40 - The Cannon Fodder is Prepared to Divorce

Pǔ Shí and the black dragon left first, leaving Lìngbái to settle down for the night; naturally, Jì Wúniàn stayed by her side. The full moon was already high in the sky as Lìngbái sat on the doorstep, contemplating what excuse she could use to explain her absence overnight. "There is no dragon energy here." Lìngbái snapped out of her thoughts. Jì Wúniàn was leaning against the other side of the doorframe, her tone as cool as the night. "There is," Lìngbái extended her hand, playing with the moonlight, "you just can't sense it." "...Like the demonic energy?" "Yes." Jì Wúniàn felt a surge of irritation but couldn’t very well unleash her anger at the person in front of her. "I'm leaving…" "Wait." Lìngbái stood up, brushing off her clothes. "Where's Bùguī?" Jì Wúniàn quickly turned around, her red dress fluttering as if it might burst into flames, "You don't know?" "The dragon energy is so thin around here," Lìngbái shrugged, "I'm too lazy to search." Jì Wúniàn snorted coldly, "So you thought I knew?" Lìngbái walked over to her, reaching out to remove her mask, enjoying the sight of Jì Wúniàn's annoyed face. Her mood visibly improved. "You don't know?" "..." The words "I don't know" stuck in her throat. Jì Wúniàn gritted her teeth. "Do you enjoy annoying me this much?" Lìngbái nodded naturally, provoking Jì Wúniàn further until she finally bit down on Lìngbái’s neck. ...It hurt. Jiǔyī couldn’t bear to watch any longer, "Are you part dog or something..." This time it wasn't just a spiritual bite; Jì Wúniàn bit down solidly, causing Lìngbái's expression to change. Clearly fueled by a demonic nature, Jì Wúniàn didn't just bite her, she also licked up the blood. Pushing her away, Lìngbái touched her neck, her fingers stained with blood, "Are you part dog?" she repeated. Jì Wúniàn licked the crimson off her lips, finding her anger somewhat soothed by the taste of blood. "I'm part rabbit," she said. Rabbits do bite when they're anxious. Seeing Lìngbái’s changing expression lightened Jì Wúniàn's mood, and when she was in a good mood, she became softhearted; once softhearted, she became caring once more. Sitting on the doorstep, Lìngbái tilted her head, her collar slightly open. Jì Wúniàn gently applied medicinal powder to her wound, her touch incredibly soft. The wound quickly disappeared. "When did you find this place?" Lìngbái's neck was long and elegant, drawing attention to her collarbone whenever it peeked out. Whenever she spoke, her neck seemed to flutter subtly, making Jì Wúniàn want to bite it again. The hand applying the medicine faltered, and the ever-impatient Lìngbái had to prompt her, "You’re demonic, not blood-deprived." No need to gnaw at her neck. Laughing, Jì Wúniàn pressed her palm against the now-healed wound, "Your skin is too tender, it’s hard to resist." Jiǔyī couldn't take it any longer, "What kind of scandalous talk is this...?" After fixing Lìngbái’s collar, Jì Wúniàn didn’t forget Lìngbái’s question. Sitting next to her, Jì Wúniàn tilted her head towards the moon, "I discovered it a long time ago," she said, smiling, "I have my own secret agents." So, a long time ago, she had already taken note of Lìngzhōu's name. Lìngbái glanced towards a corner, showing no particular reaction, "Do your secret agents also include these little monsters?" Jì Wúniàn waved to the corner. The grass in the corner trembled slightly and a lynx poked its ears out, walking a few steps to stand in front of them. Its fur was sleek, and its ears perked up majestically. It licked its paw, "Lìngzhōu, long time no see." Shān, chin scritched by Jì Wúniàn, closed his eyes adorably, "This is Lìngbái." Watching but not touching, Lìngbái's fingers itched to pet him. Jiǔyī named the scene, "The sorrow of not being able to pet the cat." "The one who just arrived is the new Demon Emperor," Jì Wúniàn continued to pet the lynx’s head, "Once the demon realm stabilizes, you can return to the demon realm with him.” The lynx nuzzled her hand, "Are they here to retrieve something?” "Yes," Jì Wúniàn smiled, "No need to hurry and tell them; let them find it on their own." The lynx nodded, its whiskers twitching. Curling up on the doorstep, Lìngbái rested her chin on her knees, her eyes full of longing to pet. "My secret agents aren't for random petting," Jì Wúniàn teased, rarely seeing her act so childishly, "If you want to pet, you’ll have to pay." Whatever about paying, she just wanted to pet. The lynx's head fur was smooth; his chin fur was particularly thick, the fur on his back long and sleek, and his tail was thick and long, with a rounded tip. "...You're hopeless," Jiǔyī said disdainfully as he watched the delicate hands roam in delight. Shān the lynx was equally disdainful, not liking this person who, moments ago, seemed aloof but now was practically glued to him. Yet, Lìngzhōu made no move to rescue him; in fact, he even petted Lìngbái's head indulgently. Lìngbái, lifting her head from the cat-petting trance, her eyes glowing with happiness, created a realm of joy within her gaze, pulling anyone who looked into it. ...Luò Chánghé also petted his young apprentice's head. Did he see the same eyes? Lìngbái, still holding the lynx's forepaw, was pulled forward, but even as her lips were claimed in a kiss, her eyes remained blissfully curved. When released, she hugged the lynx tightly, as if she had gained some advantage, "That counts as paid,” she declared. Jiǔyī felt an ache in his non-existent eyes and ears. This was a case of losing one's mind over petting a cat. The cat-induced stupidity, however, was temporary. As soon as the lynx was released and dashed away, the clarity of Lìngbái's intellect returned proportional to her growing sense of loss. "Don't you have a cat at home?" Jiǔyī nearly shouted, trying to snap her out of it. "A very big one!" "Wǎnwǎn's fur doesn't feel the same," Lìngbái gazed at the corner again, sighing softly. Something touched her, making her turn her head. It was Jì Wúniàn petting her. "The previous one wasn’t enough," Jì Wúniàn said righteously, "Needs more." Ha, dream on. Lìngbái ducked quickly, leaving Jì Wúniàn’s hand grasping air, the look on her face cold as if she hadn’t been the one frantically petting the cat just now. A glimmer of white fell into Jì Wúniàn’s lap. She lifted it - it was a translucent scale. "This is…?" "A reverse scale." Lìngbái brushed off the fur on her clothes and summoned Qīngfēng. Jì Wúniàn reclined on the steps, looking languid, "It’s not yours, is it?" "I skinned it." Qīngfēng flickered, leaving Jì Wúniàn alone to examine the scale closely. *** Returning in a hurry, Lìngbái didn’t go back to Wǔshífēng but headed to Qīnglín Hall. Picking up the now larger Wǎnwǎn, she sat on the roof, watching as green and white slowly tinged with red and gold hues. The past two days had been too hectic; she just wanted a moment to laze. "...Aren't you normally quite idle too?" Jiǔyī noted, "And you spent last night petting a cat..." The restless Wǎnwǎn squirmed in Lìngbái's arms, making her feel content, "Yes." With a resigned sigh, Jiǔyī gave up on reasoning with Furry Affection Disorder. "What about the Cángxuěfēng mission? How do you plan to handle it?" "Wait," watching the crimson fall back, Lìngbái released Wǎnwǎn and lay down, "to see if she goes." "...Even if she doesn’t, you’ll still have to go," Jiǔyī reminded her, feeling a bit awkward. As a system that got along reasonably well with its host, even it found this "child of great destiny" too troublesome, but a mission was a mission. "And what if progress doesn't increase?" Like the previous mission with the emperor? "...You'd still have to do it, right?" Jiǔyī could only rely on his intuition to answer, being a rather useless system. "Let’s discuss it later then." Lìngbái shifted her body, playing with the fur on Wǎnwǎn’s back, while thinking about what she had deduced from the lynx’s words yesterday. There wasn’t much: the place was full of young demons accidentally falling into the human world with no ability to fight back. Some were saved from human traffickers, others dug out of dungeons. Upon arrival, they learned that the place’s master was Lìngzhōu, a person infused with demonic energy, guarding something there but rarely present. Lìngzhōu told them the object would protect them if they stayed put. Most young demons liked Lìngzhōu and were obedient. No one knew exactly what it was, but many had a general idea due to Lìngzhōu’s frequent check-ins, mentioning that someone would come for it eventually. It wasn’t until yesterday that they realized the visitor was the Demon Emperor, and what Lìngzhōu guarded was the demons’ Bùguī. This new information only confirmed that before Lìngbái’s appearance, Jì Wúniàn would sneak down from the mountains occasionally, which was not much of a surprise. Nestled against Lìngbái, Wǎnwǎn made her side particularly warm. Despite her slightly uncomfortable back, Lìngbái sat up, “How are your ‘wish fulfillment’ missions chosen?” "Ah?" Jiǔyī struggled to find an answer, responding reluctantly, "...They just trigger randomly; I don’t choose them... Why?" "...They just randomly trigger," Lìngbái stood up, eyes fixed on the golden distance, "It must be because Jì Wúniàn thought of something, and that’s why it triggered, right?" "Hmm?" Jiǔyī didn’t quite understand, "What do you mean?" "Last night, we went there just to intercept Pǔ Shí, and when we got there, suddenly there was a new task to return the dragon bones..." Lìngbái said. "Could it be that she only then thought of returning the dragon bones?” "Uh..." Jiǔyī pondered, "That kind of makes sense... but hadn't she already prepared that place long ago? Why wait until now? And why did she think of it at that specific moment? Shouldn't she have considered it when planning to intercept Pǔ Shí?" Jiǔyī thought harder, "And how did she know Pǔ Shí would be there in the first place?" "She seems to know many things," Lìngbái added. She knew about the Wuji Secret Path, the location of the Cold Sword, Pǔ Shí's movements, and the whereabouts of the dragon bones, and had made preparations accordingly. According to those little demons, Lìngzhōu had existed for a long time, and Jì Wúniàn’s scheming must have started well before that. Thinking about it this way, even rescuing Chén Níng from the midst of ten thousand soldiers years ago made Lìngbái suspect her motives. "Lìngbái, do you think she might be a demonic cultivator spy?" Jiǔyī guessed. "Think about it, it makes perfect sense. She infiltrated the righteous sect from a young age, waiting for the right moment to coordinate with other demonic forces and take down all these hypocrites in one fell swoop! It's the perfect plot twist!" Jiǔyī got more excited as he spoke, but Lìngbái didn’t quite buy it. Jì Wúniàn's concern for Liù Lí didn’t seem feigned, nor did her sympathy for Qí Fēng. Yet, she chose not to warn Liù Lí about what might happen at Yuè Harbor, and she decided to sacrifice Qí Fēng to expose the demonic energy. Lìngbái felt this had nothing to do with Jì Wúniàn being a demon or an immortal; she just had other plans in mind. "Why don't you just ask her directly," Jiǔyī suggested, shaking his head in exasperation. "She seems to really like you, you know." And it's becoming more apparent—the frequency of her mouth-to-mouth contact is increasing. "I asked her about the secret path at Cángxuěfeng. Did she tell me?" "Maybe she genuinely doesn't know." Lìngbái shook her head, "She knows." Not only does she know, but she also doesn’t want to tell me. "Forget it," Lìngbái scooped up Wǎnwǎn from beside her feet, jumped into the courtyard, unwilling to dwell on these matters any longer. No matter what Jì Wúniàn intended to do, Lìngbái reasoned that she would have to help her. The intricacies of Jì Wúniàn's plans were of little consequence to her. Jiǔyī couldn’t help but comment, "Lìngbái, could you be a tsundere?" "What’s that?" Lìngbái didn’t understand. Unable to explain, Jiǔyī gave up.