SHMBM 08

Chapter 08

Whether I stared sullenly at the humans or not, they were sparkling their eyes and staring only at me.

Humans are really weak to anything young.

Feeling burdened by those gazes, I let out a small groan—at which point my body was suddenly lifted up.

“Stop.”

“Ah…”

“He’s still a baby. If too many people swarm him to dote on him, it’ll be tiring. Today’s a holiday, so I’ll let it slide just this once.”

With that, Sehwa scooped me up into her arms. Whew, saved.

I snorted in relief, glad to finally be away from all that attention. Even so, the humans who had crowded around me were looking at me with eyes dripping with disappointment.

“Well then… I think we’ve looked around enough.”

“Kyah?”

“You’re tired, right? Shall we go rest?”

Oh, that was the best thing I’d heard all day. Wagging my tail in agreement, I saw a faint smile tug at Sehwa’s lips.

Since I had a chance to rest, I might as well gather some qi. The human world was much murkier than the mountains, but… it wasn’t like it was impossible.

“All right, let’s rest here. Okay?”

“Kyah.”

The place Sehwa brought me to was where she’d been working earlier.

The only difference was that now there was a small, soft-looking cushion—clearly prepared for me.

After placing me on it, she petted my head a few times and went back to look at the letters piled on her desk. Once I confirmed she wasn’t paying attention, I sprawled comfortably across the cushion.

‘This feels way better than the beds I made from dried grass.’

Warm, soft, cushiony—nothing like anything I’d felt in the mountains. Thoroughly satisfied, I rumbled and closed my eyes.

‘Let’s see.’

I began slowly gathering qi while focusing on my breathing.

It was weaker than in the forest, but gathering the scattered natural qi into one place wasn’t hard.

This was like breathing for me. Of course, that didn’t mean I could gather thick amounts of qi and form a new inner core.

Just like you can’t eat every creature in the mountains out of hunger—otherwise there will be nothing left.

Spiritual beasts instinctively know it takes ages for the flow of natural qi to recover once it’s disturbed.

That’s why we don’t just recklessly drain nature dry.

Instead, we supplement with qi-rich herbs or the inner cores of other spiritual beings.

‘It’s murkier than I’d like, but…’

Sorting out the clean qi from the murky air wasn’t hard.

The problem was that my inner core had already lost so much energy that the amount I could gather was pitiful.

Still, it was work I had to do.

I’d survived the past thousand years gathering qi like this. I’d just have to do the same again.

Patiently, without giving up.

I sorted out only the clean qi drifting in through the window breeze and continued breathing steadily.

I didn’t know how long I’d been at it, but I heard Sehwa approaching and opened my eyes.

“Oh dear. Did I wake you?”

She must have thought I’d been asleep. Well, I had been lying still for a while.

Stretching my front legs, I yawned. As my muscles relaxed, a satisfying cool sensation washed through my body.

‘Anyway… what was she looking at so intently earlier?’

There were plenty of things in Tianyuelou’s interior worth staring at, but I had no chance to look around with people constantly bothering me.

Still, curiosity nudged at me. So I padded over toward the desk and sat down, looking up at Sehwa.

My short legs, unfortunately, still couldn’t reach the chair.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Kyeng.”

[Let me sit on your lap.]

…If I sent that telepathically, she’d probably flip out. If she fainted, that’d be a problem.

So instead of using telepathy, I reared up on my hind legs and reached my front paws toward her. She immediately understood and picked me up, seating me on the chair—and naturally, on her lap.

‘Good, good. She’s better than that fox.’

Purring with satisfaction, I stretched my neck and looked at the desk.

Papers were strewn everywhere. Mostly white documents with writing.

Not to brag, but when you live for a thousand years, you learn some things.

Human writing was one of them. So I could easily read what Sehwa had been working on.

‘Maintenance records, inventory management… nothing interesting.’

Snorting, I relaxed and lay down across Sehwa’s lap.

Realizing the documents were boring, my curiosity immediately faded.

Then I heard a small laugh above me, followed by her gentle hand stroking my back.

“Kyarrreung…”

Oh, yes, yes. That spot was itchy.

As if reading my mind, Sehwa scratched the places I couldn’t reach—my chin, my hind legs.

Her touch was so pleasant that a deep rumbling purr escaped me.

Life without the fox was suddenly wonderful.

The next day, I went to the elixir storage and ate the leftover medicines I hadn’t touched before.

They didn’t contain much qi, which was why I’d left them alone—but since I had nothing else to eat, these would do.

“…They’re bitter and taste awful, but you eat them so well. It’s kind of amazing.”

“Kyawng.”

[Who eats these for the flavor? I eat them because they’re good for cultivation. You get used to it after a thousand years.]

Muttering things I had no intention of actually conveying, I carefully licked the herbal powder off my whiskers.

After clearing out nearly the whole storage, I finally felt a slight change in my inner core.

A tiny change—but better than nothing.

‘No. I can’t relax yet.’

Even when I was at full strength, I got ambushed and dragged away by that Blood Sect bastard. I couldn’t let my guard down now.

Thinking of that made me anxious. As I was washing my face with my front paws, I suddenly heard loud commotion from the entrance of Tianyuelou.

Curious, I ran to the window and leapt up. Yes, I got stuck on the sill again and had to kick my hind legs to pull myself up.

“Mountain Lord? What’s wrong?”

“Kyeng!”

[Hey, hey. The fox is here.]

I wagged my tail rapidly toward Sehwa, urging her to come look.

Even though she seemed confused, she approached the window—and soon noticed the fox approaching.

“Ah…!”

A smile bloomed across her face. The first I’d seen in days.

‘Even though he only gives her work, she still likes him?’

Puzzled, I tapped Sehwa’s stiff arm with my front paw.

“Oh, right. Mountain Lord, shall we go greet him?”

“Kyawng?”

[Why would I greet him?]

Unfortunately, I had no veto power. Sehwa simply scooped me up and practically hurried over.

“Oh, Mountain Lord. You’ve grown a bit.”

As soon as the fox saw me, he smirked and reached out to pet me. You brat.

“Kyeng!!”

[The elixirs?]

[That’s what you care about first?]

[Of course. Don’t forget—I got captured even when I was in perfect condition.]

I smacked his hand away with my paw, and the fox shrugged before pulling something from his robes.

“Here you go, Mountain Lord. I got lucky and found something for you.”

“Kyawng?”

Sniff sniff. Oh… that smell.

“A humanoid ginseng—you’ll like it, right?”

[Do you even need to ask?]

I caught the humanoid-shaped ginseng fox tossed to me.

A mountain ginseng shaped like a person.

Regular ginseng was already potent, but humanoid ginseng was practically an animal on the verge of becoming a spiritual creature.

If it gained enough qi here, it would become a child ginseng—and gain intelligence.

It was more valuable than even thousand-year polygonum.

The juice that burst from the crushed humanoid ginseng was sweet, slightly bitter, and full of powerful qi.

‘It’s been a while since I had one of these.’

This must be at least a few hundred years old.

I swallowed every bit—including the tiny root fibers.

Immediately, a massive, concentrated wave of qi—far stronger than anything I’d eaten so far—surged through my body.

[Oh… I’ll need to circulate this properly.]

“Sehwa. Give me the Mountain Lord.”

“Yes, Master.”

At the fox’s command, Sehwa handed me over at once. His arms were thicker and harder than hers, but I had no time to complain.

Closing my eyes, I focused on guiding the powerful qi from the humanoid ginseng through my body.