Marry First, Love Later With The White Cat Princess - Chapter 76

The demon form of Yu Qingyue was exceptionally clean, devoid of any birdy odor and instead carrying a faint, refreshing scent of medicinal herbs. Luo Binglun felt like a cat dropped into a pile of catnip, sniffing obsessively, oblivious to the strange looks Lian Yi was throwing her way.

Lian Yi watched for a while, automatically projecting Liu Fenyun and herself (in her original form) onto Luo Binglun and the gyrfalcon. She began imagining Liu Fenyun hugging and sniffing her in the same way, gaining a bizarre sense of satisfaction from the thought.

Unfortunately, the High Priest was currently sniffing the feathers on the gyrfalcon’s back rather than burying her face in the belly fur. This made it a bit hard for Lian Yi to fully relate, as Liu Fenyun usually buried her entire face into Lian Yi’s fluffy stomach during their “cat-sniffing” sessions.

Noticing the change in Lian Yi’s expression, Liu Fenyun asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Lian Yi suppressed a laugh, choosing not to tell her. She wanted to save the High Priest some face while keeping a bit of amusement for herself. The High Priest usually maintained such a dignified air, who knew she had such a naive and simple side?

Liu Fenyun felt even more puzzled. Just as she was about to follow Lian Yi’s gaze, the “cat” suddenly hugged her, shrinking into her arms and trembling, “Ugh, I’m scared of heights…”

The gyrfalcon was already flying amidst the clouds, with cool, misty vapor sliding past their faces. Liu Fenyun glanced down, it was indeed very high. She quickly held Lian Yi tighter, letting her bury her face in her clothes, and warned, “Whatever you do, don’t look down!”

She had no idea that Lian Yi wasn’t actually afraid of heights, it was just an excuse to distract her. The cat stayed obedient in her arms for only a short while before quietly turning her head to admire the scenery above the clouds.

Meng Nie sat cross-legged toward the back. Although it was her first time riding on the back of a feather-demon, she felt no discomfort. In contrast, Qi Ran had been jolted awake by the gyrfalcon’s occasional shifts in flight posture. Before long, she was clutching her stomach and shrinking to the bottom of the cage in distress.

“Do you demons get ‘bird-sick’ too?” Meng Nie pulled the cage toward her, holding it steadily.

“What if I do?” Qi Ran forced back the churning in her stomach and glared at her.

Meng Nie laughed. “I’ve never seen a demon get bird-sick before! Then again, not every demon gets the chance to climb onto a bird’s back.”

When Yu Qingyue traveled in her demon form previously, she was always alone. Now, carrying so many people, she wasn’t quite used to it and wasn’t sure what speed was best. Hearing those words, she involuntarily slowed down.

The massive gyrfalcon drifted slowly across the sky. From below, it looked like a white cloud floating by.

While the rest of the group enjoyed the scenery, Qi Ran’s mind was occupied entirely with the desire to touch the ground.

Just as she was muttering to herself, she felt the gyrfalcon suddenly tilt its body as if it were about to fall. Terrified, she gripped the vines in the cage and began to shiver.

“Qingyue!” Luo Binglun sat up immediately, thinking they were under enemy attack, but there were no fluctuations of spiritual or demonic energy nearby.

Yu Qingyue knew the side effects of the Love Bug antidote were kicking in. She said calmly, “I need to go down and regulate my breath for a while. Everyone, hold on tight.”

Luo Binglun grabbed the feathers and released her demonic energy, forming individual protective barriers around everyone. Liu Fenyun hugged Lian Yi tightly, while Meng Nie held the cage against her chest.

The gyrfalcon folded its wings and dove at full speed, its fluffy feathers whistling in the wind. Without Luo Binglun’s energy shields, everyone on the bird’s back would have been blown away by the gale.

“What’s below? Is it safe?” Liu Fenyun hurriedly asked the System, fearing her Master might land in a harsh environment like the Qi Saint Marsh.

“A forest of osmanthus trees,” the System replied. “It’s a small human village surrounded by mountains on all sides.”

“That’s good…”

Before Liu Fenyun could finish, she felt a flash of green. The diving gyrfalcon suddenly spread its wings, flapped once in mid-air, and then landed steadily.

The gyrfalcon was so large that its wings brushed against the nearby osmanthus trees during the landing. By the time she finally stood on the ground, a rain of osmanthus flowers had fallen around them.

The rich fragrance of osmanthus washed over them. Liu Fenyun looked up and saw that the nearby trees were all Golden Osmanthus, with clusters of flowers filling the branches. She wondered if they had an owner.

As soon as the group hopped down, the gyrfalcon transformed back into human form and sat down immediately to meditate and regulate her breathing.

“The flower fragrance here is so strong, will it affect Healer Yu?” Meng Nie had a slight pollen allergy and used a handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth before the energy shield vanished.

Luo Binglun thought of this too and immediately condensed a demonic energy shield, enclosing herself and Yu Qingyue within it.

Since Yu Qingyue began meditating the moment they landed, no one knew how long she would be. Liu Fenyun busied herself collecting the fallen flowers, planning to put them in her medicinal garden to sort and dry for tea, or to make incense and essential oils for her cat.

The Wood Spirit energy here was very dense. After sniffing the floral scent for a while, Qi Ran felt much better. Seeing that neither Yu Qingyue nor the others had time to watch her, she took the opportunity to absorb the surrounding Wood Spirit energy and quietly convert it into demonic energy.

Lian Yi and Meng Nie instinctively began patrolling the area. However, the osmanthus forest was vast. After a lap, they saw no one, only an ancient osmanthus tree with a hollow trunk large enough to hide three people.

Lian Yi noticed a stream nearby. Walking over, she saw it was crystal clear, with occasional fish and small shrimp visible.

Meng Nie was still using her tools to measure the hollow in the tree, thinking they might stay there for the night, when she heard a sharp splash. Startled, she turned around to see Lian Yi walking back quickly with her hands cupped, water dripping through her fingers.

“Quick, taste this!” Lian Yi squatted by the cage and stuffed a fish inside. “I remember you’re the only one who eats raw food.”

Qi Ran looked at the struggling small fish, her red eyes narrowing unpleasantly. But having been underfed lately, she was desperate for food. She opened her mouth and bit the fish, her sharp teeth locking onto it. Once the fish stopped struggling, she tilted her head back and swallowed it whole.

Meng Nie was stunned. She hadn’t expected this little leopard’s eating habits to be so crude. She subconsciously asked, “Does it taste good?”

“I don’t know.” After eating, Qi Ran lay back down.

“She ate it so fast, how could she know the taste!” Lian Yi was disappointed by her reaction. She blinked and suddenly asked, “Qi Ran, are you hungry? Should I catch another one?”

“If you want to eat, go cook one yourself,” Qi Ran said, seeing right through her plan. “I’m not your poison testing beast.”

Her little scheme exposed, Lian Yi gave a soft huff, turned around, and caught two more fish, stuffing them into the cage just like before.

Qi Ran looked at her strangely, then at the fish. Following the principle of never refusing food, she once again finished the live fish Lian Yi sent. Again, she swallowed them whole and lay down, refusing to provide any flavor feedback.

“Aren’t you afraid the fish might be poisonous?” Meng Nie asked, somewhat worried.

Qi Ran glanced toward the spot where Yu Qingyue and the other two were. “With two peerless divine healers right there, what is there to fear from poison?”

“That’s true,” Meng Nie realized. She turned to Lian Yi. “Then let’s get some fish for ourselves. I want to taste what the fish here are like, too.”

You can’t have fish without a pot. Lian Yi ran back to Liu Fenyun and asked for a stoneware pot used for decocting medicine, along with some spices. She excitedly brought them to the fishing spot, caught some fish, gutted them with her claws, washed them, and tossed them into the pot.

“Where did this pot come from?” Meng Nie asked, puzzled, as she hadn’t seen them carrying one.

Lian Yi couldn’t reveal Liu Fenyun’s medicinal garden. After a moment’s thought, she said, “I took it from a spatial storage. Yun keeps a lot of things in there.”

Meng Nie was surprised, as “spatial storage” was a tool usually refined by cultivators. But remembering that Madame Chong was a cultivator who could make Great Demons call her “Senior,” she let it go.

Even if Liu Fenyun doesn’t seem to know her mother’s true identity, she must have inherited her mother’s spatial storage, General Meng internally logic, successfully solving her own confusion.

A fire was quickly started. Before long, the aroma of fish mixed with various spices wafted through the osmanthus forest.

Lian Yi was only responsible for catching and cleaning the fish; the actual cooking was left to Meng Nie, who was accustomed to life on the march.

The scent of fish soup woke Qi Ran. She stretched her neck to watch for a while, swallowed her saliva, then pretended she smelled nothing and lay back down, burying her face in the vines to try and mask the tempting fish aroma with the scent of plants.

She refused to smell or look, but the sound of happy laughter gradually filled her ears. Yu Qingyue had finished her meditation and joined Luo Binglun and Liu Fenyun to share the delicious fish soup.

As the first demon to taste the fish, Qi Ran was certain they weren’t poisonous. Not only were they safe, but the meat was rich in Water Spirit energy, which helped restore strength.

Even though she had been fed several fish by Lian Yi and her stomach was full, listening to the laughter of the others made her feel empty inside.

Back in the Demon Realm, she had once lived a lively life like this, eating and chatting at the same table with her Master, the City Lord, and fellow disciples, whether she liked them or not.

Qi Ran knew very well that she actually yearned for a cozy and warm life. But she always felt she didn’t deserve it. She felt she belonged with lies, deception, and darkness; she should be like those evil demons who died at the City Lord’s hands, committing evil and staying far away from such warmth.

Suddenly, a loud clatter came from in front of her, like a metal bowl hitting the ground, startling her.

She turned her head alertly, only to see Meng Nie opening the cage. A scarred hand reached in, lifted her out, and placed her in front of a bowl of steaming fish soup.

“Have something hot,” Meng Nie said with a smile. “I heard you demons prefer raw food, but cooked fish tastes different after all. At the very least, have some hot soup to warm your stomach.”

Qi Ran didn’t touch the soup at first. She just looked at the open cage and asked in surprise, “How did they agree to let you let me out?”

“You can’t run very far even if you are out,” Meng Nie explained bluntly.

Qi Ran clicked her tongue. She stared awkwardly at the fish soup for a few seconds before finally lowering her head, leaning in to slowly lap the hot soup into her mouth.