Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 27

Perhaps because it was getting close to noon and the sun was growing warmer, the small animals were more willing to come out and move around. On the way back, Lin Mianmian saw several cats in a row and even spotted the little yellow dog from before in the distance.
Unfortunately, never mind petting them, she did not even get a chance to approach those fur balls. Each time Lin Mianmian wanted to get close, they scattered and ran off in a flash.
At first, Lin Mianmian could not understand it. These small animals were being kept in the outer valley, so by reason, they should be used to being around people. Why were they so unfriendly? But as she walked and listened to the heavy footsteps behind her, Lin Mianmian glanced back at the black bear carrying five sacks of dry food with a child hanging from her leg. Hm. Lin Mianmian felt that if she were one of those little fur balls, she would run too.
Lin Mianmian gently refused Xiong Lanlan’s suggestion that they eat lunch together and returned to her room with her bag of dry food.
Dry steamed buns and pickles really did not taste very good. Lin Mianmian ate one and a half buns. Feeling less hungry, she drank two mouthfuls of cool water and ended lunch.
The dry food truly did not taste like much, but Lin Mianmian did not complain. Being able to eat her fill was already a wonderful thing. As for the desire for good food, she could wait until Qi Refining and experience Qingxin Hall, which Xiong Lanlan had mentioned. One meal ticket and eating until full was also extremely attractive to Lin Mianmian.
In order to end her dry-food life sooner, Lin Mianmian held back her curiosity about how many small animals were nearby. She wiped her mouth, sat back on the bed, and opened the little booklet on drawing spiritual energy into the body that A-Bai had given everyone.
The booklet was quite thin. It also had some drawings, similar to diagrams of cultivation postures and spiritual-energy flow. The remaining words were even fewer.
After reading it carefully twice, Lin Mianmian discovered that the contents of the booklet were about the same as Xiong Lanlan’s earlier summary. It was nothing more than sensing spiritual energy in one’s breath at the beginning, keeping it, running it through the meridians, and finally gathering it in the energy center. That counted as successfully drawing spiritual energy into the body.
Then, following the inhale and exhale that A-Bai had taught on stage, Lin Mianmian crossed her legs according to the drawing in the booklet and began to breathe deeply.
Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale… exhale… exhale…
Lin Mianmian focused with all her attention, working hard to find the spiritual energy described in the booklet, the kind that would make a person feel full and relaxed.
It was already late autumn. Even at noon, the air in the room was a little chilly. Constant deep breathing made Lin Mianmian’s nose grow drier and colder, until she finally could not help sneezing several times. She opened her eyes and ended this first attempt.
She had returned before noon, and when she opened her eyes again, the moon was bright and the stars were few. In the apocalypse, Lin Mianmian had also urged plants to grow day after day through repetition. Even if the cultivation method in the booklet was dull, it was within what she could bear.
It was just a little dry and cold.
Lin Mianmian rubbed the tip of her nose. During the hundred years she had been grass, it had been like this too. In spring, she had more strength. In summer, that strength was almost about to burst out. In autumn, she began to turn dry and cold. By winter, there would also be an uncomfortable chill.
After pouring several cups of cold water into her stomach, Lin Mianmian rubbed her belly and felt that her grass body was actually quite fragile. Before successfully drawing spiritual energy into her body, she really should find some hot food to eat.
Lin Mianmian remembered that there seemed to be a neatly stacked pile of firewood in the courtyard. She wondered whether there was anything for boiling water. But when she went out to look, she could not help feeling disappointed. There was plenty of firewood, and it was neatly arranged, but there was nothing else.
Even an iron pot or an iron kettle would have been nice.
Lin Mianmian sighed. She was about to go back inside and keep cultivating when she casually noticed firelight not far away.
Was that… Xiong Lanlan’s place?
Looking at the firelight, the fire seemed quite large. They could not boil water or cook, and the weather was not cold enough to need a fire for warmth. With such a large fire, could something have happened?
In the end, Lin Mianmian could not set her worries aside and quickly ran over.
Walking in the dark was not easy. Luckily, before she had gone halfway, the firelight faintly reached her, saving Lin Mianmian from almost falling into the earth pit from that morning.
When she got close to Xiong Lanlan’s courtyard, the firelight inside was almost as tall as the courtyard wall. By that light, Lin Mianmian clearly saw several small animals gathered outside Xiong Lanlan’s courtyard. But as Lin Mianmian walked closer and closer, they scattered all at once.
Lin Mianmian rubbed her hands, which had not touched even half a strand of fur, and felt deeply lonely.
Lin Mianmian had not forgotten being bounced away that morning. Halfway there, she casually picked up a small stone from the roadside to use for knocking on the door. Standing far away, Lin Mianmian tossed the stone at the courtyard gate. To her surprise, it hit with one throw and opened with one hit.
The tightly shut courtyard gate was knocked half open. Warm firelight, laughter, and the scent of food all came out together.
Hm. It seemed nothing had happened.
Lin Mianmian felt she had worried for nothing. She took two steps back and decided to leave.
“Who is it? Mianmian? Come, come. We are just making your portion.” The person who poked her head out through the half-open door was the gentle young woman who had helped Xiong Lanlan pack her bedding before. Her surname was Feng, and her given name was Liang. Her name sounded cool, but she herself was very warm. She was willing to lend a hand with everything and had quickly gotten along with everyone.
Lin Mianmian did not understand for the moment what “making your portion” meant. But since Feng Liang had seen her, it would not be good to leave just like that. So she followed as Feng Liang pulled her into Xiong Lanlan’s courtyard.
In the middle of the courtyard, which was about the same size as hers, a huge fire burned. More than ten newly entered disciples sat around the fire, holding wooden sticks and seeming to roast something.
Lin Mianmian’s first reaction was to think of the small animals outside the courtyard just now, and her heart tightened. But she soon knew she had been wrong. After smelling carefully, she found that the courtyard only had the fragrance of roasted grains. There did not seem to be any meat.
Sure enough, when Lin Mianmian walked closer, she saw that the things skewered on the wooden sticks in everyone’s hands were… steamed bun slices.
But they were only roasting steamed bun slices. Did they need to make the fire reach the sky?
“Mianmian! Here!”
Lin Mianmian saw a short child near the house raise a pile of wooden sticks and run over. It was Wang Minger.
“Wait. There is also this.” Xiong Lanlan’s voice came from far away.
Lin Mianmian looked toward the voice.
Goodness. If Xiong Lanlan had not spoken, she would not have noticed that a corner of the courtyard was piled with so many stones, and that there was a bear among the stones.
“They said you eat a lot and told me to make yours bigger. It took me quite a bit of effort.” Xiong Lanlan shook her fur, and a layer of ash fell to the ground.
Before Lin Mianmian could blush over the words “eat a lot,” her gaze was already drawn to the thing Xiong Lanlan held.
A stone pot. It was exactly what she needed most right now.
“This is… this is… I am really embarrassed.” Lin Mianmian took the stone pot Xiong Lanlan gave her and felt extremely ashamed that she had refused to eat with Xiong Lanlan at noon because she wanted to pet fur balls.
“It is fine.” Xiong Lanlan waved the stone chisel in her right hand. “When Qingxin Hall has some limited good thing in the future, just share some of your portion with me.”
Lin Mianmian: “…” As expected, there was no need for shame.
No matter what, after this trip, Lin Mianmian received not only a stone pot, a pile of wooden sticks, and a fire starter, but Xiong Lanlan also insisted on keeping her promise and stuffed her with the same small array that had bounced Lin Mianmian that morning.
Xiong Lanlan was very busy. After stuffing the things into Lin Mianmian’s hands, she went back into the pile of stones to keep carving pots. Only when Lin Mianmian was about to leave did she learn from Feng Liang why everyone had gathered at Xiong Lanlan’s place so late at night.
According to Feng Liang, at noon, Xiong Lanlan felt it was not good for a young cub, meaning Wang Minger, to eat cold water and cold food. But when she made a request to the jade token, the jade token did not respond at all. It seemed Senior Sister Zihui and the others would not come before the day after tomorrow. So Xiong Lanlan went to the edge of the forest and got a few stones, making Wang Minger a pot to cook hot water and steamed-bun soup.
Xiong Lanlan had chiseled stones and carried extra firewood. When people asked about it on the road, she had answered honestly. So when the scent of cooked food truly drifted from Xiong Lanlan’s room, quite a few people brought stones over and asked Xiong Lanlan for pots. Xiong Lanlan had no way to refuse. She only turned on the sound- and scent-blocking restriction in the courtyard to keep more people from coming. But her fire was too large, and one after another, more than half the people had come anyway. In the end, she simply made each person a set. For those who did not know how to start a fire, she also had people who knew how to make fire starters make some.
Truly… she was a good bear. Much better than that rabbit who had forgotten to share the braised meat.
Speak of braised meat, and braised meat arrived.
As soon as Lin Mianmian entered her courtyard, she felt something was not right. For some reason, a faint meat scent had appeared in the air. But when she listened carefully, she did not feel that there was anyone else in the courtyard.
She carefully entered the room and discovered that the meat scent came from a large bowl of braised meat on the table.
Beside the braised meat bowl was a gray-looking jade bracelet. Under it was a note.
Mianmian, this is an apology. The bracelet is a magic artifact. Put it on when you return. It helps cultivation.
A-Bai, that fellow…
Lin Mianmian smiled and picked two white hairs from the jade bracelet.
But she had not expected that after she lightly touched the jade bracelet, the bracelet would leap up by itself and slip onto Lin Mianmian’s wrist.
Lin Mianmian was first startled, then quickly tried to pull it off. No matter what, she could not get it off.
A-Bai, that fellow! Lin Mianmian was both amused and annoyed.
After trying twice and failing to remove the bracelet, Lin Mianmian could only let it be. Still, she inevitably added another stroke to A-Bai’s account. The day Lin Mianmian reached Core Formation would be the day she petted that rabbit.
Not far from Lin Mianmian’s little house, a calico cat hidden in the night sensed that the small spell she had left on the bracelet had activated. She shook her fur in satisfaction and could not help letting out a soft purr.
With meat, a pot, and fire, if Lin Mianmian did not cook now, when would she?
Lin Mianmian lit the fire, washed the pot, made a simple support, started stewing the braised meat soup, and began roasting steamed buns.
Young cubs? Who was not a young cub, really?
Lin Mianmian deliberately left the courtyard gate open, and the courtyard fire burned brightly. She carefully listened to the sounds around the house. There were probably four or five small animals nearby right now, and three of them were slowly approaching.
She waited and waited, listened and listened, and finally waited until four small animals had reached the courtyard gate. But by the time Lin Mianmian finished eating the meat and steamed buns until full, they still had not come inside.
Lin Mianmian sighed, took roasted bun slices that had cooled, broke them into pieces, put them in a bowl, and walked out.
The fur balls that had been at the courtyard gate darted in every direction and vanished at once.
So sad. She had not even seen clearly what small animals they were.
Lin Mianmian held the bowl and stood in the firelight, looking especially lonely.
There was only one small animal left nearby.
Lin Mianmian touched her ear. Ah, if it had not come earlier, it would be even less likely to come now. The disappointed Lin Mianmian placed the small bowl outside the courtyard, walked back into the courtyard, closed the gate, wiped away imaginary tears, and went to cultivate.
In the darkness, a calico that had been quietly crouching for a long time hooked one claw at her neck and pulled out a jade ring almost the same as the one on Lin Mianmian’s wrist. She looked at it for a moment, then tucked it back into the fur at her neck.
In the short time Yuan Zhaoyang lost focus, the four cats Lin Mianmian had scared away earlier all rustled back. Looking at their route, their target was naturally the bowl Lin Mianmian had put down.
Yuan Zhaoyang was not as devoted to eating and drinking as A-Bai. Although the steamed buns were fragrant, they had no attraction to Yuan Zhaoyang. Moreover, those were clearly something Lin Mianmian had put out to feed small animals. As a cat demon, Yuan Zhaoyang had her own pride.
In the night, a calico that looked like a white cat at a rough glance ran swiftly. The four cats that were carefully approaching the food bowl felt their vision blur. An adult calico about three palms long blocked the food bowl.
Was she stealing food? The four cats slapped their tails against the ground and let out hissing threats together.
Where had A-Bai found these mortal-world cats? Why did they hiss when they called? Were cats not supposed to meow? Yuan Zhaoyang, who had never lived in a group and did not understand mortal-world cats, frowned. But there was too much fur on her face, so no one could see it.
She raised a paw and patted the bowl. The bowl disappeared.
Yuan Zhaoyang flicked her tail and ran far away.
The four cats were left frozen in place. Only after a long while did they trot to the spot where the bowl had been, sniffing around and scratching the ground with their paws, as if they truly could not believe the bowl had vanished into thin air.
In the small courtyard on Hengshui Peak, A-Bai was lying in a soft nest eating little tangerines. One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight. Hm. It would be even better if someone helped peel them. Unfortunately, Yuan Zhaoyang had gone into closed-door cultivation.
Though A-Bai thought this, a small ice knife flew freely through the air, peeling tangerines no slower than human hands.
The courtyard gate creaked. A-Bai turned her head and saw the gate open a crack, then close again.
“You finished refining it?” A-Bai sprang up, and a freshly peeled tangerine flew straight forward.
Yuan Zhaoyang removed the invisibility talisman and waved one little paw, knocking the tangerine back into A-Bai’s mouth. “I have already put it on her. The fragrance density really is being controlled, so it seems the refining succeeded. There is still some of the jade ring left. I can keep using it.”
As Yuan Zhaoyang spoke, she hooked out the jade ring at her neck, now thinner by a ring, and shook it.
“Not bad, Senior Sister Yuan. The first thing you did after coming out of seclusion was not to tell me, but to go straight to Mianmian.” A-Bai swallowed the tangerine in a few bites and lay straight on the ground. “I am hurt.”
“Why would I come find you? To peel tangerines for you?” Yuan Zhaoyang snorted. Her little paws pulled over the soft nest A-Bai had been lying in, and she settled on it herself. “Also, what is going on with those cats you found?”
“What is wrong with the cats I found? You saw them? Let me tell you, I spent a lot of effort. I found black ones, black-and-white ones, orange-yellow-and-white ones. Anyway, they are all cats with many colors on their bodies. That way, you, a little white cat, will stand out more and look more pitiful and lovable. Mianmian will definitely like you best.” A-Bai made another soft nest for herself and lay down. “Speaking of which, should I get you a nest and food bowl or something? You have not been a cat in so long. Are you still able to do it?”
“Who wants to look pitiful and lovable?” Yuan Zhaoyang wrapped her tail neatly and sat upright. “Those small animals are so afraid of people. They do not get close to Lin Mianmian at all. How am I supposed to follow along? Other animals are all afraid of her. If I go up to her, is that not even more sudden than if there were no animals and only me?”
A-Bai was also somewhat surprised. “They are all afraid of people? Then what do we do? Should I stick on an invisibility talisman and help you drive them into the courtyard?”
“…” Yuan Zhaoyang could imagine the chaos just thinking about it. She waved her paws again and again. “Forget it. Tomorrow, I will think of something myself.”
“Senior Sister Yuan, Senior Sister Yuan! A-Bai, A-Bai!” Zihui’s voice came from the sound-transmission stone in the courtyard.
Why had Zihui come? Yuan Zhaoyang glanced at A-Bai, touched the jade ring at her neck, and flashed into the room.
A-Bai put on a serious expression, put away one soft nest, closed the barrier, let Zihui in, then immediately opened it again.
“What is it? It is so late.” A-Bai sent Zihui a tangerine.
“I am not eating. This is bad.” Zihui was so anxious that she pushed the tangerine back.
“…Oh. What I mean is, you can peel tangerines for me while telling me what happened.” A-Bai put a plate of tangerines in front of Zihui.
Zihui: “…Where is Senior Sister Yuan?”
A-Bai lay back down. “In closed-door cultivation. So what happened?”
“The Red Essence Five-Scale Fish in the outer valley should be entering capture season in these few days. But today, they all surged toward the outermost river channel of the outer valley and drifted far away from the capture site we first set.” Zihui looked anxious. “Senior Sister Yuan accepted the task of capturing the Red Essence Five-Scale Fish this year, and you and I are responsible as assistants. Do you still remember?”
A-Bai’s eyes shone brightly… and she shook her head. “I do not remember.”
“…” Zihui took a deep breath and repeatedly warned herself that the one before her was a Core Formation little white rabbit and could not be hit casually. Could not be hit casually. “I went to see the river section that drew them over. It seems many Copper-Thread Snails suddenly appeared there, and the fish are all eating there.”
“There should be Copper-Thread Snails in the river, but many should not appear at once. How about waiting until they finish eating and go back to the original place?” A-Bai thought for a moment and said.
“No. They must be captured in the next few days. If we miss the time, the scales on their bodies will pass the best gathering period. But if we catch them on the spot, we will not have time to set up a fish-transporting array. We can only scoop them up net by net, and we need stronger nets.” Zihui was almost about to cry. Yuan Zhaoyang and A-Bai could bear this loss, but she could not.
A-Bai patted the golden bell and took out a roll of spider silk. “Use this to make nets. It is something we got in the Eastern Sea before. It should be enough. But why did so many Copper-Thread Snails suddenly appear? Would they taste good stir-fried?”
“It seems many stones were dug from the river bottom, and the Copper-Thread Snails were turned out. I did not have time to check carefully, so I came here first.” Zihui picked up the spider silk and checked its quality. At last, she let out a breath.
…
The night grew deep. Xiong Lanlan finished carving the last pot, picked up Wang Minger, who had fallen asleep on a stone, and gave a huge yawn.