Pei Ye sighed softly and set the cat back on his shoulder. Together, they gazed at the sprawling academy, where several ducks were taking flight over the lake.
Another unfamiliar place. These truly were days of wandering.
An inexplicable melancholy rose in Pei Ye, before he remembered that this time, at least, he should be able to settle down in the Divine Capital, staying until spring or summer next year.
But Little Cat beside him was still nibbling a pastry, and it smelled wonderfully sweet. Pei Ye frowned at the sight, thinking again of the hardships he had endured these past days. "How do you manage to find a lofty branch to perch on wherever you go?"
"Who would make life difficult for a little cat?"
Pei Ye stared glumly at the cat. "Did we actually form this [Shared Fate Pact] or not?"
Black Cat fell silent for a moment, then held the pastry in one paw up to his mouth.
Pei Ye swallowed it in one bite and felt somewhat satisfied.
The attendants Qi Zhaohua had arranged soon arrived. Pei Ye took the most satisfying hot bath he had had in days, using up five enormous buckets of water.
He removed the True Qi rings, had his wounds dressed, received acupuncture and medicinal pills, and finally had his hair cut and his face groomed. When he emerged in light clothing, he truly felt reborn.
But the day was not over. The carriage that had brought him here was already waiting outside again. The sky had turned dusky yellow, and as Pei Ye pulled on his boots, Qi Zhaohua was already coming to hurry him along, unable to wait.
At last, they boarded the carriage and drove out of the Cultivation Literature Academy. The Divine Capital's splendid lamps were just