Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 20

Compared with the casual, free-spirited, and cute little white rabbit, Lin Mianmian actually felt some respect and awe toward a cultivator like Yuan Zhaoyang, who looked like a proper immortal. It was not only because of power. More than that, it was a distance she could not quite explain, like the sense of being apart from this strange world no matter how long she had been in it.
But Lin Mianmian soon broke that feeling of awe herself.
There was no choice. Tian Xiaoyu was so nervous that she was about to pull Lin Mianmian’s robe right off her body. Lin Mianmian could only step forward under the pressure.
After Lin Mianmian bravely and repeatedly talked her down, Yuan Zhaoyang barely agreed to give up the plans of fireballs falling from the sky and metal prisons rising from the ground. In any case, Yuan Zhaoyang’s real purpose was not to use her cultivator strength to bully those mortals. She wanted to support Lin Mianmian and make her feel more that she belonged to the Five Elements Sect.
It had to be said that, in this matter, Lin Mianmian had looked down too much on the gap between mortals and cultivators in this strange world.
All this time, Lin Mianmian had seen the mortals of this world like the ordinary people in the apocalypse who had not gained abilities, and cultivators as the ability users of the apocalypse. In the apocalypse, the lowest-level ability users did not have absolute pressure over ordinary people. That was why she had wanted to ask A-Bai for help. Of course, now it was Yuan Zhaoyang.
But Lin Mianmian did not expect that when Yuan Zhaoyang followed her and Tian Xiaoyu out, Tian Dali and Madam Cui, who had already stepped into the edge of the Five Elements Sect’s area, ran as if they were ordinary people in the apocalypse who had seen zombies. It was as if oil had been smeared on the soles of their feet. In the blink of an eye, they vanished beyond Lin Mianmian’s sight.
Tian Xiaoyu and Lin Mianmian both let out a breath at the same time.
Yuan Zhaoyang, however, was clearly not very satisfied. She casually formed a swift-travel spell with her fingers and was about to stop them.
Although Lin Mianmian did not see the spell Yuan Zhaoyang formed under her sleeve, she saw Yuan Zhaoyang’s displeased expression very clearly.
This rescue helper was one Lin Mianmian had asked for herself. Even crying, she might not be able to stop her.
Just as Lin Mianmian was regretting it, a ball of white fur sprang out of the little wooden house and slammed straight into Yuan Zhaoyang’s leg.
Hop, hop, hop. The little white rabbit jumped around anxiously in front of Yuan Zhaoyang’s legs. The sound-silencing talisman was too high-level. It had even sealed off voice transmission. It was truly hateful.
With A-Bai blocking her, Yuan Zhaoyang frowned and thought for a moment. Then she flicked her finger and removed the sound-silencing talisman from the rabbit’s belly.
“Idiot! Idiot!… Hm? Ah… no rabbit was speaking just now… hehe…” The talisman had been removed too suddenly, and A-Bai did not manage to stop the words in her mouth. She laughed awkwardly. “What I mean is, since they have left, why not let this little girl stay here? When these few days of seeking immortal sects are over and we leave, we can send her home.”
Those were the words A-Bai said openly. At the same time, she privately transmitted to Yuan Zhaoyang, “The matter between the Tian couple and Tian Xiaoyu is their family matter. If they came to the Five Elements Sect area and caused trouble, we would have a reason to act. What are you trying to do now? Run to another immortal sect’s area to seize people? Sure, those mortals could be brought back, but what would the other immortal sects say about this? It is one thing for me to make trouble. You are the lead cultivator for the Five Elements Sect this time. Are you really going to lose your head like this?”
A-Bai’s voice transmission was like a basin of cold water pouring over Yuan Zhaoyang’s head. It calmed her down quite a bit, and she naturally discovered how strange she had been.
Usually, even if she could not say she handled everything perfectly, at least… she considered the greater picture. But today…
Yuan Zhaoyang certainly did not regret wanting to support Lin Mianmian. But she was indeed startled that she had been so eager to reach that goal that she had ignored other things.
The one who had pulled her emotions was…
Yuan Zhaoyang looked deeply at Lin Mianmian, who was strongly agreeing with A-Bai’s suggestion.
In the end, they naturally followed A-Bai’s idea. Aside from Yuan Zhaoyang, who returned to continue the spiritual-root tests with an unsettled mind, everyone else let out a great breath.
Yingxian City’s immortal-sect recruitment was said to last three days. More precisely, it began at noon on the first day and ended at noon on the third day.
As more and more children entered the Five Elements Sect, Lin Mianmian was led by Zihui with the others to rest in the tent behind the little wooden house.
The tent looked about the same size as the little wooden house from outside, but the space inside was wide enough. There must have been another immortal spell at work.
After entering the tent, there were several large tables first. They held cool water, steamed buns, pickles, and snacks. On the left and right were rows of beds, complete with quilts. Farther inside, a curtain divided the tent into an outer and inner area. At night, the girls would sleep inside and the boys outside. The things were simple, but they had been prepared with care to meet the needs of children from the mortal world. Even the place to relieve themselves had been set off outside the tent.
Lin Mianmian could not help using this tent to imagine what the Five Elements Sect looked like.
Actually… it seemed pretty good. At least everyone had a bed, and there was water and food. It was much better than the huge shared sleeping platforms in apocalypse bases.
The Five Elements Sect also accepted both humans and demons. Although the tent was divided by boys and girls, it was not divided by humans and demons.
But the first demon to move into the tent was actually the black bear Lin Mianmian had seen when she was first teleported here, the one who called herself the number-one beauty of the bear race. That was somewhat unexpected.
The children who entered the Five Elements Sect had all prepared themselves to get along with demons in the future and become fellow disciples with them. Still, not long after they entered the tent, while they were still introducing themselves to each other, a large black bear twisted her waist, lifted the curtain, and strode in with grand steps. She looked around proudly and even gave a snort. This scene truly made these sheltered children tremble a little.
The dozen or so human children who had gathered by the table scattered at once. They ran in twos and threes toward the farther beds. One little girl, who was probably only five or six, followed a few older children for two steps. Perhaps because she was too nervous, she tripped herself and fell, then burst into tears.
The closest people to her were Lin Mianmian, who was still near the table, and Tian Xiaoyu, who was preparing to borrow a place in the tent for now.
Perhaps because Tian Xiaoyu had spoken with A-Bai for quite some time before, she was still a little afraid of the black bear that was almost twice her height, but she knew that anyone with the words Five Elements Sect over her head would not hurt people. So Tian Xiaoyu, being closest to the little girl, quickly took two steps forward, bent down shakily, helped the girl up, and comforted her gently.
The bear glanced at the little girl, snorted loudly enough for everyone in the tent to hear, then swept a steamed bun from the table with one paw and tossed it into her mouth. Hm… she did not forget to dip it in some pickles.
After eating one steamed bun, the black bear seemed to be in a much better mood. She glanced again at the little girl, who was still sobbing, then looked at Tian Xiaoyu. “Did she pee her pants from fright?”
“…”
Tian Xiaoyu lowered her head and looked at the little girl’s pants.
The little girl’s tears had not even dried. She instantly covered her bottom and shook her head like a little beast whose tail had been stepped on. “No! No! No!”
“Good.” The black bear flicked up another steamed bun with one claw, dipped it in pickle juice, and crossed the distance to the little girl in two steps. Then she stuffed the bun, which was almost as big as the little girl’s face, into her mouth. “Good girl. If you pee your pants, I will eat you.”
Aside from that little girl, who cried while gnawing the bun and trying hard not to choke herself to death, no one in the tent believed those words.
With the black bear leading the way, everyone soon grew used to the demon disciples who arrived afterward.
While the newly entered disciples in the tent worked hard to reach the first level of the achievement called Humans and Demons Living in Harmony, A-Bai and Yuan Zhaoyang were having a serious talk.
Naturally, the talk centered on Lin Mianmian, who had nearly made Yuan Zhaoyang lose control.
After listening to Yuan Zhaoyang describe in detail how she felt toward Lin Mianmian, A-Bai had a strange idea. She considered it for a long time before speaking. “That… it cannot be…”
“Be what?” Yuan Zhaoyang, who had no clue at all, was a little anxious.
A-Bai silently stepped back two paces. After thinking, she stepped back two more paces before continuing, “Could it be… that cat demons of your breed, after reaching a certain age… need to… eat people?”
Before the words even finished, A-Bai made a fierce leap to the left.
At the same time, an empty basin smashed into the place where A-Bai had just been standing.
“No, no, no…” A-Bai waved her paws again and again, then added, “Of course, it is also possible that Lin Mianmian is cat food. A piece of cat food!”
“You mean she is a… cat-food demon?” Yuan Zhaoyang felt that there was some sense to it, but she soon shook her head and denied it. “She is human. How could she be a cat-food demon? Besides, how could something like a cat-food demon exist?”
“You are also a cat demon, but the test said you were human.” A-Bai looked at the large empty basin and patted her chest with her little paw. “Why not go taste her?”
“You are thinking too much…” Yuan Zhaoyang shook her head and frowned in silence for a moment. Then she hesitantly spoke again. “How would I taste her? In front of her?”
“Of course not in front of her. Are you crazy? Stick on an invisibility talisman and go lick her…” A-Bai gave a wild and irresponsible suggestion.
Yuan Zhaoyang silently took a talisman from her storage bag.
A-Bai froze. “Are you serious?”
“Were you teasing me?” Yuan Zhaoyang’s face did not look kind as she held the talisman.
“No, no, no…” After being stuffed with meat for a whole day, A-Bai was already afraid of Yuan Zhaoyang. She quickly shook her paws. “I just have one more question. If Lin Mianmian really is a cat-food demon… will you eat her?”
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”