14. Revenge

The cat spoke...

The cat could actually speak?!

This was probably the strangest thing Chen Ji had encountered since arriving in this world.

Lamp lights flickered in the main hall of the Medical Hall, casting shifting light and shadows on the face of the black cat, as well as on Chen Ji's own face.

He carefully circled around the Medical Hall, first making sure there was no one in the backyard, then confirming that the dark street outside was also empty before he looked again at the little black cat squatting on the counter, "Just now, ah, I mean just now, were you talking?"

The black cat remained motionless, watching him, and made no more sounds.

But Chen Ji was firm in his belief that it had been this little black cat that spoke just a moment ago!

Could it be because of the cat engagement ceremony, that some sort of magic had taken effect?

"Why won't you talk now?" Chen Ji eyed the little black cat with puzzlement. "Could you say something again? I need to confirm what's going on."

But the small black cat just kept his head up, looking all serious, and didn't make another sound.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, "Say something, and I'll save up to buy you buns to eat."

The small black cat: "..."

Chen Ji: "What about dried small fish?"

The small black cat: "..."

Chen Ji took a deep breath, "Today, Consort Yun's white cat must have given you quite a beating, huh!"

The small black cat stiffened its neck and said, "It didn't fare much better than me!"

Chen Ji looked at the small black cat with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, as the little black cat instinctively shrank its neck.

He asked, "Why didn't you talk just now?"

The small black cat was silent for a moment, "I didn't expect myself to be able to talk all of a sudden."

Chen Ji was left speechless with laughter...

So, it was that the little black cat had simply been answering him subconsciously in its mind and had accidentally made a sound. During this past period, many of the things Chen Ji said had actually been responded to by the little black cat; it's just that he couldn't hear them.

Chen Ji said, "I just named you 'Wu Yun' in the engagement letter, did you know?"

Wu Yun replied with disdain, "That sounds terrible!"

Chen Ji changed the subject, "When did you attain spiritual awareness?"

He liked cats and understood them well enough to know that most cats were actually not intelligent and quite silly.

However, even before Wu Yun started talking, it was clear that the cat had developed spiritual awareness, able to understand human speech and even respond—something many humans could not do.

Wu Yun replied, "When did I attain it? I've always been this way."

"Since birth?"

"Since birth."

Chen Ji thought for a while, "Can you open your mouth and let me have a look inside?"

Wu Yun backed away a little, and the sharp claws on its paws stretched out a bit, "Why should I?"

Chen Ji said feebly, "Can't you be less stubborn, and have a little more trust in each other?"

Wu Yun seemed to think it over before agreeing, "...Alright."

"Come by the oil lamp, and open your mouth... ah."

Reluctantly, Wu Yun opened its mouth, "Ah..."

Looking into its mouth, Chen Ji murmured softly, "One, two, three, four... ten grooves?"

In ancient times, cat lovers wrote about cat-rearing experiences: when engaging a cat, one should first examine the cat's mouth. There are faint grooves like gullies on the upper palate of a cat's mouth, two grooves being the silliest, good for nothing but eating and sleeping; nine grooves are the best, understanding human nature and capable of catching mice and protecting the home.

That is to say, a cat with nine grooves in its mouth is the best kind of cat, but Wu Yun had ten.

Beside the oil residue lamp on the counter, Wu Yun opened his mouth and vocalized from its throat, "Are we done?"

"Done, done," Chen Ji mused, perhaps the ten grooves in its mouth were Wu Yun's special feature?

"Sleepy," Wu Yun naturally lay down, its head resting comfortably in Chen Ji's palm.

But soon, it felt that something was not right. How could a noble being like itself lie in someone else's palm?

Should it get up?

Forget it, let's lie down a little longer.

"Wait, don't sleep yet," said Chen Ji, "I haven't given you the bead yet. I don't know whether it will repel you now or not. Let's try."

Wu Yun sprang to its feet instantly, all traces of sleepiness gone, "Remembering now that I came for that bead... Hand it over quickly, quick!"

Chen Ji handed over the Crystal Bead, and this time, the bead truly did not resist Wu Yun.

The pitch-black Wu Yun slurped the bead into its belly and zipped out of the Medical Hall through the crack of the door, leaving Chen Ji alone in a mess.

It just left like that?!

At that moment, Chen Ji felt a warm current coming from the direction Wu Yun had disappeared in!

The warm current was like the magma deep within the mountain ranges of the earth, fiery and scalding, like the torrential rain of August, grand and powerful.

Eventually, it entered his body through the forehead, nourishing his limbs and bones, and slowly converged at his chest.

Chen Ji was astonished; it was a power he had never experienced before.

Unlike the violent and rapid Ice Flow, this Molten Flow merely trickled slowly.

And while the Ice Flow was something he could not activate, the Molten Flow did move a little under the command of his own will.

When the Molten Flow flowed out of Chen Ji's Dantian under his control, traveling through his blood, he felt an exceptional comfort in the parts it passed through, as if on a several-degree cold winter day, he suddenly plunged into a hot spring.

In the middle of the night at the Qingshan Mental Hospital, Chen Ji felt his life was now beyond regret.

He no longer planned his life, no longer dreamed about the future. Whether the food tasted good, or if the clothes looked nice, it didn't seem very important anymore.

Now, for the first time, he truly felt the mysterious new world and was immersed in it.

Moreover, Chen Ji was no longer alone. He now had a cat.

...

...

Under the night sky, Luocheng City fell into slumber.

After the chaos in Princess Consort Jing's Late Star Garden, the Prince Jing Mansion had returned to peace, with Prince Jing having not returned for over ten days. It was said that due to the tense military situation with the Jing Dynasty, the Iron Cavalry had already reached Shanhai Pass, with troops at the city gates.

Prince Jing, stationed in Luocheng City—the central hub of the Grand Canal in the south—needed to amass a large amount of military rations in the south to be sent north through the canal.

Under the moonlight, a small black cat moved silently along the rooftops, stepping lightly. A surge of powerful strength swelled within its body. After swallowing that Crystal Bead, the muscles inside Wu Yun's body rapidly restructured and grew, gaining the strength of an entire extra cat!

When Wu Yun leaped onto the eaves of Jing'an Palace, if someone were to look up from below, the cat would nearly overlap with the crescent moon above, as if standing on the crook of the crescent.

At that moment, a Royal Mansion Guard sensed something amiss and abruptly turned his head, his armor clanking loudly. His keen gaze swept across the glazed roof of Jing'an Palace, but there was nothing there anymore.

The guard hesitated for a second, then darted up to the eaves, holding his long spear upside down, and chased in the direction of his suspicions.

The next instant, the guard leaped down from the eaves, his huge shadow oppressive, like a night owl.

He made a full round, then crouched down, using the moonlight to check for fresh footprints on the ground, but still found nothing.

"Strange, am I being paranoid?" The guard slowly withdrew.

It was much later when Wu Yun, curled up in a corner and blending with the shadows, stretched and continued towards the deeper parts of the mansion.

It passed Mingzheng Hall, crossed Late Star Garden, evaded patrolling guards and vigilant servants, traversed mountains and waded through waters, and finally arrived in front of Consort Yun's Feiyun Garden.

Wu Yun extended its claws to hook onto a wooden column, determinedly climbing up to the second floor of the Covered Building. The window was open, so it sneakily clung to the windowsill, peering inside.

The white cat inside opened its eyes and stared straight at Wu Yun!

Wu Yun: "Tch!"

And turned tail to flee.

Seeing this, the white lion cat leaped out of the window and chased Wu Yun towards the back garden. It was puzzled, though—how could this once easily defeated opponent now be so cowardly yet courageous?

The white lion cat pursued Wu Yun into the back garden, through a rockery, across a lawn, and finally, in front of Prince Mansion's famous Feibai Pond, it lost sight of Wu Yun.

Prince Jing Mansion's Feibai Pond was famous for its calligraphy-like shape; "feibai" refers to the dry brushstrokes in calligraphy. The shallow pond with its stand of rocks, the water cutting off and flowing intermittently, was like writing with a dry brush, creating an extraordinary aesthetic.

Feibai Pond, along with Tinglei Pavilion and National Garden, were all places in Luocheng City that the literati loved to discuss.

At that moment, the white lion cat sniffed the air above but was shocked to find the scent coming from behind!

In an instant, the white lion cat's fur stood on end. Just as it tried to turn around, it was already too late—a black cat pounced from behind and knocked the white cat over with a smack.

The white lion cat couldn't understand how in the span of just a few hours, its defeated opponent had turned the tables, its small body somehow containing even greater strength than its own.

In the shadowy interplay, Wu Yun seized an opening to pin the white lion cat to the ground, clenched its paw into a fist, and repeatedly thumped its head, launching a barrage of hits!

Unbeknownst to Chen Ji, Wu Yun had pride, but it had the merits to back it up. Its combat instincts far surpassed those of its peers, possessing a much stronger sense of battle intuition.

Even if their strength was nearly equal, the white lion cat could only take the beating.

The white lion cat began to whimper and beg for mercy, but Wu Yun cared not for such things. It had endured its share of beatings whenever Consort Yun visited Late Star Garden.

Vengeance came at that moment!

Wu Yun flipped the white lion cat over, exposed one claw beneath the white cat and gave it a fierce flick!

It let out a long breath, stepped a forepaw onto its old adversary while lifting its head to gaze at the moon, looking triumphant.

However, Wu Yun still felt that its revenge wasn't complete enough...

It quietly returned to Feiyun Garden and licked all the desserts that the servants had left in the side room, finally leaving with a sense of satisfaction.

In the front hall of the Medical Hall.

Chen Ji was flipping through a book when he saw the black cat returning with an elegant stride. Curious, he asked, "Where have you just been?"

Wu Yun raised its head: "Triumphant return!"

Chen Ji: "..."

How proud it seemed.

Chen Ji closed the book: "Did you go beat up that white cat?"

"Understand me, beat him fiercely!" Wu Yun held its head even higher.

"Did anyone discover you?"

"No."

"Did you kill it?"

Wu Yun hesitated: "...No."

Chen Ji looked slightly disappointed.

Wu Yun quickly added, "But I licked all their desserts in Feiyun Garden!"

Chen Ji nodded, "That's somewhat gratifying."

"Hehehe."

"Hehehe."

As they were talking, a rustling noise came from the backyard. Chen Ji turned to see Liu Quxing wrapped in an overcoat, looking curiously into the Medical Hall: "Chen Ji, I just heard you talking? Who were you speaking with?"

Chen Ji paused for a moment: "I was just talking to myself, did Senior Brother Liu hear anything else?"

Liu Quxing wondered, "A cat's meow; it seems a stray cat has gotten into our yard, did you see it?"

By then, Wu Yun had already vanished from the counter.