Stepping back onto Cuiyun Corridor, the scenery before Song You grew familiar once more, though in the opposite direction of his arrival. Viewed from another angle, it held a distinct charm of its own. Thus, Song You still walked at a leisurely pace, noting the roadside scenery from time to time.
That village temple gradually appeared within his field of view.
Song You walked slowly toward it, yet asked the Three Flower Cat walking quietly beside him, "Three Flower Lady, would you be willing to travel the world with me?"
"Travel the world?"
"It means walking every path in this world, seeing the sunrise and sunset in different places, meeting different people, yao, spirits, and monsters, eating the local delicacies of various regions, experiencing different customs and cultures, and seeing what kind of lives people thousands of miles away are living." Song You paused. "My master said this is true cultivation."
"Aren't you taking me to see Wang Shangong?"
"If Three Flower Lady is willing, I will naturally speak with Wang Shangong." Song You paused, maintaining his original pace as he stepped forward, and thought about it again. "Or Three Flower Lady could come with me for a time; once the aura of incense on you dissipates, you can find a mountain wilderness of your own and return to carefree freedom, avoiding the suffering of imprisonment."
"Then can I go back to my little temple?"
"Still want to get caught?"
"Um..."
The Three Flower Cat pondered for a moment, then continued to ask, "If I go with you, how long will it take?"
"Anyway, shorter than the time you were locked up."
"Do you want me to help you catch mice?"
"That won't be necessary."
"Then what do you want me to follow you for?"
"No need to do anything. Just one condition: try your best not to speak in front of ordinary people."
"Is there anything else?"
"Nothing else."
"Then why do you want me to follow you?"
"To keep me from being lonely."
"I don't know what loneliness is."
"Being by oneself is loneliness."
"Three Flower Lady has always been lonely. Loneliness is quite nice."
"Not being lonely is quite nice too."
"I don't know."
"So..."
"I'll go with you."
"Good."
Song You walked into the village temple.
The Three Flower Cat stopped at the doorway, looked around vigilantly, and then looked up at the tall, brightly and colorfully painted divine statues in the temple. It felt that compared to them, its own little mud-molded cat was so shabby, and it couldn't help feeling intimidated in its heart. Yet seeing Song You walk inside, it hesitated slightly and still crossed the threshold.
It was noon now, and there were no overnight guests in the temple. Song You turned around and closed the temple doors.
Looking around, there was incense on the altar.
Most likely left by travelers of the jianghu.
These wanderers knew that the masters in the temple needed incense, and their staying overnight to hide from the rain here meant they were relying on these masters. Therefore, besides lighting a few sticks of incense, they often left some behind on the altar so that subsequent travelers who came here without incense could borrow it to offer to the masters.
Straw incense was worthless; what had value was human reverence.
"Thank you."
Song You took three sticks and didn't forget to offer a word of thanks.
Holding the incense in both hands, he swayed it in a circle—drawing just a single circle, and the incense automatically ignited, wisps of green smoke curling upward.
The Three Flower Cat on the ground widened its eyes in astonishment.
"Please invite Wang Shangong out to meet."
Song You inserted the incense into the clay block and spoke respectfully.
The green smoke rose without dispersing, gathering in the air in thin threads and wisps. Amidst the green smoke, Wang Shangong, dressed in colorful robes and glowing with divine light, appeared. Upon seeing Song You, he respectfully bowed first.
"Greetings, Mister."
"Greetings, Shangong."
"Has Mister investigated thoroughly?"
"Investigated thoroughly."
"Could it be that monster has revived?"
"Not at all." Song You said to him, "It's just a cat that attained sentience, ignorant and fond of human incense. As it happened, someone offered it incense and requested rat-catching, so it presumptuously occupied that temple and consumed the incense offerings. Now I have brought it here."
"Licentious shrines and evil cults are intolerable to heavenly principle." Wang Shangong said in a deep voice, "Thank you, Mister, for bringing it here. I will take it down right now and punish it according to the Heavenly Laws."
The Three Flower Cat was frightened into shrinking against Song You's legs.
"How does the Heavenly Law punish it?"
"If it has never harmed anyone and not consumed human souls or vital energy, imprisonment for a century, or penal servitude for a century. If it has performed good deeds, the sentence is halved at discretion."
Song You lowered his head to glance at the cat, using his gaze to convey the meaning of see, I didn't lie to you, before speaking to Wang Shangong again: "Yet I have heard that absorbing incense and cultivating is an instinct of spirits, and I have also heard the reasoning that the ignorant are not guilty. I see this cat spirit is a first-time offender; as it is ignorant, the incense it absorbed is also pathetically little. Furthermore, I observed that it has never harmed anyone, and instead diligently helped the local commoners eliminate rats and protect grain, committing no wrong and possessing a kind heart. If it were to be trapped for a century because of this, it would truly be unjust."
"I wonder what Mister's meaning is..."
"How about I keep it by my side and properly teach and transform it."
"This..."
"Shangong has a kind heart, please show mercy."
"But the Heavenly Laws are thus..."
"The law does not go beyond human feelings, and the Heavenly Laws also possess no small amount of injustice."
"Mister, choose your words carefully."
"I ask this favor of Shangong."
"I am in a difficult position..."
"It is not asking Shangong to refrain from reporting upward, nor is it asking Shangong to lie that the cat-spirit which occupied the temple has already been eliminated. Shangong merely needs to truthfully report upward that the cat-spirit which occupied the temple was taken away by a Daoist priest." Song You paused, bowing to Wang Shangong once more: "My name is Song You, courtesy name Menglai, and I am a disciple of Daoist Duoxing of the Fulong Temple of Yinshan Mountain. Shangong, please make a note of it."
"Fulong Temple of Yinshan Mountain..."
Wang Shangong's eyes widened for a moment.
This place was merely a hundred-odd miles away from Yinshan Mountain, and moreover, though the Fulong Temple of Yinshan Mountain had few people, its fame was great; naturally he had heard of it.
After pondering for a long time, he could only heave a sigh, cup his hands in salute to Song You, and vanish within the green smoke.
"Mmh?"
The Three Flower Cat snapped out of its shock and looked around, seemingly searching for the vanished Wang Shangong. Naturally finding nothing, it then looked back at Song You:
"Did he leave?"
"He left."
"Is it settled?"
"Settled."
"Then let's hurry and leave this place."
The Three Flower Cat spun around and bolted outside, stopping at the doorway only after crossing the threshold, turning back to gaze at Song You, who had yet to move.
Song You looked at it in puzzlement instead.
"Why so hurried?"
"I feel uncomfortable here."
"Inferior?"
"What is inferiority?"
"That is... never mind, let's go."
Song You also stood up and walked out of the temple doors.
The Three Flower Cat followed behind with quick, dainty steps, then looked up and asked:
"What is transformation?"
"It means influencing you so that you undergo positive changes."
"How to influence?"
"Influencing slowly."
"How to change?"
"Talking too much will make one very thirsty on the road."
"How to change?"
"Changing slowly."
"Where are we going?"
"First return to your little temple, smash your mud statue, and sever its connection with you."
"Then where?"
"Yi Capital."
"What are we going to Yi Capital for?"
"Three Flower Lady is quite the curious character..."
"What are we going to Yi Capital for?"
"I haven't thought of it yet."
"Then hurry up and think."
"I'll try my best."
Having just escaped from a lonely journey, he was immediately greeted by a problem child—this was something Song You had not anticipated.
"Then I ask Three Flower Lady to take good care of me."
For some inexplicable reason, his state of mind felt somewhat different.
Man and cat returned to the dilapidated temple.
By the time they arrived, it was already mid-afternoon; going and coming back had consumed another day's time. Yet this era was always thus—everything was exceedingly slow, and walking a few dozen miles of mountain tracks would waste an entire day's daylight.
Someone had actually come to offer incense again.
It was even homemade incense, the ingredients differing from those in his own Daoist temple. The scent was fresh and seemed to possess mosquito-repelling properties as well, which Song You rather liked.
An addition of a small loach rested upon the offering table.
The Three Flower Lady leaped onto the altar in a flash, drew close to those three sticks of incense to sniff them, then forcibly stopped herself, looked at the small loach on the offering table with a reluctant expression, and then turned her head to look at Song You at the doorway: "Daoist, that person yesterday offered me incense, and I haven't gone to help him catch mice yet. And today's person—can I go to their house tonight to catch their mice?"
Song You watched it for a long time and nodded.
"Can I eat that loach?"
"Eat it if you wish, it's your last meal anyway. Bear in mind, from now on you must no longer accept offerings from others, nor may you absorb incense." Song You looked at the Three Flower Cat before him; because of consuming incense, it had already acquired some divine-path supernatural abilities—for instance, it could know who offered every stick of incense and who gave every offering, and could track them down by this means. "Consuming incense will cause you to unknowingly walk the divine path, and by then you will become inseparable from it. When the day comes that there is no incense, you will weaken and eventually perish. Moreover, you will be regarded as an evil god by the True Gods of the Heavenly Palace."
"Understood, understood."
The Three Flower Cat collapsed onto the altar, looking listless. It was reluctant to part with its temple, reluctant to part with its mud statue and its incense—all of which it had painstakingly managed by catching mice day after day for years.
At this moment, it particularly missed its little temple from back then.
That little temple, though small, stood only half as tall as the Daoist before it, but it was more than enough for a cat to live in. Though it couldn't keep out the wind, it could block the rain, and nestled beneath a large tree, it wasn't easily discovered by people. Thinking about it now, it was simply a cozy little nest.
The Three Flower Cat lost even more of its spirit.
As soon as darkness fell, it went out.
Later in the night, some jianghu travelers came to seek lodging, even bringing red incense bought in the city. Even though there was only a mud cat statue in this temple, they respectfully lit three sticks, spouted some pleasantries that jianghu folk loved to use, and exchanged greetings with Song You before settling down on the other side of the dilapidated temple.
As for Song You, he sat in meditation throughout the night, comprehending the spiritual Qi of the mountains.
The starry river turned in the heavens, and human curtains hung low over the earth.
He knew not when the Three Flower Cat returned, but in short, when he opened his eyes the next morning to see it, it appeared somewhat fatigued. When asked the reason, it said that those two households were—one at the very far end and the other at the very far other end—and it had no idea which end of which side they were on.
"Let's go after we eat."
Song You said to the Three Flower Cat, holding a steamed pancake and eating it while the Three Flower Cat had eaten plenty of mice the previous night and remained full.
The jianghu travelers at the side had also awakened.
Among them, one was dressed decently and even had a young attendant following him. Perhaps seeing that Song You wore Daoist robes and was also young in appearance, he held intentions of making acquaintances, so he walked over carrying his dried meat and said to Song You:
"Does Mister also love cats?"
"I suppose so."
"I love cats as well, but it's quite rare to see someone like Mister taking a cat along on a distant journey."
"Indeed."
"Mister eating only steamed pancakes simply won't do. I have hometown-produced dried pork here; would Mister care to try some?"
"Your kindness is appreciated."
"Mister need not stand on ceremony. Being fellow travelers of the jianghu, meeting is by fate; let us consider ourselves old acquaintances."
"Many thanks."
Song You still smiled and shook his head.
This man, having been rebuffed, was not annoyed or embarrassed like other face-saving jianghu travelers; instead, he smiled, turned around to share with the other jianghu folk he had met last night, and after trading a few flattery-filled pleasantries, began calling each other brothers and chatting amiably once more, as if they had known each other for a long time.
These jianghu travelers had seen a thing or two and heard plenty of gossip from all directions. Even though much of it was exaggerated, Song You enjoyed listening to them boast and chat.
Before long, the steamed pancake was finished as well.
"Let's go."
Song You uttered a word, then rose and walked outside.
The Three Flower Cat consciously followed behind him.
That group of jianghu travelers stared at them, and only after they departed did they begin to speak in low voices.
"This young mister is truly interesting, taking a cat along on a long journey. This cat is also interesting, actually following a person around. My cat won't even let me touch it."
"Come to think of it, what's worshipped in this temple seems to be a cat too."
"Indeed..."
The crowd turned their heads in unison, gazing at the mud statue on the altar.
At that very moment, as if unable to bear being looked at, the mud statue instantly sprouted several cracks. The cracks rapidly expanded, growing more numerous and larger, and in the blink of an eye, they covered the entire mud statue. Then, with a crash, it shattered into countless fragments.
By the time they hit the ground, they had already turned into mud dust.
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