Chapter 73: Treating the Malevolent Spirit as a Snack

The image of a flock of winged kittens immediately popped into my mind—soft and tender pink, so adorably sweet that the whole world seemed to be in full peach blossom. Yet, those two who had just become parents were still clouded with worry, especially Fishball, who probably had no idea how many times he’d already been smacked by a paw.

I thought to myself that if I could help, I should. We sent Xiaomi away and found Fishball to ask for the details.

At first, Fishball hesitated, unsure of what to say, looking rather embarrassed, but in the end, he had no choice but to spill everything.

It turned out he was quite a philanderer, having mated with several female cats, but none of those encounters ever led to anything—no lasting feelings, no offspring. So, Fishball simply assumed that mating with cats would never produce children, and for years, that’s just how it was.

But now, thinking back, Fishball started to feel something was off. Back then, he’d gone around breeding with all the female cats in Wangchuan out of a sense of vengeful spite, wanting to have them all. But not a single one ever showed signs of pregnancy! Now that he recalled, perhaps Wangchuan’s cheerful “do as you please” was because he knew Fishball couldn’t have descendants.

That body was transformed by Wangchuan, so it was within Wangchuan’s control whether it could reproduce. That’s why he had been so unbothered, just waiting to watch the show.

Meanwhile, Fishball had thought it was because he himself was different, a hybrid, and thus incompatible with the kittens, so he’d never left any offspring. Therefore, after changing form, he had let down his guard, never expecting that just this once, he would actually father a child.

I asked Fishball if he regretted his promiscuity. He said he didn’t. Before, his actions were driven by resentment, a foolish attempt at revenge against Wangchuan for turning him into a cat. But now, though it was his first time after transforming, he admitted he’d been somewhat reckless. It hadn’t been many days, but they’d already known each other for a while, and somehow, feelings just arose.

Perhaps it was because Fishball was naturally drawn to the adorably silly, and Xiaomi—so hopelessly naïve—was the very pinnacle of that.

Suddenly, he fell hopelessly, and Xiaomi, inexperienced and clueless, was so easily deceived.

Xiaoyun and I pointed at Fishball, scolding him as a big liar. Fishball broke out in a sweat, his wings flapping as if he might take flight.

But what’s done is done. At least he was taking responsibility, not fighting back or talking back, which counted for something.

Fishball had two concerns.

First, he didn’t know if the cat body Wangchuan had created could withstand Xiaomi carrying a child of another spirit beast species. If it couldn’t, what then? He couldn’t let Xiaomi get hurt.

Second, he worried whether Wangchuan would allow Xiaomi to go with him. If not, he himself could stay here forever, but Xiaomi couldn’t just go on doing missions and searching for souls every day.

I thought Fishball’s concerns were responsible, and looking at Xiaomi sitting far away, ears drooping and silent, I made up my mind to help.

As we were leaving, Fishball shamelessly ran over to comfort Xiaomi, who, still sulking, kept swatting at him.

Xiaoyun stayed with me, and together we decided to go see Xin’er first.

After all, it had taken some effort to get leave from Wangchuan. If I went back to plead for Fishball before even enjoying my break, it would be too much of a loss.

Wangchuan might not agree to help Fishball, but he had granted me permission to visit my sister.

Xiaomi’s pregnancy wasn’t something that could be resolved in a day or two—no need to rush this afternoon. I decided, selfishly, to visit my sister first.

So, after bidding farewell to Fishball and Xiaomi, Xiaoyun and I headed straight for the mortal world to see Xin’er.

When I arrived, I found Han Mingxuan and Xin’er in the yard, having a water balloon fight. The two of them, one big and one small, were having the time of their lives.

Xiaoyun found a headscarf for me to cover my ears, which wouldn’t turn back to normal, and draped me in one of Fishball’s oversized coats. Though it was huge, at least it was a jacket—a white robe, worn over Wangchuan’s pajamas.

I made sure Fishball had never worn this coat, to avoid Wangchuan later accusing me of carrying another male’s scent.

Of course, no one else knew any of this—it was all happening behind the scenes.

So now, I stood before Xin’er looking like I’d just returned from India, a veritable Arabian deity.

“Sis... Sister...?” Xin’er looked at me in disbelief, the water balloon in her hand dropping to the ground.

“Xin’er,” I called, rushing over.

I wanted to squat down and hug her as usual, but realized we were now almost the same height, so the hug turned a little awkward.

“Sis, why are you so skinny? Is the new company treating you badly? Why have you been gone so long? Did you get married?”

Xin’er frowned, acting wise beyond her years as she looked me up and down.

“No, Xin’er, why would you think that? Didn’t I just come back? Are you doing well at Uncle Han’s—um, at your big brother’s house?”

“I’m fine,” she replied obediently. “But you need to eat more, sis, or you’ll get even shorter.”

“I know.” I patted the headscarf on my head.

Han Mingxuan kept staring at me in a daze. He recognized Xiaoyun, who was also in human form to match me, but he just kept looking at me, dumbfounded, his gaze unblinking.

I thought after so long apart, Xin’er and I would have endless things to say, but in the end, it was only a few words, full of sighs.

The rest was lost in awkward tears—I couldn’t let them fall, yet I wanted so badly to cry.

Han Mingxuan kept staring at me until Xiaoyun poked him, and he finally burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha—Little white cat, how did you end up looking like such a mess?”

I glanced down at myself—my Indian getup was fabulous! So what if I walked the streets like this? What’s so funny?!

I raised my head with pride. “This is our company’s uniform! What, you don’t approve?!”

He nearly doubled over with laughter. “You went to work in India already? And those two pointy things on your head—are those croissants?”

“Pfft, you’re the croissant!” I quickly touched my enlarged ears, still tightly wrapped, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then I spent a long time chatting with Xin’er, whose words were filled with admiration for Han Mingxuan.

All she said was, whatever she wanted, he got for her; whatever she wanted to eat, he’d buy it. Even if she shouldn’t eat something, he’d reason with her and offer something better instead.

He could even do things others couldn’t—like ridding the second floor of the big black dog.

After saying this, she dashed inside to fetch photos, eager to show me memories from their travels.

A chill ran down my spine as I looked at Han Mingxuan. “You killed a dog in front of my sister? Isn’t that traumatic for a child?”

He shrugged. “That wasn’t a dog, it was a ghoul. It had been lurking in your building for ages. Didn’t you notice how often people died in your block?”

Hearing that, a chill crept through me. I remembered Xiaoyun once said that had fate decreed my death, one calamity would have been being bitten by that dog.

In the end, Xiaoyun managed to make the dog fall asleep, and I escaped disaster.

But there really had been an explosion in the stairwell that day, and many died, yet strangely, the big black dog was unharmed.

I had thought it odd at the time—never expected that the dog was, in fact, a ghoul.

“So... you ate the ghoul?”

I recalled Han Mingxuan once saying the dog on the second floor tasted pretty good, licking his lips as if savoring the memory!

He nodded. “I eat meat. Ghouls make a nice snack—nothing to worry about.”

I swallowed hard. Who said I was worried? That thing stank—could it really taste good?

My scalp prickled, but just then Xin’er returned, covering the sofa in photos for me to see. I spent the entire afternoon looking through them and chatting with her, reluctant to leave.

It was time to return to Wangchuan—I sighed, as if heading to the gallows.

Just as I was about to leave, Han Mingxuan suddenly darted out, shouting, “Watch out!”