Seeing Lin Bei's panicked expression, Chu Liang sprang to his feet and asked, "What happened?"
Chu Liang had been riding the Golden-Furred Hou just a while ago. Once they reached his destination, he'd told the Hou to head back to their peak on its own.
Big Head was the second-best fighter in Chu Liang's arsenal—with the best being his teacher, of course. He couldn't let anything happen to Big Head.
"It's just outside Heaven-Reaching Peak. You need to see it for yourself. Let's go," Lin Bei said, leading the way.
Lin Bei had come to Heaven-Reaching Peak to deal with some matters. On the way in, he'd seen the Golden-Furred Hou fighting with someone outside. So, he'd guessed that Chu Liang had to be here too and quickly found Chu Liang after asking around.
...
Chu Liang flew out behind Lin Bei and saw a crowd gathered around the square, watching something. The square was filled with the incessant roars of an angered beast and the explosive cracks of a lashing whip.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
There was a white-robed man standing on a white cloud in midair, repeatedly swinging down a long whip. He wielded the whip gracefully and powerfully from above, holding a resemblance to when the White Dragon dominated the skies. Each time the whip landed a hit, an explosive crack would blast through the air.
The Golden-Furred Hou was restrained to the ground. It tried many times to jump and attack the white-robed man, but it was struck down each time. The Hou got so angry that it roared incessantly.
Chu Liang could see that the Hou's golden fur was ripped, and there was crimson blood on the ground. This meant it had been inflicted with some serious injuries. Despite having accompanied Chu Liang on various adventures, the Golden-Furred Hou had never once shed any blood in a fight before.
Standing behind the man in white robes was a child, who was five or six years old.
With an excited gaze, the child pointed at the Golden-Furred Hou and yelled, “Kill it! Kill it!”
Chu Liang vaguely recognized that this child was the great-grandson of the Alchemy Master. The child had great talent in cultivation and had started cultivating before he was even six years old. After developing the ability to sense the flow of his qi, he reached the first realm of cultivation—the Body Refinement Realm. News of this had recently created a small stir in the sect.
As for the man in white, he looked to be in his thirties or forties and at the fifth or sixth realm of cultivation. It was obvious that he wasn't from the same generation of disciples as Chu Liang and the others.
Chu Liang swiftly flew over and stopped in front of the Golden-Furred Hou, protecting it from the man.
"Stop!" Chu Liang shouted.
"Raaaaar!"
The Golden-Furred Hou was about to charge forward.
However, Chu Liang pressed its head back and ordered, "Don't move."
Despite Chu Liang's interference, the whip continued moving downward. It was about to lash Chu Liang, but he remained still. He just stood there, glaring at the white-robed man with a fiery gaze.
The whip sent a burst of wind toward Chu Liang. Yet, just as he felt the wind brush against the hairs on his skin, the whip came to an abrupt stop.
Seeing that the white-robed man had finally stopped attacking, Chu Liang asked, "Senior brother, may I know I what wrong my spirit beast has committed to provoke such ruthless treatment from you?"
"Hmph," the white-robed man snorted. He said angrily, "This unruly beast almost harmed the Alchemy Master's great-grandson. I punished it, yet it's still behaving so aggressively. Giving it a beating was a lenient punishment. If it had harmed the child, I would have killed it right on the spot!"
"Hmph!" the child snorted too, as if flaunting the power he had on his side.
"Grrr..." the Golden-Furred Hou let out a low growl, seemingly irate.
Distress gripped Chu Liang's heart as he saw the Hou's blood continue to drip onto the ground.
At this moment, Lin Bei jumped out from the side and refuted, "That's not the case at all! I saw this child throw stones at the Golden-Furred Hou. That was why the Hou then landed and roared at him twice. You took action right after that! You were clearly bullying the Hou!"
"It's merely a beast. What's the big deal if I hit it?" The man in white robes looked down at them coldly with an air of superiority and dominance. "If you dare to allow it to roar freely in Mount Shu ever again, I will report it to the elder and have all of you punished!"
"Raar!"
The Golden-Furred Hou's talons, its front feet[1], dug into the ground. It wanted to try launching into the sky again and ripping that white-robed man to shreds.
"Don't move!" Chu Liang ordered once more.
Regardless of whether what happened was justified, it was fortunate that the Golden-Furred Hou had not hurt anyone. That meant it would be able to get off with just a beating. However, if it had hurt someone, the sect definitely wouldn't let it stay alive.
This didn't apply just in the Mount Shu Sect. All laws in the world were always biased toward humans. If a human were to injure a demonic beast, no one would hold them accountable. On the other hand, if a demonic beast were to injure a human, it definitely would not be allowed to live even if its actions had been justified.
Chu Liang tilted his head upward and said, "Senior brother, the child did not get hurt. And my spirit beast has been punished, so it definitely won't dare to hurt anyone in Mount Shu in the future. Let's put an end to this matter for now."
"You’d better discipline it properly when you return to your peak. You kids, don't you dare think that you're extraordinary just because you have a mount. If something were to happen, you wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility for it!" the man in white warned coldly.
Then he turned around and brought the cloud into a descent, shielding the child as they left. Right then, the child stuck out his tongue at Chu Liang and made a funny face to mock him.
Once the white-robed man and the child were gone, Lin Bei said angrily, "That little brat really needs to be taught a lesson. If he had been alone, I would have given him a good smack!"
"Let's head back first. We'll talk about it then," Chu Liang replied with a solemn expression.
He reached out and stroked the Golden-Furred Hou's neck. The Hou whimpered and nuzzled against him, feeling quite aggrieved.
...
Chu Liang asked Lin Bei to fetch Chen Su. Then he returned to Silver Sword Peak with the Golden-Furred Hou.
After the incident with the Winged Fire Python demon, the higher-ups of the Mount Shu Sect became extremely concerned about what was happening at the Evil Demon Mountain. The incident involving the fifth-realm Winged Fire Python hadn't been a big deal. Despite that, there were many vicious beasts living on the Evil Demon Mountain, and it would be a major problem if they were to leave the mountain.
As a result, three seventh-realm peak masters were sent there to investigate it. Di Nufeng had been dispatched there as well since she had finished resolving the problem at the Tree Demon Mountain.
During this time, Chu Liang was in charge of Silver Sword Peak.
If his teacher were around, he would undoubtedly bring the Golden-Furred Hou to his teacher, weeping and complaining about what had happened. Then he would follow Di Nufeng to get compensation—no, to get an explanation from the other party.
Unfortunately, Chu Liang's teacher wasn't around, so all he could do was tend to the Golden-Furred Hou's injuries for now.
There were no medical professionals in the Mount Shu Sect. Matters of a medical nature were usually handled by the Hall of Alchemy's attendants. However, the person that Chu Liang had just had a conflict with was from the Hall of Alchemy, so it wouldn't be a good idea for Chu Liang to go there to ask for help. Consequently, he asked for help from Chen Su, a senior sister with whom he was well acquainted.
The Golden-Furred Hou was lying on the ground whimpering. It had gaping wounds and seemed to be in a lot of pain. To comfort it, Chu Liang stuffed two berries into its mouth.
"Raar?"
The Golden-Furred Hou put two and two together, and it immediately let its body go limp and howled incessantly, making it look like it was dying...
Seeing this scene made Chu Liang angry and amused at the same time. Yet, seeing as the Golden-Furred Hou was injured, Chu Liang decided to indulge it for once. He stuffed a couple more Golden Vein Berries into Big Head's mouth one by one.
Big Head finished one berry in one bite, enjoying its food so much that it was smacking its lips. Its eyes were filled with bliss; it had quickly forgotten about the pain it felt. Big Head probably wouldn't mind getting beaten up every day if that meant it could just lie down and wait for someone to feed it fruits.
After a while, Chen Su rushed over.
"Let me take a look..." Chen Su said. She carefully inspected the Golden-Furred Hou and then stated, "They are all superficial wounds and can be treated by rubbing on some medicine. Don't worry."
Chu Liang finally felt at ease.
Chen Su rubbed the medicinal powder onto the Golden-Furred Hou's wounds and wrapped its body in bandages. It should have been quite a painful process, but Big Head didn't resist at all, only shaking a little.
"This big fellow is pretty well behaved. I wonder how Brother Liu could bear to be so heavy-handed to it," Chen Su commented.
Looking at the adorable Golden-Furred Hou, Chen Su felt rather outraged on its behalf.
"Who was the person that hit the Golden-Furred Hou?" Chu Liang asked without much thought.
"Senior Brother Liu Qin—the Alchemy Master's seventh disciple," Chen Su answered. "The Alchemy Master only has one great-grandson, Xiao Tong[2], and he dotes on the boy immensely. However, he doesn't have time to take care of Xiao Tong all the time, so he often places Xiao Tong in the care of his disciples."
"The kid's a bit unruly," Chu Liang remarked nonchalantly.
"Haaa..." Chen Su sighed. She said, "Xiao Tong doesn't have parents, and he's really smart. Because of that, the Alchemy Master has been taking really good care of him, so much so that he’s always spoiling the boy. That's why Xiao Tong is quite a naughty child."
After listening to Chen Su's brief explanation, Chu Liang figured out the gist of the situation.
He was certain the unruly kid had provoked the Golden-Furred Hou by hitting it. The Golden-Furred Hou wasn't a mild-tempered beast, but it had likely descended with the intention of just scaring the boy. After all, Big Head knew it couldn't harm people on Mount Shu; it wouldn't have attacked the boy in the first place.
Nevertheless, Liu Qin had probably been afraid that he would be accused of not properly caring for the boy. So, he'd taken a heavy-handed approach to show he was taking his job seriously.
"All done," Chen Su announced with a clap.
She'd finished bandaging the Golden-Furred Hou's wounds.
The Golden-Furred Hou had banadages all over. The ends of the bandages had even been tied into pretty little bows, making the Hou look like an elegant creature.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Chen," Chu Liang said.
"Don't mention it," Chen Su replied with a grin. She hesitated for a moment before reminding Chu Liang, "I know you must be very upset that someone hurt the Golden-Furred Hou, but Xiao Tong is the Alchemy Master's favorite, and Brother Liu was just protecting him. If you continue pursuing this matter, you may incite the Alchemy Master's wrath. He could make things difficult for you on Mount Shu in the future or worse..."
What Chen Su said was true. The Alchemy Master held a high position of authority in the Mount Shu Sect, so offending him would indeed place Chu Liang in an extremely difficult spot.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister Chen." Chu Liang smiled. "Please deliver a message for me when you head back to the Hall of Alchemy. Tell them that my mount frightened the Alchemy Master's great-grandson today, and I'm extremely sorry about that. I will definitely go over and apologize in person."
1. In case anyone forgot, a Hou is basically like a chimera and has the body parts of various animals. Its front legs are bird legs. ☜
2. Nickname for Chen Lingtong. ☜
Seeing Lin Bei's panicked expression, Chu Liang sprang to his feet and asked, "What happened?"
Chu Liang had been riding the Golden-Furred Hou just a while ago. Once they reached his destination, he'd told the Hou to head back to their peak on its own.
Big Head was the second-best fighter in Chu Liang's arsenal—with the best being his teacher, of course. He couldn't let anything happen to Big Head.
"It's just outside Heaven-Reaching Peak. You need to see it for yourself. Let's go," Lin Bei said, leading the way.
Lin Bei had come to Heaven-Reaching Peak to deal with some matters. On the way in, he'd seen the Golden-Furred Hou fighting with someone outside. So, he'd guessed that Chu Liang had to be here too and quickly found Chu Liang after asking around.
...
Chu Liang flew out behind Lin Bei and saw a crowd gathered around the square, watching something. The square was filled with the incessant roars of an angered beast and the explosive cracks of a lashing whip.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
There was a white-robed man standing on a white cloud in midair, repeatedly swinging down a long whip. He wielded the whip gracefully and powerfully from above, holding a resemblance to when the White Dragon dominated the skies. Each time the whip landed a hit, an explosive crack would blast through the air.
The Golden-Furred Hou was restrained to the ground. It tried many times to jump and attack the white-robed man, but it was struck down each time. The Hou got so angry that it roared incessantly.
Chu Liang could see that the Hou's golden fur was ripped, and there was crimson blood on the ground. This meant it had been inflicted with some serious injuries. Despite having accompanied Chu Liang on various adventures, the Golden-Furred Hou had never once shed any blood in a fight before.
Standing behind the man in white robes was a child, who was five or six years old.
With an excited gaze, the child pointed at the Golden-Furred Hou and yelled, “Kill it! Kill it!”
Chu Liang vaguely recognized that this child was the great-grandson of the Alchemy Master. The child had great talent in cultivation and had started cultivating before he was even six years old. After developing the ability to sense the flow of his qi, he reached the first realm of cultivation—the Body Refinement Realm. News of this had recently created a small stir in the sect.
As for the man in white, he looked to be in his thirties or forties and at the fifth or sixth realm of cultivation. It was obvious that he wasn't from the same generation of disciples as Chu Liang and the others.
Chu Liang swiftly flew over and stopped in front of the Golden-Furred Hou, protecting it from the man.
"Stop!" Chu Liang shouted.
"Raaaaar!"
The Golden-Furred Hou was about to charge forward.
However, Chu Liang pressed its head back and ordered, "Don't move."
Despite Chu Liang's interference, the whip continued moving downward. It was about to lash Chu Liang, but he remained still. He just stood there, glaring at the white-robed man with a fiery gaze.
The whip sent a burst of wind toward Chu Liang. Yet, just as he felt the wind brush against the hairs on his skin, the whip came to an abrupt stop.
Seeing that the white-robed man had finally stopped attacking, Chu Liang asked, "Senior brother, may I know I what wrong my spirit beast has committed to provoke such ruthless treatment from you?"
"Hmph," the white-robed man snorted. He said angrily, "This unruly beast almost harmed the Alchemy Master's great-grandson. I punished it, yet it's still behaving so aggressively. Giving it a beating was a lenient punishment. If it had harmed the child, I would have killed it right on the spot!"
"Hmph!" the child snorted too, as if flaunting the power he had on his side.
"Grrr..." the Golden-Furred Hou let out a low growl, seemingly irate.
Distress gripped Chu Liang's heart as he saw the Hou's blood continue to drip onto the ground.
At this moment, Lin Bei jumped out from the side and refuted, "That's not the case at all! I saw this child throw stones at the Golden-Furred Hou. That was why the Hou then landed and roared at him twice. You took action right after that! You were clearly bullying the Hou!"
"It's merely a beast. What's the big deal if I hit it?" The man in white robes looked down at them coldly with an air of superiority and dominance. "If you dare to allow it to roar freely in Mount Shu ever again, I will report it to the elder and have all of you punished!"
"Raar!"
The Golden-Furred Hou's talons, its front feet[1], dug into the ground. It wanted to try launching into the sky again and ripping that white-robed man to shreds.
"Don't move!" Chu Liang ordered once more.
Regardless of whether what happened was justified, it was fortunate that the Golden-Furred Hou had not hurt anyone. That meant it would be able to get off with just a beating. However, if it had hurt someone, the sect definitely wouldn't let it stay alive.
This didn't apply just in the Mount Shu Sect. All laws in the world were always biased toward humans. If a human were to injure a demonic beast, no one would hold them accountable. On the other hand, if a demonic beast were to injure a human, it definitely would not be allowed to live even if its actions had been justified.
Chu Liang tilted his head upward and said, "Senior brother, the child did not get hurt. And my spirit beast has been punished, so it definitely won't dare to hurt anyone in Mount Shu in the future. Let's put an end to this matter for now."
"You’d better discipline it properly when you return to your peak. You kids, don't you dare think that you're extraordinary just because you have a mount. If something were to happen, you wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility for it!" the man in white warned coldly.
Then he turned around and brought the cloud into a descent, shielding the child as they left. Right then, the child stuck out his tongue at Chu Liang and made a funny face to mock him.
Once the white-robed man and the child were gone, Lin Bei said angrily, "That little brat really needs to be taught a lesson. If he had been alone, I would have given him a good smack!"
"Let's head back first. We'll talk about it then," Chu Liang replied with a solemn expression.
He reached out and stroked the Golden-Furred Hou's neck. The Hou whimpered and nuzzled against him, feeling quite aggrieved.
...
Chu Liang asked Lin Bei to fetch Chen Su. Then he returned to Silver Sword Peak with the Golden-Furred Hou.
After the incident with the Winged Fire Python demon, the higher-ups of the Mount Shu Sect became extremely concerned about what was happening at the Evil Demon Mountain. The incident involving the fifth-realm Winged Fire Python hadn't been a big deal. Despite that, there were many vicious beasts living on the Evil Demon Mountain, and it would be a major problem if they were to leave the mountain.
As a result, three seventh-realm peak masters were sent there to investigate it. Di Nufeng had been dispatched there as well since she had finished resolving the problem at the Tree Demon Mountain.
During this time, Chu Liang was in charge of Silver Sword Peak.
If his teacher were around, he would undoubtedly bring the Golden-Furred Hou to his teacher, weeping and complaining about what had happened. Then he would follow Di Nufeng to get compensation—no, to get an explanation from the other party.
Unfortunately, Chu Liang's teacher wasn't around, so all he could do was tend to the Golden-Furred Hou's injuries for now.
There were no medical professionals in the Mount Shu Sect. Matters of a medical nature were usually handled by the Hall of Alchemy's attendants. However, the person that Chu Liang had just had a conflict with was from the Hall of Alchemy, so it wouldn't be a good idea for Chu Liang to go there to ask for help. Consequently, he asked for help from Chen Su, a senior sister with whom he was well acquainted.
The Golden-Furred Hou was lying on the ground whimpering. It had gaping wounds and seemed to be in a lot of pain. To comfort it, Chu Liang stuffed two berries into its mouth.
"Raar?"
The Golden-Furred Hou put two and two together, and it immediately let its body go limp and howled incessantly, making it look like it was dying...
Seeing this scene made Chu Liang angry and amused at the same time. Yet, seeing as the Golden-Furred Hou was injured, Chu Liang decided to indulge it for once. He stuffed a couple more Golden Vein Berries into Big Head's mouth one by one.
Big Head finished one berry in one bite, enjoying its food so much that it was smacking its lips. Its eyes were filled with bliss; it had quickly forgotten about the pain it felt. Big Head probably wouldn't mind getting beaten up every day if that meant it could just lie down and wait for someone to feed it fruits.
After a while, Chen Su rushed over.
"Let me take a look..." Chen Su said. She carefully inspected the Golden-Furred Hou and then stated, "They are all superficial wounds and can be treated by rubbing on some medicine. Don't worry."
Chu Liang finally felt at ease.
Chen Su rubbed the medicinal powder onto the Golden-Furred Hou's wounds and wrapped its body in bandages. It should have been quite a painful process, but Big Head didn't resist at all, only shaking a little.
"This big fellow is pretty well behaved. I wonder how Brother Liu could bear to be so heavy-handed to it," Chen Su commented.
Looking at the adorable Golden-Furred Hou, Chen Su felt rather outraged on its behalf.
"Who was the person that hit the Golden-Furred Hou?" Chu Liang asked without much thought.
"Senior Brother Liu Qin—the Alchemy Master's seventh disciple," Chen Su answered. "The Alchemy Master only has one great-grandson, Xiao Tong[2], and he dotes on the boy immensely. However, he doesn't have time to take care of Xiao Tong all the time, so he often places Xiao Tong in the care of his disciples."
"The kid's a bit unruly," Chu Liang remarked nonchalantly.
"Haaa..." Chen Su sighed. She said, "Xiao Tong doesn't have parents, and he's really smart. Because of that, the Alchemy Master has been taking really good care of him, so much so that he’s always spoiling the boy. That's why Xiao Tong is quite a naughty child."
After listening to Chen Su's brief explanation, Chu Liang figured out the gist of the situation.
He was certain the unruly kid had provoked the Golden-Furred Hou by hitting it. The Golden-Furred Hou wasn't a mild-tempered beast, but it had likely descended with the intention of just scaring the boy. After all, Big Head knew it couldn't harm people on Mount Shu; it wouldn't have attacked the boy in the first place.
Nevertheless, Liu Qin had probably been afraid that he would be accused of not properly caring for the boy. So, he'd taken a heavy-handed approach to show he was taking his job seriously.
"All done," Chen Su announced with a clap.
She'd finished bandaging the Golden-Furred Hou's wounds.
The Golden-Furred Hou had banadages all over. The ends of the bandages had even been tied into pretty little bows, making the Hou look like an elegant creature.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Chen," Chu Liang said.
"Don't mention it," Chen Su replied with a grin. She hesitated for a moment before reminding Chu Liang, "I know you must be very upset that someone hurt the Golden-Furred Hou, but Xiao Tong is the Alchemy Master's favorite, and Brother Liu was just protecting him. If you continue pursuing this matter, you may incite the Alchemy Master's wrath. He could make things difficult for you on Mount Shu in the future or worse..."
What Chen Su said was true. The Alchemy Master held a high position of authority in the Mount Shu Sect, so offending him would indeed place Chu Liang in an extremely difficult spot.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister Chen." Chu Liang smiled. "Please deliver a message for me when you head back to the Hall of Alchemy. Tell them that my mount frightened the Alchemy Master's great-grandson today, and I'm extremely sorry about that. I will definitely go over and apologize in person."
1. In case anyone forgot, a Hou is basically like a chimera and has the body parts of various animals. Its front legs are bird legs. ☜
2. Nickname for Chen Lingtong. ☜
