Chapter 42: Reinforcements Part 1

Bo Xuenong’s words had just fallen when hundreds of beast tamers suddenly charged over from the direction where the Heavenly Feast Sect cultivators had surrounded them. Each beast tamer was tall and mighty-looking, appearing awe-inspiring. On their backs sat people dressed in clothes adorned with beast-shaped totems. Among the massive beast tamers were fierce demon beasts like lions, wolves, tigers, and leopards, as well as sinister poisonous ones like long snakes and venomous scorpions. Leading them was a gray fur rabbit.

This gray fur rabbit looked very similar in appearance to the little rabbit on Si Xianling’s shoulder, but its body was much larger, and its eyes were purple-gold, carrying a divinity that the other beast tamers lacked.

The gray fur rabbit led the herd in a rapid charge, shaking the earth and mountains for a moment as the roars of beasts and cries of birds mixed together, creating a terrifying momentum.

Wherever they passed, the remaining Heavenly Feast Sect disciples on the battlefield had their necks bitten through in an instant, without even a moment to catch their breath. The heads separated from their bodies rolled on the ground, and blood mixed with chunks of flesh surged out, sending an extreme fragrance drifting toward Bo Xuenong.

Bo Xuenong fell into a momentary daze. She subconsciously moved closer to those corpses, but when her gaze touched Shen Yanting hanging around her neck, the rich fragrance dissipated, and the craving in her heart for the flesh and blood weakened considerably.

She subconsciously buried her head a little lower, which also brought her closer to Shen Yanting.

Shen Yanting thought she was intimidated by the large number of beast tamers and lifted a hand to stroke the jaw nearest to her hand. “Xuenong, don’t be afraid.”

The cool sensation from the porcelain doll’s fingertips stimulated her blood-fogged mind, clearing it considerably.

Bo Xuenong nodded and remained still, allowing Shen Yanting to stroke her while keeping an eye on the herd’s movements with her peripheral vision.

The herd stopped in front of them, and the people on the backs of the leading beast tamers jumped down first. They all rushed toward Si Xianling, who Liu Huairou was half-holding to keep from falling. Seeing Si Xianling gravely injured and on the verge of death, their eyes turned red one by one.

Their eyes were full of pity and heartache, along with resentment toward those who had harmed Si Xianling.

Si Xianling had been clamoring to kill off all the Heavenly Feast Sect people, but now that reinforcements had truly arrived, she felt a bit more ashamed.

She embarrassedly scratched her cheek. “Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, Little Uncle, Little Aunt… you all came. What about the sect?”

The one walking at the front was a beautiful woman dressed in clothes embroidered with a white tiger totem, with a piece of tiger hide tied around her waist.

The beautiful woman immediately grabbed Si Xianling’s ear, feeling both heartbroken and angry. “This is what you get for throwing a tantrum and running off wildly. You’ve suffered now, haven’t you?”

Si Xianling was dragged until her body nearly drooped downward. She cried out in pain. “Ow, Eldest Aunt… it hurts.”

The beautiful woman with the tiger hide hurriedly let go. The female cultivator closest to her had clothes embroidered with a black snake totem, vivid and lifelike. Those pale golden vertical pupils looked extremely frightening and icy cold. Her appearance was as cold as the black snake, but her tone was gentler than the tiger-hide beautiful woman’s. “Big Sis, Xian’er has suffered such a great ordeal. Even if you don’t feel sorry for her, how can you hit her?”

She tenderly rubbed Si Xianling’s ears a couple of times and blew a couple of cooling breaths on them before softly saying, “Xian’er, don’t worry. Your Great-Aunt is watching over the sect.”

Before Si Xianling could speak, she was pulled into the arms of the woman wearing the snow leopard totem. “Xian’er, Third Aunt knew you must be suffering in the Heavenly Feast Sect. Those beasts from the Heavenly Feast Sect still wouldn’t admit it!”

The tiger-hide beautiful woman’s fingers curled slightly before slowly withdrawing.

She irritably rolled her eyes at her own little sister. “You knew? If Little Aunt-in-law hadn’t insisted Xian’er was in the Heavenly Feast Sect, you wouldn’t even know where she was right now.”

“…”

Bo Xuenong now understood these people’s identities. They were all from the Beast Taming Sect, and these few who had rushed over the fastest were Si Xianling’s relatives.

The owner of the leading purple-gold eyed gray-fur rabbit did not approach. Instead, the little gray fur rabbit on Si Xianling jumped toward them. The owner of the purple-gold eyed gray-fur rabbit picked it up and held it in her arms, and the little gray fur rabbit’s fur instantly lit up.

Bo Xuenong immediately realized that this woman was Zhu Ningfu.

Zhu Ningfu was a gentle and elegant beauty. Her blue-green clothes were embroidered with a lifelike gray fur rabbit that did not look out of place. A pearl-inlaid hairpin was slanted in her hair, and under the sunlight, the pearls cast a faint white halo on her face, making her features appear even softer.

She held the little gray rabbit in one hand and gently stroked its fur with the other, sending more spiritual power into it.

Zhu Ningfu’s natal beast was the mother of this little gray fur rabbit. She shared a bloodline with her natal beast, so the little gray fur rabbit was equivalent to her daughter and could naturally draw spiritual power from her through their blood energy. It recovered much faster on her than on Si Xianling, who was depleted of spiritual power.

Si Xianling also noticed the movement over there. She was completely at ease with Zhu Ningfu holding her natal beast and was not in a hurry to go over. Instead, she turned around and introduced these people to Bo Xuenong.

“Little Disciple, this is my Eldest Aunt Xiang Manyu, ranked second on the Beast Tamer Ranking; Second Aunt Tu Manzhu, ranked fifth; Third Aunt Su Manqiu, ranked tenth; Little Uncle Sheng Mandong, ranked twenty-first; Little Aunt Yu Meng, ranked thirteenth… And that’s my Little Mother Zhu Ningfu, the sect master of our Beast Taming Sect.”

The Beast Tamer Ranking from the Divine Pavilion ranked beast taming combat power. Nearly all the powerful beast tamers in the Cultivation World were in the Beast Taming Sect, and the list was full of people from the Beast Taming Sect.

What Bo Xuenong found strange was that they were clearly one family, yet each had completely different surnames.

Si Xianling saw through Bo Xuenong’s thoughts and laughed embarrassedly a couple of times. “Our family… except for my dad, everyone follows their natal beast’s surname.”

Bo Xuenong suddenly understood.

Beast tamers in the Beast Taming Sect had inherited demon beasts over many generations. They naturally favored the sect’s disciples, and to form contracts with them, one had to do everything perfectly.

Taking the beast’s surname was also a way to get closer to the beasts.

After introducing her family, Si Xianling told her family about Bo Xuenong. “Aunties, this is Sister Shen’s disciple Bo Xuenong. I was able to get out of the Heavenly Feast Sect’s Sect-Protecting Grand Array largely thanks to her and Sister Shen.”

“Sister Shen?” Xiang Manyu looked around strangely. “You mean Fairy Shen? Where is she?”

When she asked about Shen Yanting, Si Xianling looked toward Bo Xuenong.

Bo Xuenong also lowered her gaze slightly. Xiang Manyu and the others followed Bo Xuenong’s gaze to the porcelain doll hanging below her neck hollow. She raised her brow in slight surprise. “Why did you hang your master’s porcelain likeness around your neck?”

Shen Yanting awkwardly gripped the red cloth. “Senior Xiang, I am Shen Yanting.”

The porcelain doll opened its mouth, and even Zhu Ningfu, who was some distance away, approached out of curiosity. They all stared at the porcelain doll.

Xiang Manyu and the others had seen Shen Yanting before, but they were not Si Xianling and did not have the qualification to freely shuttle through the Cloud Smoke Sect. They had not interacted with Shen Yanting much and had never seen her up close like this. Her flawless, perfect features looked even more exquisite when miniaturized, and once they looked, they found it hard to look away.

Seeing them all staring intently at the shrunken Shen Yanting, Bo Xuenong subconsciously protected her and retreated a step.

Si Xianling tugged at Xiang Manyu and the others. “Eldest Aunt, you’re scaring Sister Shen’s little disciple.”

The first to look away was Zhu Ningfu. Zhu Ningfu stroked the little gray rabbit’s fur and said to Shen Yanting, “Miss Shen, your Senior Shishu is here too. You’ll see her soon.”

Elder Wu had also come.

This was not exactly good news for Shen Yanting at the moment.

Shen Yanting had a vague bad premonition. In her current state, it would be hard to leave quietly with Bo Xuenong.

Bo Xuenong and the others did not know that Shen Yanting was somewhat resistant to seeing Wu Qingshu. When Si Xianling heard that Wu Qingshu had come too, her eyes suddenly brightened a bit more. “Little Mother, did my mom come too?”

Zhu Ningfu was indeed as Si Xianling said, perhaps with other motives, but she would not possibly harm Si Xianling.

She had a very gentle appearance and a mild tone.

Yet when she looked at Si Xianling, her eyes were gentle enough, radiating a maternal glow. “Yes, she came with us.”

Si Xianling’s Third Aunt Su Manqiu suddenly tugged at her. “Xian’er, you don’t know how much your mom favors you differently. Earlier, she stopped us from acting, but as soon as she sensed your presence, she was the first to strike. She was even more ruthless in killing than us! She’s still chasing down Sect Master Wu Liangyi right now!”

“That Sect Master Wu Liangyi from the Heavenly Feast Sect personally led the encirclement to kill Xian’er, so he deserves to die.” A hint of coldness appeared in Zhu Ningfu’s gentle brows as she glanced toward Shen Yanting, and the coldness receded. “The Cloud Smoke Sect is the number one sect in the Cultivation World and wants to uphold order, so they naturally have to lead by example in following it. Their rules are stricter than ours. She didn’t act earlier because we lacked proof that Xian’er was here—our position wasn’t justified, and if the Divine Pavilion really investigated, we might have suffered.”

Si Xianling had been pampered by many powerhouses since childhood. She always got what she wanted.

She was fine in other aspects, but she had a rather hot temper.

That day, the two most respected alchemists in the sect had eaten two pieces of her pastries without her permission, so she stormed out of the house that very night in anger. At first, they did not pay too much attention, since Si Xianling got angry easily but also cooled off quickly, and she would return on her own once her anger subsided.

Zhu Ningfu and Si Xianling’s natal beasts were a special pair of mother and daughter spirit beasts connected by bloodline.

When Si Xianling was in danger, Zhu Ningfu could sense it to some extent.

The entire Beast Taming Sect doted on this Junior Sect Master immensely. When they heard Si Xianling was in trouble, they fought to go search for her.

They had originally wanted to hide it from Wu Qingshu, but Wu Qingshu happened to arrive near the Beast Taming Sect, wanting to meet her daughter. When she got no reply from Si Xianling, she directly stormed the Beast Taming Sect.

They could not hide it anymore and had to search together.