Chapter 255: Heartless Beast

Hutou Gou, Wang Family.

Wang Ping'an took advantage of everyone eating; to be precise, it was his master Xuanqing Daozhang who was eating, not paying attention to the surroundings, letting Peregrine Falcon Little Gray bring the Paper Person and Hei Mao Bu Tou to a deserted place to land.

He didn't dare to land directly from his own home's airspace, for fear his master would notice something unusual.

Because Peregrine Falcon Little Gray had evolved from an ordinary creature into a spirit beast, its physical qualities had undergone a tremendous change; not to mention carrying the Paper Person and Hei Mao Bu Tou, even grabbing a wild boar would be no problem.

"What's going on?"

In the main hall, beside the dining table, the people eating, Liu Dongzhu glanced at the doorway and immediately noticed a limping figure covered in wounds, like an injured Hei Mao Bu Tou, she exclaimed and put down her chopsticks.

She hurried over!

Although Hei Mao Bu Tou hasn't been at their home for long, both Liu Dongzhu and Wang Ping'an's grandparents care deeply about it.

First, rats are a major headache for these farming households.

Second, Xuanqing Daozhang once said that Hei Mao Bu Tou being a spirit beast could protect their family's safety; how could they not care?

"Dongzhu, what's wrong with you?"

Zhang Guihua saw Liu Dongzhu put down her chopsticks, stand up, and quickly walk toward the outer hall, unable to help shouting; before she could finish her words, she saw Hei Mao Bu Tou limping back from outside, and exclaimed in surprise:

"How did the Divine Cat Hero get hurt? Who would harm our Divine Cat Hero?"

Divine Cat Hero.

Initially, Xiao Cao gave their spirit cat this nickname, but soon it was acknowledged by all the villagers of Hutou Gou; whoever let the Divine Cat Hero have time would roam through one grain store after another in the village.

The rats that had plagued the granaries for years were all killed by the Black Cat Hero.

The Hutou Gou villagers mostly keep cats; although their cats aren't useless—they at least can curb the granary rats' unchecked havoc—but they cannot eliminate the rats in the granaries.

At most, they could kill a rat in two or three days, or even longer.

Yet they would still let their granary grain be stolen by rats!

Consequently, whenever the Hutou Gou villagers had time, they would walk around their own granaries, mending grain bags gnawed by rats; each time they saw a grain bag chewed through, they hated the granary rats with a passion.

Faced with the Divine Cat Hero who solves their granary rat problem, how could they not be grateful?

The Hutou Gou villagers wouldn't dream of harming the Divine Cat Hero; not kneeling to kowtow a few times and thanking it would already be decent.

During this period, Hei Mao Bu Tou was not in Hutou Gou but had gone to Yan Family Village; however, from the daughter who married into Yan Family Village from their village, let alone her, probably no one in Hutou Gou was unaware.

The Divine Cat Hero ran to Yan Family Village to do good deeds, resolving the rat problem in its granaries.

The villagers of Yan Family Village are also not ungrateful; surely they would not harm the Divine Cat Hero.

She pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure out how her family's Divine Cat Hero got injured.

"Daozhang, please eat slowly here; I'll go out for a moment and ask a doctor to come treat our Divine Cat Hero's wounds!"

Wang Lin hurriedly said a sentence, his words full of worry and anger.

He had already regarded the Divine Cat Hero as part of the Wang family; seeing it wounded, how could he not feel angry inside?

"Old Brother Wang, why go to such trouble? Please sit; I'll go check!"

Xuanqing Daozhang stopped Wang Lin from leaving, rose, and walked briskly toward the outer hall, where he saw the Divine Cat Hero limping to a shady spot; before he could take a few steps, it suddenly collapsed on the ground. "Divine Cat Hero?"

Liu Dongzhu let out a miserable cry, tears glimmering in her eyes.

"Dongzhu, don't worry, our Divine Cat Hero is fine!"

Xuanqing Daozhang offered comfort; he actually saw that the Divine Cat Hero had suffered a serious injury. Seeing Liu Dongzhu doubt his words, he added: "Watch and see how I heal it!"

After saying that, Xuanqing Daozhang used the Healing Technique on the Divine Cat Hero, then employed several other arts, before he finally spat out a mouthful of turbid qi, saying:

"All right, Dongzhu, let it rest here; it will recover shortly, and in two or three days its wounds will be healed!"

Liu Dongzhu glanced at Hei Mao Bu Tou and then at the composed Xuanqing Daozhang; she very much wanted to voice doubts, but Xuanqing Daozhang's abilities...

She knew that!

The words of doubt on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back.

Liu Dongzhu changed her tone: "Daozhang, tell me, who is so heartless as to harm our Divine Cat Hero? Doesn't he know what good deeds our Divine Cat Hero has done?"

"It's precisely because our Divine Cat Hero has done good deeds that they act this way!"

Xuanqing Daozhang gave a cold snort; from the wounds on Hei Mao Bu Tou's body, he could roughly tell who had injured it. Seeing Liu Dongzhu's face full of doubt, he explained:

"It's those profit‑seeking creatures devoid of conscience; they saw the Divine Cat Hero's value and thus wanted to capture it!"

This novel you have reached

Spirit beasts are inherently valuable items, especially the Divine Cat Hero, which has done one good deed after another.

Once publicized, it will naturally attract more attention and thus be easier to sell at a high price.

Previously.

Even before the Divine Cat Hero became a spirit beast, someone had sneakily come to capture it; now that it is a spirit beast, cultivators coming to capture it is quite normal.

"These beasts!"

Liu Dongzhu cursed.

In the surroundings, cattle‑thieving scoundrels often appear; even though everyone knows that draft oxen are a family's most important asset, many families have had their oxen stolen, leading some to despair and hang themselves or jump into rivers.

Yet the phenomenon of livestock theft in surrounding villages has not diminished!

Clearly.

There is indeed a group of heartless wretches who, for profit, have lost all conscience!

Their gaze has shifted to the Divine Cat Hero; she should have anticipated this.

Xuanqing Daozhang reminded: "Dongzhu, from now on don't let our Divine Cat Hero run around recklessly!"

"Daozhang, you're right!"

Liu Dongzhu wryly smiled: "Before, people have come to our home to steal the Divine Cat Hero; I worried there would be a next time. When I learned it had run to the neighboring village to do good deeds, I wanted to stop it, fearing just such an incident—but the Divine Cat Hero wouldn't listen, and I could do nothing."

"After this ordeal, it won't dare to act recklessly again!"

Xuanqing Daozhang offered a word of comfort; seeing that Hei Mao Bu Tou was unharmed, he turned and entered the main hall. As he drew near, Zhang Guihua couldn't help but ask: "Daozhang, is there nothing serious with our Divine Cat Hero?"

Wang Lin said discontentedly: "Old woman, what do you mean by saying that? You know the Daoist's abilities; when he goes out, what big trouble could our family's Divine Cat Hero get into?"

(End of chapter)