There were towering old trees everywhere on Luoying Mountain, the entire mountain was shrouded in darkness and dampness. As a nocturnal creature, this was a rare and perfect home for cats.
But, this was not my home.
Jumping off the crow's wings, I lay on the ground, sniffing left and right, but I could not smell any familiarity in the air. I sadly glanced back and called a few times.
Bull Devil and Luo Sha glimpsed at me. The crow turned back into Yin Zi, he smiled at me and said, "Get up, we're home."
This wasn't my home.
I sat on the ground, shaking my head and was unwilling to get up, he forcibly grabbed my hand, wanting to drag me.
"No!" I fiercely flung Yin Zi away, hitting a tree not far away. This caused the tree and the surrounding area to sway and shake.
The leaves fell like rain. He wiped the blood from his mouth, struggled to stand up, and once again, came to me and grabbed my arm saying, "Stand up!"
I raised my head to look at Yin Zi's gem like black eyes, his eyes full of sadness, I didn't know why such a sad memory suddenly pierced through my brain, so I slowly stood up.
"Good, good, just like that." Bull Devil said, wanting to help me up by my other hand, was suddenly stared at by Luo Sha, and immediately retracted.
Yin Zi finally smiled, and escorted me, step by step, I followed his pace and also tried to walk on two feet. I did not find it as bad as I thought it would be, it was very very comfortable.
I soon began to gallop, occasionally leaping over tree trunks, skipping over streams, and Yin Zi opened up his wings from behind to keep up with my speed.
All of a sudden, the strong scent of a wild beast stopped my pace, a one-eyed tiger jumped out, and stood in front of me. It was dripping with saliva, and its eyes were filled with anger, power and a murderous aura.
"Meow!" I frighteningly cried, retreating to Yin Zi's rear, "There…..there's a tiger, kill…..kill it!"
"King please have mercy!" The tiger suddenly knelt down and spits out, "This little one has come late and neglected his duty, please have mercy and spare my life."
I didn't understand the words he was saying, so I grabbed Yin Zi's collar and told him, "Tiger! Tiger! Quickly kill him!"
The tiger kneeling on the ground kept kowtowing* and shouting, "King, please have mercy! King, please have mercy!"
*[TN]: To kneel and touch the ground with the forehead in worship or submission as part of Chinese custom.
The shouting from the two of us became louder and louder, and I grabbed Yin Zi by his neck, and left him simply speechless.
Fortunately, Bull Devil arrived to inform, "What are you guys doing?"
I quickly let go of Yin Zi and threw him to one side and shouted, "There's a tiger! Gege help me!"
The bull devil did not react, Luo Sha shoved through him and gently held me, "Don't worry sister, this tiger is very good, very obedient, if you do not believe me then play roll with him."
I look down at his earnest eyes, walking towards the tiger I doubtfully said, "Sit!"
The tiger obediently sat down.
I recalled in the past watching puppies in training, so I commanded, "Lie down, roll, play dead, and don't move."
This tiger was much more behaved and obedient than any dog, obeying all my commands and lying still.
"Fun! Fun!" I clapped my hands and wanted to play some more, but Yin Zi led me into to a hidden cave, saying that I can play later.
I reluctantly looked back and caught a glimpse of the tiger, he looked at me pitifully, maintaining his position not daring to move.
Entering the cave, I looked around, the inside was covered with soft fur cushions and looked very comfortable, but before I was able to roll around, Luo Sha took me to a nearby room to get dressed. I changed into some silky clothes that were very soft, and very light, wearing it and not wearing it made not much of a difference, I was very satisfied. But the most satisfying thing was that there was a hole for my tail, enabling me to swing it freely back and forth.
Then Yin Zi and bull devil began to teach me ideology and moral class, every time I listened to them, I yawned. They purposely didn't let me sleep, and only when Luo Sha brought me cooked carp did I get to break from this dreary state.
Unfortunately, when I got down to bite the fish, they began to teach dinner etiquette…..
Really annoying.
These loathing classes lasted three full days, I have many times beat Yin Zi flying, too many times making Bull Devil go mad. I insisted many times that Luo Sha should put down the fish first. The tiger seemed to be even more unlucky, he maintained his position at the door, laying their motionless for three whole days, and when I thought of him, he must be at the point of starvation.
These three days, Yin Zi and the others have taught me only one sentence to say when I faced that huge elephant, "Although I appreciate your offer, this marriage is not too suitable, please let me have some time to reconsider."
In these few days, I have uttered this phrase over a thousand times, casting an unforgivable shadow.
Horrible.
When the day finally came for me to face him, Luo Sha helped me get dress properly, and then I was taken to a valley on Luoying Mountain.
Before we embark, I remember that I had once seen elephants on the television, it appeared as though they weren't that much bigger than a cat.
But when I actually saw him, I found that I was terribly wrong.
The head of this giant white elephant was as high as the mountains, covering the sky and sun, and when he took a step, the earth trembled. His roar was loud enough to clear the sky of clouds for 9 days, I had to raise my head very high to see his eyes.
Soaring down from the sky, a giant mythical bird made its descent to the side of the elephant, these two animals occupied the whole valley, as well as a single horned rhino coming from behind.
Myself and the others stood in a little corner looking at their demeanor.
Don't bite…..I felt disheartened and lowered my ears, sadly looking at the behemoth in front of me, not knowing where to begin.
As the Elephant Devil began to speak, his voice was a little shy, but very loud and very clear, and it shook my ears.
He said, "Miao, Miao, I love you."
The two words in front I know of, even though many people have called me many different names, from king to boss to sister to righteous sister to stupid cat to cat devil to cat beauty and etc. But Miao Miao appeared much more frequent and often, so I understood the fact that I was being summoned.
But what did the three words in the back mean? I glanced back at Yin Zi to ask for help.
Yin Zi was winking at me rapidly and his face almost cramped, I remembered that this was the signal for my lines.
Before I could speak, the Elephant Devil spoke again, "To see Miao Miao in my original form seems to be wrong, I will change into my human form."
After he finished speaking, smoke enveloped his body, and a tall man with short white hair appeared. He was even taller than bull devil. His skin was pale, and he had a large but elegant-like physique, he wore a silver lock, an iron waistband and had a golden sledge-hammer. On his head were two long feathers, like that of a scholar.
The Great Bird Devil also changed into the form of a thin man with high cheekbones, thin lips, a hawk nose, and a very sharp pair of golden eyes, as if he could see through everything. Dressed in plain clothes with a pair of iron claws on his waist, concealing his spirit.
The Horned Rhino Devil finally managed to squeeze in, he also changed into human form. He appeared as a little fat, small eyed, weaponless man. He laughed a little, and he looked to be very kind and polite.
The Elephant Devil stepped forward towards me, and timidly took out a piece of paper and handed it to me, "Miss Miao Miao, I wrote a love letter for you."
I looked at Yin Zi again, he quickly replied in my stead, "She is illiterate, you read it."
The Elephant Devil's face was slightly red, he opened the piece of paper slowly and nervously read aloud, "Brilliantly adorned turtles, warm flower and donkey brew, shrimp rolls, fish head soup, dried flatfish, steamed snapper, drunken*...…."
*[TN]: These are all food items/recipes lol.
My eyes opened wide with every word that came out, my saliva started to drip, I greedily wanted to pounce…..
I didn't expect that bastard bird devil to suddenly come up and interrupt these delicious words. He tugged at the Elephant Devil and whispered, "You took the wrong piece of paper, this is a recipe I copied to cook….."
All around were sounds of laughter, the Elephant Devil looked more nervous, he quickly pulled out another piece of paper, blushed, and began reading, "Has dead wild elk, cogongrass package; women in love, the fine gentlemen tempts….."
This time I could not understand him completely…..seeing him shake his head in a daze, the sun made my whole body warm. I couldn't wait to lie down on the ground and sleep.
I yawned loudly, my tail swinging, I found two feathers on the top of his head swaying. All of a sudden to the east and then all of a sudden towards the west, just like how owner plays with me, and my eyes routinely started moving along with the feathers.
Left-right, left-right, left-right…..my heart itched uncontrollably, my nails elongated, intently waiting for a moment when the feathers would come to a halt.
When the hypnosis stops, I immediately pounced towards the plume with great force, scaring the Elephant Devil into rolling aside to escape my claws.
The Great Bird Devil beside us angrily said, "You stinky old trout of a woman, even if you don't want to marry, you don't need to kill my brother! Die!"
Behind, Yin Zi and Bull Devil let out a long sigh.
I continued to happily chase the Elephant Devil's feathers, going round and round in circles.