Lang Junxian thought that the matter was over.
After sleeping, he’d just treat it as a bizarre dream.
But something happened to Bai Maomao.
The next morning, when he got up, Bai Maomao still hadn’t woken.
Normally, Bai Maomao liked to pretend to sleep and laze in bed for a bit, but today, even after Lang Junxian was ready to head up the mountain to cultivate, Bai Maomao still hadn’t woken.
Su Yao usually indulged them in small matters, but daily cultivation was something that could not be slacked on—even Bai Maomao understood this.
So morning practice was never delayed.
But today, even by the time they were heading out, Bai Maomao hadn’t woken.
Lang Junxian felt a vague suspicion in his heart, but didn’t want to link Bai Maomao’s coma to the strange things from last night.
Lang Junxian tried calling Bai Maomao.
Bai Maomao didn’t respond at all.
That fluffy yellow ball was curled obediently by the pillow, little head tucked under its wing— just like it was simply asleep.
In the end, Lang Junxian still sent word to Su Yao.
Bai Maomao’s sudden coma couldn’t be hidden.
Su Yao picked up Bai Maomao and carefully examined him, finding that the spiritual energy inside him was circulating smoothly, no different from usual.
She put the sleeping Bai Maomao back on the bed and carefully tucked him in.
Then Su Yao shot Lang Junxian a look.
He silently followed her out.
Once in the adjacent room, Su Yao got straight to the point: “What happened last night?”
Lang Junxian’s expression was calm.
What happened last night couldn’t be hidden from Su Yao.
If Bai Maomao hadn’t fallen ill, she might have turned a blind eye, but now that he was unconscious, she would not let anything that might harm Bai Maomao go.
Lang Junxian pondered a moment, organized his words, and tried to faithfully recount what had happened the night before.
The more Su Yao heard, the more grave her expression became.
Hidden cracks, a bizarre phoenix appearing…
Su Yao silently searched her mind for useful information.
The phoenix was the original form of an ancient demon king.
The demon king Lihuo was the last phoenix of the demon race.
Ever since Lihuo fell, there had been no phoenixes left in the world.
Yet Lang Junxian said he saw a phoenix…
“Do you still remember the place from yesterday?”
Lang Junxian nodded.
“Yes, I remember.”
“Let’s go take another look.”
Before the words even faded, Su Yao swept Lang Junxian up and sped toward the place he had described.
When they arrived, Su Yao looked around—it was just an ordinary forest.
The spiritual energy was calm, with no traces of an array.
“You’re sure it’s here?”
Lang Junxian nodded, pointing to a crooked, bare tree on the right.
“I recognize this tree. No mistake.”
Su Yao nodded and carefully searched the area again.
Still, there was nothing to be found.
Coming up empty-handed, they had no choice but to return.
She had Lang Junxian take care of Bai Maomao while she went alone to the library to search old records.
In the room, Bai Maomao slept soundly.
Lang Junxian touched his fur and found his body frighteningly hot.
Lang Junxian grew anxious, hurriedly fetching a towel soaked in cold water to try to bring down Bai Maomao’s fever.
When he laid the damp towel gently on Bai Maomao, only then did his tightly knitted brow ease.
He gently stroked Bai Maomao’s little head.
“Wake up soon, okay?”
Bai Maomao was burning with fever.
The cold towel quickly became warm against his body.
Lang Junxian removed it, preparing to soak it again.
But unexpectedly, when he took the towel off, it brought with it a whole clump of fur.
Lang Junxian: …
Looking at Bai Maomao’s tiny body now missing a patch of fur, Lang Junxian awkwardly cleared his throat, dipped the towel into the cold water again, and carefully placed it back on Bai Maomao—this time with even greater caution.
Night soon fell.
The room was lit by a lamp.
Outside the window, some unknown insects were tirelessly chirping.
The stars hung low outside.
Lang Junxian leaned against the head of the bed, quietly watching Bai Maomao.
His eyes were deep, lost in thought.
Su Yao had searched through all the books in the library, yet still couldn’t find any symptoms matching Bai Maomao’s condition.
Seeing how dark it was outside, she thought for a moment, flicked her sleeves, and once again went to the place she had visited earlier that day.
It looked no different from before.
Unwilling to give up, Su Yao searched the area again—then suddenly noticed a strange surge of spiritual energy coming from the south.
Her expression turned grave.
She pulled the hairpin from her hair and rode the wind toward the source of the spiritual fluctuation.
But the ripple of energy had lasted only an instant.
By the time Su Yao arrived, everything was calm again, with no sign of anything unusual.
She frowned, softly muttered an incantation, calculated with her fingers, and her eyes flashed with sharp light before she hastened toward the southern boundary.
Yuze Mountain might look ordinary and unremarkable, but it actually wasn’t an ordinary mountain at all.
In fact, Yuze Mountain originally shouldn’t even be here.
According to the sect leader, Yuze Mountain had been moved from his homeland after a great catastrophe destroyed nearly everything there.
So he brought this mountain, along with all the creatures on it, to these southwestern mountains.
There were countless peaks here; one more small mountain hardly drew attention.
From then on, Yuze Mountain quietly stood here for many years.
To protect the creatures on the mountain—and to prevent outsiders from accidentally stumbling in—
Qian Jizi had set up a barrier around Yuze Mountain back then.
Humans could not enter.
For a hundred years, nothing had ever gone wrong with the barrier—except that one time a little black creature accidentally wandered in…
Su Yao’s gaze tightened.
She had originally thought Xiao Hei had gotten in because of his bloodline—so he didn’t count as fully human—and had stumbled in by accident.
But now, it was clear someone had tampered with the barrier.
The breach in the boundary hadn’t yet been repaired and stood glaringly open.
Fury surged in Su Yao’s chest.
She quickly formed several hand seals and restored the barrier.
With a restless mind, Su Yao began walking back.
Unnatural occurrences always signaled deeper trouble.
Thinking of Bai Maomao still unconscious at home, she rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Lang Junxian had fallen asleep leaning against the bed.
Nearby, the water basin held several used towels, and suspicious bits of fur floated on the surface.
Su Yao moved quietly to check on Bai Maomao.
Lang Junxian had been cooling him with cold compresses all day.
Now Bai Maomao’s body was no longer burning hot.
Su Yao lifted the towel on his back——and saw Bai Maomao’s patchy, balding fur.
…
She’d only been gone a day—how did he end up half bald?
Su Yao carefully smoothed the remaining fur.
A few more tufts came off in her hand, making her sneeze.
Lang Junxian woke with a start, eyes alert.
Seeing Bai Maomao on the bed, half bald, and little bits of fur floating in the air, Lang Junxian awkwardly rubbed his nose.
“I don’t know what happened…he suddenly just started shedding.”
Su Yao calmly placed the towel back and nodded.
“You should go rest in your room. I’ll take care of Maomao.”
Lang Junxian looked at Bai Maomao, then silently nodded and went to the next room.
Over the next few days, Bai Maomao continued to sleep.
The fever didn’t return, but his fur still kept falling out.
Tiny, fluffy bits of fur drifted all around the room.
Su Yao and Lang Junxian took turns watching over him.
Su Yao had searched the library’s records from top to bottom but still found no explanation.
The two of them guarded the now nearly bald Bai Maomao, hearts heavy with worry.
A piece of fur floated onto Lang Junxian’s face.
He sneezed—then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
“Could Maomao be…molting?”
he said. Otherwise, this sudden heavy shedding didn’t make any sense.
Su Yao was stunned. Something flashed through her mind.
“You watch Maomao. I’ll go get something.”
She patted her forehead and hurried toward Qianji Hall.
Then she remembered what the sect leader had once told her—she suddenly understood.
The sect leader had said that when Maomao was ready to transform, they needed to give him that thing.
Otherwise, he’d keep sleeping like this forever.
But Maomao was still so small—she hadn’t even considered that his sudden sleep was because he was about to transform!
Bai Maomao lay in the middle of the bed.
The blanket had been pulled away.
Su Yao stood at the window, face solemn, holding a small black box.
Opening it, inside was a fingernail-sized red gemstone.
Su Yao carefully took it out and, just as the sect leader had instructed, gently placed it over Bai Maomao’s heart.
Bai Maomao’s body temperature rapidly rose, even steaming with white vapor.
The shedding of his yellow fluff sped up— bit by bit, the fur peeled away, dancing through the air.
In just a short time, all of Bai Maomao’s soft fur had fallen off, leaving him lying completely bare in the middle of the bed.
Su Yao: …………….
Lang Junxian: ………………..
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