Volume 3, Chapter 198 – Blood-Red Eyes

The moment Qi Huang heard that honeyed, seductive voice, her entire body went weak, nearly sending her tumbling straight out of the sky.

“Mu Ruoyi, are you out of your damn mind?! Who asked you to save me?!”

Cheng Hongling scolded, her tone dripping with exasperation—yet she made no move to stop her.

“Don’t try to stop me. This is my duty as your ‘husband’. If one of us has to be sacrificed, let it be me.”

Mu Ruoyi clenched her delicate fists, biting her pearly teeth, putting on the expression of a martyr marching to her doom.

“Then go ahead and sacrifice yourself.”

Cheng Hongling shook her head helplessly.

“Huh?”

Qi Huang’s mind snapped back to clarity. ‘Why the hell is my main body suddenly throwing her under the bus?!’

“Y-You… You’re not even going to try to stop me?!”

Mu Ruoyi’s pretty face paled—this time, it wasn’t an act.

“No matter how strong she is, she’s still a woman. What’s she going to do to you? Since you’re so desperate to prove your ‘undying love’, I’ll let you have your moment.”

Cheng Hongling crossed her arms, unimpressed.

“Cough—!”

Qi Huang’s blood ran cold. She choked on her own saliva, hacking violently. ‘Did she recognize me?!’

“A woman?”

Mu Ruoyi blinked, then shot Qi Huang a doubtful look.

“Just look at her hands. Have you ever seen a man with hands like that?”

Cheng Hongling’s tone was laced with impatience.

Mu Ruoyi squinted at Qi Huang’s hands—slender, fair, with dainty pink nails—so delicate they looked almost edible. No man could possibly have hands like that.

“Ahem!”

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Qi Huang coughed stiffly, quickly hiding her hands behind her back. Flustered, she snapped, “Shut up! Since when can’t men have hands like this?! This is prejudice! Discrimination! So what if I’m a little effeminate?!”

“Tch.”

Cheng Hongling snorted, neither confirming nor denying.

“Senior, whether you’re effeminate or not, could you just tell us what you want from us? If you’re going to kill us, just get it over with!”

Mu Ruoyi ventured cautiously.

“Simple. From now on, you’re my servants. You will find the Nine Nether Demon Cat that the Yuxiao Sect lost. Fail, and you’ll never leave this place.”

Qi Huang laid out her demand—this was her true objective in coming to the Yuxiao Sect.

“So… we can leave?”

Mu Ruoyi’s eyes lit up. She nudged Cheng Hongling excitedly.

But Cheng Hongling remained expressionless. To her, survival without purpose was meaningless. If she couldn’t secure the Nine Nether Demon Cat, what would become of her fellow disciples in the Honghua Sect?

“You search. I’ll handle security. Don’t try anything funny—I’ll be watching your every move. Understood?”

After issuing the warning, Qi Huang used her divine sense to hoist the three sacks of loot and made a hasty retreat. The longer she stayed, the higher the chance Cheng Hongling would see through her disguise.

“Quit dawdling! Let’s get moving. The sooner we find that demon cat, the sooner we leave this hellhole.”

Mu Ruoyi rolled up her sleeves, brimming with enthusiasm.

“You can work for ‘him’ if you want. I don’t do manual labor. Not now, not ever.”

Cheng Hongling’s reply was icy.

“What? You don’t want to leave?”

Mu Ruoyi frowned.

“I came here for the Nine Nether Demon Cat. If I return empty-handed, I might as well go down fighting.”

Cheng Hongling’s voice was steely.

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“Sigh.”

Mu Ruoyi exhaled softly. “Hongling, haven’t you heard the saying? ‘As long as the green hills remain, there’ll never be a shortage of firewood’. A true woman knows when to bend and when to stand tall. Survive today, and opportunities will come tomorrow.”

“Hmph.”

Cheng Hongling scoffed.

“Or… do you doubt your own talent?”

Mu Ruoyi prodded, deploying reverse psychology.

“Who says I doubt myself?!”

Cheng Hongling bristled—her pride was legendary.

“Exactly! With your gifts, you’ll break through to the Divine Ability Realm in a decade or so. Why worry about not finding another Nine Nether Demon Cat then? What’s the point of throwing your life away now?”

Mu Ruoyi’s argument was logical.

Cheng Hongling fell silent, her expression contemplative.

“Convinced? Good. Then let’s get to work.”

Mu Ruoyi sighed. This girl’s got looks, skill, and spirit—just too damn much pride.

“How do you plan to ‘work’? Keep using your Wooden Exquisite Art?”

Cheng Hongling took a deep breath.

“Shh—!”

Mu Ruoyi frantically pressed a finger to her lips. “She’s clearly an outsider. She has no idea I know the Wooden Exquisite Art, or she’d have demanded it earlier. So keep it quiet. We just need to put on a show.”

“And if we don’t find it?”

“If we don’t? She’ll lose patience eventually and let us go.”

“How can you be sure?”

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“She said she’d release us if we found the cat, which means she doesn’t want to kill us. So why keep us around? To warm her bed? You said she’s a woman!”

Mu Ruoyi’s reasoning was airtight.

“That was just a guess!”

“You—! You guessed and still didn’t stop me?!”

Mu Ruoyi’s voice cracked with indignation.

“You told me not to interfere. Were all those grand ‘sacrifices’ just lies? Is this how a ‘husband’ behaves?”

Cheng Hongling countered flawlessly—fighting fire with fire.

“Uh—”

Mu Ruoyi’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

“Relax. If she didn’t take the bait, she’s either a woman or might as well be.”

Cheng Hongling delivered her final verdict.

Meanwhile, Qi Huang—burdened with three hefty sacks of loot—darted through the sky like a thief, torn between exhilaration and paranoia.

‘Wait. I still need to protect my main body. Can’t stash this too far away.’

Regaining her composure, she found a secluded spot near the Huxiao Sect’s camp and hid the treasures there.

Gazing at the sacks with feverish intensity, Qi Huang trembled with glee. ‘Even if I fail to find the demon cat, this haul alone is enough to cover my tracks.’

Of course, that was just wishful thinking. While this windfall plugged the financial hole in Huatian Village, the Honghua Sect’s crisis remained unresolved. The Nine Nether Demon Cat’s tears weren’t something money could buy.

Haunted by memories of poverty, Qi Huang spent nearly an hour meticulously concealing the loot, ensuring no trace remained. Only then did she calm down.

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Dusting off her hands, she flew toward the outskirts of the Yuxiao Sect. She hadn’t forgotten her other identity—the “cat caretaker”.

As usual, she stopped by the river, using her divine sense to snag a few fish before heading to the feline hideout.

But the moment she stepped into the small cave, she froze.

The cats were sprawled across the floor, asleep.

‘No way. I’m a Divine Realm expert. Did I really screw up a cat cage that badly?’

Dejected, she trudged forward—only to halt in shock.

The dozen cats she’d rescued were still safely inside the cage.

So… whose cats were these?

At that moment, her footsteps disturbed the mysterious newcomers.

One by one, they lifted their heads.

Eighteen eerie lights ignited in the darkness—eighteen glowing eyes.

Seventeen pairs shone emerald green, flickering like ghostly flames.

But the eighteenth eye—

Was blood-red.

“MOTHER OF—!”

Qi Huang’s pupils contracted.

Her scalp prickled.

Her legs gave out.

She nearly collapsed on the spot.