Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 23

With one light strike, the wooden house turned into scattered planks. Mixed with the dismantled tent, it became a small boat in Yuan Zhaoyang’s hands, with a wooden bottom and a cloth-covered cabin on top.
The Five Elements Sect group boarded and entered the cloth cabin. A-Bai pulled Lin Mianmian to sit at the very back of the cabin. Yuan Zhaoyang, the last to board, naturally stood outside the cabin on the deck at the bow.
Once Yuan Zhaoyang placed spirit stones one by one into certain grooves on the deck and activated the spell, the boat-shaped flying artifact rose steadily and swiftly carried them away from Yingxian City.
This boat-shaped flying artifact was very fast. After it flew up, only Foundation Establishment disciples could leave the cloth cabin and walk on the deck. Qi Refining disciples and the new Five Elements Sect disciples who still had no cultivation could only stay inside the wind-blocking cloth cabin.
They had set off.
Lin Mianmian lowered her head and looked at the deck. When they left, Tian Xiaoyu had said they should both work hard. Tian Xiaoyu would work hard to open her noodle stall bigger and bigger, while Lin Mianmian would work hard at cultivation and walk farther. Ten years later, they would meet again in Yingxian City.
What a beautiful hope. A child she had watched grow up. Perhaps this was the final parting after all.
She suddenly felt a little lonely.
Lin Mianmian glanced at A-Bai, who was curled beside her. All right, there was still a little rabbit to comfort her. After enduring for several days, Lin Mianmian finally could not help reaching out and lightly stroking one of the little white rabbit’s ears.
As expected, it was so soft. The little white fur was as light as a cloud. Lin Mianmian, who loved fluffy things, narrowed her eyes in great satisfaction.
“I am telling you, this behavior is called taking liberties in our demon world. You can get beaten for it, understand?” A-Bai raised her head and glared. “I only look like a little white rabbit. I am actually a great rabbit demon at Core Formation. Do you still remember that?”
“What does taking liberties mean?” Lin Mianmian raised her head and looked at the top of the cloth cabin, pretending not to understand.
“It means touching demon fur.” A-Bai stepped one paw onto Lin Mianmian’s foot.
“Fine, I will not touch it. Once we reach the outer valley, there will be plenty of little rabbits, little cats, little dogs, and little cows anyway.” Lin Mianmian pulled her foot back in embarrassment and anger, looking as if she did not care about A-Bai at all.
A-Bai: “…”
Yuan Zhaoyang, who was standing on the deck and thinking about when she should act tonight, saw a streak of white light shoot out of the cloth cabin and land steadily by her feet.
“Let go…” Yuan Zhaoyang shook her leg, but the little white rabbit hugging her leg stayed firm.
“I promised Lin Mianmian that our outer valley has little rabbits, little cats, little dogs, little cows, little squirrels, little hamsters…” A-Bai drooped her ears and counted on her paws, almost unable to keep count herself.
“But the outer valley has none of those.” Yuan Zhaoyang sneered. “Those mortal-world small animals cannot bear the spiritual energy around the Five Elements Sect.”
“The outer valley does not have much spiritual energy anyway. Did wild chickens from the village below not run up there before?” The little rabbit gave her a look that said, Do not lie to me.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
Seeing that Yuan Zhaoyang had softened a little, A-Bai hurried to press harder while the iron was hot. “Besides, if there is nothing there, how disappointed will your little cat-food demon be? When the fragrance fades so much you cannot find it, what will you research then?”
“You are clearly the one who feels bad about breaking your word.” Yuan Zhaoyang thought for a moment and ordered, “Then you watch the boat and slow it down. Wait for me. I will go and return quickly.”
After saying that, Yuan Zhaoyang walked to the side of the boat and leaped down.
“Tch. I thought you would complain about whose little cat-food demon she is.” A-Bai shook her head and formed a spell to lower the boat’s speed.
From the time the little rabbit suddenly rushed out to the time she slowly swayed back, about two cups of tea had passed. Judging from how urgent the little rabbit had been when she left and how relaxed she was now, Lin Mianmian felt she had probably gone to relieve herself.
Lin Mianmian did not know how fast this flying artifact was, but from takeoff to landing, they flew for almost half a day.
When they came out of the cloth cabin, it was already dark outside.
Even a large sect like the Five Elements Sect was pitch-black at night. It could not compare with the modern cities before the apocalypse, where light was everywhere.
But the round pearl Zihui took out and held in her hand was enough to light everything within a radius of more than ten meters.
In the night, the new disciples could not see the whole view of their surroundings. They followed behind Zihui and were sent into one small house after another, each with its own door and little courtyard.
From the places they passed, it looked much like an ordinary mortal village. But the living conditions were not bad, and each person had a room. It looked like the kind of place that could have many small animals. That little rabbit had not lied to her. It was just a pity that it was night, so Lin Mianmian could not see any small animals. She felt a little regretful.
After Yuan Zhaoyang and A-Bai got off the boat, they followed Zihui and the others from far away. When they were almost near the house Yuan Zhaoyang had specially chosen for Lin Mianmian, Yuan Zhaoyang finally opened the large sack A-Bai had been carrying on her head.
“Hate it, hate it, hate it. Why did I have to carry them? I kept feeling like something was pooping inside!” A-Bai put down the sack and jumped far away. She made a pile of ice and thoroughly wiped herself from head to tail twice.
“You should be glad you promised only small animals. If you had said there were elephants, crocodiles, and rhinos here, one sack would not solve it. In any case, I do not have a storage bag that can hold living things.” Yuan Zhaoyang reached out and pushed the sack, driving the small animals inside out.
The trembling little rabbits, cats, dogs, squirrels, hamsters, field mice, and others squeezed together in a shaking lump. They looked like one huge trembling fur ball.
“I said it might not work. Although they have no spiritual awareness, their instincts can still let them feel the pressure from the spirit beasts in the outer valley. How could they live here?” Yuan Zhaoyang put away the sack, and the huge fur ball shook even harder.
“I know what to do about that. This place happens to be at the very edge of the outer valley, where it borders the mortal world. We just need to drive the spirit beasts of the outer valley farther in, then make a temporary array to separate this small area from the inside. Then they will not be able to sense the spirit beasts.” A-Bai looked proud. “Let Lin Mianmian touch them for two days. When she gets bored, we can send them away.”
A lovely thought. Yuan Zhaoyang did not discourage A-Bai. She only nodded and left one sentence. “Since you already know what to do, you can do it.”
After saying that, she lifted her leg to leave.
“Wait…” A-Bai made a rabbit pounce.
Yuan Zhaoyang perfectly turned aside and dodged.
A-Bai cried, “Driving away spirit beasts and setting up an array? You cannot mean to make one rabbit do it all, right?”
“Hm. You can take that one with you. Two rabbits can do it together.” Yuan Zhaoyang pointed at the black rabbit trembling inside the large fur ball.
A-Bai: “…”
A burden she had thrown out herself had to be shouldered even through tears.
Compared with helping A-Bai shoulder that burden, Yuan Zhaoyang had something more important to do right now.
The heart-clearing mantra and all that. After reciting it for three days, she had truly had enough. Tonight, she and the cat-food demon would decide victory or defeat. Oh, no. She meant Lin Mianmian.
There were about sixty or seventy new disciples in the Five Elements Sect. They followed Zihui around many turns while rooms were assigned. In the end, only Lin Mianmian was left.
“Your residence is here.” Zihui pointed at the small house ahead. She looked at Lin Mianmian, thought for a moment, and added, “This house may be the farthest one on the edge of the outer valley. It is relatively close to the mortal world. Although the Five Elements Sect has a barrier and mortals cannot easily come through, once in a great while, some small animals from the mortal world may run over. Do not be afraid. Usually they do not stay long. After you draw spiritual energy into your body, you will receive a new residence farther inside the outer valley. These small houses are temporary.”
Small animals were the cutest.
Lin Mianmian’s mind was full of fluffy little darlings. She completely did not consider that the small animals Zihui mentioned might also be wolves, tigers, or leopards.
This house was indeed a little remote. Most of the earlier houses had been only a few dozen steps apart, so that one could faintly see the next from where one stood. This one and the house before it were about two or three hundred steps apart. It was indeed a little far. But Lin Mianmian did not mind. A house with its own door and courtyard was already much better than the huge shared sleeping platforms she had used in the apocalypse.
The courtyard was about forty square meters. The bed and furniture inside the house were complete. Zihui tossed out the bedding Lin Mianmian had used in the tent from her storage bag, and the place could be lived in tonight.
“Listen for the jade token’s notice tomorrow.” Zihui left the last standard jade token for new disciples. Out of kindness, she also used a wind-control spell to remove the dust from Lin Mianmian before leaving.
This was the first room in this strange world that belonged to Lin Mianmian. Hm… even if it was temporary. Lin Mianmian made the bed and felt that, without Wang Minger in the room tonight, she should be able to sleep better.
Reality proved that Lin Mianmian’s thoughts were far too beautiful.
Because although there was no Wang Minger in this room, there was… a ghost!
As a grass demon with excellent hearing, Lin Mianmian had just lain down for a short while when she heard something quietly walk into her courtyard. Although the other side moved very lightly, so lightly that it did not seem human at all, Lin Mianmian heard it clearly.
At first, Lin Mianmian thought someone had come. But she soon realized that what came might not be a person.
The door of the room did not make the slightest sound, yet those footsteps went straight from the courtyard into the room. Lin Mianmian secretly opened her eyes and looked toward the sound by the moonlight. The sound stopped at once, but that place… was empty. There was not even half a human shadow.
Had they not said that because the place was remote, some small animals might appear? Why had a… ghost come?
Lin Mianmian knew her little movement just now had likely been discovered by that ghost. She truly did not know how to deal with it, so she could only open her eyes, stretch lazily, and close them again.
Ghosts were much scarier than demons. As a grass demon, Lin Mianmian had to use all her willpower to stop herself from trembling at once.
This was the Five Elements Sect, right? A cultivation sect, right? A famous righteous sect, right? How could a ghost appear and no one sense it? Lin Mianmian’s heart was a storm of curses.
A long, long time passed. The room stayed quiet. So long passed that Lin Mianmian, who was pretending to sleep, almost thought the earlier sound had been her imagination.
Then Lin Mianmian felt it. Something was approaching again.
There were no footsteps now, not even footsteps. But a grass demon’s instinct told her that something had already reached the side of the bed.
Had she just stepped onto the immortal path only to meet an unavoidable disaster? She might as well have stayed a blade of grass in the mortal world. She had not seen a single ghost in all those years!
Lin Mianmian was so scared she almost despaired. At that moment, something wet and warm gently slid across the right wrist she had left outside the quilt.
“Ah!”
Lin Mianmian was so horrified that she sprang up. She had no way to keep pretending she knew nothing and hope this ghost would leave by itself.
Just as Lin Mianmian shouted and gave up, preparing herself to face the ghost’s attack, a shadow seemed to suddenly appear before her. It swayed, and immediately after, a fluffy lump whose shape she could not see clearly leaped out the window.
Although the room was dark and Lin Mianmian could not see what the thing was, she felt that the back of her hand seemed to have brushed against something soft and furry. Combining that with the furry thing that had jumped out…
“A-Bai? Is that A-Bai?” Lin Mianmian angrily threw off the quilt. “A-Bai, why are you not sleeping in the middle of the night? Why did you come lick me?”
Several thousand meters away, A-Bai, who was stepping on sleeping spirit beasts one by one to wake them up and drive them out of this area, felt her ears heat up. She looked around but did not find anything unusual.
“Hmph. Dirty work and tiring work for this rabbit, while she goes to lick the little girl herself. Shameless, shameless, shameless.” A-Bai wore a complaining expression as she stepped awake a Half-Moon Silver-Pink Rat. Then she suddenly discovered that it was pink. The mad half of the month!
Deep in the night, a mad Half-Moon Silver-Pink Rat hung from A-Bai’s fur.
Deep in the night, Lin Mianmian angrily lit a lamp and found a white hair on the back of her hand, but could not find A-Bai in the room.
Deep in the night, Yuan Zhaoyang lost control and returned to cat form. The taste on the tip of her tongue made her so comfortable she wanted to meow, but she had to… endure it.