Incident Lingxia

Chapitre 5

"Run? How can it run in such a small cage?" Big M circled around in the cage, its tail even touching the cage.

"Stupid cat!" said Little Lu, "I said run away—"

"Shh—Huihui's here!" Big M whispered.

"Stupid cat!" Little Lu cursed, "Humans can't understand what we're saying!"

“Yeah…” Big M stuck out his tongue.

Huihui walked over, looked at Da M, then at Xiao Lu, and said, "You two are such unlucky little beasts! No wonder I keep getting dumped by men lately, it's all because of your bad luck!"

Xiao Lu whimpered unhappily. Huihui glared at it and said, "You dog, how dare you bark at me! I'll punish you by not even letting you drink water!" With that, she took Xiao Lu's water bottle off the side of the cage.

"And you too!" Huihui reached into the cage, pinched Big M's ear, and said, "You're a jinx too! You're only a few days old, and you've already killed your owner!"

Big M screamed in pain. This girl looked sweet and demure, but I never expected her to be so strong.

"Serving you little beasts every day, I really don't know what sins I committed in my past life!" Huihui pulled her hand back, shook it, and then rubbed her wrist with her other hand, as if Big M's ear had twisted her hand just now.

“You were a butcher who ran a dog meat restaurant in your past life,” Big M said.

Xiao Lu laughed: "I didn't expect you, you silly cat, to have such a sense of humor!"

"I'm serious, I'm not joking." Big M didn't know why it was so sure, as if it was born knowing so many things.

"Let's run!" This time it was Big M who said it. Huihui just said that Mao Mao is dead. How could that be? He was still lively and energetic when we left this morning. Is human life really that fragile?

"Run? How can we run?" Xiao Lu was clearly an expert in theory but not in practice.

"There will be a way." Although Big M didn't know what the way was, it was very confident.

Students who don't study hard usually feel very confident during exams because they are convinced they won't do well.

Thankfully, Big M isn't human.

11. (Part 1)

In the early morning, when all things are asleep, things after the ten thousand and first begin to revive.

Big M's eyes gleamed with a deep blue light, while Little Lu snored rhythmically, one high note followed by another low, like the simple and monotonous beats of a primary school band.

Outside the hospital, stray cats roamed around. Ah Ming opened his eyes, sat up from the bed with a blank look in his eyes, and tiptoed out the door, heading quietly towards the community hospital.

The man with the long tongue said to the owl in the old locust tree, "Shh—"

The owl immediately stopped talking to itself.

The stray cats wandering around the neighborhood were whimpering, a mixture of unease and excitement, like the cries of babies.

Xiaohui, who was lying in bed, turned over and changed to a more comfortable position. A black shadow climbed onto the bed along his slippers, and Xiaohui immediately began to have a nightmare, a dream about homework piling up like a mountain.

Little Lu was basically woken up by hunger. When it woke up, the sun was shining right on its bottom, making it hot and shiny. No wonder it dreamed that it had turned into a pig with a stick stuck in its body and was being roasted over a fire.

Xiao Lu swayed, stood up, and suddenly screamed in surprise, "Oh my god, how did I end up sleeping outside? Did I run away while sleepwalking? I'm so amazing! Hahaha~"

Big M ignored it, looked up and saw a cat screaming in the market ahead. The scream sounded like a wire scraping against glass. Big M's fur stood on end, and it walked toward the source of the sound.

Xiao Lu looked around and watched Big M's departing figure. It decided to go home to see its owner and have something to eat. Although the pet hospital gave it a small amount of dog food every day, it was too dry and made it drink water constantly. It missed its owner's bone broth so much.

Big M quietly walked towards a pigeon stew restaurant. Next to the rusty pigeon coop, a stray cat was hanging. Blood was dripping from the corner of the cat's mouth, and its eyes were wide open. However, it was already dead. But the cat's body was still hanging there and had not been taken down. Xiao Hui happened to be passing by on his way home from school at noon. He saw this scene and laughed until his face turned pale. How cruel.

The owner of the pigeon stew restaurant stood aside and laughed nonchalantly: "Make an example of him to warn the others, so that other stray cats can see what happens when they steal food from Gezi!"

11. (Next)

The owner of the pigeon stew restaurant stood aside and laughed nonchalantly: "Make an example of him to warn the rest of the stray cats. This is what happens when they steal pigeons!"

A middle-aged woman who was buying groceries stood nearby and pointed at the restaurant owner, saying, "Old Liu, you've really done something terrible! You're making an example of them? What do these cats know? When they're starving, they'll just eat whatever they can catch!"

On the rooftop, a plump white cat stood up, wagging its brownish-yellow striped tail. It sighed and muttered, "Useless thing!"

Just as it was about to turn and leave, it caught sight of Big M, let out a soft meow, and said, "Ugly thing, are you just standing there waiting to get beaten up?"

The fat cat's meowing was a good thing, because it caught the restaurant owner, Old Liu, off guard. Instead of seeing the cat on the roof, he spotted Big M standing to the side. He grabbed a stick and started hitting Big M hard, yelling, "You really are a beast who never learns from a beating!" Big M had never seen anything like this before and stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

"Not only is it ugly, it's also stupid!" The fat cat meowed and swooped down from the roof, landing on the back of Old Liu's neck. Old Liu screamed and the stick fell to the ground.

"Run! You idiot!" the fat cat yelled.

"Where are you going?" Big M actually wanted to go home, but it had been led to the market by the cat's screams and had lost its way. It could not find its way back and only knew the way from home to the pet hospital.

"Idiot! Follow me!" The fat cat landed on the ground and nimbly weaved through the bustling crowd of trouser legs. Big M inherited Little Black's agility and followed the fat cat, disappearing into the crowd in a moment.

The middle-aged woman who had just been criticizing the restaurant owner said, "Cats are evil creatures, it's best not to mess with them. Quickly collect this cat's corpse and throw it away, don't hang it here!"

Old Liu rubbed the back of his neck; thankfully, it wasn't cut. Fat Cat knew its limits.

Old Liu said angrily, "I'm a grown man, am I afraid of a cat?! Damn it, is it weird?! I'm not afraid! I'll just hang it up, and kill one if I see one, and kill two if I see two!"

"I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid!" Old Liu said, his eyes reddening. "I, Old Liu, swear I'll never let these stray cats get away with this! Damn it, they're practically demons!"

Old Liu's cursing attracted a lot of gossiping from the older women. One old lady said, "Sigh, no wonder. Old Liu's son, the security guard in our community, is still in the hospital, unconscious. He was attacked by stray cats!"

A sigh escaped from the crowd.

Xiaohui, who had been standing to the side the whole time, remained silent, staring blankly at the cat's corpse. Finally, he lowered his eyes, his head bowed, and a few drops of water dripped onto his dirty sneakers.

12.

Big M followed the fat cat, meandering forward, climbing slopes and walls, until they reached the northeast corner of the neighborhood.

Before the construction of the residential complex, this place was an abandoned toilet with a large cesspool. Later, the cesspool was filled in. The developer originally wanted to use local materials to build a small grove. The renderings of the grove in the brochure were exceptionally beautiful, and many homeowners bought houses specifically because of the grove. However, for some reason, the grove was never built. It is said that whatever trees were planted died.

The trees weren't planted, but the weeds grew incredibly lush. Even in winter, when the weed leaves turned yellow and withered, they still looked quite impressive. The property management's gardeners cleared them a few times, but the weeds would grow wildly again the next day, even denser than before. So eventually, the property management simply gave up on the vacant lot.

Because this place is at the end of the residential area, even if residents go to the pet hospital in the northwest corner to take their pets to see a doctor, they will not pass through here, so it is sparsely populated.

Fat Cat ran to the open space, stopped, and said to Big M, "When you see Boss Haiqing later, remember to be polite."

"Boss Haiqing? Who is that? And who are you?" Big M asked.

"Me?" The fat cat groomed its fur, stood up straight, and tried to look like a lion. "My nickname is Lion! Lion, not Flea... As for the name my former owner gave me, I've forgotten it and don't want to think about it anymore. As for Boss Haiqing... he's Boss Xiaohei, your old man. After he died, a new stray cat came, a real stray cat, and the new cat king of this area." When Lion said "a real stray cat," its eyes shone with admiration.

This was the first time Big M had heard anyone talk about its father. It asked curiously, "How do you know my father? I heard from Momo that he was a wild cat, black."

"All the stray cats around here know that Blackie is your father, a heroic black cat!" The lion raised his eyes and looked into the distance, seemingly reminiscing about Blackie's goodness.

"I want to know more about it!" Big M had a strange feeling towards this father she had never met: three parts love, three parts respect, and four parts curiosity.

"I'll tell you slowly later!" the lion said, leading Big M to the depths of the withered grass. He parted a hidden patch of grass, revealing a small hole, just big enough for a cat to pass through.

The lion squeezed in with great difficulty, complaining as he did so, "I told you we should have made this opening bigger! Not every cat is as flexible as Boss Haiqing!"

After entering through the cave, there is a long passage, which is much wider, and two or three cats can pass through without any problem.

The passage led downwards for about ten meters until it came to a spacious cave where more than thirty wild cats lay scattered about. They hunted for food at night and rested during the day.

"Ugh—" The lion coughed a few times, and the cats uttered a few complaints.

“Look who I’ve brought!” said the lion.

The cats opened their eyes, saw Big M, and immediately stirred slightly.

"It's Xiao Hei's son!"

"He doesn't look like Xiao Hei at all..."

"It's so ugly!..."

"It's only been a little over half a month and it's already grown so big..."

"How can it be so ugly?..."

The cats gathered around, chattering amongst themselves.

It was the first time that Big M had been stared at by so many cats, and it felt a little strange.

"Haiqing is here... Haiqing is here..." a few cats whispered. The group of cats immediately parted to make way for a gray wildcat, which walked over with elegant and domineering manners.

The gyrfalcon's fur is mostly gray, with a brownish-yellow back. Its face is strange, somewhat resembling an ape. Its pupils are pale green, and its ears are short and round, somewhat like the ears of Mickey Mouse that I've seen on TV. The gyrfalcon's tail is thick and round, with fine black stripes on it, and its entire body is covered in thick, felt-like fur.

"Little Black's son?" Haiqing looked Big M up and down. "Not bad, high forehead, maybe it'll even grow crystal horns in a few days!" It then looked at Big M's feet, pure black, and said, "Feet are nice too, they belong to the night!"

"And eyes the same color as the Naihe River, cold and clear." Haiqing finished examining Big M and returned to a large stone box, which was covered with dense tree roots. The stone box was its temporary throne.

"Keep him here, I'm going to teach him a lesson!" Haiqing said, then looked away from Da M and asked, "Lice, did you catch the pigeon?"

The lion lowered its head and said, "I can't shrink my bones, so I let Hua Hua in. As a result... Hua Hua was caught by that old Liu and hanged..."

A sigh rippled through the group of cats.

"Damn it!" Hai Qing said angrily, "Looks like I'll have to do it myself!"

Then, Haiqing muttered to himself, "That's right, it wouldn't be fun if we got this treasure so easily!" With that, a strange smile appeared on his face.

The tree roots on the stone box were also shaking with excitement.

13.

Haiqing is not a cat.

Haiqing is actually a real Haiqing, living in the beautiful Hoh Xil, where the land is high and the sky is vast, and the energy of ancient times flows between heaven and earth, making it a good place for cultivation.

So-called cultivation is not what humans fantasize about. Animals all yearn to cultivate into human form or immortals. Cultivation is just cultivation, a profession or a hobby. What is cultivated is not lifespan, but wisdom, strength, energy, and freedom.

Humans are prone to wishful thinking, believing that all things in the universe yearn to be human. Humans are also materialistic, believing that all things in the universe aspire to become gods. What are gods? In human eyes, gods represent special power, high above, believing that becoming a god means being extraordinary, able to do whatever one wants, and leading ordinary humans. Humans also suffer from delusions; countless novelists have written stories of demons persecuting humans, always believing that beings of other species will harm them.

If you cultivate with selfish desires such as seeking immortality, Buddhahood, wealth, longevity, or anything else, what can you truly achieve?

Cultivation is just cultivation, just like eating is just eating.

Like humans, sentient beings in the six realms do not love or hate without a cause. All their struggles and ruthless actions are for one word: desire.

Like most cultivators, Haiqing only cultivates freedom; the stronger he becomes, the freer he is.

Haiqing had no desires or wants until one day, that event happened, and it developed a strong desire to cultivate. Unfortunately, the stronger the desire, the slower its cultivation progressed, and time waits for no one.

Finally, like all cultivators who have embarked on the demonic path, Haiqing longed to use external forces to aid its cultivation. Just then, news of the treasure falling into the human realm reached its ears.

Following the scent of the treasure, it dug eastward until it found this place. The treasure's energy was gathered here, and it could easily sense the energy emanating from the treasure, an energy full of equality and wisdom that did not exclude any living beings, not even evil spirits.