When he opened the door, there was no one outside.
Chen Huaian looked speechless, thinking to himself, Could it be another delivery from the game company?
He instinctively looked down—
There, curled up by the door, was a fluffy black ball.
Barely visible were eyes, a nose, and ears.
It was a kitten.
"I'm pretty sure this is a chain hotel," Chen Huaian glanced down the long hallway, falling into deep thought.
How did a cat get into a chain hotel?
He squatted down and poked the furry lump. It didn't react, only trembled all over. So he grabbed it by the scruff and lifted it up. That's when he saw it clearly: the kitten had a white "凸" shape on its face—commonly known as a "d*ck-face" cat. Its hind legs were a mangled mess of blood and flesh, and its back was injured too.
His room was at the end of the corridor next to a window, which was now completely open.
There was a small smear of blood on the door—far too high for the kitten to have reached. By the window, there were several raptor feathers.
Something's not right with this cat. Could it be some kind of monster? Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes, realizing something was definitely off.
After some thought, a flash of insight hit him:
"Got it! Mystery solved! A big bird crashed into the window and accidentally dropped its prey at my door. The bird got spooked and flew off, abandoning its meal."
What keen deduction!
Chen Huaian figured the cancer must have unlocked some kind of mental potential.
"Little one, fate has brought you to me."
He carried the kitten inside.
If he left it out there, it would surely die.
Even though guests weren't allowed to keep pets in hotels—even long-term residents—Chen Huaian figured, I've got terminal cancer, who cares about rules anymore?
He temporarily placed the kitten in a shoebox.
Going to a vet at this hour was out of the question.
Most clinics closed by midnight, and this place was pretty remote. The nearest 24-hour animal hospital was in the city, at least an hour and a half away.
And the kitten clearly wouldn't make it that long.
In the time it took him to look up hospitals—just a few dozen seconds—blood had already soaked into the bottom of the shoebox.
"Little one, since conventional methods won't save you, I'll have to try a long shot. If fate still favors you, live well—and don't get caught by any more birds. If this is your destined end, then forgive me."
Chen Huaian put his hands together and bowed solemnly to the kitten.
Then, he took out a set of silver needles he had purchased earlier.
His original plan had been to needle himself once a day to see if his leg would heal faster. Only later would he consider using it on others. But since the kitten showed up, he decided—why not test it now?
As soon as he plucked out a needle and fixed his eyes on the kitten, an acupoint diagram naturally appeared in his mind.
The meridians of a cat were different from a human's.
He didn't know how he knew that.
Maybe this was just… potential?
The technique
Upgrade conditions: Use 1,000 times or pay 998 yuan to unlock
Following the sequence of glowing acupoints, he swiftly applied the needles in one fluid motion.
And soon enough, visible changes appeared on the kitten.
Most notably, the bleeding stopped completely. The wound on its back, the clearest injury, was now sealed with a thin membrane of blood—it definitely hadn't been there before the needling.
"Hiss… this acupuncture is kinda insane…"
Chen Huaian rubbed his chin in contemplation.
He didn't really understand traditional Chinese medicine, but he'd always respected its mystery.
So now the question is… am I amazing, or is the needle technique from that game amazing?
He honestly couldn't tell.
At this point, he had done all he could for the kitten. Whether it lived or not was up to its own will to survive.
He turned and went into the bathroom to shower.
What he didn't notice was that, behind him, a black dragon—twisting and clawed—had appeared at some unknown point. The dragon was made of smoke and mist, flickering between existence and illusion. But in its eyes shone a terrifying majesty, deep as an abyss and suffocating with dread.
…
In the shoebox, the pitch-black kitten struggled to roll over.
Its mouth twitched slightly, making a 'crunch crunch' sound. A pale-white finger bone was faintly visible between its jaws.
As it chewed, its body began to distort—shifting rapidly between a cat's body and a sheep's. Its face twisted into a grotesque, eyeless demon with fangs and eyes under its armpits.
After several seconds of transformation, it eventually settled into the form of a kitten once more—and went still.
(Note: This is a reference to the Chinese mythical beast Taotie, a gluttonous demon.)
…
Song Jiaojiao is dead.
Mu Baishuang learned the news from Song Jiaojiao's dao companion—Yang Botao.
"How did Song Jiaojiao die?" Mu Baishuang demanded.
Yang Botao's face turned pale. "I don't know. I only told her to go kill that bitch Li Qingran. But she never came back. She left a soul lamp with me, and when I returned to my cave to get some spirit stones, the lamp had gone out."
Mu Baishuang was shocked inside, but outwardly wore a mask of sorrow and outrage.
"What did you say?! Why did you ask her to kill Li Qingran? Song Jiaojiao was my good friend! And Li Qingran is my senior sister! Are you insane?"
"I—I only did it for you!" Yang Botao stammered, face ghostly pale.
"Baishuang, that bitch Li Qingran dared to hurt you—and she humiliated me before too! I couldn't stand her for a long time! Didn't you tell Song Jiaojiao how much you suffered under Li Qingran? I was just helping you get revenge!"
"Call me Mu Baishuang! We're not that close! Whatever I said to Song Jiaojiao is between us as sisters. What does it have to do with you? Who asked you to help me get revenge?"
"I…"
Mu Baishuang's face was cold, but inside she was a mess.
Her original plan was simple: complain to Song Jiaojiao, use the fact that Song and Yang Botao shared everything, and provoke Yang Botao—who admired her—into acting.
That way, he would be the one who instigated the attack on Li Qingran—not her.
Plus, Song Jiaojiao had been brought into the inner sect by her fourth senior brother Zhang Hanxiao.
All responsibility would fall on him, not her.
And even then, Zhang Hanxiao, as her senior brother, should be willing to take the blame.
Song Jiaojiao was at Qi Refining level 9, while Li Qingran had her dantian destroyed and her spiritual root removed—a total cripple.
Killing her should've been effortless.
But the unexpected happened: Li Qingran didn't die. Song Jiaojiao did.
Something definitely went wrong.
And in hindsight, Li Qingran's strange recovery from injury should've been a warning—but she hadn't paid attention.
"Baishuang-shimei, I only did it because I wanted you to be happy!"
Yang Botao was now panicking.
Li Qingran was no longer part of the sect, her cultivation crippled.
But if word got out that a cultivator from a righteous sect attacked an ordinary person, it would be a massive scandal.
To protect the sect's reputation, punishment would be inevitable—and Song Jiaojiao's death would be pinned on him too.
"No. I'm not happy at all. Yang Botao, prepare to face the sect's punishment!"
Mu Baishuang coldly shifted all blame to Yang Botao.
Just then, the senior disciple of Chixiao Peak—Lu Changtian—walked in.
Mu Baishuang naturally hid behind him.
"Yang Botao, this is Chixiao Peak, not your Xuanling Peak. What are you doing here?"
"Changtian-ge!" Mu Baishuang looked heartbroken, tears streaming down like raindrops as she clutched Lu Changtian's arm.
"Yang Botao told Song Jiaojiao to assassinate Li Qingran—and now Song Jiaojiao is dead! One was my best friend, the other was my senior sister—how could he do this? Wuuu…"
"No! It's not like that! Please listen to me, Senior Lu!"
But Lu Changtian, already red with rage from seeing his little junior crying, kicked Yang Botao hard and sent him sprawling.
"You've got some nerve, Yang Botao!
Li Qingran may have been expelled from Qingyun Sect, but she was once a disciple of my Chixiao Peak!
Who gave you the right to interfere in our affairs?
Did you think killing her would earn you favor?
You've broken sect rules by sending Song Jiaojiao to kill her.
Come with me to the Disciplinary Hall for punishment!"
As he reached out to grab Yang Botao, Mu Baishuang tugged on his sleeve and whispered,
"Changtian-ge… Qingran-shijie didn't die. The one who died was Song Jiaojiao…"
Lu Changtian froze, hand still in midair, his face full of shock.
It took him a while to process what he just heard.
"You said what?!"