Big Cat Crossing the Way to Wishes
Xu Yi licked the candied hawthorn, and a sweet taste spread in her mouth, seemingly dispelling some of the gloom in her heart...
Not long after, the big cat returned. There were still two candied hawthorns left on the half-skewer it was carrying. It walked over, put the candied hawthorns on the ground, and asked Xu Yi while eating them, "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," Xu Yi said naturally.
Big Cat glanced at Xu Yi and said, "You seem to care a lot about whether Flower's owner killed Flower."
One sentence struck a chord deep within Xu Yi's heart, and she murmured softly, "How can even a cat be so smart..."
"Do you even need to guess? The moment you heard the little boy ask his mother if she killed the cat, your face darkened, and you even clenched your fists..."
Now that we've come this far, Xu Yi asked the big cat, "If Hua Hua was really killed by its owner, wouldn't you feel indignant on its behalf?"
“No way…” the big cat said matter-of-factly. “Many cats are killed because they are disobedient. Some are thrown away, some are poisoned. It’s normal.”
"Is that normal?" Xu Yi asked in return.
"Of course, what's the point of keeping a disobedient cat as a pet?"
"Do you think so too?" Xu Yi asked the big cat. "Don't you feel it's unfair? Don't you feel resentful?"
The big cat put down the candied hawthorn from its mouth, sat up straight, and looked at Xu Yi: "Cats exist in human households to help their owners catch mice. From the moment they become domestic cats, it means they should obey their owners. But many cats haven't figured this out and just live according to their own habits, causing trouble for their owners without realizing it. In this case, for humans who haven't figured this out, if the trouble the cat causes outweighs the benefits the owner thinks, then it will naturally be abandoned."
Wu Zi originally wanted to continue pretending not to hear, but after hearing the big cat's serious explanation, he nodded in agreement: "That's right. The master thinks that the trouble this animal brings outweighs the benefits it brings, so he will naturally give up the trouble. That's the natural order of things."
The big cat didn't say anything, but it glanced at Wu Zi and praised him, "You're not bad."
Wu Zi glanced at the big cat and said, "You're pretty good too."
"Heh..." The big cat transformed into the appearance of a man dressed in coarse cloth and asked Xu Yi, "How is the Mountain Lord?"
"Mountain Lord?" Xu Yi stood up in surprise.
"Hmm," the man nodded, "How is the mountain lord of Wuji Mountain?"
Xu Yi thought about what the mountain king looked like, and then honestly said, "I... I don't really know either. I only saw the mountain king once."
"Haha," the man laughed twice and praised, "You little girl have a good temperament; he'll definitely like your personality."
Wu Zi stared wide-eyed in disbelief... He had originally thought that the big cat was just a fellow cultivator, but he never expected that it would actually know the mountain lord of Wuji Mountain. Thinking of how he had just been very rude in using the tone of an equal, he stood up nervously, knelt down in front of the big cat, and bowed his head to apologize: "Senior, please forgive me."
The man glanced at Wu Zi and helped him up: "There's no need for that. You are indeed good, and so am I. What you said is the truth. What is there to atone for?"
Wu Zi smiled awkwardly: "Thank you for your understanding, senior."
Xu Yi asked the man, "So... how should I address you?"
"Just call me Big Cat." The man sat down on the bench with ease, and with a wave of his hand, the candied hawthorn on the ground came into his hand. He took a bite of the candied hawthorn and said in a natural tone, "He and I are from the same source, both from Wuji Mountain. It's just that he prefers to stay on that mountain, while I like to travel around, so we took two different paths."
Wu Zi felt a chill run down his spine. In other words, this person was also at the level of a Mountain Lord. It was just that one of them guarded the living beings in Wuji Mountain, while the other traveled around to convert all the spirits. Their paths were different.
He quickly bowed again: "Greetings, Lord of the Mountain."
“No need,” the man waved his hand. “I’m not on that mountain, so I’m not a mountain lord anymore. Besides, a title is just a title and doesn’t mean anything. You can just call me Big Cat.”
Wu Zi knew the man's importance, so he hesitated to speak. Xu Yi, however, had no idea what the Mountain Lord meant to mortals, so he obediently called out, "Big Cat."
The man laughed heartily, pointed at Wu Zi, and said, "This little girl has no sense of discrimination, much better than you. You think you're helping her, but actually she's teaching you."
Wu Zi didn't understand, but still nodded blankly: "You're right."
The man gave her a disgusted look, then turned to Xu Yi and said kindly, "Little girl, come sit down and tell me what's wrong."
“Oh,” Xu Yi nodded, walked over and sat down on the long bench again, and began to tell the story of the mangy dog.
After listening to Xu Yi's story, the big cat asked, "So you think it's a pity that the mangy dog was killed despite being so devoted to its master; or is it a pity that the mangy dog, with its high level of cultivation, was still killed by a blind mortal?"
Xu Yi was taken aback. She only felt resentful about the mangy dog's fate, but she hadn't thought about this question. She honestly replied, "I... I don't know either."
“Alright,” the man nodded, “then let me ask you from a different angle: do you resent a master for killing their disobedient dog, or do you resent an unenlightened mortal for killing a highly skilled cultivator?”
Xu Yi silently repeated the big cat's words a few times, and suddenly it all became clear... she understood immediately. She thanked the big cat: "Big cat, I know what you mean, I get it."
"Hmm," the man patted Xu Yi's head, "You're really smart." Then he transformed back into a big cat, carrying a candied hawthorn skewer in his mouth, and left.
Wu Zi followed behind, repeatedly saying respectfully to the big cat, "Take care, senior." The big cat didn't even glance at Wu Zi and disappeared in a few moments.
Wu Zi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and took several deep breaths. Xu Yi was still puzzled: "Wu Zi, why are you so afraid of the mountain lord?"
“You don’t understand,” Wu Zi shook his head and sighed, “You really are my great-aunt. You meet amazing people wherever you go.”
"Are big cats very powerful?"
“You have absolutely no idea of the power of the mountain lord.”
"Oh, how can I know?" Xu Yi asked Wu Zi.
Wu Zi glanced at Xu Yi, his face full of disbelief: "Then it's better not to know. When the Mountain Lord makes a move, it's extraordinary..."
"Can it move mountains and overturn seas?"
"That's nothing," Wu Zi waved his hand, "I could make a hole in the sky."
Is the hole in the sky dangerous?
"That's more than just dangerous; it's practically the end of the world."
Although Xu Yi didn't know exactly what the apocalypse meant, she knew from Wu Zi's tone that it was a big deal, so she nodded blankly and replied, "Oh."
Perhaps she had come to her senses, because Xu Yi returned to her original appearance. Wu Zi was also happy, so he took Xu Yi to eat wherever they went, and slowly it seemed that they had returned to how they were before.
That day, they had just finished dealing with a vampire tree and were cleaning up in the forest when the communication talisman in Wu Zi's arms beeped. Wu Zi took out the communication talisman with a surprised look and heard the voice of the spirit sword coming from inside: "Xu Yi, come quickly, I can't hold on any longer."
Xu Yi quickly ran over and asked the spirit sword through the communication talisman, "What's wrong? Where are you?"
"I'm in the village by the pool. Come quick! There's a demon here, its power surpasses mine. I'm suppressing it with my spiritual energy, but I can only hold out for three days at most. Come quickly!" The communication talisman cut off after saying that.
Xu Yi looked at Wu Zi, who nodded and immediately led Xu Yi towards the mountain stream where they had encountered the spirit sword...
Wu Zi traveled day and night, using all his strength to keep going. It still took him two days to reach the stream, and then he searched for the aura of the spirit sword... By the time he sensed the location of the spirit sword, another morning had passed... They followed the aura of the spirit sword into the mountains, going further and further into the wilderness. In front of a very inconspicuous cave, they heard a roar coming from inside. The voice was deep and gloomy, like a wild beast about to break free of its chains, making people feel scared and terrified.
Xu Yi swallowed hard, gritted her teeth, and tried to walk towards the cave, but Wu Zi unexpectedly stopped her.
She looked at Wu Zi with a puzzled expression. Wu Zi forced a smile and said, "This thing looks like it's about to escape. You stay at the cave entrance and guard it. Don't let it get away."
“Okay.” Xu Yi nodded, and after Wu Zi went in, she sealed the entrance with ghost energy; fearing that mortals might come in, she sealed it again at a greater distance.
Xu Yi was outside, listening to the sounds of fighting inside, mixed with increasingly loud roars, and then she vaguely heard the roar of the spirit sword.
She instinctively felt that there must be a fierce fight inside, and she focused all her attention on the cave entrance, afraid that something inside might escape.
After a long while, she heard a hissing sound from inside, followed by the sound of mountain spring water flowing. She exclaimed in surprise, "There's still mountain spring water inside?"
The mountain spring water flowed louder and louder, then gradually faded away, and the entire cave became quiet again.
Curious whether Wu Zi had already subdued what was inside, Xu Yi slowly walked in. Before her was a winding mountainside. Following the winding path, she entered, and the first thing she saw was red blood on the ground. She followed the direction of the blood flow, step by step, and the blood became more and more abundant and thicker...
Xu Yi's heart pounded with each step. As she rounded the only rock blocking her view, she saw Wu Zi standing firmly at the very edge of the narrow passage. His left hand gripped a dagger, driven deep into the mountainside, while his right hand braced against the other side, as if using his own body to block something… She finally saw the source of the blood…
Wu Zi's hands were soaked in blood. His back was somewhat hunched, and his head, shoulders, ribs, waist, and legs were covered with claw marks of all sizes, some so deep that bone was visible. Dark red blood flowed from the wounds, all flowing downwards, converging into two streams several fingers thick that flowed down his legs and pooled on the ground...
His shoes were soaked in blood, the soles stained dark red... Through the gaps between his shoulders and head, one could see that the cave ahead was filled with blood...
Xu Yi burst into tears immediately, her voice trembling as she called out, "Wu Zi?"
Wu Zi didn't respond. She walked closer and called out to Wu Zi again, her voice trembling with tears: "Wu Zi... Wu Zi..."
She saw Wu Zi's head tremble rapidly, and then heard Wu Zi's hoarse, weak voice: "Xu, Xu Yi... get out... get out..."
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