Chapter 61: This Score Must Be Settled!

Mingxi finished speaking and pulled Xiaotong over to the Spirit-Devouring Beast. She saw that the beast's pitch-black fur was already stained with blood, and it was lying in a sorry state in the middle of the grass, trying to smooth down its disheveled fur and licking its wounds.

Seeing the beast looking so exhausted, Mingxi felt a twinge of pity.

Despite being injured, the Spirit-Devouring Beast still stared at Mingxi with sharp vigilance, narrowing its eyes as it asked, "What are you going to do?"

Naturally, it could sense that Mingxi's cultivation had been restored through the primordial core. Since the Spirit-Devouring Beast was heavily injured at the moment and unable to fight for a short time, it was entirely possible for Mingxi to kill it right here and now!

"Hey, what kind of look is that? Why are you glaring at me?" Mingxi was thoroughly baffled; this Spirit-Devouring Beast was not cute in the slightest.

"How can I be sure you won't kill me in the next second?" the Spirit-Devouring Beast replied coldly.

"Why would I kill you? You just helped us so much. Do we look like the kind of people who repay kindness with enmity?"

"Who knows." The Spirit-Devouring Beast forced itself to stand, took a few steps back, and maintained a heavily defensive posture.

Mingxi sighed helplessly, finally understanding the beast's personality—it was stubborn as a mule!

"Alright, alright. You did hurt me quite badly earlier, but now you've helped us out tremendously, and you almost died in the line of duty..."

"Shut up! Who died in the line of duty? This deity only sustained some injuries and just needs to rest for a moment!"

"..." Mingxi and Xiaotong were utterly struck dumb by its words. They exchanged a glance and let out a simultaneous, stiff laugh: This creature wasn't the least bit cute, and its tsundere attitude was off the charts.

"Fine, my lord Spirit-Devouring Beast, thank you for helping us so much. Now... come home with us!" Mingxi had completely surrendered and could only speak to the beast this way. She knew very well that the Spirit-Devouring Beast was just putting up a tough front. If she left it here alone, those two snakes would not spare it. Furthermore, since it couldn't fight right now, leaving it behind would be tantamount to letting it die!

Yet, strangely enough, why was she trying to help it? It had hurt her so badly and even tried to kill her; she should have hated it. But for some reason, seeing it injured like this just to help her and Xiaotong made her previous resentment vanish entirely.

...Was this what human emotions felt like? It really was quite strange.

"Home?" The Spirit-Devouring Beast was momentarily stunned, but seeing not a hint of murderous intent in their eyes, its vigilance eased slightly.

"Yeah, once we're home, godfather can treat your injuries, and you won't hurt so much." Xiaotong's tone was as gentle as one would use to coax a stray cat, giving the Spirit-Devouring Beast an inexplicable sense of irony. Still... all these years... it truly had lived like a stray cat.

Finally, the Spirit-Devouring Beast gave up its resistance, nodded faintly, and said, "Since this deity has completed the mission, it is indeed time to return and report to my master. However, you need to get one thing straight... This deity is not going home with you; we are simply taking the same road."

"Fine, taking the same road it is. Stop talking nonsense and let's go quickly, or we'll be done for when those two snakes come back!"

With that, Mingxi instructed Xiaotong to take out the teleportation talisman. Chanting the spell inscribed upon it, the two of them vanished completely the very next second...

Meanwhile, beside the swamp, Ji Yan was clutching the mud-covered snake eggs, grinding her teeth in utter rage as she wailed in frustration.

"This is too much... This is the first time I've ever seen such outrageous humans! How dare they pull something like this!" The more Ji Yan thought about it, the angrier she became, nearly passing out from fury.

"Oh, cut it out! You should thank your lucky stars they didn't smash your eggs!" Xuan Ye said with an indifferent shrug.

"What kind of cool remarks are you making? You aren't the one whose primordial core was stolen, your eggs weren't the ones thrown into the swamp, and you aren't the one who got played for a fool!" Ji Yan bit down hard on her teeth, saying resentfully, "I'm so angry... I'm simply furious! I won't let them get away with this! We are going to settle this score—most definitely!!"