"Meow! Let me go! Meow! Let me go!"
The small voice mixed with willfulness and wheedling matched its outer appearance perfectly. The little black kitten stuck under Bai Fanxian's qi authority struggled back and forth, causing the adorable pink paw pads on all four feet to appear before them.
Cute...
Even Liu Yianfei gulped and struggled to stop himself from reaching out.
There were those, however, whose hearts had already melted.
"Kitty!"
"A kitty!"
Tang Yeye and Hui'er's eyes sparkled. These two children completely forgot their original goal. The moment their feet touched the ground, they rushed to surround the four-legged creature — startling it so badly tears welled up in those big round eyes.
"Scary meow... let Kuro go meow..."
The black cat realized there was no escape. No matter how much it struggled, Bai Fanxian's qi covering it showed no sign of dispersing. It used both front paws to cover its eyes.
Such a useless action...
...But absolutely adorable!
Even Bai Fanxian had to admit this truth. She also wanted to hug this round black furball.
"Can I hold it?"
"Ah... don't come closer meow..."
The little black cat jumped when it accidentally met Tang Yeye's gaze. Tang Yeye was so full of enthusiasm and interest that it felt scared.
Because her weak body meant she'd never been allowed to keep pets before. Getting to meet such an adorable kitten was impossible to resist.
Hui'er was the same. Before wandering, this child lived in hardship and poverty. She could barely sustain herself, so she almost had no chance to take on any additional burden.
"..."
Bai Fanxian didn't answer. But she controlled her qi to slowly, carefully lower it to the ground and disperse it.
"Meow...?"
Even it didn't believe it would be released so easily. It looked around. This furball did something unbelievable.
Vague black shadows started wrapping around its body.
And in a blink, it disappeared from everyone's sight!
"Ah!"
Tang Yeye cried out in shock and regret. But before her voice ended, she made a groaning sound because something collided from behind.
"Meow haha!... Kuro is free meow... ack!?"
The little black cat that seemed to be named "Kuro" laughed happily.
And crashed hard into an invisible transparent wall.
Kuro lay sprawled showing its white belly. This let them learn the truth that this furball wasn't completely black as they'd thought.
Bai Fanxian flicked her finger lightly. The wall dissolved as if it had never been there.
She walked closer and scooped up the kitten, barely bigger than her palm. Kuro, with stars spinning around its head, was as soft as a huggable stuffed toy.
"Meow... stars everywhere meow..."
Kuro shook its head back and forth like it was dizzy. But just a few seconds later, it came to its senses. All its fur including its swaying tail stood on end when it sensed the palm cradling it.
Because no matter what, it couldn't break free.
Even without gripping tightly, just laying it there casually, Kuro felt like there was no way it could escape.
It was even more helpless than when bound in midair just now.
"Who are you meow..."
Kuro couldn't believe itself. It, who was praised as the strongest dimensional demon beast species, had fallen into a human's hand so easily like this.
"Meow... nyaa!?"
While it was pondering, its tiny body felt like an electric shock. Because Bai Fanxian was using her other hand to scratch its white belly and under its chin until it accidentally cried out happily.
She still maintained her usual calm face. But to familiar people, they could tell the corners of her lips and eyes had lifted slightly.
A strange satisfaction when she made the kitten cry out.
Its body flowed like liquid. It felt like these slender fingers had some magic that made it feel good somehow.
When it came to its senses again, Bai Fanxian had already withdrawn her hand.
It looked left and right in embarrassment. The image of this tiny thing curling into a round ball again could easily create endearing feelings in people beside it.
It had been laughing happily just moments earlier, but now it showed this demeanor. People with some age like Liu Yianfei and elderly butler Huang Zihuan immediately knew...
Not just outer appearance, but this was truly still a kitten!
"I want to scratch its belly too..."
Tang Yeye made pitiful eyes while standing on tiptoes. She wanted to grab it for a hug, but didn't dare.
Because it was still in Bai Fanxian's hands.
How could she not know this little disciple's desire? But the reason she wouldn't let it go wasn't just because she was attached to this cuteness.
But it was too dangerous.
She still remembered the scene where it vanished from sight in a split second. The speed and some shadow covering it could easily slip away from a Sage-level being like Liu Yianfei's senses.
She feared that just setting it down, the same event as earlier would inevitably occur.
She was too lazy to go catch it again.
"But what happened?"
The elderly butler was the one who could read situations best. When the commotion was ending, Huang Zihuan opened his mouth to ask what concerned him.
What happened earlier that made Liu Yianfei release such intense purification?
"About that..."
The young-looking man scratched his head. He explained everything he had encountered a few minutes ago — from when he left for the tower to running into something that looked like an evil spirit, which just kept saying "help me" without stopping.
"There really was a ghost?"
Hui'er was surprised. She walked beside Liu Yianfei and looked up to ask.
"Mm... how should I put it?"
Liu Yianfei scratched his face while smiling dryly. He wasn't certain himself whether those black shadows were really ghosts.
"Perhaps that thing might be..."
Bai Fanxian, who had been listening to the story for a while, looked down at the black furball in her palm. She narrowed her eyes, causing Kuro, who was enjoying the soft hand's touch, to jump.
"Meow! Pressure!?"
Its demeanor surprised Bai Fanxian.
Because she hadn't released pressure seriously yet. Just a fragment of her thought feeling suspicious about it had made this cat already sense it.
You could call it ultimate danger awareness instinct.
"...Not a normal cat?"
Bai Fanxian furrowed her brow. But that made the elderly butler who had been watching clear his throat faintly.
It seemed she had forgotten something important...
"My lady... normal cats can't talk."
"..."
Right.
This thing had been chattering non-stop since the first second they met...
"Why is there a cat on this island...?"
Huang Zihuan, befitting a professional butler, sensed his master's awkwardness and quickly changed the subject.
"My lady swept the island clean once already... besides small animals or insects, there's no way a living thing like a cat could slip past this Dragon Border."
The elderly butler, having managed this place for quite a while, was very confident — his senses connected to every part of the island. It had never detected strange living things wandering in before. As mentioned, those who could enter here besides Bai Fanxian's people would need superior force to push through.
"What does this mean?"
Even Bai Fanxian herself didn't understand. She furrowed her beautiful brow. But even so, her slender fingers kept kneading and scratching Kuro's small white belly without stopping.
"Meow meow! Stop! I'm dying meow!"
It struggled until it seemed breathless. But at the same time, it felt strange satisfaction through this action.
"Kuro is the number one demon beast species... with just this torture(?)... meow!"
Before it could act tough, Bai Fanxian just used her fingertip to lightly poke under its chin and this tiny body almost completely liquefied. It closed its eyes, letting Bai Fanxian touch every part of its body, unable to resist.
"A demon beast then?"
Liu Yianfei narrowed his eyes. He quietly circulated qi in case of unexpected events. At the same time, he quickly pulled both children behind for safety. But Bai Fanxian, who was "torturing?" this little one, didn't care and even increased her hand speed.
"Oh?... What kind of demon beast are you?"
Her tone might sound calm. But to close companions who had been together long, they all sensed faint teasing emotions mixed in.
"Meow haha! Kuro is the glorious Dimension-Rending Cat spe... ah! Don't scratch there meow!"
In just a split second, this kitten changed completely. Its proud demeanor was utterly destroyed before it could finish the sentence.
"Hah... hah... what a rude human meow..."
Kuro panted exhaustedly. It lay sprawled showing its white belly on Bai Fanxian's hand, not thinking to resist anymore.
"...Even though Kuro went to the trouble of taking on a 'human-like form' to show pure sincerity meow."
Liu Yianfei's eye twitched slightly.
Don't tell me that "black shadow" resembling a woman was also this thing's doing?
"Hmph! Can't trust people outside the palace! I was taught this meow!"
It seemed to be the type that liked chattering on. Perhaps because it was still young, even though no one asked, it was ready to pour out its entire story.
Full of pride too.
"Oh... you already have an owner then..."
Not knowing why, when Bai Fanxian grasped that this kitten probably had a master already, she looked strangely sad. Huang Zihuan, seeing his lady's demeanor, quietly withdrew and jotted something down in the small notebook he carried.
It seemed raising a few kittens wouldn't be a bad idea...
But the next sentence made him quickly turn back.
"Kuro is the master meow! Everyone in the Goddess Alchemy Palace obeys Kuro's requests meow!"
The little kitten puffed out its chest and nodded vigorously as if what it said was completely correct, not realizing at all when the delicate hand it sat on had wrapped around it.
And the owner of that hand accidentally squeezed tight without realizing.
"Meow! Too much force meow!? Really hurts meow!?"
"..."
"...What did you just say?"