Chapter Four: The Shameless She-Cat

That night, I have no idea how I managed to get through it.

All I know is that I hung from the ceiling by my tail, as pitiful as a rain doll with a string around its neck, spinning at times, wailing at others. Eventually, even my cries faded to barely a whisper, my grief deepening at the thought that I could have chosen reincarnation, yet foolishly opted to become a cat.

As I lay there, thoughts of Xin’er flooded my mind.

Tears streamed endlessly from my eyes, falling to the floor below.

The silence around me was absolute; Xiaoyun had fainted long ago, and the sound of my tears hitting the ground was especially loud.

I told myself I would never forget this punishment. In the future, I would avoid those cats at all costs, wouldn’t I? I never craved the affection of my master; to me, he was nothing more than a long wooden beam, a bridge to help me endure this painful journey.

My only goal was to become human again, to return to Xin’er’s side, to take care of her until she grew up, so she wouldn’t suffer as I had.

In fact, I hadn’t even finished college. I’d applied for early internship, just to start working sooner. I wasn’t after a great job, only a stable income to support my only sister.

I was twelve years older than Xin’er. We were sisters of the same zodiac sign, and perhaps because of the age gap, she had always clung to me since childhood.

Our father died in a traffic accident when Xin’er was two, and for reasons unknown, our mother vanished from our lives soon after.

So, at fourteen, I took on the burden of raising my two-year-old sister, caring for her as if I were her mother.

My father’s compensation barely got me through high school. I thought working part-time while studying would get me through college, but fate was not so kind, and our expenses eventually outstripped our income.

As Xin’er grew, she wanted to go out with friends like other kids with parents. I couldn’t bear for her to have less than anyone else.

No matter how much I scrimped and saved, my part-time wages were not enough to cover our daily needs.

So I applied for early internship, effectively suspending my studies to earn money first.

But fate tricked me once more: before I could find a job, I died. I became a ghost cat, hanging here in torment!

I could only keep telling myself I was doing this to become human again, to return to Xin’er.

For Xin’er, I could do anything. I could endure anything, as long as I could go back!

The more I thought about it, the more my wails filled the entire cat room. I couldn’t tell if it was my tail or my heart that hurt more.

Xin’er’s crescent-shaped smiling eyes were always before me, as if giving me strength, making my sobs grow quieter.

All night, I gritted my teeth and held on, only breaking down when the pain became unbearable.

I truly envied Xiaoyun, who could faint outright, but for some reason, I remained conscious, eyes open, dazed by pain but never completely losing awareness.

The next day, when the two yellow cats let us down, Xiaoyun was so weak she could barely speak, and I was so stiff I couldn’t move at all.

We were dragged out of the cat room and thrown outside to bask in the sun.

The Void Rift was gloomy, but there was sunlight, though far from the River of Forgetfulness.

As expected, our fur was nearly scraped off again, exposing tender white flesh.

Xiaoyun, a bit embarrassed, hugged herself, curling her paws in an odd arc to cover the exposed skin.

But I didn’t. If I were still human, perhaps I would have felt shame, but now I was only a cat—a cat who didn’t even know where her vital organs were.

So I felt no embarrassment, lying sprawled as I was dragged, letting myself recover little by little.

The warm sunlight on my belly was soothing, easing the icy, rigid pain in my tail.

Passing cats sometimes covered their mouths and laughed; feline bodies infused with human souls often mimicked human gestures.

Cats making human gestures was rather uncanny, but I wasn’t in the mood to respond.

They were all female cats anyway—just like a women’s bathhouse. Who cared who saw whom?

Just then, a piece of black leather, not much bigger than my own body, landed on me.

“Huh?” I moved my paw in confusion, looking at the soft leather.

“Get up! Have you no shame, lying there in broad daylight!”

The clear, boyish voice startled me. I looked up to see a cat standing before me.

He was an ordinary tabby, similar to the yellow cats who’d dragged me out, but with a black lightning-shaped mark on his forehead, giving him an air of authority.

At once, I rolled over and clutched the black leather to myself, my pain overcome by shock.

Did I hear that right?

A male cat?!

I’d only ever seen female cats here—where did this tom come from?

Xiaoyun timidly asked, “Yubao, what are you doing here?”

Yubao? I looked at him again, finding the name quite adorable.

Since becoming a cat, I’d developed a fascination with fish, and hearing that name gave me a little thrill.

“Came to collect some souls, only to find a shameless female cat splayed out.” Yubao glanced at me with obvious disdain.

I’d seen that look many times and was used to it, but I was still baffled by the presence of a tom.

Xiaoyun hastily nudged me. I stood by awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

“You two, come with me.” Yubao shot me another disdainful look.

Honestly, I hated the way these cats looked down on me, but I understood that the animal world was different. Newcomers were often met with hostility.

Limping, I followed Yubao, with Xiaoyun moving slowly beside me, her injuries making her wince with every step.

We followed Yubao to the exit of the Void Rift.

He pointed outside. “Go catch a fetal soul. That’s as far as I can help you.”

I looked up at him, not understanding what help he meant, but Xiaoyun gave him a grateful look, then leapt out of the rift entrance, pulling me with her back to the human world.

On this side, we landed in a large warehouse, falling onto a pile of burlap sacks.

“Xiaoyun?” I asked, confused.

“Shh.” Xiaoyun motioned for silence and only relaxed after moving away from the rift entrance. “Listen, Ningning and the others are powerful. The master is choosing guardian cats, and they’re determined to win, so they threaten every disobedient newcomer. Because you didn’t behave yesterday, they might bully you again.”

“What’s a guardian cat?” I was confused.

Perhaps because I was so new, I only knew about Soul-Eating and Soul-Calming cats—nothing else. I didn’t even know who the master really was.

“Don’t worry about that,” Xiaoyun replied, quietly leading me away. “Yubao is my friend. He knew Ningning and the others wanted to teach you a lesson, to keep you from finding a fetal soul and force you back to the cat room tonight.”

The thought made me shudder violently—never in this life did I want to experience that again!

“Ningning and the others sleep in the cat room too, so they’ll definitely hold a grudge against you. You have to be careful, got it?”

I nodded.

“Alright, let’s not talk about this. Let’s hurry and find a fetal soul.”

I nodded again and followed Xiaoyun, imitating the casual gait of a housecat as we searched for a suitable man.

After three days of training, I’d learned to spot which men were in ‘heat.’

They usually held a woman in their arms, and some part of their bodies would radiate intense warmth.

If the woman in their arms was similarly heated, the chances of them getting together were very high.

Xiaoyun, experienced as she was, headed straight for places like bars or KTVs—dens of fleeting romance, easy to slip into, where no one cared what two little cats were up to.

The place was a blur of neon lights, crowded with all sorts of men and women. We slipped past the security guards and entered the bar.

The blaring speakers were a torment on my feline ears—I wanted nothing more than to clamp my paws over them to block out the noise!

Soon, Xiaoyun made a hissing sound, signaling that she’d found prey. I immediately arched my back, peering out.

It was two men, prowling for their own ‘prey,’ each holding a glass of pale red fruit wine, their bodies showing clear signs of heat, restlessness barely contained.

Xiaoyun and I nodded at each other and quietly squeezed into the gap between the sofa cushions to wait.

“Hey, beautiful, want a martini?” One of them swaggered up to a woman, his tone light and teasing.

“No.”

The girl with purple-dyed hair looked distinctly uninterested, barely glancing at them before refusing.

Xiaoyun and I shook our heads. This woman showed no signs of heightened warmth, and her heartbeat was steady—perhaps she hadn’t found someone she liked.

The two men took the hint and moved on.

We kept waiting, but soon a commotion broke out nearby—a chorus of women’s squeals.

Ears twitching, I tried to see what was happening, but I wasn’t even as tall as the bench and could see nothing!

Frustrated, I heard the purple-haired girl nearby take a sharp breath.

“Isn’t that Han Mingxuan?” The woman pressed her hands to her face, visibly excited.

“What’s he doing here?!” another girl with short red hair exclaimed, her mouth agape.

Right then, I watched as these two women closest to me began to radiate heat from head to toe, nearly trembling with excitement.

Could it be that man was someone special?