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In the eighteenth year of the Wanli reign, Lu Zhanzhi finally ended his year-long observation period at the Ministry of Justice. After passing the evaluation, he was appointed as the principal officer of the Henan Division of the Ministry of Justice, holding the rank of sixth grade.

He was a second-class Jinshi in the previous year's imperial examination. During his year of observation, his allowance was only one shi of rice per month, which was not enough to fill his stomach. In order to survive, he shared a dilapidated house with his fellow Jinshi and had to borrow money from banks from time to time.

After receiving his spring salary, Lu Zhanzhi used part of the money to pay off the loan from the money shop, and used the rest to rent a small apartment in Xuan Nan and bring his wife and children from his hometown over.

He thought he could finally live more comfortably, but after only a month of moving in, the house became infested with rats. Unable to bear the disturbance, he decided, on the recommendation of a colleague, to hire a raccoon dog from a shop in the market with his wife.

The family treated their guest very well, picking up each kitten and introducing them to him.

"Sir, this cat is the strongest in its litter. Look at its paws; it will surely be a master mouser in the future."

"And this one is also very good; it's very clever when playing with its brothers and sisters; this one..."

Looking at them one by one, Lu Zhanzhi thought they were all quite good. Just as he was hesitating, his wife tugged at his sleeve, "My lord, look at that one."

The wife pointed to a cat in the far corner of the box.

It was a small, fluffy ball of fluff with light yellow fur, lying lazily with its green eyes half-closed. Surrounded by three giants, it showed no sign of panic, and even reached out a paw to lick itself.

Lu Zhanzhi also became interested and asked, "How about that one?"

The shopkeeper advised them, "Sir, this cat does nothing but eat and sleep all day; it's a complete lazy cat. Why don't you choose another one?"

But since both of them liked it, the shopkeeper symbolically charged twenty coins and sold the lazy cat.

Lazy Cat has been home for over two months, and its fur has become increasingly fluffy and lush, its color changing from light yellow to bright gold. Colleagues who come to visit are all amazed.

They named the cat Jinbo because of its golden fur, which shone like the sun.

The five-year-old boy loved Jinbo very much and begged his mother to hang a bell around its neck. He would hold the cat and call it "Jinbao, Jinbao" all day long. Gradually, Lu Zhanzhi and his wife forgot its original name and started calling it Jinbao along with their child.

One day, when Lu Zhan was off duty, Jinbao nimbly jumped down from the eaves and brought back a fat rat.

Lu Zhanzhi said, "Wow, Jinbao is really amazing. We were able to solve our rat problem entirely thanks to Jinbao. He's a real rat catcher. It's clear that what the boss said was nonsense."

Jinbao sat on the ground, his big tail standing up and swaying, his green eyes shining brightly, looking extremely proud.

His wife, finding it strange, whispered to Lu Zhanzhi, "My lord, do you think Jinbao can understand us? After you praised it, the way it walks changed."

Lu Zhanzhi laughed and said, "Perhaps it's a cat demon."

These words proved prophetic.

In the spring of the twenty-first year of the Wanli reign, an old Taoist priest passed by Lu Zhanzhi's residence and knocked on the door to ask for a bowl of water.

The old Taoist priest had white hair and beard, but his eyes were surprisingly bright. As he drank water, he glanced at Jinbao, who was lazily yawning and wagging its tail under the eaves.

After finishing his water, he cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Master, to be honest, I came here under the pretext of drinking water, but in reality, I sensed the demonic aura above your residence."

"Has anything strange happened at your residence in recent years, sir?"

Lu Zhanzhi didn't believe it. "Nothing strange about it. You old Taoist priest, are you here to swindle money?"

The old Taoist chuckled twice, pointed at Jinbao, and said, "Really not?"

Lu Zhanzhi was taken aback. Recalling Jinbao's various actions that were so intelligent that they seemed like those of an animal, he was startled and welcomed the old Taoist into the room to serve tea.

The old Taoist stroked his beard and said, "If I am not mistaken, this cat must have been very intelligent since it was a kitten, and it is no less intelligent than a human."

Lu Zhanzhi said, "That's right!"

"My eight-year-old son can't win against a cat most of the time, and he always ends up crying from being teased."

"Could it be that this cat harbors an evil spirit?"

The old Taoist priest smiled and said, "Don't panic, sir."

"In my humble opinion, this cat is blessed by heaven. It awakened its intelligence in the womb and after birth, its body spontaneously absorbed the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, thus entering the path of demons. Therefore, it is different from ordinary cats."

Lu Zhanzhi breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good..."

The old Taoist priest said, "Although this cat is intelligent, if it is not guided and only relies on its instincts to cultivate, it may go astray in the future."

He stood up and said, “I am the thirty-ninth generation successor of Duling Mountain. I have been traveling the world looking for a closed-door disciple. This cat is exceptionally gifted. If you trust me, sir, please give this cat to me. I will help this cat transform into human form and then pass on all my knowledge to you.”

Lu Zhanzhi and his wife discussed it all night and finally decided not to delay Jinbao and to hand it over to the old Taoist priest.

The child cried and screamed, clinging to Jinbao and refusing to let go. After finally managing to snatch him from his grasp, Jinbao jumped back into his wife's arms and breathed on the old Taoist priest.

The old Taoist priest did not insist, and sighed, "So be it, my worldly ties are not yet severed, how can I cultivate?"

He grasped Jinbao's paw, muttered incantations, and released it after a moment, saying, "I have taught it the method of cultivation."

He then took out a cultivation manual, saying, "It will take at least fifteen years, or at most twenty years, for this cat to transform into human form. After that, you can give him this cultivation manual to practice."

After saying this, the old Taoist priest took his leave.

Lu Zhanzhi and his wife escorted the old Taoist priest to the gate of the mansion, only to see him wave his hand and then disappear into the end of the alley.

Since then, Jinbao has become increasingly intelligent. Lu Zhanzhi would teach him some arithmetic in his spare time, and he would answer the questions without making any mistakes.

Knowing that Jinbao would grow up, Lu Zhanzhi prepared several proper names for him to choose from.

Jinbao glanced at it, then slapped its paw down on the name "Lu Ye" without hesitation.

Lu Zhanzhi laughed heartily, “Good, Ye means sunlight, which means brilliance and splendor. This is the name I like best.”

After that, Jinbao was given a formal name, taking Lu Zhanzhi's surname, and was called Lu Ye.

This was the 25th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign. Lu Zhanzhi was promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, a fifth-rank official, and was full of vigor and ambition.

In the thirtieth year of the Wanli reign, Lu Ye transformed into a blond-haired, green-eyed boy with a handsome and otherworldly appearance, unlike any ordinary person.

Lu Zhanzhi and his wife raised him in their mansion, lying that their nephew had come to seek refuge with them. However, the servants leaked the information, and rumors began to circulate.

In addition, with the aftermath of the succession dispute still lingering, Lu Zhanzhi spoke frankly in support of the eldest son of the emperor, which led to impeachment by his political enemies. The emperor was displeased and finally ordered a thorough investigation of the mansion.

The Imperial Guards searched the Lu residence thoroughly but found nothing amiss, and the matter ended without resolution.

That evening, Lu Zhanzhi found a letter in his study with a few large, crooked characters on it.

I'm leaving now. Thank you all for these years.

Lu Zhanzhi spent a sleepless night.

After leaving the Lu family mansion, Lu Ye, due to his unusual appearance, rarely entered the world. He hid in the mountains and forests, living on wind and dew, and traveled south. When he passed through a mountain in Hanyang Prefecture, Huguang, he saw that the place was full of spiritual energy and had beautiful scenery, so he occupied the mountain as king and settled down.

Every few years, he would return to the capital to secretly visit Lu Zhanzhi's family, but he dared not show his face, leaving only a letter and a box of jewelry and silver.

Lu Zhanzhi's official career was smooth sailing. He remained unscathed amidst the infighting in the officialdom and had already become the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

His hair was already streaked with gray, and his brows were furrowed with worry from various trivial matters, yet he still loved to smile.

His son didn't like studying literature, but instead passed the military examination and became a minor commander in the Beijing garrison.

Lu Ye diligently practiced the techniques left behind by the old Taoist priest. Several years later, his demonic power greatly increased. Tired of staying on the mountain, he began to travel around.

He once met the old Taoist priest, who was extremely surprised when he saw him. "You actually took only nine years to cultivate into human form. You are truly a man of extraordinary talent."

He followed the old Taoist priest to cultivate, but the old Taoist priest refused to let him call him master.

He repeated his previous statement, "Your worldly ties are not yet severed."

Later, the world gradually descended into chaos, with conflicts arising everywhere. The old Taoist priest led Lu Ye back to Duling Mountain, opened its gates wide, and took in refugees fleeing famine, providing them with food and lodging.

Lu Ye was puzzled. "Your magical powers are so great, why not just kill the officials who are causing trouble here? Why only provide relief to refugees?"

The old Taoist shook his head. "Magic power cannot solve everything."

“Kill this official, and there will be another official; kill this gang of bandits, and there will be new bandits. As long as the country is unstable, the strife will never stop.”

"Moreover, plagues, floods, and famines are beyond human control. All I can do is take in more people."

Lu Ye was still puzzled.

In his view, killing one is not enough, so he would kill two or three. As long as his magic power was strong enough, why should he not be able to restore peace to the world?

The old Taoist priest just smiled and remained silent.

Many years later, he finally understood the meaning behind the old Taoist's words.

The things that demonic power cannot reach are not limited to ordinary people; sometimes, it cannot even interfere with the life and death of an ordinary human being.

In the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign, the old Taoist priest passed away. Lu Ye buried him in the back mountain of the capital and erected a small stone tablet.

After doing all this, Lu Ye packed his bags and went to the capital to visit Lu Zhanzhi.

Upon entering the capital, however, all that could be seen were corpses of the starving, soldiers guarding every place, and many doors standing empty, a far cry from the former prosperity and bustle.

He found the Lu residence and saw that the gates were wide open, with soldiers coming and going, carrying boxes of things.

He concealed himself and walked to the main house, where he finally saw Lu Zhanzhi and his wife, who were dressed neatly and sitting upright.

Upon seeing Lu Ye, he gave a trembling laugh, "You've come."

He was already in his seventies, with white hair and cloudy eyes, but when he smiled, he looked exactly the same as he had fifty years ago.

Lu Ye asked, "Who are these people in the mansion? Why are they moving things around?"

Lu Zhanzhi said, "We don't need to worry about Li Zicheng's lackeys."

"I have long since given away all my wealth to help the people, and now the mansion is nothing but useless things."

His wife smiled and said, "My lord, I was just telling you that I regretted not being able to see Jinbao one last time."

Lu Ye was startled. "What, the last time we saw each other?"

Lu Zhanzhi said, "His Majesty died for his country. What face do we have to live in this world? My wife and I are about to follow His Majesty in death."

"Why, why did I have to die?"

"Is it because of the army outside? I can kill them!"

Lu Ye stammered, "I'll take you away, away from the capital, far away, to a place without war. I have plenty of money, enough for you to live on..."

But Lu Zhanzhi shook his head, "Ye'er, we appreciate your kindness."

"To eat the king's food and serve the king loyally is my duty, even unto death."

The two then hanged themselves facing south in front of Lu Ye.

Lu Ye killed the army that had looted the Lu family mansion, collected the bodies of the two men, and then went to find Lu Zhanzhi's child, only to discover that he had already died in battle.

Thus, Lu Ye had no relatives left in the world, and he began a life of wandering again.

His life was long, but he had no goals or meaning; he simply lived by instinct.

He traveled westward with caravans, visiting exotic lands with endless yellow sand, boarding ships to explore southwards, or venturing to the far north, to a land of perpetual ice and perpetual daylight.

At first, he made human friends, but after watching them die of old age and their coffins being placed in the grave, he stopped making friends. He would only drink and play drinking games with them in taverns, laughing heartily until dawn, and then leave.

After several hundred years, the world changed dramatically, society gradually stabilized, a new order was established, the connection between heaven and earth was severed, and spiritual energy declined. Due to the limitations of the rules, he could no longer exert his full strength and decided to settle down.

After going around in circles, he returned to his original life as a mountain king in Hanyang Prefecture.

He lives like an ordinary person, working, buying a house, wearing fashionable clothes, and watching the latest TV dramas.

He no longer needed to use magic to disguise his hair and eyes, because people would no longer treat him as a monster, but would instead secretly mock him, saying, "Fake foreigner!"

Later, monsters were also put under standardized management.

The staff registered him.

"variety?"

"cat."

"age?"

"I don't remember."

The staff member patiently guided them, "Do you remember when you first became conscious, what dynasty was it, and what major events or figures were involved?"

"Let me think... there seems to be someone named Li Zicheng?"

"That was during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty."

The staff wrote: [Approximately 400 years old]

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Lu Ye."

The staff member stopped writing halfway through, asking, "Which Ye?"

Lu Ye seemed to see the laughing young man through four hundred years of time, and the memories that had long been buried in the river of time surged up again.

He said softly, "Ye means sunlight, and it implies brilliance and splendor."