Chapter 14: Revenge

A cat spoke…

A cat actually spoke?!

This was perhaps the most bizarre occurrence Chen Ji had encountered since arriving in this world.

In the main hall of the medical clinic, the lamp flickered, casting dancing shadows upon the black cat's face, rendering its expression uncertain, much like Chen Ji's own.

Cautiously, he circled the clinic, first ensuring no one was in the backyard, then confirming the dark street outside the door was deserted. Only then did he turn his attention back to the small black cat perched on the counter. "Just now… I mean, just now, were you speaking?"

The black cat gazed at him, motionless, utter silence prevailing once more.

Yet, at this moment, Chen Ji was absolutely certain. The voice he had heard moments ago belonged to this very black cat!

Could it be due to the ritual of hiring a cat, perhaps producing some wondrous effect?

"Why aren't you speaking again?" Chen Ji eyed the little black cat with doubt. "Could you say just one more sentence? It would help me confirm what's happening."

But the small black cat remained rigid, wearing a look of utmost seriousness, refusing to utter another sound.

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

The small black cat remained silent.

Chen Ji continued, "Buy you dried little fish."

Still, no sound from the small black cat.

Chen Ji inhaled deeply. "That white cat, Yun Fei, surely beat you quite badly today, didn't he?"

The small black cat stiffened its neck. "He didn't fare much better!"

Chen Ji regarded the small black cat with a half-smile. The cat then subconsciously drew in its neck.

He asked, "Why weren't you speaking just now?"

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

Chen Ji was caught between tears and laughter…

This meant that moments ago, the small black cat had merely responded subconsciously in its heart, inadvertently vocalizing its thoughts. And during the preceding period, many of Chen Ji's words had, in fact, elicited responses from the small black cat, only he hadn't been able to hear them.

Chen Ji said, "In the hiring document just now, I named you 'Wu Yun'. Are you aware of this?"

Wu Yun said disdainfully, "That name is hideously ugly!"

Chen Ji changed the subject. "When did you open your spiritual intelligence?"

He was fond of cats and had some understanding of them. He knew that most cats were not particularly clever, indeed, quite foolish.

But Wu Yun, even before it spoke, clearly possessed spiritual intelligence. It could understand human speech and even respond, a feat many humans themselves struggled with.

Wu Yun answered, "When did I open my spiritual intelligence? I've always been like this."

"Born this way?"

"Born this way."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment. "Could you open your mouth and let me have a look?"

Wu Yun retreated slightly, its sharp claws extending. "Why?"

Chen Ji said helplessly, "Don't be so stubborn, alright? A little more trust between us!"

Wu Yun thought for a moment. "…Alright."

"Come over to the oil lamp, open your mouth… ah."

Wu Yun reluctantly opened its mouth. "Ah…"

Chen Ji peered into its mouth and murmured, "One, two, three, four… ten ridges?"

In ancient times, there were cat enthusiasts who documented their insights on raising cats. They wrote that when hiring a cat, one should first examine its mouth. On the roof of the cat's mouth were shallow, groove-like ridges. Two ridges indicated extreme foolishness, a creature that merely ate and slept. Nine ridges were the best, signifying understanding of human nature and the ability to catch mice and guard the home.

In other words, a cat with nine ridges in its mouth was considered the finest specimen. But Wu Yun's mouth had ten ridges.

By the oil lamp on the counter, Wu Yun, still with its mouth open, emitted a sound from its throat. "Are you done?"

"Done, done," Chen Ji said thoughtfully. Perhaps ten ridges was Wu Yun's unique characteristic?

"Tired," Wu Yun naturally lay down, its head resting perfectly in Chen Ji's palm, warm to the touch.

But it quickly felt that something was amiss. How could its noble self be lying in another's palm?

Should it get up?

Forget it, it would lie there a little longer.

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

Wu Yun sprang up in a flash, all sleepiness gone. "I just remembered I came for that bead… quickly give me the bead, quick, quick, quick!"

Chen Ji held out the crystal bead. This time, the bead actually offered no resistance to Wu Yun.

The jet-black Wu Yun slurped the bead into its belly in one gulp, then whooshed out of the medical clinic through the door crack, leaving Chen Ji in bewildered disarray.

It just left just like that?!

Just at that moment, Chen Ji sensed a warm current emanating from the direction Wu Yun had left!

This warm current was like molten rock from deep within the earth's mountains, scorching and boiling, yet also like the heavy rain of August, majestic and powerful.

Finally, it drilled into his body from the center of his brow, nourishing his limbs and bones, before slowly gathering in his heart.

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

Unlike the irritable speed of the ice current, this molten flow moved slowly.

And the ice current he could not urge, but the molten flow, under his own will, actually shifted a bit.

When the molten flow, under Chen Ji's control, followed his blood flow out of his dantian, he felt the parts it passed through become extraordinarily comfortable, like soaking in a hot spring during the ninth coldest winter.

In the midnight of Qingshan Mental Hospital, Chen Ji had felt that his life held no more regrets.

He no longer planned his life, no longer yearned for the future. As for whether the food was tasty or the clothes attractive, none of it seemed very important.

Now, for the first time, he truly felt the mysterious new world and his place within it.

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

…

…

Under the shroud of night, Luocheng fell silent.

After the chaos in Jing Fei Wansing Garden, the Jing Wangfu had returned to tranquility. Prince Jing had not returned to the manor for over ten days, citing the tense situation with the Jingchao, where northern iron cavalry had already reached Shanhaiguan, with soldiers at the city gates.

Prince Jing, stationed in Luocheng, a crucial transfer hub on the southern Grand Canal, needed to raise vast amounts of military provisions in the south and transport them north via the canal.

Beneath the moonlight, a group of small black cats walked quietly along the rooftops, their footsteps light. Surging power pulsed within its body. After consuming the crystal bead, Wu Yun's muscles had rapidly restructured and grown, increasing its strength by a whole cat's measure!

When Wu Yun leaped onto the flying eaves of Jing'an Hall, if someone looked up from below, it and the crescent moon above almost overlapped, as if it were standing on the moon's hook.

Just at this moment, a Wangfu guard detected something and suddenly turned his head, his armor clanking. His gaze swept over the glazed roof of Jing'an Hall like a hawk, but there was nothing there.

The guard hesitated for a second, then flashed his body and climbed onto the wall eaves, holding a long halberd upside down, pursuing in the suspected direction.

The next moment, the guard leaped down from the wall eaves, a huge black shadow as imposing as a night owl.

He patrolled for a week, then squatted down, using the moonlight to check the ground for fresh footprints, yet still found nothing.

"Strange, am I being overly suspicious?" The guard slowly departed.

Only after a long time did Wu Yun, who had curled up in a corner and merged with the shadows, stretch its body and continue towards the depths of the Wangfu.

It passed Mingzheng Hall, walked past Wansing Garden, avoided patrolling guards and fierce night-watching servants, crossed mountains and waded rivers, pushed through thorns, and finally arrived in front of Yun Fei's Feiyun Garden.

Wu Yun extended its claws, hooked onto a wooden pillar, and climbed firmly towards the second floor of the covered building. The window was open, so it stealthily clung to the windowsill and poked its head inside.

In the room, the white cat opened both eyes and stared directly at Wu Yun!

Wu Yun: "Tsk!"

It turned and fled.

Seeing this, the white lion cat leaped out the window and chased Wu Yun towards the back garden. It was slightly puzzled, how had this subordinate, a defeated general… become both timid and bold again?

The white lion cat chased Wu Yun all the way into the back garden, through a rock garden, across a patch of grass, and finally at the front of the Wangfu's famous Feibai Pool… it lost Wu Yun's trace.

Jing Wangfu's Feibai Pool was renowned for resembling calligraphy. The term "Feibai" generally referred to the dry brushstrokes in calligraphy. This shallow pool of Feibai Pool had standing rock formations and intermittent water flow, like dry brushstrokes, possessing an ethereal quality.

And Jing Wangfu's Feibai Pool, Ting Lei Pavilion, and the National Flower Garden were all places savored by the literati of Luocheng.

At this moment, the white lion cat lightly sniffed the scent in the air, but suddenly discovered that the scent was actually coming from behind!

In an instant, the white lion cat's fur stood on end. Just as it was about to turn, it was too late. A mass of black cat pounced onto its back and slapped it over with one paw.

The white lion cat couldn't understand. How, in just a few hours, had this subordinate, a defeated general, turned the tables? Within its small body, the power was actually slightly greater than its own.

In the intertwined figures, Wu Yun seized the gap, pressed the white lion cat to the ground, balled its claws into fists, and hammered its head, a fierce and violent assault!

Chen Ji did not know that Wu Yun's pride had its basis. Its fighting instinct far surpassed that of its kind, possessing even stronger fighting intuition.

Even if the power difference was not significant, the white lion cat could only endure the beating.

The white lion cat began to whine and beg for mercy, but did Wu Yun care? During this period, it had suffered countless beatings. Every time Yun Fei came to Wansing Garden, it got beaten once.

Revenge was at hand!

Wu Yun flipped the white lion cat over, extended a claw towards the white lion cat's groin, and fiercely flicked!

It exhaled deeply, one front paw stepping on its old opponent's body, lifting its head to look at the moon, full of vigor.

However, Wu Yun always felt the anger was not fully vented…

It quietly returned to Feiyun Garden, licked all the snacks placed in the side room by the servants, and only then left, satisfied.

Medical clinic main hall.

Chen Ji was flipping through a book when he saw the black cat stepping back with an elegant gait. He asked curiously, "Where did you go just now?"

Wu Yun raised its head. "Triumphant return!"

Chen Ji: "…"

Still quite proud, it seemed.

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

"You understand me. I beat him fiercely!" Wu Yun raised its head even higher.

"Was anyone discovered?"

"No."

"Did you beat him to death?"

Wu Yun hesitated. "…No."

Chen Ji's expression showed some regret.

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

Chen Ji nodded. "That's still acceptable."

"Hehehe."

"Hehehe."

Just as he finished speaking, rustling sounds came from the backyard. Chen Ji turned his head and saw Liu Qu Xing, wearing a jacket, poking his head into the medical clinic. "Chen Ji, I just heard you speaking? Who were you talking to?"

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

Liu Qu Xing said, puzzled, "Cat meowing sounds. It seems a wild cat has entered our courtyard. Have you seen it?"

At this point, there was no longer any sign of Wu Yun on the counter.