The Flower Of The High Mountain Turns Into A Cat And Is Picked Up By A Human Chapter 23
byBai Chendeng let out a soft cry, greeting the newcomer.
The sudden arrival of outside help turned the tide, pulling the situation back from the brink.
The newcomer’s hands were skeletal, fingers extremely long and tipped with sharp claws. The sticky sap had no effect, and the branches were completely severed.
The Elm Demon clearly hadn’t anticipated that the Human Candle hiding in the residential area would actually come to aid this group!
It should have killed him when he was weak! Why had the Human Candle been allowed to grow strong enough to become an enemy’s helper now?
“Be careful of the tree spirit’s counterattack…”
Heng Yuze warned. The moment the words left his mouth, the asphalt road beneath his feet was thrust upward. Like rapidly sprouting bamboo shoots, a giant spike formed by a dozen or more gnarled roots shot out.
The Elm Demon had gathered most of its root system in this area. It wouldn’t strike unless it was certain, and when it did, it intended to take a life!
This was its revenge!
Those despicable Cat Demon, Vine Demon, and the two humans accompanying them—they wouldn’t be allowed to covet its treasure!
Heng Yuze’s pupils contracted to pinpoints. In a daze, he saw the tip of the root spike heading straight for him. He couldn’t evade it or dodge it; such an attack was far beyond what an ordinary human could withstand.
A piercing, mournful cat cry erupted from his arms. Bai Chendeng tossed the Grapevine high into the air, then leaped forward.
The root spike indeed abandoned the human and instead stabbed toward the Cat Demon.
The snow-white fur was pierced like thin paper. The spike passed through the small body, emerging from the back. The blood staining the tree root was a blinding, painful red.
The white cat’s four limbs twitched slightly, but it no longer had the strength to struggle.
Little Cat Immortal…
Little Cat Immortal!
Chendeng!
The handwriting on the paper slip was clear and deeply etched, constantly surfacing in his mind: Heng Yuze, no matter what, even if I am severely injured or dying, you must hold me, hold me tight.
Heng Yuze went mad. Ignoring the danger of the root spike, he plucked Chendeng off of it with trembling hands.
There was a sticky, warm softness in his hands. He didn’t dare to think about what it was, only wanting to hold the Little Cat Immortal close, as he had promised it.
The Grapevine, having been tossed into the air, witnessed everything. It then landed on Heng Yuze’s head, sliding down his hair onto his shoulder.
The vine grew rapidly. The slender, curling tendrils instantly draped Heng Yuze in a green kasaya, then spread out onto the ground. Like moths drawn to a flame, they launched a suicidal attack, wrapping around the tree branches.
Zheng Lang roared, trying to rush into the pile of branches, but the vine grabbed him and yanked him back to Heng Yuze’s side.
The Human Candle in the black cloak tilted his head. “Little kitty?”
No one had anticipated this outcome.
Chendeng, though only a cat, was the reason everyone had gathered and formed a group.
Chendeng, who was usually expressionless, quiet, and secretive, always seeming preoccupied—completely unlike a cat—had just died, so easily?
Heng Yuze’s mind was blank.
The cat in his arms no longer had the vital rise and fall of life. Its fur was penetrated, holed through, and could no longer contain its internal organs. He tried to cover and catch them with his hands, but he couldn’t stop the blood from flowing down his arm like a small river.
Little Cat Immortal, you are the Little Cat Immortal.
How could the Little Cat Immortal die?
The Elm Demon felt a rush of satisfaction at successfully killing the Cat Demon. Although its main body was deep in the mountains, it excitedly shook its branches, causing a rustling sound.
Amidst the symphony of leaves, the sound of footsteps treading on the thick blanket of leaves was concealed.
Feng Chengji reversed his backpack to his chest, unzipping it so he could retrieve the wooden box at any moment.
However, just as he successfully reached within a hundred meters of the Elm Demon’s main body, the effectiveness of his spell waned, and he was discovered.
Feng Chengji had a secret he had never told outsiders.
He possessed an extremely keen perception for plant-based demons. That night in the flower room, when Feng Chengji raised his lantern, he had sensed the aura of the elm branches outside the light’s range.
The Elm Demon’s main body was massive, its canopy blotting out the sky. It kept its height low for concealment, but its trunk was so thick it would take three people to encircle it.
A stray beam of light fell upon Feng Chengji. There was no fear or worry on his face. Carrying the wooden box, he walked step by step. Behind him was a boundless sea of trees; before him was the colossal tree demon.
A human?
The Elm Demon recognized him. It had seen this person—one of the Cat Demon’s worthless associates!
Why could this person find it?
Was a mere human coming here to die?
The Elm Demon controlled the nearby roots, which burst from the soil and shot straight toward Feng Chengji’s head.
However, they stopped mere centimeters from Feng Chengji.
A golden-red, transparent crystal blocked the roots and obscured one of Feng Chengji’s eyes.
The Elm Demon sensed the aura of the glorious sun emanating from the crystal. Was that a Solar Gold Crystal?
Feng Chengji emotionlessly twitched the corner of his mouth, then flung the crystal toward the Elm Demon’s main body.
The crystal seemed imbued with a certain magic, rapidly shooting forward. All the branches that lay in its path were instantly incinerated into ash.
Facing this sudden crisis, the Elm Demon wove all its roots into a net. Sap rapidly oozed out, forcibly covering the Solar Gold Crystal, halting its momentum, and throwing it to the ground.
With its killing move thwarted, the roots turned back toward Feng Chengji. Just as they were about to take his life, the wooden box automatically opened, and a snow-white shadow darted out. It swiftly severed the roots, then pounced toward the Solar Gold Crystal on the ground, skillfully maneuvering past the obstructions.
The accumulated Sun Dew energy activated the Solar Gold Crystal. Bai Chendeng tossed the crystal upward.
The sun fell.
The golden-red light engulfed the elm tree. In the most intense heat and light, the Elm Demon had no chance to struggle, turning completely into charcoal…
Simultaneously, the branches, leaves, and roots that had surrounded Heng Yuze and the others instantly withered, turning into dead wood and decaying leaves, leaving the crowd utterly bewildered.
It had taken root in the deep mountains for a hundred years, receiving the pity of the heavens and the grace of a treasure, breaking through its ignorance and cultivating spiritual intelligence.
It had believed it could cultivate until it became a Demon Immortal and leave this mountain where it had grown for a century to see the outside world. Alas, the path of cultivation was often accompanied by temptation, and opportunities were hard to find. After consuming an occasional traveler, the Elm Demon vaguely sensed that something had changed.
It longed to become a Demon Immortal and leave this mountain where it had grown for a hundred years to see the outside world.
Unfortunately, it could not.
So this was the feeling of the human dragged away by its branches, pierced through the body, waiting for death to descend…
Bai Chendeng pushed aside the brittle charcoal, retrieved a piece of charred wood with his mouth, and hid it in his fur.
Feng Chengji caught the cat that leaped into his arms. He looked past the remains of the giant tree to the now unobscured sky and sighed with emotion.
“Humans, demons, life, death—they are all too sudden and too brief.”
“Mew.”
“Does the Moon Cat feel that way too?”
“Mew.”
“I still prefer beautiful things. Even if they exist for only an instant, if they remain in the heart, they are eternal.”
After determining the direction, Feng Chengji left the area with the white cat.
They hadn’t walked far before they saw the winding mountain road, and a fallen giant tree lying across the center of the road. Beside the forced-to-stop SUV were familiar people.
It turned out that the Elm Demon’s main body was extremely close to where they had been stopped.
Bai Chendeng saw Heng Yuze’s distraught appearance, holding the bleeding white cat. He let out a soft cry and deactivated the Talisman Seed.
The white cat in Heng Yuze’s arms had been barely maintaining its near-death state by absorbing the power of vows from him. When Bai Chendeng deactivated the spell and allowed the Talisman Seed to dissipate, the white cat turned into stardust, gradually becoming transparent and vanishing along with the flowing blood.
Heng Yuze hadn’t realized the cat in his arms was fake. He thought Chendeng had completely lost its life, that the Little Cat Immortal had departed, leaving no trace.
He stared blankly at his empty embrace. What arrived before sorrow was a sense of unreal void.
His time with Chendeng hadn’t been long.
But Heng Yuze had been watching the white cat for five years.
He had watched every video countless times and tried to watch every livestream in its entirety.
A heavy, unconcealable grief emanated from the man.
What kind of joke was this? Chendeng was dead?
This was the omnipotent Little Cat Immortal…
Just then, Zheng Lang let out a shout of surprise: “There’s someone over there… He looks familiar! Isn’t that the Boss? He’s holding a cat! A white cat! It’s the Cat Great Immortal! Brother Heng, look!”
Heng Yuze was still immersed in sorrow. He was struck twice by the vine, and then Zheng Lang, using great force, pushed him, causing him to nearly lose his balance. Only then did he look up, as if waking from a trance, toward the man and cat emerging from the woods.
The moment their eyes met, Heng Yuze felt a sense of reality, like a traveler returning home, no longer in an absurd dream.
With just one glance, he was certain: this was his Little Cat Immortal.
It was him!
It was Chendeng!
Heng Yuze broke into a wide grin. Tear tracks were still on his face, making him look bizarre, a mix of joy and shock. Joy was dominant, but he loved this kind of shock.
Once out of the woods, the two groups were not far apart. Bai Chendeng simply jumped down and quickly darted toward Heng Yuze and the others.
Heng Yuze wiped his eyes, rubbed his face, wiped his hands on his clothes, and then composed his expression. He solemnly extended his hands toward the white cat crouching in front of him.
Bai Chendeng had not missed Heng Yuze’s heartbreak and subsequent elation. He walked toward the man willingly, cooperating as he was scooped into an embrace.
The cat was in his arms.
This time, it was real.
He was not good at expressing himself. Though he had a thousand words he wanted to speak, he couldn’t open his mouth. Only his heart beat fiercely and passionately, singing praises for this reunion after loss.
Zheng Lang watched the moving reunion. The rough man, who was accustomed to meetings and farewells, was struck in his soft spot by the delicate emotions, and he was deeply moved.
“Brother Heng has true love for the Cat Great Immortal. Ah, I was so scared earlier. I knew the Cat Great Immortal couldn’t just… It’s good that he’s back, it’s good that he’s back.”
The Grapevine had retracted all its tendrils the moment the branches withered, feeling smug about its superb acting skills.
Boss’s Talisman Seed clone technique was flawless as always. With Heng Yuze, who was constantly supplying the power of vows like a charging treasure, it wasn’t surprising that the Talisman Seed fooled the Elm Demon. If it hadn’t known about this trick of the Boss’s beforehand, it probably would have been as sorrowful and frantic as these two humans, ready to fight the tree demon to the death.
The Human Candle was delighted to see Bai Chendeng reappear. “Little kitty!”
Unfortunately, the little kitty only had eyes for the human.
He waited for a while before the little kitty finally paid attention to him.
Bai Chendeng: “Mew.”
Thank you for your help. We are grateful.
The Human Candle’s eyes curved into crescents.
He approached Heng Yuze and placed his withered, pale hand on the cat’s body, stroking it slowly and carefully.
“Little kitty, I must go now.”
Bai Chendeng: “Mew.”
May we meet again.
The Human Candle nodded. “Thank you for the grapes.”
Grapevine: “?”
So, Boss woke me up in the middle of the night to force me to bear grapes and then mysteriously went out, all to find outside help?
The Human Candle reluctantly left the soft, pleasant-to-touch cat, turning into a black shadow that melted into the end of the road.
Heng Yuze rubbed his chin against the top of the cat’s head, his voice filled with relief. “We can finally go home.”