Chapter 137 The statue was too shameful; she simply couldn't bear to look at it...
Qiu Feiyan was completely baffled and said to Qiu Tangzhu, "Mother, if we want to erect a statue of the Cat Immortal, wouldn't it be more convenient to just find a craftsman to carve it directly? Why do we have to make a portrait? Isn't that just taking off our pants to fart and doing something completely unnecessary?"
When Qiu Tangzhu thought about how the black cat seemed to have deliberately hidden itself when Pingwei Hou was here, she guessed there must be a reason. However, since no one explained, she didn't press the matter. She simply said, "In any case, the Cat Immortal has been kind to our Ji'an Township. This statue should be erected. Go and call your Aunt Liu over. Young Master Zhiwei and the others are preparing to leave tomorrow, so the statue should be sculpted today."
Qiu Feiyan was startled, "Huh? Tomorrow, you're leaving tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's what Young Master Zhiwei said today." Seeing that Qiu Feiyan seemed very reluctant, Hall Master Qiu patted Qiu Feiyan's head and comforted him, "Miss Shen and Young Master Zhiwei are ultimately not people of this mortal world, and they will have to leave one day."
Qiu Feiyan seemed to have thought of something and turned to run away.
Master Qiu sighed helplessly, "Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm going to find Qiongzhi! I promised her I'd find Aunt Wei to teach her iron forging, I can't break my promise!"
...
Yun Tianjiao's reputation as the Cat Fairy has spread throughout Ji'an Township. At this moment, she is surrounded by many young girls, watching her climb trees to fetch shuttlecocks for them.
Even for an ordinary cat, climbing a tree is an easy task. However, when Yun Tianjiao helped the little girls pull the shuttlecock down from the tree, they clapped their hands and cheered in gratitude as if welcoming a great hero.
Yun Tianjiao was so annoyed by the noise of the little kids that he was about to sneak away when a little girl ran over and said that her grandma had blown the clothes onto the roof while hanging them out to dry. Her grandma was about to set up a ladder to get to the roof, but the little girl was worried that her grandma was too old and her legs would be weak, so she came to ask the Cat Immortal for help.
So Yun Tianjiao had no choice but to follow the little girl home again to help the old lady carry her clothes.
She spent the whole afternoon busy, visiting every household in Ji'an Township, mostly resolving trivial matters asked of the children. When the adults saw the black cat, they all scolded the children for being so insensible as to bother the cat spirit so casually, and promised to prepare dried fish and meat strips for her after Yun Tianjiao left.
Shen Qiongzhi, accompanied by Qiu Feiyan, spent the afternoon at the blacksmith Wei Da Niang's blacksmith shop. When they returned to the courtyard specially prepared for them in Ji'an Township, she was extremely surprised to find Zhiwei sitting under a tree enjoying the cool shade instead of following Yun Tianjiao.
Why aren't you with Sister Tianjiao?
Zhiwei's gaze passed over the low fence of the yard and was looking at a group of children not far away. At this moment, the black cat was helping them catch snakes in the grass. The way it was focused on its work made it look just like an excellent hunter.
“Children are innocent and pure-hearted. It’s rare for her to have this opportunity to play like this. With me here, she actually feels embarrassed.” Zhiwei’s voice was gentle, her face was smiling, and her eyes seemed to hold soft waves, but she only gave them to one person.
Shen Qiongzhi didn't quite understand this kind of gaze. She had never been looked at like this before, nor had she ever looked at others like this before, but she felt that this moment was exceptionally beautiful, and even the resentment in her body didn't feel so heavy anymore.
I feel like I've become a fairy.
"Oh dear, Miss Qiongzhi, Young Master Zhiwei! Your companion has woken up!!" The village doctor rushed in from outside, her face beaming with joy.
"Zhu Jing is awake?!" Shen Qiongzhi suddenly jumped up and rushed to the village clinic before the female doctor could finish speaking.
On their first day here, Zhu Jing stayed with them. The female doctor stayed by her side all day. Later, because the doctor had to take care of the clinic, she suggested that Zhu Jing stay at the clinic temporarily.
On the night they arrived at the Pingwei Marquis's residence, Zhu Jing was placed in the clinic. Although mortal medical skills could not cure Zhu Jing's injuries, the aunt took meticulous care of her every day, performing acupuncture to clear her meridians and prescribing gentle tonics. Unexpectedly, Zhu Jing woke up earlier than expected.
Upon hearing that Zhu Jing had woken up, Yun Tianjiao threw the snake he had caught far outside the city wall and rushed to the clinic.
The three arrived almost simultaneously and saw Zhu Jing sitting on the bed, still looking somewhat dazed. She was only wearing a white nightgown, with her long black hair draped behind her, which made her thin face look sickly pale. It was hard to imagine that such a girl with the appearance of a little sister was actually a male god in the Heavenly Realm who had been disguised as a god for so many years.
When Yun Tianjiao looked at Zhu Jing now, he was completely projecting the same feelings Yu Sishu had for Yu Siran. He jumped onto the bed and put his paw on Zhu Jing's hand.
Zhu Jing's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked down at the little black cat in front of her. A shy smile touched her lips as she called out "Sister" in a very soft voice, clearly recognizing Yun Tianjiao.
"Zhu Jing, are you alright? Do you still recognize me?" Shen Qiongzhi leaned over the bed, shaking her head to attract Zhu Jing's attention.
"Yes, Miss Shen," Zhu Jing replied shyly.
“I already told you to call me Qiongzhi!” Shen Qiongzhi corrected.
The female doctor took Zhu Jing's pulse again and said to everyone, "My medical skills are limited. I can only see that this girl's pulse is weak, but I can't diagnose the root cause. It's good news that the girl has woken up. You should take her to the main city to find a proper doctor as soon as possible."
Zhiwei said to the female doctor, "Thank you. In my opinion, your medical skills are already quite remarkable."
The female doctor was nearly fifty years old and had spent half her life studying medicine in Ji'an Township. It was the first time she had been praised by an outsider, and she became somewhat shy.
Shen Qiongzhi was the most qualified to speak: "Auntie, even the imperial physician couldn't solve my sister Zhu Jing's problem. The fact that you were able to wake her up earlier is already quite an achievement." As she spoke, she gave the female doctor a thumbs up without hesitation.
"Oh, you're really too kind to me," the female doctor said, her smile wide and her eyes barely visible.
At this moment, another person walked into the clinic. She was also a rather old woman, with a robust build and a ruddy complexion. She had large hands and feet, and wore a leather apron around her waist. Inside the apron pockets were many tools such as nails, axes, chisels, and knives.
This is Aunt Liu, a stonemason and carpenter from Ji'an Township.
Aunt Liu's eyes lit up when she spotted the black cat crouching on the bed. "Oh, I've finally found it! This cat spirit is too shy. I told her I wanted to make a statue of it, but it wouldn't cooperate no matter what I said. It runs away as soon as it sees me."
Yun Tianjiao felt a headache coming on whenever he saw this middle-aged woman. He was itching to run away again, but Shen Qiongzhi stopped him this time.
"Aunt Liu, I've held her down for you! Hurry!"
Yun Tianjiao: "..."
She didn't want to be remembered in this way, so she glared at Shen Qiongzhi and struggled fiercely.
But then a gentle hand landed on her head; it was Zhiwei.
"Let them sculpt a statue for you. Firstly, if Marquis Pingwei comes again in the future and doesn't see his cat god statue, he might cause trouble. Secondly, this is also the wish of the people of Ji'an Township."
After much pleading and cajoling from Shen Qiongzhi and Zhiwei, Yun Tianjiao finally gave in.
Aunt Liu was afraid that the Cat Immortal might change his mind again, so she didn't even dare to change locations. She found a stool on the spot and gestured for Yun Tianjiao to jump on it, intending to start working in the room where Zhu Jing was resting.
Yun Tianjiao sat on the bench with a displeased look on his face, his cat tail swishing back and forth unhappily.
After Zhu Jing woke up, he drank some porridge and felt much better. He leaned against the bed and looked at them. For some reason, he suddenly burst out laughing.
Shen Qiongzhi was immediately drawn to her and asked, "What are you laughing at, Sister Zhu Jing?"
Zhu Jing pursed her lips and shook her head, but the smile in her eyes did not diminish, as if she had recalled something interesting.
Shen Qiongzhi felt a strong urge to ask, but she was afraid that asking too many questions would affect Aunt Liu's carving, so she suppressed her curiosity.
Aunt Liu's skills were superb. In about an hour, she carved a life-sized stone statue of a small cat, so lifelike and vivid that it was almost identical to the black cat that Yun Tianjiao had transformed into.
Yun Tianjiao felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately jumped off the chair, only to be scooped up by Zhiwei and pulled into her arms.
Aunt Liu seemed quite satisfied with her work, lifting the cat statue up. "It's done! I can finally report back to Master Qiu. Everyone, please rest. I'll take my leave now!"
After Aunt Liu left, the female doctor also went out to attend to other matters, leaving only their own people in the room. Shen Qiongzhi, who had been holding back for a long time, finally spoke up and asked impatiently, "Zhu Jing, Zhu Jing, what were you laughing at just now? What was so funny? Tell me quickly."
Zhu Jing was slightly taken aback, then laughed, "How come you still remember?"
"Tell me quickly!" Shen Qiongzhi urged.
Zhu Jing looked at Zhiwei and Yun Tianjiao and said softly, "Actually, there's nothing fun about it. It just reminded me of the past. My sister wanted to nurture the spiritual energy of her little black leopard, so she made the black leopard do good deeds everywhere. The people who received the black leopard's kindness wanted to paint a portrait of the black leopard and erect a monument to worship it. The black leopard's expression at that time was just like my sister's, it also looked unwilling."
Yun Tianjiao was stunned for a moment, and the scene described by Zhu Jing appeared before his eyes.
"And another thing," Zhu Jing continued, her eyes shining, "the way my sister looked at the black panther back then and the way Zhiwei the Heavenly God looked at my sister just now seem exactly the same."
Yun Tianjiao subconsciously looked up at Zhiwei, just as Zhiwei was looking down at him. The two locked eyes for a moment, and Yun Tianjiao immediately looked away, pretending to have no reaction, but his face was actually burning hot.
Oh dear, at such a beautiful moment, how could there be a cat with a furry face like that? It's such a spoilsport!
She felt disgusted with herself, unaware that someone else was almost breathless with cuteness from its little expressions.
Yun Tianjiao longed to leave Ji'an Township almost every minute so he could regain his human form as soon as possible. However, Master Qiu earnestly advised them to stay until noon the next day, after the statue-erecting ceremony was over.
Unable to refuse their hospitality, the four had no choice but to postpone their trip the next day.
The stone statue of the Cat Immortal was chosen to be located at the main entrance of Ji'an Hall. The villagers of Ji'an Township gathered early in the morning, clearly taking the ceremony very seriously.
Amidst the crackling of firecrackers and the resounding of drums, a large red silk cloth was unveiled, revealing the majestic stone statue of the Cat Immortal. An altar was set up in front of the statue, and surprisingly, the first to gather around and kowtow were the village children.
"May the Cat God protect us and keep us safe and sound!" the children shouted in unison, their still-childish faces filled with solemnity.
Yun Tianjiao: "..."
It was so embarrassing, she couldn't bear to look at it.
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