Chapter 122: Cat Demons Do Not Distinguish by Breed

I do not recognize this cat! The scent is unfamiliar.

Moreover, my sense of smell seems to have become much more analytical lately. I can tell this cat is formidable! Just one whiff is enough to make other females feel threatened. Even I, at this moment, am feeling a bit uneasy, my heart racing.

I pout and glare at him. To leave behind such a potent scent, Wangchuan must have held her! He might have even stroked her, just like he used to stroke Rebecca...

Wangchuan never strokes cats! In the past, he only ever stroked Rebecca! Later, only me! That means, apart from me, Wangchuan shouldn't be holding any other cats. So why is there this strange, lingering scent?

Wangchuan doesn't say a word; instead, he sniffs his own body. That gesture is tantamount to an admission! He really did hold another cat!

"Tell me! What is going on!" I splash a wave of water in my anger, glaring at him irritably.

Wangchuan smiles somewhat awkwardly. "I did hold one, but strictly speaking, she isn't a cat. She's a friend."

"A friend-cat?!" I look at him, suspicious. Wangchuan isn't the type to spout nonsense, but right now, he looks exactly like someone caught red-handed making up excuses! Is this what they call a trap? So, she's a friend now? Isn't there supposed to be a strict hierarchy between master and servant? But then again, if there can be someone as unique as me, why couldn't there be another?

I narrow my eyes fiercely. "Confess everything, or I’ll resort to torture! Do you still want your 'little friend'?"

"I do, I do," Wangchuan laughs, then lies back in the bathtub and gestures for me to come over.

I crawl over and drape myself across him, still pouting, waiting for an explanation with a face full of displeasure. He says nothing, simply scrubbing and washing me, then dries me off, carries me out of the bedroom, through the living room, and places me next to the dining table.

"Aren't you supposed to be explaining? Are we eating already?" I look at him in surprise. I'm still wrapped in a bath towel; is this convenient for eating?

But before we can even begin, I notice a petite young woman emerge. She has a very fair, clear complexion, somewhat in the style of Rebecca. Her clothes are similar to the ones Wangchuan gave me, and she carries several exquisite dishes in her hands. I watch as she sets the items down with an alluring grace. She doesn't even acknowledge me, instead smiling directly at Wangchuan and arranging the plates, elegant... as if she didn't see me at all!

Fury! Pure fury! I look at Wangchuan, questioning him with my eyes. What is this? Are you looking for a concubine?!

You couldn't even pick someone less beautiful! Isn't this just a slap in my face?!

However, I am currently cocooned in this oversized bath towel and unable to move, until the woman walks over.

Wangchuan reaches out to introduce her. "This is Jiuyan, a cat who has been with me for a long time. She was originally a spirit beast and was previously replaced by Rebecca for certain matters. Now that Rebecca is gone, someone must handle the management, so I called her back early."

I look at the cat. She is different from ordinary cats. She seems to prefer maintaining a half-human, half-cat form—much like the appearance I took when I first transformed. She is quite cute, with a small frame, and beneath her skirt, a white tail is visible, tipped with an iron band and a string of small gold bells. Her white ears are pierced with numerous holes, adorned with more tiny bells.

Wangchuan sits opposite me, while she kneels right beside him, clutching his knee and rubbing her head against his leg with her eyes narrowed. Wangchuan, in turn, habitually lowers a hand to stroke her ears, shaking them slightly. She lets out a purring sound. When her ears twitch, the bells chime—a sound that feels strangely like a display of submission.

Having been with Wangchuan for so long, I naturally know what he likes! I have never even done that! How dare she!

Yet, as I watch this unfold, Wangchuan doesn't seem to care at all. He lets the cat cling to his leg and starts to eat!

"Eat," Wangchuan smiles, seemingly addressing me.

I lower my eyes, gritting my teeth, not knowing what to say. He says this cat has been with him for a long time. How long is "long"? Before Rebecca? I roughly estimate that Rebecca had been with Wangchuan for several hundred years; Xiaoyun mentioned it was around three hundred... So this cat has been around for over three hundred years?!

I stare, dumbstruck, at this uniquely featured cat until she glances at me, eyes narrowed. She is indeed half-human, half-cat; even her pupils are vertical slits. She offers a slight smile, revealing two little fangs. As her eyes narrow, I can see that her pupils are not the same color—one is pale blue, the other pale green. They are similar, yet distinct.

But for some reason, perhaps the vertical slits of her pupils, I feel she harbors no good intentions! Her narrowed-eye smile is mostly mocking, as if I am inferior to her!

And indeed, she is currently kneeling on her master's lap, having her head stroked, while I am all the way on the "distant" other side of the table. As a human, I am definitely at an advantage, sitting almost as an equal to Wangchuan. But as a pet, she is the one who truly has reason to be proud. Even though she is kneeling, she is genuinely worth bragging about.

"What kind of cat is she? Why are her eyes different colors?" I have never seen such a cat in the Rift, as they are usually transformations by Wangchuan; the eye color is honestly just a matter of his mood, whatever he wants to pair them with. But this one, clearly like Rebecca before, has been specially treated and fashioned into something unique. Who knows if the bells on her tail and ears are treasures, just like the "special gift" of the earrings I wear?!

Wangchuan swallows a piece of meat and reaches out to stroke her head again. The cat’s reaction is, naturally, to rub against his palm and even reach out with her tongue to lick it!

Lick it!!!

I am burning with rage, while Wangchuan, entirely at ease, chews another piece of meat and begins to explain. "Jiuyan is a cat spirit by nature, not a transformation of mine. She was born this way. As for her breed..." He looks down at her. "What breed are you?"

"Masters and spirits don't have breeds," she says, eyes narrowed. She seems to be answering me, but she licks his palm as if to curry favor with Wangchuan. "Being your cat is enough."

Wangchuan is clearly pleased, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

Here we go again... So, it's not just me whose nuzzling makes him happy; it's not just me whose licking of his fingers pleases him! How long has this cat been here? She’s being so intimate and affectionate right in front of me—does she have no respect for me, a cat who has already married him?!

I am furious! Furious! The table is full of meat—steak, lamb chops, and sauces I don't recognize—but I have no appetite. I am unhappy!

In the past, Wangchuan would always make me kneel and crawl onto his lap, then stroke my head with that exact gesture—is that a habit he learned from this cat? He would hold out his finger for me to lick—is that something he learned from her too? His love for being fawned over and for submissiveness—is that also from her?

I feel a chill, a deep, bone-deep coldness, as these realizations dawn on me. Am I just a substitute? A "Substitute Number One" groomed by Wangchuan while this cat was away?

No, at least I have a child. I touch my belly, feeling a bitter pang. But... Wangchuan once said that gestating a fierce beast is extremely painful. I am still in the early stages, gaining some of the creature's genes and growth, but he said that in the end, I might be hollowed out, and if I’m not careful, the cub might eventually devour me to break free.

What terrifying words. It means the mother dies, while the fierce beast cub survives with its stubborn vitality.

Has he... had a relationship with this cat? Did he spare this cat from having to endure this?

I am confused. I recall asking Wangchuan in the past if he had ever been with other cats, and he said no. In his eyes, I am not considered a "small cat," so does this pure cat spirit—who also isn't a "small cat"—count as one of them?

What kind of past do they share that they can be this intimate?!