Xia Rong felt (that if that were the case)1, he would be embarrassed . But at least 90% of the responsibility belonged to what Su Chi had just saidâ What âIf you want to change back quickly, Iâm afraid, as intimate as you can manage⌠Is how intimate we need to beâ? It would be difficult for any normal adult to not think askew, right?!
However, Xia Rong then immediately realized that his thoughts really were off-center . After all, given their current forms, whether it was to have the cat come onto the person or for the person to come onto the cat, both would be too deranged and perverse! Humans and cats both walk a different path; let alone an adult human male and an unsterilized male cat, their paths were even further apart!
âŚWait . He was a male cat now, right?
Xia Rong hurriedly sat down on the top of the camera, spread open his two cat legs, and lowered his head to confirmâ great, the eggs were still there!
Having been anxious to see whether his eggs still existed, Xia Rong had, for the moment, forgotten that there was still an onlooker to the side . And it wasnât until he heard the light laughter from above his head that his face suddenly became hot . Because the spot he was sitting on was too cramped to move around, he could only lean his body forward and place his two fluffy arms in front of him to hurriedly block the scenery between his legs .
âWhatâs so good about cat eggs? Itâs not like I donât have any,â Su Chi laughed and taunted when suddenly his attention shifted to Xia Rongâs ear . Su Chi gently touched it with his fingertips, âWhy is there a piece missing from your ear here?â
âHm?â Xia Rong flicked his ears .
âA small piece is missing . â Su Chiâs expression became serious . âWhy do you think this is? Is the transformation based on the person themself or, as you mentioned before, that it is possible we are changing places with a real cat?â
âWhatâs the missing shape like?â Xia Rong also became curious, and as if he had thought of something, he stretched out his âhandâ to touch his ears . However, the catâs paw pad was round and soft, so given that he wasnât used to the form yet, he couldnât feel anything at all . Soon, he became discouraged . âForget it, there are also no mirrors here . We can talk about it later . Right now, we should hurry up, erâŚâ
After a rare stutter, he finally continued, âThen, that⌠What kind of intimate?â
âBased on my own experienceâŚâ Su Chi was really mindful in making use of the time, even having the mind to pet Xia Rongâs fluffy back during the interval of his âexplanationâ . âSkin contact has the most common effect, but the larger the area of the contact, the larger the effect will be . Next, there is the contact of bodily fluids, which should go both-ways⌠At present, Iâve only tried it with saliva . Compared with skin contact, the effect was almost a geometric increase2 . According to this idea, the best effect should be exchanging saliva or, directly, of bodily fluids . Although I have not tried it and it is still in the conjecturing stageâ Theoretically and logically, I personally think this would be the case . â
Su Chiâs narration was clear, concise, and orderly, completely as if he was giving a presentation at some academic conference⌠However, Xia Rong still managed to catch onto the main point that flashed by . ââŚWait a minute . At what time did you try saliva?â
Su Chi: ââŚâ
Su Chi felt choked for a moment and then smoothly answered, âWhat do you mean âat what timeâ? It goes without saying that Iâve licked you many times already . Like this . â Su Chi stretched out his hand and placed his fingertips next to Xia Rongâs cat mouth . This helped Xia Rong remember that Su Chi really had licked his fingers many times when the latter was in his cat form . At that time, he didnât think it was strange at all .  Where was the problem in letting a cat lick a few times?
But in the final analysis, the reason why Xia Rong would think askance all the way to somewhere unknown at the thought of âsaliva contact,â wasnât that just because of Su Chiâs âintimacy theoryâ!?
Having successfully shaken off the pot in his heart, Xia Rong also tried his best to return to his normal tone, âOh, oh⌠So it was like that? Then saliva exchange is what, kissing? If we donât kiss, instead if I spit some saliva and you spit some, then mix them together⌠Would that work?ââThat wouldnât be considered exchanging saliva . That would be called polluting the environment . â Su Chi couldnât help but laugh . âIf you want to do it like this, that can also be done . Then either I swallow your saliva or you can swallow my saliva . But I have to mention in advance, I have slight mysophobia . So unless it was under special circumstances, I wonât swallow your saliva . â
âŚSo disgusting! Xia Rong thought about it from another angle and immediately felt disgusted just from his imagination . Sure enough, it was still best to give up this plan!
Due to Xia Rongâs straightforward focus on his pondering, he did not notice the meaning behind Su Chiâs âunder special circumstancesâ, the deep implication that was hidden inside .
âTime is also pressing . We should hurry up . â Su Chi took out the moist towelette that he had asked a staff member for just now and wiped his hands . Then with all seriousness, he stretched the hand out for Xia Rong . âAt this moment, neither saliva nor bodily fluid exchange would be realistic . Itâs also not very convenient for me to do it with so much fluff on your body . With efficiency being paramount, letâs start now . â
After much deliberation, it really seemed that this was the only solution!
Just like this, the orange cat version of Xia Rong opened his mouth . Without quite knowing what he was doing, he held a finger of the two-legged beast in front of him and started to foolishly lick it .
By the time that about half of Su Chiâs finger was licked âtil it was rather damp, Xia Rong felt that his mouth was a bit dryâŚ
That was strange, why was it that while Su Chi had licked his fingers so many times before, he could still be so frank about it and not feel anything at all⌠Yet now that it was his turn, he felt that his head was emitting smoke while his face was also burning? Fortunately, the fur on his face was rather thick now that he was a cat and it couldnât be seen whether or not he was blushing .
Right! It must be because of how he was holding Su Chiâs finger and how his posture was as he was puffing and licking up and down! Something like this was just too easy for othersâ imagination to run wild!
In his heart, Xia Rong had tears streaming down his face as he prayed⌠Hurry up and take effect, quickly let me change back to human form⌠And let this shame play end soon!Su Chi had been particularly quiet since he contributed his fingers and just allowed the little orange cat to hold it and lick lick lick . And only a while later did he raise his other hand to open Xia Rongâs mouth and feel his teeth with his fingertips .
Xia Rong was about to turn his head when he heard the other say, âJudging from the degree of wear on your lower incisors, your body should be between one and a half years to two years old . Strange, itâs almost the same as the degree of wear of my own⌠Could it be that the two cats we changed into were actually related? Siblings from the same litterâŚ3?â
Xia Rong finally got the opportunity to express some scorn towards Su Chi, so while the otherâs fingertip was still in his mouth, he didnât resist and muffledly ridiculed, âA silver gradient British Shorthair and a common Chinese orange cat in the same litter? Are you stupid4?â
Su Chi looked completely serious . âIt could be that weâre just not familiar with cat breeds enough . Youâre also not completely orange, but a light orange with some milky white . Maybe, youâre a cream Scottish folded-ear with some white? Japanese shorthair? A rather poor-looking British shorthairâŚ?â
That last sentence successfully provoked Xia Rong to puff his fur up, and a paw slapped straight onto Su Chiâs hand . âScram! Laoziâs handsomeness can break the heavens, okay5!?â
âŚAlthough he currently had no way to see what he looked like after the transformation, Xia Rong still firmly believed that even after he became a cat, he was still the most handsome and flashiest one among the cats!
Su Chi laughed in spite of himself and kneaded Xia Rongâs paw pad . âIâm sorry, Iâm not saying youâre not good-looking, just that you donât quite look like a British shorthair⌠For now, letâs disregard discussing whether theyâre from the same litter or if theyâre brothers6 . I still feel that there must be some connection between the two cats that weâve transformed into . Otherwise, I wouldnât happen to be able to sense only you out of everyone after changing into a cat . Moreover, only we can understand each otherâs words as cats . This should have also been some kind of hint towards the requirement of intimate contact . â
âI have a conjecture . â He pondered for a moment then continued, âI think when we are engaged in intimate contact, we are actually absorbing, or replenishing, some sort of energy? As for why different types of contact would yield different effects, that is because the energy is in the other personâs body . So the closer the contact was with the body, the greater the energy concentration that gets taken in would be . So in this way, the effect of skin contact would be less than saliva contact, while bodily fluid contact would be less than bodily fluid exchange⌠And once there is sufficient accumulated energy, it would allow us to shift between a catâs body and a humanâs . This, probably, would be because a catâs body consumes less energy than a human body, so it was more difficult to change from a cat to a human?â
He said up to here, then suddenly paused before continuing, âIf that was the case, will the effect of blood also be very significant? How about IâŚâ
Xia Rong found that Su Chi was really astoundingly proactive . While his mouth had just said âhow aboutâŚâ, he had already decisively pulled out the fingertip that was gnawed until wet by Xia Rong and was about to deliver it to his mouthâ Wasnât this the action of bloodsetting without a hint of hesitation right as he thought of it!?Xia Rong hurriedly kept hold of Su Chi and used his two paws to firmly cling onto his finger . âStop causing trouble! I wonât drink your blood! Donât you move!â
Su Chi lowered his eyes to look at him, as if to confirm whether Xia Rong felt disdain or distressed . A moment later, he softly sighed and returned his finger to the little orange catâs mouth . ââŚUp to you . â
Xia Rong had actually understood the implications of Su Chiâs conjecture . But now, he just skillfully continued to suck on Su Chiâs finger as he analyzed, âDo you think that this could be like that common setting in novels and anime where when certain people overexert themselves, then in order to conserve the remaining energy, they would turn smaller or revert to a younger body?â He looked at the loose robe with broad sleeves that Su Chi was wearing, and soon recalled a similar wuxia character . ââJust like Tianshan Tonglao7, but while she becomes a little girl, we become cats?â
Although he said it himself, very soon, Xia Rong couldnât help but doubt himself and muttered, ââŚBut Tianshan Tonglao practiced a godly technique that allowed her to revert back to a child, while we havenât? Er⌠You havenât, right? â
Su Chi bemusedly pinched his chubby cat face . âHow could I have . Forget it, letâs not get into why it happened and just focus on how to solve it first . That jade pendant that Yu Lao gave could be a clue, we can try and test him later or we can also find another expert . Another clue is the two cats that we have changed into and how they are related to each other . Maybe we can find a way to stabilize the transformation between cat and human by confirming their relationship . â
âMy father also knows a lot of masters and people like that, we can try and ask them first . â Perhaps Yu Laoâs âmiraculousâ performance had left a shadow on Xia Rongâs heart, but either way, he didnât really want to explore that first clue . Instead, he dedicated more attention to the second clue . âThere are only those few kinds of relationships that require intimacy . If theyâre not family, then they are probably lovers? What do you think, these two cats are similar in age but arenât twins or brothers8, then it is highly likely that they are childhood friends who areâŚ9 Ah, no, arenât they two male cats?â
âWhatâs wrong with being male cats?â Su Chi had an expression where he wanted to put on a smile but couldnât smile, âWhat were you saying? âChildhood friends who areâ what?â
ââŚGay?â Xia Rong still felt that it was a little unbelievable . âCats can also be gay? They canât, right? The one youâve changed into was so beautiful, wasnât mine too plain-looking?â
âWho said you are plain-looking?â Su Chiâs eyes slightly curved, and the early summer warm wind blew in from outside the heavy curtain, lifting up the light gauze .
A gentle kiss, like how a dragonfly would skim across the waterâs surface, fell on the top of Xia Rongâs head .