Chapter 18
For the past two days, Yun Xing had been so worried about Tan Xu that he completely stopped causing trouble around the apartment—a sudden change in behavior that Tan Xu found quite hard to get used to.
As a result, every day Tan Xu would unlock the tablet, place it in front of Yun Xing, and tell him it was fully charged, but gently warn him not to play for too long.
Yun Xing looked up at Tan Xu in complete disbelief. Tan Xu reached out, patted his small head, and chuckled, "Relax."
In reality, Yun Xing could sense that Tan Xu's condition was steadily worsening. He desperately wanted to find a way to save his servant, but trapped here without a single animal he could converse with, what was he supposed to do?
Yun Xing tapped his paw against the tablet screen, thinking of his grandfather.
He had been away from the mountain for quite a while now. His grandfather had probably returned by now; when Yun Xing first ventured down the mountain, his grandfather had gone to visit his parents and hadn't yet come back.
Yun Xing’s parents were also cats. The difference was that after attaining human form, they chose not to stay on Mount Mingwu, opting instead to work in human society. Because of this, his grandfather’s successor as the next Mountain God could only be Yun Xing.
Yun Xing had never seen his parents in their human forms, but he still remembered how, when he was tiny, his mother would bring back heaps of delicious food every time she visited. She would even groom his fur.
Thinking it over, Yun Xing slammed his paw down in a sudden stroke of genius: he would get his mom and dad to help save Tan Xu! His grandfather was getting older and didn't have much spiritual energy left anyway, so Yun Xing felt bad troubling him further.
But how was he supposed to find them? After all, no non-human entity would ever suddenly reveal their true animal form in human society.
At this thought, Yun Xing's tail drooped again. He glanced at the locked front door. Would he have to go out and look for them himself?
But the world was vast—where could he even begin to search for parents whose human faces he didn't even recognize?
His little head was bursting with unanswered questions, and his claws unconsciously began scratching at the sofa. By the time he snapped out of it, the sofa's knitted fabric had been clawed into a frayed mess of endless little pulled loops.
Yun Xing: ...
However, he tossed the matter to the back of his mind almost immediately. It was just a sofa; what could Tan Xu possibly do to him?
When Tan Xu walked through the front door, the first thing he saw was a listless Yun Xing lying on the sofa, and the fabric completely shredded.
Seeing Tan Xu return, Yun Xing instantly leaped down and snuffled around his legs.
The sickly aura around Tan Xu was still very heavy today. Yun Xing whipped his tail against Tan Xu's calf—not very hard, but enough for Tan Xu to bend down and scoop him up into his arms.
Tan Xu casually glanced at the cat food bowl. The kibble was mostly gone, leaving just three or four pieces scattered at the bottom—most likely Yun Xing’s emergency "survival stash."
Although Tan Xu had no idea how many days these few pieces of kibble were supposed to last, the kitten always left a few behind after every refill. At first, Tan Xu thought he was serving too much, but even after reducing the portion, Yun Xing still left those exact few pieces. It wasn't until people online explained that it was a kitten's emergency "survival stash" that he finally understood what it meant.
Tan Xu carried the kitten over to the sofa like a little hostage. The moment Yun Xing wiggled out from under his hands, he stomped his paws onto Tan Xu's thigh. "Tan Xu!"
Seeing his dead-serious expression, Tan Xu couldn't help but chuckle as he reached out to pet the kitten's head. "What is it, Xingxing?"
"You need to help me," Yun Xing said with a solemn kitten face. "I have to save you."
Tan Xu couldn't understand a word he said, but Yun Xing prattled on for a long time anyway. Deep down, he knew Tan Xu couldn't understand him; he just needed to get it off his chest.
Tan Xu simply watched as Yun Xing paced back and forth on the sofa, meowing and chattering in his mysterious cat language.
Running his hand over the severely shredded fabric, Tan Xu decided he might as well just replace the sofa entirely. He pulled out his phone and began scrolling through shopping apps.
Seeing Tan Xu pull out his phone, Yun Xing scrambled over and hooked his paws onto Tan Xu's arm to look. The app displayed a dazzling array of furniture. Tan Xu didn't care much about sofa styles, but noticing how intrigued Yun Xing was, he lowered the screen so the kitten could get a better look.
Yun Xing found all the sofas pretty mediocre—they were either black or gray, completely lacking any creativity.
Tan Xu's home had been exactly like that. When Yun Xing first arrived, everything was monochrome black, white, and gray, looking utterly lifeless. His own home on the mountain wasn't like this at all; it was filled with beautiful, vibrant things.
Though nowadays, Tan Xu's apartment had a few of Yun Xing's belongings scattered around, making it look much less stiff and dreary.
All thanks to me, Yun Xing thought proudly.
Tan Xu slowly scrolled down with his thumb so Yun Xing could get a clear view of each option.
The little calico clung to his arm and watched for a while, finally slamming his paw onto Tan Xu's swiping hand when they scrolled past a cat-shaped sofa.
To call it a "cat-shaped sofa" was a bit of a stretch—it was really just a standard couch with two small cat ears attached to the sides. But to Yun Xing, compared to the sea of cookie-cutter sofas, this one stood out completely.
Besides, those little cat ears would let anyone who entered the home know at a single glance who was really in charge around here.
He let out a few quick meows and nodded his small head eagerly when Tan Xu tapped into the product page.
Tan Xu scrolled through the details and customer reviews. "You like this one?"
Yun Xing let out an affirmative meow.
Tan Xu had no real preferences when it came to home decor. Since hardly anyone visited his place anyway, he used to just buy whatever was convenient. But now that he had Yun Xing in the house, he naturally wanted to pick something the kitten liked.
Soon after he placed the order, the furniture store staff called to confirm delivery for that very afternoon, asking if the building had an elevator and if it was large enough.
After hanging up, Tan Xu began mulling over where to put the old sofa. His apartment wasn't huge, but it wasn't exactly small either; still, keeping two full-sized sofas seemed a bit excessive.
Knowing that Tan Xu was replacing the sofa, Yun Xing looked down at his paws. His claws had been trimmed before, but they had grown out a bit now. They aren't even that sharp, though, are they?
Yun Xing flexed his paws and gave the sofa two more experimental scratches. Replacing an entire sofa just because of a couple of scratch marks? Tan Xu must be quite well-off. Raising me will definitely earn him plenty of entries in the karmic ledger.
Having reasoned this out, Yun Xing landed softly on the floor, trotting past Tan Xu with his tail held high in the air. He waddled over to his bowl—which had just been refilled—took a couple of bites, and cast a sidelong glance at Tan Xu, who was still staring at the old couch.
Having just engaged in a bout of impulse shopping, Yun Xing started feeling a tiny pang of regret after a couple of mouthfuls. The sofa was only slightly frayed, yet Tan Xu was replacing the whole thing. He really has no concept of the cost of running a household.
After thinking it over, he trotted back to Tan Xu and meowed: "Maybe you should just cancel the order. I can scratch up the rest of this old sofa evenly, and then you can tell people it's a design choice!"
Seeing Yun Xing return after taking just two bites, Tan Xu rubbed his head gently. "What's wrong?"
Yun Xing found it immensely frustrating that Tan Xu could never understand a word he said. So, he hopped back onto the sofa and dramatically acted out sharpening his claws once more.
Tan Xu seemed to half-understand. "Do you want to keep it so you can continue scratching your claws?"
Yun Xing: ...There's really no communicating with an idiot like you.
Yun Xing gave the sofa a few more vigorous scratches and suddenly began to appreciate the joy in it. Since the sofa was going to be replaced anyway, he might as well scratch it up some more. That way, he was making full use of it, so it wouldn't be a total waste.
He decided he was officially the smartest kitten in the whole world. But seeing him scratch continuously, Tan Xu picked up one of his paws to inspect it. Yun Xing let out a few protest meows, trying to yank his paw back out of Tan Xu's grasp.
But Tan Xu's hand was like an iron vise, holding his paw firmly in place. After two failed tugs, Yun Xing unsheathed his other paw and landed two rapid-fire thumps on Tan Xu.
He figured Tan Xu had simply gone too long without a beating and missed the taste of his tiny cat fists.
To his surprise, Tan Xu just grabbed his other paw as well and inspected it closely. "Hold still, Xingxing. Are your claws uncomfortable now that they've grown out?"
Yun Xing was utterly speechless. Back when he lived by himself on Mount Mingwu, his claws were incredibly sharp. What did he mean, "uncomfortable"? Obviously, the sharper they grew, the more majestic he looked, alright?
After examining the paws for a bit without noticing anything unusual, Tan Xu remembered that he had created a social media account for Yun Xing. It had plenty of followers who owned cats; maybe they would know the reason.
Tan Xu pulled out his phone. Seeing Tan Xu holding his paw and aiming the camera at his magnificently sharp claws, Yun Xing immediately reached out with his free paw, resting it on Tan Xu's hand to push the camera upward until his cute little cat face filled the frame.
Yun Xing naturally tilted his head back, striking a pose that proudly showcased the heavy gold lock around his neck.
Tan Xu found it amusing how Yun Xing intentionally tilted his head back to flex his big gold lock whenever a photo was taken, but he also thought it was adorable—like a little child showing off a prized possession to anyone who would look.
Humoring the kitten, Tan Xu snapped a few photos of his proud pose, followed by a few clear shots of his paws.
Once posted online, the likes poured in rapidly. Yun Xing, who was busy wrestling with his freshly washed and dried yellow fish toy, suddenly felt his spiritual energy begin to surge. He cast a sneaky glance over at Tan Xu, who was engrossed in his phone.
Strange. Tan Xu isn't even making offerings to me right now.
Ever since Tan Xu's illness flared up last time, Yun Xing hadn't dared to waste any spiritual power on dream visitations, terrified that if Tan Xu relapsed again, he wouldn't have enough power left to save him.
So right now, regardless of where this fresh wave of spiritual energy was coming from, he didn't care—as long as it was accumulating in his own body!
The internet was flooded with comments. Some suggested that scratching meant the kitten's claws felt uncomfortable, while others claimed it was scent-marking, or perhaps just a sign of a great mood.
Another netizen suggested buying a scratching post. Tan Xu glanced at the scratching post sitting unused by the window and replied: Bought one, but he never uses it. The very first time he scratched something, it was the sofa.
The netizens were enthusiastic, but Tan Xu was deeply dissatisfied with one particular comment.
[Is the kitten acting out because he doesn't like you and wants revenge?]
Seeing this sentence made Tan Xu extremely annoyed. Whether Yun Xing was trying to seek revenge on him was a separate matter, but there was no way Yun Xing disliked him!
Yun Xing had voluntarily followed him home in the first place, and had been so visibly worried when he got sick. These netizens were spouting absolute nonsense.
Tan Xu long-pressed the comment and tapped delete.
Meanwhile, Yun Xing was lying on the floor, clutching the big yellow fish plushie. He clamped his teeth fiercely onto the toy's head and kicked aggressively with his entire body, dragging the fish downward. As the plush fabric slipped from his jaws, he leaned down, bit it again, and kept yanking.
No matter how you looked at it, the only thing Yun Xing harbored a grudge against was this yellow fish plushie.
Tan Xu stood up from the sofa, and Yun Xing instantly stopped what he was doing to look at him.
Wherever Tan Xu walked, Yun Xing's eyes tracked him devotedly. A wave of comfort washed over Tan Xu. See? The kitten clearly cares about me!
Those netizens were really just jumping to conclusions at the slightest breeze, completely lacking any independent thought!
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