Chapter 57: Cat God

"Alright, let's go, let's go. We'll try to reach the inn before sunset."

Everyone was still captivated by the bearded man's tale of the Muwang descendants case in Yong'an County and Gu Mo's extraordinary display of power when Lin Zhenyue, the chief escort leader, gave the order to depart.

Immediately, the escorts and porters began to prepare their gear. With a loud shout from Lin Zhenyue, the team assembled in an orderly fashion. They skillfully mounted their horses, reins gripped tightly in their hands, while the porters checked the carriages. Hooves clattered and wheels rumbled as the escort convoy set off magnificently.

As evening approached, the sky suddenly turned overcast.The convoy was currently traveling through the woods. Lin Zhenyue glanced at the sky, worried it might rain, and since their destination, the inn, was still some distance away, he ordered them to quicken their pace.

Suddenly, the leading carriage came to a halt, forcing all the following carriages to stop as well. Lin Zhenyue, the chief escort leader in the middle of the convoy, grew a bit impatient and asked, "What's going on?"An escort shouted back, "Leader Lin, come see this! Something's not right up ahead!"

Lin Zhenyue immediately spurred his horse to the very front and saw a large group of cats. Their fur was mottled, and their eyes glowed eerily in the sunlight. They were squatting or sitting, completely blocking the path forward. These cats stared at the convoy without any fear. The largest one, leading the group, let out a low growl. There were roughly thirty of them.

Lin Zhenyue waved his hand and said, "Quickly, drive them away.""Leader Lin, that's not advisable," an old escort interjected. "Ten years ago, I escorted a convoy along this very road. Back then, I didn't have a map, so I hired a local guide, and we also encountered wildcats blocking our path. The local told me they had a Cat God Temple there, where they worshipped a very effective Cat God. He said these outdoor cats were the Cat God's descendants, and it was best not to offend them. When they blocked the road like this, he advised giving them something to appease them. I took his advice and threw out some dry food, and the cats really did leave."

Lin Zhenyue was already anxious because it was about to rain, and hearing the escort utter such superstitious nonsense immediately made his already irritable mood even more impatient. He angrily declared, "You're an old hand in this business, yet you still believe in such supernatural absurdities? Someone, drive these cats away for me!"

Immediately, several porters obeyed the command and shouted as they advanced to chase them off. They brandished their sticks, attempting to scare the cats away.However, this action not only failed to drive the cats off but enraged them instead. In an instant, the wildcats lunged forward, claws out and teeth bared. Their movements were swift and agile, and their sharp claws and teeth gleamed coldly in the sunlight as they attacked the porters.

Seeing this, Lin Zhenyue's face darkened. He didn't want to waste any more time. He immediately spurred his horse forward, kicking a large white cat several feet away. The cat shrieked, was flung a good distance, slammed to the ground, and died instantly."Kill them! Don't waste any more time, it's going to rain!"

Hearing his command, the porters drew their weapons. In a flash, blades flashed and swords clanged. The cats began to shriek, and before long, one by one, they fell into pools of blood. Only the large wildcat that had been leading them, thanks to its agility, found a gap in the chaos and limped away.

After running for a distance, it suddenly stopped and looked back at the horrific scene behind it, its eyes filled with hatred.Lin Zhenyue's gaze met the large wildcat's, and an inexplicable tightness seized his heart.He frowned slightly, thinking to himself that the pressure of escorting this convoy was too great; he was actually being affected by a few superstitious remarks and now even startled by a cat's gaze.

Immediately, Lin Zhenyue instructed the porters to casually discard the cats' bodies by the roadside, then ordered the convoy to pick up speed.The team set off once more, kicking up a long trail of dust.

Urged on by Lin Zhenyue, the convoy finally reached the inn just before the onset of evening. No sooner had the escorts moved the goods into the inn's warehouse than a torrential downpour began outside.

After dinner, eaten in shifts, Lin Zhenyue arranged the night watch assignments and then went to rest.

Deep in the night,As Lin Zhenyue was drifting in and out of sleep, he suddenly heard urgent knocking at his door. Outside, an escort was shouting in a panicked voice, "Leader Lin, Leader Lin, quick, quick, come out! Something's happened, something big!"

Lin Zhenyue suddenly sat up in bed, shaking his head slightly. He chastised himself, realizing he had been too relaxed and had actually fallen asleep."What's wrong?" Lin Zhenyue asked hastily as he opened the door.The escort stammered nervously, "You... you go outside... and see... you'll know..."

Lin Zhenyue rushed out of the room and saw dozens of escorts, all armed, gathered by the doorway in the inn's ground-floor hall.Lin Zhenyue went to the front and, upon seeing the scene, felt his scalp tingle.In the rainy night, countless pairs of eerie green eyes glowed in the darkness, flickering like ghostly flames. The inn's courtyard walls, corners, and even under the eaves were teeming with cats. Those glowing green eyes in the darkness shimmered with a cold light, like hellfire, carrying an indescribable chill and terror. The entire inn was enveloped in this bizarre atmosphere, sending shivers down their spines and making their blood run cold. What chilled Lin Zhenyue the most was that the bodies of the dozens of cats they had killed during the day were now all arranged neatly at the entrance.

"Leader Lin... these cats, they seem to be here for revenge!"Qu Heng, standing next to Lin Zhenyue, swallowed hard, his eyes wide with panic. In his decades as an escort, he had never encountered anything so sinister. There were at least seven or eight hundred cats here, an organized group of this scale, and for revenge – it was simply unheard of.

Lin Zhenyue was also feeling uneasy now, but he was an experienced veteran and a top-tier martial artist. He snorted coldly, channeling his internal energy, and shouted, "What master is playing tricks here? If you have something to say, why not show yourself?"Lin Zhenyue's voice echoed through the rainy night.

After a long pause, a very eerie voice came from outside: "Lin Zhenyue, today during the day, my descendants merely sought some passage fees from you, yet you killed them all. I have come specifically for revenge."Hearing this human voice, Lin Zhenyue immediately concluded that someone was merely putting on an act. He scoffed, "Why pretend to be a god..."However, before he could finish his sentence, he froze.Because he saw a colossal white figure slowly emerge from the depths of the rainy night. It was a cat, a white cat several times larger than an ox. Its fur, drenched and clinging to its body from the rain, still could not hide its immense size and the aura of majesty it exuded.

With a light leap, the cat landed on the tiled roof above the inn's main gate, looking down at Lin Zhenyue. It opened its mouth and, shockingly, spoke in human language: "Kill!"At the white cat's command, the dense mass of cats surrounding them instantly surged towards the escorts like a black tide. Their eyes gleamed with ferocity, they hissed, and their sharp claws flashed coldly in the rainy night.

Although the escorts were seasoned veterans, they were stunned by this sight. They hastily drew their swords to meet the enemy. In an instant, shouts of battle, screams, and the sound of rain intertwined, and the scent of blood rapidly filled the air.

Seeing this, Lin Zhenyue roared and charged forward, swinging his fists and quickly dispatching several cats. However, the large white cat's form flickered, and it appeared before him as swiftly as a ghost.It raised its enormous paw and slammed it down with a powerful, wind-breaking force.Lin Zhenyue, nicknamed "Hundred Victories Divine Fist," possessed martial arts mastery concentrated in his fists, which were as swift as wind and as heavy as mountains. He met the great white cat's paw head-on. Yet, in that instant, he felt an overwhelming force strike him, followed by intense pain. The bones in both his hands shattered, and they fell limply to his sides.Lin Zhenyue, the mighty "Hundred Victories Divine Fist," had both his hands crippled by a single paw strike from a cat.

Lin Zhenyue's eyes widened, filled with terror and despair, as he stared at the terrifying white cat before him. Before he could react, the white cat's paw swung out again, striking Lin Zhenyue's shoulder. The immense force pressed Lin Zhenyue to his knees on the ground, his hands dangling uselessly, his head bowed.Rain mixed with blood flowed across the ground, forming shocking rivers of red.

The great white cat moved freely through the crowd, each swing of its paw creating a mist of blood. Some escorts had their chests ripped open, their internal organs spilling onto the ground; others had their skulls crushed, brains splattering. Wherever its massive body went, escorts fell like fragile ants. Some were trampled underfoot, the sound of breaking bones accompanied by desperate screams.Those escorts who miraculously avoided a fatal blow were quickly pounced upon by the cat swarm, their bodies savagely bitten and torn by sharp claws and teeth, leaving them covered in wounds and on the verge of death.The great white cat seemed unsatisfied with this one-sided slaughter. It grabbed a wounded escort with its paw, tossed him high into the air, and as he fell, impaled him to the ground with its sharp claws, letting him struggle and wail in agony until he drew his last breath.Watching this brutal scene, the other escorts' limbs went limp with fear. They had no strength to even flee, only able to wait in despair for death to arrive. The entire inn courtyard had become a living hell, and the scent of blood grew even stronger in the rainy night.

"Go."After a long while, the great white cat gave the command, turned, and departed.Instantly, the dense swarm of cats retreated like a receding tide, not forgetting to carry away the bodies of their fallen companions.

In the inn courtyard, many escorts were wailing, and the few who remained standing were utterly terrified. Their bodies trembled, their legs felt as heavy as lead, and fear tightly gripped their minds, robbing them of the courage to even move a step. They could only watch helplessly as the cat swarm, led by the great white cat, gradually vanished into the deep darkness of the rainy night.Just then, the pure white cat slowly turned its head, its emerald eyes glinting with an eerie light. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar.The sound wave spread out like a tangible force, and wherever it reached, everyone seemed to have their souls drawn out of them. Their eyes closed, their bodies went limp, and they collapsed to the ground, falling unconscious.The great white cat indifferently surveyed the fallen individuals, then elegantly turned and slowly disappeared, leaving behind only a deathly silence.