The male supporting character was actually myself.

At this moment, after being ridiculed by the little demon cat, Hong Luo witnessed Gu Xingzhou's reaction and, as she gained a deeper understanding of this disciple she was not yet familiar with, her dislike for him only intensified.

But the kindness of being nurtured with spiritual power still remained, and she did not want to abandon it easily, so she could only patiently teach it.

"Master..." Gu Xingzhou, who was unable to kill the stinky cat and was instantly unable to move, looked at the other party with red eyes and a little tears in them. His face was full of grievance, anger and unwillingness.

If it weren't for the little white cat helping to shield her from the halo, Hong Luo would probably have been brainwashed by herself, thinking that the boy had experienced too much tonight and would inevitably lose his temper and do something irrational.

Furthermore, by readily accepting the other party's explanations, she quickly forgives them and restores a peaceful and harmonious relationship, but in doing so, she goes further and further astray in her efforts to fully support the young man, ultimately ruining herself in the process.

"You should calm down and think about how to choose your future path."

With the fluffy little ball perched on Hong Luo's head, helping to block the aura of reduced intelligence, she was perfectly clear-headed and said coldly, "The bottle of elixir you gave the little demon cat as compensation, which wasn't very effective, is really not enough to make up for the evil deed of taking its life."

Besides, although its words were a bit blunt tonight, it allowed you to understand the ins and outs of old stories, and this kindness needs to be repaid. I see you haven't quite figured it out yet, so I'll repay this favor on your behalf.”

After saying that, Hongluo ignored him and instead casually created a fragrant breeze that gently enveloped the little demon cat, causing it to disappear into the thatched hut.

"Master! Even you..." Having fantasized countless times about having a beauty in his arms, and regarding Hong Luo as his own possession, Gu Xingzhou's feelings at this moment were very complicated.

He felt both anger at his beautiful master's betrayal and a sense of powerlessness at being completely unable to control her.

He was also shocked by the newspaper article showing his father arrogantly cursing and being defeated by Gu Qinglang in two moves, leaving him a cripple; and by his covetousness for large amounts of gold, silver and jewels and elixirs. He stood there with his fists clenched, feeling a ball of anger in his chest with nowhere to vent!

He hated Gu Qinglang for cutting off his father's escape route, which caused him and his mother to suffer scorn and unfair treatment for many years.

He resented his father's stubborn refusal to join the government office that had offered him a position, and his decision to stay in the capital to make his own plans.

He was furious, furious that the Gu family of Junxi Town was greedy and shameless, and had actually taken away everything that originally belonged to him;

He was furious, furious at the strange demon cat he had encountered today. He had tried his best to kick it, but it hadn't killed him and had even come to his door to sow discord between his beautiful master and him by bringing up old grievances!

Watching his master leave with the little demon cat, Gu Xingzhou took a few deep breaths and gradually calmed down.

I still have a chance!

The fact that his beautiful master was willing to make amends to the demon cat rather than say anything about leaving shows that she still has feelings for him and can't let go of them. As long as he apologizes properly when she comes back and then focuses on cultivating and strengthening his power, he can win her favor.

Without that talkative and annoying cat causing trouble, my beautiful and simple-minded master will be mine sooner or later!

Master is right. I need to go to the Gu family and take back everything that originally belonged to the father and son. This is reasonable and Master should help, right? There's no need for her to take action herself. She just needs to provide some replenishment when my spiritual power is low.

Those below level three have limited spiritual energy reserves. Once the opponent's spiritual energy is exhausted while they have a continuous supply to replenish it, they are guaranteed to win!

After he had figured out his words of apology, he found that the spiritual power binding him was gradually fading. Only then did he stretch his limbs and sit back down in the wooden basin to breathe and absorb the marrow-cleansing spiritual liquid inside.

"Meow~" Jiang Chen let out a childish meow and stroked her ear with her paw, looking at Hong Luo sitting on the treetop. She pretended to be curious and asked, "How did you end up like this, senior? You look terrible. You should only be a remnant soul that has just awakened, right? And why did you take such a despicable scoundrel as your disciple, Gu Xingzhou?"

Hong Luo sighed, paused for a moment, and replied, "I encountered a very difficult situation and almost perished. Fortunately, this remnant soul was able to temporarily reside in the ring's space and eke out a living. As for taking Gu Xingzhou as my disciple, it was entirely because he accidentally found the ring and used his spiritual power to nourish it. Although it wasn't much, it was a great kindness to me. Besides being able to teach him with my own experience, I have nothing else to repay his kindness, and..."

She didn't mention her agreement with Gu Xingzhou, but just sighed heavily, "I don't know him very well, but I don't think he's a despicable person."

"How can it not count?" Jiang Chen licked his paws and smoothed the fur that the little white cat had ruffled, and said disdainfully, "At such a young age, you're staring at your senior with those eyes. Ha, he must have already been thinking about you in his mind."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Turning the Tables

Hongluo: (⊙_⊙)?

"I just woke up and am new to the human world, so I don't really know much about them. What do you mean by that...?" She rested her chin on her hand, tilted her head, and looked at the little demon cat, asking in bewilderment.

The fluffy dumpling rolled its eyes and complained, "No wonder you're so easy to fool. Turns out you're a naive and adorable demon. Tsk tsk tsk, luckily you met my host, otherwise you would have been completely devoured and still have to count money for your wild pseudo-master!"

Seeing her sitting on the treetop with a serious expression, she clearly hadn't gotten the hint.

Jiang Chen moved closer to her along the treetop, twitching his lips as he more bluntly reminded her, "You know that lecherous look in the eyes of male humans, meow? If you don't believe me, go back and give him a few mind-reading spells when you have some free time. I guarantee you'll be shocked and want to pack your bags and run away overnight."

Clearly, Hong Luo hadn't thought of that at all. Hearing him say that, she was taken aback and then blushed slightly, saying, "Even if I wanted to run away, I probably couldn't escape for a while."

My remnant soul power is too weak to withstand anything but the space within that ring, and I desperately need ample spiritual energy to sustain me, otherwise I will soon be completely consumed and annihilated.

"Huh? It's bound to that ring?"

“No, it’s just… treasures that can house a soul are too hard to find.” Hong Luo sighed softly. “After I’m out of the ring space and nourished by spiritual energy, I can’t survive for very long. This place is obviously not a prosperous area, so how could I easily find such a treasure?”

Jiang Chen scratched his ear with his hind foot and pressed on, "Putting aside the issue of soul storage, can't you cultivate and absorb spiritual energy on your own, senior? Why do you need to be supported? How do you support yourself? Do you have to rely on that despicable and shameless guy?"

She had just woken up after being stranded here, and felt a sense of kinship with the little demon cat, like meeting someone from the same hometown.

In particular, its every word and action belonged to its familiar communication style; coupled with the increased wariness towards humans after the aura of reduced intelligence was no longer in effect, Hong Luo's attitude towards Gu Xingzhou changed rapidly.

“It’s not necessary to depend on him.” She swung her toes and played with the leaves, saying helplessly, “I am just a remnant soul now and have no body, so my speed of absorbing spiritual energy through cultivation is very slow. If I want to maintain my current state or even improve it slightly, I need to directly devour a large amount of refined spiritual energy.”

"And there's also the reason why we can't leave the space inside that ring for the time being..."

Hongluo looked at the fluffy, soft, and adorable black kitten and tentatively asked, "Can you find a treasure that I can hide in? You don't have any demonic energy fluctuations, so I don't know if you need to cultivate. If you have enough spiritual energy..."

She glanced around nervously and lowered her voice, "What I mean is, if Gu Xingzhou really has some wicked thoughts and his nature is unrepentant, then... I just want to live well and cultivate again to solidify my physical body. There are still very important things to deal with in the demon realm. I really don't want to waste my time and life getting involved in some messy revenge or anything like that."

"But how do you know he won't repent?" Jiang Chen wagged his tail and whispered, "Senior, how about we make a bet? When you go back later, Gu Xingzhou will definitely try his best to please you and apologize in every way, and promise that he will be kind and good and beg you not to hate him, and so on and so forth."

Hong Luo: ? ? ?

"It's normal to admit mistakes, right? After all, anyone who can distinguish right from wrong can figure out the reasons after calming down."

"Oh ho, you think too highly of him." Jiang Chen glanced at the scroll that the white cat had unfolded. Only a small part of it had been modified, but the general plot of the light novel remained unchanged.

Even tomorrow morning, Gu Xingzhou will persuade and take the beauty to the Gu family to demand gold, silver and jewels and spiritual medicine. Then, the stubborn ones will be slapped in the face and the hard-hearted ones will be kicked over. In the end, they will cause a great commotion and become famous in Junxi Town for most of the Gu family's property.

"Some shameless humans are the best at putting on a show." The little black kitten proudly raised its head and stared intently at Hong Luo, trying to make its voice sound more mature. "Senior, you don't really think that a few words can change a person's temperament, personality and way of thinking that have been formed over many years, do you?"

Gu Xingzhou would definitely admit his mistake, but he didn't think he was really wrong.

"If you don't believe me, when you get back, ignore all the promises he makes. Just use your mind-reading ability to hear what he's really thinking. Senior, if you want to support someone like him to become powerful and get him to provide you with spiritual energy feedback, you'd be better off trusting me, Little Kitty, to lend you a hand."

As he spoke, he took out a bottle of highly pure spiritual liquid from his spatial storage and handed it over, "Here, although I can't cultivate spiritual energy, don't forget that Meow is the cutest collector. She has as many of these spiritual medicines that can replenish spiritual power as she wants."

Senior, just take it and use it. We demons don't talk about such nonsense.

To meet in such a remote place means we have a deep connection!

After taking this elixir, I believe you will be able to last a long time without needing Gu Xingzhou's spiritual energy. I will try to find a spatial treasure that you can use to reside in.

Before that, remember, never let him fool you into using you as a pawn, especially his request to secretly help him swagger around. Absolutely do not agree to that! Otherwise, once you're on that pirate ship, it'll be hard to get off. You can't imagine how disgusting the things some unscrupulous people can do.

Hongluo looked at it with some hesitation, "I originally brought you out to make amends to him, but I have nothing else to give you, so I was thinking of promising to help you with something in the future... But now I haven't made amends to you yet, and I still want your elixir, it's really..."

"It's just a bottle of elixir, nothing to a cat, but very important to you, senior. I'll be happy as long as you don't get scammed." Jiang Chen rubbed his paws and chuckled. "Besides, there's something I'd like to ask you for a favor, senior."

I was born in the human world and have never seen what the demon realm looks like.

If in the future… hehehe, senior, could you take me with you when you travel to the Demon Realm? Let me broaden my horizons! If you can't go for now, it would be great if you could tell me about the geography and interesting gossip about the different races there!

It's definitely most comfortable to deal with people of the same kind; you can be straightforward and do business without hiding anything.

Since the little demon cat wanted to get information about the demon realm from her and even wanted to travel around, it would be fair to exchange it for some spiritual herbs. Hong Luo breathed a sigh of relief, reached out and took the spiritual herbs, sensed them, and smiled: "Such rich spiritual energy!"

"Taking this bottle of spiritual liquid is far better than waiting to nurture Gu Xingzhou and have him supply me with spiritual energy. Even if he could reach level five at the fastest speed, the spiritual energy he could provide wouldn't compare to a bottle of spiritual medicine."

After confirming that everything was alright, she uncorked the bottle and drank it down in one gulp.

The abundant spiritual energy was instantly absorbed and flowed within the transparent figure. Hong Luo circulated her cultivation technique to devour it all. After a few breaths, her entire figure became much more solid, more substantial than the transparent appearance that could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"Meow~" Jiang Chen carefully observed her condition, estimating in his mind that by diluting the liquid in the Imperial Bottle with water to provide a continuous supply of spiritual medicine, she should be able to recover to about 70-80% in a few months.

This is the first big shot from the demon race I've met. Building a good relationship with him will definitely come in handy in the future!

"Thank you, little cat!" Hong Luo opened her eyes, looked down at her hands which were no longer so transparent, and thanked her with a smile. "It would take a long time to explain the situation in the demon realm. Tonight is not a good time. I need to hurry back and see what is going on with Gu Xingzhou."

If you can help me find a place to stay, I will repay his kindness in awakening me in another way. At that time, I will stay by your side and tell you everything about the demon realm in detail.

As for going to the demon realm... that would require the ability to open the gate between the two realms, which is too early; we need to plan ahead.

Jiang Chen emphasized that she should use her mind-reading ability more often to avoid being deceived. After the two demons agreed on a meeting place for the next day, he watched the little white cat follow Hong Luo's figure and drift back to the thatched hut a few miles away.

"Master, you're back?!" Gu Xingzhou, who had just finished cultivating and dried himself off, was looking at his dull ring with trepidation when he suddenly sensed a fragrant breeze and immediately showed a joyful expression.

He was genuinely worried that his beautiful master would be fooled by that stinky cat and ignore him. As long as his master was willing to come back, he would coax her into being happy, kill that stinky cat, and then she would be his again sooner or later without any obstacles.

"Master, I've calmed down and figured it out. I know I was wrong." Gu Xingzhou stood up and apologized sincerely.

Hong Luo had already secretly sent over a mind-reading spell.

[Hehe, my beautiful master is the easiest to fool. As long as I pretend to be sincere enough, she'll definitely continue to trust me!]

"It was indeed my fault for my unintentional actions towards that little demon cat. But I really didn't mean to hurt it. I'm not that kind of cold-blooded person."

[My biggest mistake was not tearing it to pieces on the spot! I thought I was going to have a delicious meal, but it turned out to be a drunkard, ruining my mood. I was already showing mercy by not kicking it to death, and it still dared to come back! From now on, if I encounter a situation like this, I'll just crush it to death and leave no trace!]

"As for my anger later, it was because too many things happened tonight. Bringing up old stories shattered my beliefs that I had held for many years. My disciple's temperament is indeed too poor, and he lost his mind and said many things he shouldn't have said."

That's right, the more you say, the more mistakes you make, so you should say less. Gu Qinglang from eighteen years ago is the culprit who caused our whole family to fall into poverty. No matter what, it was he who crippled my father that caused this. Other debts need to be settled; this debt can never be wiped clean.

As long as I can please my beautiful master and get more and better cultivation techniques and elixir recipes from her, I will not only crush Gu Qinglang to death in the future, but also trample all those who look down on me and want to rebel against me under my feet!

Power is the ultimate driving force for self-cultivation. If it weren't for the desire to be arrogant and do as I please, what would be the point of my arduous spiritual practice?

"Please don't be angry with me. I will definitely follow your requirements and stay true to my original intention to cultivate diligently from now on."

【My beauty~ My true desire is to possess you. I was just worried that the stinky cat might wake you up and lead you away. Now that you're back, I'll put on a good show to put your mind at ease. In this way, as time goes by, feelings will grow. When I nurture you with my spiritual power until you have a tangible body, that will be the time when you become my plaything!】

You little beauty, even more beautiful than human women, just you wait... one day, you'll be mine! I'll make you unable to leave me, and no one else will be worthy to appreciate your beauty. I can't wait...

Pretending to apologize, Gu Xingzhou was actually fantasizing about how he would imprison his beautiful master. On the surface, he bowed slightly, waiting for his master's reprimand, but his lowered eyes were already looking restless.

Stealing glances at her expression to see if anything was amiss, wondering if her words could fool her, her restless heart began to wander freely.

Taking her to the rugged, untamed mountains would offer a sense of boundless freedom and liberation.

Playing in the water by a mountain stream seems like a nice idea;

[My beautiful master's cherry-like lips are so lovely, her voice is incredibly melodious, and her figure is so graceful;]

Oh, how wonderful...

The silent Hong Luo used her mind-reading ability to probe the endless "heartfelt words" deep within Gu Xingzhou's heart. Her beautiful face became increasingly expressionless, while her right fist gradually clenched.

The little cat is right!

I was too honest. Maybe it was because I only had a wisp of a soul left that my brain wasn't working properly. I unconditionally trusted this lecherous and despicable man. I didn't even use mind-reading on him when we first met. I thought he was some kind of good person.

Ah!

Despite the grace of awakening him, this child is clearly beyond saving.

Hopefully, the little demon cat can find a treasure to live in soon, otherwise...

Hongluo glanced at the black ring on his index finger and wondered if he could consider having the little demon cat steal the ring.