Luo Ningning had a guess in her heart, so she put away the carriage and climbed down. She carefully sensed the person’s aura. It was extremely weak—he was indeed unconscious.
Only then did Luo Ningning feel reassured enough to approach. The man’s skin was cold and pale, with a jade-like luster. Unfortunately, such beautiful skin had been ruined by crisscrossing old and new scars. From his back to his waist was an especially long wound, its fresh flesh gaping open.
It was in exactly the same place as the giant wolf’s injury. Luo Ningning lifted the man’s wrist between her fingertips and sent a thread of spiritual energy into him. Demonic qi raged through his meridians, and she could occasionally detect the familiar corrosion and tearing. His condition was a hundred times worse than it had been a few days ago.
So this man was the giant wolf. He had probably been injured too severely to maintain his enormous beast form, and had transformed into a weak human instead. From this angle, Luo Ningning could see his perfect profile. The big rough wolf actually had quite a handsome face: brows that swept into his temples, deep-set eyes, and a straight nose. His lips, pale from blood loss, were tightly pressed together, while the line of his jaw was especially sharp and attractive.
Luo Ningning did not know whether the giant wolf had any other enemies. This was no place to linger, so she summoned the carriage again, intending to get the filthy man onto it.
She was at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so dragging a man was not difficult. But halfway through, Luo Ningning abruptly stopped. Her face flushed red, and she stood there in a daze.
…Wasn’t it said that demon beasts would automatically have clothes on after transforming into human form? Why didn’t Wolf Lord have any?! She had seen something she absolutely should not have seen without the slightest preparation…
Even though she was a disciple of the Hehuan Sect and had seen plenty of things, she was still so shocked that only one thought remained in her mind—
What in the world is that?!
So frightening. What was this about being as thick as a child’s arm, and barbed, soft spines…? Those things really existed?
Luo Ningning turned her gaze away and tried desperately to compose herself, pretending that she had seen nothing. She was the only daughter of the Hehuan Sect’s sect master. She could not let the Hehuan Sect’s reputation be tarnished.
Maintaining her composure, she searched the Qiankun Bag and found a set of clothes. She used a spell to dress Wolf Lord, then finally got him onto the carriage. It flew unsteadily toward the front.
………………
When Xie Shiqi awoke, the first thing he felt was pain in his meridians, as though every inch of them had been shattered. Then he smelled a familiar, faint sweetness.
His memories rapidly returned. Xie Shiqi froze for a moment, briefly thinking that the pain had caused him to hallucinate. But when he struggled to open his eyes, he really did see Luo Ningning.
The girl was sitting listlessly against a tree. Her delicate fingertips were still resting against his wrist bone, and the flesh beneath them had been pressed into a curved indentation, making it look especially soft.
Luo Ningning noticed that he had woken. Her beautiful, misty eyes immediately brightened. “Wolf Lord, are you all right? I’ve been channeling spiritual energy into you for so long, but you just wouldn’t wake up. You’ve completely worn me out.”
She propped herself up against the tree, still looking as delicate and pampered as a willow swaying in the breeze. Xie Shiqi carefully inspected his own condition internally. The corrosion and tearing in his meridians were more severe than ever before, but he was still far better off than he had been before losing consciousness.
It seemed that Luo Ningning had spent at least one or two hours channeling spiritual energy into him. No wonder she had opened her mouth by saying she was exhausted.
Xie Shiqi could not say what he felt in his heart.
When he was ten, his mother had been murdered. In his grief, his father had also been gravely wounded by his trusted aide. With demonic qi entangled throughout his body, he had taken his own life.
That trusted aide had once been his favorite Leopard Uncle. He had seized his father’s position as Demon Venerable and hunted Xie Shiqi to the ends of the earth. Fleeing in panic, Xie Shiqi had ultimately hidden himself in the Land of Absolute Evil.
The Land of Absolute Evil was filled with the most vicious demons, and even the Leopard Demon Venerable did not dare to intrude recklessly. At last, Xie Shiqi no longer needed to flee.
But as a Silver Wolf possessing the bloodline of an Ancient Ferocious Beast, he was a walking panacea in the eyes of those evil demons. Many demons wanted to eat him and had used every means at their disposal.
Xie Shiqi had witnessed all kinds of malice—brutal, cunning, hypocritical… As a result, he had learned to fight desperately, with no regard for his own life. He had learned not to trust others easily. He had learned to hide his identity.
During the hundred or so years when he had needed kindness most, he had never experienced genuine kindness. Thus, after he grew up, he neither needed nor expected it from anyone else.
Sometimes, when he called Luo Ningning “Little Fairy,” it was not entirely without a trace of disdain. He disliked how pampered and picky she was, how she was afraid of dirt and pain. He found it irritating that she cried whenever she suffered even the slightest injury.
He thought she was a walking nuisance. Thus, whenever he truly found himself in a desperate situation, his instinct was not to drag her into it. What if she cried again?
And yet, this pampered little nuisance whom he could not understand had run so far to find him, carried him away from the battlefield where death awaited, and brought him to a safe oasis.
There was still dust on Luo Ningning’s clothes. She had probably been in such a hurry to treat his wounds that she had not even had time to use a spell to clean herself.
Xie Shiqi suddenly wanted to help brush the dirt from her sleeve, but he did not even have the strength to move a finger. He spoke in a low voice. “Didn’t I say I would go find you?”
Luo Ningning pursed her lips. She wanted to say: With you looking half-dead and barely breathing, who knew whether I would be waiting for you to come find me, or whether you would be waiting for vultures to come and peck at your corpse?
But the giant wolf’s human appearance was simply too outstanding…
At first, when he had been unconscious with his eyes closed, he had merely looked ordinarily handsome. Luo Ningning had seen plenty of handsome men and beautiful women in the cultivation world, so she had not been especially amazed.
But now that he had opened his eyes, his beauty had become vivid and almost bewitching, possessing a powerful impact. His ice-blue eyes were cold and deep, like the boundless sky above a snowy plain. Paired with his silver hair, which fell to his waist like moonlight pouring down…
He truly was worthy of being an Ancient Ferocious Beast. His beauty was peerless—there was no one else in the world like him.
Luo Ningning’s face-loving nature flared up, and she could no longer bring herself to make sarcastic remarks. She held herself back and adjusted the hair at her temples. “You took a blow for me and deliberately sent me to a safe place. Naturally, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing for you.”
Xie Shiqi was silent for a moment. “They were after me in the first place. You were only caught up in it. Besides, you and I had already made an agreement. I should naturally ensure your safety.”
Luo Ningning was somewhat surprised. She had not expected this wolf to take agreements so seriously.
She had originally been hesitating over whether to use this opportunity to part ways with him. After all, judging from the current situation, staying by this wolf’s side seemed quite dangerous.
But after hearing those words, she found she could no longer leave. If even an Ancient Ferocious Beast honored his promises so seriously, then as a human cultivator, how could she bring shame upon her own people?
After hesitating for a moment, Luo Ningning finally said, “Then I’ll honor our agreement too and do my best to treat you during this period.”
She rubbed her wrist and asked, “It’s just that channeling spiritual energy like this is so exhausting, and the results aren’t very good. Wolf Lord, do you have any other enemies? Can I play the qin?”
Xie Shiqi said, “I do.”
“How many are left? If there aren’t too many…”
“More than ten, perhaps twenty or thirty. I’m not sure.”
Luo Ningning fell silent.
All right, she could forget about playing the qin.
Luo Ningning sighed and leaned against the tree. She took out a Qi Condensation Pill from her sleeve, pinched one between her fingers, and put it into her mouth. “I’m going to rest. I’m really too tired.”
She leaned sideways with her forehead against the tree. Her entire body looked listless, as if she had gone soft and no longer had any bones. She looked so utterly miserable that Xie Shiqi felt a little guilty.
He struggled to prop himself up and prepared to do his best to regulate his breathing and recover. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his own feet, and his face immediately stiffened.
“…W-What are you making me wear?!”
Luo Ningning cast him a light glance. “They’re just clothes I found. You didn’t have any clothes after transforming into human form. I couldn’t exactly let you go around naked.”
The veins on Xie Shiqi’s forehead throbbed. “That’s a woman’s skirt!”
Luo Ningning blinked. “It is a woman’s skirt. The Qiankun Bag belongs to a woman, so all the clothes inside are skirts. Magical robes can change their appearance, and it isn’t too tight or too short on you.”
She had regained some energy. Sitting up straight, she smiled until her brows and eyes curved. “Look. Your silver hair goes so well with a red skirt. You look great.”
Xie Shiqi restrained himself. “I’m not wearing this. I have my own clothes.”
He raised his hand and pressed it to his collar.
Luo Ningning let out a loud cry. “No! You’re not allowed to change!”
She glared at Xie Shiqi. “You do have clothes, but you have to use demonic power to manifest them, right? The demonic power inside you now was exchanged for spiritual energy that I painstakingly channeled into you bit by bit. You’re not allowed to waste my spiritual energy!”
Xie Shiqi glared fiercely back at her without saying anything. He looked quite fearsome like that, radiating murderous intent.
Luo Ningning remembered the scene of him taking down so many powerful demons by himself and became a little timid. She gave a light cough and was just about to yield when Xie Shiqi angrily turned his head away.
Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes!
The tall man with silver hair and blue eyes had vanished. Beneath the red skirt was a lump of something else.
The lump shifted and wriggled until it reached the hem of the skirt. Luo Ningning watched in astonishment as a creature crawled out from beneath it…
It was a round, chubby, short-legged little wolf!
The little wolf looked no more than half a month old. Its white fur shone softly like satin. It was clearly furious. It headed toward the grass at the side, leaving Luo Ningning with nothing but its backside.
But as it walked, its fat bottom bounced up and down, and its plump body twisted from side to side…
It struck Luo Ningning’s preferences perfectly and instantly melted her heart!
The enormous wolf, which had been as big as a mountain, had diluted the fluffiness of his appearance. But this adorable little animal was exactly the kind of thing Luo Ningning loved most.
She clutched her chest. “Aww… Wolfie, little Wolfie!”
Her voice had gone soft and high-pitched, and her tone twisted through eighteen turns.
Even Xie Shiqi’s ears trembled. He turned around in anger. “W-What are you screeching about?! Woman, considering that you can help me, I’ll endure this humiliation for the time being. If you dare spread what happened today… this young master definitely won’t let you off!”
Even his voice had turned into the milky, childish voice of a young pup!
Melted by his cuteness, Luo Ningning nodded repeatedly. “I won’t tell, I won’t tell~ I’ll definitely keep it secret~~ Don’t worry, Wolfie~~~”
Xie Shiqi: “…”
When facing the giant wolf, Luo Ningning only wanted to rub against a naturally heated carpet.
When facing the handsome man, Luo Ningning did not actually have much desire to take care of him either.
But when facing a fluffy little creature…
Luo Ningning rallied her spirits and decided to become a qualified pooper-scooper!
Wolfie was injured, and the few pills she had were not enough to fill his teeth. He still needed to continue eating food to nourish his body.
This oasis was fairly safe. There were only some small avian demon beasts, so Luo Ningning decided to go out and try hunting.
She had no experience, but her Changqin came with attack mechanisms built into it. After huffing and puffing as she felt her way through learning how to use them, Luo Ningning actually managed to catch quite a lot of prey.
The bloody, stinking animal carcasses piled up into a small mountain. Luo Ningning was disgusted by them and refused to go anywhere near them. Pinching her nose and wrinkling her face, she tied a handkerchief over her mouth and nose. Only then did she use a spell to drag the fruits of her hunt back to find Wolfie.
Xie Shiqi had assumed that she had gone to bathe again. He had not expected her to bring him food.
They were all small demon beasts, but there were quite a lot of them—enough to fill his stomach.
In the hundred or so years since his parents’ deaths, this was the first time he had been fed by someone. And that someone was a human girl so weak and pampered.
That indescribable feeling arose in Xie Shiqi’s heart again. After a moment, he moved his little chubby legs over to the pile of food.
“Thank you. I’ll repay you a hundredfold in the future.”
Luo Ningning stared at him eagerly without answering.
Her gaze was filled with longing. Xie Shiqi did not understand. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Do you want to eat too?”
Luo Ningning looked as though her soul had wandered away. She nodded. “I do. I haven’t eaten food in so long… I’m just a little hungry…”
Upon hearing that, Xie Shiqi picked up a crow in his mouth and was about to throw it to her.
Only then did Luo Ningning come back to her senses. She hurriedly refused. “No, no, no! That’s not what I meant! I don’t want to eat that—it smells awful! You eat yours. Don’t give any back to me!”
What had attracted her, of course, was not the blood-soaked, pungent animal carcasses.
It was the plump, adorable little wolf!
Luo Ningning had not gotten to pet anything fluffy for several days. She stared greedily at the chubby little wolf and approached with the handkerchief covering her mouth and nose. Her voice was gentle and soft.
“Wolfie, if you really want to repay me, why don’t you let me hold you for a while?”
Xie Shiqi paused, finally understanding.
He looked up at Luo Ningning expressionlessly and suddenly said, “Do you know who you look like right now?”
Luo Ningning asked, “Huh? Who?”
“You look like those male demons who follow female demons into their rooms. Your eyes contain six parts urgency, two parts lechery, and two parts ill intent.”
After saying this, the little fat wolf lowered his head. He stepped on the bird’s belly with one small paw, clamped its leg between his short, silly-looking jaws, and yanked hard!
Blood and minced flesh once again flew in a perfect parabola, splattering across Luo Ningning’s face and body.
Then he chewed up the flesh and bones. Facing Luo Ningning, he bared his teeth and revealed a bloody grin.
Luo Ningning: “…”
Damn it… Even though he had become adorable, he was still that stinking mutt!
Luo Ningning wiped the blood from her face. Anger surged from the depths of her heart, and she slapped the little wolf’s plump backside!
While the little fat wolf stood there in a daze, she quickly got up and fled. She did not forget to leave behind one last insult.
“You ungrateful little white-eyed wolf!”
Author’s Note:
Now.
Wolfie’s pride: I would never casually display my weak, juvenile form in front of outsiders.
Later.
Wolfie competing for affection: Wife, look at me! I’m your favorite little wolf with the chubby butt!