I was unconscious for most of the day, only waking up in the evening of the next day. Cangtong Kai had his cook prepare an incredibly delicious meal for the sick and brought it to me. I ate it with tears streaming down my face, giving the moral conscience of this cat a big Like.
He and Xuan finally believed me, accepting that the current down-and-out woman is the tree demon proprietress who was once chivalrous and righteous, beautiful as a flower, calm yet rebellious, and passionate beneath her indifference.
Cangtong Kai said that he rarely remembers anyone's gaze in his life, except for that tree demon who was even more cocky and haughty than him. Although I have a radically different appearance now, my tone of voice and disdainful gaze are still identifiable.
Xuan was furious, vowing to kill the evildoer Mu and get everything back for me. Now that Cangtong Kai knows his true identity, they are figuring out a way to gather all the forces that can be brought into play, and are determined to fight to the death with the baddie in Unceasing.
Yes, my "Unceasing" has changed from a harmless and profitable dessert shop into a graveyard of demons without my knowing it.
This was an unforeseen event for everyone, including myself. I'm so close to it and even occasionally watch it from a distance, yet I did not notice any obvious anomalies. It wasn't until Cangtong Kai told me that, starting from ten days ago, a strange blue mist and a flock of monstrous birds surge out from somewhere every night past midnight and wantonly hunt all kinds of demons. Even his clan was not spared, and dozens of cat demons with slightly lower cultivation levels had already been captured. He and Xuan traced the source and were shocked to discover that the blue mist and those skeleton birds actually "originate" from my Unceasing.
This disaster, which came without warning, made every demon with some spiritual power feel the terror of impending doom. Even Zhang Daxia, who was lurking around me, had a premonition of danger and was afraid to go out. Only I was completely oblivious.
"But it's not your fault. You were never too bright to begin with, and now you've lost your powers." Cangtong Kai finally found the opportunity to "take revenge." This cheeky kid. I was not in the mood to bicker with him. The most crucial issue at the moment is what great things that crazy woman Mu has done in my "Unceasing." If she orchestrated the disaster last night, then what's her motive?
Xuan, who had been silent all this time, was crouched on the table and deep in thought. As a cat with intellect, he suddenly turned to me and said, "Before taking any action, shouldn't we first get back the real you? Right now, you can't even handle a single skeleton bird, and that's a big problem."
Cangtong Kai scratched his head vigorously and asked, "Think carefully. Among the people you know, is there anyone who can appear in front of you and call out your name without any hints from others?"
"If there was such a person, I would have rushed to them long ago." I sighed. Perhaps Jiu Jue could give it a try, but this guy has no fixed abode. By the time we find him and return, it's very likely that Mu's black hand will have already wreaked havoc on countless innocents. Anyway, even if it's Jiu Jue, I don't have much confidence in him. Those who can see through a stranger's appearance and recognize the real me — one has disappeared forever, and the other is missing.
I stroked the pure-gold dragon pattern amulet on my wrist, which I had lost and then regained, and which had saved me twice from peril. The faint warmth was still there. Ao Chi's face, always proud and scornful, yet occasionally childish, and the sound of his voice, always yelling and bickering at me, became increasingly clear in my mind.
If my memory serves me right, Ao Chi disappeared completely from my life three days after giving me this amulet. The night before he disappeared, we had the biggest argument we had ever had since we met.
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