Chapter 54: Mo Zhi’s Wrath

In front of the gates of the royal city.

Dozens of guards stood with swords drawn at Mo Zhi, tension crackling in the air.

The crowd that had gathered to watch began to scatter in panic as soon as they saw Mo Zhi transform into a cat demon, some already screaming out loud.

Meanwhile, inside the castle, the Saintess had just stepped through the doors when the noise behind her made her turn to look back—only to have a tall figure block her view.

It was a man wearing a Silver Mask.

The eyes beneath the mask gazed at her with a smile as he said, “Please, Saintess, pay it no mind. It’s just another fool at the gate. The guards will handle it swiftly.”

As he spoke, he closed the castle doors, completely cutting off her view of the outside.

“Oh…”

There was something strange about the aura of the man before her—a sense of unease.

Though his eyes looked kind, when they fixed on the Saintess, she couldn’t help but feel a chill down her spine.

It must just be her imagination.

Head Maid Ges came to greet the pair.

After performing a graceful maid’s curtsy, she said, “Would the two of you please follow me? Her Highness the Princess has been waiting for some time.”

***

On the other side.

The atmosphere remained tense.

The guards all showed fear upon seeing Mo Zhi’s sharp claws.

They knew well the power of cat demons.

Last night’s hunt for them had ended in near-total annihilation, the deaths gruesome beyond words.

The image of their comrades’ corpses being brought back was still vivid in their minds—and just now, they’d watched her punch a heavy-armored soldier clear off his feet.

Whenever they remembered it, they couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Not one of the guards dared make the first move.

They only surrounded Mo Zhi, making sure she couldn’t get any closer.

At this moment, Mo Zhi’s gaze was consumed by fury.

Her terrifying claws were far sharper than the swords in the guards’ hands.

Even the heavy, thick armor was like fragile paper before her claws.

Her eyes flashed coldly, and in the blink of an eye, she vanished from where she stood.

“Wh-where did she go?”

The guards fell into chaos—until a terrified shout rang out…

“By the cat demon’s corpse!”

Everyone turned to look and saw that Mo Zhi, who’d been in the center of their circle just moments ago, was now dozens of meters away.

“Wensha… Don’t scare me like this, Wensha… Wensha!”

She cradled Wensha’s body, calling her name again and again, but no matter how she called, the only answer was cold silence.

Wensha had always been cold to the touch, but not like this—not like a lifeless corpse.

No matter how deeply she’d slept, a gentle call would always wake her, and she’d gaze back with those gentle eyes as always.

But why, why not this time?

Even though her throat was nearly raw from shouting, Wensha kept her eyes tightly shut, her body growing colder and stiffer…

Open your eyes, please, open your eyes and look at me!

Hot tears welled up and spilled down her round cheeks, drop after drop.

She kept wiping them away, not caring in the least about how pitiful she must look to Wensha now.

If only Wensha would open her eyes, she’d already decided she would cry her heart out in her arms.

“Wensha, are you cold? Let me warm you up, I’ll warm you and you’ll be warm again…”

Mo Zhi carefully tucked Wensha into her embrace, trying to warm her with her own body, but no matter what she did, the warmth would not return.

She used to be able to warm her up—why not now…

She could feel it: the shattered bone fragments, the blood and brain matter still oozing from the back of Wensha’s skull—that must be the only part of her left with any warmth.

But she couldn’t believe it, didn’t dare to think about it.

She just pressed hard on the wound, afraid of hurting Wensha, but even more afraid that the endless flow of blood would never stop.

Only when the blood flowing out lost its warmth did she truly realize that Wensha was dead.

“Idiot… idiot!! Why didn’t you listen to me! Why did you have to do something so dangerous! Why did you have to leave me alone!! Why… why…”

Her voice grew weaker and weaker, until it was no more than a faint whimpering…

“Don’t be afraid… Wensha, I’ll… I’ll take you Home. I’ll take you to see the Demon King, that’s right, she can heal you, she definitely can!!”

It was as if she’d grabbed onto her last hope.

Hurriedly, she lifted Wensha and prepared to run Home.

But how could the surrounding guards, who’d long since surrounded her, let her go so easily?

“You… it was you all who made Wensha like this, wasn’t it…”

She took off her cloak, wrapped Wensha in it, and gently laid her on the ground.

“Wait for me, I’ll be right back…”

She looked up at the guards, her gentle gaze suddenly replaced by icy eyes that seemed to drip with crimson murder.

Inside the castle, more and more guards rushed in, surrounding Mo Zhi on all sides.

With strength in numbers, the guards grew bolder, closing in around Mo Zhi.

“I will avenge Wensha, I will… kill you all!!”

In an instant, the two small black horns on Mo Zhi’s forehead began to lengthen, growing to the size of bull horns—almost resembling Lantis’s.

Her sharp claws swept toward the group of guards with murderous force.

She moved so fast that in barely a blink, several guards fell to the ground.

Steel armor crumpled like wrinkled paper before her claws, and even silver swords shattered into fragments.

But compared to Wensha’s brutal methods, Mo Zhi was almost gentle.

She wouldn’t cruelly dismember their bodies, only digging out their hearts—at least leaving the corpses whole.

In only a moment, dozens of guards lay dead, yet aside from Wensha’s blood, Mo Zhi hadn’t gotten a single other drop of blood on her.

She was too quick—even the spurting blood couldn’t touch her.

Seeing this, the new waves of guards arriving were all struck with terror, trembling so hard none dared approach.

Even after all this killing, Mo Zhi’s rage did not lessen in the slightest.

She came before a soldier paralyzed with fear on the ground.

Just as she raised her claws to strike him down, a voice suddenly called out from her side…

“That’s enough!!”

She turned toward the sound and saw the witch who’d come with her standing in the distance, her face set in anger.

“It’s enough already… how many more must you kill before your anger is satisfied?”

“I’ll take you all away… if we wait for the knights to arrive, there really will be no escape.”

“Tch.”

Mo Zhi clicked her tongue in frustration, retracted her claws, then kicked the man on the ground, who curled up in terror and didn’t dare show his face.

She gathered Wensha into her arms again, touching their foreheads together gently.

“Let’s go. Home.”

“How truly unbelievable…”

Suddenly, a stranger’s voice sounded behind her.

At the castle gates stood a man wearing a Silver Mask,

His figure tall and slim, clad in a white robe adorned with golden embroidery.

“G-Grand Priest! It’s too dangerous here, please return at once!”

A guard hurried over to shield him, but was gently pushed aside.

“I’ll handle this.”