Divine Beast

On a moonless night, the wind and rain threatened, the sky shrouded in thick clouds.

The divine beast Mo Tu scraped its colossal four hooves, skimming low across the sky. Suddenly, a humid wind carried a heavy scent of blood, and the auspicious clouds beneath Mo Tu’s feet were nearly stained crimson. Its stride faltered for a moment. The mortals below were once again orchestrating a massacre.

Weak yet savage creatures. Mo Tu’s golden vertical pupils flashed with derision.

In the past, faced with such scenes, it would pass by indifferently, never caring to intervene. The ignorant mortals’ mutual slaughter could only elicit a cold laugh. Besides, it was on an important errand, with no time to amuse itself with such spectacles. Yet, just as it prepared to move on, lightning brewing in the clouds split the sky. Torrential rain was imminent.

To avoid being drenched, it had to pass through the clouds and reach above the storm. But this rain was coming fast; it would not make it in time. Mo Tu loathed its glossy black fur being soaked.

So it swiftly lowered its auspicious clouds, descending to the mortal world in search of shelter from the storm.

Below was a city aglow with scattered lights. Mo Tu had rarely visited the mortal realm, but it recognized this city—Jiaozhou Prefecture, a fertile region north of the river. As it neared the ground, its massive form shrank rapidly, and by the time it landed on the roof of a grand mansion, it had transformed into a pitch-black cat, its eyes glimmering faintly with gold. Mo Tu’s true form was the immortal three-tailed Xie Cat, and it often disguised itself as an ordinary black cat when traversing the mortal world.

Upon landing, the dense stench of blood wrinkled its nose. By unfortunate coincidence, it had arrived at the very scene it detested—a slaughter. Looking down from the slanted rooftop, it saw a dozen corpses sprawled before the house, men, women, young and old alike, all dead in various ways, blood pooling everywhere. Glancing around, the other buildings in the courtyard surely held more bodies. No wonder the bloody odor had reached the heavens; the deep resentment of these wronged souls could shake even the throne of the Lord of Hell.

Mo Tu shook its head in disgust, turned its supple feline body, and prepared to leave in search of a cleaner place to shelter from the rain. But a faint cry tugged at its steps—a girl, sobbing and moaning.

It had no desire to meddle. Padding a few steps along the rooftop, it listened as the cry, weak and intermittent, threatened to vanish yet stubbornly persisted in its ears. Irritated, it stopped, sat down on the ridge, hesitated, and finally could not resist leaping down into the courtyard. Carefully avoiding the pools of blood, it followed the sound, confirming at last that the cry came from beneath a prone female corpse.

It was curious—what small creature could cry so vexingly? Yet as a cat, its short claws could not lift the corpse.

Shaking its neck fur, its form suddenly expanded, returning to its majestic beastly size: sleek black fur shining, three great tails swishing behind, a sharp horn standing tall on its forehead, fangs slightly bared, fierce twin pupils, and pointed ears adding a touch of menace. It raised a giant paw and easily turned over the woman’s body, revealing beneath her, protected in her final moments, a girl of about eight or nine years old.

The woman had been killed by a long blade plunged through her back, piercing her heart. The girl’s chest also bore a deep wound, obviously caused as the blade passed through the woman and into her. The wound gaped hideously, blood soaking her upper body. Yet she was not dead yet, eyes tightly shut, crying with her last strength, blood frothing from her mouth with every sob. The cries grew ever weaker.

It was merely a dying struggle; she would soon expire.

Mo Tu impatiently narrowed its golden eyes, wishing she would hurry up and die, cease her annoying cries, and not disrupt its sheltering from the rain.

Suddenly, huge raindrops fell, striking its fur and the girl’s face alike.

The rain had begun. Its fur would be soaked. Whether the girl cried or not, it had to leave. Let her perish as she would. Hastily turning, it sought another place to avoid the downpour.

But the girl kept crying, kept crying.

Such fragile mortals—why was her vitality so tenacious? Unable to bear it any longer, Mo Tu returned, grabbed the girl's shoulder by her clothing, and dragged her into the house.

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating for an instant the tragic aftermath of a family’s extermination, then fading quickly. In a courtyard strewn with corpses, the giant beast carried a girl in its jaws, stepping over bodies into the open doorway, its massive form just fitting through. Rain poured in torrents. Blood ran like rivers, seeping into the earth along with the rain. A night of extreme misery and terror.

Within, a dim lamp still burned.

Mo Tu stepped past two bodies lying in the middle of the house, set the girl down, and found a dry corner for itself to rest.

It had brought the dying girl inside, so she would not spend her last moments exposed to the rain.

As a cold and proud divine beast, Mo Tu rarely performed such acts of kindness. Today, it did not know what had come over it. Irritated, it lashed its three tails against the floor, making sharp sounds.

Certainly, it was because the little creature’s crying had been unbearably vexing. That was the excuse it gave itself.

By now, the girl could no longer cry out, her throat issuing only a rasping, difficult breath as life steadily ebbed from her body. Mo Tu suddenly felt suffocated, its own breathing stifled.

—Why had she not died yet? Every moment lingering was another moment of pain; why struggle so desperately?

It cast an annoyed glance at the girl. Then, it noticed her eyes, at some point, had opened slightly. Her gaze, filled with despair, drifted before finally settling on Mo Tu’s face. Her pupils were unfocused; it was unclear whether she truly saw the beast before her. The pain and confusion in her eyes made Mo Tu’s heart tremble, its pointed ears twitching involuntarily.

The girl's lips moved, though no sound came, only more blood froth. Yet Mo Tu distinctly heard her plea: Save me.

Its gaze remained cold, quietly observing the girl, silently replying: Enough—I cannot save you. Unless...

Suddenly, a thought flashed through its mind, startling it into leaping up, neck fur bristling.

How could it entertain such an idea! She was but a small, humble mortal—how could it commit such a grave, heaven-defying sin to save her?

Fiercely warning itself, its gaze nevertheless returned to the girl, meeting her plea for help, feeling utterly exposed.

It could not allow itself to indulge such wild thoughts. Forgetting its concern for soaked fur, it decisively rose and strode toward the door. It had to leave this place, get far from this strange child, let her die quietly—none of this was its concern!

Annoyed, it reached the doorway, when the girl behind let out a faint, desperate sigh, like one releasing the only driftwood while drowning. Mo Tu’s mind suddenly blanked, and, compelled by some mysterious force, it returned to her side, lowered its head close to her face, opened its mouth, and released a ball of purple light. Within the glow floated a jade-colored immortal fungus, resembling a sacred lingzhi, pure white as jade, its root tinged with crimson that wound up the stem and spread across the cap. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary thing.

The glowing ball lingered briefly between the girl and Mo Tu, then swiftly entered the girl's mouth and vanished. Her body immediately radiated purple light, which faded in moments. Looking at her face, she had fallen unconscious, but her expression was much calmer.

Mo Tu watched her transformation intently. Seeing her slip into sleep, her complexion improved, and it breathed a sigh of relief. But soon after, it suddenly realized what it had done. Its vertical pupils narrowed to thin slits, its fur standing on end in alarm.

What had it done!

It had fed the immortal fungus to a mortal! With a giant paw, it pressed down on the girl’s chest, claws flicking out and tearing her clothing. At this moment, the fungus had just entered her body, not yet fused with her flesh and blood. A simple slash would open her chest, allowing it to retrieve the fungus it had impulsively given her.

Half-Immortal Seal 1_Half-Immortal Seal Full Free Reading_1 Divine Beast update complete!