Cat Demon Raising Manual - Chapter 22

Always feeling like Shen Qingyan had ill intentions toward her…

Shen Qingyan easily coaxed Hua Wangxuan indoors. Hua Wangxuan hopped onto the blanket-covered chaise lounge on her own, looking rather listless. After eating her fill, she quickly fell asleep, her white whiskers twitching from time to time.

Seeing this, Shen Qingyan frowned slightly, suspecting that Hua Wangxuan might be sick. In her understanding, cats were clingy creatures prone to causing trouble.
Hua Wangxuan’s unusual quietness felt abnormal.

So, she took out her phone and called a friend who knew more about cats.
“I picked up a stray cat. It seems a bit lethargic and sluggish. Could it be sick?”

The person on the other end was clearly shocked, her tone exaggeratedly rising: “Ms. Shen, since when did you become so compassionate? You wouldn’t even go near my Pudding before, and now you’re contacting me over a stray cat?”

“Cut the nonsense. You know I don’t have much patience,” Shen Qingyan dropped her facade in front of Xu Xiaole, her tone cold and filled with an irritating arrogance.

Xu Xiaole was one of the few people who knew Shen Qingyan’s true nature. Hearing her plastic sister’s slightly threatening words, she pouted dismissively. In the end, her concern for the cat outweighed her desire to see Shen Qingyan embarrassed.

“The calico cat you picked up, did you give it food and water? Did it eat willingly?”

Shen Qingyan glanced at the soundly sleeping Hua Wangxuan and replied calmly, “It ate quite happily. It finished a can of meat and drank some water before falling asleep.”

“Did it vomit, cough, or sneeze?”

“No.”

“Any abnormalities in its bowel movements? Like diarrhea or something?”

“I haven’t seen it use the bathroom since I picked it up…” Shen Qingyan paused. “Last time, I didn’t let it relieve itself randomly in the yard, and it got angry with me over that.”

“How surprising that Ms. Shen remembers these things,” Xu Xiaole remarked sarcastically. “If its eating and activity are normal, the cat might just be resting. But if it shows other abnormalities or continues to be sluggish, you should be cautious about whether it has something like feline distemper. If it refuses to eat next time, you’d better take it to the vet promptly to avoid delaying treatment. Observe it for a while first. So, why the sudden interest in keeping a cat?”

“No reason. I just suddenly thought this little thing was quite cute,” Shen Qingyan omitted the fact that she was seeking inspiration from Hua Wangxuan.

Xu Xiaole clapped her hands, her eyes squinting with laughter. Shen Qingyan’s words gave off the vibe of an iron tree blooming, something utterly unexpected.

“When will Ms. Shen have time to come over and socialize the stray cat?” Xu Xiaole proactively invited, curious about how the usually trouble-averse Shen Qingyan had ended up wrapped around a cat’s paw.

“Its name is Shen Xiaohua. I’ll observe its condition a bit longer,” Shen Qingyan said, glancing again at Hua Wangxuan, who was curled up like a marshmallow. Unconsciously, a faint smile appeared on her face.

So, this is what it feels like to have a cat.

After hanging up with Xu Xiaole, she quickly ordered some cat supplies online. Suddenly, she heard a soft, delicate voice that sent shivers down her spine.

Shen Qingyan looked up in astonishment, and the scene before her made her question her sanity. Lying on the simple and elegant wooden chaise lounge was a completely naked woman.

Or rather, a girl.

The other’s body structure and skin condition still leaned towards youthful immaturity, so fair it was almost dazzling.

The girl curled up amidst the soft cushions of the chaise lounge, her long orange fluffy tail unconsciously wrapping around her slender calves. The black tip of her tail lifted casually, while the fur on her cat ears atop her head trembled lightly with each breath. The pink-tipped ears revealed delicate capillaries through the thin fuzz, resembling the fragile ice on a river in early spring.

Her arched back was a stretch of snowy white, the shoulder blades poised as if ready to take flight. The newly formed skin near her tailbone still carried a faint pink hue. Her long orange hair cascaded down to her waist, and from the side, the slight swell of her chest appeared as tender as fresh tofu. The stray hairs at the nape of her neck were lifted by a passing breeze, exposing shoulders as smooth as mutton-fat jade.

On the boxwood desk, a celadon vase held a freshly plucked peach blossom branch, its fragrance drifting faintly through the air. The girl unconsciously nuzzled her pillow, her eyelashes quivering slightly. Her pink lips puckered as if she were dreaming of some delicious treat, and she smacked her lips a few times.

Shen Qingyan couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Was it an illusion? She rubbed her eyes, only to find that in the next moment, the previously naked cat-eared girl had reverted to the form of a calico cat, sleeping peacefully.

Shen Qingyan swallowed hard, convinced she must be overly tired and hallucinating. She hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously approaching Hua Wangxuan, torn between the fear of being discovered and the unease of getting no reaction.

With these conflicting emotions, Shen Qingyan brought her hand close to Hua Wangxuan’s nose to check for breath.

Perhaps drawn by the scent on her hand, Hua Wangxuan suddenly nibbled on the approaching finger. Her barbed tongue instinctively licked it, the warm, moist sensation prompting her to gently gnaw with her sharp teeth.

The slender knuckle now seemed to serve as a chew toy. Since it didn’t hurt much, Shen Qingyan found the experience oddly novel.

It felt like being gradually gnawed by a wild beast, skin torn away, fat nibbled off.

A tingling numbness mixed with stinging pain.

Shen Qingyan’s dark eyes grew increasingly obscure as she watched Hua Wangxuan grow more audacious, recalling the earlier scene.

The naked cat-eared girl, sleeping so vulnerably.

Even if Shen Qingyan dismissed it as an illusion, the image was deeply etched in her mind, refusing to fade.

As the vision shattered, Shen Qingyan looked down at her finger, instinctively pulling her hand back. Her gaze fell on the damp digit, where a bead of blood had welled up.

The blood mixed with the sticky saliva, turning a pale pink.

Shen Qingyan’s expression remained unreadable as she washed her hands clean. Thanks to her strong clotting ability, her fingertip soon returned to its usual state.

Pressing her thumb against the bitten index finger, a peculiar ache surged in her heart. Almost as if indulging in self-punishment, Shen Qingyan applied a bit more pressure, as though trying to reopen the healed wound, unsatisfied until she saw blood again.

Blood seeped once more from the broken skin, glaringly bright. Her throat grew dry as she bent to lightly sniff her finger, the sweet metallic scent of blood stimulating her senses.

Shen Qingyan’s brow furrowed slightly, and in her daze, she thought she heard a familiar meow.

Looking up, she saw that Hua Wangxuan had awoken.

Hua Wangxuan lazily stretched and yawned, sensing that something strange had happened to her body.

She watched Shen Qingyan staring blankly at his fingers not far away, wondering what could be so fascinating about them. Mimicking his posture, she lowered her head to gaze at her own paws and zoned out for a moment.

Finding nothing particularly interesting, Hua Wangxian impatiently flicked her tail and let out a meow, hoping to catch Shen Qingyan’s attention.

What’s so great about fingers? Hurry up and look at me, your majesty.

It worked perfectly, Shen Qingyan responded immediately.

He rubbed his fingers, washed them again, and suddenly a thought crossed his mind as he snapped back to reality.

If a cat bites you, don’t you need a rabies shot?

The two locked eyes. Shen Qingyan raised an eyebrow slightly, a mischievous smile playing in his peach-blossom eyes. “Little kitten, biting is a bad habit. You should break it.”

Hua Wangxian instinctively arched her back and retreated, tucking her tail between her legs, sensing that Shen Qingyan was up to no good.