I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

It sounded like a cry, but upon closer listening, it sounded like talking, repeating a word, but unfortunately, I couldn't understand what it was saying.

"Auntie, what's that sound? I'm a little scared."

Despite saying she was scared, she tried to snuggle into Bai Qingyu's arms.

Bai Qingyu always treated her two children like little kids. In reality, both Dongqing and Changsheng were taller than her. If they walked down the street, no one would believe they were mother and daughter; at most, they would look like sisters.

"It sounds like the call of some kind of bird?"

Bai Qingyu was also puzzled. Having lived in the Ten Thousand Mountains for so long, he had seen all sorts of strange and wonderful animals, but he had never heard such a sound before.

Before she could check, she suddenly heard men's voices outside. A moment later, three men wearing straw raincoats and carrying various weapons walked in. They also had nets and iron traps at their waists, looking like hunters.

"Someone's here?" The three hunters entered the temple and saw the burning fire and Bai Qingyu and his two companions.

It is said that human desires are endless, so never test people's hearts.

By the firelight, the three men saw Bai Qingyu and the little Dongqing in her arms, and they swallowed hard.

Imagine this: on a dark, windy night, with a heavy rain that drowns out all sound, three burly men wielding sharp weapons encounter a delicate and beautiful young woman in a gloomy ancient temple. This is a place far from any village or shop, where no one would dare to disturb them, and no matter how loudly they shout, the rain would drown them out.

It would be a lie to say that there was no malice in his heart. The lust in his heart was like being manipulated by a large hand, making his heart surge and his blood boil.

Let alone a woman in the temple, even a female demon would find it difficult to control.

At this moment, a strange cry came from inside the temple again, and the three of them, still struggling on the edge of committing a crime and suppressing their anger, suddenly looked up.

"This, this is, a golden-feathered bird!"

"Brother, I heard that beast's cries."

"Nonsense, I heard that. This time I'm definitely getting the golden feather. Damn it, I've been looking for this beast for half a month, and here he is! Tsk tsk tsk, I'm truly blessed by the heavens!"

The eldest brother rubbed his hands together.

With golden feathers and a young lady, he must have saved the capital in his past life.

Volume 1: Chapter 39 Itsumade and the Ubume

Whether it saved the capital city is a question no one can answer.

Bai Qingyu stood up, already gripping the umbrella handle. She'd finally found shelter from the rain, only to encounter this terrible situation; her luck was truly awful.

Before she could make a move, a sound came from the beam. Looking up, she saw a strange creature with a snake's body and a human face. It had bird-like wings and claws, and its body was covered in feathers. The feathers gradually changed from white to light purple from the base upwards. Even in the dim light of the temple, the golden feather on its right wing was still visible.

Upon first seeing this strange beast, Bai Qingyu hadn't even considered that the demon named Itsumade was depicted on the second page of the booklet Yunru had taken out. Suddenly, a thought arose in her mind, and the name Itsumade came to mind.

Itsumade glanced at Bai Qingyu, then at the three hunters, a look of worry in his eyes.

'They'll be in danger if I don't show up.'

'Ugh, those troublesome humans have their eyes on me again. Looks like I can't stay here anymore.'

'It's pitiful that they've been dragged into this mess. Forget it, I should just leave.'

"There it is! Quick, bring out the net! We must capture them alive!" The hunter leader exclaimed excitedly.

A golden feather?

No, no, no, that's not enough. He wants to keep this strange bird in captivity, so that if it grows one golden feather, it can grow a second, a third, and a fourth.

It's said that this golden feather can help people cultivate to become immortals. If someone has this feather, they will not only have wealth and honor but also be able to cultivate immortality and live forever!

All his dreams seemed to be coming true at this moment. The eldest brother, staring wide-eyed, did not notice that the second and third brothers had already crept up behind him, pulled out a short knife, and stabbed him in the back with all their might. After the first stab, it was not over. With a series of three or four more stabs, they continued to stab him.

"You, you all!" The leader never dreamed it would turn out like this. He couldn't utter a complete sentence before collapsing into a pool of blood.

Itsumade was trapped inside the temple, which was like a fish being caught in a net.

They had wealth and glory within their grasp, so why would they give it up to others, especially since their leader was often inhumane? If he got the golden feather, would the two of them get a share?

The net was thrown towards Itsumade on the crossbeam, while another person blocked the exit.

To everyone's surprise, just as the net was thrown up, Itsumade breathed fire, burning the net to ashes. The two hunters were completely stunned. They only knew that the Golden Feather Bird had golden feathers, but no one told them that Itsumade was actually a demon, and a demon that could breathe fire.

The reason is that she has never killed anyone since she was hunted down, so these hunters have the impression that she is easy to bully.

While the two were still in shock, Bai Qingyu also made his move, smashing them both out of the ancient temple with an umbrella. This time he didn't kill them, but of course, these two probably had many broken ribs, and it was uncertain whether they could survive in the heavy rain.

With a kick, he sent the corpse flying, and the flames formed from his demonic power burned away all the blood on the ground.

Bai Qingyu turned around, holding the umbrella, and stared at Itsumade on the roof beam.

It turned out that her intuition was correct; there really was something watching her when she entered the temple. If Dongqing hadn't distracted her, she could have spotted her right then and there. Moreover, Bai Qingyu felt that this wasn't the first time she had seen her.

"Last night in Toyokawa Prefecture, weren't you spying on me?"

Snake-tailed bird feathers, it must be her.

The color of this feather is exactly the same as the feather I found on the window. I thought we would never cross paths again, but I didn't expect to meet her here.

With its tail wrapped around the pillar, Itsumade actually spoke, and its voice was quite gentle, even gentler than Bai Qingyu's.

"It's me. I'm sorry if I've caused you any trouble. Last night, I felt a sense of closeness and couldn't help but glance at you. As for this place, I've been living here for a month now."

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingyu's expression softened considerably. Just glancing at her wouldn't affect anything, and of course, she didn't intend to attack Itsumade. She could sense that this demon was excessively gentle, almost to the point of being weak. Someone was eyeing her golden feathers, and she had only chosen to burn the other party's net.

If it were her, all three of them would have died here.

Previously, Zhen Tian had been concealing her aura, but now, sensing it, her strength was neither strong nor weak. Although it was unclear what realm she was considered among human cultivators, killing those three hunters was extremely easy; a single flame would be enough to take their lives.

"Have those people been chasing you for a long time?"

Itsumade thought back for a moment and realized that she had changed residences a total of thirty-eight times, with each residence lasting less than a month on average. "It's been about three years now."

Are you being hunted down by many people?

"Hmm, many. I often have to change my residence. I can't stay in any place for long. I'll be found by hunters soon. It's the same here." Itsumade's voice was gentle and clear, like an autumn spring, just as gentle and quiet as her personality.

"How did they know you had golden feathers?" Bai Qingyu couldn't help but ask again. This Zhen Tian was a bit pitiful, and she really wanted to keep her by her side.

When asked about this, Zhen Tian looked conflicted, as it clearly touched on some unpleasant memories. But she still said, "I once stayed in a village. The people in that village were very kind to me. As a token of my gratitude, I would often pick some wild fruits from the mountains for them. Then one day, a family's son contracted a serious illness that was incurable and required a lot of money. So I asked his mother to take my golden feathers to town to sell."

“The day after that, I was fed poisonous food. When I woke up, I was already locked up. Later, I burned through the cage and escaped.”

It sounds simple, but Bai Qingyu knew that the whole story was definitely not that easy.

So what are your plans for the future?

“From now on…” Zhen Tian looked out of the ancient temple, where the rain was pouring down. “I’m being targeted by those troublesome humans again. I think I should leave here and go see somewhere else.”

Where will my next home be?

"If only this golden feather weren't here."

Bai Qingyu really wanted to say that you would have been caught even without the golden feather. Not to mention the golden feather, your other feathers are also very beautiful, and you have such a strange appearance and can speak human language. It's only a matter of time before you are targeted.

"Well, if you don't know where to go tomorrow, come with me. I'll travel the world with the child, and we'll make a decision when you find your own home. What do you think?"

Zhen Tian's worried eyes lit up. "Me? Can I do it? Will I cause you trouble?"

"Of course you can. If you come with us, at least you won't be so lonely."

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Two updates in a row, please vote! I'm doing a handstand for everyone!

Volume 1: Chapter 40 The Past of Zhen Tian

The bonfire dispelled the darkness, rain pattered outside the ancient temple, and exclamations of praise echoed within.

After Itsumade agreed to join Bai Qingyu's team, she climbed down from the roof beam, which made Dongqing blink and study her for a while, mainly because of Itsumade's feathers. Her feathers were really too beautiful, with a white and purple gradient and so soft.

"It's even prettier than Auntie's feathers! Can I touch it?"

Holly's little claws were outstretched in mid-air when Bai Qingyu patted its head. Coming back to its senses, Holly saw Zhen Tian's conflicted expression and realized that it had been quite impolite.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Zhen Tian, ​​being gentle by nature, couldn't really blame Dong Qing. She could also see that Dong Qing was kind-hearted and completely different from those who wanted to steal her feathers.

"It's alright."

Bai Qingyu pressed the little girl's head back down. "My name is Bai Qingyu. Do you have a name?"

"Name?" Zhen Tian shook his head. "I don't have a name."

"Do you need me to help you choose a name? I once saw your race in an ancient book; it's called Itsumade." Bai Qingyu wrote the four characters "Itsumade" on the ground, a smile on her face, trying to appear gentler.

What a wonderful demon! I really want to raise it as a pet, cough cough.

“Itsumade, um, I understand. I’ll call myself that from now on. Thank you for naming me, Miss Bai Qingyu.”

Zhen Tian had no expression on her face. Whether she was a bird or a snake, she was not good at controlling her facial muscles. Bai Qingyu herself was the same. When she was not facing her cub, she had a tense face most of the time, without joy or sorrow, only indifference.

"Zhentian, did you used to live in the mountains?"

“Yes, I lived in the mountains for ten years, following a herb gatherer.” Looking up at the night sky outside the door, Zhen Tian’s eyes showed longing. “I really want to see him again. He said he was going to the capital to take the imperial examination. I wonder where he is now.”

"I am very grateful to him for bringing me out into the world. Although the outside world is dangerous, it is also very lively, and I like lively places."

These words triggered a key phrase in Bai Dongqing's mind, and she immediately poked her head over, "Wow, is this herb gatherer a scholar?"

In her mind, only scholars would travel to the capital to take the imperial examinations, but the books never mentioned that scholars would gather herbs.

Zhen Tian nodded. "Yes, he was a scholar who went into the mountains to collect herbs to earn money for his journey. I gave him a golden feather, and I never saw him again after that. Before he left, he said he would come back to repay me in the future, and told me to wait for him to return."

Hearing this, Bai Qingyu was at a loss for words. She didn't know how important the golden feather was to her, and how she could just give it away like that. In her opinion, even if it didn't affect her, she shouldn't give it away. The temptation of the golden feather was too great. Now, she had been hunted down for many years because of it.

“Zhen Tian, ​​there’s something I want to tell you.” Bai Qingyu said helplessly, “It’s best not to give the Golden Feather to anyone. I don’t know what the Golden Feather means to you, but I know what it means to outsiders. Most people can’t resist this temptation. When faced with a choice between future wealth and trust, they will choose wealth without hesitation.”

Zhen Tian sighed without answering; she felt deeply about those words at that moment.

The firelight illuminated Bai Qingyu's face as she took the dried meat out of her book box and handed it to Zhen Tian.

“I am also a demon. I used to live in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. These two are my children. When I taught them, I often said that they must stay away from humans. Humans are greedy and terrible creatures. Two days ago, we were still living in the mountains. Due to some special reasons, I had to bring them down the mountain.”

"Thank you." Zhen Tian took the jerky and ate it in small bites with his sharp, eagle-claw-like claws.

"No need to thank me. If you don't mind, just call me 'sister' from now on. That way, we'll be family for the rest of our lives."