The ice crystals on the tabby cat’s body gradually melted, and the blood mixed with water soaked through the clothes beneath it.
Bo Jin went to the storage room and retrieved a first-aid kit that had never been opened before. Since the cat café housed over twenty cats, items like cotton swabs, gauze, and band-aids were always kept on hand. Though they were rarely used, it was still a necessary precaution.
Bo Jin wiped away the blood from the tabby cat’s body. The wounds left by the cold required spiritual energy to heal. Ordinary medicine would be of little use. He simply treated the wounds to make the tabby cat more comfortable.
Pei Shiyi held the tabby cat’s front paw and said, “Fortunately, this little one has good cultivation and quick reflexes. When the cold energy struck, he immediately used his spiritual power to protect his internal organs, so his foundation wasn’t damaged. It’s also lucky you brought him here quickly. Now that the cold energy has been expelled, he should wake up soon.”
As he spoke, the tabby cat’s furry paw twitched a few times. He slowly opened his eyes.
Pei Shiyi looked down and smiled. “Awake? Feeling warmer now?”
The tabby cat opened its mouth but couldn’t form a complete sentence. Its belly heaved violently as it recognized the abundant, gentle spiritual energy. It was… it was that person.
He was actually the owner of the cat café.
The tabby cat had chosen the cat café only because of the support of the Supernatural Management Bureau behind it, which was why he dared to leave his spiritually awakened younger brother at the pet boarding shop in the back. He never expected that…
A low rumbling sound came from his throat as he struggled to say a few words.
Pei Shiyi: “I know. Jian Zhou is doing fine. Rest well now, or Jian Zhou will be very upset to see you like this.”
The tabby cat’s aura was very similar to Jian Zhou’s, confirming that he was Jian Zhou’s older brother, Yuan Jing. At this moment, he must be very worried about his younger brother.
Seeing him in such a state would surely frighten little Jian Zhou.
Ignoring the intense pain, Yuan Jing stretched out a front paw and placed it on Pei Shiyi’s wrist, uttering a faint sound.
Pei Shiyi leaned closer. “What?”
Yuan Jing whispered, “Your Highness…”
Pei Shiyi froze. It had been so long since he had heard that title that he almost didn’t realize it was directed at him. Only when Yuan Jing tremblingly called him again did Pei Shiyi blink, a hint of confusion appearing in his expression.
Xu Tuzhi: !
Was his hearing failing him? Did that cat just say “Your Highness”?
But that kind of thing was no longer practiced in their demon realm!
Pei Shiyi’s fingers twitched slightly as he quickly masked his confusion with a faint smile. “Alright, rest for now. We can talk about everything else tomorrow.”
He lifted Yuan Jing and placed him in the cat bed, gathering a ball of spiritual energy for Yuan Jing to absorb slowly. Then, he courteously saw Xu Tuzhi and Dang Kang out.
After stepping outside, Xu Tuzhi glanced back at the cat café. Boss Pei was as polite and proper as ever, while Director Bo… sat coldly on the sofa nearby, his features hidden in the shadows, his lips pressed tightly together under the warm yellow light.
Xu Tuzhi shivered involuntarily and tugged at Dang Kang. “Those two won’t start fighting, will they? It feels like the director is really angry.”
Dang Kang looked back. The enigmatic Boss Pei, whose true form was unknown, walked around the table and sat beside Director Bo. He raised a hand and gently placed it on Bo Jin’s shoulder. The Zhulong, who could swallow rivers and oceans and turn the sun and moon upside down, closed his eyes softly, suppressing his anger. He then lifted the other’s chin and placed a kiss on his eyelashes.
Dang Kang said, “They won’t.”
Xu Tuzhi also glanced back, then felt as if his eyes were about to go blind. Grabbing Dang Kang, he hurriedly scurried back to his own farm.
Pei Shiyi pressed close to Bo Jin’s lips and whispered, “I was wrong.”
Bo Jin’s expression remained cold, but his tone softened: “Don’t try to sweet-talk me like that.”
Seeing an opportunity, Pei Shiyi quickly intertwined his fingers with Bo Jin’s.
Right now, soothing his boyfriend was more important. Face could wait.
He stopped releasing spiritual energy. His body grew hot again.
The Zhulong’s body temperature was lower than that of ordinary people, making Pei Shiyi’s warmth all the more noticeable. Bo Jin couldn’t stay cold-hearted for long. His fingers gently stroked the bead on Pei Shiyi’s wrist, slowly channeling spiritual energy into it. Using the bead transformed from a dragon’s scale as a medium, he tried to lower Pei Shiyi’s scorching temperature.
Pei Shiyi narrowed his eyes, feeling much more comfortable. The slight frown between his brows eased. He gently kneaded Bo Jin’s fingertips.
Bo Jin’s heart softened under his various little gestures.
Pei Shiyi lifted his hand and kissed it, then, after a moment of thought, said, “Ever since humans began developing technology, spiritual beings have expanded into their own realm, known as the Four Directions. The Zhulong guards the human world, while the Phoenix presides over the Four Directions. My father is the Green Emperor, and I am the Crown Prince of the Four Directions.”
Bo Jin murmured, “Mm, I know. The previous Zhulong made an agreement with the Phoenix to open the entrance at Chunshou Mountain. Because beneath Chunshou Mountain lies the most spiritually abundant dragon vein, which resonates with the Zhulong’s aura, the headquarters of the Supernatural Management Bureau is also located here. However, the passage has been sealed for years, so the Bureau cannot always stay informed about conditions within the Four Directions. We only know that two hundred years ago, the passage was completely sealed, preventing any entry or exit.”
Pei Shiyi continued, “Because at that time, the celestial fire in the Four Directions went out. Without the sun, everything began to freeze, and ordinary creatures died first. For spiritual beings who cultivate, the imbalance of yin and yang is equally fatal. The divine beings, other than the Phoenix, created a new barrier, barely preserving the surviving creatures.”
Bo Jin instinctively frowned: “What about the Phoenix?”
Pei Shiyi: “When a Phoenix undergoes nirvana, it can ignite the flames of rebirth…”
He drifted off for a moment, as if seeing the scene from a hundred years ago across the void, and whispered, “In all my years since then, I have never seen a fire greater than that day.”
The Phoenix’s nirvana ignited flames that dyed the heavens crimson, lighting a fire of rebirth for all living beings in the Four Directions at the easternmost land. When the time came, a new sun was born from the flames, the Four Directions thawed, and all creatures lived in peace.
Bo Jin tightly clasped Pei Shiyi’s hand. He wanted to ask, “Were you there?” but felt it was a pointless question. Knowing Pei Shiyi’s temperament, how could he have avoided it?
Bo Jin kissed Pei Shiyi’s fingertips. The skin beneath his lips was still burning hot, as if the flames of the Phoenix clan’s nirvana still burned within Pei Shiyi’s bones and blood, leaving this reborn man restless.
After a long while, Bo Jin finally said, “…Since you could return, they too…”
Pei Shiyi: “I’m not afraid you’ll laugh at me for saying this. The five branches of my phoenix clan have always considered ourselves a major lineage among divine beings, but in truth, there are only about a hundred phoenixes in total. After I was born, no new phoenix chicks were born in the clan. I was the youngest of my generation, ranked eleventh in the clan. The reason I was able to awaken from Chunshou Mountain was simply because my elders loved me dearly and spared no effort to preserve me. My current body is newly formed. The original one was completely burned away.”
His body was newly formed, but his primordial spirit had long been damaged by the unceasing flames day and night. After all, everything in excess is harmful. Even a phoenix’s rebirth cannot withstand burning for hundreds of years on end.
Bo Jin silently embraced him.
The pain forgotten by the body had already been etched into the primordial spirit.
All the little quirks of Pei Shiyi that Bo Jin had never understood finally had an explanation. Why he avoided sunlight filtering through the curtains, why he kept the air conditioning so low in summer, why he clung to a glass of ice water even in winter… and why the one he loved had such a frail, almost delicate body.
Pei Shiyi: “Pain isn’t a bad thing. It means the temperature is rising in all directions. Once the sun is reborn, the rebirth flames will no longer be needed. I’ll sever my final connection with the sun, and then the pain will naturally stop.”
In other words, no one knew how long this pain would last. Yet, despite the heartache, it couldn’t be spoken aloud.
So Bo Jin nuzzled against him and said, “In that case, you should hug me even more. Dan Huang and the others are much warmer than I am.”
Pei Shiyi didn’t want to ruin the mood, but he couldn’t help it: “…You don’t have fur.”
Bo Jin replied, “Exactly because I don’t have fur, I’m cooler. You can’t have both fur and coolness.”
Pei Shiyi laughed, “You’d drive your Chinese teacher to despair!”
Seeing him regain his spirited energy, Bo Jin loosened his grip around Pei Shiyi’s waist slightly and began gently stroking his back.
As they spoke, Yuan Jing had absorbed the spiritual energy Pei Shiyi gave him, regaining the strength to speak. His wounds, soothed by the spiritual energy, had stopped bleeding and begun to scab over. Yuan Jing struggled to get up.
Pei Shiyi quickly pushed Bo Jin’s hand away and rose to press Yuan Jing back down. “Don’t move recklessly. Be careful not to reopen your wounds.”
Even if spiritual energy could revive the dead and regenerate flesh and bone, it couldn’t heal everything in an instant.
Yuan Jing resembled Jian Zhou somewhat in appearance, but he had a ring of white fur around his neck. His tabby markings spread from his spine to his sides, while his belly was covered in soft, fine white fur.
Yuan Jing had light green eyes. He was a strikingly elegant and handsome cat.
Bo Jin’s attention shifted to Yuan Jing. This cat had recognized Pei Shiyi’s identity the moment he opened his eyes, so he must be an old acquaintance. Bo Jin narrowed his eyes and asked, “How does he know you? Did you raise him before?”
Pei Shiyi was truly skilled at raising cats. He must have practiced in the past.
Pei Shiyi: This jealous dragon, what nonsense is he getting jealous about now?
Yuan Jing: “Your Highness probably doesn’t remember me.”
Pei Shiyi gently stroked his fur.
Yuan Jing: “Lord Pei Huang originally raised my parents. I saw Your Highness when I first gained spiritual awareness, but I was still covered in downy fur back then, so I suppose Your Highness wouldn’t remember me. When the calamity struck, although Lord Pei Huang had prepared an escape route for us, the disaster came too quickly. My parents, my younger brother, and I were not by his side. My parents used their lifelong cultivation to forcibly open an exit and send us out of the Four Directions. I wandered the human world for over a hundred years and finally sensed the entrance loosening recently, so I wanted to investigate. I never expected my limited cultivation would fail me, and I ended up injured by the cold.”
Pei Shiyi nodded.
Bo Jin: “Pei Huang?”
Pei Shiyi: “My maternal uncle. He raised a mountain of fluffy spiritual beasts. Big cats and little cats filled his courtyard. Did I ever mention to you that I had contact with Mengji before?”
Bo Jin retorted, “Have you ever told me anything?”
Pei Shiyi, who had rarely spoken about his past in front of Bo Jin, felt a pang of guilt and quickly changed the subject. “No wonder he looked somewhat familiar.”
Bo Jin said expressionlessly, “No wonder you insisted on opening a cat café after waking up. It must have rubbed off on you.”
Here we go again, this issue seemed quite serious.
Pei Shiyi hurriedly explained, “No, no, no. Xian Chan was originally a cat café. I just happened to take it over and even lost a lot of money. If it weren’t for Dan Huang wanting to keep the cat café running, I wouldn’t have…”
He suddenly paused, resting his forehead in his hand, feeling a slight blur in his memory of when he first took over the cat café. He murmured, “Who gave me the cat café? His name was… Feng Huang?”
Feng Huang, Phoenix… Pei Huang?
No wonder, no wonder… The cat café was located on the busiest street in Yuchuan. Even if it was in debt, couldn’t it have been rented out? It was one thing for Pei Shiyi, who had just been resurrected, to have a foggy memory, but how could a great demon who had lived for centuries not understand?
Unless this cat café was prepared specifically for him.
What he had thought were mere coincidences were, in fact, the lingering affection of his elders preserved in this world.
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Meow meow On TPH Chapter 26.1