The Aloof Master Relies on This Cat's Kisses to Survive - Chapter 10

East Street Dream Murmurs

What does it mean when a girl turns her palm upward?

If you are kindred spirits, she is inviting you to a high-five—a greeting and a mutual encouragement.

But what if… your hearts are connected?

Then, of course, she is asking you to place your small face into her palm, to be her one and only treasure!

Ji Wu skipped the step of letting Ming Xi choose and simply designated Ming Xi as her treasure!

Ming Xi was overjoyed.

Love nearly overflowed from those black eyes that she had deliberately changed for Ji Wu’s sake. The two of them remained at a distance where their breaths intertwined, their gazes locking together.

“Wuwu is so good. Wuwu is also Ming Xi’s treasure!” Ming Xi said, her large eyes fluttering.

This little beast was soliciting further physical intimacy from Ji Wu; her desires and plans were reflected bluntly in her eyes, unafraid of being discovered by anyone.

If Ji Wu leaned forward just a bit more, she could taste those lips and satisfy the other’s expectations.

Of course, she wouldn’t do that. She simply looked at the Dream Beast in her palm.

The fair, youthful face was slightly shorter than an average person’s, making her features stand out vividly and giving her a somewhat juvenile appearance.

But Ji Wu knew that Ming Xi was actually around the same age as her—perhaps. They had first met a long time ago, so long ago that Ji Wu still carried the surname Dongfang back then.

She didn’t know how Dream Beasts calculated their age, but based on behavior alone, Ji Wu could conclude that this defiant creature had never left her adolescence.

Yet, if one only considered Ming Xi’s figure… she was indeed quite mature.

Ji Wu’s gaze instinctively drifted downward.

Curves she had only tasted in dreams suddenly rushed into her mind, like a feast tempting a starving seeker.

“Stop. I must not,” Ji Wu murmured a reminder to herself, her voice so low that Ming Xi couldn’t hear it clearly.

Since she couldn’t hear, Ming Xi could only stare at Ji Wu’s lips a few more times.

Ming Xi’s gaze grew a few degrees more suggestive.

But was Ming Xi the only one who needed to be close?

The bond was clearly mutual. In fact, the one who needed solace also included Ji Wu—and arguably, it should be Ji Wu even more.

The Grandmaster’s spiritual dwelling, damaged and scorched by dream-fire, needed this very perpetrator to rebuild it, much like that unlucky Linshan formation.

“Wuwu, what’s wrong?”

Ming Xi was egging her on.

She could certainly tangle herself around Ji Wu without a word, just as she had the previous nights, but Ming Xi hoped that Ji Wu would enjoy this relationship just as much as she did.

Ming Xi didn’t understand why humans would have a stir in their hearts yet lack the courage to act upon it.

“It’s nothing,” Ji Wu said, cooling her tone, refusing to allow herself to try and rationalize such illusory behavior.

Ji Wu was certain she would not fall into such absurdity again. This time was different from before; this time she had entered the dream with her true body, and she would surely not be ensnared in a phantom by this rebellious beast.

Between her wandering thoughts, Ji Wu lowered her eyes, her expression turning cold—a rare shift that Ming Xi failed to capture for once.

Ming Xi remained still in their close proximity, neither taking the initiative nor being passive.

She was savoring the moment, attempting to preserve every inch and second of it.

Ji Wu’s hands had held a sword for years; they were calloused with distinct knuckles, and not particularly soft.

Yet Ming Xi narrowed her eyes in comfort: Master’s touch! It’s Master’s proactive touch!

Meow-joy!

She tilted her head to rub her cheek against Ji Wu’s palm, so intoxicated she almost fell asleep within this sweet union.

“That…” Ji Wu’s thumb pressed against Ming Xi’s small face, looking as though she were controlling the curve of her mouth.

And the little beast’s current joy seemed to lie within Ji Wu’s movements.

This thought made Ji Wu uncomfortable. She withdrew her hand and stood up straight. “Qianyao is still in the dream.”

Sure enough, as soon as that name was mentioned, Ming Xi became unhappy.

Ji Wu hadn’t expected herself to care, so she immediately added another sentence: “I still have to teach her how to rebuild the formation you broke. If you continue to act so recklessly in the future, at least within the Xuanling Sect, there will be many times when we need her.”

Ji Wu intended to groom Dongfang Qianyao, not only because the other woman had great talent but also because of Ji Wu’s own various inconveniences when performing spiritual techniques.

But explaining it this way now was somewhat deliberate. It was effective, however; Ming Xi cheered up again upon hearing it.

So that’s how it is. Master values this human because this human can fix Ming Xi’s toys.

Wuwu is so good to me!

The unique fragrance belonging to Ming Xi dissipated in an instant. Ji Wu knew they had left the Dream Beast’s small world and returned to the dream of the Sleep-talker Ghost.

She heard Dongfang Qianyao ahead, asking a woman selling pancakes about the masterless stall from earlier.

“Ah, Fangmei, hmph.” The woman being questioned was full of resentment, her complexion dark and gloomy.

Even though she was still smiling, the words that came out of her mouth were sour. “With a face like that, how could she be an honest stall-keeper? She probably climbed onto some high branch and just up and left.”

“The one who ‘up and left’ is you.” Ming Xi leaned over the woman’s stall to take a look. She sounded distracted as she spoke, clearly more attracted to the meat on the stall. “What filling is in this pancake?”

“Pork and beef. I can do vegetable ones too.” The woman replied before realizing Ming Xi’s previous comment was quite unpleasant. “Customer, what do you mean by—”

“—You’re gone. You ‘up and left,'” Ming Xi replied, staring up at her.

The fire in the brazier flickered, and a strange light seemed to cross her black pupils, splitting the dark green into pink above and red below, frightening the woman so much her back went cold.

But this was merely Ming Xi “filling” her eyes like a pancake stall after hearing about the pork and beef.

This rebellious beast acted without logic, doing things only for fun. Ji Wu understood this, of course, but now that Dongfang Qianyao was still entangled with the Sleep-talker Ghost, it was no time for play.

“Your deaths at the mouth of the Nian-Demon were not the fault of that surviving woman. Do not indulge in this emotion any longer; disperse.”

In the past, Ji Wu didn’t bother with small characters like Sleep-talker Ghosts and didn’t specifically know how to grant them release.

“Sister Ji Wu.” On the other hand, Dongfang Qianyao had read the Spirit Mountain Demon Records. “I know this kind of spirit is condensed from the emotions of the dead. They rely on entering the dreams of the living to suck their essence and blood to survive. Once you are entangled, you have to dissipate their emotions to be free.”

But first, they had to know what emotion this Sleep-talker Ghost was carrying.

“Joy, anger, sorrow, or loathing—only those four.”

Earlier, Dongfang Qianyao was certain the ghost represented ‘sorrow’ because its screams were excessively tragic; there was no way it could be any other emotion.

But now, after questioning a few “people,” she wasn’t so sure of her judgment anymore. “Could it be ‘loathing’? Some of them seem to hold great malice toward that stall owner.”

“Because she survived,” Ji Wu sighed.

Ji Wu had seen that stall-keeper girl earlier, who had only a breath of life left. For someone to hold on for so long inside a Nian-Demon’s belly, she must have had divine protection—perhaps she had sought the blessing of some temple.

But the Nian-Demon was killed by Ming Xi in an instant. Why did Ming Xi also spare that woman’s life?