“Is she angry?” When Junior Uncle asked this, Daoist Shuangjiang wanted to tell him that he was a proper Daoist who had never even glanced at passing young women. Moreover, from the Ancestral Master to the novice sweeping the temple entrance, none in their sect had married. He was particularly virtuous, viewing beauties as withered bones. So, he truly didn’t understand these matters of women’s hearts.
However, Junior Uncle’s authority was too great for Shuangjiang to speak directly. Besides, observing coldly from the side, he thought Junior Uncle looked pitifully confused and at a loss watching his wife run away. He could only reluctantly agree, “Maybe it’s because Junior Uncle used too much force when feeding her the talisman water.”
Mei Zhuyu: “Isn’t it because the talisman water tastes too bad?”
Shuangjiang thought calmly for a moment and gave an honest answer: “Based on my deduction, it shouldn’t be that. Talisman water always tastes like this.” There’s no such thing as tasting bad or not.
Mei Zhuyu cleaned up the broken porcelain pieces on the ground and wrapped the wound in his hand. He stood up and said, “You’ve had a long journey. Rest well. I’ll go find her and bring her back.”
Watching Junior Uncle’s departing figure, Daoist Shuangjiang suddenly felt a pang in his heart. Men become so pitiful after getting married. Indeed, being a Daoist is best. He would be a Daoist for life.
Since being force-fed talisman water and coughing up a bunch of hairballs, then angrily jumping out the window to run away from home, Cat Lord hadn’t appeared for two days. Mei Zhuyu had been searching outside for two days but to no avail. Unable to find her anywhere, Mei Zhuyu specifically went to inquire indirectly from people Wu Zhen knew, starting with his younger cousin, Mei Si.
“Ah, Sister Zhen? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Sister Zhen for several days. Isn’t she with you now, Elder Cousin?” Mei Si asked.
Mei Zhuyu could only nod to cover up, “Yes.”
Mei Si’s expression was a bit resentful, “You two have been staying at home recently and not coming out to play. Don’t you find it boring? It’s much better when we all play together.”
Mei Zhuyu casually found an excuse, “She’s not feeling well, resting at home.”
Mei Si: “Huh? Is Sister Zhen sick? Let me visit her.”
Mei Zhuyu refused: “No need, she’s just a bit tired and resting.”
Mei Si was stunned for a moment, and then his gaze on his elder cousin changed noticeably.
Mei Zhuyu: …?
He was puzzled, seeing his younger cousin slowly say with awe, “Sister Zhen’s stamina, even Huang Langjun and the others might not be able to match. To be able to tire Sister Zhen like this, Elder Cousin is truly a fine man.”
“However, Cousin, it’s better to be a bit more restrained. It wouldn’t be good if Sister Zhen falls ill from exhaustion.”
Mei Zhuyu finally understood his meaning, but he was at a loss for words. Because in reality, his wife had run away.
After inquiring from quite a few people without getting any news of Wu Zhen, Mei Zhuyu walked to the bustling East Market, frowning as he considered whether to enter the demon market to look. But he was hesitant. The demon market was a place guarded by Cat Lord and Snake Lord, and his identity as a Daoist made it inappropriate to rush in recklessly. If he caused any trouble, Wu Zhen would probably be even angrier.
But besides the demon market, he didn’t know where else to look for Wu Zhen.
As Mei Zhuyu was staring at the ward gate of the East Market, he suddenly heard a meow. Looking down, he found a tabby cat sitting at the base of the gate pillar.
Mei Zhuyu’s eyes lit up. He leaned over and asked softly, “Are you still angry?”
The tabby cat gave him a cold glance and turned its head away, only its tail swishing back and forth behind it.
Mei Zhuyu: “I made you drink the talisman water to expel the plague energy from your body. It’s better to suffer short pain than long pain. Otherwise, you would have endured much more torment.”
The tabby cat snorted through its nose. Mei Zhuyu tentatively reached out to pick it up, but the tabby cat retreated warily. Mei Zhuyu’s hand paused and withdrew.
“I’m worried about you being out here alone like this. Come back with me first, and you can go out again when you’ve recovered a bit, alright?”
The tabby cat still didn’t respond, but a strange voice came from behind Mei Zhuyu.
“Doctor Mei?”
Mei Zhuyu turned around and saw a middle-aged, tough-looking man carrying a lotus leaf package—Censor Liu. Censor Liu had come out to buy snow foam cake for his precious daughter and happened to pass by the ward gate, unexpectedly seeing the young man he quite admired crouching there muttering to a cat. So he called out curiously.
“Censor Liu.” Mei Zhuyu stood up.
Censor Liu looked at him, then at the crouching tabby cat, and suddenly reached out to the cat, saying, “Hua Nu, come here.”
The tabby cat immediately jumped obediently into Censor Liu’s arms, rubbing its head against his chest. Mei Zhuyu watched in surprise and asked, “This cat is…?”
Censor Liu, holding the dessert in one hand and the cat in the other, seemed a bit embarrassed to be seen like this. He stroked the cat’s head and said, “This is Hua Nu, my daughter’s cat.”
Mei Zhuyu watched the tabby cat being so affectionate in Censor Liu’s arms and wasn’t sure if it was Wu Zhen after all. He knew Wu Zhen kept a respectful distance from Censor Liu. Many tabby cats look alike, so perhaps this one wasn’t Wu Zhen.
Unable to recognize his wife, Mei Zhuyu had no idea what to do.
Censor Liu seemed to be in a good mood today. Seeing that Mei Zhuyu didn’t seem to have any urgent business, he invited him to his home for a chat. Mei Zhuyu, still uncertain about the identity of this tabby cat, agreed and followed Censor Liu to the Liu family residence.
Censor Liu was an upright official, but his late wife had been wealthy, leaving him and their daughter many fields, properties, and shops. Their residence was well-located with a nice view.
But Mei Zhuyu was shocked as soon as he entered the Liu residence because when he followed Censor Liu into the house, he saw another tabby cat that looked just like Wu Zhen jumps out, caught by Censor Liu.
Staring at the two identical tabby cats in Censor Liu’s arms, Mei Zhuyu asked, “…Two?”
Censor Liu, seeing his strange expression, thought Doctor Mei also liked cats, so he introduced them with some pride: “This one is called Li Nu, Hua Nu’s brother. They’re both my daughter’s pets, raised for several years now, very obedient and well-behaved.”
Mei Zhuyu gazed at the two innocent little cats for a moment, then sighed softly: “…” It seems they weren’t Wu Zhen.
Mei Zhuyu left the Liu residence disappointed. Liu Taizhen stood behind a flowering tree watching Mei Zhuyu leave, then turned and went back to her room. She sat on the edge of the bed and poked at a small lump under the covers.
“Your husband looks like he’s about to die of anxiety.”
The small lump moved a bit, then quickly went still again. Liu Taizhen reached out to pull back the covers, revealing a furball inside. This was also a tabby cat, but it looked like a small kitten. The kitten had its eyes half-closed, sleeping soundly.
Liu Taizhen reached out to rub the kitten’s head, “Your husband couldn’t recognize you before, and now that you look like this, he definitely won’t recognize you.”
On the third day of Cat Lord’s running away from home, Mei Zhuyu still hadn’t found her. This was Chang’an, her territory. Mei Zhuyu knew she wouldn’t come to harm; she wasn’t appearing simply because she didn’t want to see him. So after waiting another night at home, he stopped running all over Chang’an looking for tabby cats and resumed his duties.
That afternoon, on his way home from work, he saw another tabby cat sunbathing on someone’s wall. Mei Zhuyu stood hesitating at the base of the wall for a while, then reached out and said, “Is it you?”
The tabby cat licked his finger, and Mei Zhuyu’s eyes brightened. He reached out to lift it down from the wall, but before he could say anything more, another identical tabby cat sauntered along the top of the wall.
This tabby cat held its chin high, moving with elegance, walking in a straight line and looking down on the world, finally stopping in front of Mei Zhuyu and meeting his gaze.
Mei Zhuyu: “…”
Mei Zhuyu had never felt so at a loss before. What made him even more unsure of what to do was that the two tabby cats started fighting right in front of him. Mei Zhuyu had no choice but to hold one in each arm to stop them from clawing at each other.
“Doctor Mei.” A woman with a pale complexion and calm expression interrupted Mei Zhuyu’s thoughts.
Mei Zhuyu looked at the newcomer. They were separated by about ten feet, with a pomegranate tree from someone’s courtyard reaching over the wall, casting a shadow between them.
Liu Taizhen and Mei Zhuyu gazed at each other for a moment before she said, “Excuse my rudeness, we haven’t been formally introduced. I am Liu Taizhen, Censor Liu’s daughter, and also Snake Lord of the demon market.”
The surprise in Mei Zhuyu’s eyes lasted only a moment before he quickly regained his composure. He nodded to Liu Taizhen, then asked with a hint of hope in his eyes, “Snake Lord and Cat Lord jointly guard Chang’an, so you must be close friends. Do you know Cat Lord’s whereabouts?”
Before Liu Taizhen could speak, she felt movement in her sleeve. She lowered her eyes and pressed on her cuff, then pointed at the two cats with retracted claws in Mei Zhuyu’s arms and said, “These are two cats I raise.”
So these were the two tabby cats he had seen at the Liu residence yesterday, still not Wu Zhen. Mei Zhuyu released them, letting them jump down and rub against Liu Taizhen’s skirt.
Liu Taizhen felt the creature in her sleeve moving vigorously. Her face twitched slightly, and she finally raised her hand to take it out.
Mei Zhuyu saw her pull a kitten out of her sleeve, and somehow his gaze became fixed on it. Before Liu Taizhen could speak, he suddenly stepped forward two paces and asked, “Is that Wu Zhen?”
Liu Taizhen paused, then suddenly smiled and casually handed the kitten to him, saying, “It’s her. I forgot to tell you, Wu Zhen is different from ordinary natural demons, and not like me, a half-demon. She’s quite special. There are many things she can’t eat carelessly. The talisman water you gave her earlier contained too much pure spiritual energy. Although it expelled the plague energy from her body, it also turned her into this state.”
Mei Zhuyu took the kitten, which seemed very sleepy with its eyes half-closed. Hearing this, he showed some remorse and tenderness, checking if the kitten was still unwell anywhere.
Liu Taizhen originally had more to say, but seeing him like this, she swallowed her words. Finally, she picked up the two large cats at her feet and left Mei Zhuyu with a very meaningful parting remark.
“Doctor Mei, Wu Zhen was extremely mischievous as a child, you could say disliked by all. Take good care of yourself.”
Mei Zhuyu didn’t understand what she meant by these words and was about to ask more, but she had already left. With no other choice, Mei Zhuyu could only carry the kitten in his hands back home.
That night, he finally understood the meaning of Liu Taizhen’s words. Wu Zhen changed back from a cat to a human form—from a kitten to a little girl about seven years old.