Chapter 25: Beast of Misfortune

"The Master is above!" Karno interjected, seeing Li Xie's unwavering gaze fixed on the unknown egg. "It's not that fast, my lord. After absorbing enough blood, the unknown egg usually hatches within a month. Typically, it happens around ten days later, not on the first day."

Li Xie glanced at him. "What do you think I am, Karno?"

Karno didn't hesitate, speaking earnestly, "You are a remarkable person, my lord!"

Li Xie anticipated Karno's response, as he had heard him say this several times in recent days. He rolled his eyes. "Since you know that I am a remarkable person, why can't my unknown egg be extraordinary? Why can't something miraculous happen? Why can't it hatch on the first day after drinking enough blood?"

Karno scratched his head. "It seems... it can!"

"Well, that's settled then. You watch it for an hour!" Li Xie said, not because he believed himself to be extraordinary, but merely to conceal his embarrassment at his ignorance. If Karno hadn't mentioned it, he would have been watching it every day. Now that Karno had mentioned it, he could make Karno watch it for the first ten days as punishment for not telling him earlier.

"My lord! Look quickly!"

Just as Li Xie turned around to go for lunch, Karno, who had been ordered to watch the unknown egg, suddenly shouted. Li Xie turned back and saw a faint glow emanating from the sky-blue unknown egg, like the luminescence of a pearl in the night.

"Is it going to hatch?"

"Yes, my lord! It's truly miraculous! It's hatching on the first day! Indeed, it's your egg, my lord!"

"My egg?"

Li Xie's mouth twitched. "Master, please grant Karno an extra ounce of wisdom!"

The glow on the unknown egg grew brighter, but it wasn't blinding; it was gentle and soft. Li Xie stared intently, his hands clenched into fists, his face almost touching the egg.

What kind of monster would hatch from this unknown egg?

Li Xie's curiosity thumped wildly.

How many tiers of beasts could this unknown egg hatch?

Li Xie's heart pounded with anticipation.

"Clack..."

Finally, the unknown egg cracked open, splitting into two halves.

Within the eggshell, a palm-sized creature emerged.

This small creature had sky-blue fluffy fur, a round face, small fuzzy ears folded on its forehead, watery blue eyes, and a tail as long as its body, covered in fluffy fur, wagging back and forth! It was curled up into a ball, raising its head curiously to stare at Li Xie, looking like a ball of sky-blue fur! However, its lively eyes were incredibly endearing!

"Meow..."

"A cat!" Li Xie looked at the adorable sky-blue kitten in his arms, feeling his whole body soften. He forgot about the matter of the magical beast and quickly embraced the kitten, caressing its head affectionately. "So cute! Haha, it's mine! This is mine!"

"G...gi...gi...gi...gigantic..." Karno pointed at the cat in Li Xie's arms, his face filled with horror, his mouth stuttering incessantly.

"What gigantic?" Li Xie's attention was completely on the kitten, and he didn't notice Karno's terrified expression.

"A p-p-p-p-p-person..."

"A person? What person?"

"My lord!"

"Damn! Are you stuttering?"

"Gurgle..." Karno swallowed hard. "My lord, that's the Beast of Misfortune!"

As Karno spoke, the kitten in Li Xie's arms, which had been enjoying Li Xie's caresses, suddenly turned its head and fixed its aquamarine eyes on Karno, as if a spark of intelligence flashed in its eyes.

"The Beast of Misfortune?"

Li Xie's attention was finally drawn back by Karno's words, turning to Karno. However, he didn't see the kitten's strange behavior; he only saw Karno pointing at him, then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. As Karno fell, his mournful voice echoed in the air: "The Beast of Misfortune! It glared at me! Oh! I'm going to be unlucky!"

Then, Karno lay on the ground with his finger still pointing, his eyes staring blankly, foam spilling from his mouth.

Li Xie frowned. What was wrong with Karno? He walked over to check on him, but as he approached, Karno suddenly sat up, startling Li Xie. Then he saw Karno propping himself up on his hands, shuffling his butt along the ground, quickly retreating to the corner of the room. He looked at Li Xie with a terrified expression, as if he had seen a ghost. "Don't... don't come near me! May the Earth God be witness! That's the Beast of Misfortune! Quickly get rid of it, my lord!"

"What Beast of Misfortune?" Li Xie was puzzled.

The kitten in his arms raised its head and let out a "meow" at Karno. The kitten had just been born, and its voice was soft and sweet, as if it were being coquettish. However, in Karno's ears, it seemed to touch a nerve, causing him to jump up suddenly and rush out of the room, screaming all the way, "Oh my god, the Beast of Misfortune is growling at me! I'm done for! Oh! May the Earth God be witness! Help!"

"Neurotic!"

Li Xie gave Karno three words for his inexplicable behavior, then looked at the kitten in his arms with a gaze of adoration. "Gaga, I love cats the most. I didn't expect my familiar to be such a cute kitten. Hehe, may the Master of Dreams bless us! It must be your blessing! Well, it's a good thing I asked how to sign the soul contract in advance. Otherwise, if Karno had a nerve reaction like this, I wouldn't know how to turn you into my familiar!"

As he spoke, Li Xie's palm covered the kitten's head, feeling the warm and fluffy sensation. His heart was filled with joy, but he quickly concentrated again and closed his eyes. "Goddess of Life, your servant, Li Xie, is willing to..."

"Huh? Damn, where's my cat?!"

When his palm lost the sensation of fluffiness, Li Xie opened his eyes and looked around. The kitten in his arms was gone! Instead, he heard a commotion outside the room.

"Oh my god! The Beast of Misfortune!"

"What the hell! May the Earth God be witness! I saw the Beast of Misfortune!"

"Ah... don't come near me!"

"Oh my god! It... it crawled through my pants! Will I get erectile dysfunction?"

"Oh! Dear God, it's the end of the world!"

Li Xie rushed out and was met with servants and guards screaming as if they had seen ghosts!

What on earth was going on?

Li Xie was completely bewildered and shouted, "Where's my cat?"

"My lord, the Beast of Misfortune climbed up that almond tree!"

"Damn! It's so high!"

The almond tree was the tallest tree in Count Xie's estate, standing over 130 meters tall, piercing the clouds! Its trunk was smooth with no branches, becoming thinner as it went up, with umbrella-like foliage only at the top.

A palm-sized sky-blue kitten sat on one of the branches, overlooking the ground below.

Below, Li Xie looked up at the kitten, surrounded by a group of servants and guards.

"My lord, that's the Beast of Misfortune! Our estate is doomed. We must drive it away!"

"Damn it, that's my familiar! Who are you to drive it away? By the way, what is the Beast of Misfortune?"

"My lord, you don't know?"

"Why would I ask if I knew?"

"Didn't your mother tell you?"

"No, it was your grandmother who didn't tell you?"

"Kano!" Li Xie shouted loudly. He finally realized that among these guards, Kano's limited intelligence was still somewhat reliable. At least, he could be counted on to answer questions!

Kano appeared out of nowhere, "My lord, what can I do for you?"

"Tell me, what is the Beast of Misfortune?"

"My lord, that cat on the tree is the Beast of Misfortune. It's the incarnation of the Goddess of Misfortune, Cantrell Muse, in the mortal realm. My grandmother told me that anyone who gets close to the Beast of Misfortune will have three years of bad luck. If it targets someone, they'll have ten years of bad luck. And if someone is touched by the Beast of Misfortune, by the Earth God, they're doomed to die!"

"Your grandmother told you?" Li Xie squinted.

"Yes, my lord."

"My lord, my mother told me the same thing."

"My lord, this is what my grandmother told me."

"My lord, my grandfather said something similar."

"My lord, my grandfather also mentioned it."

The guards all chimed in, and Li Xie's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Has anyone actually witnessed this misfortune?"

"My lord, one of my friends saw the Beast of Misfortune and then went blind!"

"My lord, one of my relatives encountered the Beast of Misfortune and suddenly died of illness."

"My lord, my uncle dreamed of the Beast of Misfortune, and then his wife left him and his family fell apart!"

...

Li Xie felt dizzy. Ignorance really was harmful. Ultimately, it was just a legend, and none of them had firsthand experience! It was like Earthlings talking about ghosts; from a young age, the older generation passed down stories, but no one had seen one, making everyone afraid and blaming any strange occurrence on ghosts.

Whether there were ghosts, Li Xie couldn't be sure. At least now he was a vampire; he couldn't be sure there were no ghosts! Just like this little cat, he couldn't be sure if it would bring misfortune, especially in this otherworld!

However, if this little cat was indeed the Beast of Misfortune, and Li Xie had just held it, would he suffer bad luck until death? And all these people who had seen it and been close to it, had anything unlucky happened to them?

It was just an ordinary kitten!

Otherwise, let's have some misfortune, and let me see!

Li Xie couldn't make up his mind, so he could only think like this!

"My lord, Count Xie." Someone was shouting from afar, and a carriage was quickly approaching. Inside the carriage, El, the interior official of the dynasty, stuck his head out.

Li Xie was startled: Could this be the misfortune?

The carriage stopped, and El got off and bowed to Li Xie before saying, "Count Xie, His Majesty has ordered that you assist a priest in advancing today at noon."

Assist a priest in advancing?

He knew nothing about magic, had no fighting skills, and was just a little white priest! And now he was supposed to help someone advance? Wasn't this setting him up to make a fool of himself? Had Emperor Mercedes VII lost his mind?

"I'm not going. I'm busy," Li Xie refused without hesitation. Besides, he still had to make a soul contract with his little cat!

"My lord, you can't refuse. It's an order from His Majesty," El urged anxiously.

"I won't go even if it's an order!" Did Emperor Mercedes VII really think he would be punished for such a trivial matter?

Seeing Li Xie's resolute attitude, El became more troubled and said urgently, "My lord, disobeying His Majesty's orders is punishable by burning at the stake!"

"Go away. Tell His Majesty that my injury hasn't healed! If he wants to burn me, he can come himself!" Li Xie didn't believe for a second that Emperor Mercedes VII would burn him!

"My lord, won't you reconsider?"

"No need."

"Well, don't blame me for not reminding you, His Majesty is very concerned about this advancement ceremony. After all, Duke Avril is the highest-ranking priest in our dynasty. If she advances again, it will have a profound impact on the dynasty. My lord, be careful not to provoke His Majesty's anger..."

"Wait, who's advancing?"

"Duke Avril."

"Go back immediately! Tell His Majesty that I'll take care of it! I guarantee that Duke Avril will advance! If she doesn't advance, I'll keep helping her until she does! I'll take full responsibility for this!"