There were towering old trees everywhere on Luòyīng Mountain, the entire mountain was shrouded in darkness and dampness, as a nocturnal creature, this is a rare and perfect home for cats.
But, this is not my home.
Jumping off the crow’s wings, I lay on the ground, sniffing left and right, but I do not smell any familiarity in the air, I sadly look back and called a few times.
Bull devil and Luo Sha glimpse at me, the crow becomes Yin Zi, and he smiles at me and says, “Get up, we’re home.”
This is not my home.
I sat on the ground, shaking my head unwilling to get up, he forcibly grabs my hand and wants to drag me.
“No!” I fiercely fling 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 raise my head to look at Yin Zi’s gem like black eyes, his eyes full of sadness, I do not know why a sad memory pierces 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, but 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 stops my pace, a one-eyed tiger jumps out, standing in front of me, dripping with saliva, and eyes 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 did not understand what 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!”
*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 gets louder and louder, and I grabbed Yin Zi by his neck, and left him simply speechless.
Fortunately bull devil arrives and shouts, “What are you guys doing?”
I quickly release Yin Zi and throw him to one side and called, “There’s a tiger! Gēgē 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 remember watching puppies training, so I commanded, “Lie down, roll, play dead, and don’t move.”
This tiger is much more behaved and obedient than any other 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 look back and catch a glimpse of tiger, he looked at me pitifully, maintaining the 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 takes me to a nearby room to get dressed. I change 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 swing it back and forth.
Then Yin Zi and bull devil began to teach me ideology and moral cla.s.s, every time I hear it I yawn, they purposely don’t let me sleep, only when Luo Sha brings the cooked carp do I break out of this dreary state.
Unfortunately, when I get down to bite the fish, they began to teach dinner etiquette…..
Really annoying.
These loathing cla.s.ses lasted three full days, I have many times beat Yin Zi flying, too many times making bull devil go mad, and I insisted many times that Luo Sha should put down the fish. The tiger seems to be even more unlucky, he maintains his position at the door, laying their motionless for three whole days, and when I think 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 face that huge elephant, “Although I appreciate your offer, this marriage is not to 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 helps me dress properly, and then I was taken to a valley on Luòyīng Mountain.
Before we embark, I remember that I had once seen elephants on the television, it seems they aren’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 mountain, covering the sky and sun, and when he took a step, the earth trembled. His roar is loud enough to clear the sky of clouds for 9 days, I have to raise my head very high to see his eyes.
Soaring down from the sky, a giant mythical bird descends to the side of the elephant, these two animals occupied the whole valley, as well as a single horned rhino coming from behind.
And me and the others stand 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 giant 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, even though many people have called me many different names, there is king, boss, sister, righteous sister, stupid cat, cat devil, cat beauty and etc. But Miao Miao and Meow Meow appears much more often, so I understand that I am summoned.
But what do the three words in the back mean? I look 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 giant elephant devil spoke again, “To see Miao Miao in my original form seems to be wrong, I will change into human form.”
After he finished speaking, smoke enveloped his body, and a tall man with short white hair appeared, even taller than bull devil. His skin was pale, and he had a large but elegant 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 giant mythical 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, a little fat, small eyes, no weapons, and laughed a little, he looks very kind and polite.
The giant 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 look at Yin Zi again, he quickly replies, “She is illiterate, you read it.”
The giant elephant devil’s face was slightly red, he opened the piece of paper slowly and nervously read out loud, “Brilliantly adorned turtles, warm flower and donkey brew, shrimp rolls, fish head soup, dried flatfish, steamed snapper, drunken*……….”
*These are all foods I think haha.
My eyes opened wide with every word that came out, my saliva started to drip, I greedily wanted to pounce…..
I did not expect that b.a.s.t.a.r.d bird devil to suddenly come up and tug at the giant 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 giant elephant devil looked more nervous, he quickly pulled out another piece of paper, blushed, and began reading, “Has dead wild elk, cogongra.s.s 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 can’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 start moving with the feathers.
Left-right, left-right, left-right…..my heart itches uncontrollably, my nails elongate, intently waiting for a moment when the feathers come to a halt.
When the hypnosis stops, I immediately pounced towards the plume with great force, scaring the giant elephant devil into rolling to escape my claws.
The giant bird devil beside us angrily says, “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 continue to happily chase the giant elephant devil’s feathers, going round and round in circles.