At a certain moment, Ji Furen lowered his head and gazed into the black cat's eyes.
"You bastard!"
He said with a smile, "The grand Mountain and Sea Dao Lord, the most dashing figure Great Chu has seen in four thousand years. A pillar of the Human Race, the Sea-Calming Divine Needle of Chu Kingdom—and instead of keeping an eye on Seven Hates, you're watching me? What is the meaning of this?"
The black cat narrowed its eyes, half-asleep yet not asleep, purring softly. Its long tail swayed gently in a posture of meek contentment.
Yet in an instant, its eyes stood upright. Within those green Vertical Pupils, layers upon layers of light and shadow unfolded, as though opening up a complex world.
In the depths of that boundless illusory radiance stood a figure with flowing robes and ribbons. He strolled onward, turning back amidst the birth and death of countless bubble worlds.
That instant of brows and eyes froze in place, his bearing cutting through the age like an unrivaled portrait of a peerless romantic.
"I don't wish to watch you either, but why are you holding this cat?" Huang Weizhen's tone was inscrutable, yet the painting truly came alive with his words.
Within the theater, everything had originally been scenery. Now spring passed and flowers withered, people came and birds startled; painting after painting hung there like windows onto one world after another.
The puppet props within the merchandise crates all climbed atop the crates, as though today's performers were stepping onto the stage.
The theater that sold wares now seemed to have become a theater for watching plays.
"Ha!" Ji Furen chuckled softly. "Even if time holds no meaning for us, you ought to show your elders a measure of respect. This isn't how you go looking