Non-Humans Want to Fall in Love Too [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 8

The meeting room door opened. Ji Shijin looked at the man on the sofa, extended his hand, and said politely, “CEO Cheng, long time no see.”

The man addressed as CEO Cheng set down his teacup and also reached out to give Ji Shijin’s hand a brief, light shake. He wore a polite smile, and his every movement was fluid and elegant, a sight that naturally put others in a pleasant mood.

“CEO Ji, long time no see.”

The man possessed a stunning Oriental face, yet his hair and eyebrows were a pale white. Such a hair color might look out of place in the business world, but on him, it felt perfectly harmonious.

After the greeting, just as Cheng Ci was about to release his hand and sit down, his peripheral vision caught the fiery red fox following a step behind Ji Shijin. His movement froze mid-action in an eerie manner, and the look he directed toward Shi Yan was one of indescribable horror.

Shi Yan cast a faint glance back at him.

Cheng Ci’s abnormality lasted only a split second. No one present noticed it except for Shi Yan. He cleared his throat, but after sitting down, the hand he used to pick up his teacup trembled inexplicably.

Assistant Zhou felt that this CEO Cheng had been perfectly fine when he first arrived. Why did his face suddenly turn so pale upon seeing their boss? Clueless and assuming the man was dissatisfied with the tea, the assistant hurriedly brewed a fresh pot and poured a cup for Cheng Ci.

Cheng Ci’s movements became even stiffer.

This time, even Ji Shijin noticed. He frowned imperceptibly, spread out the contract, and tapped his pen twice on the desk. “CEO Cheng, regarding the price we discussed last time,” he began.

Shi Yan had followed them in, but he had no intention of interrupting Ji Shijin’s work. He walked straight to Ji Shijin’s side, jumped onto the sofa, and curled up with his paws tucked in. With a flick of his tail, it happened to rest right on the armrest of Ji Shijin’s wheelchair. The fiery red fur formed a sharp contrast against the pitch-black armrest.

Ji Shijin and Assistant Zhou then watched as Cheng Ci, sitting opposite them, became even more restless. Ji Shijin frowned, feeling somewhat dissatisfied with the other party’s constant distraction. “CEO Cheng? If it is inconvenient for you today, we can talk another time.”

He wondered if the Cheng family was going bankrupt or if their CEO had to work while sick.

Hearing Ji Shijin say this, Shi Yan glanced at Cheng Ci to see where he might be feeling unwell. As a result, when Cheng Ci met his gaze, his whole body shuddered, and cold sweat began to pour down.

“Uh, could,” he struggled to maintain an elegant expression and smiled at Ji Shijin. “Could your pet, the fox, perhaps step out for a moment?”

Ji Shijin paused, turning to look at the little fellow beside him. He wondered if this CEO Cheng was perhaps afraid of foxes. Shi Yan had not told him that demons could take human form, so Ji Shijin did not associate Cheng Ci with anything supernatural at all. He simply assumed the man feared foxes as animals. He looked at Shi Yan with a troubled expression, silently asking for his opinion.

Shi Yan said nothing. He simply stood up, jumped off the sofa, and walked quickly toward a corner. The greenery in the meeting room perfectly obscured his figure.

Across from them, Cheng Ci looked as if he had let out a long breath. He continued discussing work with Ji Shijin, not daring to cast even a single glance in Shi Yan’s direction.

61 was completely baffled. “Host, what is wrong with that Cheng Ci?”

“I do not know,” Shi Yan replied. He boredly batted at the leaves of the green plant. “He has a demonic aura on him. He is a demon in human form. I just do not know what kind of demon he is yet.”

However, considering how terrified he looked, his original form was either a small animal or his demonic cultivation was far inferior to Shi Yan’s.

On the other side, Cheng Ci finished the business talk under immense pressure. The collaboration ended with him conceding three percentage points to the Ji Group. After standing up to say goodbye, Cheng Ci fled the meeting room as if escaping for his life.

“CEO Ji, regarding this,” Assistant Zhou stood by, asking Ji Shijin if he should follow to see how CEO Cheng was doing.

“No need,” Ji Shijin shook his head. “Have the front desk note if he has left the building. If he has, leave it be.”

After speaking, he turned back to look for the little fox behind the greenery, gesturing for him to come along back to the office.

Ever since learning the little fox was a demon, Ji Shijin felt an inexplicable sense of restraint in his presence. He had figured it out. Given the strange abilities the fox had shown, he surely could have escaped on his own when he was first caught. It seemed no danger in this world could truly threaten him.

So why did he choose to go with me back then? Ji Shijin could not understand, but he did not press for answers.

Having dismissed Assistant Zhou first, only Ji Shijin and Shi Yan were left in the meeting room. With his back to the surveillance camera, Ji Shijin asked the fox if he wanted to go back with him, but Shi Yan shook his head.

Ji Shijin froze, instinctively asking, “Where are you going?”

Shi Yan did not move. In front of Ji Shijin, he was currently a small demon who could understand speech but could not talk, so he had no way of telling Ji Shijin his plans.

Realizing this, Ji Shijin choked up for a moment before switching to a different question. “Will you come back tonight? I will wait for you at home.”

This time, Shi Yan nodded.

Ji Shijin’s tightly clenched hands relaxed. Only then did he realize his palms were sweaty, and he quickly rubbed them together to dry them.

“Okay,” Ji Shijin lowered his gaze. His voice was very soft, as if telling Shi Yan and himself at the same time. “I will wait for you at home.”

Shi Yan jumped onto Ji Shijin’s lap. His tail wagged gently, momentarily brushing over the man’s eyes. Ji Shijin’s heart tightened, but in the next second, he felt the little fox’s paws pat his arm twice, as if offering comfort.

He could not help but close his eyes. It felt as if a gust of wind blew past, and when he opened them again, the little fox in front of him had vanished. He had not walked away, nor had he hidden. In the blink of an eye, he had simply disappeared into thin air.

Ji Shijin’s pupils dilated, and his grip on his wheelchair tightened involuntarily. His pounding heartbeat echoed in the empty room. After a long time, his hand, which was strained enough for veins to bulge, slowly relaxed. Ji Shijin returned to his office and pulled up the surveillance access on his computer.

A moment before clicking to view, his hand paused imperceptibly, as if hesitating, but he soon clicked and dragged the timeline to the moment the fox had disappeared.

Sure enough, the footage showed nothing. The little fox had vanished into thin air. Ji Shijin’s breath hitched. Just then, the sound of someone walking outside the door startled him. With maximum speed, he deleted and replaced that segment of surveillance footage, then restored the computer screen to the desktop.

Meanwhile, having used a teleportation spell to move outside the Ji Group building, Shi Yan looked up. He caught a faint scent in the air and followed the breeze to find the Cheng Ci who had just fled in a panic.

61 was still reeling from Shi Yan’s bold move. “Host! Are you really not going to scare the mission target to death by leaving without a word?”

Fairly speaking, it was shocking enough for a normal human to find out their pet was a demon. If that pet then teleported and vanished right in front of them, someone with less mental fortitude would have died of fright by now.

Shi Yan knew what he was doing. Ji Shijin’s resilience was not that poor. Besides, he reasoned, “I will have to act on my own later anyway. I cannot find an excuse every single time. It is better to let him see it clearly once so he will not be scared in the future.”

Shi Yan spoke with high-minded justification, but 61 had an inexplicable feeling that this was just his host’s wicked sense of humor. Scaring the mission target on purpose? 61 did not see how that was fun.

“Then what about the surveillance? Should I go hack it?” In a modern society, cameras were everywhere and could indeed hinder their movements. As a high-intelligence system far exceeding this world’s technology, doing such a thing was effortless for 61. And they had done it many times before.

“No need. Ji Shijin will think of that too,” Shi Yan smiled faintly. “If you do not believe me, go look now.”

61 went with doubt and came back defeated. Sure enough, his host was as prophetic as a god. Ji Shijin had already handled the surveillance issue perfectly. But this makes me look like a very useless system!

“We are here. He is in there,” Shi Yan stopped. 61 cast aside his previous thoughts and looked over to see a hedge.

61: “Host, are you sure?” His childish voice was filled with skepticism.

“Come out,” Shi Yan tapped a leaf in front of him. The leaf trembled under his touch.

61 watched with wide eyes. A few seconds later, a tiny white thing emerged from behind the leaf. The little thing was only about the size of a palm and was entirely white, as if it lacked pigment. The fluffy quills on its back were all standing upright, and a hissing sound came from its throat.

Shi Yan arched an eyebrow. “So it is a white hedgehog.”

61 was stunned, his eyes on the electronic screen turning into stars. “Wow, such a cute little hedgehog! Host, is this Cheng Ci?”

“Mhm.” Shi Yan looked at the hedgehog, which was so stiff it looked like it might die. He flicked his finger, completely masking his demonic aura.

Sure enough, the hedgehog’s body became less rigid.

“Shall we talk?”

There is a common language among demons. Cheng Ci understood Shi Yan’s words and, realizing the fox was not there to eat him, his quills softened.

“Cough, what do you want to ask? I will tell you everything I know without reservation.” Cheng Ci’s attitude was humble, while internally he was cursing up a storm. This fox in front of me has no idea how many years he has lived. Just the pressure he unconsciously gives off could scare a hedgehog to death. Of all the days to talk business, why did I have to come today? Talk about bad luck.

Cheng Ci had reverted to his original form. Because the difference in their cultivation was too great, Shi Yan easily saw that he was just a minor demon who had only cultivated for a hundred odd years. Consequently, Shi Yan ignored the way Cheng Ci was chirping about him internally. The little guy could not beat him anyway.

“Do you know Ji Shijin?”

Hearing that name, a very human-like expression of misery appeared on the hedgehog’s face. “Ah, I know him, but it is just a business relationship. We are not close, really.”

If he had not mentioned it, Cheng Ci almost forgot. Why is a thousand-year-old fox following a human around as a pet? We demons do not do that!

Shi Yan did not care whether they were close or not, but Cheng Ci was the first demon he had met in human society who could transform, and he needed his help with a few things.

Returning to the main point, Shi Yan looked into Cheng Ci’s eyes, released a tiny bit of pressure, and asked, “Can you see anything unusual about Ji Shijin?”

“Huh?” Startled by the sudden pressure, Cheng Ci nearly knelt before this ancestor. His mind was blank as he listened to the question, and he answered instinctively, “See what? Is there something on him?”

Shi Yan’s eyes grew deep. “His legs. Do you not sense anything strange about them?”

This time Cheng Ci understood. His expression turned serious. If the fox was asking this, he certainly did not want a human perspective. It had to be related to demons. Could Ji Shijin’s legs be caused by something supernatural rather than a normal disability?

“Hiss!” Cheng Ci, feeling like he had stumbled upon a huge secret, leaned back and recalled carefully. To his surprise, he found nothing. “No? If it were related to our demon race, there would definitely be a trace of aura left behind, but I did not feel a thing. If a demon really did it, their cultivation would have to be extremely, extremely high, at least several thousand years!”

Cheng Ci spoke with certainty, then remembered that the one in front of him was a rare thousand-year-old great demon. Few in the demon race were stronger than him. Cheng Ci’s eyes darted around as he muttered sheepishly, “Even you cannot sense it? Then maybe a demon did not do it. There should not be any demon in this world who could hide their tracks from you.”

After hearing this, Shi Yan reached a conclusion. Sure enough, if even a demon could not detect it, then the death aura on Ji Shijin’s body was indeed suspicious.

“Death aura?!” Hearing those two words, the quills on Cheng Ci’s back exploded again, and he began to stammer. “No, no, no, it is impossible for a demon to do that. We demons do not have that kind of power!”