Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 62

The afternoon sunlight was just right, and the forest held a special kind of quiet.
This girl walking silently beside her with her head lowered… was she really the same little girl who always called Rice Ball’s name in such a gentle, doting voice and could not stop talking?
Light fell through the leaves and shone over Yuan Zhaoyang’s eyes. She turned her head, but all she could see was the little swirl of hair on top of Lin Mianmian’s head.
The view from being a cat and the view from being a person really were far too different. It was not only the tables, chairs, boards, and stools. It was also the person beside her.
A little girl of thirteen or fourteen really was still rather small. Yuan Zhaoyang looked at the top of Lin Mianmian’s head, which only reached her shoulder, and the corners of her mouth rose without her realizing it.
Then I will take care of you instead.
When Lin Mianmian raised her head, she happened to meet the smile Yuan Zhaoyang had made while lost in her own imagination. Lin Mianmian had hesitated for a long time, wanting to ask how much farther they had to walk through this forest, but the question turned around and sank back into her stomach.
So they were walking and walking, not speaking, and Senior Sister Yuan had thought of something and just started smiling like that?
But… that strange smile was strangely beautiful.
Lin Mianmian still remembered the first time she saw Yuan Zhaoyang in Yingxian City. Among that group of cultivators, Yuan Zhaoyang, dressed in plain clothes yet floating like an immortal, had been a presence impossible to ignore.
Especially those eyes. And the emotions in them that had not been hidden at all.
In truth, Lin Mianmian had always wanted to ask Yuan Zhaoyang whether, on the day they first met, the wronged and sorrowful look Yuan Zhaoyang had given her was only Lin Mianmian’s imagination. She had simply never found the right chance to ask without making it too sudden.
Actually, now was a rather good chance. A quiet place. Only the two of them.
But Lin Mianmian suddenly did not want to ask.
A person’s heart was so big, yet also so small. Even if those joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures were spoken to someone else, what meaning was there if the other person could not truly feel them?
Along the way, Lin Mianmian had been controlling herself not to think about the little calico. She had been holding back the grief in her heart and stopping it from spreading. Negative emotions were hard to gather back and useless to speak aloud. She could only digest them quietly by herself.
Whether Senior Sister Yuan had really looked at her that way at their first meeting, whether Senior Sister Yuan had truly felt wronged and sad, did not matter for now.
At least at this moment, she was smiling.
The faint curve of her lips and her narrowed almond eyes formed only a small smile, yet it seemed to ripple with so much laughter. It was clearly one person’s private smile, but for some reason, the person looking at it felt a trace of calm.
The great demon who was about to form her core had only lost focus for a moment in her memories and imagination. Very soon, she noticed the person beside her looking over and not turning away for a long time.
Yuan Zhaoyang looked at Lin Mianmian in surprise.
The latter had no awareness at all that she had been caught secretly staring. Her gaze was open and honest.
Yuan Zhaoyang fell silent.
So, was eye contact the start of a conversation? What should they talk about? Why was she suddenly a little nervous? Ah, what should she say?
Lin Mianmian said nothing. With her pale little face and slightly red eyes and nose, she squeezed out a not very pretty smile in response to Yuan Zhaoyang’s stare, then lowered her head again.
What was that? She had been nervous for nothing!
And speaking of it, what was she nervous about? They were not strangers. When she had been a cat, she had played with Lin Mianmian for months.
Yuan Zhaoyang pressed her lips together, a little unhappy.
“Senior Sister Yuan.” Lin Mianmian, still with her head lowered, suddenly spoke.
“Meow?”
Yuan Zhaoyang had just been thinking about when she was a cat, and a sound slipped out of her mouth before she noticed.
Lin Mianmian was silent.
Yuan Zhaoyang was silent too.
“Miao,” Yuan Zhaoyang said. “Sapling. This sapling is growing quite well.”
Lin Mianmian watched with her own eyes as Yuan Zhaoyang walked through the bushes beside them and stopped next to a very ordinary-looking little tree.
Yuan Zhaoyang stiffly touched the tree trunk. Her mind swiftly spun through a plan. When she turned back to look at Lin Mianmian, she was already very natural. “Speaking of it, you have a wood spiritual root. In the future, you might as well take some planting tasks from the sect. The task rewards are usually decent, and they are also good for cultivating with your wood spiritual root.”
So what did that have to do with the little sapling growing well?
But now was not the time to worry about the little sapling.
“Planting tasks? Planting what?” Lin Mianmian nervously clenched her sleeve.
Putting aside her ordinary life before the apocalypse, during the seven years after it, she had at least gathered some farming skills. If… if they could be used in this other world too, that would be wonderful.
Lin Mianmian hoped to hear some familiar names from Yuan Zhaoyang’s mouth. Names that had appeared in the Food Classic. Names of plants that she had once transplanted, accelerated, and improved successfully with her own hands.
Seeing Lin Mianmian so interested, Yuan Zhaoyang quietly let out a breath.
At last, the meow from earlier had been turned over.
“After new disciples of the Five Elements Sect successfully draw spiritual energy into their bodies, the sect assigns them new residences. Some of those residences each come with a piece of land suitable for planting. Disciples can choose to plant whatever plants they like there, or use it to complete the sect’s planting tasks for special plants. Also, the place where the sect cooks and sells spiritual food is called the Clear Heart Hall. It also buys spiritual rice and spiritual vegetables grown by disciples.”
“Is it farming like in the mortal world?” Lin Mianmian tried to hear more.
“Some parts are similar, but many parts are different. For example, after land has been used to grow spiritual plants, before it can be planted again, the soil hardens. It is much harder to plow and replant than mortal-world soil. The companion weeds that appear after spiritual plants are grown are also difficult to handle…” Yuan Zhaoyang thought for a moment. “Right, Zihui showed you some spirit beasts in this forest earlier, didn’t she? Some of them are raised and tamed by the Five Elements Sect specifically to help disciples farm. Though they are only spirit beasts, they really do save disciples a lot of effort.”
As Yuan Zhaoyang spoke, she smiled a little awkwardly. “I have a fire spiritual root, so I do more pill refining and artifact refining. I rarely cultivate spiritual plants. For more details, when you go to the Great Lecture Hall, there will be cultivators who specialize in this area to explain it.”
Indeed, in the apocalypse, reusing soil that had cultivated mutated plants had always been a problem. As the mutated plants on the land kept growing, the soil would grow harder and harder. By the time the plants matured, the soil was already too hard for ordinary people to turn over.
Sometimes, even the roots that the mutated plants left in the dirt were very difficult to clear out. If the land needed to be reused, many earth ability users had to use their powers to loosen the soil. It took a great deal of time and strength.
So often, bases would rather switch to another piece of land and continue planting the next batch of plants. Back and forth like that, there was some pointless waste, but it still wasted less than reusing the same land.
So… the Cave-Mountain Earthworm Senior Sister Zihui had mentioned earlier. Yes, the Cave-Mountain Earthworm that could be driven to loosen soil. Had it also appeared during the apocalypse?
Lin Mianmian frowned tightly. But the Cave-Mountain Earthworm had not appeared in the Food Classic, and she truly could not remember whether there had been an event involving such a mutated creature during the apocalypse.
Yuan Zhaoyang did not know what Lin Mianmian was thinking. Seeing her frown, she assumed Lin Mianmian did not like farming.
But with a single wood spiritual root, taking planting tasks should be the easiest and most convenient path, shouldn’t it?
No…
Yuan Zhaoyang suddenly thought of Lin Mianmian’s spiritual root aptitude, and her heart sank slightly.
“Actually, the Five Elements Sect’s outer valley is very large. Aside from those residences with land, there are also many other kinds of homes. For example, the outer valley has two cliff faces. Long ago, they once contained two kinds of spiritual ore, Star Metal and Rock Copper. Of course, they have already been mined empty. But the auras of those two spiritual ores still remain. The Five Elements Sect carved those two cliff faces into cave rooms for disciples to live in and comprehend. And there is this river…”
Yuan Zhaoyang pointed at the river not far away.
“Do not think the waterway here is narrow. If you follow it down, there are several places where the river widens and the current changes often. The sect raises many spirit beasts there too. The Red Essence Five-Scale Fish from last time is one of them. There are many houses built along the river as well. In addition, the sect has residences at many places, such as the Taming Hall, where spirit beasts are raised, the Derivation Hall, where magic artifacts and treasures are studied and improved, and the Fire-Nurturing Hall, where earth fire is found. There are many livable places in the outer valley. Aside from choosing based on their spiritual roots, disciples can also choose a residence according to personal preference.”
For a single wood spiritual root, choosing the first kind of residence was indeed the most suitable.
But Yuan Zhaoyang could not stand seeing Lin Mianmian frown and hesitate. With one turn of her tongue, piles of words had spilled out on their own.
Lin Mianmian, struck by all that information, was stunned for a moment. After a while, she lowered her eyes and softly said to Yuan Zhaoyang, “Thank you, Senior Sister Yuan…”
“What are you thanking me for? I did not introduce it properly. Anyway, we will meet the person who records your information and assigns your residence soon. We can discuss it carefully then.” Yuan Zhaoyang’s heart somehow grew flustered.
What thanks? I deceived you like that, yet today you are thanking me. I truly do not know how to be a cat anymore.
Thank you for accepting me into the Five Elements Sect.
Thank you for giving me that bottle of potion with A-Bai, the one that helped me draw spiritual energy into my body.
Thank you for protecting me in front of Wang Fang and Wang Chuanying earlier.
And…
Thank you for the cold noodles, chicken drumstick, rice porridge, eggs, and fish soup.
Lin Mianmian raised her head and saw that Yuan Zhaoyang was looking elsewhere. There was even a little red at her earlobe.
There were too many words of gratitude to say. If she achieved something in the future and could repay them with real actions, that would be best.
Lin Mianmian did not say anything more. But seeing Yuan Zhaoyang seem to deliberately keep refusing to turn her head straight, she also found it a little amusing.
Could someone who had cultivated for a hundred years really become shy because of one not very practical word of thanks from a disciple she did not know that well?
A faint question brushed through Lin Mianmian’s heart. But it was too light and too shallow, and soon scattered.
Yuan Zhaoyang, however, seemed unwilling to keep letting silence lead to her own wandering thoughts, and even more afraid that when the silence was suddenly broken, she would lose composure again.
So on the rest of the road, she kept chatting with Lin Mianmian on and off.
Spirit beasts that appeared in the forest. The current state of the Five Elements Sect. All kinds of strange sect tasks. Thoughts about cooking. A-Bai’s embarrassing stories…
At first, Lin Mianmian truly was not used to how Yuan Zhaoyang could shift from the domineering presence that had slapped Wang Fang’s pills away, to someone whose ears reddened after one word of thanks, and then after only a few steps, into a chatterbox counting out small and scattered details.
But as they walked and talked like this, Lin Mianmian slowly felt that, once in a while, she could breathe smoothly.
Ever since she sent the little calico away that morning, it was as if a heavy boulder had been pressed over Lin Mianmian’s heart.
It was called reluctance. It was called memory. It was called longing. It was called sorrow.
Almost every negative word could become its new name.
Whether she silently shed tears, cried without restraint, forced herself to cheer up, or pretended to be strong, none of it could move that boulder even a little.
Every heartbeat felt as if it had only beaten halfway. No, not even halfway. Only a small part of the way, before it was blocked by that stone. Even breathing felt like stealing air through cracks in rock, cramped and narrow and long.
It was a kind of suffocation without suffocating.
And now, the person beside her, who had always been a little strange and had reached out to help several times, was saying useful or useless things that were always somewhat interesting. Lin Mianmian listened quietly and answered now and then. Unexpectedly, her heart loosened a little.
It still hurt very much. But once in a while, just once in a while, the tightness in her chest could ease.
Why?
Why could she feel as if she could breathe properly?
Even if it was only very, very little.
It still felt like… a betrayal of the little calico.
Thinking of this, Lin Mianmian suddenly clenched her palm and fell silent. But the instant she lowered her head, she saw the belt tied around Yuan Zhaoyang’s robe.
Her gaze stayed for a long time on one corner of the belt, on its black and orange cloud pattern.
Lin Mianmian’s mind went blank.