Chapter 100: In Truth, You Are Betting on My Love

I stared blankly at Wangchuan. Had he heard all the foolish things I said while crying out just now? I blinked, only to see Wangchuan suddenly lean in and kiss me.

The coolness pressed against my lips—it was as if he was turning into an ice statue.

But after the kiss, Wangchuan frowned. “I don’t like the smell of these evil spirits.”

I tried sniffing myself and indeed caught a faint, unpleasant scent—the scent of souls. It was inevitable, having stayed at Youluo’s place for a few days; there had to be some lingering aura.

As I thought this, Wangchuan touched my face and hand again, still icy cold.

“Are you badly hurt?” I stammered.

Even if I hadn’t asked, I could feel it—the chill in his body was different from the warm heat he used to have, as if he were just recovering from a serious illness.

Wangchuan shook his head, sighed, and didn’t answer my question. Instead, he said something else.

“At least I brought you back.”

“But why the rush? I could have stayed a few more days!”

A sharp pain struck my heart—I already knew he had come looking for me as soon as he woke up.

“Haven’t you had enough fun with him? I can send you back now.”

His words were still cold, and I could tell this big cat was displeased.

“It’s not like that,” I shook my head and tried to inch closer to him like a little worm. “Being the Third Princess is actually pretty good—good food and drink, and he doesn’t force me. You could wait until you’re better to come. If I hadn’t begged you to come back, how would you have handled it? I’m too proud to just follow you.”

“I’d have dragged you back, even if it killed you.”

“Ugh.” My neck tightened as if someone had really grabbed me. I coughed. “I meant you should rest first before going.”

Wangchuan pinched my cheek, his voice low and faint.

“You should be grateful I woke up.”

“Why?”

“Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the yin month—the day of the Underworld’s sacrifice.”

“So what?”

“Do you think being the Third Princess is about enjoying an easy life? Do you know why every time you transform into your original form, you’re naked?”

“Wasn’t that you?”

My face suddenly flushed. I always thought it was Wangchuan, this perverted big cat’s twisted sense of humor. Wasn’t it?

“I do love to play and tease you, but I wouldn’t let my own female run around naked.”

Blushing deeply, I pouted. “Then why?”

“Because when other cats brought you to find me, someone touched your corpse. The soul’s appearance remains as it was at the moment the body was desecrated. When you were a cat with me, someone took off your clothes—probably to change you into different funeral or sacrificial garments. Who knows.”

“Ah?” I was dumbfounded.

If it weren’t for Wangchuan telling me, I might never have known what happened.

But who would strip a dead body at my house?! Isn’t that perverted? Disgusting? Aren’t they afraid of nightmares?

“Do you remember the day you died?”

I shook my head vehemently. On the day I died, I was busy with interviews and grocery shopping—when would I have had time to check the date or consider if it was a good day to journey to the afterlife?

Seeing my confusion, Wangchuan explained.

“Four months ago, on the fifteenth day of the yin month.”

I was shocked. Had I been dead for four months?

If I could, I would have counted on my fingers. Time passed so fast. I always thought I had been here only two months.

No wonder the human world had turned into late autumn, and I still thought it was just two months.

Ample time makes it seem slow, but how long I had been dead had little bearing on that.

“The Underworld holds a great sacrifice on the fifteenth day of every yin month. Various things are sacrificed, and if I’m right, if I hadn’t come today, tomorrow you would have been the little pig waiting to be slaughtered on the altar.”

“You’re the little pig,” I retorted, displeased. “I’m just an ordinary human—why sacrifice me?”

“An ordinary human? How did you become the Third Princess then?”

“Right!” I said.

Wangchuan smiled as if amused by my foolishness and replied casually, “Even if you were an ordinary human, you’re no longer ordinary now.” Then he sighed and pulled me into his arms.

My heart still ached. No wonder he was so anxious.

It turned out that the day I died was fated to be so because Youluo wanted my soul for sacrifice, but Wangchuan had intervened and ruined the plan.

This time, Youluo hadn’t allowed Wangchuan any time to recover, planning to sacrifice me while he was injured. But he hadn’t expected Wangchuan to actually come.

Youluo knew Wangchuan was a big troublemaker, so he hadn’t dared to act.

If they fought, Wangchuan wouldn’t necessarily lose or win, but the grudge between the two realms would be sealed, and a mischievous qilin would get involved as well.

But Wangchuan considered that he was injured, and if he lost, I might truly be lost forever.

So Youluo hadn’t expected Wangchuan to make a bet in such a humiliating way—a bet shameful for humans.

His words were full of indifference and... disdain.

However, Youluo could only bet because of the resistance and stubbornness I showed during those days I spent with him.

I never submitted. I didn’t let him touch me. I had no sweet words for him, only sharp commands, as if I were a proud human.

Indeed, that was true. Except for the times I showed submission to Wangchuan, others saw me as a proper human—with thoughts, dignity, and completely unlike an animal.

So Youluo believed I was human and therefore could never do such a degrading thing, never willingly submit and accept those conditions, which would have been truly humiliating.

But Youluo didn’t know that although I was human, this wasn’t the first time I had knelt to him, and I had obediently accepted the conditions Wangchuan gave me—even though they seemed to bring me no benefit.

Because I was no longer just human; I was half a cat, Wangchuan’s cat.

Our playful times often ended with me being bullied by this perverted big cat, so this was nothing unprecedented for me.

Moreover, I knew in my heart that no matter how he treated me, I understood he loved me, and I loved him. I couldn’t live without him. No matter how much he trampled on me, I would accept it, as long as I could return to his side!

Wangchuan wasn’t betting on me being humiliated, but on my love for him! On his usual kindness to me! Whether it would bind me at the crucial moment! Whether I would abandon human pride just to be with him!

The hurtful words he used were probably just to confuse Youluo.

Yet Youluo might have truly thought that this bet was unfair to me, who was about to make a choice. If he won, he could get rid of this trouble. If the sacrifice succeeded, he would get what he wanted.

That’s why he pretended to say those chilling words to me—to defeat Wangchuan and sacrifice me!

Thinking about it made me terrified.

If I hadn’t agreed with Wangchuan, wouldn’t I already be waiting to die?

What kind of death? Would I be reduced to ashes and smoke?

Realizing all this, I suddenly wanted to tap my own head. Lately, my mind had become so sharp—everything had become so clear!

But the more I thought, the angrier I became.

“How do you know I would kneel and beg you? What if I didn’t? Wouldn’t you lose me then?”

“How do you know I want you?” Wangchuan said coolly, “If you can’t even do that, why would I bring you back?”

I was speechless and muttered, “But I’m human, and humans care a lot about pride... in front of so many people, you know how embarrassing that is?”

“Kneeling to your master is embarrassing?” Wangchuan laughed. “Only human females care so much about so-called equality and pride, even if it hurts their males—they insist on their reasons.”

“Stop with the female and male stuff. We both look human now. Just say ‘people,’ okay?”

“Humans can do more with their bodies than animals, but human females aren’t exactly great.”

Wangchuan shook his head, and I strangely found myself agreeing.

As an animal, he might see clearly with cold eyes that human women are proud—those little cats are perfect examples: various quirks, little tempers, and inexplicable stubbornness and pride of being human.

Humans have been at the top of the food chain for thousands of years, naturally proud. Our lives are far from hunting and killing, so the pursuits of women and female animals differ greatly.

Wangchuan is an animal and an old-fashioned one at that; he can’t understand this.

But I don’t need him to. After all, our true natures can’t easily change.

Like me, I always say one thing while meaning another to Wangchuan. But he showed me all of himself from the start, including the parts that might be disliked—his twisted humor—without hiding anything.

And Wangchuan is a male who doesn’t always speak kindly but shows everything through his body—that’s the best example.

Even when I made unreasonable demands, using the human logic that marriage is necessary for having children, he still tolerated me and even accepted my tantrums.

Maybe he thought that from the day we mated, I belonged to him, so he never considered the human ceremony of marriage.

Moreover, no man could accept a woman who refuses to bear his children—even if she becomes pregnant, refuses the child.

But he accepted it, even a little fierce beast like me—that’s rare.

So what reason do I have to begrudge him for making me lose a little pride, just to bring me back completely unharmed?

Wrapped up in my clothes, I secretly touched my belly a few times.

If I hadn’t been so stubborn, maybe... he’d still be here.

I sighed, then heard Wangchuan’s low voice, tinged with a smile.

“What’s this? Missing the baby?”