Zanxing (Retranslated)

Extra 10 - Breaking the Shell

The forest behind Mount Gufeng was becoming increasingly dense.

Since the spiritual energy in Douzhou had been restored, the growth of spiritual herbs and plants had significantly improved, and some fierce beasts hidden deep within the caves and pools had started emerging from their nests, roaming around the mountains. New disciples frequently ventured into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs, only to find themselves being chased by these beasts.

Zanxing used a green staff to part a cluster of trees in front of her and said to Gu Baiying by her side, “There’s no path ahead. How about we rest here for a while?”

Gu Baiying glanced at the waterfall ahead and nodded.

Bu Jiang’s birthday was next month, and despite thinking for a long time, Zanxing still couldn’t decide on a birthday gift for the Demon Queen. Heishi City lacked neither gold nor jewels, and ordinary spiritual artifacts wouldn’t catch Bu Jiang’s eye. As for clothing or accessories, the aesthetics of different races varied, and Zanxing didn’t dare send something inappropriate. After all, her own taste in clothing wasn’t better than Bu Jiang’s. If she gifted something Bu Jiang didn’t like, Bu Jiang would still have to wear it out of consideration for her feelings, which would be quite awkward.

After much deliberation, Zanxing still couldn’t come up with a good idea. It was Gu Baiying who, noticing her furrowed brow day after day, suggested that she come to Mount Gufeng to collect the Purple Jade Sky Dew.

The Purple Jade Sky Dew was a spiritual herb was an outstanding beauty elixir, though it could not enhance one’s cultivation. Crushing its leaves into a paste and applying it to the face could give a woman a soft, radiant complexion, making her skin smooth and even-toned. Though somewhat useful, the herb was quite troublesome to cultivate, so few people in the cultivation world went out of their way to grow it. It was thought to be nearly extinct, but to Zanxing’s surprise, there was a large patch of it on Mount Gufeng, planted by Sage Yushan in his time.

At first, Zanxing felt a bit embarrassed since Purple Jade Sky Dew was rather rare and could fetch quite a few spiritual stones even at the Huajin Pavilion. She wasn’t exactly a proper disciple of the Taiyan Sect anymore, so coming to Mount Gufeng to pick herbs felt a bit like taking advantage of others. However, Gu Baiying didn’t care at all and, after mentioning it to Meng Ying, received permission for Zanxing to pick as much as she wanted. The only warning was to be cautious, as fierce beasts had recently been spotted in the mountains.

Zanxing sat down by the pond and looked around. “It seems quiet around here. I haven’t seen any sign of fierce beasts.”

Last month, when new disciples of the Taiyan Sect went into the mountains to gather herbs but accidentally alerted the Scarlet Flame Jiao. It’s said that the group was chased and burned by the jiao, with their hair completely scorched off. Meng Ying had sealed off the back mountain temporarily, awaiting her return to handle the situation before lifting the seal again.

But today, after spending most of the day in the mountains, Zanxing and Gu Baiying hadn’t seen any traces of fierce beasts.

Gu Baiying casually remarked, “Don’t let your guard down. Fierce beasts are always cunning.”

Zanxing thought for a moment and took out a golden egg from her Qiankun Bag.

The golden egg had grown significantly, once only the size of a bead but now as large as an ostrich egg, gleaming with golden light as it lay on the ground.

No one knew when the Silver Moonh Lion would break out of its shell, and Zanxing, eager to see Mimi as soon as possible, took great care of the egg. Wherever there was an abundance of spiritual energy, she would bring the egg to cultivate. Every day, she bathed it in spiritual spring water, sometimes adding spiritual liquids. When the weather was nice in Heishi City, Zanxing would take the egg out to bask in the sun and would often have conversations with it.

As for Hong Su, she doted on the golden egg even more. The golden egg, after all, was just an egg, without a mouth to eat. Hong Su often prepared meals and placed them in front of the egg. Once, the Skeleton Woman saw this and curiously asked Hong Su, “Miss Hong Su, the egg can’t eat, so why are you cooking for it?”

Hong Su confidently replied, “Mimi can’t eat, but it can still smell. Letting it enjoy the aroma isn’t a waste.” She was an excellent cook, and once the fragrance had dispersed, she would give the leftover dishes to Mountain Spider, who didn’t mind at all.

The young Demon King, always carrying an egg around and taking such meticulous care of it, naturally drew attention. Adding to this, Zanxing’s partner was the young Martial Uncle of the Taiyan Sect, which led to rumors spreading outside. People began to say that Zanxing and Gu Baiying had given birth to an egg! That the egg was their offspring!

After all, it was well-known that it was difficult for humans and demons to bear children together and in all these years, only Gui Yansheng had been born. So if the child of the new Demon King and a human were an egg, it wouldn’t be all that unusual!

When Zanxing first heard this rumor, she was speechless, but later she became indifferent. To her, raising a cat and raising a child wasn’t that different. Besides, if it turned out that the two of them really did have reproductive isolation, then she would just treat Mimi as her child.

Gu Baiying explained the situation a few times, but the more he explained, the more others thought he was trying to cover it up. Eventually, he just stopped explaining. As a result, the entire Douzhou, both humans and demons alike, became quite curious about what kind of creature would hatch from this egg. The whole world was waiting for the day the shell would break.

Zanxing, too, grew anxious from waiting. The golden egg grew larger by the day, and when she placed her hand on it, she could even feel the warm and rhythmic breathing from within the shell. Yet it still hadn’t hatched, as though it was intentionally dragging out the time.

She stroked the shell, sighed, and said, “I wonder when it will finally come out.”

Just as she was thinking about this, Gu Baiying stood up and went to the nearby pond to wash his hands. The dense forest trail had been muddy and dusty, and his usual cleanliness compelled him to wash off the dirt from brushing past the branches earlier. But as he reached the pond’s edge, his steps suddenly halted.

Zanxing, watching his back, found it odd and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Before her voice had fully echoed, a giant wave suddenly surged from the pond. Accompanied by a massive spray of water, a fiery-red long jiao shot out from within.

A Scarlet Flame Jiao?

This long jiao looked like an enormous python, its entire body covered in bright red scales. Waves of heat radiated from it, and even from a distance, one could feel the scorching air.

Could this be the Scarlet Flame Jiao that had burned the new disciples’ hair off earlier? It was massive! It looked almost like a dragon, and if it grew a bit more, it might even develop the majestic presence of a true dragon.

Gu Baiying charged forward with his spear, while Zanxing drew the long staff from her waist. Although the Scarlet Flame Jiao was indeed troublesome, with their current cultivation levels, it wasn’t enough to leave them fleeing in panic from this beast.

The Scarlet Flame Jiao had a fiery temperament and did not recognize Zanxing or Gu Baiying. Zanxing possessed the Demon King bloodline, but the Scarlet Flame Jiao was not a creature of the demon realm. Without hesitation, it opened its mouth wide and unleashed a torrent of fire at them.

Gu Baiying swiftly swept his silver spear, covering the fire dragon with countless snowflakes, extinguishing the flames instantly.

The Scarlet Flame Jiao narrowed its eyes in anger. Its mouth opened even wider than before, and a massive wave of fire began to brew inside, ready to erupt at any moment.

Suddenly, a fierce wind swept through the area.

The wind appeared without warning, but what was even stranger was that the Scarlet Flame Jiao, in the midst of the gusts, froze and did not release the fire from its mouth. Instead, it stood still, its gaze fixed on the golden egg lying amidst the dense forest behind Zanxing.

The golden egg?

Zanxing turned her head, and when she saw the golden egg resting in the grass, her heart leapt with joy.

At some point, a fine crack had appeared on the surface of the golden egg. The crack was shallow, and the movements inside were gentle, but it was enough to make the previously imposing Scarlet Flame Jiao freeze in place and even take a cautious step back.

“Mimi—” Zanxing called out as she moved closer.

It seemed to hear her call, for the crack on the eggshell suddenly widened, and the egg began to shake more violently until, with a sharp crack—

A small, furry paw emerged from the shell.

Gu Baiying was stunned. “That cat…”

A small, silver kitten ran out from the egg.

It looked exactly like the milky white kitten from before, but its fur had turned into a beautiful, shimmering silver. Freshly hatched, Mimi wobbled unsteadily on its feet. As soon as it laid eyes on the massive Scarlet Flame Jiao, it stumbled forward, rolling and rushing toward the giant creature, baring its tiny teeth and letting out a fierce growl.

“Meow—”

Zanxing: “…”

The sound was soft and lacked any real intimidation. Yet the massive Scarlet Flame Jiao, looking at the tiny kitten that could barely fill its teeth, reacted as though it had seen the most terrifying thing in the world. It let out a mournful cry and, in the next moment, swiftly darted into the pond with a splash. After a while, only a couple of bubbles surfaced, and it disappeared without a trace.

Zanxing stood there, dumbfounded.

Gu Baiying sheathed his silver spear and approached. He looked at the Silver Moon Lion, which was now wildly playing in Zanxing’s arms, and mused, “It seems that this time the beast’s bloodline was more affected by the spiritual energy it was nurtured with than before?”

Who knew? After all, over the past few years, Zanxing had taken better care of Mimi than her own son. Even if it had been a piece of wood, with all the spiritual liquid and spring water she had been dousing it with, it might have turned into a divine tree.

She patted Mimi’s head and nuzzled her face against it. “As long as it’s back, that’s all that matters.”

Gu Baiying raised an eyebrow. “In any case, with it here, finding the Purple Jade Sky Dew will be much easier today.”

With the Scarlet Flame Jiao frightened like that, Mimi’s remaining aura as the King of Beasts still held sway. When they previously entered the mountain to find the Purple Jade Sky Dew, they had to be cautious of any beasts lurking around. But now, with Mimi present, the beasts dared not approach, so they could focus solely on finding the herbs.

Zanxing stood up with Mimi in her arms, beaming with a smile. “Yes, once we find the Purple Jade Sky Dew, I’ll take Mimi back to the demon realm and properly explain things to them.” The demons knew Mimi but never believed it hatched from an egg. They truly thought that the egg was their offspring.

“We should hold a hatching feast for it when we return,” Zanxing said, “to clear up any misunderstandings.”

Gu Baiying scoffed and reminded her, “Isn’t that more like a hundred-day feast?”

They both fell silent for a moment.

Gu Baiying seemed to remember something, his gaze sharp as he fixed it on her. “You mentioned before that we would discuss our marriage once Mimi hatched.”

Zanxing’s eyelids twitched. This was something she had casually brushed off to Gu Baiying, who seemed indifferent to many things but had an unusually sharp memory. He even remembered these trivial details.

She cleared her throat. “Mimi hasn’t broken through yet. I think we should wait until it awakens before discussing this further.”

“Yang Zanxing—”

Author’s note:

The story ends without detailing the wedding, as it’s suggested that Zanxing has a fear of marriage. Regarding having children, Zanxing would need to suppress the chaotic demonic energy, and Gu Baiying wouldn’t agree to have children unless a method that wouldn’t harm Zanxing was found. If men could give birth, he would have done it himself… So, these issues would have to be resolved by them on their own (-ω-) The author can only manage up to this point _(:_」∠)_