Mei Zhuyu sat on the edge of the bed, cradling a tabby cat in his arms. He stared blankly for a moment, and only when his hand touched the warm, soft fur did he fully comprehend that Wu Zhen was indeed the tabby cat he had often seen.
For some unknown reason, Wu Zhen, after transforming into a cat, had no trace of a supernatural aura. She looked just like an ordinary cat, which was why Mei Zhuyu hadn’t paid much attention before. But now that he knew, he couldn’t help but recall his previous encounters with the tabby cat.
First, he suddenly understood the mystery of finding Wu Zhen’s clothes under the bed. This question had puzzled him for a long time, and now that he realized the truth, the previously unclear memories of the tabby cat’s appearance and actions became vivid.
Mei Zhuyu remembered seeing the tabby cat many times at home and in his office. The earliest memory he could trace was before their marriage was arranged when he saw the tabby cat on a branch of the parasol tree outside his office. The tree was in bloom then, and as he turned his head, he saw a tabby cat weighing down a flower-laden branch.
She had examined him with a strange, curious gaze. Later, when he went out, she jumped onto his desk and accidentally stepped in some ink, leaving black paw prints on a discarded piece of paper. He had to use the water he brought back for drinking to wash her paw instead. At that time, he only thought that the cat’s eyes seemed unusually intelligent, and when he saw her looking at her black paw with disgust, he somehow felt compelled to help.
Thinking of this, Mei Zhuyu unconsciously squeezed one of the front paws of the tabby cat in his arms – the very paw that had stepped in ink back then.
Wu Zhen, who had been resting with her eyes closed and controlling the chaotic plague energy within her, felt the subtle movement on her paw. She suddenly chuckled softly and said, “I suddenly remembered the first time I went to see you.”
“My father said someone dared to marry me, and I wondered which foolhardy young man was so brave. Out of curiosity, I secretly transformed into this form to take a look at you.”
At that time, she didn’t care much about the marriage arrangement and went to see him purely out of boredom. But later, when the young man washed her paw and lifted his sleeve for her to wipe it, Wu Zhen suddenly found this young man quite interesting, and only then did she develop a slight desire to get closer to him.
“I’m sorry,” Mei Zhuyu suddenly said.
Wu Zhen heard this and asked curiously, “Why are you suddenly apologizing to me?”
Mei Zhuyu held her furry paw and said, “I didn’t know it was you. I neglected you.” He remembered two occasions when the cat tried to curl up in his arms to sleep, but he had put her aside. She had then run away, seemingly disappointed. If it had been an ordinary cat, he wouldn’t have cared, but once he realized it was Wu Zhen, Mei Zhuyu felt he had done wrong.
He didn’t explain clearly, but Wu Zhen understood his thoughts. She laughed and lazily kneaded his palm with her paw. “Isn’t your loss even greater, missing the chance to be intimate with your wife? Why are you apologizing to me now?”
Mei Zhuyu was stunned for a moment, suddenly feeling that what she said made a lot of sense. He began to feel that he had missed a great opportunity and wasted precious time. He couldn’t help but hold the cat in his arms a little tighter.
He wasn’t particularly fond of cats. Many nobles in Chang’an loved to keep pets, especially cats, but he never had such an interest. Now, looking at Wu Zhen in her cat form, he suddenly found cats uniquely adorable in his eyes.
She felt soft and fluffy to the touch, with smooth fur. Small and soft, quite different from Wu Zhen’s usual self.
Feeling the gentle strokes on her back, Wu Zhen simply turned over, exposing her belly. “Help me rub my stomach. It’s full of plague energy and feels uncomfortable.”
Mei Zhuyu looked at the soft white fur on her belly, reached out to touch it, and then touched it again. Wu Zhen’s belly was swollen as if she had overeaten, but he could feel the chaotic plague energy inside. She had absorbed too much of it and was in great discomfort. Although her tone was relaxed and casual, showing no signs of distress, Mei Zhuyu understood as soon as he explored her belly with his hand that Wu Zhen was enduring tremendous pain at the moment.
Mei Zhuyu had no other thoughts now and carefully massaged her belly for a while. After pondering for a moment, he came up with a plan.
Wu Zhen was enjoying the stomach rub when she felt him suddenly put her down and walk out of the room. She only heard him call for Shuangjian, and they spoke quietly for a while. Soon, he returned with several wooden pieces in his hand.
Seeing him head towards the study, Wu Zhen lifted a paw and called out, “My lord—”
Mei Zhuyu turned back, picked her up, and carried her to the study. In his arms, Wu Zhen opened one eye to see what he was preparing to do.
He had injured his hand earlier to subdue the Plague God. Although it was already bandaged, he now tore off the bandage and squeezed the wound that hadn’t begun to heal, letting some blood drip into a jade dish. He then mixed cinnabar with the blood. After mixing the blood and cinnabar, he laid out the wooden pieces he had gotten from Shuangjian.
Wu Zhen could see now that they were all peach wood, though their colors varied slightly due to different ages and origins. Mei Zhuyu picked up each piece and examined it carefully, finally choosing the smallest and darkest one.
After making his selection, he soaked the peach wood piece in the blood and cinnabar mixture, then began to carve a talisman with his blood-stained hand. As he did this, Wu Zhen watched silently.
Her husband was a Daoist priest. Wu Zhen realized this once again as she observed his skilled and natural movements. His talisman carving was efficient and precise. Wu Zhen could even feel a burst of spiritual energy with each stroke he made on the peach wood talisman. His gestures and demeanor were different from when he usually handled documents in the Ministry of Justice.
He looks so handsome, Wu Zhen thought leisurely as she watched him meticulously complete the talisman. When it was finished, a flash of light appeared, and all the blood and cinnabar in the small dish was absorbed, making the peach wood piece appear much darker in color.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Mei Zhuyu said “Come in,” and Daoist Shuangjian entered with a bowl of water, placing it beside Mei Zhuyu’s desk. “Junior Uncle, the rootless rainwater is ready.”
It had started raining outside. After being overcast all day, it had finally begun to rain. After this rain, there should be a few days of clear weather. Wu Zhen thought distractedly, noticing Daoist Shuangjian’s eyes constantly darting towards the peach wood piece in Mei Zhuyu’s hand.
He seemed to try to hold back but couldn’t resist asking, “Junior Uncle, are you planning to make a peach wood sword? Isn’t this piece of wood too small?”
Mei Zhuyu replied, “No.” Then he held the peach wood piece between two fingers, muttered a few words, and the wood suddenly burst into flames. He then threw it into the bowl of rootless water.
The burning wood didn’t extinguish upon entering the water but continued to burn quietly until it was completely consumed.
Daoist Shuangjian’s expression changed as soon as the wood piece started burning. First, he was stunned, then he looked pained, and finally, as he watched the wood burn completely, he seemed unable to bear the sight. His gaze shifted to the side, his expression like someone watching a treasure being wasted but unable to stop it, struggling to suppress his distress.
Mei Zhuyu didn’t look at him but seemed to have eyes on the top of his head, seeing Shuangjian’s expression. He swirled the bowl of water and said, “Don’t be lazy. Practice diligently, and eventually, you’ll be able to draw an evil-repelling talisman with fresh peach wood too.”
Shuangjian thought to himself: Maybe in thirty years I might be able to draw one.
Seeing Daoist Shuangjian’s compliance, Wu Zhen curiously looked at him a few more times. Shuangjian was usually quite arrogant, but now he seemed so docile, his typical haughty demeanor nowhere to be seen. Wu Zhen sensed that he seemed somewhat afraid of her husband, which she found quite strange.
In her view, although her husband couldn’t be called gentle, he was easy to get along with. Why be afraid of him? It didn’t make sense.
As she was pondering this, a bowl of black water appeared before her eyes – the rootless water in which Mei Zhuyu had burned the talisman.
“Drink this. It will make you feel better,” Mei Zhuyu brought the bowl close to Wu Zhen’s cat head.
Wu Zhen had watched him prepare this concoction, and although she didn’t quite believe in it, considering that her young lord had shed blood for it, she decided to give it a try and licked it once. In that instant, a bitter taste filled her entire mouth. The taste was indescribable and unswallowable.
Wu Zhen had swallowed the Plague God’s miasma, and although it was extremely uncomfortable, it wouldn’t kill her. After a while, when the plague energy in her stomach was digested, she would be fine. She was used to swallowing these things recklessly, and even if it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t the first or second time. To her, drinking this concoction was worse than suffering for a year or two.
Wu Zhen mentally apologized and was about to run away when Mei Zhuyu, sensing her intention, grabbed her.
“Don’t be afraid, it will be better soon,” Mei Zhuyu’s voice was low and gentle, but his actions were not so gentle. His strength was great, and Wu Zhen, now a defenseless cat, suffered the fate of being force-fed the talisman water. By the time her husband had poured the entire bowl of black liquid into her stomach, she had lost half of her cat life, lying like a lifeless cat pancake in Mei Zhuyu’s hands.
Putting down the bowl, Mei Zhuyu gently stroked her head to comfort her. “It’s alright.”
It’s not right at all! If it wasn’t her husband, Wu Zhen would have cursed out loud.
She only felt bitterness in her mouth, and the tearing pain in her stomach gradually subsided, but something inside began to squirm.
The tabby cat irritably scratched her claws, then opened her mouth and made a retching sound. As she continued to retch, black fuzzy balls were vomited out of her mouth. These balls were the plague energy absorbed by the talisman water in her stomach, formed into fur balls. Wu Zhen vomited out a small pile of black fur balls, and her swollen belly visibly deflated.
The sleeve of Mei Zhuyu’s robe was scratched fuzzy by the cat’s claws and even had a hole torn in it. But he didn’t mind, his eyes fixed on the tabby cat, occasionally feeling her belly. As he noticed the plague energy slowly being expelled, he also relaxed a bit.
However, after vomiting the fur balls, the tabby cat’s fur stood on end. She jumped onto the desk, smashed the bowl to the ground, and then leaped out the window and ran away.
Mei Zhuyu: …?
“… Madam?”
Mei Zhuyu looked at the window, then turned to look at Shuangjian, his expression somewhat bewildered. “What happened?”
Shuangjian, who had witnessed his Junior Uncle’s cat abuse scene, pointed at the tuft of cat fur between Mei Zhuyu’s fingers. Earlier, to force the cat to drink the talisman water, his immensely strong Junior Uncle had nearly pulled the fur off the cat’s head.
However, Mei Zhuyu was completely unaware. Upon noticing the fur in his hand, he was very surprised and worried, furrowing his brow, “Why is her fur falling out? Could it be caused by the plague energy?”
Shuangjian thought: No, Junior Uncle, you caused it.