Chapter 94#

Eating Too Much Makes You Fat#

The pain left Sang Chiyu exhausted. He endured it with grit for a while before finally drifting into a heavy, hazy sleep. When he woke up, Su Guanyu was nowhere to be found. A few days passed, and Sang Chiyu felt himself slowly recovering. He stretched his claws, and the deep-seated pain in his body receded gradually, retreating like a tide.

He had become a full demon. From now on, he would no longer possess a human form; he could only alter his own flesh and blood like other demons to mimic the appearance of others. He closed his eyes, straining to recall his own face. The secret technique of shapeshifting activated; his fur receded, and his cat claws turned into human hands. He rose slowly, his snowy white hair draping down past his hips. The smooth stone wall reflected his tall frame and slender legs.

He donned a black robe and walked out of the Immortal’s Cave, the hem of his garment trailing on the ground.

The elders waited respectfully at the foot of the stairs, their white robes matching the color of the snow.

They bowed their heads to Sang Chiyu, calling out reverently, “Holy Son.”

King Luofu walked toward Sang Chiyu and handed him a heavy white porcelain bottle.

“This medicine is called ‘Spirit Breath Pill’,” King Luofu said. “If you feel a headache, taking it will provide relief.”

Sang Chiyu took the bottle, looked down at it, and slowly furrowed his brows.

He seemed to have seen this bottle at Jiang Xueya’s place.

King Luofu patted his shoulder. “Yu’er, you are my most beloved son. You possess the strongest secret technique in the world, and you must carry on the Devouring Technique for our clan. I bestow upon you the Youdu Villa on the west side of the palace city. It was the former residence of Princess Suwu, Tantai Xun. Tantai Jing kept it very well; you can move in directly. Tomorrow, I will select a group of cat-girls to enter your manor and attend to your daily needs.”

“As you wish,” Sang Chiyu said.

King Luofu nodded in satisfaction.

Sang Chiyu turned and left, leaving King Luofu and the elders behind.

They chattered on about the list of cat-girls, and no demon noticed Su Guanyu appearing behind King Luofu. He stood in the snow, gazing at the former residence of Princess Suwu. Ever since the Princess died in battle in the Snow Border, that courtyard had been sealed off. Now that the Border Capital had fallen, it still slumbered in the snow.

Su Guanyu accessed his data. Disorganized code grew, line after line, like weeds that could never be cleared. He had told Sang Chiyu before that he had deleted his emotional code. He had only told half the truth; the other half was that no matter how many times he repeatedly deleted the code, it would grow back before long. As long as he recalled the name “Tantai Xun,” it would grow wildly, line by line. Once again, he selected all the code and deleted it without reservation. The moment the code vanished, his heart returned to peace.

Even though he understood that his code would soon become chaotic again.

Sang Chiyu arrived at Youdu Villa. Because it was close to the palace city, the courtyard had not been completely destroyed by the arriving demon city architecture. Sang Chiyu closed the window, unscrewed the porcelain bottle, and poured the pills onto the table. He crushed the pellets and sniffed the powder. The scent was somewhat familiar. He frowned, identifying it carefully; it seemed to be the scent of Wuling Ginseng. Wuling Ginseng did have a sedative effect, but it was far less effective than Datura. If King Luofu wanted to treat the headache aftereffects of the “Spirit Heart Sky Connection,” why not use Datura instead of Wuling Ginseng?

Unless Wuling Ginseng had other uses.

Sang Chiyu poured the powder into a flowerbed and waited for nightfall. As the sun set and the night turned as dark as ink, he shifted back into his cat form and slowly paced out of the hall. Cat demon guards patrolled his manor, and cat servants moved through the corridors from time to time. Now that King Luofu had used the “Spirit Heart Sky Connection” on him and removed his human bones, the demon servants no longer kept a strict watch on him. However, at meal times, they would bring him many medicinal meals and supplements, and would apply medicine to his not-yet-healed wounds. He timed his movements perfectly, avoided the guards, crawled through a hole in the wall to leave the palace grounds, and went to the medical office to steal a bottle of Datura pills. With the bottle in his mouth, he returned to his bedroom.

The next day, King Luofu received Sang Chiyu and bestowed upon him many precious tonics. In the demon servant’s tray, Sang Chiyu saw bundles of tiger whip.

Sang Chiyu: “…”

King Luofu said kindly, “The Yan clan of Youzhou and the Jiang clan of Yunzhou are both coming to the Border Capital for an alliance. Yan Jinyu and Jiang Huaicang will arrive by tomorrow. How is your health lately? You are familiar with the humans; why don’t you handle the reception?”

Sang Chiyu refused indifferently, “I am unwell. Please, Father, find someone else capable.”

“Yu’er,” King Luofu asked with displeasure, “are you unwilling to share my burdens?”

Sang Chiyu raised his eyes to look at him, “You said before that I am your most beloved son.”

“Of course,” King Luofu said. “I was separated from you for many years, and I will do everything in my power to make it up to you.”

“Yan Jinyu has tried to harm me several times,” Sang Chiyu said. “Since you love me so much, kill him for me.”

“…” King Luofu hesitated, “This…”

Even though he boasted that the demon race was invincible, they were at a disadvantage in numbers, and he needed someone to shepherd the humans for him.

“You have a grudge against the Yan clan; it would indeed be inappropriate for me to ask you to go. Rest assured, I will vent your grievances for you, but for now, my son must consider the big picture and spare that Yan clan member’s lowly life. I will let Xia Jing handle the reception. You should rest well,” King Luofu concluded.

It happened that Bai Ruoye had returned from her triumph in Xuzhou to visit King Luofu. She didn’t say much to Sang Chiyu and left without casting a glance in his direction. Her carriage drove out of the palace city and returned to the Stone Nest Palace. The carriage stopped at the stables, and the demon servants driving it left while laughing and talking; no demon noticed a large, snow-white cat crawling out from under the carriage chassis. Sang Baobao carried the medicine bottle in his mouth, lowered his head to sniff the scent left behind by Bai Ruoye, and followed it all the way to her bedroom. Bai Ruoye was bathing; her clothes were hung on a rack, and her girdle, jade thumb ring, pendant, and porcelain medicine bottle were placed on a cabinet. Bai Ruoye’s shadow swayed behind the screen. Sang Baobao leapt silently onto the cabinet, preparing to swap the medicine bottles.

“Add water,” Bai Ruoye called out.

The demon servant entered with a golden basin. Sang Baobao immediately jumped off the desk and hid under the wooden cabinet. The servant’s feet walked past him, and the sound of water being poured came from behind the screen.

“Has Tantai Jing eaten well these past few days?” Bai Ruoye asked.

“He hasn’t eaten much,” the servant replied with lowered eyes.

Sang Baobao crouched in the darkness, listening silently.

So, Tantai Jing was not dead.

“I’m hungry,” Bai Ruoye said. “Bring the food.”

“Yes.”

Bai Ruoye stood up and stepped out of the tub; the servant draped a blanket over her.

Just as the servant was about to withdraw, Bai Ruoye added, “Bring Tantai Jing here.”

The servants bringing the food entered in a file, and the table was soon filled with delicacies. Sang Baobao lay under the cabinet behind Bai Ruoye, patiently waiting for them to eat.

Bai Ruoye waved her hand, and the guards bowed and exited.

“Dine with me,” she pushed a bowl of rice toward Tantai Jing.

Tantai Jing remained indifferent, and the two sat at the table in a stalemate.

Time ticked by. Seeing the sky grow darker, he knew that if he didn’t return to the villa soon, the cat servant coming to apply medicine to Sang Chiyu would discover that he wasn’t there. Bai Ruoye and Tantai Jing remained motionless, the atmosphere as cold as ice. Sang Baobao made a quick decision, crawled out from under the cabinet, and silently appeared on the cabinet, catching Tantai Jing’s line of sight perfectly.

Tantai Jing watched as the cat swapped Bai Ruoye’s medicine bottle; its fluffy face turned toward him, and ice-blue eyes flickered toward him. Even though it was a cat, Tantai Jing seemed to be able to see a sense of cold indifference on its serious face. However, it was ultimately just a large, snow-white cat, and this expression looked somewhat comical on a feline face.

Tantai Jing: “…”

Not having seen Sang Chiyu in cat form for a long time, Tantai Jing almost didn’t recognize him. Compared to the little kitten, round as a glutinous rice ball, that he was when he was young, he had grown much larger. It was just that the cat’s face was a bit too round, and the long, fluffy fur made his physique seem massive. Tantai Jing knew that Su Ruhuai was good at cooking, and Sang Chiyu must have eaten a lot of Su Ruhuai’s food to make his cat face this round.

“What are you staring at?” Bai Ruoye asked.

She moved, as if about to turn around.

Tantai Jing suddenly said, “Once I’m done, send me back to the tower.”

Bai Ruoye said, “Fine.”

Tantai Jing picked up his bowl and chopsticks, and Bai Ruoye watched him eat bite by bite. He was the son of a great family, the former noble Grand Sect Master; every movement was like someone out of a painting, elegant and refined. What should have been a perfectly ordinary meal became, in his hands, like a meticulous ritual.

Sang Baobao lifted a fluffy paw and wrote in the air: “Save you another day.”

Bai Ruoye said, “Eat some meat. Are you a chick? Just pecking at rice grains.”

Tantai Jing said, “No need for you to worry.”

He was answering Sang Baobao.

Sang Baobao wrote again: “Endure. Eat.”

Bai Ruoye placed a piece of braised pork into Tantai Jing’s bowl.

Tantai Jing said coldly, “Those who eat too much, become fat.”

Sang Baobao’s aura suddenly turned cold.

Bai Ruoye assumed Tantai Jing was afraid of getting fat and was somewhat amused, “Eating one more piece of meat won’t make you fat.”

Sang Baobao no longer paid attention to Tantai Jing. With the small medicine bottle in his mouth, he used “Instant Shift” and leaped out of the window.