Chapter 101: Pushing Open

Every time the butler A Fu passed by the Merman Clan’s Sacred Ground, her footsteps would involuntarily lighten. This had been going on for some time now.

The Merman Clan’s Sacred Ground was located in the place in the South Sea where spiritual energy was most abundant. On one hand, it housed the memorial tablets of the successive Merman Clan Chiefs; on the other, it served as the clan leader’s cultivation ground. Even young Zhi’an had been allowed to enter as a special exception.

The butler had sealed off all information about Zuo Yuanxi’s injury, not daring to let any rumors spread.

She was well aware of the Merman Clan’s current situation. Since ancient times, the Merman Clan had never been among the top races among all demons. Although they possessed an innate talent for manipulating Illusion Techniques, their physical bodies were not very strong and could easily be ambushed. During the primordial era when all sorts of ferocious beasts and devil gods roamed freely, the Merman Clan had merely managed to maintain a precarious foothold in one corner.

Later, as spiritual energy gradually thinned, those legendary gods and devils vanished, and powerful races disappeared from the mortal world for various reasons. The Merman Clan encountered new crises—not just them, but all demon races faced the same problems.

The talents of newborn children became increasingly uneven. Children with good talent grew rarer, while mediocre ones multiplied. Offspring were the hope of any clan; the inability to produce exceptionally talented children meant the clan had no future.

It wasn’t until Zuo Yuanxi was born that things changed. Even as a young child, she displayed extraordinary talent. Before she had even reached adulthood, she could already toy with the clan’s elders using her Illusion Techniques. The clan leader was overjoyed and placed all her hopes on her.

Zuo Yuanxi did not disappoint. In an environment where spiritual energy was growing ever scarcer, she was in no way inferior to their ancestors. Not only did she master Illusion Techniques to perfection, but she even triumphed over the Flood Dragon Clan—renowned for their tough hides and thick flesh—in physical combat, the Merman Clan’s greatest weakness.

From then on, the Merman Clan’s status rose with the tide. Even the arrogant Flood Dragon King didn’t dare raise his voice in front of Zuo Yuanxi, and the other races naturally began to show respect toward the Merman Clan. The South Sea ushered in a millennium of peace.

However, after Zuo Yuanxi, the Merman Clan produced no more children capable of shouldering the clan’s burdens. She had searched for a successor for a thousand years, but in all that time, not a single worthy candidate had emerged to inherit the position of clan leader.

Unable to achieve ascension, their lifespans were limited, and the older generation had all perished. Zuo Yuanxi found herself in a situation where she had no one to entrust the clan to. She knew that the Merman Clan’s decline after her death was inevitable, so she could only do her utmost to provide a relatively stable environment for her clansmen after she was gone.

The merfolk didn’t know about Zuo Yuanxi’s physical condition, but they did know that the Merman Clan had no successor to the clan leader.

Thus, if something happened to Zuo Yuanxi, it would inevitably bring panic to the entire Merman Clan. The butler had been preparing to summon the clan’s best healer to treat the clan leader, but the little Pallas’s cat demon—who appeared to be in even worse shape—refused to allow it.

The little Pallas’s cat demon was covered in blood, with a gaping wound piercing her chest cavity, but she was extremely insistent. Moreover, she guaranteed that she alone could solve Zuo Yuanxi’s problem, so the butler stepped aside and let the little Pallas’s cat demon treat the clan leader.

During this time, the butler also stuffed young Zhi’an with many sacred healing medicines. Only after stabilizing her own condition could she treat the patient. As Nian Zhi’an swallowed the medicines, she sorted through Zuo Yuanxi’s divine soul. Things went even more smoothly than she had expected; in less than three days, she had stabilized Zuo Yuanxi’s state.

During this period, she also discovered that Zuo Yuanxi’s Merfolk Pearl was only half intact. So she cut out half of her own Demon Core and redeemed some expensive materials from the System Mall to fully restore Zuo Yuanxi’s Merfolk Pearl. After all, it was for her wife—what she used had to be the best.

What? The little system’s private stash of points was nearly depleted? No problem. Once this world ended, there would be another huge influx of points, and the little system would become a rich system again. By her calculations based on current point earnings, she should be able to pay off her debt to the little system within her lifetime… probably.

The butler arranged a room in the Sacred Ground for young Zhi’an, allowing her to recuperate in this spiritually abundant place as a token of the Merman Clan’s gratitude.

Less than half a day later, Zuo Yuanxi awoke, seemingly startled from a nightmare. When she woke, her face was extremely pale, and her expression somewhat scattered, as if it took her a while to distinguish dream from reality.

But waking up was good. The butler breathed a sigh of relief. She was just about to explain the situation with that prisoner to Zuo Yuanxi as Nian Zhi’an had instructed when she saw the clan leader—whose composure never wavered even if the sky fell—show panic for the first time.

“Where is she?”

The butler froze for a moment before realizing that the clan leader must have been referring to Furball… no, Miss Zhi’an.

“Are you asking about Miss Zhi’an? She’s in the next room…” Before the butler could finish, Zuo Yuanxi staggered out.

Pushing open the door to the next room, the butler saw the scene inside and felt her heart skip a beat.

The drab gray furball was huddled on the floor amid a pool of blood. The fur that had once been fluffy was now matted into bloody clumps.

Since it would have been inconvenient to disturb her during treatment—and the butler hadn’t anticipated that the little Pallas’s cat demon, who still had the energy to save someone, would be in such dire straits—no one had noticed her lying on the cold floor, barely clinging to life. Zuo Yuanxi, her eyes instantly turning red, berated the butler harshly.

The butler had served Zuo Yuanxi for many years but had never been scolded so severely by the clan leader. It was her own negligence; apologies were too late now. She could only hurry to summon a doctor for Miss Zhi’an.

The clan’s doctor arrived quickly, but she couldn’t wake Miss Zhi’an. Then the clan leader summoned the Old Ginseng King. After examining Miss Zhi’an, he simply sighed. The butler had seen the prescription he wrote before; it was mainly wound medicines and tonics to build up vitality—nothing special.

Seeing this prescription, the butler seemed to understand what the Old Ginseng King meant to imply. It was like what doctors tell hopeless patients: eat whatever they want…

“Let her rest well. She needs to keep taking the medicines I prescribed. Whatever she recovers to will depend on her fate.” The Old Ginseng King shook his head with a sigh, leaning on his cane. He was the oldest known demon around, with superb medical skills and vast experience. If even he was helpless, then no one in the world could probably cure Miss Zhi’an.

The clan leader’s expression was extremely grim. She kept the Old Ginseng King as a guest in the clan for a long time, laying out all sorts of heavenly treasures and earth treasures before him to see if any could be of use. Unfortunately, after careful inspection, he shook his head.

Sensing the clan leader’s pity, the Old Ginseng King offered kind words of comfort: she shouldn’t be so pessimistic. With plenty of treasures to nourish her, the patient could live like an ordinary demon. It was just that, having lost half her Demon Core and with damage to her divine soul, her lifespan would likely be shorter. Ascension was out of the question, but in this era where no one could ascend anyway, the latter wasn’t so important.

After saying this, the Old Ginseng King left. But the clan leader sat desolately in the most spiritually dense spot of the Sacred Ground, cradling the still-unconscious furball. Days passed, the sun rose and set, and the underwater scenery shifted time and again.

The butler stood guard nearby. Thinking of how the fluffy little bundle had been wounded so badly, she couldn’t help furrowing her brow in indignation for her.

“Who could have hurt her like this? Was it that prisoner Miss Zhi’an brought back?” No matter who it was, the butler knew that once Miss Zhi’an woke, the clan leader would never let them off.

“…N-no, it was me.” After a moment of silence, the clan leader gave her an answer she would never have dreamed of.

The butler inwardly celebrated not having said anything more extreme.

She shut her mouth awkwardly and stood quietly to the side. Such a stifling atmosphere—she had only felt it once before, back when the late wife passed away.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

The butler heard the clan leader’s murmur. Her voice was very soft, carrying a faint tremor that was hard to detect.

Of course, the clan leader couldn’t have deliberately harmed Miss Zhi’an; otherwise, Miss Zhi’an never would have cared for her at such cost to herself.

Yet the clan leader seemed unable to get past this hurdle. Tears fell from her eyes onto Miss Zhi’an’s soft fur, condensing into several pearls. In her coma, Miss Zhi’an seemed to sense the clan leader’s emotions, and her tail twitched slightly.

The clan leader immediately cradled Miss Zhi’an anxiously, but unfortunately, she did not wake.

The butler watched as the clan leader—who had always been the best at controlling her emotions—grew despondent again. She then carefully placed the furball back in her arms.

Something was wrong—very wrong…

The clan leader’s emotions were fluctuating too wildly, which was very unlike her. And wasn’t she being too intimate with Miss Zhi’an?

The butler lowered her gaze, burying all her doubts deep in her heart.

Could it be that the clan leader had taken a liking to this child without her knowing?

The child looked cute and knew how to act spoiled; it was perfectly normal for the clan leader to fancy her. If this could help the clan leader shake off the shadow left by the late wife, that would be for the best…

But just as the butler was mentally sketching out plans for the clan leader’s wedding, she went and did something utterly baffling once more.

For days, the clan leader hadn’t so much as closed her eyes or touched food. She had simply cradled the furry little ball in the heart of the Sacred Ground, helping the comatose Zhi’an digest the medicinal power surging through her body.

However, envoys from the Demon Alliance had arrived—along with some from the Human Cultivator Alliance who reeked of hostile intent. Zuo Yuanxi couldn’t very well ignore them, so the butler watched with wide eyes as her own clan leader produced a golden cage. She lined the inside with thick padding before gently placing Miss Zhi’an within and fastening one of the chains inside to her right hind paw.

This wasn’t some cheap little toy. It was an authentic magical artifact, once used to imprison enemy captives. Legend even held that it had once trapped a true dragon.

“Clan Leader! W-Why are you locking Miss Zhi’an in there?” The butler thought this was deeply inappropriate.

“To make sure she never has a chance to leave again.” Zuo Yuanxi stared at Zhi’an in the cage. For some reason, the gentleness vanished from her expression.

She couldn’t understand why Lin Ying’an had come back. Why risk her entire future just to save me?

Zuo Yuanxi had examined her own body and knew exactly how much Zhi’an had done for her.

Because their last parting had been so ugly, Zuo Yuanxi couldn’t help suspecting Zhi’an’s motives. She feared it was all some ploy to get close to her again, and rebuilding trust would take time.

But Zuo Yuanxi was certain of one thing: this time, whether Lin Ying’an wanted to or not, she would die at her side—no exceptions.

Zhi’an had remained unconscious for days, leaving Zuo Yuanxi in agony for just as long. The entire Merfolk Clan had suffered under their clan leader’s foul mood.

At last, sensing Lin Ying’an stirring awake, Zuo Yuanxi hurried to Zhi’an’s side. She told herself she should be happy about it, but when their eyes met once more, silence stretched between them. She didn’t know what to say—or rather, there were too many questions, and she had no idea where to begin. In the end, she simply took out the medicine she had prepared in advance and fed it to her one spoonful at a time through the bars of the cage.

She had added extra gentian to the brew, so bitter it nearly sent Zhi’an’s soul soaring to the heavens.

Once the medicine was done, the porridge Zuo Yuanxi had instructed her clansmen to prepare was ready as well. She got set to feed that to her too.

Zhi’an said nothing about the cage, and neither did Zuo Yuanxi. On that matter, it was as if they shared a silent understanding.

The silence was more terrifying than if her wife had grabbed her by the scruff and given her a good thrashing. Zhi’an let out a pair of pitiful little “wu wu” whines and nudged Zuo Yuanxi’s hand with her head, hoping to stir some pity in her wife’s heart.

But Zuo Yuanxi callously pushed her head away. Zhi’an’s eyes flew wide in disbelief. Unconvinced, she nuzzled up again—only to earn a single frosty sentence from Zuo Yuanxi: “Stop it. Your sympathy ploy isn’t going to work. If that wound of yours splits open again, no anesthetic for you—I’ll just stitch it closed with a needle.”

Zhi’an hadn’t shed a tear amid all her brushes with gruesome death, but one sentence from Zuo Yuanxi had her eyes welling up instantly.

I’m gonna cry, I really am! Just pet me already! Can you really turn down a Pallas’s cat this adorable?