Chapter Twelve: The Great Crisis and the Demonic Beast

“Um, I don’t really like black tea, so I didn’t bring any with me. I’ll give you two more boxes of pastries—just tell me that woman’s name. Why is she interested in me, and why was she there?” Qi’s eyes lit up with delight. His guesses seemed to be right on target; not only had he found a way for Black Cat to return, but he’d also stumbled on clues about his own origins—something he’d searched for over four years without the slightest success. Yet it was the woman mentioned by the Misaka girl that truly piqued his curiosity.

“Hmm… cough, cough, I almost choked. I heard God-brother address her as Shiji. She often asks God-brother to let her… God-brother, Misaka absolutely did not accept any bribes to leak information. Misaka thinks hiding the pastries behind her back should suffice to get away with it.” The Misaka girl’s voice betrayed her entirely.

“Mi-sa-ka Mi-di!” the Lord pronounced each syllable with deliberate severity, venting his anger. “It’s not as if I don’t give you pastries and black tea—why do you sell information so cheaply? Telling others is bad enough, but why did you have to pull off my blanket and disturb my sleep? Is your backside itching again?” His voice was thunderous with fury.

Lord God, is your anger perhaps misplaced? Is it really okay to let information slip so easily? Or does the Lord suffer from morning temper? Black Cat grumbled inwardly.

“Waa—God-brother pounces on the delicate Misaka with nothing on! D-don’t… Misaka shouts excitedly and brags about it on the Misaka Network.” Even now, the Misaka girl recounted the disaster in her usual calm, almost indifferent tone.

Qi, who had worried she’d be punished for leaking information, could only sigh in relief and resignation. He no longer knew how to express his tangled emotions. Only one saying echoed in his mind: “A woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea—don’t even try to guess it.”

The transmission from the Qi Codex abruptly ceased; Lord God must have ended the call. Qi began to ponder the information he’d gleaned from Misaka. His abandonment in this village was indeed connected to that mysterious Lord, and the silver-haired woman must also have something to do with him. But what were their motives?

At that moment, Black Cat spoke. “Qi, let’s go outside. It feels wrong to chat in front of so many ancestral tablets.”

Qi smiled and nodded, about to reply, when suddenly his expression changed. A terrifying sense of threat enveloped him. If the danger from the last cultivator who’d hunted him down had felt like a life-or-death crisis, then this time, it was as if an invisible hand was squeezing the very life from his heart. Although he managed to suppress most of it immediately through sheer willpower, he could not forget that chilling sensation.

He turned to Black Cat and said, “If I throw all those odds and ends from last time into the Qi Codex, I should be able to gather a hundred energy points. When do you want to go back?”

Black Cat had been watching Qi closely; none of his subtle changes escaped her eyes. Now, hearing him suggest she leave first, she could easily guess that danger was near. “Is the Celestial Army of Angels coming? Even though most of my power is sealed and I have little strength left, I want to fight by your side. Even if I fall, I want to fall with you,” Black Cat declared with rare seriousness, almost as if confessing.

Seeing her determined gaze, Qi sighed. “I sense a powerful threat—ten or even a hundred times stronger than that last cultivator. If it were the old me, I’d have no chance at all. But now I can fly, so I should be able to escape. I just worry that if I fly too fast, your body won’t be able to bear it—even if you can withstand the wind, you won’t last long. So I hope you can go back first. Once I’ve gathered enough energy, I’ll come to your world to find you.”

Black Cat fixed her eyes on Qi and said sternly, “I’m not some foolish woman who insists on tagging along when she knows she’ll only be a burden. I’m also not some gullible high school girl you can trick. If you want to fool me, Lord Fallen Angel Black Cat, you’ll have to wait another five hundred years. My mind is made up. As for you, pitiful mount, just shut up.”

“Don’t pollute the world by talking—let me finish. If I’m not mistaken, our next opponent is the Foundation Establishment cultivator behind the one you killed. This all started because of me; I can’t stand aside now.” There was a firmness in her expression that Qi had never seen before.

“Black Cat, you’re surprisingly foolish at critical moments, even if your tongue is sharp. Fine—if you insist, then let’s escape together. Let’s leave this village first.” Qi was not one for indecision; having made up his mind, he immediately agreed. He led Black Cat out of the ancestral hall, spread his wings, and soared into the sky.

As they departed, the old village chief, who’d been gawking at Qi’s wings, suddenly shook his head. “Old Wang’s field still isn’t sorted out. I’d better hurry.” He’d already forgotten everything related to the Qi Codex, and didn’t even wonder why he was standing outside the ancestral hall.

“By the way, that cultivator must have a way to track you—probably through something he left behind, perhaps some item from the one you killed. Throw everything into the Qi Codex and see how much energy you get. If we’re lucky and there’s enough, we could both escape to my world and not worry about being caught.” Black Cat, still sprawled on Qi’s back, offered her advice.

Qi, clutching the Qi Codex, nodded. He took off the storage pouch, intending to empty it into the Codex. Then, thinking better of it, he squeezed the pouch and pressed it to the Codex’s surface, mentally commanding it to assess the items’ value. As he wished, the Codex displayed:

—Low-grade artifact storage pouch +20, contents: one high-grade spirit stone +10,000, seventy-five low-grade spirit stones +75, low-grade artifact flying sword +15, mid-grade artifact shield (damaged) +25, various pills including pet, fasting, and Qi-gathering pills +40, for a total of +10,175 energy points.—

Qi’s eyes widened in disbelief. Where had that high-grade spirit stone come from? It was worth ten thousand times that of a low-grade one! With such a trove of energy, maybe he and Black Cat really could escape together. The only unusual stone must have been left by that “tenant”—to give away such a precious item so casually, he must be a formidable cultivator.

Though delighted, Qi kept his head. After a moment’s thought, he put the pouch away and mentally checked the energy required to cross into Black Cat’s world. —Required: 22,000 energy points. Note: all energy-containing items carried by both travelers are included.—

So that’s how it worked. He tried calculating the cost with nothing but the clothes on his back: 12,000 energy points—but still not enough! Why did it take so much more for him than for Black Cat? His earlier excitement faded.

“How did it go?” Black Cat asked from his back. The speed was so intense she barely dared move, afraid she’d be thrown off.

“There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” Qi said, almost jokingly—as if he’d thought it all through.

“Give me the bad news first, to liven things up.” Black Cat was the sort who saved the best for last—after all, if the ending was sweet, what matter the hardship?

“The bad news: I need at least 12,000 energy points to cross.” Qi’s smile was a mix of wryness and mischief.

“That really is bad news, but at this point it doesn’t matter—either way, it’s not enough. So, what’s the good news?” Black Cat was also taken aback.

“The good news is, if I convert everything in the storage pouch, there’s 10,175 energy points—just under two thousand short, but much better than before.” There was also that egg and the kitten—maybe they could be converted, too. But before he could try, a strange creature appeared ahead.

It shot toward them like an arrow, its head sharp and glinting coldly, clearly both hard and lethal. Four massive, powerful, scaly wings beat on either side, and a blue tail flame blazed behind as it barreled straight toward Qi, its speed matching—if not surpassing—his own.

Qi’s expression shifted. In the nick of time, he altered his body’s structure, dropping just enough to avoid the creature, passing by its arrowhead. At the same moment, his right hand morphed into a claw, five sharp bone spurs extending from his fingertips. Using the combined momentum, he slashed open one of the beast’s scaly wings. Blood sprayed into the air.

Summoning the Codex with his mind, he wrapped Black Cat completely in bone armor, then slowly transformed his body to resemble the beast—except his arrowhead was pale bone, and he had six pairs of fleshy wings, crowded along his sides, covered not in scales but in bone plates. He had no tail flame—he couldn’t truly become a monster—but the six pairs of wings propelled him several times faster than before. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the horizon.

Faster speed meant greater energy expenditure. After less than an hour of flight—and several times giving Black Cat air—Qi could hold out no longer, reverted to his original form, and landed.

“What’s wrong, Qi? That was a huge drain. Did something happen?” Black Cat asked with concern.