My Demon King Plush

deep breath.
Then let go of his hands and rubbed his face, gently pushing into Baiju, and said dumbly, “…then, let's try to start the wards first, if it's uncomfortable tell me.”

Baiju nodded with a smile.
He knew what Xiao Yao meant.
Now that the hidden danger had been revealed, it would be better to figure out what would affect him first than to be caught unaware by an enemy.

Xiao Yao turned around, walked to a set of copper compasses in the center of the attic, and blew off a thin layer of dust on it.
The bright copper compasses had simple black luster, luxurious but restrained; they were engraved with the patterns of a blue dragon, white tiger, vermillion bird, basalt turtle, and many other mysterious lines.
Baiju had cultivated in the wild, and he didn't understand the formations of Taoism.
On the contrary, he was more interested in the material of this copper compass, so he reached out and touched it.

Xiao Yao bent down to fetch the formation stones stored under the compass, and when he got up, he saw Baiju studying the compass, so he explained, “There were nine compasses of this kind at first, all of which were made into incense burners, and were left in a temple.
After nine years of burning incense, they were re-melted into compasses, and the Dharma master enshrined and recited sutras over them for forty-nine days.
Even if they weren’t engraved with patterns later, they themselves were nine artifacts.”

Baiju rubbed the luscious surface of the compass, and curiously asked, “What happened then?”

Xiao Yao motioned to Baiju to step back a little, and put the stones into the compass one by one in order, “Later, three were damaged in the process of eliminating demons or suppressing ghosts.
The Practitioners Association figured out a way to get some alchemy materials and made another one.
Bronze furnaces were sent to temples to burn incense.
However, as the ley lines declined, the followers of Buddhism lessened, and the eminent monks didn’t have the skills of those who came before them.
After nine years of burning incense, the bronze furnace was re-melted and consecrated for eighty-one days, but the final product was only a fourth as good as the previous ones.”

Xiao Yao said, patted the compass under his hand, and said, “This is the ninth one in the later batch of compasses.
It is said that it almost cracked when it was formed, but was recovered by a high monk.
It came back from the edge of desperation, it's a bit spiritual, a bit stronger, about one-third of the original batch.”

Baiju looked at the compass thoughtfully and pondered for a while, blocking the last stone that Xiao Yao was about to embed.

“Is something wrong?” Xiao Yao took his hand back and asked with some confusion.

Baiju stretched out his hand and pointed to the last socket, thought for a moment and then asked, “It—does it have a name?”

Xiao Yao was taken aback, shook his head and said, “They by themselves have no name, but together they are called Sixiang Zhenxiepan.”

Baiju spread out his palm, “I’ll put in the last stone.”

Xiao Yao hesitated for a moment, “Then what if you become uncomfortable after it starts?”

Baiju raised the corners of his mouth, revealing bright white canines, “No, give me the last stone.
I'll consecrate it, and by the way, I can give it a name, maybe I can enlighten it.
Then I’ll be kind to it, so even if it isn’t compatible with me, it won’t hurt me.”

Xiao Yao raised his eyebrows and put the array stone in Baiju's palm, “Bai’ge, be careful.”

Baiju nodded and took the stone.
His eyes drooped slightly and they fell on the copper compass, looking as gentle as if he were looking at a newborn baby.

“You’re the ninth compass of the new era of monasticism,” Baiju tapped the embedded array stones one by one with his fingertips in order, and the golden light of his merits turned into a fine dust that penetrated the stones little by little, “From your birth you met a disaster, but encountered a noble, you have rare good luck, and can be regarded to number among the nine.”

“I will call you Chūjiǔ.”

As his voice fell, the stone in Baiju's palm, which had been rendered as brilliant gold, was wrapped in a heavy glow and fell into the socket.
Suddenly, a spiritual sound suddenly spread from the centre of the compass and invisible ripples swept across the small attic in an instant.

Xiao Yao only felt a sudden lightness in his mind, and a sense of clarity that he had never felt before rushed past him.
After returning to his senses, he saw the old dog standing motionless beside the compass, his face was slightly lowered and he covered his eyes with one hand.

“Bai’ge!” Xiao Yao was anxious, his brain felt hot, and he immediately ran around the compass to grab Baiju's hand, “What's wrong? Let me see!”

Baiju stiffened his wrist, feeling a needle-like pain in his mind.
He subconsciously avoided Xiao Yao's hand and took a step back.
Although it wasn’t as bad as he had experienced before, the uncomfortable physiological reaction made him instinctively retreat.
His heart was screaming “danger”, and Baiju didn't trust himself in this state at all.

How could Xiao Yao just let Baiju retreat like this.
He stretched out his arm and pulled away the palm covering his eyes, then leaned forward suddenly, cast a spell on himself, and whispered, “Look up!”

Baiju's divine soul shook, but he subconsciously listened to Xiao Yao's instructions and raised his head, revealing a pale face.

The pupil of his right eye, which should have been pitch-black, was blood-red and twitching abnormally; while the left eye was stained by the golden light of his merits.
The golden light filled his pupils, flowing out with a dim light.

Baiju opened his mouth, the pain in his mind wouldn’t erode his mental and physical strength, and the sudden flare up was quickly fading——but he didn't know what he looked like now, would it be scary, would it be a bit ugly…

However, before he could ask any questions, Xiao Yao's eyes were suddenly red.

His little ward, who was particularly distressed, violently grabbed Baiju's arm and pulled down the adult man of over 1.9 metres.
Xiao Yao firmly hugged Baiju's fluffy head and his shaking hands stroked his long wavy hair.

“…don’t…don't hurt anymore.” Xiao Yao's voice was a little numb, with a slight sob, “It will pass.”