The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Come here, little cat. My disciple was indeed wrong in this matter." She beckoned him over and smiled gently. "How about I make him apologize to you? I will definitely restrain his behavior in the future. After all, who would want to inherit their mantle from a bloodthirsty person?"

Jiang Chen glared angrily at Gu Xingzhou, walked to the woman in the red dress, and looked up to ask, "What if he does something inhumane behind your back again?"

“Then I will surely cripple his martial arts and leave him, to prevent him from using the techniques I taught him to harm the innocent.” Hong Luo answered seriously, then squatted down and stroked his soft fur, asking curiously, “Have you ever seen other demons? Can you tell me what kind of life the demons living here lead?”

Gu Xingzhou was also very curious and wanted to hear what the outside world was like. Moreover, his beautiful master had already helped him save face, so he took out a bottle of scraps that he had originally planned to sell the next day and handed it over. "This is a bottle of Marrow Cleansing Elixir. I apologize to Brother Cat and hope that Brother Cat can forgive my mistake."

"Hmph!" The fluffy ball huffed angrily, reaching out its paw to snatch it away. "Don't think that a bottle of junk you wouldn't even look at can save your life. I'm keeping track of it in my little notebook!"

Seeing that the little black kitten made no move, and the bottle of spiritual liquid in his palm had vanished, Gu Xingzhou's eyes widened and he turned to look at his beautiful master.

Hong Luo was also quite curious, "Little Cat, your talent is quite powerful! You can both contain your demonic energy and master spatial arts. You are the most unique demon cat I have ever seen!"

"What's so special about this?" In order to lure the wild pseudo-master into his trap, Jiang Chen pretended to be innocent and arrogant, saying, "I have many skills, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to travel all the way from the capital to this place unharmed. You know, there are many dangers for the demon race when traveling in this world."

Chapter Twenty-Three: Don't be too hypocritical.

"Oh? Humans are very harsh on demons?" Hong Luo's blurted question made Gu Xingzhou's mind stir slightly.

Judging from her address and her inexplicable closeness to the demon cat, perhaps the beautiful master he picked up is a demon?

What kind of demon is she?

With such beauty and noble temperament, alluring yet not gaudy or vulgar, could she be a flower fairy?

The thought of this unique exotic allure made Gu Xingzhou's breath quicken, and his gaze toward his beautiful master became intense.

"No, not at all." Jiang Chen licked his paws and chuckled. "Although the demon race is subject to supervision and restrictions by certain departments established by the royal families, and some important positions are not open to demons, humans have no ill will towards the demons living here."

In some places, intermarriage between the two races is common, especially among the gentle, beautiful demon race, who are very popular. Perhaps because demons are born with the ability to cultivate, they generally live much better lives than most ordinary people, no matter where they are.

Hongluo was even more confused. "Then why did you say earlier that this world is full of dangers for the demon race?"

"Humans are not the biggest threat, but demons will harm other demons." Jiang Chen didn't need to lie to them about this; that was the world setting he learned from Ling Qiye.

"There are no demons in the human food chain, and extraordinary beings cannot directly obtain any obvious benefits from demon cores; however, ferocious great demons originally feed on docile lesser demons, and refining their demon cores can also enhance their cultivation."

Although they are rarely in open conflict due to the supervision of the School Affairs Bureau, being at the bottom of the food chain, ordinary demons dare not leave the Bureau's jurisdiction without sufficient self-defense capabilities. Otherwise, who would they complain to if they were eaten by a powerful demon in the wilderness?

Jiang Chen scratched his ear with his hind paw and sighed, "Especially for a little demon cat like me, I can easily prey on any powerful demon race such as dog demons and fox demons, not to mention wolf demons, leopard demons, tiger demons and the like."

Hongluo looked somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, and said softly, "The demon race... has always been like this, hasn't they? I just never expected that they would actually kill each other in the human world..."

"Meow~" he meowed in a childish voice, tilting his little head to look at the woman in the semi-transparent red dress. "You have demonic energy on you. Are you also a demon? Why did you turn out like this? And why did you take him as your disciple?"

Jiang Chen glanced at Gu Xingzhou, her fluffy little face showing a lively disdain. "Tch~ He doesn't look very impressive. He's not even as good as some ordinary scions of noble families in the capital."

Gu Xingzhou was still young at heart, and he was very unhappy to be belittled by a little kitten in front of his beautiful master whom he secretly admired. "Hmph! I just started later than others. After all... I don't have such good conditions. I can eat all kinds of spiritual plants and medicines at will. I have worked very hard to reach the current level of cultivation."

"Meow? I'm saying your cultivation talent is lacking, what does that have to do with hard work?" Jiang Chen snorted and directly exposed the truth. "More importantly, people with better talent than you are even more diligent than you."

Take the Kou family, a top-tier aristocratic family in Kyoto, for example.

The direct descendants of those clans are all exceptionally talented and have a high starting point, but if they want to obtain resources within the clan, they still have to diligently cultivate and earn contribution points to exchange for them. Where would you find spiritual plants and herbs that you can just eat at will?

The more prestigious the family, the more they care about the cultivation of their descendants. They don't want superficial increases in cultivation level through elixirs; that's like pulling up seedlings to help them grow faster than they are. In short, they want long-term, steady cultivation, not flashy, short-lived, ineffective methods.

The little black kitten pointed disdainfully at the water in the wooden basin, "Look, your method of marrow cleansing can indeed raise your cultivation talent."

But if you only think about using elixirs to make up for your weaknesses without diligently cultivating, even if you reach level nine, you'll still be easily defeated by a single punch from someone else who is a solid level nine cultivator.

"Who said I only rely on elixirs and don't cultivate diligently?" Touched on a sore spot, especially when the Gu family of Kyoto was mentioned, Gu Xingzhou immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "You just wait and see, I will cultivate even harder and one day I will storm into Kyoto and cripple that bastard Gu Qinglang!"

He showed great talent after trying alchemy this afternoon, and his beautiful master praised him several times. Gu Xingzhou was secretly pleased, thinking that things would be a little easier in the future, and he could even break through to level five or above by consuming spiritual medicine.

Unexpectedly, the little demon cat directly exposed him, which made him both angry and annoyed.

Jiang Chen jumped onto a makeshift table made of rough wooden planks, squatted down with his hands in his pockets, and pretended to gossip, saying, "Oh ho, this is really something new~ This place is a million miles away from Kyoto, and you don't look like you've ever been to Kyoto."

Tell me, what grudge do you have against that once-in-a-millennium genius from the Gu family? You even want to cripple him? Tsk tsk tsk, with your current strength, even underhanded tactics aren't enough for you.

Could it be…

He looked at the woman in the red dress floating to the side with his big, dark eyes, his eyes darting around as he chuckled, "Could it be that you want this senior to help you launch a sneak attack?"

"You!" Gu Xingzhou was enraged, his eyes red as he glared at him. "You demon cat, you're being completely unreasonable! When did I say I wanted Master to help with a sneak attack? I'm going to cripple that bastard Gu Qinglang fair and square!"

Hong Luo frowned slightly and said softly, "This is your private matter and I shouldn't interfere. We agreed before that I could only save your life when it was a matter of life and death, and I don't want to get involved in other matters of right and wrong."

If one day you ever need your teacher's help to do something shady, I will absolutely not agree.

Upon seeing this, Gu Xingzhou bowed solemnly and explained, "Master, please rest assured. Destroying Gu Qinglang in the capital is one of my most important goals in my cultivation. This is a personal grudge, and I will definitely do it fairly and squarely with my strength. I will never let you be a despicable person who resorts to sneak attacks."

"Meow? Can you guarantee that when you challenge anyone, you won't let your seniors help you, making it a one-on-one fight on the surface but actually a very unfair one against two? Can you guarantee that you won't rely on your seniors' power to cover your presence and steal chickens and dogs? Can you guarantee that after you cause trouble, your seniors won't have to lower themselves and act like thieves to help you clean up the mess?" Jiang Chen continued to seduce him.

Isn't this how old men always use their personal belongings?

Besides teaching alchemy and various cultivation techniques, in case of emergency, the old man can use his cheat code to fight two opponents at once and slap them in the face. He can also sneak into any place to eavesdrop on secrets. No matter what mess he leaves behind, he can hand it over to the old man and everything will be fine.

"One against two?" Hong Luo blushed slightly upon hearing the demon cat's words.

She hadn't thought that much about it before. After all, her disciple was someone she would depend on for survival in the future, and as her master, she would definitely help her secretly if the disciple was in danger.

But the little demon cat's teasing question made her feel ashamed. Back then, she would rather die than do anything unrighteous, but now she almost lost her sense of right and wrong.

"Gu Xingzhou, you must remember that the path of cultivation is inherently fraught with difficulties. If you are truly in danger, I will save your life, but if you need me to provide spiritual power to help you in a fight, that is absolutely impossible."

Honglu stared at her disciple with her beautiful eyes and said seriously, "I hope you can cultivate peacefully and not provoke trouble. As the saying goes, there are always people more capable than you, and even your master cannot protect you forever."

A real man is courageous and responsible; if he causes trouble, he must bear the consequences himself.

Don't think that just because I'm here, you can do whatever you want. That would be detrimental to both of us, and might even attract the attention of a powerful enemy, leading to your annihilation.

Gu Xingzhou hated this uninvited, smelly cat to the core.

If it weren't for the gossipy demon cat, I could have used my master's spiritual power to show off my power and establish my authority when I was competitive, but now I'm not only being mocked by it and feeling very angry, but my master has also made it clear that he will not stand up for me or clean up the mess!

"Hehehe, the wild pseudo-master is getting anxious, he's about to panic!" The little white cat covered its mouth and chuckled. "This is nothing! You're such a sore loser!"

Jiang Chen squatted down with his hands in his pockets, shook his ears, and slowly swayed his fluffy tail, saying leisurely, "I was born in the human world and grew up here, so I know these humans, who are a mix of good and bad, better than anyone else."

Senior, sometimes certain things need to be made clear beforehand, otherwise, personal relationships and other issues will get mixed up...

Humans are different from us demons. Some of them are the best at smoothing things over and even resorting to moral blackmail.

Meow is worried that you're not in a good state right now and don't understand human nature very well. If you get stuck on a pirate ship and can't get off, it'll be a huge problem. Since this young man doesn't intend to use you, then it doesn't matter.

Come on, tell me, how did a young man from a remote mountain village come to have a grudge against Gu Qinglang, the genius of the most prestigious family in Kyoto? Judging from your gritted teeth, it looks like you won't rest until you tear him to pieces.

But Miao clearly remembered that Gu Qinglang had never been to such a remote place before.

Besides, the sect he founded is very powerful, and with the backing of a clan, it's thriving with talented members. He's so busy handling sect affairs, how could he possibly have a grudge against you?

Although Honglu is very discreet and doesn't like to pry into other people's private affairs, who doesn't want to hear gossip?

It's more interesting to see the gossip up close!

Since it was rather boring not being able to cultivate in the ring space anyway, she didn't show any outward expression, but her gossipy heart was burning brightly, and her ears perked up.

Mentioning Gu Qinglang, Gu Xingzhou's face immediately darkened, and a feeling of resentment arose spontaneously.

"Could it be..." Hong Luo's gossipy nature was stirring, and she quickly got into the zone, speculating, "You're too old to have any dealings with them, could it be your parents or family?"

Jiang Chen pretended to be interested and immediately perked up his ears excitedly, saying, "I know! Gu Qinglang is only thirty-six or thirty-seven years old this year. If that's the case... could it be that when he shocked the Great Sui Dynasty with his reputation as a genius, some lecherous rogue impersonated Gu Qinglang to swindle and deceive you, and your mother was fooled into thinking that she and Gu Qinglang were in love, but was ruthlessly abandoned?"

So after you were born, you were also given the surname Gu?

"Oh dear, this kind of story is an old-fashioned trope in Kyoto, it's so boring!"

Hongluo: ⊙0⊙

Are humans really that cunning? And so adept at playing games?

In contrast, although the demon race is fierce and violent by nature, they don't have as many tricks up their sleeves to create so many stories.

"You're talking nonsense!" Gu Xingzhou was indeed enraged and jumped up without caring about his image, revealing the truth he hadn't wanted to say. "What kind of soap opera is this? There's none of that! Our Gu family in Junxi Town originally separated from the Gu family in the capital!"

Scratching his ear with his hind leg, Jiang Chen said listlessly, "Forget it, I guessed wrong, why are you so anxious? This answer is even worse than a melodramatic story. It turns out he's a collateral branch of the Gu family, which makes it even less interesting."

Every few years, hundreds, if not thousands, of people would separate from the Gu clan. After all, the capital is only so big, and the Gu family is numerous and prosperous with countless maids and servants. If they all stayed in the capital, they would have crowded the imperial city to the point of bursting.

Even direct descendants who want to avoid being assigned elsewhere have to do everything in their power, either by entering the court as officials or by setting up their own households; they have to find a way on their own.

Those of you assigned to such remote places... well, either you've committed a serious crime or you're so distantly related that you're practically unrelated.

Then Miao was even more confused. "You're just a minor branch, you couldn't possibly have any dealings with a direct descendant genius like Gu Qinglang, so why are you hostile towards him?"

Hongluo, her translucent body also sitting on the wooden table, listened with great interest, her hands supporting her little face.

After all, she had always been among the demon race and didn't know much about the human world. Listening to their conversations would not only allow her to get up close and personal with the gossip, but also help her understand the power distribution in the human realm, which would be beneficial for her future travels there.

“The Gu clan holds a martial arts tournament every few years.” Gu Xingzhou clenched his fists, his eyes turning slightly red, and gritted his teeth as he said, “Eighteen years ago, my father represented the Gu family of Junxi Town in the clan’s martial arts tournament. He was beaten to the point of death by Gu Qinglang and was carried back as a cripple. He was abandoned by the family and suffered endless contempt for so many years!”

Gu Qinglang is going too far! He could have stopped short of hurting my father!

But... he publicly humiliated my father, turning him from a spirited young man into a useless person whom everyone can laugh at. I must avenge my father and wipe away this shame!

Hong Luo involuntarily straightened her back, feeling immense admiration for this self-reliant young man who was determined to avenge his father, even under the halo of the false master.

What a heroic spirit! Knowing that the opponent's strength is far inferior, yet still holding firm to one's beliefs!

"Huh? You mean that incident eighteen years ago?" Jiang Chen licked his paws and laughed. "That battle was a foregone conclusion, but the result was tragic. The Gu clan invited all the important figures in the capital to watch the battle, so it was known to everyone."

Meow, of course, knew the details too. This whole thing was your dad's fault for being out of his mind and making a fuss; how could you try to shift the blame to Gu Qinglang?

Before he could retort, the little black kitten stood up and asked in a commanding manner, "Let me ask you, who started the fight between your father Gu Feiyue and Gu Qinglang?"

Gu Xingzhou was no match for Jiang Chen's quick thinking and sharp tongue, and immediately stumbled, giving him the opportunity to press his advantage.

Jiang Chen answered his own question: "Back then, Gu Qinglang, who was eighteen years old, had already advanced to the fifth level and was no longer among those who could participate in the martial arts tournament. It was your father, Gu Feiyue, who used foul language to insult and provoke Gu Qinglang into accepting the challenge."

Let alone the young and impetuous Gu Qinglang, under the watchful eyes of everyone, what man with a bit of backbone would allow an unknown nobody from a distant branch to insult him by name and act like a coward?

But why is Gu Feiyue so determined to keep targeting Gu Qinglang?

It's all because he thought he had won a few matches and deserved special treatment, so he made a ridiculous request to the Gu clan—that they bring your entire lineage back to the capital and entrust you with important responsibilities!

Even the direct descendants of those families have to rely on themselves to gain a foothold in Kyoto. Who does your father think he is? Just because he's 23 years old and beat a few newly-adult competitors, does he think he's invincible and everyone has to fawn over him?

The Gu clan refused his unreasonable demands, so Gu Feiyue made outrageous and insulting remarks first. Gu Qinglang was just a coward who didn't back down and fight back. What was wrong with that?

Meow, let me ask you again: have you thoroughly investigated the details of what happened back then? Even if you want revenge, you should at least find out what happened back then, right?

This isn't a secret; anyone of a certain age in Kyoto knows it. I've even seen the newspaper that the School Affairs Bureau specially printed and published back then. If you want, I can find you a few copies to take a good look at the details.

“That’s right, I have proof.” The fluffy ball muttered to itself as it rummaged through its spatial storage, “This is where the extraordinary abilities of superhumans come in handy.”