Chapter 86

Chapter 86

That little finger was so full of life, Chen Ji almost couldn't keep a straight face. He burst out laughing, pulled Second Master Huang into his arms, and planted several loud kisses on his head—the smacking sounds coming one after another. Second Master Huang tried to dodge, protesting, "Hey! Chen Ji! What are you doing! Let go of me!"

"Enough with the kissing, let go! Who kisses like that?!"

Chen Ji took a deep, satisfying sniff of Second Master Huang’s milk-tea-colored belly before finally releasing him. Second Master Huang, or Second Grandmaster, darted away nimbly and leaped onto the windowsill. He looked down at the ruffled fur on his belly and grumbled, "Do you have to be so mushy? Shoo, shoo!" With that, he immediately flipped onto the roof, ensuring Chen Ji couldn’t catch him.

The red fox hovered eagerly around Chen Ji, who grabbed it by one leg and pulled it into his arms. Just as he leaned in for a kiss, he suddenly caught a whiff of the fox’s musky odor and pushed it away in disgust. The red fox let out a pitiful yelp. Chen Ji lowered his head to sniff his own arm and confirmed that the smell had transferred to his clothes. "No way, you smell stinky."

The red fox drooped its head in dejection. Chen Ji found it amusing and scooped the fox onto his shoulder, carrying it to the bathroom for a thorough scrubbing. System Cat watched as the fox pranced delicately into the bathroom, only to be met with a series of screams. Half an hour later, the red fox emerged looking like a drowned rat, its eyes dazed and confused, as if it hadn’t yet processed what had just happened to it.

System Cat laughed hysterically, rolling around on the bed. Chen Ji had a habit of washing things when he was in a bad mood, and the fox had foolishly tried to act cute and snuggle up to him. Well, look what happened—it suffered, didn’t it?

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Taoist Master Qingjing had just sent over the prescription his grandmaster had written for Chen Ji, and System Cat immediately got to work gathering the ingredients—though Chen Ji had begged Mountain Lord for help, who knew how much would actually come through?

Even though System Cat couldn’t directly assist Chen Ji, they could exploit a loophole! System Cat knew which medicinal herbs were hard to find on the mountain. It couldn’t tell Chen Ji directly, but it could place an order itself, skipping the step of informing Chen Ji altogether!

If anyone asked, System Cat would just say it was for its own consumption—bought with the host’s money, so what if the host had a few bites? It’s not illegal!

Chen Ji rubbed his damp hair, grabbed System Cat, and dragged it into his arms. System Cat let out a startled "Gah!" before being hauled into the bathroom. The door slammed shut, and from inside came the sounds of screams: "Meow-ow—!"

["Chen Ji, are you insane? I’m not a real cat, why are you washing me—!"]

["Ahhh! Let me go, I don’t want a bath—!"]

["Chen Ji, let go! Let me go!"]

About an hour later, Chen Ji, feeling both elated and exhausted, fell asleep almost instantly on the bed. The System Cat sat in the dryer, staring at the red fox who had already emerged, eye to eye. The red fox gave the System Cat a challenging smile and lightly leaped onto the bed, stretching gracefully at Chen Ji’s feet.

In the next moment, the blanket was suddenly lifted by Chen Ji's leg, wrapping the red fox inside. Before the red fox could react, it was dragged into Chen Ji's arms. Chen Ji even tucked its collar and pressed his head against the red fox’s, muttering, "Go to sleep, don't make a fuss..."

The red fox was forced into submission and fell asleep sweetly against Chen Ji. The System Cat kicked open the dryer door, slammed the machine shut, and just as it jumped onto the bed, Chen Ji released the red fox and rolled over, pulling the System Cat into his embrace.

The red fox raised its head alertly, seeing the System Cat resting on Chen Ji's arm, its gaze disdainfully sweeping over it before snuggling deeper into Chen Ji’s chest, burying its head.

The red fox’s eyes widened in anger, wanting to kill the System Cat but fearing that if it woke Chen Ji, he would never let it back into the house. It slammed its head against the pillow a couple of times and then burrowed under it—no way was it getting down!

Unfortunately, the temperature rose day by day. Chen Ji woke up in the middle of the night, feeling two furry bodies pressed against his front and back. He was woken up by the heat, feeling sweat where the fur touched his skin.

He pushed the System Cat and the red fox to the foot of the bed and stretched out comfortably, spread-eagled.

The next morning, Chen Ji was awakened by a series of sharp cries. Thinking something had happened, he sat up abruptly and saw the red fox chasing the System Cat, trying to bite it. The red fox, being a spirit, didn’t want to reveal its identity, so it kept dodging. The red fox chased it while making loud noises, sounding like it was driven mad.

The room was in a mess because of their chase.

["Chen Ji! Stop this red fox! It’s gone mad!"] the System Cat shouted angrily.

Without needing Chen Ji to get out of bed, the System Cat hid in his arms. The red fox, about to pounce, softened when it saw Chen Ji, emitting a pitiful whine. Chen Ji, holding the System Cat, asked, "What’s going on? Why are you two fighting?"

The red fox continued to whine, and the System Cat immediately complained, "Meow meow meow!"

["I don’t know! This red fox is acting crazy. I was sleeping soundly when it suddenly bit me. I was scared and ran away. Oh my, I need a rabies shot! I definitely need one!"]

["Chen Ji, I think it has rabies. Get it out of here!"]

["Maybe we should just put it out of its misery!"] System Cat loudly babbled: ["It must be sick! I didn't provoke it at all, and it bit me!"]

Chen Ji: "...?"

Chen Ji picked up System Cat and walked to the window, opened it, and shouted: "Is Second Grandmaster Huang there?!"

Second Grandmaster Huang hung his head upside down from the eaves: ["What is it?"]

Chen Ji explained what happened to Second Grandmaster Huang. Second Grandmaster Huang jumped inside and listened to the red fox's whimpering and whining, then explained to Chen Ji: ["Oh, the red fox said it woke up and found itself sleeping next to that fat cat, and that fat cat even licked its head. It felt insulted and decided to try to kill the fat cat."]

Chen Ji: "...?"

Chen Ji turned around, rubbed the red fox's head. The red fox whined and burrowed into Chen Ji's palm, likely complaining. Chen Ji patted its neck, then grabbed the scruff and lifted it, turning to place it outside the window: "Go sleep outside."

Red Fox: "Whine...?!"

Chen Ji patted its head and coldly shut the window. Second Grandmaster Huang tsked and returned to the eaves, giving the red fox a kick along the way: ["Useless creature, can't even compete for favor properly. You're a disgrace to being a fox!"]

The red fox hung its head low and whimpering.

System Cat’s anger subsided. It lay on Chen Ji's back, grumbling: ["It definitely has rabies! Chen Ji, believe me! Let's have it put down tomorrow!"]

Chen Ji glanced at the clock—it was already 5 a.m., and the sky outside was mostly bright. He looked down at the messy room and felt all sleepiness vanish. Resigned, he started cleaning up—if only he had sent the red fox away after bathing it yesterday, he wouldn't have had to deal with this mess today.

Xiangxiang was much better. Xiangxiang never gets jealous of Xiao Ba, let alone fights with her.

Chen Ji straightened the fallen clothes rack. The clothes on the floor had been stepped on several times and were no longer wearable, so he tossed them all into the hamper. The scattered small items were too messy to sort out clearly, so he haphazardly piled them on the table to deal with later when he was in the mood.

After cleaning up most of the mess, Chen Ji realized something was off—the sky outside had just brightened, so the room shouldn't be this bright. At the very least, he shouldn't be able to see clearly, but in reality, he could see quite well.

Chen Ji carefully scanned the room and finally found the source of the light—or rather, the glowing lines spreading out from under the bed. Chen Ji lifted the bedsheet and saw a jade ornament lying under the bed.

It was bright, full, and magnificent. Even with his poor eyesight, Chen Ji could "see" its soft, warm glow. He stared at it for a while before suddenly remembering what it was—Taoist Master Qingjing had brought it to him during the day, and he had stuffed it into his pocket, forgetting about it when he changed clothes after dinner.

It must have fallen out of his pocket and rolled under the bed when the red fox and System Cat were chasing each other and knocked over the laundry basket.

Chen Ji sat down on the spot and picked up the jade ornament.

For no particular reason, holding it felt comfortable and calming. He couldn't explain why, but it seemed to filter out all the surrounding noise and distractions—though it might just be his imagination, since he could still hear other sounds.

Chen Ji tried letting go, and the sense of noise/chaos returned.

He gripped the jade ornament again... Perhaps it wasn't blocking sound, but something else?

Like... perception.

Chen Ji smiled and rubbed System Cat's head. It was now 6 a.m. He went to the bathroom to take another shower, put the jade ornament into the pocket of his fresh clothes, tossed all the dirty laundry into the washing machine, and then started preparing breakfast.

As a blind person, fixing three meals a day was real work.

After breakfast and making offerings to Mountain Lord, Chen Ji packed his backpack as usual and prepared to head out—yesterday, he had asked Mountain Lord for herbs, and during today's offering, he emphasized that he would be going out to look for herbs. Hopefully, he would have some success.

He left Mountain Lord's temple and walked into the forest path on the mountain peak, hanging the jade ornament around his neck.

System Cat: ["Is this thing really useful?"]

Chen Ji: ["We'll find out by trying."]

Chen Ji searched through the forest. Everything in the woods appeared clearer to him than before. When he used to see the forest with his eyes, it was just trees and plants, but now he saw lines. For instance, he could clearly see the Five-Step Snake, Fifth Grandfather, lying 50 meters ahead. Further away, there was a place emitting a strong white light... like a stage spotlight, illuminating the entire forest.

He set up some spicy malatang and a giant cup of bubble tea for Fifth Grandfather, then cheerfully headed toward the spotlight.

The closer he got, the clearer his vision became, as if the whole world was bathed in warm, radiant sunlight.

A massive white tiger lay curled up in a nest of dried grass and branches, its tail swaying gently as if it were sound asleep. Chen Ji approached, and the tiger’s ears twitched alertly. Just as it turned its head, Chen Ji pounced forward. In an instant, the tiger rose and pinned him beneath its body.

Chen Ji: "...Ouch."

A tiger's paw could really swat a person dead—did Xiangxiang mean to kill him with that strike to the chest?