As Lu Yaoyao approached, the mink lowered its body and hissed aggressively, trying to intimidate her.
Lu Yaoyao took out a spiritual fruit from her small pouch, a local fruit grown within the precinct of the Guiyuan Sect, distributed to the disciples as part of their monthly resources. She often snacked on them. The juicy and plump fruit emanated a slightly sweet smell, along with a hint of spiritual aura. The mink’s eyes lit up at the smell and it eagerly ran over with all its strength, raising its forelimbs to hug Lu Yaoyao’s hand and switching from aggressive hisses to sweet chirps.
Lu Yaoyao was speechless. “Where’s your dignity?”
Still, she handed over the spiritual fruit to the mink, who devoured it quickly. Then it started performing a little dance, bouncing around with its mouth open, clearly asking for more.
Amused, Lu Yaoyao couldn’t resist giving it more spiritual fruits, feeding it four in total before noticing its belly had become round and full. “No more,” she said. “Come with me, and you’ll have plenty to eat!” She tentatively reached out to pick up the mink.
This time, the little one did not resist.
“I’ll put away the artifact now, don’t run off,” Lu Yaoyao warned as she retracted the device. The spiritual mink lay quietly in her hands. She petted its fur and praised, “Good mink.” She couldn’t resist giving it another fruit. “Save it for later.”
The spiritual mink clutched the fruit with its four limbs and lay back contentedly, its eyes happily squinting.
Lu Yaoyao had a soft spot for these little creatures. Some spiritual beasts were aggressive and would attack humans on sight, eventually becoming meals for cultivators, whereas others were so cute that they would make you want to spoil them. It was no wonder many in the Cultivation Realm liked keeping these little things as pets.
As Lu Yaoyao emerged from the deep burrow, she saw the sky was overcast with dark clouds, casting gloomy, eerie shadows on the ground. The next moment, she felt cold raindrops hit her face, and snowflakes land on her forehead, melting instantly.
She wiped her face and grumbled inside. That jinx Xingxing! Now look at what they get—it’s not just pouring rain, but there’s also snow!
Looking up towards the mountain top, which was now shrouded in misty white, she realized she was near the summit, with small patches of soft snow scattered on the ground under her feet.
Is the weather in Cold Mountain Forest always this bizarre? It was cold enough for the summit to be covered in snow all year around, how could there be such heavy rainfall?
No matter how much she complained in her heart, Lu Yaoyao didn’t slow down in the slightest. She retrieved a red cloak from her small pouch and draped it over herself, instantly shielding herself from the rain and snow. The spiritual mink, nestled in her hands, was also covered by the cloak. She took a few steps back and crouched at the burrow entrance, taking shelter from the rain. What about the others? Did they find a shelter?
Lu Yaoyao glanced up at the sky again. The rain was heavy, mixed with partially melting snow, and showed no signs of stopping. The forest was hit by sudden gusts of wind, causing the branches to bend and create a loud rustling sound, carrying a faint hint of devil aura.
Uh? Devil aura? Lu Yaoyao tilted her head, almost thinking it was her own devil vein leaking, but she remembered her devil vein was well-sealed, and no devil aura should be escaping.
She frowned. This was near the Guiyuan Sect territory; which devil was careless enough to reveal their presence?
Something felt off to Lu Yaoyao. Ignoring the pouring rain, she quickly dashed into the rainstorm to find the source of the aura. Her Daddy had returned to the Devil Palace three years ago and hadn’t appeared since. As far as she knew, he was in a secluded cultivation. Two years ago, Yaqing had informed her that some devils were causing trouble in the Cultivation Realm, so she had sent him to investigate and he hadn’t been with her since. In short, no devils should be around her right now.
Lu Yaoyao trusted her Daddy. Since he has abided by the peace agreement, he certainly wouldn’t send devils to cause trouble. This matter had nothing to do with him.
Yaqing had successively arrested many devils who had caused trouble in the Cultivation Realm. Despite her repeated orders, some devils still disobeyed. Yaqing said devils were inherently bloodthirsty, and over the centuries, there were always some who couldn’t suppress their nature and sneaked into the Cultivation Realm to commit slaughter. The Devil Venerable generally ignored these minor disturbances, and only after Lu Yaoyao arrived in the Cultivation Realm did the rules become more stringent and rigorously enforced.
Lu Yaoyao still felt something was off. She had researched past incidents and found that it was not as frequent as in the past few years. Most devils captured and sent back to the Devil Palace had indeed succumbed to their bloodthirst. Some were retaliating after being wronged by humans, while others failed to conceal their identities and were discovered, leading to deadly clashes on both sides.
The Cultivation Realm had various ways to detect devils. Lu Yaoyao couldn’t send her entire devil army to monitor the Cultivation Realm, so she assigned Yaqing to handle it. Yaqing’s primary responsibility was to protect her, but since she mostly stayed within the safety of Guiyuan territory, it was not an issue to send him elsewhere.
Could it be their bad luck to run into a devil here? Lu Yaoyao couldn’t help but surmise. She wasn’t sure if the devil accidentally leaked their aura or if there was another reason. Lu Yaoyao didn’t want the devil to encounter her friends, which likely would end up in conflict. Unfortunately, the rain and snow hindered her senses, and she soon lost track of the devil aura. With only her Foundation Establishment cultivation base and no aura to track, she couldn’t find the source immediately.
…
At that moment, Wen Zixing was having a tough time. He had been chasing a spiritual mink for a long time but ultimately failed to catch it. Worse, he had lost track of Lu Yaoyao, and Chao Muxue’s group didn’t seem to be nearby either. He didn’t know where he had wandered off to.
Wen Zixing started walking back, calling out Lu Yaoyao’s name as he tried to retrace his path. Alone in the unfamiliar deep forest, he felt increasingly anxious and started to panic. And misfortunes never come singly. To make matters worse, a sudden downpour drenched him. He hurriedly looked for a place to take cover but slipped and fell into a ravine.
“Bah, bah, bah!” Soaking wet, Wen Zixing pushed himself up with his hands, spitting out mud. When he fell just now, he accidentally swallowed some muddy water. He wiped his face and squinted around. “Could I be any unluckier?”
The terrain was lower here, and rainwater mixed with mud and leaves rushed down violently. Even his boots were stuck in the mud. When he tried to move his foot, a sharp pain shot from his ankle. “Ouch!” It hurt so much! Had he broken his ankle?
Wen Zixing managed to stand up and slowly limped to a large rock, where he took a seat. The heavy rain stung his eyes, making him squint. He needed to find shelter from the rain. He hesitated between looking for cover nearby and climbing back up to find Lu Yaoyao and the others but eventually decided to call out first—hoping his friends might be nearby.
“Is anyone there? Help!” Wen Zixing had just shouted twice when a chill suddenly ran down his spine.
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Scary !!!
I hope it’s not a devil.
⊙﹏⊙⊙﹏⊙