Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 48

Autumn passed into winter, and winter ended in spring. Zihui kept to the agreement and distributed ingredients and rations at the small square every few days. But the number of people who came to collect ingredients became smaller each time. The lively crowd gradually thinned in the rush of hurried footsteps, until only a scattered few remained.
The constant decrease in numbers made those who were left feel even more pressure, and their desire to cultivate grew heavier.
Later, aside from the necessary ration pickup every few days, everyone seemed to be in seclusion. Once they entered their courtyard gates, they would not come out until the next ration pickup.
By the time winter had passed, only thirteen of the courtyards at the outermost edge of the outer valley still had people living in them.
Lin Mianmian, whose spiritual root aptitude was extremely poor, was naturally one of them.
However, after Lin Mianmian passed through the mistaken path of urgent cultivation in those first few days and once again balanced life and cultivation in her heart, she gradually regained a normal attitude toward cultivation.
Leaving aside her anxious days in the apocalypse, when she had worked only for the public good, just the years she had spent as grass in the Tian family were enough. Stuck in one corner of that courtyard, within a tiny space, unable to move or eat, Lin Mianmian now did not know how she had endured those years as grass, passing the days only by watching the Tian family’s daily affairs.
Compared with those awful lives where she could not choose for herself, her current days of cooking, raising a cat, and cultivating made Lin Mianmian feel very grateful. They were full, with a little happiness mixed in. In this other world where one could cultivate immortality, since she had chosen the cultivation path, Lin Mianmian naturally would not delay cultivation. But she knew her spiritual root aptitude was extremely poor, and she did not know how far she could walk on this road. Perhaps as she walked, her realm would not break through, and her lifespan would end. Thinking this way, Lin Mianmian was unwilling to give up her present life for cultivation.
Forget everything else. Just the matter of daily meals was enough. Although Lin Mianmian’s own cooking was truly average, she never wanted to return to a life of gnawing steamed buns and pickles just to stay alive. The shredded-chicken mixed noodles, roast chicken legs, and Red Essence Five-Scale Fish soup Yuan Zhaoyang had once made were extremely delicious. Whenever Lin Mianmian thought of them, she could not help putting in a bit more effort when cooking. Practice made skill. One day, without having to miss someone else’s cooking, she could live a self-sufficient life. Lin Mianmian looked forward to that.
Unfortunately, Lin Mianmian’s talent for cooking was probably about the same as her current spiritual root aptitude. Both were below the standard line for people of the same kind. Months passed, and by the start of spring, the food Lin Mianmian cooked still tasted average, and her cultivation also seemed to have made no progress. It truly was a little discouraging.
Only in one area did Lin Mianmian feel she had at least made some achievements: raising a cat. Her little calico had always been a model cat: quiet, obedient, sensible, and clean. There was no need to say more about that. The longer Lin Mianmian raised this cat, the more she felt that her little calico was simply the smartest, most human-like little cat. Aside from being a little shy, she was perfect.
Take the end of autumn, when Xiong Lanlan was in seclusion and Feng Liang brought Little Gray over to ask how to make a kitten poop. The next morning, Lin Mianmian had just woken up when she noticed something off about the bed. Looking carefully, she saw that the little calico, who usually slept directly beside her pillow, was still in the same place, but had burrowed into a thin cotton cloth bag.
This thin cloth bag was something Lin Mianmian had made a few days after the little calico suddenly went missing and then suddenly came back. At that time, after the little calico returned, even with Xiong Lanlan’s array, Lin Mianmian still had lingering fear in her heart. So when she collected living supplies from Zihui, she asked for some thin cotton cloth, needle, and thread. After returning, she carefully sewed a cat-carrying pouch that could be worn on the body.
But back then, Lin Mianmian did not understand the little calico enough. She had been too naive. The cat pouch was finished. The cloth was soft, layered several times, and although the stitches were not pretty, they were very tight and sturdy. The final product was spacious and comfortable.
Everything was ready. In the end, the only thing missing was Rice Ball.
Lin Mianmian would never forget that day. After finishing the last stitch, she had joyfully opened the cat pouch in front of the little calico and wanted to put the cat inside. The little calico’s gaze at that moment…
She was clearly a little kitten, but in that instant, her suddenly narrowed eyes were full of disdain and disgust. The little calico almost never meowed, and for a long time, Lin Mianmian had thought she might not know how to meow. But when Lin Mianmian opened the cat pouch and called the little calico to try it, she clearly heard her little calico… hmph.
The sound was neither high nor low. It came from the throat and was a bit muffled, like a purr. But matched with the kitten’s obvious retreat of refusal, Lin Mianmian knew that was a hmph. It was a hmph. It was actually a hmph.
The wounded Lin Mianmian shoved the finished cat cloth bag, along with her shattered heart, casually into the wardrobe and never wanted to take it out again.
After being slapped in the face by the kitten’s coldness, Lin Mianmian had already decided to forget this failed work. She had not expected that the little calico, who never rummaged through things, would find the bag, carry it onto the bed, and obediently crawl inside.
At first, Lin Mianmian thought autumn was getting deeper and the weather colder, so the little calico was cold at night and did not want to get under the quilt and sleep with her. That was why she had dragged this out for warmth. Lin Mianmian, heart aching and blaming herself, quickly took the extra thin cotton cloth she had gotten when making the cat pouch and began sewing a little quilt for the little calico. It was not a ration-pickup day, and Lin Mianmian did not want to wait two more days, so she directly took apart some of her own bedding and removed quite a bit of cotton. In one morning, she sewed the little calico a thick, warm little quilt.
But Lin Mianmian had not expected that even after the little quilt existed, the little calico still wanted to burrow into the cat pouch. Not only did she want to burrow into the cat pouch, she even bit the cloth strap on the pouch and circled Lin Mianmian with it.
After sensing the kitten’s intention, Lin Mianmian could hardly believe it. Only after a long while did she hesitantly accept the cloth bag and tie the cat pouch onto herself.
When the little calico consciously and actively crawled into the cat pouch on Lin Mianmian’s body, Lin Mianmian, now able to carry the cat with her, touched the cat’s ears and almost cried from emotion.
Little Gray, fat Fried Dough, kisses and more kisses, none of them could compare with her thoughtful little calico.
At first, Lin Mianmian thought the little calico digging out the cat pouch and agreeing to be carried was only a momentary whim.
But as time passed, Lin Mianmian discovered that it was not just the matter of being willing to be carried. In many things, the little calico seemed to have begun making… strange concessions.
When Lin Mianmian petted her awake in the morning, she no longer glared. At most, she lazily looked at Lin Mianmian once. When Lin Mianmian called her to eat, she no longer dawdled. Once called, she came. Once she came, she ate, without being difficult at all. At night, whether Lin Mianmian’s story was short or long, she no longer got hit by a little paw. At most, she was glared at twice. When Lin Mianmian kissed the cat’s forehead, it was no longer one kiss before a little paw pushed her away. She could at least kiss several times in a row before being driven off. The most obvious point was that the little calico no longer resisted the cat pouch. As long as Lin Mianmian tied the cat bag onto herself, the little calico was willing to crawl inside and stay there. She was so well-behaved that Lin Mianmian did not want to take the cat bag off even when sleeping.
They were all very small things, but Lin Mianmian truly felt that her little calico had begun to change a little.
No matter how Lin Mianmian thought about it, she felt the little calico’s changes began after the day Feng Liang brought Little Gray over to ask how to make a kitten poop. Linking things together… was the little calico making these concessions and becoming a better-behaved cat because she did not want to be forced to kiss Lin Mianmian and was asking to be spared?
Hmph. In the little calico’s heart, was Lin Mianmian such a bad person?
Wearing the cat pouch and living a life where the cat never left her side, Lin Mianmian felt that she would just let the little calico keep misunderstanding.
Yuan Zhaoyang, who could not kiss a human without burden like Little Gray and Fried Dough, had used her own tactful method to compensate Lin Mianmian. She had no idea that, in Lin Mianmian’s view, her friendly compensation was a timid plea to be spared. If Yuan Zhaoyang knew, she would probably cut the pouch and end their friendship on the spot.
One grass and one cat, each carrying a small misunderstanding about the other, achieved a certain kind of harmony.
Lin Mianmian felt even more that although she had come to this cultivation world and was not good at cooking or cultivation, at least she had finally raised a clever and thoughtful little cat. Since the little cat was so obedient, Lin Mianmian had to keep working hard and make more breakthroughs in the cat-raising career.
When A-Bai, who had spent the whole winter wandering outside and eating nonstop until she was two circles fatter, came to Lin Mianmian’s courtyard again, the sight that entered her eyes nearly shocked her into falling straight at the gate.
The white wooden stake stood stiffly beside the courtyard gate.
“A-Bai?” Lin Mianmian had just swept a section of ground. When she turned, she saw A-Bai, whom she had not seen for a long time, standing blankly by the gate.
The fluffy little white rabbit crouched at the courtyard gate, front paws slightly raised, as if frozen in place. Her small black eyes, almost bulging from staring, fixed on that familiar yet strange calico cat, Yuan Zhaoyang, who was poking a cat head out of the cloth pouch hanging at Lin Mianmian’s side and looking at her.
Counting it up, A-Bai had gone wild outside without a cat controlling her and had not seen Yuan Zhaoyang for nearly four months. But Yuan Zhaoyang had mentioned before that she would grow according to the normal speed of a mortal-world kitten, and she had even asked A-Bai to find a gray kitten for comparison. A-Bai still remembered that. So when she saw Yuan Zhaoyang was no longer a tiny kitten and had clearly grown several circles larger, A-Bai only froze slightly before accepting the setting that the little calico had grown up.
Growing up was not the problem. The problem was, where was Yuan Zhaoyang? What was she doing? Did she still remember that she was a cat demon who had come here to cultivate? And what in the world were all these things filling the courtyard?
A-Bai looked at all the strange arrangements in the courtyard, then at Yuan Zhaoyang in the cloth pouch. A string of questions instantly rose in her mind, nearly making her ask herself stupid.
“A-Bai?” Lin Mianmian saw the little white rabbit staring blankly with no reaction, so she came closer, bent down, and waved a hand in front of the rabbit’s eyes. “You came, so why are you not coming in? A-Bai… did you get fat?” Lin Mianmian had not seen the little white rabbit for a long time. The little rabbit demon, who looked cute and could speak human language, was quite missed. Unfortunately, Lin Mianmian had not drawn spiritual energy into her body and could not casually go find her. Also, Zihui had once mentioned that Senior Sister Yuan was in seclusion, and without anyone controlling A-Bai, A-Bai had gone to the mortal world to play. Lin Mianmian could not even draw spiritual energy into her body, let alone go to the mortal world, so she had let go of the thought of seeing the little rabbit.
Now, seeing the plump rabbit, Lin Mianmian almost could not control herself and wanted to pet her several times.
A-Bai slowly moved her gaze away from Yuan Zhaoyang lying at Lin Mianmian’s waist and looked upward.
Uh… Seeing the little rabbit she had not seen in so long crouch quietly at the gate and size her up with a strange gaze, Lin Mianmian at least remembered this was a Core Formation rabbit demon. She rubbed her fingers together, but held back. Instead, she turned and petted the calico Rice Ball at her waist.
“I got fat?” The little white rabbit lifted a paw and rubbed her furry face, then narrowed her eyes at Lin Mianmian.
“Cough… Looking closely, maybe you grew up, A-Bai…” Lin Mianmian scooped the cat out of the pouch at her waist, held her in her arms, and gave an awkward smile.
After a few months apart, A-Bai had become so strange. Her precious little Rice Ball was still cuter.
“…” A-Bai raised a paw and pointed at the pouch at Lin Mianmian’s side where the calico cat had been lying. “What is that?”
“This?” Lin Mianmian tugged at her clothing.
The little white rabbit nodded with a dark face.
“A cat-carrying pouch… When the cat was still small, a cloth pouch with cloth straps was enough to carry her. Now that the cat has grown, the cloth straps carry more weight and dig into me, so I made an outer shirt with a pouch. This way, the weight is spread out, and even carrying a grown cat every day is not tiring.” Lin Mianmian had extra pride in having made an outer shirt without anyone teaching her, so she introduced it in detail.
Before… now… every day?
A-Bai silently met the equally silent Yuan Zhaoyang’s eyes.
Yuan Zhaoyang silently turned her face away and half lifted her head, pretending to look at the sky.
“Mianmian, I am a little hungry.” A-Bai patted her furry belly and looked at Lin Mianmian with a sincere face.
“…” Lin Mianmian’s face stiffened. “Well… my cooking has recently also…”
“It is fine. As long as it is something hot.” A-Bai looked expectant.
“All right… I happen to have some meat filling. I will make you a few little wontons.” Lin Mianmian threw caution aside. Since A-Bai dared to eat, why would she not dare to cook?
After saying that, Lin Mianmian habitually tried to stuff the calico cat in her hands back into the pouch at her side.
A-Bai stared fixedly at Yuan Zhaoyang.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
The calico cat twisted and struggled in Lin Mianmian’s hands, pressing one paw against the pouch.
“All right, all right. Then be good.” Lin Mianmian, ready to show off her skills, quickly kissed the cat’s face and set the calico on the ground.
A-Bai: “…”
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
Seeing Lin Mianmian walk to the half-built shed on the other side of the courtyard, A-Bai moved her mouth.
“Use voice transmission.” The cat, who had stayed silent with a face like she did not know the rabbit, quickly transmitted.
“Oh. You had not spoken this whole time, so I thought you were another calico cat. One from the mortal world, the kind that gets hugged, kissed, and stuffed into pouches every day.” Although A-Bai looked unhappy, she obediently used voice transmission.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…After all, in her eyes, I am a mortal-world cat.”
“Now you are one in my eyes too.” A-Bai, who had been frightened enough by one surprise after another, glared angrily at Yuan Zhaoyang. Her furry paw pointed at the miniature roofed wooden corridor built in a ring along the courtyard wall, then at a strange object in the courtyard made from several stacked wooden frames. “What are all these messy things?”
“…” The calico lowered her head and scratched the ground.
“Mm?” A-Bai did not let it go.
“That ring was made during winter. She was afraid the little animals would be too cold if they stood directly on the snow, so she made it for them to stand on and block the snow. She also put several in other places in the village. That frame is for cats to climb and play on. They can also sleep on it.” Yuan Zhaoyang’s tone carried a faint irritation even she did not notice. “Why are you asking about these? You got fat.”
You are the one who got fat!
A-Bai looked at those wooden bridges and the soft nests on the frame, then tapped a paw on the ground. “Which nest is yours?”
“…” Yuan Zhaoyang turned her face away.
A-Bai said, “Then I will throw a lump of white-skinned pig poop into every one.”
“The pink one with small flowers in the wooden corridor, and the beige one with white dots on the frame…” Yuan Zhaoyang paused. “You got fat!”
“Very girlish style. Suits you.” A-Bai acted as if she could not hear the words “you got fat” and continued asking, “So when are you planning to leave her? Do you still remember you came here to cultivate? How is your cultivation going?”
“Still… a little short,” Yuan Zhaoyang answered with some hesitation.
“What about her? Among the ones brought back from Yingxian City last time, only a few have not drawn spiritual energy into their bodies yet, right?” A-Bai’s gaze never moved from Yuan Zhaoyang.
“Probably… also a little short.” Yuan Zhaoyang sighed softly. “Leaving aside differences in sudden insight and cultivation methods, drawing spiritual energy into the body usually depends on spiritual root aptitude. Her spiritual root aptitude truly is somewhat poor.”
“So in other words, you cannot do it, and she cannot do it either. You two will continue living like this, eating every day, petting cats, and kissing faces?” Today, A-Bai was especially sharp with the cat.
Yuan Zhaoyang frowned, though it could not be seen on the cat face for the moment.
“The cultivation families connected to the Five Elements Sect are going to send people to the Five Elements Sect. Two months from now.” A-Bai spoke leisurely, as if she had suddenly given up on needling the cat and was talking about something unrelated.
“Two months from now? Shouldn’t it be next year?” Yuan Zhaoyang’s whole cat body was shocked. “What happened? Then more people will come here? If new people arrive, what will happen to the people here who still have not drawn spiritual energy into their bodies?”
“Since the Yingxian City recruitment, the Five Elements Sect has wanted to widely accept disciples. Otherwise, how do you think someone with Lin Mianmian’s aptitude got in? So is it not normal to move up the time to accept people from cultivation families? This is already old news from more than a month ago. Looks like you have not returned to Hengshui Peak in a long time.” A-Bai smoothed the fur on her ears. “Once the newcomers arrive, the people here who still have not drawn spiritual energy into their bodies will be very anxious, right?”
“…Counting it out, the remaining people with poorer spiritual root aptitude should also draw spiritual energy into their bodies soon.” Yuan Zhaoyang spoke, but for once, she did not sound very confident.
“Poorer aptitude probably cannot include Lin Mianmian in this case.” A-Bai looked at Yuan Zhaoyang seriously. “So do you two really cultivate properly every day? Her spiritual root aptitude is this poor, and you still indulge her obsession with petting the cat? Do not say you are not indulging her. I will try kissing you right now and see whether you slap me out of the Five Elements Sect with one paw.”
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…” How was she supposed to tell the rabbit that every time she saw Lin Mianmian happily cooking and happily petting the cat, she herself also felt life was very pleasant and could not summon any desire to urge her on?
A-Bai sighed and said sincerely, “When those new people arrive and one after another quickly draws spiritual energy into their bodies, I hope Lin Mianmian can still use petting you to comfort her wounded heart.”
“If it really does not work, give her that,” Yuan Zhaoyang transmitted. Each word was bitten out firmly, carrying a sense of throwing everything into one last gamble.
“Which? That bottle of sweet water? The bottle of sweet water we drank?” The little white rabbit froze, and all her fur exploded at once.
Yuan Zhaoyang silently nodded.
“Are you crazy? Did getting petted as a cat drive you crazy?” The little white rabbit was so anxious she circled in place, almost losing her words. “No, no. You know that will not do, right? That thing cannot be used!”
“If Lin Mianmian truly cannot draw spiritual energy into her body, this may not be an impossible path.” Yuan Zhaoyang’s heart was tangled too, but the news A-Bai had brought made her very worried about what might happen later. Very worried… about Lin Mianmian.
“No, no!” A-Bai circled several times like a mad rabbit, then stepped one paw on the cat’s paw with a serious face. “All these years, haven’t we always suspected there is a problem with that water? Back then, we did rely on it to draw spiritual energy into our bodies. But haven’t we thought it over all these years too? Your inability to form a core, and my inability to take human form even after reaching Core Formation, may both be because of that water. Have you been petted too much? Do you not like Lin Mianmian anymore? Are you about to break through to Core Formation and planning to throw her away?”
“Calm down.” Yuan Zhaoyang lifted a paw and pressed back. “I said if she truly cannot. At that time, you can explain the pros and cons of that water to her clearly and let her choose for herself. If she cannot draw spiritual energy into her body by herself, then helping her draw spiritual energy in is still better than watching her remain at an ordinary mortal lifespan. At least after entering Qi Refining, she can gain quite a bit more lifespan.” It was precisely because Yuan liked her that she could not bear to see her stop at this barrier.
“Me? Why me?” A-Bai shook her head. “I will not. I cannot do it.”
“Seeing how you came in ready to interrogate me, I thought you hated her.” Seeing that A-Bai was no longer pressing step by step, Yuan Zhaoyang relaxed quite a bit and retorted.
“No, no, no. Mianmian is still very good. Anyway, I will not give it to her.” A-Bai shook her head and refused nonstop.
Yuan Zhaoyang lifted a paw, held the rabbit’s chin, and steadied A-Bai’s head, which looked as if it might shake off. “All right. It has not reached that point yet. Maybe she can draw spiritual energy into her body. Maybe she… will not mind if those new people draw spiritual energy in before her. We will wait a little longer. Calm down.”
“Uh…” Lin Mianmian had just come out with a bowl of wontons when she saw her mortal-world calico cat teasing a Core Formation white rabbit.
A cat paw lifting a rabbit’s chin really made a person feel… a little complicated.