Chapter 144: This Is My Sister

"A dog? That won't do at all! She is my sister, how can you keep her like a dog!"

Hearing this answer, I instantly felt a surge of indignation. How could a human being be raised as a dog?

He raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to come closer.

As soon as I pressed against him, my forehead was given a sharp poke by his finger. He retorted, "What's the difference? Weren't you also raised like a cat by me? And you were thoroughly enjoying it, too."

"Of course there's a difference!" I stomped my foot in frustration. Lacking any logical argument, I still rebelled, "My sister is not a dog!"

He laughed again, reaching out to point. "Then look at her. Doesn't she look like she's having the time of her life?"

Stiffening my neck, I turned my head. Sure enough, that little beast wore an expression of pure bliss, looking precisely identical to Jiu Yan from earlier!

And that little tail of hers was naturally wagging back and forth at lightning speed, clearly telegraphing her adoration for Wang Chuan.

"Xin'er...?" I tentatively called out.

The little beast didn't react in the slightest, her gaze still glued to Wang Chuan. The only word to describe her was a dog—specifically the hyperactive, enthusiastic kind—yet she was pinned to the spot, daring not to move, leaving only her tail to wag.

At that moment... I could only say I was speechless, utterly incapable of refuting him.

Clutching the fabric of Wang Chuan's sleeve, I grew anxious. "Does Xin'er not remember me anymore?"

"She won't remember anything until she changes back. Right now, having just broken through the seal, she is full of raw bestial nature. Keep your distance from her normally, and tie her up if I'm not home."

Wang Chuan sat leisurely to one side, sipping water as he answered me, still without sparing her a single glance.

Hearing this, my tears threatened to overflow once more.

What kind of terrible karma had we accumulated for things to turn out like this? And to tie her up, no less...

Moreover... my heart ached for her.

I had been tied up once myself, and I knew that feeling all too well—the sudden imprisonment, the abrupt transition from a human being to someone's possession.

"But... Xin'er... why did she become like this? She... she is a human..."

I pondered this for a long time, yet I could make no sense of it.

My perfectly fine sister hadn't been half-human and half-cat like me, altered by Wang Chuan; how on earth had she suddenly transformed into a beast?!

Wang Chuan seemed to give my question genuine consideration. He took another sip of water before slowly replying.

"There are various reasons. The spiritual energy accumulating within her body to a certain point is one of them. Once it reaches the critical threshold, the transformation happens."

"I'm asking why a human turns into a beast."

"Weren't you already one before you changed?"

A single sentence completely silenced me.

It was true. Xin'er had been acting very strangely lately. Even before the physical transformation, my heart had instinctively acknowledged Wang Chuan's previous words: *a female beast*.

She was already living like an animal; her senses of hearing and smell, along with her cravings for certain things, had terrified me.

Was it because Han Mingxuan had been feeding her? Had he literally fed her into becoming a canine?

Frowning, I asked, "Did Han Mingxuan know she was going to change recently? If he knew, why didn't he warn us in advance?"

Wang Chuan pondered again and answered, "Probably not. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that my spiritual energy is denser than that of the mortal realm, coupled with the fact that I seized two souls."

"Then when can she change back?"

"It depends on her absorption."

"Absorption of what?"

"Absorption of souls. I've sent Jiu Yan to fetch them."

"What! She still has to eat them?!" My eyes widened in horror. "Won't that mean Xin'er can never change back?!"

"Only by consuming souls can she regain the strength to revert to a human."

"But that's creating bad karma!" I sprang to my feet, feeling utterly unable to accept it!

If it came to that, I would rather Xin'er remain an ordinary human forever!

Wang Chuan glanced at me, looking somewhat impatient. "Eating them is optional. I wouldn't mind keeping another dog, and I'd welcome you sending her away even more."

"I—" I muttered incoherently for a long time, failing to utter a single coherent word. After a moment, I managed to squeeze out a few syllables: "Then let her eat... Anything is better than staying a... little beast... forever."

Turning back, I looked at my sister, whom Wang Chuan had so casually dubbed a 'dog'.

In truth, she didn't look very much like a dog, merely exhibiting certain canine habits. She was actually quite docile; I had no idea what breed she resembled.

The thorny spikes covering her body earlier had vanished. Now, she looked more like a large Samoyed, albeit with a slightly fiercer appearance.

Her neck was framed with fluffy fur, and her head bore the faint, slightly rounded traces of two pink horns. Her tail, much like Pei Mu's, resembled a fiery ball of fluff, and at that moment, it was wagging furiously.

Wang Chuan called her a dog probably because she had just transformed and was far too weak. Perhaps, in his eyes, she was completely insignificant...

With a deep sigh, I stepped closer to the little beast, wanting to touch her, but ultimately failing to approach.

First of all, I had genuinely been terrified by the creature just moments ago.

Secondly, Wang Chuan had said she didn't remember me, though I had initially refused to believe it.

I had assumed that the blood tie between full sisters would count for something, that even if she morphed into something else, she would still feel a sense of familiarity toward me?

Yet, in reality, she felt none.

The moment I drew a few steps closer, her gaze turned fierce, and she bared her front claws slightly as a warning.

Having experienced being an animal myself, I understood their instincts. She was angry, and the slight wrinkling of her snout was a clear warning for me not to advance.

Fine, if I couldn't go near her, I wouldn't.

So I crawled back into Wang Chuan's arms, pouting slightly as I grabbed his arm and forced myself to relax.

Having just returned from the spiritual realm, he seemed equally disinclined to move, while I was so emotionally exhausted that I just wanted to sleep the fatigue away.

This experience taught me that I really had become Wang Chuan's 'possession'.

Whenever he was away, the moment even the slightest trouble arose, my heart would panic uncontrollably.

Yet at that moment, Xin'er was staring directly at us, her two beastly eyes wide round, letting out a pitiful whimper from her throat that made her hind paws tremble with anxiety.

And yet, constrained by Wang Chuan's earlier command to lie down, she dared not move...

I tugged at Wang Chuan's sleeve. "Can you let her go lie down on the bed in the room? The floor is so cold."

Wang Chuan narrowed his eyes, not even looking at me. "Do you think she cares about the cold?"

"Then why is she whimpering so pitifully? Is she hungry?"

"Because she wants to be petted." His answer was concise. Wang Chuan leaned back against the sofa, one long leg slightly bent, finding a comfortable posture.

"Huh?"

I froze, rigidly turning my head to look at Xin'er, who was still staring in our direction, her fluffy white tail continuing to swish back and forth.

She... liked Wang Chuan and wanted him to pet her?!

I remained stunned for a solid three minutes, my heart fluttering with nervous dread as I lowered my head, my gaze hollow and fixed.

"Then... pet her, won't you...?"

"Do I have your permission?" Wang Chuan smiled dissolutely, lightly pinching my chin as if teasing me.

Ah, yes. Back then, when he touched Jiu Yan a few times, I would cry my eyes out.

That was why... ever since he had entered the room, he hadn't spoken a single word to the transformed Xin'er, hadn't petted her, and hadn't even spared her a glance?

And my current emotions were truly bizarre; I felt no desire to be teased at all.

Even his hand failed to bring me comfort, making me instead shift away impatiently, wishing not to be touched.

Although Xin'er had turned into a little beast, she was still my sister in my eyes! How could things be like this...

Yet if he didn't, Xin'er would keep making those sounds—the pathetic whimpering emanating from a canine's throat that made the strings of my heart tremble in unison, her large, black-bean-like eyes blinking with a watery sheen.

Taking a few more deep breaths, I understood what Wang Chuan meant.

What could I do now?

On one side was my sister; on the other was my lover.

"Go on, pet her."

I turned my head away, leaning against the opposite side, trying my best not to look in their direction.

Since he said she wouldn't recognize me until she changed back, I didn't have to treat her as a sister.

I would just treat her as a little pet. If Wang Chuan wanted to pet her, he could go ahead, simply because he was the male beast who had subdued her...

I... I wasn't jealous at all...

And yet, the more I thought about it, the more unsettled I felt. Why should the male beast belonging to me go pet someone else... even if the other person was a sister, she was still a female...

It wasn't until Wang Chuan rolled over from his side, quietly watching me, and saw that my face was already quietly smeared with a mess of tears and snot, that he chuckled, turned me around, and pulled me onto his lap.

"Look at the state of you." With those words, he reached for a tissue and began wiping my face.

Taking the tissue, I wiped my own nose and muttered angrily, "I'm just like this! What do you want me to do? Anyway... as long as she's happy, it's fine."

He merely laughed, pinching the tip of my nose and pulling me close with a sigh.

"She might be happy, but I'm not. I neither like dogs nor care to pet them, and besides, it's already upset my cat—why would I bother?"