CAT - 1

Chapter 1

The chill of early spring still lingered in the air. Around the Wenchang Temple, the crowds were so dense that people were practically shoulder to shoulder.

A calico cat darted nimbly between their feet, making everyone look down and hurriedly step aside with startled cries.

The culprit, however, never slowed down.

Yun Xing seemed accustomed to the gasps of admiration whenever people saw him. After all, he was the most beautiful cat on Mingwu Mountain. Even the clan leader had said it had been a long time since he had seen a kitten as lovely as Yun Xing.

Yun Xing had been unanimously chosen by his clan to become the next Mountain God. This year should have marked his eighteenth year living on the mountain. All the little animals of Mingwu Mountain had been eagerly anticipating the day this newly appointed Mountain God would finally take human form.

Yun Xing had been looking forward to it too.

Unfo rtunately, the problem was that he had reached the age when he was supposed to be able to transform, yet his body showed absolutely no signs of doing so.

His grandfather wasn't by his side either.

Everyone on Mingwu Mountain had been looking forward to his transformation, but now, without warning, the whole thing had fallen through.

Yun Xing couldn't help feeling a little ashamed to face everyone. So, under the cover of night, he slipped down the mountain.

Most stray cats would go looking for food, perhaps even rummaging through garbage bins for something to fill their stomachs. But Yun Xing had always prided himself on being the cleverest creature on all of Mingwu Mountain.

Besides, rummaging through garbage for food was beneath the dignity of a Mountain God.

This temple had been built on the mountain, and there was a school at the foot of it. Yun Xing had heard that it was some kind of key high school.

He had never understood why they called it a "key high school." Were the stones used to build it simply very, very heavy?

Yun Xing cou ldn't figure it out, so he decided not to think about it anymore.

Many of the visitors who came to Wenchang Temple were students from that school or their parents.

As people came and went, they kept talking about getting into some "985" university or another.

Yun Xing didn't care why these people wanted to go from a stone school to a number school. All he knew was that whenever he casually flopped onto the ground, someone would come over and feed him.

Not only would they put the food directly into his mouth, but the students would also fuss over him while calling him cute.

This was far better than having to hunt for himself on Mingwu Mountain.

With that thought, Yun Xing started toward the temple entrance, ready to freeload off the worshippers.

But just as he was about to set off, he sensed a mysterious force.

'His spiritual power!'

Yun Xing arched his back, every hair on his body standing on end.

"Wow! Why did he suddenly stretch like that?"

"He's so cute! Little kitty, what's your name?"

Yun Xing listened to the humans putting on their cutesy voices and fell silent for a moment.

What was that supposed to mean? And what do you mean, 'stretching'? I'm on guard!

Before Yun Xing could determine where the fluctuation of spiritual power was coming from, the girl who had spoken crouched down and reached out to pet him.

In an instant, Yun Xing slipped away from beneath her hand like a loach.

Humans could offer him food, and he was perfectly willing to help them out once in a while. But trying to touch a Mountain God with their bare hands?

Wasn't that a little disrespectful?

Yun Xing had no intention of arguing with these foolish humans.

After observing them for the past few days, he had discovered that humans were incredibly stupid. No matter what he said, they only ever responded with a bunch of nonsense.

He had once told them he wanted some dried fish, but instead, they kept going "meow" at him.

They clearly had no idea what he was saying.

And what was that nonsense about bananas being able to walk by themselves?

If they didn't want to buy him anything, they could simply say no. Why did they have to spout such ridiculous nonsense?

But now, after freeloading among human society for so long, Yun Xing had finally found himself a new objective.

Find the thief who had stolen his spiritual power!

—

Recently, Tan Xu had heard that Wenchang Temple was incredibly effective.

Apparently, its bl essings weren't limited to academic success anymore. He had even heard that someone had come here to pray for love, only to have their secret crush confess to them after they returned home.

Tan Xu didn't really believe in any of it.

After all, something like a paralyzed person suddenly standing up the next day was simply impossible. It sounded just like those ridiculous claims online about some health supplement miraculously curing cancer.

He had even begun to suspect that the temple's abbot had hired people to fake these miracles.

But Tan Xu's grandmother was an extremely devout believer in gods and Buddha.

Tan Xu had been sickly as a child. He had spent a long time in an incubator after he was born, and his health remained poor even after he started school.

It was his grandmother who had somehow nursed him back to health.

Because of that, Tan Xu had always listened to his grandmother more than anyone else.

Thinking of her, Tan Xu decided to enter the temple and pray for his entire family.

On the way there, he had also searched for the temple online. Recently, Wenchang Temple had been gaining popularity at an astonishing rate.

Apparently, a calico cat had appeared out of nowhere and taken up residence there.

Tan Xu casually clicked on the most popular video.

In it, the calico cat was tiny, with fluffy fur and round eyes. He sat in front of the enormous incense burner outside the temple, watching the people passing by.

The sunlight fell across his body, m aking his entire figure seem to glow.

The next video was of the same calico standing on the temple railing, pawing at the ball inside a stone lion's mouth. Quite a few people stood nearby filming with their phones as the ball rolled back and forth beneath the cat's paws.

Almost without thinking, Tan Xu liked the video.

According to the comments, this calico was incredibly clever. Whenever he was hungry, he would come out and act cute in front of pe ople until they fed him whatever snacks they had on them.

When he wasn't hungry, however, not even his shadow could be found.

Tan Xu was wondering whether he would get to see the little cat today when he suddenly spotted something in the distance.

A furry black, white, and orange ball came hurtling toward him like a cannonball.

Before he could dodge, it slammed straight into his lower leg.

The impact hurt more than he expected, and the cat wasn't exactly slow either.

Tan Xu hadn't been standing particularly steadily to begin with, so the collision sent him stumbling backward several steps.

The "cannonball," meanwhile, veered off to the side after hitting his leg and looked as though it had been knocked senseless.

Tan Xu immediately thought of the videos he'd just watched.

Meanwhile, Yun Xing had sensed his spiritual power from a long way off.

It was coming from this human. This human had definitely stolen his spiritual power. Yun Xing was going to teach him a lesson!

So he had gathered all his strength and charged at the human from a distance. Unfortunately, this man was built like a rock. 

Yun Xing had nearly cracked his own skull on impact. In the split second that followed, Yun Xing came up with a new plan.

This human had stolen his spiritual power, so of course he deserved to be punished.

Yun Xing could cast a spell and make him suffer a string of bad luck for a while. But if he did that, he wouldn't get to see the little thief's misfortune with his own eyes.

His round eyes shifted as he thought.

He could make this spiritual-power thief take him home.

That way, not only could he watch the human suffer, but he could also make the man his servant. someone to bring him tea and water, and go hunting for food every day!

The more Yun Xing thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.

Based on what he knew about humans, all he had to do was "meow" a couple of times, and this man would immediately clutch his chest and gush,

He's so cute! I really want to take him home!

And so on.

Therefore, when Yun Xing charged at the man again, he held back a little.

Unfortunately, before he could even pretend to be weak and collapse, the man staggered backward several steps as if he'd been hit rather hard.

Yun Xing: So fragile? No wonder he had to steal my spiritual power. Without my spiritual power, he'd probably have died already!

But since things had already come this far, there was no turning back.

Yun Xing gritted his teeth, screwed up his courage, and toppled sideways onto the ground as well.

Tan Xu: Is this cat trying to scam me?

Yun Xing lay there for a while, but no one came to pick him up from the dirty ground.

He peeked out from between his crossed front paws.

The man was standing there like a statue, simply staring at him.

There was even a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Did he see through me? Is this little thief actually laughing at me?

This thief is terrifying!

But Tan Xu wasn't laughing at him.

He had heard that this calico liked to act cute and pretend to trip people whenever he was hungry. Tan Xu, however, didn't have anything on him that a kitten could eat.

Seeing the little cat secretly peeking at his expression through the gap between his paws, Tan Xu couldn't help letting out a soft chuckle.

To Yun Xing, that chuckle was like a declaration of war.

He really is laughing at me!

Fury surged through Yun Xing.

He sprang to his feet, marched straight up to Tan Xu, and raised his little paw.

Bam, bam.

Two punches landed on Tan Xu.

How dare you laugh at this Mountain God! I'll teach you a lesson. You really think I'm a pushover?

That was what Yun Xing was thinking.

Tan Xu hadn't expected that refusing to feed the little calico would result in getting punched.

Apparently, this was an especially domineering cat.

For all that he lived in a temple, he clearly hadn't learned a thing about cultivating his character. He was nothing but a little scam artist.

Tan Xu bent down and picked the kitten up.

Yun Xing immediately felt his body being stretched out.

He was no longer a fluffy little ball.

He was now a long little noodle.

Seeing that Tan Xu had fallen for his trap, Yun Xing immediately widened his eyes and put on an innocent expression.

Getting this man to take him home was the important part.

The calico's eyes were a pale, glassy color, like clear glass beads. His fur was as smooth and fluffy as silk.

Once he was lifted into the air, he didn't put up a fight. He simply stared quietly at the man in front of him.

Yun Xing noticed Tan Xu looking him over and couldn't help lifting his chin proudly, allowing himself to be inspected.

He had always been extremely confident about his appearance. He had never been afraid of people admiring him.

After all, calicos were, without a doubt, the undisputed beauties of the feline world.

Just as Yun Xing was waiting to receive the human's praise, Tan Xu suddenly said,

"So you're a male cat."

Yun Xing's proudly raised head snapped toward him.

You thief who stole my spiritual power. where exactly were you looking just now?!

He immediately twisted his body and began struggling in Tan Xu's hands.

When Tan Xu finally set him down, Yun Xing didn't forget to give him two more punches.

How dare you peek at this Mountain God's private parts! The audacity!

After being put down, Yun Xing still hadn't forgotten his grand revenge plan.

He could only swallow his pride and rub himself against Tan Xu's pant leg while meowing pitifully.

Tan Xu felt the little creature gently rubbing against his calf.

It tickled a little.

The abbot, who had been greeting worshippers at the entrance, had noticed them a while ago.

He was quite surprised to see how much the calico seemed to like Tan Xu. The abbot walked over with his palms pressed together.

"Looks like Xiaohua really likes you."

Yun Xing: Who the hell is Xiaohua?

______

(t/n : Xiaohua = Little flower)​