When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The rain outside continued without stopping, and the pitter-patter of raindrops falling became familiar after a while.

Inside the tree hollow was quiet. Yun Qingyue held the little kitten in her arms, and as she listened to the rain, she gradually drifted into a daze. Tan Xin across from her remained motionless; he had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, and if not for his hands continuously moving his prayer beads, one might have thought he was asleep.

In this silence, the campfire in the middle of the hollow, having received no attention, finally consumed the last piece of firewood. The orange-red flames grew smaller and smaller, and ultimately trembled in a cold, moisture-laden breeze before reluctantly extinguishing... The light in the tree hollow suddenly dimmed, and the heavy humidity again filled the space. Fortunately, the two people in the hollow were not ordinary humans, so it had little effect on them.

Only the little white cat sleeping soundly in Senior Sister's arms seemed to sense something, though in the end she merely rolled over, snuggling closer into Senior Sister's embrace, and then made no further movement.

Yun Qingyue regained her focus, absently stroking the cat while patiently waiting for the rain to stop.

Suddenly, the little white cat's ears twitched, and after a moment, twitched again. Before Yun Qingyue could react, the little white cat, who had been obediently nestled in her arms pretending to be good, abruptly sat upright, her cat eyes glowing intensely as she gazed in a certain direction.

There was nothing in the tree hollow, and Yun Qingyue knew without looking that the issue wasn't inside. She instinctively grasped the Fuxue Sword resting across her knees, her expression growing serious as she asked: "What's wrong?"

Tan Xin across from them heard the commotion and opened his eyes to look over.

Under the gaze of two pairs of eyes, the little white cat hesitated only briefly before speaking directly: "Someone's coming."

Yun Qingyue raised her eyebrows, knowing that if it were just one or two people passing by, the little white cat wouldn't be so vigilant, so she asked further: "Many people?"

The little white cat nodded solemnly, causing Tan Xin to unconsciously give her a second look. However, she had no time to worry about this now. In terms of hearing alone, she was far superior to human cultivators, and she could already hear unusual sounds rapidly approaching and surrounding them—not footsteps, as cultivators could easily walk silently, especially in rainy weather when no one liked to tread on muddy ground. It was a sound of rainwater falling, but different from the surrounding sound of rain hitting leaves, and it was moving, which had triggered her alertness.

After their previous experiences, Yun Qingyue didn't doubt the little white cat's judgment. She stood up with the cat in her arms, about to warn Tan Xin to be careful, but as soon as she rose, the little white cat pounced on her, knocking her down.

The next moment, a thunderous "boom" exploded in their ears as the giant tree they had been sheltering in crashed to the ground.

Someone had blasted the giant tree apart, and without its protection, the strange rainwater immediately pelted down on the two people and the cat.

There was no time to conserve spiritual energy now. Yun Qingyue formed a hand seal, about to raise another barrier to protect the three of them, when suddenly a flash of golden light appeared before her eyes, and another barrier had already formed to shield them.

Yun Qingyue instinctively looked toward Tan Xin, but found that his hand seal was also only half-formed. Looking more carefully at the golden light, she realized it wasn't the warm, encompassing Buddhist light, but rather had a sharp, piercing quality... She immediately understood, and Tan Xin seemed to have guessed something as well, as their gazes once again fell simultaneously on the small white cat.

The little white cat wasn't looking at either of them, but instead directed her gaze toward the approaching people.

In the continuous curtain of rain, more than a dozen people holding umbrellas had surrounded them. These people wore various styles of clothing, and the magical implements in their hands were equally diverse, but they all carried a similar aura that the tiger found repulsive.

Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin's reactions were not slow either. Since the rain had been blocked, both quickly turned their attention to these uninvited guests. After just one glance, both frowned; Yun Qingyue was still somewhat uncertain, but Tan Xin immediately identified them: "Demonic cultivators!"

Hearing this, the demonic cultivators laughed loudly, their gazes sweeping malevolently over the two, as one spoke rudely: "The bald monk is quite fortunate, having a beauty to accompany him before death, though it's a pity for this beauty..." Halfway through his speech, the man's expression suddenly darkened, and without further words, he waved his hand sharply. Immediately, attacks from more than a dozen demonic cultivators converged.

Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin didn't take the demonic cultivators' vulgar words to heart, nor were they surprised by their sudden aggression. Both had already prepared for battle and swiftly summoned their magical implements to counter the attacks.

The Fuxue Sword gleamed with white light, the white jade prayer beads emitted a subtle Buddhist radiance, both entangling with the demonic cultivators' magical treasures that were wrapped in black demonic energy.

At first glance, it was a dazzling, chaotic scene with demonic energy surging skyward. The white and golden lights, surrounded by numerous demonic weapons, flickered in and out of visibility amidst the howling demonic energy, appearing to be at a disadvantage.

These demonic cultivators had clearly come prepared. Not only had they specifically located this tree hollow, but the umbrellas in their hands were ordinary rain umbrellas—the rain here was indeed strange, absorbing spiritual energy. Falling on a person, it absorbed the spiritual energy from their meridians; falling on a barrier, it drained the barrier's spiritual energy, thus depleting it. Other magical implements would presumably be affected similarly; perhaps only objects without spiritual energy would remain unaffected.

Unfortunately, while a cultivator's storage space might contain countless precious materials, no one would think to bring the most ordinary umbrella. Once under attack, there wasn't even time to create one, leaving them only grateful that the little white tiger was helping to maintain the barrier.

Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin focused entirely on fighting their enemies, and gradually, the howling demonic energy could no longer block the spiritual light...

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This chaotic battle lasted for quite some time. Perhaps they had miscalculated the assistance from the little white tiger, or underestimated the elite disciples of Xuanqing Sect and Buddha Sect, but in the end, all of the demonic cultivators were defeated.

Of course, the victorious Yun Qingyue and Tan Xin couldn't feel happy about it, as their internal spiritual energy was completely exhausted.

Seeing the battle end, the little white cat walked over with feline steps, deliberately treading on the face of the demonic cultivator who had spoken so crudely earlier. She approached Yun Qingyue, noticed her excessive spiritual energy consumption, and secretly slipped her a premium spirit stone—it had been some days since they left the desert, and after taking used premium spirit stones from her innate space and casually placing them in a storage pouch for a few days, they would be refilled with spiritual energy.

Yun Qingyue looked down at the premium spirit stone in her hand without saying anything and began trying to absorb the spiritual energy it contained. If she couldn't absorb the spiritual energy from the spirit stone in this area, it wouldn't matter; at worst, she could enter the little white tiger's innate space to cultivate.

Fortunately, this didn't happen—the ice-attribute spiritual energy contained in the premium spirit stone was easily absorbed by Yun Qingyue.

The little white cat saw this and sighed in relief, then turned her head to meet Tan Xin's gaze.

The young monk had red lips and white teeth, a handsome appearance, and a pair of clear black and white eyes as transparent as water... Being looked at by such clear eyes, Jiang Mo inexplicably felt somewhat guilty, as if caught eating alone. Although the spirit stone was rightfully theirs, and ice-attribute spirit stones weren't suitable for the young monk anyway, she still felt awkward.

The little white cat fumbled around for a while before finally retrieving a metal-attribute premium spirit stone from her space and extending it forward: "Do you want to try this?"

The young monk looked at the spirit stone, then suddenly his eyes curved into a smile: "Jianbing?"

Her carefully maintained disguise fell away instantly, and the little white cat was about to bristle: "What nonsense are you talking about? What Jianbing or pancake? I don't know them. I'm just an ordinary little cat!"

The young monk continued smiling, neither confirming nor denying, but he clearly didn't believe her.

Just as the little white cat was finally about to bristle, she heard the young monk say: "It's all right, I won't tell anyone."

Monks were generally trustworthy; even though the little white cat knew nothing about Buddhist teachings, she knew the saying that ordained monks don't tell lies. She was somewhat reassured and, looking back at Senior Sister who was still cultivating, raised her paw for the young monk to high-five: "It's a deal. You can't tell anyone, or Buddha will blame you for lying."

The young monk was actually the youngest among their peers and had a very youthful face. His usual serious demeanor could be somewhat intimidating, but when he smiled, two dimples appeared, giving him a childlike quality.

Now, seeing the little white cat raising her paw high, he also raised his hand and cooperatively gave her a gentle tap: "Agreed."

Only then did the little white cat completely relax. She didn't quite understand how her cat disguise, which even Peak Master Qingyu couldn't see through, had been so quickly recognized by the young monk.

Tan Xin didn't hide it from her. Holding one of the broken umbrellas left by the demonic cultivators, he told her: "I have the Wisdom Eyes that can see through illusions. When you and Senior Sister Yun appeared, I immediately saw a little white tiger, and you were carrying metal-attribute premium spirit stones."

Oh, right, this young monk was the legendary Buddha's Disciple; having some special abilities wasn't that surprising.

With her disguise exposed, the little white tiger became more candid. She glanced at Senior Sister who was still cultivating, then at the strewn corpses of the demonic cultivators: "Neither Senior Sister nor I have encountered demonic cultivators before. These people were definitely targeting you. Are you still planning to go up the mountain?"

The rain still hadn't stopped, and the eaves on the mountainside in the distance were faintly visible.

The young monk nodded, his gaze turning toward the distant mountainside: "I have an intuition that something is waiting for me there." He then turned back and said: "But that's my business. You and Senior Sister Yun should leave here as soon as possible."

Just then, Yun Qingyue finished absorbing the spiritual energy from the premium spirit stone and opened her eyes, hearing Tan Xin's words.

She had originally not intended to interfere with Tan Xin's destiny, but now that they had encountered demonic cultivators here, the situation had changed. She shook her head and said: "I'm afraid I can't leave now. Demonic cultivators always eliminate potential threats, and since I've already become involved, it won't be easy to escape. Moreover, Xuanqing Sect and Buddha Sect have always been on good terms. Now that Junior Brother Tan Xin is targeted by demonic cultivators and in danger, how could I leave?"

Tan Xin looked up at her, his clear black and white eyes meeting her transparent glassy eyes for a moment. Perhaps he recognized the sincerity in Yun Qingyue's words, or perhaps his nature was simply straightforward, not overthinking matters.

The young monk lowered his gaze, thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement and put his palms together in greeting: "In that case, thank you very much, Senior Sister Yun."