Chapter 147: The Shameless Old Bastard

While I was nibbling on a fruit, watching Wangchuan feed souls to Xin'er as usual three times a day, crunching on that noisy fruit that endlessly repeated "I love you," a sudden thought crossed my mind regarding Xin'er's breed. Although Jiuyan had once said that spirits had no strict breeds, there had to be some general classification, right? I had never asked about this before.

So, I opened my mouth and asked, "Master, is Xin'er a demonic beast or a spiritual beast?"

Wangchuan paused his hand, thought for a moment, and replied, "She is a nether beast."

"A nether beast?" I turned my head slightly, puzzled. "I've never heard of that."

"They are small beasts of roughly the same rank as spiritual and demonic beasts, but they reside in the Netherworld. They were originally descendants of divine beasts. Because the Netherworld is not conducive to reproduction, they are extremely rare, and their bloodline became diluted, dropping all the way to the rank of spirit."

It was a rather long explanation containing quite a few strange tiers. I counted on my fingers and figured out that divine beasts were creatures on par with Pei Mu, or perhaps even higher in rank. So that meant this creature's ancestors had mixed blood—and not just a little bit, but enough to drop several ranks. That was truly tragic.

However, since she was a nether beast, she must have some connection to the Netherworld. That would explain it: perhaps Xin'er had eaten too many bizarre things from the ghost realm, like those scorpions, and consequently transformed into a creature of the ghost realm.

Seeing Xin'er obediently flattening her two big ears behind her head, waiting solely for her meal, I let out a sigh. "Sigh—I don't get it. How can a perfectly normal being turn into a nether beast just by eating ghost entities?"

Wangchuan didn't answer, but right then, Xin'er's big ears suddenly snapped straight up, and she began turning her head wildly to look around!

Wangchuan, who was holding the soul bottle, seemed to notice as well. He quickly snapped the lid shut and swiftly lunged to my side in a few strides. Before I could even react, he covered my ears and pulled me into his embrace.

Whenever this kind of situation happened... it meant...

Before I could finish the thought, a stunning explosion echoed from outside, rumbling with thunderous force! Every time Youluo came, he would always find an inconspicuous spot along the spatial rift and blast it open.

I used to be terrified of such occurrences, but now I had grown accustomed to it. I simply wrapped one arm around my belly; just as Wangchuan's first instinct was to protect me, my instinctive reaction was to shield the little baby from harm.

Xin'er was so frightened that she kept whimpering. I wanted to go over and hug her, but her hostility toward me over the past few days made it clear that she didn't recognize me at all. To her, I was probably just a rival competing for affection.

Fortunately, animals were sensible in this regard. Ever since Wangchuan disciplined her with a slap last time—though I checked her afterward and confirmed she wasn't hurt—it had left a deep impression on her. She had never lunged at me again, nor had she attempted to bite or devour me.

Just as I was thinking this, the sound of trumpets rang out from outside, accompanied by bizarre, wailing cries that pierced straight through. Weren't those trumpet sounds unique to Pei Mu? So was it Pei Mu who had arrived, or Youluo?

Curious, I raised my head to look outside. As I wondered, I heard Pei Mu's clamoring voice, accompanied by another muffled tone. That voice sounded somewhat displeased yet forcibly restrained, maintaining a chilling, emotionless cadence—it was undoubtedly Youluo.

"For a dignified King of You, why on earth do you spend your days blowing up people's territory! Have you no shame at all?"

"As if I could get in without blowing it up! Do you have any shame?"

"I could get in without you blowing it up! My dear Dachuan wouldn't be so heartless as to keep me locked outside forever, so go do whatever you're supposed to do and stop being a nuisance here!"

"The fact remains that you're stuck outside and can't get in. If you could get in, you would've done so long ago instead of tailing right behind the rift I blasted open!"

"Someone was opening the door for me, so why wouldn't I come in?"

"You're just afraid of that tigress outside, aren't you!"

"You're the tigress! That's a tiger immortal, what do you know?"

"Right, a fierce tiger immortal who couldn't get married and has been hounding you relentlessly."

"Better than you, so desperate for a woman that you prey on either little girls or married wives! You don't even mind that she's already pregnant, coming back time and again to demand people! You really have thick skin!"

"Our betrothal came first."

"But you accepted the betrothal gift, which means you already acknowledged the engagement was void."

"When did I accept a gift? Which of your eyes saw me accept it? What was even accepted?"

"That Reincarnation Wheel! It was mortgaged away when your Netherworld ran into trouble! My Dachuan and I spent ages helping you get it back—"

"That originally belonged to our Nether Underworld, returning it to its rightful owner is only natural!"

"Damn it—you scumbag! Scumbag! I've never seen someone so shameless! Get lost immediately, you're not welcome here!"

"Stop saying 'our' like we're a pair. If this were truly your place, would you be left standing outside unable to enter?"

"I'm willing to! My Dachuan and I are having a wonderful time playing hide-and-seek!"

The quarreling continued endlessly. Wangchuan and I had stood on high alert, preparing for a battle, but in the end, we were left completely dumbfounded as we listened to two old fogies—whose ages were entirely unknown—bickering outside.

The two fellows had walked all the way in together, talking fast. By the time their words became distinct, they had already descended into a full-blown quarrel, with Pei Mu clearly berating Youluo. Youluo's spirited counterattacks proved ineffective, and finally, unable to win the argument, they simply stopped in their tracks and bickered right at the doorway!

We had originally prepared to fight evil ghosts, but never expected the arrivals to be merely Pei Mu and Youluo. Following closely behind Youluo were a few women standing at a distance, none of whom dared to make a sound.

So, with our ears perked up, we listened to the two of them arguing outside. The corners of our mouths slowly curved upward as a sense of amusement washed over us. Youluo and Youluo shared something in common with Wangchuan: no matter how fortified the outer walls of their composure seemed, whenever they encountered Pei Mu, their defenses inevitably crumbled.

Pei Mu's retorts were like rapid-fire bullets; even if Youluo hurled identical insults back, Pei Mu could instantly fire off a comeback. In the end, he actually forced the dignified Third King of You to resort to playing the rogue, stubbornly denying he had ever accepted any gift.

At last, I finally understood what was going on. No wonder Wangchuan had been harboring such profound anger. Wangchuan was an extremely reasonable person; no matter what he did, he would weigh things first, and whatever he chose to do, he would strive to execute it to absolute perfection. In truth, he possessed a touch of Leo's overbearing dominance paired with Virgo's obsession with cleanliness and perfectionism.

For someone like that to encounter a Youluo who could shamelessly lie with his eyes open, a King of You who could accept a gift and deny it, and a shameless nuisance who repeatedly broke into other people's homes—well, not bursting a blood vessel was already quite a feat.

The two were still bickering outside, though the topic had shifted.

"Why don't you just drop dead!"

"I'll still be around long after you're dead!"

"I won't die either; I'll stick around just to watch you die!"

"I've always been the one watching others die. I've yet to hear of anyone watching me die!"

"Right! I'll be the one watching you die! I'll keep my melon-sized eyes wide open waiting for you to kick the bucket!"

"Then go ahead and wait!"

"I'm waiting right now!"

...

The two fellows standing at the doorway had originally intended to come in, but for some reason, they had fallen into a stalemate of endless bickering. In the end, like a pair of children, they launched into a tongue-twister war of attrition, neither willing to admit defeat and both stubbornly throwing a tantrum.

At that moment, these entities who had lived for unknown millennia seemed to me nothing more than a bunch of idle people with too much time on their hands. Even Wangchuan included. They all possessed strange hobbies or personality traits that you would never expect from ancient beings, bursting out with astonishing actions or childish emotions from time to time.

We exchanged a glance, our smiles laced with a helpless amusement at these inexplicable bickerings.

Yet at that very second, Xin'er, who had been trembling in the corner, shifted from shivering to emitting a low whine, clawing frantically at her forehead.

"Come here."

Wangchuan squatted down, watching Xin'er scamper over in a somewhat frantic state, still biting her own paws. Upon closer inspection, he parted the fur at the base of her neck for a brief look. A solemn expression crossed his face as he glanced outside before softly telling Xin'er:

"Don't breathe too heavily. Remember to picture yourself wearing clothes inside your mind, or else there won't be anything to cover you later."

Hearing this, I instantly understood! Xin'er was about to transform back!

And without a moment's hesitation, I dashed into the room to grab a thin blanket! After all, this was Xin'er's first time transforming; what if she failed to manifest clothes and ended up completely naked? I needed to be prepared so that those grown men wouldn't catch a glimpse of her!