35: Chapter 35 Moonless Night

Wu Xi reached out and pushed the door open.

The door hinges creaked, and the smell of rust mixed with the bitter scent of herbs rushed towards him.

He had originally intended to take a break today; according to what Gray Fur said before leaving, he would not be back until tomorrow at the earliest.

Just as his foot crossed the threshold, an explosion of noise erupted from the inner room.

"Hiss—ow! Damn!"

First came a pained groan stifled in the throat, followed by a shrill, cracking scream, one after another.

Wu Xi raised an eyebrow, his stepping foot pausing in place.

Immediately following was Old Hei's cursing, like a thunderclap in a drought, making one's eardrums ache: "You bunch of heartless little bastards! Have you forgotten you are of the Mimei Rat race? Forgotten that the clan provided you with food and drink, raised you from pups, and even squeezed out cultivation resources from the clan to give to you? And now, you dare to lay a killing hand on your own uncle's generation! Truly ungrateful white-eyed wolves!"

Wu Xi turned his steps, hugging the wall as he circled to the window, his fingertip peeling back a hole in the window paper to glance inside.

Gray Fur sat hunched over on a low stool, the coarse cloth jacket on his back torn open in three or four places by sharp claws, revealing a back covered in streaks of blue and purple bruises.

Old Hei squatted before him, clutching a clump of mashed deep-green herbs in his hand, black medicinal juice dripping down as he raised his hand and pressed it onto the most swollen wound.

"Damn!"

Gray Fur lunged forward violently, the Gray Fur on the back of his neck standing on end, the legs of the stool scraping harshly against the floor tiles, emitting a piercing screech.

"What are you moving for!" Old Hei glared, backhanding him on his uninjured shoulder with a heavy force that made Gray Fur shudder again.

"Know pain now? Why didn't you know to dodge when you were getting beaten? Taking a beating head-on, are you drunk?"

Gray Fur bared his teeth, both hands gripping his knees tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Wu Xi lowered the window paper, turned, and walked to the front door, pushing it open. The door hinges creaked again, sounding exceptionally piercing in the quiet room.

"Looks like things went quite smoothly."

Wu Xi's voice was low and calm. Gray Fur shuddered all over.

This shudder directly tugged at his back wounds, the pain causing his face to twist, his features scrunching together.

He hurriedly lowered his head and raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, his messy Gray Fur standing up in a tuft from his scratching.

"Ah? Oh! Right, right, right!" He spoke with his eyes darting around, not looking at Wu Xi. "Hey, it's just... things went smoothly, so I came back early! On the road, I accidentally fell, just skin wounds, nothing serious!"

His heart was beating like a drum.

How was he to know how long Wu Xi had been standing outside, or how much he had heard? Mimei Rat juniors from the same clan, despising their own racial origin, teaming up to attack him just to curry favor with that group of Ulthar Cats Geniuses—if Wu Xi had heard all that, where would he, Gray Fur, put his face?

Old Hei slanted a glance at Wu Xi and slammed the pestle into the wooden bowl with two thuds, shaking medicinal juice everywhere.

"You sure know how to pick your time to come back." He huffed, continuing to mash the medicine, the pestle and bowl clattering loudly. "If you'd come earlier, you wouldn't have heard this commotion; if you'd come later, this coward could have spun his lies to the heavens."

"Old Hei! Stop talking..." Gray Fur shrank his shoulders, his voice as small as a mosquito's buzz, burying his head even lower.

"Why shouldn't I talk?" Old Hei glared, the pestle in his hand stopping abruptly in mid-air, the wooden bowl shaking. "Did I say something wrong? Those little bastards, eating the Mimei Rat's food, smashing the Mimei Rat's pot! Just because their wings have been strong for a couple of days, they dare to beat their own uncle's generation!"

Wu Xi didn't speak; he dragged over a long bench from the side, turned it around, and sat astride it with his legs spread. He rested his arms on the back of the chair and his chin on the back of his hands, staring straight at the wounds on Gray Fur's back.

Gray Fur shifted his body, and the stool let out another piercing creak.

He gave a dry laugh, his back tense: "It's really nothing, honestly! Just skin wounds, they'll be fine once the scabs form in a couple of days, it won't delay anything!"

As soon as he finished speaking, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Heavy and hurried, carrying an irrepressible anger, drawing closer and closer.

Bang.

The tavern door was slammed open and then pulled shut behind them.

Two Mimei Rats stood at the doorway, one male and one female.

The male wasn't tall; he scanned the room upon entering, his gaze pausing for half a second on the wounds on Gray Fur's back, his face showing apology.

The female followed half a step behind him, her steps very light, making almost no sound. She first glanced at Gray Fur's wounds with guilt in her eyes, then quickly swept a glance at Wu Xi. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her ears were pressed back, carrying a hint of timidity.

"Uncle Gray Fur..." Qi Sui spoke first, her voice light and slightly trembling. "Are your wounds... heavy?"

"Qi Sui, it's not heavy, not heavy at all! Not heavy at all!" Gray Fur waved his hands hurriedly. This tugged at his wounds again, causing him to hiss and gasp, his face turning pale. "Just skin wounds, they'll be fine in a couple of days, once they scab over, it'll be fine!"

Sergei snorted through his nose, a heavy sound filled with defiance.

Qi Sui ignored him, taking a small step forward, her hands clasped in front of her. "Uncle, about today... I am truly very sorry, this matter..."

"Why are you telling him this!" Sergei interrupted her abruptly, his voice aggressive, like a cat with its fur standing on end, carrying an irrepressible anger. "Wrong is wrong, what's there to explain!"

Qi Sui turned her head and looked at him.

There was no reproach in that look, but it carried an unquestionable force, like a silent "Shut up."

Sergei opened his mouth, swallowed the words that had reached his lips, and stamped his foot hard.

Qi Sui turned back, looking at Gray Fur and Wu Xi, and sighed softly.

"Uncle, this matter... it's complicated to explain." Her voice dropped even lower, her hands twisting in front of her. "Our boss, Liao Su, has had too much on his mind these days, especially with those rumors in the temple recently. Uncle, you should have heard them too..."

"Rumors?" Sergei couldn't help but sneer again, his voice short and sharp. "What rumors! In the end, it's just that our clan is too weak! In this Wusa Town, we Mimei Rats are living under someone else's roof! Big Brother Liao Su is hanging out with those so-called Geniuses of the Ulthar Cats every day, even mixing in their Cultivation Technique!"

"Say less!" Qi Sui's brows furrowed instantly, and she shouted sharply.

She turned back to look at everyone, this time her sigh was lighter, but heavier.

"Ever since we came to Wusa Town, although we haven't lacked food or clothing, we are, after all, living under someone else's roof. On their territory, we naturally feel a cut below. We always want to squeeze into their circles, and after squeezing for a long time... our minds inevitably become twisted."

She paused, looked up at Gray Fur, then quickly lowered her head, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "Actually... Boss Liao Su's talent didn't need to be like this. And... Big Brother has never treated us poorly. The cultivation resources he exchanged from the Ulthar Cats were, in secret, mostly distributed to us clansmen..."

When this sentence came out, the tavern instantly fell silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

The pestle in Old Hei's hand stopped in the wooden bowl, with no further movement.

Gray Fur jerked his head up, his eyes full of astonishment, opening his mouth but unable to speak.

Just then, Wu Xi slowly stood up.

His movements were not fast, but carried an extremely strong sense of oppression. The bench he had been sitting astride was dragged back half a foot, the legs of the stool scraping two deep, white marks into the hard floor tiles.

"You say he protects the clansmen, say he has understandable reasons, say he has difficulties."

Wu Xi's voice was not high, but every word was like shards of ice, hitting the ground and steaming with cold.

"But none of these can be the reason for my brother to be beaten."

Qi Sui froze in place, opening her mouth but unable to utter a single word, her ears pressed tightly against her head, her whole body tense.

At the very moment Wu Xi lifted his foot to walk out, a hand gripped his wrist tightly.

It was Gray Fur.

He stood up from the stool, his movement too rushed, staining the herbs plastered on him, which then dripped down his back.

He didn't look at Wu Xi, just kept his head lowered, the messy Gray Fur sticking to the back of his neck. His hand, gripping Wu Xi's wrist, shook violently, but he held on extremely tightly, his knuckles turning blue.

He slowly shook his head.

"Gray Fur?" Wu Xi frowned, the murderous aura on him pausing.

Gray Fur looked up and met his eyes.

In that look, there was no anger, no grievances, no unwillingness at being betrayed by his own kind, only a heavy weight that had been pressing down for who knows how long, like a stone sunk to the bottom of the water, so heavy it made one unable to breathe.

He knew it too well.

He wasn't afraid of trouble; he was afraid that if Wu Xi went there and made a scene at the temple, Liao Su and those Mimei Rat juniors would truly have no place to stand in Wusa Town.

No matter how wrong they were, they were still of the same clan.

Wu Xi stared into his eyes for a full three breaths.

He took a deep breath, the tension in his body loosening bit by bit, the bulging veins on his neck slowly flattening.

"Fine," he said. "I won't go for now."

Gray Fur finally let go of his hand completely, his body swaying as he slowly sat back down on the stool.

Wu Xi also sat back down, still astride the bench, his arms resting on the back of the chair, saying nothing more.

The tavern fell into dead silence again.

No one spoke.

Only the wind outside the window blew across the eaves, making a wailing sound.

No one noticed that outside the tavern door, a shadow had been standing there, who knows since when.

The sunlight shone from behind him, cutting his silhouette as sharp as a knife. All the details on his face were hidden in the shadows, revealing only an upright figure that stood out from the other Mimei Rats.

He was half a head taller than Gray Fur, with broader shoulders, his frame as straight as a javelin. Though also a Mimei Rat, standing there, he didn't look like he came from the same clan as Gray Fur, Sergei, and Qi Sui in the room.

He was clean, wearing a gray jacket without a single crease, let alone wounds. It formed a stark contrast to the bloodstains and tattered clothes on Gray Fur.

He just stood there in the shadows, watching everything in the room.

Watching Gray Fur gripping Wu Xi's wrist tightly, watching Wu Xi's tense back, watching the way Sergei and Qi Sui froze in place, his face devoid of any expression.

The people in the room finally sensed the presence outside the door.

Wu Xi's gaze pierced through the window, like a nail, pinning itself firmly onto the shadow outside the door.

Liao Su moved.

He took a step forward, stepping into the sunlight, revealing his entire face.

"Uncle Gray Fur."

He called out, his voice not high, but like a knife, clearly slicing through the dull, dead silence of the tavern.

"I really didn't expect that our Mimei Rat clan would actually degenerate to this point, getting mixed up with the Human Race."

The corners of his mouth didn't curve at all, sweeping over everyone in the room, finally landing on Gray Fur.

"It is simply a disgrace to my Mimei Rat clan."

When this sentence came out, everyone in the room froze.

Liao Su turned his head, his gaze meeting Wu Xi's eyes directly, without the slightest evasion, without the slightest fear, carrying a youthful Genius's arrogance and cold hardness.

"If you want to teach me a lesson, you can."

He said it clearly, word by word.

"Moonless Night, I await you anytime."

After saying this, his shoulder line relaxed very slightly for an instant, and he turned and left.

His pace wasn't fast, but with every step he took, he put a large distance between them, instantly disappearing without a trace.

In the tavern, it remained dead silent.

Gray Fur stood in place, not moving.

His shoulders drooped bit by bit, the whole person looking as if all his strength had been drained, instantly shrinking, barely able to stand.

Sergei and Qi Sui looked at each other, neither speaking. Qi Sui's ears were pressed tightly against her head, her eyes full of confusion.

Sergei's fists clenched and unclenched, clenched and unclenched, his knuckles turning white.

Bang.

Old Hei slammed the pestle in his hand into the wooden bowl, splashing medicinal juice all over the floor. He didn't look at anyone, turned and went into the inner room, slamming the door behind him with a thunderous noise.

Wu Xi slowly sat up straight, turned around, and looked at Sergei and Qi Sui, who were frozen at the doorway.

His fingers tapped lightly on the back of the chair, making a soft tapping sound.

The voice was calm, but carried an unquestionable force.

"Now, you two handsome guy and beautiful lady, who can tell me what a Moonless Night is?"