Chapter 86: Injury and Illness

Detection Report: Extremely Dangerous (Requires Key Monitoring)

Soul State: Backlash (Currently suffering backlash from a forbidden technique; it is recommended to cease use immediately. Given that the monitored subject’s strength poses a potential threat to this world, the executor is authorized to initiate the cleanup protocol.)

Physical State: Three injuries unhealed (Two wounds have been corroded by toxins; it is recommended to clear the toxins before treating the wounds. Detoxification methods can be purchased from the System Mall…)

…

Half of the densely packed page of detection report consisted of advertisements for the System Mall. Nian Zhi’an had long since grown accustomed to such things and could ignore them entirely; only the opening sentences of each section truly mattered.

Her gaze fell on the words “forbidden technique backlash,” and a chill rose from the depths of her heart.

The merfolk were an ancient race with a long inheritance. During the flourishing era of the primordial times, they had left behind numerous forbidden techniques that later generations could not decipher. These were guarded by each successive clan leader precisely to prevent some overambitious junior from recklessly studying them, only to lose their life in the process—or worse, implicate the entire clan.

Zuo Yuanxi was undoubtedly the merfolk clan’s genius. The first thing she did upon succeeding as clan leader was to unearth those forbidden techniques for study. But after researching them for a time, she had grimly resealed them all and buried them in the Merman Clan’s Forbidden Ground. Nian Zhi’an had even once heard her mention in passing that she intended to destroy every last one during her tenure as clan leader.

Although Nian Zhi’an had no idea what those forbidden techniques entailed, anything that filled even the clan’s genius with such profound dread could not be touched lightly.

So why had Zuo Yuanxi suddenly lost her mind and gone meddling with them herself? Hadn’t she said she would destroy them? It was truly worrisome.

Describing Zuo Yuanxi’s physical condition as riddled with holes would not have been an exaggeration. In fact, it was utterly astonishing that she could stand there conversing normally with her at all.

Her soul had suffered backlash from a forbidden technique… Her mind had fallen into disorder, which explained why she had later utterly destroyed this world’s chance of ascension, severing the connection between the upper and lower realms—only to then use the male lead as a sacrifice, attempting to forge a new Heavenly Ladder from his flesh, blood, and soul. Those contradictory actions could indeed be attributed to a deranged mind.

The System hadn’t dared probe too deeply for now, so it remained unknown which specific forbidden technique had backlashed against her or how to resolve it. Although helping her ascend and remolding her immortal body afterward would solve everything, whether she could endure until ascension in her current state was another question entirely. By comparison, her external wounds were minor! The Pallas’s cat’s face showed no expression, but its tail trembled uncontrollably, blurring into afterimages.

However, Nian Zhi’an suddenly shivered. Her entire body—the whole Pallas’s cat—froze stiff because the person holding her had grabbed her fateful tail.

“Whimper…” The Pallas’s cat dumbly turned its head to glance at Zuo Yuanxi, then at its own tail, before extending a paw to try fishing the tail back.

“Your tail isn’t very obedient. How about we just chop it off?” The fluffy tail rubbed against Zuo Yuanxi’s arm, so she seized it outright.

The merfolk holding her spoke such cruel words, yet Nian Zhi’an had no choice but to pretend she hadn’t understood a thing. She could only mewl plaintively at her twice before obediently nestling back into her embrace.

Paradoxically, the very merfolk who had just suggested chopping off her tail now fiddled with the fluffy appendage idly, seemingly quite taken with it.

Upon returning to the villa, the butler couldn’t hide her surprise upon seeing the little creature cradled in the clan leader’s arms.

“You recognize it?”

“Yes… I believe so. Please wait a moment.” The butler hurried off to the Cat House and, sure enough, found an empty cage.

“My deepest apologies, milady. This little one was brought here by two of the clan’s children. It’s not a cat, but I found its appearance rather amusing and thought you might like it, so I took the liberty of keeping it in the Cat House. It must have escaped because the cage wasn’t latched properly.” The butler had inspected every cat cage before returning to the living room. Ten thousand question marks raced through her mind as she gazed at the Pallas’s cat lazing languidly in the clan leader’s arms.

How had this little one gotten out? Had she truly forgotten to close its door? That shouldn’t be possible.

There were no surveillance cameras in the Cat House, so despite her bewilderment, the butler had no recourse. She could only pin the blame squarely on herself.

Zuo Yuanxi did not reprimand the butler over such a trifling matter and simply instructed her to fetch the medicine kit to tend to the little creature’s leg wound.

The butler assented and rummaged out the medicine kit, bringing it to the living room. When she returned, she was astonished to discover that the clan leader was still holding the little one.

In the past, no matter how adorable the cat, the clan leader would lose interest after a couple of pets and have it carted away. For this little one to remain in her arms for so long was truly remarkable.

Perhaps the clan leader truly did like this type of creature?

As the butler applied a spirit pill to the injured hind leg from the medicine kit, she reflected that everything in the clan leader’s kit was a treasure without exception. The little one would likely be bouncing around lively by tomorrow. The clan leader truly doted on it.

Zuo Yuanxi wasn’t giving Nian Zhi’an such special treatment because of her foolish cuteness. Ever since her powers had begun to spiral somewhat out of control, her entire body had felt ice-cold. This little creature was like a fluffy furnace; using its belly to warm her hands was just right.

The Merman Clan Chief was fabulously wealthy and didn’t spare the spirit pills in the slightest.

The spirit pill felt refreshingly cool when applied, and Nian Zhi’an had just begun to stretch lazily when Zuo Yuanxi picked her up by the scruff of the neck and set her down on the floor.

“Awoo?”

Zuo Yuanxi locked eyes with the little Pallas’s cat cocking its head at her for a few seconds. An inexplicable sense of familiarity made her profoundly uncomfortable, dampening her desire to keep it by two degrees.

“Investigate whether this belongs to some zoo.” Zuo Yuanxi used a spell to remove the fur clinging to her body.

“You… don’t want to keep it?” What a dainty, adorable little thing. It was rare to find one that the clan leader would pet more than twice; shouldn’t she keep it by her side to relieve her boredom?

“Awoo woo!”

“See, this little one likes you too! When it first arrived, it wouldn’t even acknowledge me, but the moment it saw you, it became incredibly affectionate!”

“Likes me?” Zuo Yuanxi curved her lips in an enigmatic smile. She leaned down slightly and prodded Nian Zhi’an’s head with a fair finger. “Do you like me?”

Nian Zhi’an stiffened for a moment, then nuzzled her head against Zuo Yuanxi’s hand.

“See, such an affectionate Pallas’s cat is a rare find!” the butler pressed her advantage.

“A Fu, why do I feel like you’re desperately trying to get me to adopt a pet?” Zuo Yuanxi looked at the butler somewhat helplessly.

Since the clan leader had asked outright, Butler A Fu cleared her throat at once and recited like she was reading from a book: “Keeping pets at home has the effect of relieving stress. When the pet actively approaches you…”

“Stop.” Zuo Yuanxi halted her with a headache. “No need to recite whatever you found online. Take this little one away, clean it up tomorrow. I’m heading back to wash up and rest first.”

“Yes.”

Zuo Yuanxi then glanced at Nian Zhi’an again. “If this little one has an owner, we must of course return it.”

The butler wilted for only a second before proactively suggesting, “How about your subordinate finds a few little Pallas’s cat demons to keep you company?”

“Don’t go troubling them, or the Demon Clan Alliance will come complaining to me again.”

“Yes…”

She was, after all, the butler who had served her for so many years. Seeing her sigh in disappointment, Zuo Yuanxi compromised as she departed, turning back to say, “If it truly has no owner, you may keep it if you like.”

“…Thank you, milady.” The butler held the Pallas’s cat and gave Zuo Yuanxi a slight bow. Only after the other woman vanished through the door of the master bedroom on the second floor did A Fu sigh in admiration. “You truly are a lucky little one to catch the clan leader’s eye.”

The butler knew full well that her own fondness alone wouldn’t suffice. If the clan leader hadn’t taken a bit of a liking to it herself, she never would have permitted a shedding feline creature to remain in the house.

“The spirit pill will heal your leg overnight. We’ll give you a nice bath tomorrow morning. The clan leader has a cleanliness obsession and prefers tidy little animals. It’s impressive she held you for so long.” The butler rubbed the Pallas’s cat’s little head before carrying her off to another empty room.

A little one favored by the clan leader merited a room of its own, separate from the other cats.

Nian Zhi’an was placed in a large cat bed. After bidding her goodnight and turning off the light, the butler left.

Nian Zhi’an wasn’t the least bit sleepy. Not only did she need to contemplate her future plans, but she also had to analyze the day’s events. The tranquil darkness of night provided an excellent environment for thinking…

Click!

In the darkness, the Pallas’s cat’s ears twitched faintly. It seemed she had heard some noise.

“Mm…”

Nian Zhi’an immediately leaped up from the cat nest. With a whoosh, she dashed out, hung onto the door handle, and used the weight of her body to open the door once more.

Outside, it was pitch black. Nian Zhi’an ran up to the second floor; the noise seemed to be coming from the master bedroom.

Inside the master bedroom, Zuo Yuanxi was suppressing her voice as large beads of sweat slid down her forehead. The white gauze that Nian Zhi’an had just complained about blocking her view had half fallen away, revealing a hideous wound on her fair back—deep enough to expose the bone.

Corrupt flesh around the wound oozed black-red blood. Even when the drops fell onto the quilt made from spirit materials, they corroded a hole in it. How much worse for Zuo Yuanxi’s body of flesh and blood?

This wound had accompanied her for a century. To this day, no method of detoxification had been found. Every so often, the Fei Poison would flare up, inflicting unbearable agony on her. This was the price she had paid for sealing that little ghost with the Fei Beast bloodline. A desperate gamble…

Yet she had paid such a heavy price and still failed to kill a little ghost who was all flash on the outside but rotten within. She had even been injured by him in return.

How laughable. Could that cat’s jest really have come true? Was this little ghost the illegitimate child of the Heavenly Dao?