Upon hearing the words "Devil Child" An Mo cried out indignantly.
"Big Brother Bai Nou, that's too mean!"
However, the late reacting baby pandas finally turned their heads to see who was talking to their father, but the moment their red eyes landed on that orange figure, their red pupils similarly constricted and after a cry of alarm, they all turned and lunged at their father's baby pouch.
Due to the scrambling, several of the baby pandas who were too slow to react were trampled by their brothers and sisters. But besides letting out an initial cry of pain, they simply got up and ran even faster to safety.
Upon seeing this scene, Bai Nou felt extreme heartache. He immediately released his Spiritual Qi to wrap around each of his young ones to protect them as they scrambled into his pouch. At the same time, he shot An Mo with a cold look.
An Mo could only scratch his head and give an awkward smile.
"Brother Bai Nou, I really come in peace. Last time was truly a misunderstanding."
An Mo tried to apologize, but Bai Nou immediately snorted and said disdainfully.
"You call disguising yourself as one my offsprings and sneaking into my pouch to feeding on my milk a misunderstanding?"
"I—"
Before An Mo could speak, Bai Nou interrupted him.
"You even injured my offsprings while fighting them for their nutrients! Why do you think they react so strongly after seeing you!?"
Perhaps it was an illusion, but An Mo's already bright orange fur seemed to become a shade darker under Bai Nou's questioning.
"Brother Bai Nou, that—um… I really didn't mean to cause you trouble. At that time, I was young and ignorant. I just wanted to know what it felt like to have a parent and got too carried away. I'm truly sorry."
After saying this, An Mo got down on his knees and kowtow to Bai Nou, his head pressed onto the ground.
Bai Nou was at first disdainful of An Mo's apology, but upon seeing him kowtowing to him, his pupils constricted and he hurriedly said.
"Fine! Fine! I accept your apology! Just get up quickly!"
He even sent out his Spiritual Qi and gentle lifted An Mo from his kneeling position. At the same time, he cast a fearful glance at the clear blue and seeing that no heavenly tribulation forming he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Only the heavens knew how frightened he had just been when An Mo kowtowed him.
How dare he accept a bow from such an existence? He was too afraid that the Heavenly Dao itself would deal with him.
"You De—Ehem, you child. If you're truly sincere in your apology, then never kneel at me again. Do you understand?"
An Mo, who had been in a daze due to Bai Nou's odd reaction, came back to his senses. However, he paused as he stared at Bai Nou.
At first, his plan was too shameless beg for forgiveness from Bai Nou and constantly pester him as a distraction, but what happened just now caused him to momentarily forget his original goal.
He had sensed to dread in Bai Nou's voice when he asked him not to kneel. This made him think back on how those Older Brothers and Sisters in the Mid-level Dimensional Fold treated him.
Bai Nou was actually supposed to move to the Mid-level Dimensional Fold given his cultivation but given his mobility and laziness he chose not to. So, his treatment towards him was similar to those Older Brothers and Sister.
Distant, but not afraid of him. Besides those low-level beasts with no intelligence, this was the first time he had sense fear from an older, more intelligent existence like Bai Nou within the Demonic Realm.
He had thought those low-level beasts were just instinctively afraid of him because of his bloodlines, but Bai Nou's reaction just now made him doubted this reality for the first time in his fifteen years alive.
An Mo didn't know why, but he was becoming nervous. He felt like he had touched upon a secret crucial to understanding what exactly he was, and why everyone was avoiding and isolating him.
Bai Nou also seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing, so he quickly shut his mouth.
However, An Mo would not allow him to remain silent. He immediately stepped forward and questioned him.
"Big Brother Bai Nou, do you know why everyone in the Demonic Realm avoids me? Is it because of my bloodline? Or something else?"
Bai Nou remained silent, not answering.
Upon seeing this, An Mo became agitated and his voice unintendedly rose an octave higher.
"Big Brother Bai Nou, answer me!!"
Bai Nou stared silently at An Mo, and a flash of guilt cross his eyes as he recalled what happened those years ago. Even though he had initially been deceived by An Mo's disguise, how could he not have seen through it after he entered his baby pouch. However, in a moment of soft-heartedness he decided to bear the karma of interacting with him and let him.
After that, he had spent a full five years stabilizing the backlash of karma. Even now, a full ten years later, his injuries show no signs of recovering. This chilled his heart, as he realized if he had interacted with this demon spawn for even a few more minutes, then his cultivation would have directly dropped into a major realm.
However, for some reason Bai Nou didn't feel an ounce of regret.
But he could not afford to take such a risk again, so he had to wrong this demon spawn.
After silently staring at An Mo for moment, Bai Nou let out an annoyed grunt before he closed his eyes and went back to sleeping.
Upon seeing this, An Mo's eyes instantly turned red, and he seemed he was on the verge of crying. But he didn't bother continued to questioning Bai Nou, as he knew he would get nothing out of him. Though him not answering was in itself an answer. In other words, it wasn't his bloodline the beasts fear but something else.
However, what An Mo didn't know was that the moment, Bai Nou let out that annoyed grunt, an invisible power invaded his body and ruthlessly attacked his cultivation foundation and Divine Soul.
Upon feeling his injuries, Bai Nou let out an exhausted sigh.
Even just the thought of willingly answering that demon spawn's questions caused such an injury. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but he could forget increasing his cultivation for the next hundred or so years.
Well, what did it matter, he still had a few thousand years left to live, these hundred or so years in exchange for pointing out that pitiful demon spawn in the right direction was somewhat worth it.
However, Bai Nou would come to regret this thought.
Suddenly, he felt a slight prick on the sole of his right foot.