Chapter 21: Xiao Ju

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"Meow~"

"Okay, okay, here you go."

Zeng Yi helplessly placed the piece of jerky that he was about to put in his own mouth in front of Xiao Ju, who was looking at him with pitiful eyes.

Meow~

Xiao Ju didn't immediately eat it. Instead, it elegantly walked to Zeng Yi's feet and gently rubbed its cute little head against his ankle to express its gratitude. Then it walked over to the jerky, pressed one of its front paws on it, lowered its head, and began to tear and enjoy the food.

"You're not a useless pet." Zeng Yi smiled helplessly when he saw Xiao Ju's actions.

"This is the last piece of jerky. Later, we'll have to go hunting. Otherwise, you won't have any meat to eat tonight."

Meow?

Upon hearing Zeng Yi's words, Xiao Ju stopped eating, raised its head to look at him, and made a questioning meow.

"It's none of your concern, just eat." Zeng Yi said impatiently.

Meow~

Xiao Ju realized that it was indeed the case, so it no longer paid attention to him and lowered its head to enjoy its food.

Zeng Yi found a rock and sat on it, quietly watching Xiao Ju with a smile on his face.

It had been more than four months since Zeng Yi picked up Xiao Ju. He recalled that at the time, in order to prevent Xiao Ju's mother's corpse from becoming food for other spirit beasts, he arranged for her to be cremated. When Xiao Ju saw its mother being cremated, it was very angry and wanted to rush in to save her, but Zeng Yi firmly held it back, and it kept emitting mournful meows.

Taking care of Xiao Ju afterwards was not easy for Zeng Yi. It scratched him a lot despite its small size. Don't be fooled by its small appearance; its claws hurt a lot when it scratches people. It took about a month for their relationship to improve. Gradually, with the passage of time, Xiao Ju became more and more attached to Zeng Yi.

Although Xiao Ju had a small body, about the size of two adult fists, it ate twice as much as its body size. Over the past four months, it had eaten so much, but its body didn't seem to grow. Zeng Yi found this strange.

But if you think about it, its mother was a thousand-year spirit beast, and she was only about one and a half meters tall. This little guy was less than a year old, so it was normal.

It seemed that Xiao Ju would maintain this cute and adorable appearance for a long time, which was great! At least Zeng Yi didn't have to worry about Xiao Ju turning into a fat cat.

Since the arrival of Xiao Ju, Zeng Yi's travel life was no longer lonely. Every day, Xiao Ju would cling to him, acting cute and meowing, making his days more lively.

After Xiao Ju finished eating, Zeng Yi stood up, stretched lazily, and immediately felt refreshed.

"Xiao Ju, we're leaving now." Zeng Yi lightly smiled at Xiao Ju.

Meow~

Upon hearing Zeng Yi's voice, Xiao Ju meowed and ran towards him with all four limbs. Then it jumped with all its might and exactly landed on Zeng Yi's shoulder. It rubbed its furry little head affectionately against his cheek.

"Alright, stop being cute." Zeng Yi rubbed the top of Xiao Ju's head and said.

"I heard the sound of flowing water. It seems there's a river nearby. How about we go fishing?"

Meow~

"Then let's do that, let's go!"

Xiao Ju burrowed into Zeng Yi's collar, holding onto it with its front paw, exposing its little head outside.

Meow~

It meowed, indicating that it was ready.

Feeling the warm and furry body of Xiao Ju against his chest, Zeng Yi couldn't help but feel an itchy sensation on his skin. He smiled, stomped his foot on the ground, and dashed forward at a very fast speed.

...

After wandering through the forest for more than half an hour, Zeng Yi stopped.

Meow?

A cute little head popped out of Zeng Yi's collar and meowed, seemingly asking why they stopped.

Xiao Ju looked ahead and saw a small river about three to four meters wide appearing before them. The water was clear, and the bottom of the riverbed could be seen, with sands and stones. The water flowed in the river and emitted a faint sound of flowing water.

Xiao Ju was delighted by the scene and jumped out of Zeng Yi's collar, quickly approaching the riverbank.

"Hey! Xiao Ju, be careful."

Seeing Xiao Ju like this, Zeng Yi quickly warned. Since there was a water source here, there might be other spirit beasts nearby. After all, water sources had always been gathering places for living creatures.

But Xiao Ju didn't pay attention. It walked to the edge of the bank, curiously looking at the water's surface. It saw its own reflection in the water, looking exactly like itself. Xiao Ju shook its head, and the reflected image in the water did the same.

Meow-ow~

Seeing this, Xiao Ju became unhappy. It lifted its paw and patted the water's surface, causing water to splash all over itself. Feeling the cold sensation, it was startled, quickly jumped back, and shook its body, shaking off the water.

Amused by Xiao Ju's embarrassed appearance, Zeng Yi couldn't help but smile. However, he remained alert to the surroundings, in case they were attacked by other spirit beasts.

Not good, danger!

Zeng Yi saw a white light speeding towards Xiao Ju.

As expected, right after saying there might be danger, it became true.

When he saw the attack heading towards Xiao Ju, Zeng Yi's body moved instantly. In an instant, he appeared beside Xiao Ju, grabbed it with one hand, and quickly jumped back to dodge the attack.

The white light beam missed and landed in the spot where Xiao Ju had just been standing. It emitted a loud bang, and Zeng Yi saw that the spot had frozen, spreading a freezing chill around, ultimately forming a frozen ground of about five meters in diameter.

How brutal! It turned out to be an icy beam. Zeng Yi was secretly amazed. Fortunately, he reacted quickly just now; otherwise, Xiao Ju would have turned into an ice sculpture.

Meow!

Startled, Xiao Ju struggled and squirmed in Zeng Yi's hand.

"Don't move!"

Zeng Yi shouted and put Xiao Ju back on his shoulder. Xiao Ju quickly burrowed into his collar and hid inside.

With his gaze fixed on the direction from which the attack came, Zeng Yi saw a huge stone by the river in the distance. It was coiling a white snake-like spirit beast inside its mouth. The snake continuously spat venom and had cold eyes fixed on him. It clearly regarded him as prey.

Check the information on the spirit beast.

[Spirit Beast: Ice Spirit White Snake

Age: 632 years

Remarks: The Ice Spirit White Snake is a cold ice attribute spirit beast capable of emitting freezing light beams to freeze its prey.]

So, it's an elemental ability spirit beast. However, it's only a hundred-year spirit beast, so it's not a problem for me.

Understanding the information about this spirit beast, Zeng Yi thought to himself.

To treat me as prey was its biggest mistake.

Zeng Yi's expression became serious. He took a step forward with his left foot, grabbed the sword sheath at his waist with his left hand, slightly bent his back, held the sword handle with his right hand, and exhaled a breath of impure air.

Hu~

Sword of Selflessness!~

Zeng Yi fixed his silver eyes on the obscure and deep black pupils of the Ice Spirit White Snake. In an instant, his eyes turned silver, devoid of emotion.

Forward Steps Slash...~

In an instant, Zeng Yi's figure disappeared from where he was standing. Moving as fast as lightning, he flashed towards the Ice Spirit White Snake.

Slash!

Two sword lights flashed by. The snake spirit beast hadn't even reacted yet, but Zeng Yi had already appeared behind it. The snake's body was also divided into three parts, falling to the ground, staining the sand by the river with a layer of blood.

Zeng Yi never held back when facing enemies. Especially in these dangerous spirit beast forests, he would go all out to prevent any chance for the spirit beasts to counterattack. Who knows what special abilities they might possess? He couldn't afford to be careless, or he would die.

In the Great Sunset Forest over the past few years, this was how he survived.

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