Chapter 7: The Sacred Beast Returns

The trail of blood ended at the small creature’s feet.

Its eyes were closed as if resting, and its breathing was weak.

Jiang Niannian hid her presence and quietly approached.

The small creature was pitch black, except for a small circle of white fur around its right eye. It had horns on its head and a tail, and its body resembled that of a cat, though it was much larger.

Wait a minute, this appearance—wasn’t this the juvenile version of the sacred beast, Moon Shadow Beast?!

Moon Shadow Beast, formed from the yin aspect of chaos combined with a Pangu’s eye, is the counterpart to the sacred beast Sun Light Beast, just like the black part in the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams diagram.

It appeared in the first chapter of the second volume of the book, where the female protagonist, Tang Muruo, in order to extract the pure yin essence from its body for cultivation, led the third and fourth male leads to the Netherworld to capture it, which took a lot of effort and energy.

Compared to the ferocious behemoth it would become in a decade, this little thing was incredibly adorable.

The protagonist back then would never have guessed that the sacred beast she desperately sought was already in the Rimuli sect ten years earlier!

It’s true that in a big forest, you can find all kinds of beasts.

It was injured, lying weakly in the cold, damp cave.

Jiang Niannian softly spoke, “System, let’s make a deal.”

She blinked, but the system only felt a chill down its spine.

[“What do you want? (’°Δ°`)”]

“Let me borrow 500 points for a bottle of Taiqing Jade Elixir to heal this little guy. I’ll pay it back later.”

[“No! I’m a system with principles!”]

Jiang Niannian sneered, “Come on, you have principles but no bottom line.”

[“Still no!”]

Soft didn’t work, so Jiang Niannian went hard, coldly threatening, “I advise you to give it to me quickly, or else… even I get scared when I get angry.”

[“QAQ, well, it’s not impossible, but you have to answer a question first.”]

“What question?”

[“Why is there always a piano in houses in horror movies?”]

Jiang Niannian, expressionless, said, “Because… the piano~ is haunted!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a bottle of Elixir appeared in her sleeve.

[“Points -500, current points: -440.”]

Jiang Niannian gently held the little creature in her arms, tilted the bottle to its mouth, and used her hands, infused with spiritual energy, to lightly touch its wound.

After a while, the little beast opened its large, round eyes, looking at her in a daze.

Then it squinted aggressively, baring a row of sharp teeth.

Jiang Niannian was startled and wanted to throw it away, but the little thing quickly bit her hand and wouldn’t let go no matter how hard she tried to shake it off.

“Ow! I saved you, and this is how you repay me?! Let go, you little thing!”

Suddenly, the small beast froze, let go, and dropped to the ground with a thud. Before Jiang Niannian could react, it had already snuggled into her arms, cuddling up to her affectionately and rubbing its head against her.

“Oww~”

Jiang Niannian, wary of its intentions, lifted it by the scruff of its neck and tossed it away.

But the little creature, having regained some strength after drinking the elixir, quickly pounced back onto her, climbing up her leg, its little paws resting on her hand as it sniffed her scent.

“Oww~”

Was it trying to smell her scent?

Why did this little thing have two faces?

She tapped its head and asked, “Would you like to follow me?”

“Oww! Oww!” The small beast jumped up and down on her, waving its paws, and the once calm lake beneath the cliff suddenly surged, roaring like a tidal wave, spiraling upward like a tornado, with a mighty wind.

“What are you doing?!” Jiang Niannian held her hands out in front of her, trying to shield herself from the oncoming wave but still being forced back several steps by the wind and waves.

To her surprise, in the next moment, the lake water suddenly condensed, forming a small, shiny jade-green pendant!

“Is this… a spirit spring?!”

“Oww~” The little beast nodded, rubbing her hand in a flattering manner.

A spirit spring, filled with abundant spiritual energy, is a prime location for cultivation and healing and an invaluable treasure!

What an unexpected gain.

Although Jiang Niannian was puzzled, she didn’t think too much about it. As long as it was willing to follow her, that was enough.

At least she had successfully tamed it.

“Tamed” refers to a beast recognizing its master, forming a spiritual contract.

She had expected it to be a challenging task, but it turned out to be so easy that she even gave it a fitting name—”Coal Ball”!

Jiang Niannian left the cave and saw that it was already noon.

She couldn’t delay any longer. She needed to capture a spirit beast quickly; her little cub at home must be hungry.

The forest behind the sect was thick with trees, with sunlight filtering through the leaves, casting scattered patches of light.

However, after walking in the forest for a short while, Jiang Niannian spotted three little pigs strolling together down the mountain path.

These spirit pigs, called Humming Pigs, had tender, delicious meat.

Jiang Niannian’s eyes lit up, and just as she was about to leap forward, a black shadow suddenly shot out from her arms like lightning, pouncing on one of the pigs, showing its fierce nature by taking a big bite.

The scent of blood filled the air, mixed with a faint smell of meat.

Jiang Niannian wasn’t too surprised by this. After all, Moon Shadow Beast was naturally ferocious.

The bitten pig burst into tears and let out an ear-piercing cry: “Fuck, fuck, who is this bastard! The stupid turtle son of a bitch attacked me by surprise, showing no martial ethics, and trying to bite me to death!”

The other two pigs, frightened, scrambled into the forest. Jiang Niannian quickly gave chase, but the two pigs, running hard, slammed into a tree and fainted.

Jiang Niannian: … Waiting for pigs by the tree?

Jiang Niannian tied up the two Humming Pigs, and after Coal Ball finished devouring its prey without leaving a trace, she dragged the two pigs down the mountain.

As she left the dense forest, the two pigs woke up, their eyes rolling as they began to act coquettishly, trying to win sympathy: “Don’t eat us! We’re so cute; how could you eat us? I hate you~”

Vomit!

Jiang Niannian rolled her eyes, and her stomach churned.

Your mom, this is too greasy—you’re a natural-born oil master, an oil king among men! You’re overflowing with oiliness, with endless oily intentions. My fate is in my oil, not in the heavens! Even the old oil vendor can’t outsell you, and Daqing Oilfield can’t outproduce you!”

(T/N: This passage is a humorous and exaggerated way to describe someone who is extremely slick, greasy, or over-the-top in their behavior, using a series of puns and wordplay involving “oil” (油) in Chinese.

Daqing Oil Field is the largest oil field in the People’s Republic of China, located between the Songhua River and Nen River in Heilong jiang province.)

“Don’t waste your breath; you’re definitely going to die. My little cub is too weak; he needs some meat to build up his strength.”

Hearing this, the two pigs let out a heart-wrenching wail, startling the birds perched on the branches.

Not far away, in a small courtyard, Yin Li, dressed in a thin robe, was sitting on the steps in front of the house, seemingly waiting for someone.

With a high nose bridge, narrow eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, long eyelashes, and pale, almost translucent skin revealing faint blood vessels, he exuded the delicate beauty of a sickly person.

He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there, with fallen leaves covering his shoulders.

From time to time, he would cough lightly.

The weather was still a bit chilly; why hadn’t he put on more clothes?

“Young master!” Jiang Niannian called out, quickening her pace.

Hearing the voice, Yin Li looked over and saw the woman hurrying towards him, with a black ball perched on her shoulder and holding two large pink objects in her arms.

His senses were dull due to his weak body, so he squinted to see clearly when Jiang Niannian walked into the courtyard.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

If he wasn’t mistaken…

The woman was carrying… two pigs?!