Chapter 1134: The White Cat
The street was quiet. A shaft of sunlight streamed in and fell across the counter, forming a patch of warm light.
The white cat lay with her eyes closed beneath the warmth, relaxed and at ease.
Sensing someone passing the doorway, the white cat lifted her eyelids lazily. When she saw the figure entering, her eyes suddenly widened, and she sprang upright on her hind legs. "Meow! Mr. Qin!"
Qin Sang paused in surprise. His gaze swept quickly across the shop and found no one else inside. "You recognize me?"
He had followed Wandering Man’s instructions to locate this shop. Wandering Man had said he could contact old acquaintances here, demonic beasts from Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea. He had not expected to find only a cat.
As Qin Sang examined the white cat, a flash of memory struck him.
This was the very same white cat who had once sold him the cave dwelling with a spiritual eye in Guyuan Kingdom!
Back then, Senior Brother Wen of Shaohua Mountain had sent him to Guyuan Kingdom to deal with a disciple who had cultivated an evil art and brought calamity upon mortals. That was when Qin Sang had first met the white cat.
From the cat, he had learned that a bamboo demon senior had enlightened her with Imperial Elixir. After gaining intelligence, she had cultivated in that cave dwelling.
But she had waited and waited, and the bamboo demon senior never returned.
With no guidance and no one to instruct her on the path ahead, she had decided to travel to Heavenly Demon Hill in search of the Dao. She had traded the cave dwelling for a geomantic map and protective artifacts.
"Hmm? So it was you! The bamboo demon who enlightened you was Senior Wandering Man!" Qin Sang finally understood.
When Wandering Man had still possessed the body of Pure Blessing Bamboo, he had wandered to Guyuan Kingdom and enlightened the white cat. They had agreed that he would return later and take her back to Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea of Heavenly Demon Hill.
Unexpectedly, disaster had struck. Pure Blessing Bamboo had failed his tribulation. His soul had fused with Wandering Man’s, his cultivation had been completely lost, and he had struggled to preserve himself. Naturally, he had been unable to attend to the white cat.
The white cat did not appear surprised upon seeing Qin Sang. She had clearly known of his relationship with Wandering Man. Yet when she met an old acquaintance, there was no joy in her eyes.
"Mr. Qin... Could it be that the bamboo demon senior..." Hesitation and disbelief surfaced in her gaze.
Earlier, Wandering Man had sent her a message. If anything happened to him, he would entrust his affairs to Qin Sang.
She had waited many years in Immortal Demon City without any news from him. Now Qin Sang had arrived alone, and Wandering Man was nowhere in sight. An ominous feeling rose within her.
She had always possessed boundless confidence in the bamboo demon senior. She had never imagined he could fail.
Qin Sang’s eyes dimmed. He nodded slowly and sighed. "The senior failed his tribulation..."
The white cat’s eyes instantly reddened. Tears welled up and filled them. She stared blankly out the window, then curled into herself, burying her head without a word.
Wandering Man had enlightened her and granted her intelligence. It had been a kindness akin to rebirth.
When Qin Sang had parted from her years ago, she had merely been at the Ordinary Demon Realm. Now she had already reached the Demonic Core Realm.
Aside from descendants of divine beast bloodlines, demonic beasts cultivated far more slowly than human cultivators.
For the white cat to achieve such progress, her own talent must have been respectable, and Wandering Man’s careful guidance must have contributed greatly. After all, he had once been a Transformation Realm bamboo demon and understood demonic beasts thoroughly.
To her, Wandering Man had been both a master and a father. Their bond had run deep.
After a long silence, the white cat raised her head. Her eyes were still red. "I’m sorry, Mr. Qin. I lost my composure."
Qin Sang understood her feelings. Seeing that she had steadied herself, he explained his purpose, "I understand your grief. Senior Wandering Man was also my close friend and benefactor. Before he passed, he entrusted certain matters to me, including Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea and you fellow Daoists. He had hoped that after I formed my Spiritual Infant, I could lend assistance. Unfortunately, my aptitude proved lacking. I cultivated bitterly for many years but failed to break through the bottleneck. I came this time to make contact first, to inform you of the senior’s fate and to see what I might be able to do..."
"This is not the place to talk. Please follow me." The white cat raised a paw, shut the doors and windows, leapt down from the counter, and led him into the back hall.
Inside her cave dwelling, Qin Sang noticed that the arrangement resembled her former cave dwelling almost exactly. She was clearly a nostalgic cat demon.
"After parting from you back then, it was thanks to the geomantic map, artifacts, and the Spirit Evasion Art you gifted me that I managed to pass through human territory safely and reach Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea to meet Grandpa Willow..." The white cat steadied her emotions and recounted the past.
"Grandpa Willow? The willow tree spirit?" Qin Sang asked. He had heard Wandering Man mention him before.
The old willow tree had been the only late-stage Demonic Core great demon in Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea. It had cultivated successfully as the spirit of a willow tree. There had also been a middle-stage Demonic Core macaque demon, both of whom were trustworthy.
The white cat nodded. "After the bamboo demon senior disappeared, Grandpa Willow and Grandpa Macaque struggled to hold things together. Later, when the bamboo demon senior finally returned, we learned he had become human. At that time, he was only at the Core Formation Realm and could not reveal his identity before forming his Spiritual Infant. So in the entire Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea, only Grandpa Willow and I knew his true identity. With the senior’s guidance, I achieved what I have today. I had long learned of you from him. He valued you highly and lamented your disappearance every time he mentioned it. Fortunately, you are safe."
After listening to her detailed account, Qin Sang roughly understood Wandering Man’s experiences.
Wandering Man had intended to reunite with his old acquaintances only after forming his Spiritual Infant. He had been too unique, an anomaly within the cultivation world. Revealing his identity too casually, even among close companions, could have led to unforeseen danger.
He had never expected the sudden invasion of Sin Abyss.
Heavenly Demon Hill had once formed an alliance with the human race.
When war intensified, the demon race could not remain idle. They would dispatch demonic beast armies for support. Some would be led by demon kings; others would temporarily serve under human cultivators.
As for internal deployments within the demon race, that had been decided by the demon kings.
The master of Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea had remained hidden for too long. Other demon kings had begun to suspect something. Without the protection of a demon king, the entire region might have been sent to serve as cannon fodder.
After returning from Ziwei Palace, Wandering Man’s cultivation had progressed rapidly. He had broken through consecutively and finally possessed the strength to protect himself. He had returned to Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea in time and revealed his identity to the willow demon.
After discussion, they had set up a spiritual array at his former cave dwelling as camouflage.
Because the alliance between the two domains had not yet fallen behind and the war had not reached its fiercest stage, even though the master of Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea had not appeared openly, they had managed to conceal the truth from others.
"Does every demon king control a demon city?" Qin Sang asked curiously.
One of his purposes in meeting the white cat had been to learn about Heavenly Demon Hill.
The white cat shook her head repeatedly. "How is that possible? Imperial Elixir is incomparably precious. Demon kings only part with a small portion to enlighten their descendants or promising little demons as confidants to help manage their territories. Truly intelligent demonic beasts are actually very rare. Most still retain their wild nature and cannot remain obediently in a demon city. Aside from Immortal Demon City, there is actually only one true demon city in Heavenly Demon Hill. It lies in the far north, at the entrance to Ancient Immortal Battlefield. It is called Wanyao City. The city lord is Lord Feathered Demon King. It is said that most of the city’s residents are human..."
