CH 10

Chapter 10: Unexpected Occurence

After dinner, Yun Zhao went to the kitchen to clean up the dishes. When he returned, he saw Luo Xue bringing in a small bamboo basket and placing it by the bed.

After laying out a soft cushion, Luo Xue transformed back into a small cat and leaped inside, clutching his little rabbit doll tightly. He buried his head in its ears, looking all puffed up like a ball of dough.

Upon seeing this, Wu Mu also jumped in and squeezed into half of Luo Xue's little nest. He tilted his head and glanced at the rabbit doll in Luo Xue's grasp. He tentatively reached out his dark paw.

Luo Xue scratched him a few times in displeasure, holding the little rabbit with his front paws and burying his head in its ears, looking like a pouting dough.

Ao Yu coiled on the bed, seemingly undisturbed. He probably accepted Luo Xue's plan to sleep together tonight.

It seemed that no one could resist the charm of the cats, and Ao Yu was no exception.

Yun Zhao changed his clothes and sat on the edge of the bed as usual, taking Ao Yu and placing him on his lap. He used a silk handkerchief to wipe the dragon scales on his body.

The silver scales were cleaned spotlessly, and Ao Yu comfortably rolled over, half-closed his eyes, and observed the young man's fair and delicate chin.

Yun Zhao put down the handkerchief and measured Ao Yu with his hand, showing surprise in his eyes. "Ao Yu, it seems like you grew a bit."

"Yeah," Ao Yu lazily responded. Recently, the spiritual energy of Yuming Mountain had started to recover, so he no longer needed to maintain the smallest form to conserve spiritual power.

He raised the tip of his tail and playfully brushed Yun Zhao's hanging hair before moving away.

Yun Zhao scratched his itchy face caused by the tail and looked at Ao Yu, lowering his gaze.

When Ao Yu saw him looking over, he retracted his tail and opened his mouth, "What delayed you today?"

"...," Yun Zhao tried to evade the question, but when he caught a glimpse of the narrowed pupils of the little dragon, he immediately explained everything about the market in detail.

"It's nothing, really. I had planned to sell other snacks at the market. It was foolish of me to buy spices there without realizing that someone would remember the recipe."

Ao Yu stood up, stretched his body into a long shape, and then coiled on a soft pillow, staring straight at Yun Zhao.

Just when Yun Zhao thought he would say something comforting, Ao Yu raised his head and examined himself, concluding, "You were incredibly stupid."

Yun Zhao: "..."

The system that had been pretending to be silent suddenly spoke up: "Dear host, do you have any ideas about what you want to sell in the future?"

Yun Zhao looked wary. "What do you want?"

The system cleared its throat and lowered its tone, sounding like a cunning merchant. [Host, I have something good to show you!]

With that, the screen of the shopping mall automatically opened in Yun Zhao's mind. Seeing Ao Yu playing with the cats using his tail, Yun Zhao reflexively closed the mall in his mind.

Yun Zhao silently recited a calming spell and spoke with emphasis, "Good brother, let's not get involved in those kinds of tricks. We can look at such things ourselves, but selling them is definitely not allowed."

The system sounded somewhat puzzled. [Why? What's wrong with this kind of business?]

Yun Zhao stumbled over his words. "I have principles... We can look at those things ourselves, but selling them is not allowed..."

"[What's not allowed about it?] The system became impatient and rebelliously opened the mall in Yun Zhao's mind. Golden lights surrounded the row of ovens and recipes, circling around them. [I just want to encourage you to buy something from the mall. I'll take a commission! Our system also needs to achieve targets!]

Yun Zhao focused and saw that there was a row of ovens and recipes in the mall, even with molds prepared. The price was only a thousand immortal stones, which was quite a bargain.

The system perked up. [So, how about it? Are you interested in the goods?]

"Yes, yes." Yun Zhao's frugal nature gradually returned.

He forced a laugh and promised the system to carefully consider it tomorrow. If it was suitable, he would pay and collect the goods. The system hummed in satisfaction and fell silent.

With the oven, he could make many more things.

Yun Zhao lifted the covers to prepare for sleep, but he heard a crisp sound of a slap coming from the small bamboo basket by the bed.

Ao Yu froze at the edge of the bed and didn't approach. As soon as Luo Xue raised her paw, his silver dragon tail swiftly retracted into the covers.

"What's wrong?" Yun Zhao propped himself up and leaned over.

In the bamboo basket, Luo Xue sat up, tightly hugging her little rabbit doll. The doll's remaining ear was just a long piece, and a hole had opened on its head, revealing fluffy white cotton.

Meanwhile, Wu Mu crouched beside him in astonishment, with the other rabbit ear swaying in his mouth.

Apparently, he hadn't expected the doll to be so easily bitten. He guiltily lowered his head and discreetly observed his younger brother's expression.

Luo Xue stared blankly at the rabbit ear in front of him, covered in saliva, and sorrow washed over him. His bright cat eyes quickly filled with tears.

"Meow... Meow..."

The snow-white cat sadly held onto the remaining ear of the little rabbit, curling up in the bamboo basket and sobbing.

Yun Zhao realized something was wrong and quickly got up to console Luo Xue, saying, "Don't cry, Luo Xue. Let me take a look and fix it for you, okay?"

With Yun Zhao's comforting, Luo Xue cried even louder, and he hugged him, along with the cat and rabbit, gently soothing him.

Wu Mu, wanting to approach, was swatted away by Luo Xue's tail.

With his black paws raised in the air, Wu Mu ended up licking his mouth in embarrassment and muttered softly, "It's just a cloth rabbit. I can buy a new one to replace it for you."

This statement instantly triggered Luo Xue, who had just calmed down in Yun Zhao's arms. He extended her paw and swiped at him.

"Meow!"

Wu Mu felt a sting on his cheek and raised his paw to rub it. He turned around and looked at the carved water mirror, where three red marks were glaringly visible on his face.

The little black cat was so angry that he hunched his back, intending to charge forward. However, he met Luo Xue's watery eyes.

With his triangular ears tilted back, he turned around and ran out.

"Hey, Wu Mu, where are you going?" Yun Zhao saw him run off and tried to get up to chase after him, but his waist was pulled back by Ao Yu's silver dragon tail, causing him to fall back onto the bed.

Ao Yu lifted his chin, gesturing towards the still sobbing little white cat in Yun Zhao's arms. "You should comfort this brat first. The endless crying is getting on my nerves."

Yun Zhao used a handkerchief to wipe away Luo Xue's tears. After some thought, he asked, "Shouldn't we do something about Wu Mu?"

"No need. His spiritual power is not low. He'll come back on his own when he calms down."

Hearing his words, Yun Zhao could only patiently comfort Luo Xue for now. The little white cat was probably feeling aggrieved. She was often neglected by the real person and now she had to endure bullying from her mischievous brother in Yuming Mountain.

With Yun Zhao comforting him, he didn't miss a single detail as she murmured complaints about Wu Mu, while clutching the broken rabbit doll near the young man's neck.

Yun Zhao lay down and gently patted the cat's back. Unconsciously, both the human and the cat gradually closed their eyes.

Ao Yu was somewhat impressed by the sleep quality of these two. Helplessly, he extinguished the candle and curled up on the soft pillow to sleep.

In the late night, the sound of dripping rain gradually arose, carrying the scent of damp soil.

Golden pupils opened in the darkness as Ao Yu propped up his head and gazed at the sleeping Yun Zhao.

He was sleeping soundly, with his fingers curled at the edge of the pillow, still bearing a mark from the time he was stabbed by a bamboo skewer while eating squid.

Ao Yu looked at him for a long time, then stood up, transformed into his human form, and walked out, pushing the door.

...

On the outskirts of the Immortal Market, several houses were scattered about.

In the rainy night, the little black cat roamed around, wanting to go back but feeling hesitant.

Wu Mu perched on a tree, his tail swaying uncertainly. After all, he had broken the rabbit himself, yet his smelly brother had scratched his face over a mere tattered rabbit!

As he thought about this, Wu Mu grew even more angry.

An angry black cat needed an outlet for his frustration, so he set his sights on Xu Liu, who often ridiculed Yun Zhao, in the market.

With light paws landing on the eaves of Xu Liu's house, Wu Mu casually moved aside a piece of roof tile and lowered his head to take a peek. As expected, Xu Liu was in the kitchen, preparing those squids.

Xu Liu and his brothers happily skewered the squids onto bamboo skewers. Someone chuckled and praised, "Brother Xu is truly wise, thinking of following Yun Zhao to learn the seasoning recipe."

"Hmph, he's just a fool himself. Who told him to come and snatch our business?" Xu Liu sneered. "Only that fallen young master of the Dragon Clan would let his spouse come out and show himself, inviting trouble."

"But do you think he'll seek revenge?"

Xu Liu laughed, "Him? If he had a bit of spiritual power left, he wouldn't need to set up a stall and run a kindergarten. Look at the young master of the Mountain Spirit Clan, the difference between him and Yun Zhao is like night and day. What can these two stray dogs do when they band together?"

"Hahaha, Brother Xu makes a valid point!"

"Come on, let's hurry and prepare. These baskets of squids will be delivered to the Wolf Clan tomorrow."

"Got it!"

The group of people busily chatted and worked, making Wu Mu's fur stand on end.

Even he, who had always been wild and unruly, knew that Ao Yu had become like this because of his battle in the Abyss and protecting the Spirit Void. Now, he was being mocked by beneficiaries like this, which was truly despicable!

Wu Mu narrowed his cat eyes, quietly crouching down, and gradually, a cold intent spread in his gaze towards the people in the house.

When these people finished preparing the squids and seasoning for tomorrow and started to leave the kitchen, Wu Mu leaped down from the roof and landed lightly on the kitchen stove.

There were many bottles and jars placed on the stove. Wu Mu leaned over and sniffed, an idea forming in his mind.

As a qualified spirit cat, he never lacked tools to tease these foolish people.

He took out a small package from his storage space and shook it directly into each small bottle. The remaining contents were sprinkled on the squids, and he even took care to smear them evenly with his paws.

After completing the busy task, Wu Mu lifted his front paws with disgust and shook them off. He held his tail up high and bumped his head against the window, flipping himself out.

With his head held high, he shook off the dust from his fur when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure flashing across the roof opposite. His heart skipped a beat, causing him to lose focus on what lay beneath his feet.

The rain had made the window sill extremely slippery, and Wu Mu experienced firsthand what it meant for a cat to lose its footing. His four paws slid uncontrollably, and with his center of gravity unstable, he ended up tumbling forward and plunging headfirst into a stack of firewood outside the window.

Covered in damp and dusty debris, which irritated his nose, Wu Mu fought hard to resist the urge to sneeze and wake up Xu Liu and the others. He forcibly held back the desire to sneeze, using his front paws to wipe his nose.

Just as he was doing so, a hand suddenly gripped the nape of his neck, lifting him up. A faint voice sounded in his ear, tinged with unmistakable disdain, "What are you doing here?"

Author's note:

That's it for this chapter!