Xie Bai experienced these three days as if they were interminably long, each second dragging on like years. It was just about transferring his soul into a cat, which wasn't a big deal in itself—three days of rest in a corner would have sufficed for recovery if he were surrounded by normal people. Unfortunately, none of the people around him were normal.

Li Dong, who misguidedly brought loads of fancy cat food in the middle of the night to appease him, and Feng Li, who cluelessly asked whether to feed the tiny cat water or milk and if it would affect its transformation back into human form, added to the absurdity of his situation. Even Luo Zhusheng, who usually seemed sensible, acted oddly, suggesting that the door had squeezed his brain.

That night, without uttering a word, Luo Zhusheng returned to Taohu Pawnshop and early the next morning came knocking at the Tai Xuan Dao, handing over an object to Yin Wushu.

"What is this?" Yin Wushu, puzzled by the large wooden cat tree handed to him, could not fathom its purpose.

Xie Bai, looking on from behind the bed, remained silent.

"It's a cat tree," explained Luo Zhusheng, suggesting that the structure be placed in a corner. "A friend of mine carved it out of boredom for his cat, but just as he finished, his cat had kittens, and it was no longer suitable. So, he gave it to me, and he carved a new one for his cat. Maybe you can use it for the next two days"

Xie Bai “…”

He really wanted Yin Wushu to just grab that climbing frame and leave, but unfortunately, he couldn't say a word. Every time he opened his mouth, it just turned into a particularly soft meow, completely lacking in dignity, which was quite embarrassing.

Luo Zhusheng had no interest in other people's bedrooms and wasn't keen on standing at the bedroom door chatting with people. So after asking about Yin Wushu and Xie Bai's recovery situation, he went downstairs back to his own shop.

Yin Wushu closed the door and then gave the soft sofa a tug, sitting in front of Xie Bai like a highway robber blocking his way, trapping him between the bed and the wall, so he couldn't run left or right. He raised his hand and beckoned to Xie Bai, who looked at him expressionlessly, not moving at all.

"You're quite stubborn..." Yin Wushu propped his chin on his hand, not in a hurry as he said, "Hey little cat, let me tell you, I've heard of this method before. It's said that if you slowly blink your eyes at a cat face to face, the cat will become very obedient. Come on, let me try it."

Xie Bai turned his head and walked away.

Yin Wushu, using the advantage of his long arms, stubbornly grabbed the tail of Xie Bai, the little black cat, it was thin and had a slight bend at the tip, just enough to hook around his finger perfectly. "The texture is not bad," he even commented like that.

Xie Bai: "..."

He never imagined that an extra tail could be such a nuisance!

 

Precisely being caught by the tail was like being grabbed by the lifeline; Xie Bai didn't know if it was the influence of the small black cat's body or something else, but despite Yin Wushu really just gently pinching, not using much force at all, he still had to obediently be pulled along, unable to stubbornly walk away.

Yin Wushu, shameless, then used both hands to pick up the kitten by its front paws, bringing it face to face with himself, very close.

"Hey, don’t make a fuss, I'm just trying this." As he spoke, Yin Wushu actually stared into the kitten's moist eyes and very slowly blinked.

Xie Bai, facing such an expression, was utterly speechless. Not only did he not soften, he instead raised a paw and firmly placed it on Yin Wushu's face, very uncooperatively pushing his face away, then struggled to jump down from Yin Wushu's hands.

Yin Wushu held him and shook him slightly, teasing him, "It doesn't work, huh? Let's try again."

Xie Bai: "......"

Just as Yin Wushu blinked again, the room door was knocked on violently; unlike Luo Zhusheng's calm and unhurried three knocks, this was urgent and forceful, clearly only Lou Xianyue could knock like this.

Lou Xianyue's sharp voice could be heard from outside the door: "Is it inconvenient? I'm opening the door!"

"Come in—" Before Yin Wushu could finish, the door was already twisted open.

"Whoa, you pervert, what are you doing!" Lou Xianyue, upon seeing him holding the kitten face to face, not knowing what he was doing, exclaimed shockingly, "You beast, not even sparing a cat!"

Xie Bai: "......"

Yin Wushu chuckled, glanced at what she was holding, and asked, "What did you bring up?"

"Oh right!" Lou Xianyue lifted the small bowl she was carrying on a plate with her left hand and a shallow porcelain dish with her right, "I found two thousand-year-old ginseng roots and brewed a soup, for you and Xie Bai to drink, to replenish energy and calm the spirit, maybe it could help you recover faster."

Yin Wushu: "...... How much soup did two thousand-year-old ginseng roots make?"

Lou Xianyue again lifted the items in her hands.

"That's it?"

Lou Xianyue nodded: "Yeah, that's it."

Yin Wushu turned Xie Bai around, facing the door, and said, "Just that dish, and his nosebleed is about to come out, there's barely a few pounds of flesh on him, can it stand bleeding?" (NT: ginseng boosts blood circulation)

Lou Xianyue: "......"

She thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Makes sense. I'll just pour it all into your bowl then, since you can handle bleeding anyway." With that, she decisively scooped the little bit in the bone china plate into the bowl, handing it towards the door as she spoke, "Come to think of it, those blood beads of yours, compared to the tears of the mermen, should be more valuable, right? You have less quantity, don't you? I'll go down and stew two more bowls of soup for you. You can drink them together, and if you bleed, remember to find a basin to catch it. Later, I'll take it and sell it for money."

Yin Wushu didn't say a word and just hugged Xie Bai tightly, then got up and kicked out the troublemaker.

After being kicked downstairs, Lou Xianyue felt quite disgruntled. Following the principle of not wasting, she drank the soup herself and went to Taowu Pawnshop across the street to find Boss Luo through the tree hole.

"I remember Yin Wushu never kept any pets, right? Then why does he hold a cat so naturally? What I was carrying was obviously a bowl of tonic soup! It's like I'm holding a ...(NT: □□ in the original text, so for each one to guess what the author wanted to say)  to demand Wiao Bai’s life, the way he's protecting him, oh, I didn't notice his potential as a cat lover before, let me tell you..." Lou Xianyue rattled off her ordeal, then casually blackened Yin Wushu's character, calling him a pervert who was in love with cats, just to satisfy herself.

Luo Zhusheng habitually ignored her criticism of Yin Wushu, tilting his head back in thought before saying, "He really hasn't kept anything before, but his rival—"

"Which rival?" Lou Xianyue didn't catch on.

Luo Zhusheng explained with an "Oh," "The one who joined him this time, didn't he always keep a white tiger before? They're all felines, so I guess he's a cat lover too."

"Oh my, how can that count as being a cat lover!" Lou Xianyue exclaimed, "I went to gossip with him last night, and that white tiger was actually a heart he dug out himself, recognized himself as its master, and kept it just in case, essentially giving himself an extra life. But he used it up before, otherwise if he kept it longer it would have been useful for this time, and he wouldn't have lagged so far behind Yin Wushu."

Luo Zhusheng nodded and said, "Yin Wushu also counts as having died and come back to life. His body can recover easily, but to fully recover to his previous state would take another ten years or so, and the same goes for that person, just a step slower. It's like going through the process of growing up."

"Xiao Bai is the same this time, easy to recover his human form, but to completely recover his vitality will take about a year or more, although his spiritual power recovers faster than Yin Wushu's, after all, he has the Ten thousand Souls Tree." Lou Xianyue said, then began to gloat again, "Hey, if Xiao Bai recovers and Yin Wushu hasn't, it'll be fun to watch."

Luo Zhusheng glanced at her, "You're thinking too much. The disparity in their spiritual powers is too great. Yin Wushu recovering about thirty to forty percent would be enough for Xiao Bai to go all out."

Lou Xianyue sighed, propping her chin on the counter, "Such a pity, I wanted to see Xiao Bai teach him a lesson when he's back in form."

"..." Luo Zhusheng's mouth twitched, pointing at her nose, "You're so regretful that you're bleeding."

Lou Xianyue touched her nose, "Oh, I made a bowl of soup with two thousand-year-old ginseng roots, and they both refused to drink it, so I drank it myself."

Luo Zhusheng gave her a thumbs up, praising, "...You're really such a talent."

Lou Xianyue replied with a "Thanks" and rolled her eyes skyward as she walked away.

*

In the bedroom on the second floor of the Tai Xuan Dao, Yin Wushu sent away everyone who made excuses to come see the cat-shaped Xie Bai, then simply locked the bedroom door and added a prohibition seal, not allowing anyone to enter. He sat down cross-legged inside the circle arranged by the bed, placing Xie Bai on his lap, scratching his chin while slightly closing his eyes, intending to continue adjusting his breath.

Xie Bai was not too keen on staying inside the array. He had a deep connection with the Ten thousand souls Tree, and his physical recovery depended on the self-growth and repair of the Spirit Tree. The array set up by Yin Wushu was not of the same nature, and it didn't offer any benefits to him.

Rather than being confined within this small array, he preferred to stay near the window in the bed, as there he could bask in the sunlight. This was the thing that worried him the most, and it was also the reason why he wanted to recover his human form as soon as possible. Because he felt that the longer he stayed in the body of this little cat, the more he would be influenced by the cat nature of the little black cat, even though the little black cat itself was not a proper cat, but rather Yin Wushu's heart transformed...

Whenever Xie Bai thought of this, he had an indescribable feeling. On one hand, he felt heartache, and on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel angry.

Yin Wushu simply didn't care about his own life. He could dig out his own heart, and even after doing so, he didn't use it to save himself, but rather gave it away as if it was nothing. What was even more infuriating was that he didn't mention a word about it from beginning to end. If it weren't for the dream Xie Bai had in the end, and after waking up, based on various details and memories, he wouldn't have known about this at all. And yet, he even fed Xie Bai Yao Zhu San, trying to make people forget even the little that was left! It was simply—

What a complete bastard!!

After waking up, this bastard person still had a face of "the matter has passed, let's forget about it", as if he himself had swallowed the Yao Zhu San, and his pretending-to-be-stupid skill was so well-practiced, still acting as if nothing had happened, without a hint of reflection. It was as if the next time he encountered such a thing, he would still act nonchalantly!

Xie Bai glared at Yin Wushu, used his claws to open Yin Wushu's hand, then took three or two steps to jump out of the array, walked around the bed to the window, and lay down in a sunny spot on the carpet.

Although he had come back to life and regained a life, he couldn't avoid the severe damage to his vitality. His bones were still sensitive to cold, and if it weren't for the cat skin wrapping him up, he would have frozen stiff long ago. So Xie Bai liked to bask in the sun all day, easing the chill in his bones.

Yin Wushu glanced at him, shook his head with a smile, and said, "You're becoming more and more like a real little cat."

Saying that, he stood up again, very naturally and decisively lifted the entire array bottom and threw it to where Xie Bai was staying, the four paper talismans along with the red rope and copper coins on top of them rose and fell simultaneously. He fancifully moved the entire array to another place.

Yin Wushu took a step and walked to the edge of the array, bent down to pick up Xie Bai in his cat form, then sat back inside the array, saying, "Here, with your small size, it's not fair to monopolize such a large space, right? Let's share it a bit."

After placing Xie Bai on his lap, he closed his eyes to adjust his breath, while absentmindedly stroking the back of Xie Bai's head.

Xie Bai: "..."

He lay on Yin Wushu's lap, both front and back paws drooping listlessly, half-closed eyes expressionless as he watched Yin Wushu's hand repeatedly stroking his head. After watching for a while, he couldn't help but open his mouth and bite Yin Wushu's finger.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Yin Wushu didn't even open his eyes, complaining with a hint of amusement, while symbolically moving his finger. Seeing that Xie Bai showed no signs of letting go, he simply didn't pull back, allowing him to bite on it.

For the entire afternoon, the human and the cat basked in the sun "quietly."

*

After a day and night of adaptation, the following two days were not as unbearable as imagined. At least Lou Xianyue and the others didn't come to disturb anymore, leaving only Yin Wushu who kept bothering him. However, because he was Yin Wushu, Xie Bai couldn't scratch him back, so he obediently accepted it.

After three whole days, Xie Bai finally opened his eyes on the third night, back to his original form.

 

Translator : DarNan