The White Cat

The street was quiet. A ray of sunlight streamed inside, casting a bright patch onto the counter. With her eyes closed, a white cat lay sprawled in the warm sun, lazy and content. Sensing someone passing before the entrance, the white cat lifted her eyelids. But the moment she caught sight of the figure stepping inside, her eyes went wide, and she reared up on her hind legs. "Meow!" "Young Master Qin!" Qin Sang paused in surprise, his gaze swiftly sweeping across the shop only to find no one else present. "You know me?" Following Yunyouzi's instructions, he had sought out this shop because Yunyouzi had told him he could make contact with an old acquaintance here—a demon beast from the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea. He had not expected it to be a cat. Sizing up the white cat, a flash of recognition struck Qin Sang's mind as an old memory resurfaced. This was actually the white cat who had sold him the spirit eye cave dwelling back in Guyuan Country! Years ago, Senior Brother Wen of Shaohua Mountain had dispatched him to Guyuan Country to deal with a sect disciple practicing evil arts and wreaking havoc among mortals. That was where Qin Sang had first encountered the white cat. Back then, he had learned from her that a bamboo demon senior had bestowed Emperor Flowing Dew upon her, enlightening her and awakening her intellect, after which she cultivated inside the cave dwelling. Unexpectedly, though she waited and waited, the senior never returned. Left to cultivate alone without guidance, she had no idea how to proceed along her path. She decided to head for the Heavenly Demon Mound to seek the Dao, trading her cave dwelling for a map and a protective magic tool. "Wait, it's you! The bamboo demon who enlightened you was Senior Yunyouzi!" Understanding dawned upon Qin Sang. Back when Yunyouzi was still in the body of the Qingfu Upright Bamboo, he had traveled to Guyuan Country and enlightened the white cat, agreeing to return and bring her back to the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea in the Heavenly Demon Mound. Unexpectedly, disaster struck midway. The Qingfu Upright Bamboo failed his heavenly tribulation, his soul fusing with that of the mortal Yunyouzi. Having lost all his cultivation and struggling merely to survive, he naturally had no way to tend to the white cat. Seeing Qin Sang, the white cat did not appear surprised, clearly having known about his relationship with Yunyouzi for some time. Yet upon meeting an old acquaintance, there was no joy in her expression. "Young Master Qin, could Senior Bamboo Demon have..." Hesitation and disbelief crept into the white cat's gaze. Earlier, Yunyouzi had sent her a message saying that if anything happened to him, he would entrust his affairs to Qin Sang. She had waited in Xianyao City for many years without any word from him. Now that Qin Sang had arrived while Yunyouzi was nowhere to be seen, she felt a terrible premonition. The white cat had always possessed boundless faith in the bamboo demon senior, never once imagining that he could fail. Qin Sang's eyes dimmed. He nodded and sighed softly. "Senior failed his tribulation..." The cat's eyes reddened instantly, tears brimming over her eyelids. She stared blankly out the window before curling up into a ball, burying her head, and falling entirely silent. Yunyouzi's enlightenment of the white cat had awakened her intellect—a debt of rebirth and creation. When Qin Sang had parted ways with her back then, she had merely been a little creature in the Mortal Demon stage; now, she was shockingly already in the Demon Core stage. Barring the descendants of divine beasts and immortal birds, demon beasts cultivated far more slowly than human cultivators. That the white cat could reach this stage today was partly due to her innate talent, but Yunyouzi's meticulous guidance had undoubtedly played an indispensable role. After all, Yunyouzi had once been a transformed bamboo demon and understood demon beasts intimately. To the white cat, Yunyouzi was like a master and a father; her affection for him could hardly run deeper. After a long silence, the white cat lifted her head, her rimmed eyes red, and said in a low voice, "Forgive me, Young Master Qin. I lost my composure." Qin Sang sympathized deeply. Seeing that she had regained her calm, he explained the purpose of his visit. "I understand how you feel, Fellow Daoist. Senior Yunyouzi was also a close and cherished friend of mine, and he showed me immense kindness. Before he passed away, he entrusted several matters to me, including the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea and all of you, hoping I could look after you once I form my Nascent Soul. Regrettably, my aptitude is limited, and after years of arduous cultivation, I have yet to break through the bottleneck. I came this time to establish contact with you first, to bring you word of Senior, and to see what I might do to help..." "This is no place to talk. Please follow me, Young Master." Lifting a paw, the white cat shut the doors and windows, leaped off the counter, and walked toward the back courtyard. Entering her cave dwelling, Qin Sang noticed that the furnishings were remarkably similar to those of her old cave dwelling. She truly was a sentimental cat demon. "Back then, after parting with you, it was all thanks to the map, magic tool, and Spirit Concealment Art you gave me that I was able to cross the human territories and reach the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea without mishap, where I met Grandpa Liu..." Pulling herself together, the white cat began recounting the past to Qin Sang. "Grandpa Liu? Is that the Willow Tree Spirit?" Qin Sang asked, recalling that Yunyouzi had mentioned him before. The Old Willow Tree was the only great demon in the late Demon Core stage within the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea, having attained the Dao through cultivating as a willow tree spirit. There was also a macaque in the mid Demon Core stage who was trustworthy. The white cat nodded and continued, "After Senior Bamboo Demon vanished, Grandpa Liu and Grandpa Macaque struggled bitterly to hold things together. Later, when Senior Bamboo Demon finally returned, we learned that he had turned into a human. At that time, he was only in the Core Formation stage and could not expose his secret before reaching the Nascent Soul stage. Thus, in the entire Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea, only Grandpa Liu and I knew his true identity... It was through Senior's guidance that I achieved what I have today, and I heard about you from him long ago. Senior thought very highly of you, Young Master Qin, and lamented your disappearance every time he brought it up. I am so glad to see you safe and sound..." Listening to the cat's detailed account, Qin Sang gained a general understanding of what Yunyouzi had gone through. Yunyouzi had originally intended to wait until he formed his Nascent Soul before meeting his old companions. After all, his circumstance was too peculiar—he was an anomaly in the cultivation world. Carelessly revealing his identity carried the risk of unforeseen disaster, no matter how close the relationship. However, he had not anticipated the sudden invasion by Sin Abyss. The Heavenly Demon Mound had an alliance pact with the human race. When the war grew fierce, the demon clan could not stand idly by; they had to dispatch armies of demon beasts to provide reinforcements. Some would be led directly by demon kings, while others would temporarily acknowledge human cultivators as their masters. As for how the demon clan would mobilize internally, that was left to the deliberation of the various demon kings. With the master of the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea failing to show himself, the other demon kings had begun harboring subtle suspicions. Without a demon king's protection, the denizens of the Bamboo Sea were in danger of being rounded up entirely as cannon fodder. After returning from Ziwei Palace, Yunyouzi's progress had been rapid, breaking through one threshold after another. Possessing the strength to protect himself by then, he had returned in time to the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea and revealed his identity to the willow tree demon. After discussing the situation, they had arranged a spirit formation in his former cave dwelling as a disguise. Since the Two Domains Alliance was not at a disadvantage and the war had not yet reached its most intense phase, they had managed to deceive outside eyes, even though the master of the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea never appeared in person. "Does every demon king control a demon city?" Qin Sang asked curiously. One of his purposes in meeting the white cat was to inquire about the local customs and lay of the land in the Heavenly Demon Mound. The white cat shook her head repeatedly. "How could that be? Emperor Flowing Dew is extraordinarily precious, and demon kings are only willing to part with a small portion of it to enlighten their offspring or promising young demons, turning them into trusted subordinates to help manage their territories. Demon beasts that have truly awakened their intellect are exceedingly rare. Most of them still retain their wild nature and could never abide peacefully inside a demon city. Leaving aside Xianyao City, there is actually only a single demon city in the Heavenly Demon Mound: Wanyao City, located in the far north of the Heavenly Demon Mound near the entrance to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. Its city lord is Lord Demon King Yu, and it is said that most of the residents in the city are humans..."