004 Spirit Beast Luo Yao
“What’s your name?”
The little girl, sitting directly under the air conditioner, wasn’t afraid of the cold at all. She blew on the noodles wrapped around her chopsticks.
“My name is… whoosh… Luo Yao… whoosh…”
“Luo Yao… How old are you?”
The little girl put down her chopsticks and looked at Qin Ren thoughtfully.
“At what age are you considered an adult here?”
“Eighteen.”
“I’m eighteen.”
“…”
Qin Ren felt like he was being treated like an idiot. With a merciless iron hand, he reached out and pinched her soft, puffy cheek.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Speak human.”
“Ow, ow, ow!”
Luo Yao opened her mouth, revealing two small, white canine teeth, but found that with her cheek being held by Qin Ren, she couldn’t bite him no matter how she tried. She had no choice but to give up resentfully.
“I… I can’t remember clearly, okay? Anyway, this eminence is already an adult…”
“So? How old exactly?”
“Three…”
“Three?”
“Three hundred and twenty-one.”
“…”
As expected of someone from a xianxia plane. She’s basically an old hag.
“So you’re a cultivator?”
“Qin Ren, can you… can you let go of this eminence first, please?”
“No.”
Qin Ren shook his head. He had already lessened the force, but he was somewhat reluctant to let go.
Because Luo Yao’s face felt really nice. Not only was it smooth and tender, but her skin temperature was actually cool to the touch. Pinching it was like kneading a chilled glutinous rice ball. Shaping it into various forms on a hot summer day was both stress-relieving and refreshing.
“Answer one more question and I’ll let go. Do you do immortal cultivation?”
“Immortal cultivation? Hmph~”
Even with her little cheek pinched by a mere mortal, the corners of Luo Yao’s lips could still curve into a proud arc. She placed a small hand on her hip.
“What’s so great about immortal cultivation? This eminence was born with an immortal root. I am the supreme existence that guards the Flowing Cloud Sect—the Guardian Spirit Beast!”
“Spirit Beast…”
It dawned on Qin Ren. No wonder she seemed a bit dim-witted. Turns out she’s an animal.
An animal taking human form wasn’t too surprising if it happened in a xianxia plane.
Qin Ren finally let go. Luo Yao eagerly took a small bite of noodles, and her eyes sparkled with an incredible, bilibili-like light.
“Slow down, no one’s going to fight you for it.”
Watching the ravenous Luo Yao, Qin Ren could understand. A world like hers probably didn’t have industrial seasonings like MSG or chicken essence, and other spices might also be scarce. That’s why she was so obsessed with a bowl of Golden Soup Beef Noodles.
“So how did you get here, and why did you come looking for me?”
“I… munch munch… Sect Master… slurp slurp…”
“Alright, alright, finish eating first, okay?”
Qin Ren couldn’t bear to watch. Fortunately, this kid was a fast eater. By the time he himself had half a bowl left, Luo Yao was already drinking the soup.
————————————
“Ah~”
When the last drop of soup was finished, Luo Yao’s whole body went a little limp as she slumped back in her chair. She rubbed her little tummy, her eyes blissfully narrowed. Her cheeks were flushed pink, clearly still savoring the afterglow.
“Full? Explain now.”
“Mhm, mhm!”
With a grunt, Luo Yao propped herself up straight in the chair using the armrests and began to narrate her story seriously.
“A few hours ago, the Flowing Cloud Sect’s Master and the head disciple were preparing to undergo their tribulation to ascend. I was there protecting them. Who would have known that a tribulation cloud would suddenly light up…”
Luo Yao was very focused, using gestures and movements, trying to describe the scene as grandly as possible to awe Qin Ren.
But after listening for a while, Qin Ren felt it was pretty much the same as a cliché transmigration novel. To put it bluntly, Luo Yao had just been struck by a bolt of lightning that sent her here.
Of course, the prerequisite was, as Bai Jie had said, that the planar barriers had loosened, and the breach happened to be in Rongcheng. So when Luo Yao came to her senses, she was already at a bus stop near Erxian Bridge.
“You even know what a bus is?” Qin Ren was surprised.
“Of course~ We Spirit Beasts are not like those demons who only think about longevity and ascension all day, and we’re certainly not like foolish humans. Once we reach the form-transformation stage, we naturally gain extended life and spiritual awareness. We learn things very quickly~”
“So you came here by bus?” Qin Ren used a napkin to wipe the grease from the corner of her mouth.
“No.” Luo Yao looked a bit regretful, then blushed slightly. “This eminence doesn’t know how to ride a mount called a ‘bus’. And it’s so pitiful to be ridden by so many people…”
To think this kid is actually quite kind.
“Give me your hand.”
After wiping her mouth, Luo Yao gave him her hand to be wiped next.
“And you said you knew how to use chopsticks. You even got soup all over your hands just from eating noodles…”
Qin Ren grumbled under his breath, then jutted his chin.
“Keep talking.”
“Oh, oh…”
Luo Yao watched his movements, her somewhat dazed gaze returning to focus.
“Later, this eminence just walked along the road, not knowing where to go. Then a foolish and arrogant mortal came over and, just like you, suddenly said they wanted to hold me tight.”
Qin Ren figured it was probably a kind-hearted person who saw her walking barefoot on the street and wanted to call the police. Perfectly normal.
“Then she grabbed my hand, but pulled back right after. And then that foolish and arrogant mortal’s eyes became very, very fierce.”
Luo Yao paused and glanced at Qin Ren.
“Fiercer than when you pinched my face…”
“If you don’t finish your story in one go, I’ll pinch you again.”
“Why?!”
“Because when you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.”
Damn it…
Luo Yao felt that this saying must have also come from that Lu Shuren. A mere ancient delicacy, I’ll definitely eat it one day if I get the chance…
She pursed her lips, resentful and unwilling, and continued.
“And then, that mortal started muttering something about ‘momo’ and suddenly took out a strange thing to attack me.”
“‘Momo’? Demonic Scion?”
“Mhm, mhm!”
Luo Yao nodded vigorously. A trace of vigilance flashed in her eyes, but it quickly softened as she looked at Qin Ren’s face.
“She attacked me, so I dodged and ran. Then she started chasing me. When we got near here, this eminence suddenly sensed the presence of very thin spiritual energy. I followed the spiritual energy and hid inside. After coming up from that iron box and finding your Grotto-Heaven, I was a little tired, so I rested for a while. When I woke up, I saw you.”
…
After that whole explanation, Qin Ren pretty much understood.
It seemed that after transmigrating, Luo Yao had run into an exorcist. Although Qin Ren knew his Stigma wouldn’t react to Luo Yao, that exorcist must have learned of Luo Yao’s unusual nature through other means and mistaken her for a Demonic Scion, starting a pursuit. And then, by a strange twist of fate, Luo Yao had fled all the way to his place.
“Hey? That’s not right.”
Qin Ren found a blind spot.
“You call yourself a High Immortal and some Guardian Spirit Beast. All you know how to do is run and hide? You didn’t even try to fight back against that person?”
Faced with this question, the High Immortal stammered.
“This… this eminence doesn’t like to kill…”
Qin Ren stared into her beautiful eyes.
“Don’t like to, or can’t?”
“Spirit… Spirit Beasts are symbols of auspiciousness…”
“…”
She was beating around the bush. Qin Ren couldn’t help but look at Luo Yao as if she were a piece of trash.
“Let me ask you, as a Guardian Spirit Beast, what’s your cultivation level?”
The little girl felt a pang of guilt under his gaze. Her eyes darted about, and she fiddled with her ten fingers.
“A dignified Spirit Beast is born with an immortal root. I would never follow the path of demons…”
“Oh, so you can ride the clouds and mists, right?”
“That’s too vul… vulgar…”
“Then show me something that isn’t vulgar. Show me your talents.”
“The very existence of this eminence is transcendent and otherworldly…”
Qin Ren pretty much got the picture. He glanced at the licked-clean bowl in front of her and couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
From the looks of it, Luo Yao was an undocumented individual, and one that couldn’t be easily publicized. Before he could think of a proper way to handle this, he would definitely have to take her in.
But another mouth to feed meant more money…
This kid was some kind of Spirit Beast, after all, and seemed to have a huge appetite. If she was useless aside from being pretty, wouldn’t he have to support her for free?
“Aren’t you a Spirit Beast? Don’t you have any divine powers?”
“Of course I do. This eminence can discharge electricity. It goes bili-pala~”
“Discharge electricity?”
“Mhm, but there’s almost no spiritual energy here, so it’s not very powerful…”
As she spoke, Luo Yao gave a demonstration. Her fingertip traced across the table, and a tiny, almost invisible spark of electricity flashed by, leaving no mark on the table at all. It was indeed very weak.
This won’t do, Qin Ren thought. Heaven has a purpose for every talent it creates. I have to squeeze out Luo Yao’s surplus value.
“So after all that talk, what kind of Spirit Beast are you, exactly?”
“A Pixiu.”
When it came to her identity, that was another thing that made the little girl proud.
“This eminence is a Pixiu, an extremely noble existence even in the entire Myriad Demon Continent~”
