Very Easy to Appease

The shadow slowly walked over to Wuma Xiu's feet and curled up beside him. It tilted its head up, its red eyes brimming with grievance.

Wuma Xiu crouched down and tentatively reached out.

When dealing with a kitten, he had to show that he meant no harm, or it might get scared.

The shadow cat drew back at first, but then it couldn't resist coming closer and rubbing its head against his fingertips.

Wuma Xiu couldn't help smiling.

He scooped the little black cat into his arms with both hands and gently scratched beneath its chin with his fingertips.

The black cat stiffened all over, then went limp, a low purr rumbling in its throat.

Its tail curled around Wuma Xiu's wrist of its own accord.

The Night God watched from the side, his face growing a shade redder beneath his hood.

He explained in a low voice, sounding a little uncomfortable:

"Moon, it... is my shadow. I got too bored once, so I separated it from my body."

It was just that the shadow couldn't talk to him.

Wuma Xiu's hand paused in the middle of petting the cat. He asked:

"Why didn't you tell me about it before?"

"...It's not important."

The Night God lowered his gaze and answered casually.

Yet his eyes slid toward the black cat, carrying a trace of irritation he could barely conceal.

The black cat was his shadow, so naturally it counted as a part of him.

Moon's fingers stroked the black cat's back again and again, his fingertips sinking into the soft darkness as he gently smoothed and rubbed its fur from head to tail. It was so comfortable that even its ears drooped. The whole cat sprawled like a black furry blanket, the tip of its tail still hooked around Moon's wrist, looking as though it had settled in for good and refused to get down.

Moon touching it was the same as touching him.

The Night God knew that perfectly well.

He could still clearly feel the warmth and pressure of that hand, as well as the tingling sensation left by the passing fingertips.

It did feel good, so good that he wanted to close his eyes.

But precisely because of that, the more he looked at the black cat now, the less he liked it.

Today, he had only held Moon's hand.

Their fingers had interlaced and their palms had pressed together, and he had held it so carefully the entire way. He couldn't bear to use any force, afraid he might hurt Moon, but also afraid that if he loosened his grip, the hand might slip away.

Why did that cat get to curl up in Moon's arms and be rubbed all over from head to toe like this?

As the Night God dwelled on it, his fingers strayed to his own wrist.

A red thread was wrapped around it.

The Night God gently turned the red thread once, and his thoughts slipped uncontrollably back to a day long, long ago.

Back then, the Love God seemed to have been provoked by something and had wanted to forcibly tie a red thread of fate for the Night God, only to be beaten and chased away by him.

The Moon God had happened to appear after the Love God left. Seeing the torn red thread in the Night God's hand, he had asked about it.

The Night God had only said that the red thread he used to tie his hair had snapped.

He hadn't wanted the Moon God to know that the Love God had come and wanted to tie a red thread of fate for him.

The Moon God had appeared at the doorway just after the Love God left. His gaze fell on the broken length of red thread in the Night God's hand, and he asked about it.

The Night God put his hand behind his back and said, "It's nothing. The ribbon I use to tie my hair broke."

He hadn't wanted the Moon God to know that the Love God had come, much less that the Love God had wanted to tie a red thread of fate for him.

Later that day, the Moon God gave him a red cloth ribbon.

From then on, wherever the Night God went, he used that ribbon to tie his hair and never replaced it with another.

Every night, he also carefully maintained it with his divine power.

Day after day, year after year.

Until one time, the Evil God, who was still extremely arrogant back then, came looking for him.

The Evil God attacked at the slightest disagreement.

Amid the chaos of the fight, the Evil God swiped a claw down and accidentally tore the red ribbon from the Night God's hair.

The ribbon split in two and drifted down among the ruins.

The Night God immediately flew into a rage.

His combat power soared, astonishing the Evil God.

After the Evil God left, the Night God was the only one remaining on the battlefield.

He bent down and picked up the pieces of the torn ribbon one by one, then held them in his palms and stood there for a very, very long time.

Then he turned and went straight to the God of Time's Temple of Time.

That day, a long line of gods was waiting to see the God of Time.

The Night God beat up the gods ahead of him one after another, fighting his way from the back of the line to the front and snatching a place for that day.

Holding the pile of cloth scraps, the Night God seriously asked the God of Time:

"Can you fix it?"

It was the first time the God of Time had received such a... bizarre request. It was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Still, it was effortless for the God of Time, so he helped him.

Seeing the red ribbon whole again put the Night God in an exceptionally good mood.

Seeing this, the other gods who had been beaten up thought the Night God was despicable beyond measure. He had beaten them until every bone in their bodies ached, and all to ask the God of Time to repair a lousy scrap of cloth?

What was this supposed to be?

Was he amusing himself?

Or deliberately picking a fight?

Unfortunately, they were angry but didn't dare speak out.

Still, a wise man knew when to yield.

"Then what's its name?"

Wuma Xiu squeezed the black cat's little paw. The soft pad sank under his fingers and sprang back, its touch so pleasant it was addictive.

The black cat narrowed its red eyes and obligingly spread its toes, looking utterly shameless as it let him squeeze to his heart's content.

Hearing his voice, the Night God came back to himself from those distant memories.

"Its name is... Shadow."

"That's right, Shadow."

He repeated it.

In truth, he had just come up with the name on the spot.

The instant Moon finished speaking, he had practically rushed to answer, so quickly that even he found it a little unusual.

He knew that if Moon found out it had no name, he would surely want to give it one.

But he simply didn't want Moon to name it.

This cat had already stolen a place in Moon's arms and Moon's caresses.

If even its name came from Moon, what would he have left?

The Night God lowered his lashes, the black cat's contented form reflected in his dark eyes as a sour feeling surged in his heart.

If he had known, he wouldn't have separated it from himself back then.

Or, failing that.

He could have shoved it into some side hall and locked it up tight, instead of letting it run all over the Night God Palace.

The Night God silently brooded over it, his Adam's apple bobbing as he cast another discreet glance their way.

Moon was still petting the cat.

Moon was still smiling at that cat.

The Night God looked away and lowered his head, the shadow of his hood concealing most of his face.

His exposed lips pressed together a little tighter of their own accord.

Suddenly, a hand landed on his head.

"Night, why are you unhappy?"

Wuma Xiu naturally kept a constant eye on his dear friend's mood.

No matter how deeply the Night God hid his expression, or how thoroughly his hood concealed it.

Others might truly have noticed nothing, but to him.

The slight downward curve of those lips.

The lashes that lingered a moment longer than usual as they lowered, all seemed to tell him plainly.

—The Night God was unhappy.

The Night God lowered his head a little more, making it easier for him to pet him, and said:

"I'm very happy right now."

The Night God really was very happy now.

Cheering him up had never been difficult. All it took was a pat on the head from the Moon God.

As long as that hand rested on his head, its fingers passing through his hair and its palm carrying a faint coolness, even the lightest touch would make the hostility, irritability, and unhappiness surging in his heart dissipate completely, like mist beneath the sunlight.

Wuma Xiu settled down in the Night God Palace.

As the days passed, Shadow also developed an unwavering habit: at the same time every day, the pitch-black cat would stroll out of the shadows and over to Wuma Xiu's feet, tilt its head up, and gaze at him with clear, well-behaved red eyes, waiting for him to reach out.

Whether he patted its head or scratched its chin, it would roll over to show its little belly, act cute and coquettish, and purr endlessly...

It was as ordinary a part of daily life as could be.

Today was no exception.

Wuma Xiu had just sat down beside the couch when the shadow emerged from the corner right on time.

He smiled, reached out both hands, and leaned forward slightly.

But Shadow's steps paused.

Only briefly, so briefly that it seemed like an illusion.

It stopped where it was and tilted its head, looking at him for a moment. Something extremely subtle seemed to flash through its red eyes, and then it took off on all fours, pattering toward him.

Shadow leaped and landed in Wuma Xiu's hands.

Wuma Xiu cupped his palms around it and reached to rub its chin out of habit.

The black cat raised its head and obligingly stretched out its neck, a contented little purr immediately sounding in its throat.

It kneaded his wrist with its front paws, then rolled halfway over to expose its soft belly, the tip of its tail hooking around Wuma Xiu's little finger. Every movement was just as it had always been.

Only today, there seemed to be an extra length of extremely fine red thread on its tail, wrapped in a small loop around the tip. Without looking closely, one would never notice it.

Wuma Xiu looked down at the loop of red thread, his fingers scratching its belly at an unhurried pace as the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

He didn't expose him.

[Host, just look! Whose dear friend turns into a cat so you can pet him? He's even showing his belly and acting cute! Is that proper?!]

The system popped up again, its voice carrying a barely restrained excitement, as though it had caught him with irrefutable evidence.

[Mine.]

Wuma Xiu gave that brief reply in his mind, then ignored the system squawking away in his head.

Speaking of which, ever since the system had personally witnessed the Sun God and Star God fail to see through his identity last time, its whole manner had suddenly changed.

It had become livelier, noisier, and...

A little unfamiliar to him.

If he hadn't been keeping an eye on it at all times, he might really have thought someone had secretly replaced the system's core.

Still, Wuma Xiu said he missed the old system more, the one that had kicked at its coffin lid in anger because of him.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get to see that again.

Probably because it had discovered it was still alive, the fellow had been so overjoyed that it had completely let itself go.

And lately, sounds of "Hehehehe" and "Aaaah—" had been coming from his head from time to time.

He had no idea what it was up to.

It had to be said that Wuma Xiu's guess was frighteningly accurate.

This system really had let itself go.

The joy of surviving was simply too immense, too overwhelming.

Before, it had always been waiting to die. The road ahead had been bleak, everything dull, and it had seemed unable to muster interest in anything.

But now, it really had survived. Every data node was bouncing joyfully, telling it:

You're still alive, you're still here, and you have so, so many tomorrows ahead of you.

So the system made a great decision:

It would do everything it had never done before.

It opened up its vast database and began round after round of frenzied downloads.

Novels, enormous quantities of novels. It turned none away; the more, the better.

It wasn't picky at all.

Its guiding principle was to embrace everything, like the sea taking in a hundred rivers.

The price of doing so, however, was that now, whenever the system saw Wuma Xiu and the Night God interacting, strings of bullet comments would pop uncontrollably into its head from time to time.

[Wow, I ship them~]

[Wow, my ship is actually real!]

[Ahhh, my ship is real!]

Wuma Xiu blocked out the system's background screams in his mind, lowered his head, and continued rubbing the little black cat on his lap, the one with red thread wrapped around its tail.

[No, no, I have to make my own food!]

The system had already begun passionately writing an eight-thousand-word essay about their sweet moments.

A mature shipper should learn to produce their own food.