Chapter 84 - Pet Clothes

Heilong-kou (Black Dragon-Mouth/Pass)

Heilong-cheng (Black Dragon-City)

Censorate (Supervisory Court)

Yuling City (Jade City)

Jingui Town (Golden Turtle Town)

Xuanwu City (Black tortoise City)

…

Yin Jixue had unexpectedly gained a little kitty—and what's more, it didn't have an owner. For the past two days, she'd been carrying it around everywhere, tucked snugly against her chest.

If only I'd found her in winter, she thought. She could warm my feet.

Yes, she meant exactly that—foot warmer.

Who wouldn't love a chubby, round little kitten to warm their toes?

She'd had people check the city bulletin boards, and since no merchant had posted a missing pet notice, she decided to take care of it for now~.

Yin Jixue headed to the "monitoring room," now guarded by palace guards—no ordinary demon could enter without permission.

There wasn't much inside. The walls were lined with display monitors.

The whole room gave off a faint cyberpunk vibe. Yin Jixue stood there in her ancient-style robes against the pitch-black walls, monitors flickering all around her—each screen showing a different view.

She spotted Tengshe on one screen, having already located the wild demon folk and loading them onto a bus.

Each of those demonfolk stood nearly two meters tall, male and female alike, all powerfully built with muscles rippling beneath thick beast hides. The sheer presence of them could be felt even through the monitor.

What a waste to send them mining, she thought. Wouldn't they be great on sewing machines? (Just kidding.)

Meanwhile, the aerial vehicle was descending and about to land.

Just thinking about her upcoming first-ever video chat with her boyfriend made her a little giddy.

Yin Jixue tidied her hair, then remembered that the Demon King wouldn't be able to see her anyway. So she simply sat down to wait for the aircraft to land, her hand gently stroking the kitten on her lap.

Before Da Gui left, she'd written a short note for the Demon King—just a few lines explaining the function of the transmission device.

As for saying she missed him… words just couldn't convey it. No matter how she tried to write it, she couldn't express her longing.

The airship soon touched down.

She saw Da Gui disembark first, and shortly after, the Demon King appeared, covered in dust from travel, entering the aircraft.

Da Gui pointed out the location of the "camera."

The Demon King couldn't see her, but she could see him.

Yin Jixue stood up excitedly, the kitten still in her arms. "I can see you. Can you hear my voice?"

Lou Zhao listened for a moment—there seemed to be a slight delay.

"I can hear you, but I can't see you."

Hearing his long-lost voice made her heart melt. His deep tone wasn't one of those forced, artificially low voices—it was naturally rich and sexy, and it tickled her ears.

She softened her voice. "This thing only works one way. You can see me when you get back. I haven't changed much. But you—why do you look so tired?"

Lou Zhao finally had someone to vent to.

Da Gui tactfully stepped out of the aircraft.

"They're all so dumb. Don't even know how to dig a hole, yet still insist on teaching me how to do things."

The Demon King had mentioned more than once that scorched earth could be cultivated, but although the city's demon folk had followed Dafu's instructions, their eyes still showed clear reluctance to "waste" food on crops.

Yin Jixue comforted him, "Let me tell you something cheerful. The houses at Heilongkou have been repaired, and the city walls too. Next, we'll discuss which factories to relocate there. Tons of merchant caravans have arrived—we've got shops up and running all over the city."

That genuinely surprised Lou Zhao. "So fast? I thought they wouldn't arrive until summer."

"They came early. Glass is a hot commodity in the demon realm—of course, they'd rush in while demand is high. The first caravan even tried to buy out all of our glass stock. Only when they learned we produce it daily did they give up on the idea."

Lou Zhao warned, "The Xuanwu Tribe's merchants are greedy. They want to monopolize the market."

So basically, a monopoly, huh?

Yin Jixue teased him: "No worries. If there's one thing Black Dragon City doesn't lack, it's productivity. Even if we strip the Xuanwu Tribe down to their last coin, we'll still keep manufacturing."

Lou Zhao didn't respond right away. After a long pause, he finally said in a low voice, "I miss you. I want to come back soon."

Yin Jixue buried her face in the kitten's soft fur, unable to stop herself from grinning. Such a clingy boyfriend—how could she not fall even harder for him?

Suddenly, she remembered a classic line from a novel:

"You seductive little demon, are you trying to steal my heart?"

Lou Zhao visibly paused, then seriously replied, "I'm not a demon. I'm a mo. And I don't want your life."

Yin Jixue seized the chance—he couldn't see her, after all—and boldly teased him: "No, you're not a demon. You're the one I love."

Some noise sounded outside. The Demon King was being summoned again.

"Wait for me," he said. "Take care of yourself."

Yin Jixue quickly added, "You too. When you get back, you might not even recognize your own home anymore."

"I will. Home is wherever you are," Lou Zhao replied before disappearing off-screen.

Yin Jixue tried her best to suppress her fluttering heart as she cuddled the kitten in her lap.

"Kitty, did you hear your daddy just now? He said, as long as we're together, that's home."

She giggled into the kitten's fur, only leaving the "monitoring room" once her blush had faded.

But there was a problem—what did kittens eat?

"Cats eat fish, right? Do we even have fish in Black Dragon City?"

Feng Xiu replied, "The Xuanwu merchants probably have dried fish. They come from water-rich lands. The fish in our river should be edible too, though they might bite the little prince. For now, he can eat sweet yams."

Yin Jixue loved that—Little Prince.

A kitten prince. A family of three.

"Then feed him sweet yams."

Word soon spread: the Queen now had a cherished four-legged companion, whom she carried everywhere.

Because she dressed it in adorable little clothes, no one could tell what kind of beast it was. The palace maids simply referred to it as "the Little Prince."

When the old demon heard, he rushed over excitedly—only to leave in disappointment.

So it's not a little Black Dragon after all...

But if the cub ended up here… was it stolen from another tribe?

Following Yin Jixue's instructions, the textile factory made many pet outfits—she was worried the kitten might catch a cold.

But when visiting merchants saw the pet clothes, they insisted on buying them, even requesting larger sizes.

Yin Jixue hadn't expected pet clothes to become such a hit.

She approved the factory to take orders—after all, pet garments used only leftover scraps.

But then, the merchant demands started getting weird.

"Can you make clothes for birds?"

Technically, you could dress a bird… but why?

Still, as long as there was demand, Yin Jixue wasn't about to let that money fly away.

She told the textile factory supervisor: "Whatever the customer wants, just smile and respect it. We're here to make money."

The supervisor nodded in understanding.

And so, the very first batch of woolen fabric garments sold from Black Dragon City… were all pet clothes.

Yin Jixue had a feeling she might've guessed something—but needed to confirm.

"Who are these pet clothes being worn by, exactly?"

Ruoshui hesitated. "I think… the princesses of the Winged Tiger and Qingluan Tribes?"

Yin Jixue: …

Giving pet clothes to royal princesses—may not be the best idea.

But since they'd already been sold, she decided to tell the textile factory to keep things discreet—just market them as ordinary garments.

Otherwise, the first civil war among the demon tribes might end up being caused by… pet fashion.