I Am the Female Lead’s Cat 2

Chapter 2: Longing

Upon waking, Bai Jingxue noticed tiny, luminous white dots within her field of vision. In some areas, the dots were so dense they formed a shimmering mist.

She watched as the dots eagerly surged into her body, bringing a pleasant sensation throughout her limbs. Bai Jingxue had a hunch about what they were.

This was most likely spiritual energy. Suppressing her surprise, she stretched lazily and sauntered towards the door.

Naturally, the female lead’s secluded cultivation chamber was heavily warded. The novel had mentioned it. What surprised Bai Jingxue was her ability to see these normally invisible barriers.

Every puzzle had a solution. Bai Jingxue was insatiably curious about the unknown, and she could now clearly perceive the flow of spiritual energy.

After observing for a while, she took a running leap, effortlessly bypassing the barriers and slipping out of the chamber.

Glancing back at the singed patch of fur on her back, Bai Jingxue shuddered. One wrong move, and she would have been sliced to ribbons.

Licking the singed fur, she carefully concealed herself in the undergrowth, listening to the approaching footsteps.

A man dressed in plain clothes cautiously approached the chamber. It was the male lead.

This world truly favored him. Even after being captured, he still managed to sneak back here.

Bai Jingxue discreetly watched his movements. He crept closer to the chamber and, with a pained expression, retrieved the poison pearl hidden in his eye.

The pearl was exquisitely beautiful, yet it emitted a foul, putrid odor that spread outwards. Upon contact with the protective barriers, it reacted violently, as if oil had been poured into a hot pan.

As the barriers dissolved, the male lead entered the chamber.

Bai Jingxue caught a whiff of an unusual scent. Her pupils constricted as she detected a layer of resentment clinging to the male lead.

The novel did mention this. After his rebirth, the male lead’s greatest asset was a powerful demonic cultivator residing in his right eye. Unlike the typical wise old mentor figure, this one sought only to possess the male lead’s body.

Of course, later on, the male lead would turn the tables and absorb the demonic cultivator’s power.

“Hah,” she thought, “just a couple of dogs biting each other.”

But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Bai Jingxue was reminded of a certain white dog with a furiously wagging tail.

Pushing aside distractions, she silently approached the chamber.

Finally, the male lead’s voice reached her ears.

“Old demon, are you sure this drug will work?”

Another voice, old and gruff, replied with a hint of annoyance, “Hmph, this is a sacred aphrodisiac from the Hundred Beauties Sect. Do you think I would lie to you?”

The male lead stared at the pink pill in his hand, doubt clouding his face. After all, his target was the esteemed Sword Saint of the Ejian Sect.

Luo Nianshang of the Ejian Sect, whose swordsmanship could make even ghosts weep. It was a phrase even a three-year-old child could recite.

If it weren’t for her exceptional beauty, he wouldn’t have dared to take such a risk.

With gritted teeth, he crushed the pill in his hand. The powder mixed with the spiritual energy in the air, and the male lead vanished into a spatial rift created by the demonic cultivator.

Bai Jingxue stared at the now agitated spiritual energy, disgust welling up within her.

As she pondered how to save the female lead, she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground.

Luo Nianshang cradled the black cat in her arms, carefully examining her. Only when she confirmed that only a patch of fur had been singed did she relax.

Bai Jingxue struggled in her grasp, pointing a paw towards the chamber and meowing urgently.

“Don’t go in there! It’s been drugged!” she cried out in her mind.

Unfortunately, the female lead couldn’t understand her frantic meows. But when she followed the cat’s paw, she noticed the damaged barriers around her chamber.

She had lived for thousands of years. Such a blatant intrusion immediately aroused suspicion. Activating her spiritual vision, she scanned the area. What she saw shocked her to her core.

After taking the man to the sect’s disciplinary hall for interrogation, she descended the mountain to purchase supplies for her cat from a nearby town. But upon her return, she discovered that the man had vanished.

And the air was thick with the lingering scent of poison.

Luo Nianshang was furious. She finally understood the truth behind the Demon Lord’s words. “Despicable thief! How dare you commit such a heinous act!” she spat.

Bai Jingxue sensed her rage and swished her tail in confusion.

The female lead seemed to realize something was amiss, but then she reconsidered. The broken barriers were obvious. Only a fool wouldn’t be suspicious.

Bai Jingxue began to question her own assumptions. She had subconsciously believed that this world would favor the male lead, that other characters would remain oblivious as they were in the novel.

But it seemed she was wrong. This world operated on logic and reason. It was the male lead who was behaving erratically.

Bai Jingxue’s eyes widened with realization. If that were true, then perhaps the tragic events of the novel could be averted. But she couldn’t jump to conclusions just yet.

She flicked her tail, frustrated. As a cat, there was little she could do but observe and wait.

Luo Nianshang unleashed her spiritual pressure and divine sense. The wind on the mountaintop ceased instantly. The world seemed to grind to a halt. Only Bai Jingxue, protected by Luo Nianshang’s power, remained unaffected.

Despite this, the deathly silence sent chills down her spine. This was the true extent of the female lead’s power.

Suddenly, a rift tore open in the space beside the chamber, revealing the cowering figure of the male lead. His handsome face was pale with terror.

Luo Nianshang had found him. And she saw the shimmering poison pearl clutched tightly in his hand.

The truth was out. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned her sword from thin air. Her movements were a blur, and the next moment, a flash of light cleaved through the space where the male lead stood, splitting it in two.

Protected by the demonic cultivator’s power, the male lead narrowly escaped death. However, the sinister demonic energy that enveloped him revealed his final trump card.

Luo Nianshang, in her long life, recognized the signature of this demonic energy. Shock gave way to fury. Without hesitation, she struck again.

Snow began to fall under the clear, sunny sky. The encroaching frost froze everything in its path, including the spatial rift where the male lead hid.

Bai Jingxue, believing the male lead was done for, began to celebrate prematurely, her tail swishing excitedly.

But in a last-ditch effort to survive, the male lead flung the poison pearl at the incoming attack and, with the demonic cultivator’s help, vanished without a trace.

The pearl collided with the sword light. The light dissipated, and the pearl clattered to the ground, its brilliance slightly dimmed.

Bai Jingxue’s face, despite being covered in black fur, paled. The pearl was linked to the Demon Lord’s life force!

In the original story, the Demon Lord only became part of the harem because the male lead possessed this very pearl.

Luo Nianshang sheathed her sword and picked up the pearl, her expression grim. Not only had the culprit escaped right under her nose, but the presence of that demonic energy spelled trouble.

She stared at the pearl in her hand for a moment, then muttered to herself, “This object is far too dangerous. It would be best to destroy it.”

Bai Jingxue’s fur stood on end. She began to struggle in Luo Nianshang’s grasp, meowing frantically.

Her attention caught, Luo Nianshang stroked the cat’s head soothingly.

The soft fur calmed her racing heart, preventing her from acting rashly. But after careful consideration, she decided to place a series of restrictions on the pearl.

Currently, the conflict between the righteous and demonic sects was relatively subdued. The current Demon Lord wasn’t one to stir up trouble unnecessarily. Pushing her too far would only lead to more bloodshed.

She had wrongly accused the Demon Lord and should apologize and offer reparations. But the thought left her with a strange feeling.

Luo Nianshang wasn’t one to dwell on things. She quickly pushed aside her reservations.

Putting the pearl away, she began to deal with the aftermath.

Seeing the pearl safely stored, Bai Jingxue finally relaxed.

***

Meanwhile, in the heart of the opulent demon palace, the Demon Lord, deep in meditation, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Her rosy complexion turned deathly pale.

Lü Qingyan, startled awake by the metallic scent, rushed to the Demon Lord’s side, her tail wagging with concern.

The Demon Lord wiped the blood from her lips, her expression dark. With the poison pearl separated from her, her body was becoming increasingly mortal, her cultivation slowly dissipating.

But she couldn’t reveal how much she cared. It would only confirm the pearl’s importance.

A sword wound materialized on her chest, the blood freezing where it touched her skin.

The culprit behind this injury was obvious. However, it wasn’t the most concerning issue. The Demon Lord sensed a foreign presence in her sea of consciousness: a mark shaped like a miniature sword.

She glared at the mark, her teeth grinding in frustration. But there was nothing she could do.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Lü Qingyan, sensing the Demon Lord’s injury, rested her paw on her leg. Within moments, the wound began to heal.

Lü Qingyan, eager for praise, was suddenly scooped up into the air.

“What exactly are you?” the Demon Lord demanded.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The Demon Lord stared at her for a moment before setting her down. This dog was surprisingly intelligent. It was a shame she couldn’t understand dog language.

Still, she needed a distraction. “Well done,” she said with a small smile. “What reward would you like?”

Lü Qingyan’s tail wagged excitedly. This was what she had been waiting for. As soon as her paws touched the ground, she used a stool to jump onto the desk and promptly dipped her paw into the inkwell.

She then jumped down and used her ink-stained paw to scrawl characters on the floor. The message was barely legible: “Find black cat.”

The Demon Lord frowned at the strange symbols. After a moment of thought, she asked, “What does this mean?”

Lü Qingyan was stunned. This was the communication method she had devised over the past few days. It seemed to be less effective than she had hoped. Frustrated, she spun in circles, whining and whimpering.

This was unbelievable. Never in a million years had she imagined that the Demon Lord would be illiterate!

The Demon Lord chuckled at the dog’s expressive face. Exhausted, she decided to let it go and closed her eyes to rest.

***

Meanwhile, in the grand hall of the Ejian Sect, Luo Nianshang sat alone, poring over ancient texts. Bai Jingxue watched her from a nearby perch.

As she watched, a headache began to form. The characters in this world were entirely different from those of her previous life, far more complex and intricate.

Giving up on her attempt to decipher them, she began to bat at her tail.

Whenever Luo Nianshang looked up from her studies, her gaze would soften as she patted the cat’s head. Then, with renewed focus, she would return to her books.

Gradually, Bai Jingxue realized that the female lead wasn’t as cold and unapproachable as the novel portrayed her to be. It was only when they were alone that she allowed her gentle side to show.

Even her tail lost its appeal. Watching Luo Nianshang’s focused expression, she was reminded of someone else whose handwriting had been atrocious.

She wondered how her ex-girlfriend was doing.

That idiot never took care of herself. It was always something to worry about.

Bai Jingxue lowered her ears. She told herself she couldn’t interfere in this life.

Silence descended upon the hall, broken only by the rustling of parchment.