The Sickly Beauty and Her Guide Leopard - Chapter 4

Her fingertip lightly brushed Jian Li’s fluffy cheek. “Not only knowledgeable, but also sweet-tongued.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Jian Li replied. “Just basic operations.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she relaxed her tense nerves, only for her stomach to betray her with a loud rumble.

Jian Li shyly hopped off the bed. “Are you hungry? I’ll go hunting for you.”

“No need to hunt,” Yan Qingshuang said. “The medical pavilion provides meals.”

“But I’m a leopard, so saying that fits my character better!” Jian Li blurted out before darting away, not even bothering to see if Yan Qingshuang understood.

The VIP ward was indeed exceptional. The secluded courtyard was serene and elegant, filled with the occasional birdsong and the fragrance of bamboo.

A long, melodious zither tune drifted from deep within the lush green bamboo grove.

Jian Li’s feet involuntarily carried her toward the sound.

From a distance, she immediately realized her mistake.

Why did I have to run into Zhao Yu again, the one who always speaks so harshly to me?

Zhao Yu sat upright, playing the zither, when she sensed an approaching presence.

She suddenly leaped forward and seized Jian Li by the nape of her neck, gripping her fate in her hand.

Jian Li squirmed violently. “What have I ever done to you? Talk about running into your nemesis!”

“That’s a terrible meow,” Zhao Yu said. “Even the cat in the kitchen sounds better.”

Pure species discrimination!

Jian Li was about to summon the System, planning to take out a loan to buy weapons and deal with Zhao Yu.

Then her stomach delivered a critical hit.

“Hungry, are we?” Zhao Yu teased.

Jian Li slumped into silence. A leopard is made of iron, and food is its steel. A day without eating leaves her ravenous.

“Come on,” Zhao Yu said. “Let’s get some food for your ‘master’ too.”

Yan Qingshuang is not my master!

Jian Li opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Sure enough, as Zhao Yu had said, a lazy black-and-white fat cat was lounging by the dining hall entrance.

The plump feline basked in the sun, its eyes half-closed in contentment.

When it spotted its owner, its tail shot straight up, and it rubbed against Zhao Yu’s legs, purring sweetly, “Master, meow~”

Zhao Yu nodded toward the cat. “See how well-behaved Big Orange is?”

Jian Li scoffed with a disdainful meow, “Anyone can act cute.”

She leaped beside the cat, sizing up their physiques from every angle.

Thankfully, leopards are bigger. Might makes right.

Satisfied, Jian Li slapped Big Orange on the forehead with a paw. “You’re rolling with me from now on, got it?”

Animals possess a unique form of communication.

Big Orange, her intelligence newly awakened, didn’t recognize Jian Li’s species. Feeling deeply insulted by this dismissive treatment, she bristled with indignation.

She hissed fiercely at Jian Li, “Meow! Get off my territory!”

Jian Li, startled, arched her back and tucked her tail between her legs. “Come on! Who’s afraid of who?”

Big Orange unsheathed her claws.

Jian Li braced her hind legs.

The two creatures quickly became entangled, their fight a whirlwind of fur and fury.

The battle drew a crowd of onlookers, some even recording the spectacle with Recording Stones.

A kind old man called out from a distance, trying to mediate, “Enough, enough! It’s hard enough for both of you.”

Within a minute, both animals had sustained injuries.

Big Orange hadn’t been thoroughly beaten in ages; she never engaged in battles she couldn’t win.

Knowing her owner was nearby, she feigned a pitiful expression and withdrew from the fight, whining to Zhao Yu, “Master, she’s bullying me~~~”

Hearing the aggrieved meows, Zhao Yu glanced briefly at Jian Li.

Jian Li spat out a mouthful of cat fur. “Manipulative cat,” she muttered. “If you’ve got the guts, come fight me one-on-one.”

Big Orange clung to Zhao Yu’s leg, shaking her head. “I don’t want to.”

Then she launched into another round of frantic purring and adorable antics, shamelessly playing up her cuteness.

“You’re as timid as a mouse,” Jian Li scoffed, despising Big Orange’s pathetic reliance on humans.

“Rely on others, and they’ll run away. Rely on mountains, and they’ll crumble. Understand?”

Big Orange’s simple mind processed only one thing: “Master gives me dried fish.”

“Look at you, so pathetic,” Jian Li sneered. “You’re a disgrace to all felines.”

Big Orange didn’t understand what “felines” meant, but she knew she had been thoroughly defeated.

Jian Li puffed out her chest, radiating regal authority. The crowd parted automatically, clearing a path for her.

She charged into the kitchen.

The cooks, quick to recognize the situation, knew that a cat daring to bully the clan leader’s pet must be no ordinary Spiritual Beast.

The head chef rubbed his hands together and asked deferentially, “What would Your Excellency like to eat?”

Jian Li, mindful of her manners and concerned about Yan Qingshuang, pointed a paw at the pot of plain white congee simmering on the stove.

Before the head chef could respond, Zhao Yu strode in, Big Orange trailing behind her.

With a single glance from Zhao Yu, the other cooks bowed and dispersed.

“Little short-legged leopard, you like congee?”

Unwilling to waste time exchanging pleasantries, Jian Li simply grabbed the wooden bucket of congee.

Zhao Yu’s sleeves billowed as she flicked her wrist. In an instant, the congee and the beast were separated.

The congee returned to its original spot.

Jian Li now held a bowl of Spiritual Beast Meat, fragrant and glistening with rich, dark sauce.

Her eyes lit up.

Big Orange drooled uncontrollably, unable to comprehend why her master was being so kind to this “bad beast.”

Jian Li, never one to hold a grudge, pushed the bowl toward Big Orange.

“Eat up, Big Orange.”

Big Orange didn’t hesitate, stuffing her cheeks full of meat in one greedy bite.

“Does your master love you?” Jian Li asked.

Big Orange chewed thoughtfully. “She likes me. I sleep in her bed at night.”

Jian Li: “But you ate my food. From now on, you’re my cat.”

Big Orange swallowed the meat. “Huh?”

Jian Li: “I told you, stick with me and I’ll take you to the peak of cat life.”

Big Orange: “What about my owner?”

Jian Li: “Your owner will get other cats.”

Big Orange: “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

Jian Li understood that to win a cat’s heart, you first had to win its stomach.

This was just the first step in her plan to turn Big Orange against her owner.

The two creatures huddled together, munching and crunching until the Spiritual Beast Meat was gone.

Big Orange immediately collapsed in a heap. Jian Li nudged her.

“Walk after meals, live to ninety-nine!”

“But I’m already a hundred years old.”

Jian Li: “My mistake. Live to nine hundred and ninety-nine!”

Zhao Yu picked up the food box and left, with Jian Li and Big Orange hurrying after her.

Yan Qingshuang leaned against her bed, her dark hair obscuring her expression.

Five days ago, her betrothed, Meng Ruoyi, had begged her to give her Golden Core. Yan Qingshuang had complied, but Meng Ruoyi had broken her promise to return and save her.

“I’m back from hunting!” Jian Li’s voice rang out, still full of youthful energy.

Yan Qingshuang listened for the direction of the sound, noticing more than one set of footsteps.

Her tone remained as cold as ever. “You’re back.”

Jian Li wagged her tail. “Yep! I brought you some congee and side dishes. Zhao Yu helped me carry them.”

Yan Qingshuang: “Thank you. Have you eaten?”

“Of course, I’m absolutely stuffed,” Jian Li replied.

Yan Qingshuang beckoned her over. “Come here.”

Puzzled, Jian Li leaned against the headboard.

Yan Qingshuang’s long, slender fingers gently touched Jian Li’s stomach. “Hmm, you’re full.”

The faint, fragrant scent emanating from Yan Qingshuang’s skin made Jian Li’s stomach twitch.

Her ears twitched repeatedly. “Something’s not right. Are you subtly implying my stomach is big?”

Big Orange chimed in at the worst possible moment, “My master pets me like that too.”

Jian Li sighed in exasperation. Why did everyone keep treating Yan Qingshuang like her master?

She hopped over to Big Orange, patted her shoulder, and spoke in feline language.

“Spiritual Beast Feline Class, Lesson One: Cats must cherish their own kind.”

Big Orange: “Are you and I the same kind?”

Jian Li pulled Big Orange into a corner and gave her a thorough verbal dressing-down.

Zhao Yu offered more food.

Yan Qingshuang thanked her briefly and ate slowly and deliberately.

Zhao Yu: “You don’t resemble your mother.”

A faint smile curved Yan Qingshuang’s lips. “That’s true. When I was little, many people said I looked more like my mother.”

Zhao Yu froze, momentarily speechless.

Twenty-three years ago, Yan Qingshuang had been barely three years old.

Her naturally frail figure was mired in the icy wilderness of the Outer Peak, where Spiritual Energy was scarce.

Yan Qingshuang’s frost-like eyes were covered by a white silk blindfold, her small hands frozen crimson, yet she practiced sword techniques with meticulous precision, each stroke perfectly executed, her focus unwavering.

Despite her solitary existence, diligent cultivation, and unwavering respect for her teacher, she could never escape the stigma of her lowly birth, the target of endless criticism.

Her mother had cultivated demonic arts, slaughtered countless lives, and abducted the sole heir of Wending Peak.

Only Zhao Yu, remembering her past affection for Yan Qingshuang’s mother, offered free medical treatment and provided healing pills whenever she was injured.

Suddenly, Yan Qingshuang felt a tightness in her chest and doubled over, coughing violently.

A sharp, metallic sweetness surged up her throat.

Zhao Yu snapped out of her reverie and hurriedly pressed a Hemostasis Pill into Yan Qingshuang’s palm.

Jian Li, who had been whispering with Big Orange, glanced at Yan Qingshuang with concern.

“What’s wrong with your mistress?” Big Orange asked.

Jian Li sighed, feeling her explanation had been wasted. “I just told you, animals can become masters too.”

The two creatures continued their murmuring.

Zhao Yu watched Yan Qingshuang swallow the pill. “Forget the past. Your health is what matters now.”

“Yes, thank you, Aunt,” Yan Qingshuang replied.

“I’m not your real aunt,” Zhao Yu corrected.

Yan Qingshuang tasted the lingering bitterness of the medicinal pill on her tongue. “Elder Zhao,” she said.

Zhao Yu sighed. The girl was still as stubborn as ever. “Call me whatever you want,” she relented.

Yan Qingshuang lowered her gaze, carefully choosing her words. “Aunt, could you lend me the Bl00d-Rending Needle for a while?”

Zhao Yu’s expression shifted dramatically. The Bl00d-Rending Needle used Sword Bone as a substitute for medicinal pills, reversing cultivation to its origin. Before use, a formation must be activated, and the needle pierced into the bone to forcibly open the bone’s qi channels.

Bypassing the Dantian, it guides pure qi back into the bone.

The pain of having one’s bones carved out was considered mild compared to the most severe risk: the soul separating from the body.

This was beyond the endurance of ordinary people.

“Are you insane?!” Zhao Yu’s voice rose sharply. “Risking your soul and Sword Bone? Do you even want to live?!”

Yan Qingshuang remained composed, fully aware that her actions were placing her on the brink of life and death.

“Right now, I’m no different from a cripple.”

“Better to live a wretched life than die a glorious death.”

Zhao Yu’s tone was resolute as she stood up, giving Yan Qingshuang no chance to argue. “Once your injuries heal, I’ll send you back to the Sect.”

“Very well,” Yan Qingshuang replied. “Thank you for your trouble, Aunt.”

The two exchanged politeries for a while longer.

As dusk settled, the sun dipped below the horizon.

Zhao Yu took Big Orange out.

Jian Li had already persuaded Big Orange to help her find jobs that paid Spirit Stones.

Big Orange said she needed some time and left a mirror imprint for future communication between the two beasts.

Jian Li’s throat was parched. She stood on her hind legs and poured herself a cup of tea.

After gulping down the water, she turned to Yan Qingshuang and asked, “Little Shuang, do you want some water?”

Yan Qingshuang: “Little… Shuang?”

Jian Li: “Yeah, I can’t exactly call you… Master.”

Yan Qingshuang agreed that “Master” wasn’t appropriate. “This is the first time anyone’s called me Little Shuang.”

Jian Li scratched her head, unsure how to respond.

She picked up the water cup and nudged it toward Yan Qingshuang.

“There’s always a first time for everything, and this will bring us closer.”

Yan Qingshuang took the cup. “Mm.”

Jian Li knew the effects of the Bl00d-Rending Needle. The game description stated that using it granted a temporary attack boost at the cost of unstoppable bleeding.

Hearing Yan Qingshuang’s plan to take a risky approach, Jian Li believed her ambition was excessive and unwise.

Why not just enjoy the fragrant, pollution-free Great Tonic Pills I bought?

Jian Li casually asked, “Is your Sect fun?”

Yan Qingshuang: “I’m not sure.”

Jian Li: “Then what do you usually do?”

Yan Qingshuang: “I’m busy.”

That was as good as no answer. Jian Li didn’t want to linger here; she couldn’t let Yan Qingshuang fall into darkness.

Bearing a heavy responsibility, Jian Li urged, “Can we return to the Sect soon?”

Yan Qingshuang: “Why?”

Jian Li: “I want to play.”

Having never raised a Spiritual Beast before, Yan Qingshuang nodded. “Alright, we’ll return early.”