired elderly healer stepped forward hastily and bowed. “Your Excellency, may I ask where you’re feeling unwell?”
Suppressing his anger, Chong Yin took a sip of tea before saying coldly, “Examine that foolish cat.”
The old healer froze, nearly certain he’d misheard. He glanced instinctively around the room and spotted the snow-white kitten curled on the table, realizing that was who His Excellency meant.
Although thoroughly confused, the old healer didn’t dare ask further questions. He stepped forward, cupped the kitten in his palm, held it up for a closer look, lifted its drooping eyelids, pressed gently on its swollen little belly, and ran a thorough check with his spiritual energy. Then he set the kitten down, turned, and bowed as he reported:
“Your Excellency, this kitten has eaten food laced with poison. Fortunately, the toxin isn’t potent, likely something meant to kill insects or rats. A few detoxifying pills, followed by some rest, should see it fully recovered.”
Chong Yin nodded, glancing at the kitten on the table, and gave a low hum. “Go collect your reward.”
The old healer froze again, certain now that he must have misheard. In all his years treating His Excellency’s pulse, he’d never once been rewarded, yet today, for treating an unremarkable little cat, he’d somehow won His Excellency’s favor?
Utterly bewildered, the old healer was escorted out of the Demon Palace by Liu Huan. And it was from that very moment that everyone throughout the Demon Realm came to know that the Demon Lord had a rather beloved pet cat.
Meanwhile, inside the hall, Chong Yin studied the bottle of detoxifying pills the old healer had left behind, then glanced again at the listless kitten sprawled on the table, tapping his curled finger against the tabletop, his expression flat and utterly unreadable.
Without Chong Yin’s instruction, Liu Huan didn’t dare step forward to feed the kitten the medicine, so she could only wait nearby, anxious and tense.
The kitten’s stomach ached unbearably now, his body twitching in spasms. He looked up at the cold, merciless man on the couch, and his round black eyes welled up with a few glistening tears.
Seeing this thoroughly troublesome little tyrant of a cat actually cry, Chong Yin raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
With a faint snort, the Demon Lord finally, magnanimously, lifted a hand. “Liu Huan, feed this cat the antidote.”
Liu Huan, receiving the order, let out a quiet sigh of relief and hurried forward. She poured a detoxifying pill from the jade porcelain bottle and held it up to the kitten’s mouth, only for the kitten to simply sniff at it, then pull its head back, clearly unwilling to eat it.
Chong Yin’s eyes narrowed in displeasure, his low, pleasant voice turning cold. “Foolish cat, rein in that temper of yours, or if you end up poisoned to death, don’t blame anyone else.”