Chapter 14: Revenge

The cat spoke...

The cat actually spoke?!

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

The lamps in the main hall of the medical clinic flickered, casting shifting light and shadow on the black cat's face. Chen Ji's own expression was equally uncertain.

He cautiously circled the medical clinic, first ensuring no one was in the backyard, then checking that the dark street outside the door was also empty. Only then did he turn back to the small black cat squatting on the counter. "Just now, I mean just now, were you talking?"

The black cat stared at him motionlessly, no longer making a sound.

But Chen Ji was absolutely certain at this moment that it was this little black cat that had just spoken!

Could it be that the cat recruitment ceremony had some magical effect?

"Why aren't you talking anymore?" Chen Ji looked at the small black cat suspiciously. "Can you say one more thing? I need to confirm what's going on."

But the small black cat merely held its head stiffly, looking serious, and made no further sound.

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

The small black cat remained silent.

Chen Ji: "Or dried fish."

The small black cat remained silent.

Chen Ji took a deep breath. "That white cat of Concubine Yun's must have given you quite a beating today, didn't it?"

The small black cat, still with its neck stiff, retorted, "It didn't fare much better!"

Chen Ji looked at the small black cat with a half-smile, and the cat instinctively pulled its neck back.

He asked, "Why didn't you speak earlier?"

The small black cat was silent for a moment. "I didn't expect to suddenly be able to speak either."

Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry...

In other words, the small black cat had just unconsciously responded to him in its mind, accidentally making a sound. And over the past period, the small black cat had actually responded to many of Chen Ji's words; he just hadn't been able to hear them.

Chen Ji said, "I just named you 'Wuyun' in the employment contract. Did you know that?"

Wuyun responded with disdain, "That's a terrible name!"

Chen Ji changed the subject. "When did you gain sentience?"

He liked cats and knew a bit about them, so he understood that most cats weren't actually very intelligent, and were often quite silly.

But Wuyun had clearly been sentient even before speaking. It could understand human speech and even respond, which many humans couldn't do.

Wuyun replied, "When did I gain sentience? I've always been this way."

"Since birth?"

"Since birth."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment. "Can you open your mouth and let me take a look inside?"

Wuyun backed away a bit, its sharp claws extending slightly from its paws. "Why should I?"

Chen Ji said helplessly, "Please don't be so stubborn. Let's have a little more trust in each other!"

Wuyun thought about it. "...Alright."

"Come over to the oil lamp and open your mouth... Ah."

Wuyun reluctantly opened its mouth. "Ah..."

Chen Ji peered into its mouth, muttering under his breath, "One, two, three, four... ten ridges?"

In ancient times, cat lovers wrote about their experiences raising cats: when recruiting a cat, one first needed to examine its mouth. On the roof of a cat's mouth were shallow, groove-like ridges. Two ridges meant the cat was the silliest, only good for eating and sleeping; nine ridges were the best, indicating intelligence, the ability to catch mice, and manage the household.

This meant that a cat with nine ridges in its mouth was considered the best, but Wuyun had ten.

Beside the oil lamp on the counter, Wuyun, with its mouth still open, made a sound from its throat. "Are you done yet?"

"Yes, yes," Chen Ji said thoughtfully. Could ten ridges in its mouth be Wuyun's unique characteristic?

"I'm sleepy," Wuyun said, lying down naturally. Its head rested perfectly in Chen Ji's palm, warm and comfortable.

But it quickly felt that something was wrong. How could a noble being like itself lie in someone else's hand?

Should I get up?

Never mind, I'll lie here a bit longer.

"Wait, don't go to sleep yet," Chen Ji said. "I haven't given you the bead yet. I wonder if it will still repel you now. Get up and try."

Wuyun shot up, all sleepiness gone. "I just remembered I came for that bead... Give me the bead, quick, quick, quick!"

Chen Ji handed over the crystal bead. This time, the bead actually didn't resist Wuyun.

The dark Wuyun swallowed the bead with a slurp, then zipped out of the medical clinic through the gap under the door, leaving Chen Ji utterly bewildered.

It just left?!

Just then, Chen Ji felt a warm current coming from the direction Wuyun had gone!

The warm current was like magma deep within the earth's mountains, scorching hot, and also like a powerful downpour in August, immense and forceful.

Finally, it entered his body through his brow, permeated his limbs and bones, and slowly gathered in his chest.

Chen Ji was stunned; this was a power he had never experienced before.

Unlike the violent and rapid "ice current," this "melt current" flowed slowly.

Furthermore, the ice current was something he couldn't activate, but the melt current actually moved slightly under the propulsion of his own will.

When the melt current, under Chen Ji's control, flowed out of his dantian along his bloodstream, he felt extraordinary comfort in the areas it passed through, like suddenly soaking in a hot spring during the depths of winter.

At midnight in Qing Shan Mental Hospital, Chen Ji had felt that his life held no more regrets.

He no longer planned his life or yearned for the future. Whether food tasted good or clothes looked nice no longer seemed very important.

Now, for the first first time, he truly felt a mysterious new world and found himself within it.

Moreover, Chen Ji was no longer alone; he had a cat.

As night fell, Luocheng sank into slumber.

After the chaos at Concubine Jing's Evening Star Garden, Prince Jing's Estate had returned to tranquility. Prince Jing himself hadn't returned for over ten days, reportedly due to the tightening war with the Jing Dynasty. Northern cavalry had already reached Shanhai Pass, laying siege to the city.

Prince Jing, stationed in Luocheng, the southern transfer hub of the Grand Canal, needed to procure large quantities of military provisions in the south and send them north via the canal.

Under the moonlight, a small black cat moved silently along the eaves, its steps light. A surge of power coursed through its body. After consuming the crystal bead, Wuyun's muscles rapidly restructured and grew, gaining the strength of an entire cat!

When Wuyun leaped onto the eaves of Jing'an Palace, anyone looking up from below would see it almost perfectly overlap with the crescent moon in the sky, as if it were standing on the moon's hook.

Just then, a palace guard sensed something and abruptly turned his head. His armor clanked as his hawk-like gaze swept across the glazed roof of Jing'an Palace, but there was nothing there.

The guard hesitated for a second, then quickly climbed onto the eaves, holding his halberd inverted as he pursued the direction of his suspicion.

The next moment, the guard leaped down from the eaves, his large silhouette casting an oppressive presence like a night owl.

He circled the area, then crouched down to check the ground for fresh paw prints under the moonlight, but still found nothing.

"Strange, was I just being overly suspicious?" the guard muttered, slowly departing.

Much later, Wuyun, which had been curled up in a ball in the corner, blending into the shadows, stretched its body and continued deeper into the estate.

It passed through Mingzheng Hall, then Evening Star Garden, evading patrolling guards and vigilant night watchmen. Overcoming obstacles as if traversing mountains and thorny paths, it finally arrived before Concubine Yun's Feiyun Garden.

Wuyun extended its claws, hooked onto a wooden pillar, and climbed steadily towards the second floor of the building. The window was open, so it stealthily clung to the windowsill and peered inside.

Inside, the white cat opened its eyes and stared intently at Wuyun!

Wuyun: "Ptooey!"

Then it turned and ran.

Seeing this, the white Persian cat leaped out the window and chased Wuyun into the back garden. It was a bit puzzled, though: how could this defeated opponent be both cowardly and brave at the same time?

The white Persian cat pursued Wuyun through the back garden, past a rocky landscape and across a grassy area, finally losing its trail before the Prince's Estate's famous Feibai Pond.

Prince Jing's Estate's Feibai Pond was renowned for its resemblance to calligraphy. "Feibai" generally refers to the dry brush strokes in calligraphy. This shallow pond featured numerous rocks and intermittent water flow, resembling the lines of a dry brush and creating a transcendent artistic mood.

Feibai Pond, Ting Lei Pavilion, and the National Garden within Prince Jing's Estate were all popular topics among Luocheng's literati.

At that moment, the white Persian cat sniffed the air, only to discover with a shock that the scent was coming from behind it!

Instantly, the white Persian cat's fur bristled. Just as it tried to turn, it was too late; a ball of black cat pounced from behind, knocking it head over heels with one paw.

The white Persian cat couldn't understand how this defeated opponent had turned the tables in just a few hours; its small body now possessed even greater strength than its own.

As their figures intertwined, Wuyun seized an opening, pinned the white Persian cat to the ground, curled its paws into fists, and relentlessly pounded its head with powerful blows!

Chen Ji didn't know that Wuyun's pride was well-founded. Its combat instincts far surpassed those of its peers, possessing an even stronger fighting intuition.

Even if their strength was comparable, the white Persian cat was destined to take a beating.

The white Persian cat began to whimper and beg for mercy, but Wuyun paid no attention. It had endured countless beatings during this period; every time Concubine Yun visited Evening Star Garden, Wuyun received a thrashing.

Revenge was now!

Wuyun flipped the white Persian cat over, extended a claw, and gave it a mighty flick beneath its crotch!

It let out a long breath, placed a front paw on its old adversary, looked up at the moon, and beamed with pride.

However, Wuyun still felt it wasn't enough to satisfy its anger...

So it quietly returned to Feiyun Garden and licked all the pastries that the servants had left in the side room, only then departing with satisfaction.

***

The main hall of the medical clinic.

Chen Ji was flipping through a book when he saw the black cat return with elegant steps. He asked curiously, "Where did you just go?"

Wuyun lifted its head. "Triumphant return!"

Chen Ji was speechless.

Quite proud, wasn't it?

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

"You get me! A fierce beating!" Wuyun held its head even higher.

"Were you discovered?"

"No."

"Did you beat it to death?"

Wuyun hesitated. "...No."

Chen Ji's expression showed a hint of disappointment.

Wuyun quickly added, "But I licked all the pastries in their Feiyun Garden!"

Chen Ji nodded. "That works."

"Hehehe."

"Hehehe."

Just as they were talking, a rustling sound came from the backyard. Chen Ji turned and saw Liu Quxing, wrapped in a padded jacket, peering into the medical clinic. "Chen Ji, I just heard you talking? Who were you talking to?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment. "I was just talking to myself. Did you hear anything else, Senior Brother Liu?"

Liu Quxing wondered, "Cat meows. It sounds like a stray cat got into our courtyard. Did you see it?"

By then, Wuyun was nowhere to be seen on the counter.