Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 46

Lin Mianmian remembered reading a fairy-tale book called One Thousand and One Nights when she was young. At the start, it explained how the story collection came to be.
There was a cruel king who married a woman every day. After spending the night with her, he would kill her the next day, then marry another. This continued again and again. A clever girl, in order to save the women of that country, willingly married the king. Every night, she told the king a story without an ending, then continued the ending the next day before starting a new story without an ending. Because the king wanted to hear each ending, he could never bear to kill her, until at last he was moved by her.
That night, looking at the little calico curled nicely beside her, Lin Mianmian somehow thought of that story from the first few pages of One Thousand and One Nights.
Would a kitten who left as soon as things went wrong stay because she wanted to hear what happened next?
The little calico was smart, and during the day she seemed to have seen through Xiong Lanlan’s plan to leave Little Gray behind. But staying for a story sounded a bit too fanciful even to Lin Mianmian. Still, she could not help wanting to try.
In the lonely deep night, there were always some wild, childish thoughts that belonged only to her.
Lin Mianmian did not have the ability to remember everything she saw, so she could not remember one thousand and one stories. But long serial storytelling should also be a way to lure people, oh, to lure cats into staying, right?
And so, because of one thought, Lin Mianmian stepped onto the road of daily updates with no return.
After the night passed, when Lin Mianmian got up the next day, she did not cling to the little calico in bed until she nearly starved before getting up, as she had done in the first few days. But she also did not hurry off to cook like the previous two days, trying to squeeze out more time for cultivation.
Lin Mianmian moved gently and petted the cat all over. Once the little calico opened her eyes, Lin Mianmian used the comb she had gotten from Zihui and carefully combed the little calico’s fur. Last, she pinched each soft paw pad twice before reluctantly getting up to make breakfast.
After the previous day’s little calico sulking and trying to run away, Lin Mianmian’s urgency to get a crystal core and check whether she still had her ability seemed to fade quite a bit.
She still wanted to solve certain mysteries, and to avoid being prey in a world where the weak were eaten by the strong, she still longed for power.
But after going through so much and arriving here, was she really here only to become stronger?
Eat dry steamed buns, cold pickles, and hard-to-bite pastries. Give up everything aside from basic needs and cultivation. Draw spiritual energy into the body, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation. Then even basic needs would disappear, and cultivation would become a life of not eating, not drinking, and not sleeping. Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, ascension…
Lin Mianmian had once been betrayed by the base she had worked hard to support and protect. Of course she wanted to become stronger.
But Lin Mianmian had also once spent years with only enough food to fill her belly, tirelessly circulating her ability day and night. Aside from becoming stronger, she wanted more.
For example, three hot meals a day, enough to eat until she was full. Although she did not have Senior Sister Yuan’s wonderful cooking skills, Senior Sister Zihui’s ingredients were very plentiful. She could basically get whatever she wanted to eat.
Another example was… her beloved little calico. If such a wonderful, soft little thing could not be played with, that would simply be a waste of heaven’s gift.
She wanted to become stronger, but she also wanted a real life. The life that had been cut off by the apocalypse before she could live it.
Lin Mianmian did not know how long she could keep this balance.
But at least… for now.
After cooking breakfast and eating it with the little calico, Lin Mianmian rubbed the cat for a while, then began cultivating.
Little calico Yuan smelled the faint fragrance in the air, but she did not rush to continue cultivating. For some reason, she felt Lin Mianmian seemed a little different today, as if her whole person had relaxed quite a bit. Hmph. Her spiritual root aptitude is so poor, yet she is still obsessed with petting the cat and has no sense of danger at all. Still, compared with the way she had cultivated with a heavy face these past few days, this was much easier to look at.
Speaking of that, what would be written in the letter received by that Harry Pawter, who was always bullied by his cousin? Was someone coming to help him become stronger and fight back against that cousin?
The little calico curled to the side and smoothed the fur on her face. She hated people who told only half a story and then fell asleep. Fortunately, Lin Mianmian’s stories were never very long. After listening for one more night, or two at most, she should hear the whole story. If it was not good, then Lin Mianmian could not blame her for stepping on her face at night.
Today, Lin Mianmian kept feeling that the little calico was looking at her. At first, she thought it was her imagination. But every time Lin Mianmian looked over, her eyes met the little calico’s directly.
A natural, friendly meeting of gazes was the cutest thing.
But after they looked at each other many times, Lin Mianmian began to feel something was not right. Had she done something strange?
Was her face not washed clean? Was her robe caught in her trousers? Was her hair messy? Was something strange stuck to her? Had she forgotten to feed the cat? Impossible.
And so, under the little calico’s gaze, Lin Mianmian washed her face several times that day, fixed her hair and clothes countless times, got up now and then to pat herself down, and even fed the cat an extra late-night snack.
When it was finally time to sleep, Lin Mianmian blew out the candle and let out a breath of relief. Being stared at all day by the cute little cat she had raised really brought a strange kind of pressure.
But right after she let out that breath, she turned back and saw the little calico lying on the bed in the moonlight, quietly looking at her with burning eyes.
Lin Mianmian froze, then lit the candle again.
Lin Mianmian almost never received active interaction from the little calico. After suddenly being stared at for a whole day, plus cultivating, she was anxious and a little tired. Under the weak candlelight, Lin Mianmian had only reached the part where Harry Pawter was taken to Diagon Alley when she yawned and could not hold on.
Yuan Zhaoyang, who had been listening with great interest and had tucked her whole cat body into a proper little ball, saw Lin Mianmian looking sleepy and truly could not help complaining inwardly that people from the mortal world were too weak. She really wanted to pour two pills into Lin Mianmian and make her finish the story.
Although she was looking forward to what came next, when Lin Mianmian rubbed her eyes and softly said, “That is all for today. Tomorrow night, we will continue,” Yuan Zhaoyang did not hmph in protest.
Tch. You look weak and pitiful. I will feed you pills after you draw spiritual energy into your body.
The little calico lay down beside the pillow. Her tail moved and gently brushed Lin Mianmian’s eyes.
It was ticklish and very comfortable. Lin Mianmian touched the cat’s tail, climbed up, and prepared to blow out the candle and sleep.
Yuan Zhaoyang had not expected that deep in the night, even though she had let Lin Mianmian off, Lin Mianmian still failed to sleep early.
“I am really sorry. I originally wanted to come in the evening, but once I began cultivating, I did not expect it to get this late. I came to try my luck. Luckily, your light was still on.” Feng Liang, looking apologetic, placed Little Gray from her arms onto the ground. Her face flushed slightly as she explained, “Xiong Lanlan asked me to raise this kitten for a few days, but for some reason, it… mm… it…”
“What happened to it?” Lin Mianmian looked at Feng Liang in confusion. Feng Liang seemed to want to speak but also seemed tangled. Lin Mianmian lowered her head and looked at Little Gray, who was running happily around the courtyard, trying to approach the little calico crouched by the door, only to be pounced on by the yellow cat that had appeared from who knew where. It looked quite normal.
“At first, I wanted to find Xiong Lanlan, but she seems to be in seclusion. There seems to be a restriction on her courtyard, and I cannot enter.” Feng Liang explained that first before returning to the main topic. “I know you have a little kitten about the same age here, so I wanted to ask you… It… It has not pooped for about two days… I mean… pooped… that…” As she spoke, Feng Liang seemed afraid Lin Mianmian would not understand and pointed at the sand basin in the courtyard.
“Oh…” Lin Mianmian understood instantly and smiled. “That is simple. Maybe the food it ate at Xiong Lanlan’s place is different from what it eats at yours, so it has not adapted yet. You can try wetting a cloth with warm water and wiping its bottom. This imitates how a mother cat helps a kitten poop.”
After saying that, Lin Mianmian seemed to remember something and suddenly turned back. Sure enough, the little calico was looking at her.
“No, no, no… I am not going to wipe you!” Lin Mianmian quickly scooped up the little calico to prevent misunderstanding and prevent another escape.
“Pfft… You are talking as if it can understand you.” Feng Liang had gotten advice and relaxed a lot. Seeing Lin Mianmian so eager to explain, she could not help laughing.
Lin Mianmian checked that the little calico in her arms was soft and limp, without any sign of tensing to flee. She stroked the fur twice and laughed along. “Sometimes, I really do think it is very smart, as if it understands what I say.”
“Little Gray is very smart too! Oh right, can your Rice Ball do this?” Feng Liang crouched, took a tiny piece of meat from her purse, and waved it at Little Gray.
Little calico Yuan, curled in Lin Mianmian’s arms, gave one look. Fried Dough, who had been stopping Little Gray from pouncing on the little calico, moved aside. It stared greedily at the piece of meat in Feng Liang’s hand, flicked its tail, and unhappily curled up by the courtyard wall.
Without Fried Dough blocking it, Little Gray shook its fur and ran on its short legs to Feng Liang. It ate the meat from Feng Liang’s hand in one bite, then crashed its whole little cat body into Feng Liang’s palm. It rubbed left, then right, rubbing itself all around Feng Liang’s hand.
“Wait, this is not the main point.” Feng Liang was happily rubbed by the kitten and stroked Little Gray twice before leaning her face closer.
This… Lin Mianmian widened her eyes. She saw short-legged Little Gray wobble up on its two back legs, stick up its little bottom, shake its little tail, and try hard to stand tall. It reached and reached, then finally kissed Feng Liang’s face.
Once on the left, once on the right, and then the forehead. Lin Mianmian watched as short-legged Little Gray used its greatest effort to hop once and kiss Feng Liang’s forehead.
Only after Little Gray landed on all four paws again did Lin Mianmian realize that she had been watching so intently that she had been silently cheering for Little Gray the whole time.
“Isn’t it so smart? So cute?” Feng Liang smiled and picked up Little Gray. “It is so clever and so close to people. Agreeing to help Xiong Lanlan care for it for a few days was definitely the right choice.”
Perhaps Little Gray understood Feng Liang’s praise. The gray kitten burrowed and burrowed, wriggling out of Feng Liang’s arms. Its front paws stepped on Feng Liang’s shoulder. Tiny as it was, it tried hard to raise its head and kissed Feng Liang’s earlobe.
“Wow, little baby can do this too. So good!” Feng Liang kissed Little Gray’s face with a loud smack.
Tch. Kissing back and forth… Is that tiring or not? Why do they look so happy? Are they starved for love?
The little calico curled in Lin Mianmian’s arms rolled her eyes at Feng Liang, who was clearly overjoyed. When she raised her head, however, she saw the envy in Lin Mianmian’s eyes, almost overflowing.
As if sensing the little calico’s gaze again, Lin Mianmian lowered her head.
What is this supposed to mean? What is with that envious, jealous, pitiful, barely restrained expression?
The little calico widened her eyes and stared back at her. After a while, she truly could not withstand Lin Mianmian’s desire-filled look.
Fine. Since you told a story today, I will let you kiss my paw. The little calico slowly stretched out one paw and placed it on Lin Mianmian’s arm.
Lin Mianmian did not move.
What? Taking a mile after getting an inch? Kiss my face? Impossible! Dream on! The little calico stared straight at Lin Mianmian. After a while, she tilted her neck.
Fine. Since there is an outsider here, I will let you kiss my forehead. Just once. If you dare kiss a second time, I will scratch your face.
In any case, it was not the first time Lin Mianmian had kissed her forehead. The little calico clenched her little paw and comforted herself. I am only a cat. Only a cat.
Lin Mianmian still did not kiss her. She slowly looked toward Feng Liang.
The little calico moved her stiff neck and followed Lin Mianmian’s gaze. She saw that gray kitten, that shameless gray kitten, that gray kitten that had lost all cat dignity, standing on Feng Liang’s shoulder and leaning its whole cat face over to kiss Feng Liang’s forehead again.
Wait. What is with that envious look?
You do not want to kiss me?
You want me to kiss you?
Are you sick?
Do you want to die?