Transmigrated Into the Body of a Sickly Villain's Kitten - Chapter 4

The original novel never specified how Maomao came to be by Shi Yao’s side.

In any case, from the moment Shi Yao appeared, she was accompanied by a cat. This cat was a rare spirit who had cultivated into an immortal over thousands of years, known by the immortal name Yun Mi. Due to her laziness and some trouble she had caused, she was punished to take on her original form and perform a hundred good deeds in the mortal world.

Just as Yun Mi was one good deed away from regaining her human form, she met Shi Yao.

Shi Yao was the last descendant of the mermaid clan. Her mother was human, and her father was a mermaid.

The child of a mermaid and a human was considered an abomination, and neither race would tolerate such a monster.

After her father’s death, Shi Yao was secretly brought back to the village by her mother to live.

Even then, Shi Yao’s extraordinary beauty made her stand out. The children in the village were curious about what the little beauty, who always covered her head with a cloth, really looked like. They often caught glimpses of her exquisite and lovely profile, so they would gather together, trying to figure out how to tear the cloth off Shi Yao.

Eventually, Shi Yao’s secret was discovered by these children.

Her ears were pointed, and the backs of her hands had glowing scales.

Shi Yao’s mother was drowned by her own clansmen. Shi Yao, unafraid of water, was then tied to a pyre by the villagers, but they soon discovered that fire had no effect on her either. Terrified, the villagers summoned a fake, white-bearded Taoist priest to perform a ritual. They wrapped Shi Yao in oil-soaked cloth and buried her alive.

Later, it rained.

Shi Yao clawed her way out of the ground. With her sharp nails, she tore off the layers of oilcloth and lifted her head to feel the rain’s nourishment.

At that moment, a snow-white cat with a round face appeared by her side.

The cat could speak human language and asked Shi Yao if she had been bullied and if she needed help.

Shi Yao remained silent. Her hair clung to her cheeks from the rain, and her dark eyes were as gloomy as the weather.

She crawled out of the mud without a word, ready to leave.

The cat followed her, pressing further: “Hey, don’t be shy. Why are you only wearing a piece of cloth? Let me conjure some clothes for you. Otherwise, if others catch your scent, it won’t be good.”

Shi Yao, who appeared to be no more than fifteen, was already tall and curvaceous. In the blink of an eye, she was dressed in a deep blue robe. Not only that, but the uncomfortable oilcloth had vanished, and her bare feet were now clad in shoes and socks.

The cat proudly said beside her, “How about that? Impressive, right? These are just small things. Tell me, what happened to you? I can help.”

“Can you help with anything?”

“Of course! Tell me.”

“I want those who humiliated me to suffer unbearably, unable to live or die. Will you help me?”

The cat hesitated. Shi Yao gave her a calm, indifferent glance and continued walking straight ahead.

Shi Yao walked quickly, and the cat hurried to catch up: “Hey, wait! Give me some time to think, will you? Young people shouldn’t be so impatient! Fine, I’ll help you. I always knew the hundredth deed would be difficult. Can you tell me the whole story? Let me think about how to help you.”

“What hundredth deed?” Shi Yao asked sharply.

The cat stopped speaking and leaped onto Shi Yao’s shoulder, clinging there. Her paw gently stroked Shi Yao’s cheek, where faint scales had once been, but under the touch of the paw, they smoothed into flawless skin.

“You must be a descendant of the merfolk, right? Were you just being roasted over a fire? The scent coming from you was so enticing, I followed it here and happened to see you crawling out of the mud.”

“You don’t think I’m a monster?”

“Monster? Of course not! The world is full of all sorts of strange and wondrous things. It’s just that humans haven’t seen enough of the world, don’t take their ignorance to heart.”

“Is that so?”

Shi Yao pondered for a long while before revealing a rare, faint smile.

Later, inspired by the cat’s words, Shi Yao began to embrace her identity as a descendant of the merfolk. She absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate her powers, and her progress advanced by leaps and bounds.

When she and the cat returned to the village where her mother had once lived, they learned from the locals that over a decade ago, the village had been submerged by a flood. Only a handful of survivors remained, and those who could leave had long since scattered.

If they calculated the timing, the village had been flooded in the very year Shi Yao and the cat had left.

Those who had harmed Shi Yao’s mother and herself had already faced retribution not long after committing their misdeeds.

Many more events unfolded afterward, but the cat never left Shi Yao’s side. In fact, because of this cat, Shi Yao gained an additional ability:

The power of words.

Whatever she spoke would come true.

Natural disasters, human calamities, anything that caught her interest would manifest into reality.

It was precisely because of this that the cultivation world feared both her and the cat by her side.

The enmity between the protagonist and Shi Yao originated from the previous generation. That alchemist named Qi Wushuang, one of the main characters in the original story, lost her parents in a flood. By sheer luck, she was found by a wandering Taoist priest, who took her in as his disciple.

Later, when Qi Wushuang learned the truth, she believed Shi Yao was the one responsible for that flood and sought revenge.

This was the reason for the conflict between the protagonist and Shi Yao in the original story.

However, by the time Shi Yao made her first appearance in the original tale, she had already regained her memories and knew she was undergoing a tribulation.

What tribulation? She did not know.

But having memories was better than having none.

Perhaps the evil mermaid goddess found her divine existence too monotonous. Who would have thought that in this mortal realm, she would encounter a cat with such a whimsical personality?

The cat’s name was Youyou, but she preferred Shi Yao to call her Yun Mi.

When Shi Yao asked why, Youyou replied, “It sounds more impressive, don’t you think? Yun Mi has that ethereal, transcendent feel to it.”

“Youyou is cuter, though.”

“What’s your name?”

“I… don’t have one.”

Shi Yao’s name was given by Youyou.

Having lived for tens of thousands of years, many of her memories had long since faded away. But after meeting that cat, she would forever be Shi Yao.

When Youyou learned that Shi Yao was actually an ancient deity who had lived for millennia and was reincarnated to undergo a tribulation in the mortal world, she wanted to flee.

She was merely a minor immortal who had lived for a thousand years, how could she possibly be worthy of associating with the legendary, cruel, and merciless Honored Master?

But this deity would not allow her to leave.

Not only that, the deity even resorted to playful deceit: “I know you’ve been punished by the Heavenly Emperor and must perform a hundred good deeds in the mortal world to regain your true form. But since I am an evil deity, helping me doesn’t count as a good deed.”

“What should I do then!?”

The kitten rolled around and threw a tantrum in Shi Yao’s arms. Who would have thought that just following the scent of grilled fish to do a good deed and complete a hundred good deeds would lead her to help an evil god, ahhhh!

Shi Yao rubbed Youyou’s soft little belly and said, “Of course, there’s a way. Don’t you think it would be a great act of kindness to redeem me and make me abandon my evil thoughts?”

Youyou blinked her big, round, sapphire-blue eyes: “Then how can I redeem you?”

“Stay with me for now.”

And just like that, Youyou was coaxed by Shi Yao.

She stayed with her for a very long time.

Later, because of the power of word-spirit, Shi Yao and Youyou were condemned by many. Many people feared her abilities and the cat by her side. Regardless of their faction or motives, some simply wanted such a powerful being to vanish from the world, or, for their own selfish interests, fabricated all sorts of baseless accusations, gathering a large group of people to “seek revenge.”

Later still, Youyou left, Shi Yao was defeated, and she was sealed here, waiting for her beloved to return.

She waited for seven hundred years.

But now, even though her beloved had returned, she didn’t seem very interested in paying her any attention.

Shi Yao was certain that the soul inside this little kitten was Youyou. Otherwise, how could a kitten only one or two months old understand her words so easily and react accordingly?

Ordinary demons would need at least two or three hundred years of cultivation to take human form. Learning language might only take them a few decades, but for a kitten only one or two months old to meow like this and make a group of cats so wary, there was only one such being in the world: Yun Mi.

But why couldn’t she understand Fu Rou’s meows? This puzzled Shi Yao greatly.

Fu Rou listened as Shi Yao recounted her first meeting with the cat and the origin of her name. Sometimes, her half-closed eyes would open again as she continued to listen.

She never expected that Shi Yao’s name was actually given by the cat.

This surprised Fu Rou greatly.

The original book never went into such detail about the relationship between Shi Yao and the cat. Who would have thought that crossing over would allow her to hear the protagonist herself share this side story?

Today, Fu Rou was once again shedding tears for love.

Satisfied from indulging in her ship, Fu Rou stood up on the bed and meowed twice at Shi Yao.

“What’s wrong?”

“Meow~”

Fu Rou lifted her short little leg, as if pointing toward the door, her eyes fixed intently on Shi Yao. The general idea was that she wanted to go out and play.

Over the past few days, she had been jumping and climbing all over Shi Yao’s courtyard. Shi Yao didn’t restrain her at all; instead, she followed behind, watching how she played, clearly indulging her. The three demons by her side, seeing Shi Yao following her cat, didn’t dare to disturb them.

The items in Shi Yao’s courtyard were neatly arranged. There was a study, what seemed to be a training room, the bedroom where Fu Rou spent her days, and a room locked with a copper lock that Fu Rou had never entered.

“I think you’re really different from before. Perhaps it’s the turning of the stars, the changing of the sun and moon, the world now is quite different from how it used to be. So, you’re curious, aren’t you?”

What was there to be curious about? It was just modern cultivation, it wasn’t like she hadn’t read stories like this before.

Fu Rou was picked up by Shi Yao, and she rubbed against Shi Yao’s chest again and again.

If Fu Rou were human, her face would definitely be bright red by now.

This was the first time Fu Rou felt grateful to be a cat.

Having been in the closet for so many years, Fu Rou rarely made friends, whether with men or women.

She wasn’t interested in men, and with women, she feared her “gaydar” might be too sensitive, leading to misunderstandings. So, she simply chose to be like a stone, taking care of the cats at the cat café every day and living a content life.

Her attitude toward love was one of letting things take their natural course, if it happened, it happened; if not, it didn’t matter.

But now that she had transmigrated into a cat, she wondered if there would even be a chance for love in the future.

Shi Yao seemed to know exactly what the cat in her arms was thinking. She carried Fu Rou to the door of a locked room in her courtyard.

“I’ve heard that kittens love to play. Over the years, I’ve collected many things, and just a few days ago, I had Guan Jin tidy them up. From now on, I’ll bring you here to play during the day, and at night, you’ll accompany me to sleep. We’ll keep each other company, and I’ll never let you feel lonely again.”

By now, Fu Rou had grown accustomed to Shi Yao’s chattiness. She assumed Shi Yao was about to show her something of sentimental value and might even share more stories, so she felt a little excited.

However, when Shi Yao pushed the door open, Fu Rou was stunned.

Cat trees, teaser wands, scratching posts…

Wasn’t this her dream cat paradise?

This damn feeling of excitement!