When Bai Maomao was pinned down, he was completely dumbfounded.
His legs kicked about in confusion as he tried to flip himself over.
The unknown creature on top of him pressed him very tightly, almost its entire body was weighing down on him.
Sharp claws gripped his shoulders hard, causing Bai Maomao some pain.
Being squashed was uncomfortable.
His little wings couldn’t flap, and his once clean fur was now all dirty.
Ever since he hatched, Bai Maomao had never been treated this roughly—he was furious.
And the consequences of being angry were a bit severe.
It had been mentioned before that Bai Maomao was very strong.
Maybe because all these years he ate but didn’t grow bigger, all the nutrition went into his strength.
So the very angry Bai Maomao gave a forceful kick, took a deep breath, flared his little wings, and flipped over the creature pressing down on him—
Lang Junxian.
Lang Junxian, who got flipped: ……???
Lang Junxian, after pouncing with all his strength, had no energy left for any more movements.
He could only rely on his body weight to pin down his prey, planning to wait until his stamina recovered a bit before going in for the “meal.”
Then he was completely caught off guard and flipped onto the ground.
Lang Junxian dumbfoundedly twitched his ears, instinctively braced his claws and retreated two steps, putting on a fierce front as he glared at the proud-looking Bai Maomao holding his head high.
Bai Maomao circled the suddenly appeared creature twice, then cheekily stretched his neck forward to take a closer look.
He thought this guy looked a bit like his A-Mu (mother), but A-Mu didn’t have ears or a tail.
“Gaa!”
— Who are you?!
Lang Junxian glared at Bai Maomao warily.
As soon as Bai Maomao’s eyes met his, he instantly grew irritable.
He paced in circles on his tiny claws, then jumped onto Lang Junxian’s head and stomped down hard.
“Gaa~”
— Speak.
Lang Junxian weakly shook his head, earning himself a rough whack from Bai Maomao’s wing.
His head instantly felt woozy, and his eyes started spinning.
Bai Maomao sat troubled on the creature’s head, finding the fur under his butt quite comfortable, so he deliberately rubbed against it twice.
After rubbing for a while, he noticed the thing under his bottom wasn’t moving anymore.
Bai Maomao stretched his neck and took a look, puzzled, then pecked at his forehead.
“Gaa gaa?”
Lang Junxian’s strength was completely spent—he’d used up all of it when he tried to grab Bai Maomao.
Now after being tormented by Bai Maomao, he was totally done for.
Bai Maomao jumped down from his head, flapped his wings and patted him twice.
Seeing that there was still no reaction, he started to panic and couldn’t help crying out loudly.
“Gaa gaa—“
A-Mu!
Not far away, Su Yao heard the cries and her heart tightened.
She immediately rushed toward the source of the sound.
When she arrived, she saw Bai Maomao sitting on the ground with his legs stretched out, little wings drooping listlessly.
Su Yao nervously picked him up.
“Maomao, what’s wrong?”
Bai Maomao snuggled up and rubbed his face against his A-Mu, let out a soft call, then pointed with his wing tip at Lang Junxian lying on the ground.
Only then did Su Yao notice the child lying there.
Face down, so his appearance couldn’t be seen clearly, but judging by his size, he was only nine or ten.
The pair of ears on his head drooped limply, and his tail was tightly tucked between his legs.
Su Yao frowned and put Bai Maomao into the basket on her back.
She stepped forward and turned the child over.
His face was filthy like a little tabby cat’s, but vaguely one could tell his features were delicate with deep contours.
He wore a small shirt with a bow tie.
If it weren’t so ragged, he’d look even more like a young master from a wealthy family.
Such a small child, what was he doing alone in these deep mountains and forests?
When Su Yao picked him up, she accidentally touched a wound on his body.
Lang Junxian let out a low groan.
Su Yao lifted the hem of the shirt at the boy’s waist to take a look—his ribs jutted out sharply.
He was terrifyingly thin, with scars of varying depths all over.
Coupled with his non-human traits…
Su Yao sighed, more or less guessing why this child had ended up here.
The demon race was in decline, while the human race was flourishing.
The status gap between humans and demons grew wider and wider.
By now, cultivators considered demons to be of inferior blood, and half-human half-demons even more so—tainted and disgraceful to humans.
Those who could bring themselves to act would simply deal with them while they were still young; those who couldn’t, would throw them deep into the mountains and forests, leaving their fate—life or death—to chance.
A child like this, abandoned by his parents in the depths of the wilderness, was sadly not unusual.
Holding him securely, Su Yao patted the restless Bai Maomao who had jumped onto her head.
“Hold on tight. We’re going home.”
“Gaa~”
Bai Maomao gripped with his tiny claws, stretched out his little wings, his shiny black bean-like eyes sparkling.
“Fly fly!”
Back home, Su Yao found some herbs and gave his wounds a simple dressing.
Then she boiled a medicinal broth and pinched his nose to pour a whole bowl of it down his throat.
Only then did Lang Junxian show signs of life, his chest beginning to rise and fall more vigorously.
After settling him in, Su Yao went outside to sort the herbs she’d picked.
Bai Maomao, for once, didn’t follow to cause trouble—he obediently curled up on Lang Junxian’s chest.
His little black bean eyes stared fixedly at Lang Junxian’s face.
Though he didn’t understand anything yet, Bai Maomao still found himself entranced.
After being cleaned up, this person really was quite good-looking.
When Lang Junxian woke up, he felt a heaviness on his chest.
He took a deep breath—only to meet eyes with a fluffy yellow ball.
Bai Maomao happily stretched his neck to greet him,
“Gaa~”
Lang Junxian instinctively stiffened, his ears shooting upright.
He bared his teeth in a show of bravado, watching Bai Maomao’s next move warily.
Not receiving the expected response, Bai Maomao seemed a little disappointed.
He gave two small hops on Lang Junxian’s chest, somewhat annoyed, then flared his wings and jumped off the bed to call for his A-Mu.
Lang Junxian: …
Su Yao followed the bouncing Bai Maomao into the room.
Seeing Lang Junxian lying there listlessly, she said gently,
“You’re awake. Are you hungry?”
Lang Junxian hesitated for a moment.
In the end, he couldn’t resist his empty stomach and nodded after some thought.
Su Yao smiled, turned, and went out to bring him a bowl of porridge she’d cooked.
The meat porridge was thick and fragrant.
Lang Junxian didn’t even care that it was hot—he slurped it all up, leaving the bowl spotless, then even licked the bottom as if unsatisfied.
When he handed the clean bowl back to Su Yao, his eyes were full of reluctance.
Su Yao found it amusing.
As expected, he was still just a child.
“You can’t eat too much yet. Just fill your stomach a little for now. Once your digestion adjusts, you can have more.”
Lang Junxian lowered his head and didn’t say a word.
Su Yao wasn’t offended.
She took the bowl out to wash, leaving Bai Maomao in the room to keep him company.
Once she was gone, Lang Junxian cautiously lifted his eyes to look around.
The room seemed a bit shabby.
The walls hadn’t even been painted—the gray cement was fully exposed, making the place look somewhat dark.
But it was very clean, and the furniture was arranged so cleverly that it didn’t block the light.
The doors and windows were wide open, and bright sunlight streamed in, illuminating the slightly dim room.
Lang Junxian stared at the candle on the table, surprised.
What era was this that people still used candles instead of electric lights?
Then he thought of the woman just now.
When she saw the state he was in, she hadn’t even batted an eye.
His heart jumped, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
The person who had saved him was definitely not ordinary.
Lang Junxian began calculating his chances of escape if something went wrong.
When he came back to himself, he met Bai Maomao’s burning gaze.
Those two shiny black bean eyes sparkled with life—sometimes almost like a person’s…
Patting his forehead, Lang Junxian felt he was overthinking.
He reached out and picked up the Bai Maomao by the bed.
Seeing his own sharp claws, he carefully and awkwardly curled them in so as not to hurt him, cradling Bai Maomao in his palms.
Then the two little ones just stared at each other, wide eyes to little eyes.
Lang Junxian’s ears twitched unconsciously.
He asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Gaa, gaa gaa~”
— I’m Bai Maomao!
Bai Maomao lifted his little head proudly.
Very pleased with his own name.
Lang Junxian found it funny.
He reached out a claw tip and gently poked Bai Maomao’s furry little belly.
“Muttering to himself—You’re answering so properly, like you really understand human speech.”
Bai Maomao hadn’t been on guard.
With that poke, he plopped down on Lang Junxian’s hand, his two tiny legs dangling as he flapped his wings trying to get up.
Lang Junxian found it amusing.
Just as Bai Maomao was about to stand, he stretched out a claw and poked that furry belly again.
So the just-upright Bai Maomao sat back down.
Bai Maomao: …
A little indignant.
Realizing the pretty person in front of him was teasing on purpose, Bai Maomao grew a bit huffy.
He simply sat on Lang Junxian’s hand and refused to get up.
Then he opened his little beak and fiercely bit down on Lang Junxian’s finger.
Lang Junxian hissed in pain, momentarily forgetting this little guy had enough strength to flip him over earlier.
Not daring to provoke him again, he obediently placed Bai Maomao back on the quilt, then leaned against the bed and quietly lost himself in thought.
Bai Maomao, now on the quilt, stomped around above Lang Junxian’s stomach, lifted his little head proudly and let out two triumphant calls.
Lang Junxian, deep in thought, ignored him.
Bai Maomao rolled around on the quilt by himself, happily playing into a little ball.