ARLQLCC chapter 2

 

Looking at the little cat in front of him, whose whole body seemed to scream “greedy,” Su Ji put away his sword and cautiously took a few steps forward.

The little cat let out a “meow.” Seeing him approach, it didn’t dodge. Instead, it widened its eyes and stared unblinkingly at the steaming grilled fish.

This cat was clearly still a cub, yet round and plump, with jet-black fur. Its eyes took up half its face, a fluffy little ball—adorable to the extreme.

If Su Ji still had lingering frustration when leaving Chenxin Sect, then after eating a bite of good food, half of it had already dissipated. After encountering this little kitty, none of it remained.

He had never raised a spirit pet, but he had seen many noble ladies or sect disciples keep them. Among them, there were plenty of cute and beautiful ones, yet none were as likable as the cub in front of him.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Su Ji’s lips. He walked up to the little cat, crouched down, and shook the grilled fish in his hand.

“Kitty, want to eat?”

As the grilled fish swayed, the kitten’s head swayed along with it. Its bright eyes practically had the words “I want to eat” carved into them.

Su Ji didn’t place the fish directly on the ground. Instead, he held the stick and brought the grilled fish closer to the kitten, saying gently, “Be good, go ahead and eat.”

The delicious food was right in front of it, the aroma rushing toward its nose. The kitten’s eyes lit up brightly as it lowered its head and took small bites of the fish, eating quickly.

It looked starving. Though each bite wasn’t large, its eating speed was extremely fast, clearly showing it had been hungry for a long time.

The more Su Ji looked, the more he liked it. His free hand lifted gently and rubbed the kitten’s fluffy head a few times.

The kitten was completely absorbed in eating and didn’t mind Su Ji petting it, allowing him to do so while it ate.

As the fish meat gradually decreased, the kitten clearly wasn’t full yet. Su Ji flipped the fish over so it could continue eating.

When it reached the second side, the kitten’s eating speed slowed down. A cub didn’t eat much—this fish would probably be enough to fill it up.

However long the kitten ate, Su Ji crouched there the entire time.

When only fish bones were left, the kitten smacked its lips and stood in place, looking at Su Ji again with those round, watery eyes.

Su Ji couldn’t resist rubbing its little head again and asked softly, “Kitty, are you alone too? Do you want to live with me?”

The kitten narrowed its eyes in comfort as it listened.

Su Ji continued, “I can cook, you know. And I have a warm bed for you to sleep in. How about it?”

Looking at Su Ji’s gentle eyes that seemed almost overflowing with warmth, the kitten, still in its cub stage, tilted its head as if thinking. Finally, under Su Ji’s expectant gaze, it licked his palm and walked over on its four short legs, rubbing against his leg.

Su Ji’s eyes lit up. He picked up the kitten and rubbed it twice in his arms.

“From now on, we’ll live here together, kitty!”

“Meow!”

“You’re so young and already understand what I’m saying. So well-behaved.”

“Meow meow~”

“Let’s give you a bath first. Your fur has a lot of dust on it.”

“Meow?”

The kitten, which hadn’t even been held warm for long, was placed onto a small stool that Su Ji had found from somewhere. It stood there, its big eyes reflecting Su Ji’s busy figure as he prepared bathwater.

Although it didn’t know what a bath was, a human who cooked such delicious food probably wouldn’t do anything to harm it.

For the first time, Su Ji felt grateful for his habit of collecting things. Inside his storage artifact were all kinds of pots, bowls, and utensils that other cultivators might never use even once in their lifetime.

After boiling water in a large iron pot, he poured it into a basin, mixed in some cold water, and the bathwater for the kitten was ready.

With everything prepared, the obedient kitten waiting in place was picked up and placed into the basin.

The kitten was a bit scared when it first touched the water, but out of trust in Su Ji, it didn’t struggle. Once Su Ji soaked its fur, applied soapberry, and gently massaged it, it completely forgot about being afraid of water.

After all, Su Ji’s technique felt far too comfortable.

The clean kitten was wrapped in a snow-white towel to dry off excess water. After Su Ji cast a drying spell, the entire cat looked brand new.

Looking at the clean, glossy-furred kitten in front of him, Su Ji felt, for the first time, the mindset of an old father raising a child.

With the kitten cleaned, Su Ji carried it toward the house to find a place suitable for living and meditating.

The cafeteria was the largest building. At the far end, there was a moderately sized room, likely where people used to live when the cafeteria was still in operation.

The inside was fairly clean, only covered in dust from being uninhabited for so long.

Su Ji tucked the kitten into his clothes, letting its round head stick out.

With that, he began cleaning quickly.

The exterior of the room was quite elegant, built with high-quality materials. Even after enduring wind and sun alone on the mountaintop for so long, it still stood firm.

Thus, Su Ji only needed to clean the interior for it to be livable again.

Cleaning everything alone was quite a big task, but fortunately, he hadn’t forgotten the spells he had learned over the years.

Su Ji raised his hand and formed a dust-clearing spell. As soon as the dust rose, it disappeared without a trace under green spiritual power.

Although the dust was gone, Su Ji didn’t plan to keep the remaining furniture.

He rummaged through his storage artifact again and found the items he had brought from Chenxin Sect.

The bed was placed in a corner against the wall; a low table made of fine oak was placed beside it for easy access; a screen painted with bamboo and breeze was placed at the entrance…

Every piece of furniture was made by Su Ji himself. The colors complemented each other, and the materials were high quality and filled with spiritual energy. Once arranged, the entire room became warm and elegant.

Above the low table was a window that could be propped open with a stick to view the scenery outside. Su Ji planned to plant a few pear blossom trees outside in the future—when they bloomed, it would surely be beautiful.

After arranging the room, the sky gradually darkened. Su Ji closed the door, brought the kitten onto the bed, and prepared to meditate as usual.

Cultivators rarely needed sleep, so Su Ji’s bed only had a thin layer of bedding. After placing the kitten on the bed, he belatedly realized it might be too hard for a cub.

Although the kitten still lay obediently, Su Ji, with his “old father” mindset, took out a small, very soft pillow from his storage artifact.

This was something he used as a child. After growing up, he stored it away. Normally useless, it now served perfectly as a nest for the kitten.

The small pillow was placed next to Su Ji’s own. The kitten was picked up from the foot of the bed, kissed once, and placed onto the pillow.

The pillow sank slightly under the kitten’s weight. The kitten seemed very satisfied with this nest and meowed at Su Ji in thanks.

Su Ji lovingly rubbed its head and suggested, “Let’s give you a name. I can’t keep calling you kitty.”

“Meow!”

Su Ji touched his chin and thought, “You’re so round, and a little black cat… how about calling you Ma Tuan[mfn]rice ball/dough ball[/mfn]?”

The kitten didn’t understand, but it responded anyway, “Meow~”

“Ma Tuan~”

“Meow meow~”

Su Ji adored it to death. He chatted back and forth with the kitten for a while, then coaxed, “Ma Tuan, go to sleep. I’ll make you something delicious tomorrow.”

“Meow~”

Ma Tuan licked Su Ji’s hand, curled itself into a little ball, and closed its eyes.

After the kitten fell asleep, Su Ji took off his boots, sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and entered meditation.

The night passed quickly. The morning wind blew in through the window, carrying a fresh scent of nature that woke Su Ji.

A full night of deep meditation allowed him to advance another small stage. Su Ji was very satisfied with this progress, but instead of continuing cultivation, he got out of bed to clean the kitchen.

In the days to come, he would raise the kitten. As a cultivator, he didn’t need to eat every meal, but Ma Tuan, still a cub, certainly did.

Su Ji glanced back at Ma Tuan, who was still sleeping soundly, and went out in a good mood.

The bamboo door was gently opened and gently closed.

Inside the room, as Su Ji left, the deeply sleeping kitten suddenly opened its eyes. It stared at the door, a hint of complexity in its gaze that did not belong to a cub.

After a night of rest, the soul of Chu Zhaoye, which had been dormant within the cub’s body, awakened.

Before today, he had been in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Great Perfection of the Tribulation Transcendence stage. At the critical moment, his inner demon suddenly awakened, causing his failure and severe injury, reverting him to his original form.

However, due to the severity of his injuries, he had regressed directly to his cub stage, and his soul had been forced into dormancy.

Normally, such heavy injuries would take at least ten years of medicinal nourishment to fully recover, yet it had only been five or six days since he turned into a cub, and now he had already recovered enough to awaken.

Although he still couldn’t fully recover, this speed was far too abnormal.

Lying on the soft pillow, Chu Zhaoye recalled what the cub’s body had done during the days he was asleep.

Aside from wandering around and ending up on this mountain, the biggest variable was encountering that cultivator yesterday.

And being so greedy that he ate an entire fish…

After being coaxed a few times, he completely lost all sense of direction—not only did he lick the other party’s palm and allow himself to be bathed while being held, but he even received a name that clearly sounded like one given to a pet.

Chu Zhaoye lay there with a blank cat face, feeling deeply embarrassed.

He buried his head in the pillow and thought uncertainly, Could it be because of that fish that I recovered? But how much spiritual energy could one fish contain…

If it wasn’t the fish itself, then perhaps the one who cooked it had some ability to activate and revive the spiritual energy within food, giving it such exaggerated healing properties.

But all of this was just his speculation. He would probably need to eat that cultivator’s cooking again to confirm.

Chu Zhaoye thought seriously.

It definitely wasn’t because he was hungry.

On the other side, Su Ji cleaned the kitchen in the same way, not missing a single corner.

The grease and grime left by the previous owner were completely cleaned, either through spells or by hand.

The entire kitchen looked as if it had been newly renovated. Su Ji was very satisfied with this small kitchen.

With limited ingredients, the only available food was the “residents” of the pond. It wasn’t suitable to eat grilled fish early in the morning, so today he planned to make a dish of steamed fish fillets.

After catching another spirit fish from the pond, Su Ji picked up a knife, removed the scales, gills, and innards, sliced the fish into evenly thick pieces, placed them in a bowl, added prepared marinade, mixed well, and covered it to rest.

Since he hadn’t yet restored the spiritual fields, he didn’t plan to steam rice.

Fortunately, the fish in the pond absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and were all plump and juicy—more than enough for a breakfast.

During the waiting time, Su Ji returned to the room. As soon as the bamboo door opened, he met eyes with Chu Zhaoye, who was still questioning life on the bed.

Seeing that Ma Tuan was awake, Su Ji quickly walked over and patted its little head. “You’re awake. The food is still cooking—it’ll be ready soon. Ma Tuan, come cook with me.”

As he spoke, he picked up the still-dazed Chu Zhaoye and carried him in his arms toward the kitchen.

Looking at the handsome, gentle face growing larger in front of him, Chu Zhaoye’s cat eyes widened instantly.

Held in Su Ji’s arms, smelling the clear, breeze-like scent from his body, he thought dizzily: This cultivator smells pretty nice.

 

---

You can read the full completed story here with instant full access. ✨