Just as his consciousness began to fade, a dark shadow leaped to his side. It was the black cat. It circled anxiously around Luo Yan, rubbing its head against his cold face while emitting mournful cries.
“Sorry,” Luo Ziming whispered weakly, “I can’t… take you home anymore…”
The black cat seemed to possess intelligence, gradually ceasing its cries as it shed its fur and transformed into a woman.
“You once said that if we could escape, you’d give me a home.”
Luo Ziming was stunned, thinking it was a hallucination before death. He even found himself ridiculous – in his final moments, still yearning for someone to show him kindness. But the woman’s expression was so earnest that he couldn’t help but nod blankly.
“Then let’s go home now.” The woman carried him on her back to a remote abandoned temple. She gathered herbs to treat his wounds, searched for food to satisfy his hunger… After a year of torment, Luo Ziming’s appearance and physique had completely changed upon recovery. His once handsome face now bore the marks of hardship, adding maturity and world-weariness.
Luo Ziming declared bitterly: “I will have my revenge.”
The woman gently responded: “Alright.”
“My name is Luo Ziming. What’s yours?”
The woman shook her head.
“May I call you Luo He? Like the mountain lotus, representing family.”
“Alright.”
They began making plans, then implemented them step by step. He would never forget that night – how Lin Youzhong, that hypocritical beast, and Lin Shiyu, that two-faced whore, knelt begging for mercy, watching him with despair in their eyes. He wanted to personally destroy what they cherished most!
“I want you to find life unlivable and death unreachable.” Luo He cut her arm and fed them her Demon Blood. “Don’t worry, you won’t die. You’ll live a long, long time.”
As the scalding Demon Blood entered their bodies, Lin Youzhong and Lin Shiyu felt excruciating pain throughout their limbs, as if every bone was being broken and healed. But they couldn’t make a sound, endless suffering churning in their mouths. After a night of dazed agony, when they regained consciousness, Lin Youzhong had already become the monstrous creature he was now.
Then Luo He transformed into Lin Shiyu’s appearance and found an excuse to bring Luo Ziming in as a live-in son-in-law.
The story abruptly ended. Luo Ziming spoke with numb expression: “You all know what happened after.”
Everyone felt heavy-hearted. This brief story had conveyed the horrific suffering Luo Ziming endured.
“I did all these things. I’m a Demon, I bewitched him,” Luo He cried bitterly, “He was just a puppet, completely under my control. Please spare him!”
Yan Wuyou said solemnly: “Demons follow demonic ways, humans follow human ways. Luo Ziming and the Lin family members should be handed over to the authorities for investigation. Life, death, reward, and punishment follow their natural course. Let me ask you – where is the real Lin Shiyu?”
But Luo He laughed: “You all think that ugly old thing in the wheelchair is Lin Youzhong? Hahaha, you’re all wrong! That is Lin Shiyu! She always prided herself on her beauty, seizing what she wanted by force, destroying what she couldn’t have. How many innocent men has she harmed?” She then pointed eerily at the thin yellow dog tied in the courtyard. “Guess who that is?”
Luo Ziming gritted his teeth: “Steward Li, bring that dog here.” When the steward led the dog into the main hall, everyone was burning with curiosity—surely this dog couldn’t be Master Lin?
Lin Yao ordered someone to fetch scissors and cut off the tips of the yellow dog’s ears. The dog yelped in pain, writhing on the ground. Black demon blood flowed from the ear tips, and the dog transformed back into Lin Youzhong’s form, now an ugly old man whose features vaguely resembled his former self. Lin Youzhong sobbed uncontrollably, tears streaming down his deeply wrinkled face.
Everyone stared in shock at the transformation!
“This is a type of demon spell,” Lin Yao explained. “It requires forty-nine days of infusing the victim with the casting demon’s blood to transform them into an animal. However, this spell greatly damages the demon itself, so it’s rarely used. I once read in an ancient text that cutting off the animal’s ear tips would restore its original form. I tested it just now, and it actually worked.”
Luo Ziming loathed Lin Youzhong too much to let him die easily—not only would he keep him alive, but he’d make him live in the most humiliating way possible!
Luo Ziming spat viciously: “A beast should look like a beast. Pah! Did you think you could keep hiding in human skin? Dream on!”
During the day, Lin Youzhong—now an old yellow dog—was tied in the courtyard, begging the household for food with wagging tail. At night, he was locked in a stone chamber, left to despair in darkness while awaiting death.
“For ten years, I’ve lost countless nights of sleep. All because of him! Because of him! Whenever I woke from nightmares, I’d whip him. Hearing his miserable barks was so satisfying—”
The crowd sighed at Luo Ziming’s shifting expressions—sometimes grief-stricken, sometimes terrified, sometimes manic. That once brilliant, handsome youth… if not for that inhuman suffering, how magnificent he would be today!
Seeing the case nearing its conclusion, Yan Wuyou produced his waist token: “Your Honor, let the constables take the Lin family to the magistrate for interrogation. As for this demon, our Jade Capital Pavilion will handle it.”
Jade Capital Pavilion?
Wasn’t that the renowned academy founded by the great Zhou Tianshi? Years ago, Zhou Tianshi led the Demon Catching Division to severely wound the Demon King, driving it back to the Demon Realm at Great Flame Mountain and sealing the realm’s exit. Other demons were so terrified they dared not cause trouble. As demon sightings gradually vanished, commoners could finally enjoy night markets and evening scenery like today.
Though the Demon Catching Division was disbanded over thirty years ago, Zhou Tianshi’s legendary reputation lived on, with many still flocking to Jade Capital Pavilion seeking apprenticeship!
“As the mage suggests. Officers, take all Lin family members to the magistrate for interrogation. Ensure every detail of the past events is uncovered with absolute accuracy!”
“Yes—”
Seeing Luo Ziming being taken away, Luo He struggled desperately—
Lin Yao reassured her: “Don’t worry, we’ll deal with you after Luo Ziming’s sentencing.” Luo He immediately ceased struggling.
Several days later, the Lin family affair had spread like wildfire through the city.
The citizens were terrified. If a cat demon had appeared ten years ago, who knew if other demons lurked in the city… The authorities posted notices to reassure the public: Jade Capital Pavilion’s mages had already captured the cat demon. Thank goodness for Zhou Tianshi’s Jade Capital Pavilion—now they could rest easy.
As the case progressed, Lin Youzhong’s crimes from years past were also exposed: over more than a decade, he had harmed nearly thirty handsome young men…
Thus, many commoners applauded Luo Ziming and the Cat Demon’s revenge: good begets good, evil begets evil! Some storytellers even turned this into a vivid tale recounted in teahouses.
Numerous impoverished scholars who had received Luo Ziming’s sponsorship jointly petitioned the government office, pleading for leniency toward Luo Ziming. The impoverished commoners he had aided also joined the petitioning ranks.
“Luo Ziming has been sentenced to three years of penal servitude,” Lin Yao told Luo He. “Beyond the letter of the law, there is also human sentiment.”
Luo He heaved a deep sigh of relief, her gaze distant: “They say all living beings are equal. If a demon harms a human, it must be slain. But if a human kills a demon, regardless of whether the demon was good or evil, no one cares. How unjust is that?”
“Not so. The cycle of cause and effect is inexorable. People often see only the effect but remain ignorant of the cause. Those who unjustly create killing karma will ultimately reap the bitter consequences,” Yan Wuyou said. “Lin Youzhong sowed evil causes and ultimately reaped evil effects. Luo Ziming aided the poor and sponsored impoverished scholars, sowing good causes, hence the multitude’s petition secured him the most lenient treatment.”
Yan Wuyou paused, then continued, “Humans follow the human path, demons follow the demon path. You harbored greed, hatred, and delusion toward humans and ruthlessly attacked my junior sister—now you must bear your evil consequences.”
Luo He looked at the two sincerely: “Thank you, Master, for resolving my doubts. I am willing to bear all evil consequences.”
“I will disperse all your demonic power. From now on, you will be merely an ordinary cat.”
Tears streamed down Luo He’s face: “Thank you.” Having her demonic power dispersed meant all her cultivation was destroyed in an instant, and she could never practice again. The remainder of her life would be that of an ordinary cat. This was her effect.
With the matters in Qiu City concluded, the man in black and Kongming were severely injured and would not return anytime soon. Moreover, with the Goddess Tear concealing Tao Tao’s aura, Lin Yao decided to return to Hidden Mountain.
After bidding farewell, the three went their separate ways.
The journey to Hidden Mountain was long, and Lin Yao rode northward at full speed. Along the way, her thoughts wandered…
Three years—she wondered how her master was doing. Her master must have thought she was dead, surely grieving deeply, perhaps even erecting a cenotaph for her! If she were to appear alive and well before him now, would he mistake her for a demon and subdue her?
No, her master would definitely recognize her! Definitely!
While traveling one day, she suddenly heard hoofbeats approaching from behind—
“Junior sister—”
Lin Yao reined in her horse and turned to see it was Yan Wuyou.
“Senior brother, why have you come?”
Yan Wuyou chuckled lightly: “With my treasure in your possession, if anything were to happen to it, the loss would be too great!”
How disingenuous! Clearly, he was worried about me—why can’t he just say it!
The young man before her stood tall and graceful, his originally stern features softened by a gentle haze under the warm sunlight. His half-teasing, half-sincere smile appeared exceptionally handsome in Lin Yao’s eyes! Unconsciously, the corners of her lips curled high as she fluttered her long eyelashes: “But senior brother, it’s been a whole day—how did you manage to track me down?”
Before Yan Wuyou could answer, a reddish-brown sparrowhawk landed on his shoulder, a silk handkerchief tied to its leg.
“Isn’t this my handkerchief? You thieving bird!” Lin Yao feigned anger. The sparrowhawk showed no fear whatsoever, instead strutting boldly onto Lin Yao’s shoulder. As Lin Yao untied the handkerchief from its leg, understanding dawned – this thief had been drawn by the scent on the silk handkerchief!
“Right, it was all this thieving bird’s doing!” Yan Wuyou’s laughter grew even more artificial. “Junior sister, let me explain. It has its own ideas, truly I didn’t instruct it…”
Lin Yao waved her hand: “I believe you, let’s go—”
She believed that easily? No recourse! All that effort spent crafting explanations for two days, completely wasted!