Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 70

The early summer night had shed the warmth of the day. From the window crack that had not been tightly closed, a few threads of wind occasionally blew in. Passing between the beds, they added a bit of chill.
Yuan Zhaoyang, who had sunk into memories of the past and made many demands, finally quieted down after the little white rabbit angrily pointed her round backside at her and argued back.
In one corner of the room, Yuan Zhaoyang, whose figure was hidden, stood quietly. She looked at the familiar person on the bed, and the rabbit occupying that familiar spot. Her heart was very complicated.
Without voice transmissions between cat and rabbit, for a time, only Lin Mianmian’s voice remained in the room. It was no different from the gentle, slow way she used to tell late-night stories. Listening to it made Yuan Zhaoyang’s heart feel even worse.
This was clearly the Harry Potter Cat continuation she had been looking forward to. But now, listening to it, it no longer had the usual magic that drew a cat in.
So, as long as someone… no… as long as a small animal listens to your stories, does it not matter who it is?
Yuan Zhaoyang certainly knew that the corner of calico Rice Ball, loved, protected, and held in Lin Mianmian’s heart, was already in the past and would never happen again. She also had not forgotten that A-Bai, who was now lying in the soft nest against Lin Mianmian’s little bedding, had stayed because Yuan Zhaoyang asked her to.
Her sour jealousy right now was simply unreasonable…
But even without reason, it still truly existed.
That was a place she could never return to.
Yuan Zhaoyang looked for a long time at the place where A-Bai’s soft nest was. For a while, she stared in a daze. Even the story of Harry Potter Cat could no longer enter her ears.
The one who found it hard to say goodbye had never been only Lin Mianmian.
The night gradually deepened. Lin Mianmian told the story in a low voice. She did not feel sleepy, but the thin wind that kept slipping through the window made her feel a little cold.
Before shrinking her whole self into the blanket, Lin Mianmian habitually reached out, wanting to cover the small animal in the soft nest beside her with its blanket. But when she reached out, what she touched was a soft furball that had already wrapped its blanket tightly around itself.
In the darkness, A-Bai looked sideways. “Hooligan… Tell the story if you are telling the story. Why are you touching me again for no reason!” She raised a paw and angrily pointed at the midnight creep hand.
Lin Mianmian, who had frozen because the touch beneath her hand was different from what she had imagined, quickly came back to herself and withdrew her hand. She explained, “No, no, I was not touching you. I thought…”
Her explaining voice reached halfway, then suddenly fell low. Gradually, it faded into silence.
A-Bai raised her ears. But no matter how good a rabbit’s hearing was, she could not hear the unfinished sound at the bottom of a person’s heart.
“You thought what? You thought I was that calico cat?” Even though Lin Mianmian had not finished explaining, A-Bai could guess what had just happened by thinking along that line. She unconsciously stood up from the soft nest and looked around. She did not know whether Yuan Zhaoyang was still there or not.
Of course, she was still there.
“Mm…” Lin Mianmian’s voice was full of dejection. “Rice Ball does not like being covered with a little blanket. When I touched your blanket, I had already reacted. I did not touch you on purpose…”
You say that as if you did not touch my ears a lot earlier…
A-Bai secretly curled her three-petal mouth, but rarely did not grab onto the little braid in Lin Mianmian’s words. As a good rabbit, she should not bully a little girl who looked like she was about to cry.
A-Bai lifted the matter easily and set it down gently. Under the little rabbit’s friendliness, this small late-night episode passed just like that.
And so Lin Mianmian, who had wanted to tell stories for a while to distract herself, ended this night’s late-night activity in failure. She forced herself through sorrow and chatted a few more words with A-Bai, then tightened her hold on the little blanket in her arms and fell asleep.
A-Bai smoothed the fur on her face and looked at Lin Shrimp curled properly under the blanket. She felt that she had counted as a qualified listener pet tonight and had lived up to the many foods soon to be hers. Then she lay down and slept too.
Only Yuan Zhaoyang, standing in the corner with mixed feelings that no one knew about, could not move her feet for a long time.
So, not just anyone can replace me?
The night deepened. Only the light breathing of one person and one rabbit remained in the room. Yuan Zhaoyang walked to the bedside and slowly reached toward the person in the blanket. But her hand stopped halfway for a long time before continuing forward and touching the jade bracelet on Lin Mianmian’s hand.
The three layers of restriction opened, and a familiar scent immediately spread from Lin Mianmian’s body.
This was the cause of their first meeting.
Only, this time, Yuan Zhaoyang was not borrowing the fragrance to cultivate.
During the more than half a year when one person and one cat had been together almost every moment, Yuan Zhaoyang had more or less learned how to match the strength of the scent, and even certain tiny changes, to Lin Mianmian’s emotions at the time.
Looking at it now, she knew that although Lin Mianmian had fallen asleep, her mood was still extremely low.
After only a moment, Yuan Zhaoyang sealed the restriction again.
She should hope Lin Mianmian would hurry and forget, then become happy again…
But…
Yuan Zhaoyang could not help pressing a hand to her chest, which somehow felt swollen and sour.
But the thought that Lin Mianmian might forget and let go made Yuan Zhaoyang again…
That had been the first time in Yuan Zhaoyang’s cat life that she had been loved and cared for like that. Even if what the other person had cherished like the apple of her eye was only Yuan Zhaoyang’s true body, only a role Yuan Zhaoyang had played, those days and nights still made it hard for her to forget.
From the discomfort and awkwardness at the start, to later taking it for granted, every change in her state of mind was inseparable from Lin Mianmian’s seemingly endless patience and… love.
Even though Yuan Zhaoyang knew that the one Lin Mianmian loved like her own heart was only loved because she was a cat, Yuan Zhaoyang still could not help carefully storing that warmth in her heart.
Only, in the end, it had been a lie.
“I am sorry,” Yuan Zhaoyang said silently.
She turned and walked several steps, but could not help looking back at Lin Mianmian, who knew nothing in her sleep. After a long time, she silently said, “Thank you.”
After this, there would be no going back. She only hoped everything before this would stop here. From now on, there would only be repayment.
In this world, there were comings and goings, giving and repayment. Weight and amount could mostly be estimated. Only this feeling was the hardest to measure and the hardest to repay.
In Yuan Zhaoyang’s view, those things from before, such as the potion and storage bag, were all things with a price. Even if she gave them to Lin Mianmian, in Yuan Zhaoyang’s eyes, they still were not enough.
But no matter how much more there was, in a short time, what Yuan Zhaoyang could give might not be what Lin Mianmian could use. Besides, if she gave too much at once, Lin Mianmian might not be willing to accept all of it.
No matter how one put it, Lin Mianmian was now like a name registered in Yuan Zhaoyang’s heart. There was guilt, and there was feeling. Who knew when there would be no more dragging debt between them?
Over there, Yuan Zhaoyang thought deeply and only left the outer valley to return to Hengshui Peak to rest after half the night had passed. Over here, A-Bai slept with soft snores and climbed up bright and energetic early in the morning, ready to eat.
“Mianmian, Mianmian, I am going back to eat. Do you want anything? I will bring some for you!” The little white rabbit got up and twisted left and right to loosen her limbs. Then she carefully smoothed her fur. Seeing that Lin Mianmian beside her still had not woken, she could not help stepping one paw onto the person’s face.
Lin Mianmian had not slept very well all night. Twice, while half asleep and half awake, she had wanted to cover the calico with a blanket. But each time, her hand had reached halfway before she remembered A-Bai calling her a hooligan. She woke up at once and quickly withdrew her hand, then worked hard to fall asleep again.
Now, with A-Bai stepping on her face and talking, Lin Mianmian worked hard to open her heavy, sore eyes and answer. “Hungry? Eat here? Oh… there is no food… Clear Heart Hall?”
Lin Mianmian was muddled, always feeling that her mouth could not keep up with her mind.
“Sleep, sleep.” A-Bai could not stand looking at her and covered Lin Mianmian’s eyes with one paw. “Today, there should be a disciple who accepted a sect task coming to help you get familiar with this side’s environment and daily matters. Sleep. Get up when the person comes. It is still early.”
“Then I will get up.” Hearing there was something to do, Lin Mianmian woke up a lot and reached out to remove the rabbit paw from her eyes.
“If I tell you to sleep, then sleep.” A-Bai simply could not bear to look at Lin Mianmian’s pale little face, dry lips, and eyes swollen like almonds. Seeing Lin Mianmian struggling to climb up, A-Bai could not help smacking one paw onto Lin Mianmian’s forehead.
Uh… very good…
The little white rabbit looked at Lin Mianmian, who now lay obediently flat on the bed. Feeling a little guilty, she pulled the blanket over Lin Mianmian properly.
Thoughtfully and carefully, A-Bai placed a voice-transmission paper crane outside Lin Mianmian’s courtyard, telling the disciple who had accepted the task to come after noon. Then she turned and forgot all about Lin Mianmian, whom she had knocked unconscious on the bed, and happily rushed toward Hengshui Peak.
Ah, she wondered whether she could get all the food Yuan Zhaoyang had promised before Yuan Zhaoyang entered seclusion to form her core.
The little bunny, whose heart was full of hope, felt her happiness rise to the peak the instant she opened the barrier and entered the courtyard.
“Oh! Oh, oh! Oh, oh, oh!” The little white rabbit crouched at the courtyard gate, looking left and right. Her eyes shone with excitement. If she had been a bald rabbit, one might now have seen her cheeks turn red from surprise.
“Oh what oh? You are not a chicken…” In the courtyard, Yuan Zhaoyang sat beside the stone table. She did not even raise her head as she scooped meat and pinched skins. One small wonton after another, each looking exactly the same, lined up neatly on the stone table.
A-Bai, whose mood had reached the top, did not care at all that she had been jabbed. Never mind the whole table of pretty little wontons that looked thin-skinned, full of meat, fresh, tender, and delicious, with their ranks still growing. Just the moment she entered the courtyard, all the different roasted smells nearly made the little bunny faint with bliss.
On the left stood three rows of roast chickens, each plump and beautiful. On the right was a spread of chicken legs, each big and solid. Near the stone table, several suckling pigs were suspended, already roasted faint yellow, looking very substantial at a glance.
That was not even the most impressive part. The most impressive part was that everything in the courtyard was being roasted by fireballs Yuan Zhaoyang flicked out.
One fist-sized fireball after another weaved between chicken legs, rolled over roast chickens, and played beside the suckling pigs. The whole courtyard was full of fireballs, yet the air did not become burning hot. Only the ingredients brushed by fireballs had shrinking skin and sizzling oil, releasing waves of meat fragrance.
Some fireballs brushed too many places and gradually shrank before vanishing with a pop. Yuan Zhaoyang, who was wrapping wontons, casually raised her hand and added several more fireballs. The whole courtyard was like an orderly barbecue field, hitting a hungry rabbit’s weak spot right in the heart.
“Today… is New Year?” The little white rabbit swallowed and rubbed her eyes, seeming unable to accept the surprise she was seeing. “You can do this too? How come I never saw you use it normally?”
“I seem to have promised you a lot of food before. I cannot remember everything I promised. Here, is this enough?” Yuan Zhaoyang raised her head to look at A-Bai. “Oh, there is also a pot of braised pig trotters on the stove.”
“Enough, enough!” Surprise, it was all hers! The little bunny covered her heart. “My hard work these days was not wasted! I thought you would cook for me only after your seclusion. I did not expect you to cook before entering seclusion. What, are you using so many little fireballs today because you plan to enter seclusion this afternoon?”
Yuan Zhaoyang did not immediately answer A-Bai’s question. She only flicked out some more fireballs, carrying seasonings from the dish on the table.
“Impressive! You use fire even more smoothly now than I use ice.” A-Bai watched the balls of fire carrying seasonings roll over the ingredients and praised her sincerely. So fragrant, so fragrant, so wonderful!
Yuan Zhaoyang pressed her lips together and did not answer.
The little rabbit, who had been holding her heart like a beauty, watched the fireballs roast meat for a while. She kept feeling that something was wrong. After a long moment, she rubbed her face, set aside her earlier excitement, and looked seriously at Yuan Zhaoyang, who was still wrapping wontons.
“When are you planning to enter seclusion?”
Two more wontons formed in Yuan Zhaoyang’s hands. Yuan Zhaoyang did not look at A-Bai, but she did answer. “In two more days.”
“Wait for what? You have waited for decades. What else are you waiting for?” A-Bai felt that she should know the answer, but also felt that she should ask.
Yuan Zhaoyang raised her head.
One cat and one rabbit looked at each other.
Instant understanding.
A-Bai angrily tugged at her ear fur! At a time like this, their hundred years of tacit understanding arrived, did it?
“How did she sleep last night? Is she awake? Later, I will take her to look at the Great Lecture Hall’s surroundings.” Yuan Zhaoyang continued wrapping wontons without changing expression.
“She was…” A-Bai turned the words in her mouth and blinked. “She was separated from the cat. How could she sleep well? Let her sleep a little longer.”
Yuan Zhaoyang looked at A-Bai with a slight frown.
“What? Do you want her to lack sleep?” The little white rabbit touched the fur on her face. Mm, having more fur was good. Lies could not be seen.
Sure enough, once this was said, Yuan Zhaoyang did not ask more.
A-Bai looked at Yuan Zhaoyang, who continued wrapping wontons seriously, and secretly let out a breath. If this fellow knew A-Bai had knocked Lin Mianmian unconscious to make her sleep, she would definitely ignore all the things roasting here and immediately go to the outer valley, right?
No, perhaps there would be one more roast rabbit in the courtyard?
A-Bai shook her head. She could not imagine it. It was truly too cruel. Yuan Zhaoyang probably would not do that.
But… just to accompany Lin Mianmian while she adjusted a little, Yuan Zhaoyang was actually delaying her seclusion by several days.
A-Bai felt a faint worry in her heart. Thinking carefully, she did not know where it came from.
I should bring a bowl of wontons later. I wonder whether she was used to the food in Clear Heart Hall yesterday.
As Yuan Zhaoyang thought this, the wonton she was wrapping unconsciously received more meat. One rounder, plumper little wonton after another squeezed close together in a ring.