The Flower Of The High Mountain Turns Into A Cat And Is Picked Up By A Human Chapter 7
byBai Chendeng glanced at him, then coiled up and settled on his abdomen.
The man, whose hands were now free, didn’t mind the weight of the small cat ball pressing on his stomach. Instead, he rested his arms behind his head, enjoying the rare tranquility.
He used to be alone; now, he was a man accompanied by a cat.
Humming a little tune, he unconsciously drifted off to sleep.
After feeling the rise and fall beneath him become steady, Bai Chendeng looked toward the sun. The strong light stimulated his eyes, causing tears to stream down.
He would recover his human form.
Regardless of whether Grapevine was alive or dead, the mastermind had to pay the price.
The tears evaporated the moment they left his eyes.
He absorbed the solar essence, condensing a small, blurry sun wheel within his body, radiating magnificent light and heat.
His body, transformed by the Spirit-Nurturing Flower, had long surpassed the scope of ordinary spirits, allowing him to attempt to simultaneously contain the power of the sun and the moon.
The moonlight had already been exposed, but he would use the solar essence to fiercely gouge out a piece of the mastermind’s flesh.
Even if his current strength was less than one-tenth of its peak and he faced the constant possibility of death, he would try every possible way to struggle.
“Chicken and pumpkin rice. How is it? Is it tasty?”
Heng Yuze served a large bowl and ate his own meal alongside Bai Chendeng’s cat food.
His life was now overly regulated.
He cooked three meals on time, and aside from eating and using the restroom, he had to accompany the cat in sunbathing. His video editing station had been moved to the window, and with the cat curled up in the crook of his arm, he could only operate the computer awkwardly with his right hand.
“Good boy, you really are becoming a spirit. Sunbathing after moonbathing—isn’t this just collecting the essence of the sun and moon?”
Heng Yuze enjoyed talking to the cat; it made him feel free.
“Maybe one day you’ll turn into a human. I wonder if I’ll still be able to recognize you then.”
Bai Chendeng was annoyed by his incessant chatter. The man had been talking nonstop for half an hour, so the cat lightly kicked him in irritation.
Only then did Heng Yuze fall silent.
In the past few days, the man and the cat had eaten seafood stew, mixed chicken and duck meals, and nourishing soup pots. The refrigerator contents were quickly running low.
Heng Yuze looked at himself, then at the cat, and deeply felt that raising a cat was harder than raising a person.
Aside from filming video material, Heng Yuze usually cut corners when it came to himself, but he never skimped on the cat.
“Good boy, it’s time for us to go grocery shopping again.”
This time, he skillfully put on a loose jacket, unzipped it, and invited the cat inside.
However, Bai Chendeng did not immediately burrow into his arms.
The cat went to the kitchen cabinet and used its claws to hook open the door.
When Heng Yuze didn’t feel the cat, he curiously leaned over, looking at the miscellaneous items inside the open cabinet, especially the black, thick garbage bags. He suddenly remembered something.
The previous purplish-black grapes had been bagged in these garbage bags and thrown into the trash in batches.
The insects on the grapes were almost lifeless after being exposed to the sun.
But Heng Yuze was still disgusted by the bugs. It was strange—the insects posed no threat to humans, yet he dared not touch them personally, feeling a fear that made him want to stay far away.
The old woman from that night had left a shadow on Heng Yuze; he hadn’t dared to recall the incident too much.
Heng Yuze immediately went to the bedroom, did something, and then returned to the kitchen, opening his jacket wide. “Come on, good boy.”
Bai Chendeng stopped hesitating and plunged into his arms like a little sun.
Heng Yuze bounced the weight in his arms.
The cat was unusually warm today. Wearing the jacket, he actually felt a bit hot, and fine sweat beaded on his forehead.
They left the house and exited the complex.
Since it was a weekday, there weren’t many people, and the surroundings were quite deserted.
Fortunately, the market was always bustling, regardless of the time.
Heng Yuze arrived at a familiar stall, grabbed a bag, and started selecting vegetables.
Usually, this area was constantly busy but not crowded.
Today, Heng Yuze sensed something unusual. It seemed like the people around the vegetable stall were increasing.
He secretly surveyed his surroundings. Before he could figure anything out, his nose caught a faint, strange odor.
The smell of sweat, oily hair, cooking fumes, and body odor mixed together, gradually growing stronger in the open space.
Not far from Heng Yuze, a curly-haired man was muttering something, then seemed to bump into a shelf with his waist and abdomen as if trying to avoid something.
A woman wearing a hat and oversized clothes had oily, matted hair visible beneath the brim, looking like it hadn’t been washed in days.
An elderly person in dark work clothes mumbled while picking at the corner of their clothes with blackened fingers. Their pockets were bulging, but it was impossible to see what was inside.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong!
Heng Yuze’s intuition screamed a warning.
These people, these people with certain characteristics, were approaching him slowly and stealthily, as if trying to surround and trap him.
Clutching the bag of vegetables, he dared not linger and quickly left the spot.
As he passed the curly-haired man whose mouth was constantly moving, Heng Yuze finally heard his voice clearly.
He was saying, “Itching.”
Itching? Where was it itching?
Heng Yuze suddenly felt a jolt.
He seemed somewhat familiar with this feeling.
He remembered!
That’s right, just like facing the old woman that night, these people were clearly human, yet they carried non-human characteristics that were terrifying.
Heng Yuze quickened his pace.
His heart pounded, pumping blood throughout his body.
Bai Chendeng could feel the man’s tension.
There were too many people in the market.
Heng Yuze dared not make contact with anyone. He moved swiftly, as if his feet were winged, darting toward the vicinity of an automatic vending machine. Seeing the few grubby people still lingering in the area, he felt a mix of surprise and suspicion.
Bai Chendeng poked half his face out of the collar and looked around. Sure enough, many people carried that sticky smell.
A fresh scent of insects.
According to ancient customs, demons and monsters should not cause trouble in human society.
That being said, certain entities with hidden abilities always found ways to do something.
They were maggots that shunned the light, scurrying around in the gutters.
Disgusting things.
Seeing the cat poke its head out, Heng Yuze was afraid it might accidentally dart away, so he gently pushed the small head back in.
If it were a normal day, he would only risk being discovered by fans, but today, with these unknown, ghostly things around, he was terrified something might happen to the cat.
He quickly paid, grabbed the bag, and hurried away.
Heng Yuze kept looking back, and when he didn’t see the grubby people following him, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He crossed the road and rushed back to the complex.
At the complex entrance, a man smoking a cigarette stood in the shade, rubbing his eyes and coughing, appearing extremely busy.
Besides him, there was a man talking on the phone and kicking a stone block, a man carrying a laptop bag stained with coffee, and a person in a store uniform constantly rubbing their hands.
Why were there suddenly so many strangers at the complex entrance?
Heng Yuze pursed his lips. He didn’t shout or panic.
He turned around nonchalantly, intending to leave, when he saw a man in a mottled leather jacket appear behind him, seemingly out of nowhere.
The man had short, stiff hair, and his eyes held a cold, chilling light. His skin was rough, and he was heavily built.
He wore loose, baggy trousers and stained shoes, and a dirty small drum was tucked into his waistband.
With just one look, Heng Yuze knew this person was trouble.
He was surrounded, with people both ahead and behind.
In such a situation of being attacked from both sides, there was no choice but to force his way through.
The fierce-looking man rested his fingers on the small drum, occasionally tapping it, looking relaxed. However, while his posture was relaxed, his gaze grew increasingly cold, almost venomous.
Heng Yuze put one hand in his pocket, unlocked his phone, and casually dialed a few numbers, calling 110. Once connected, he didn’t have time to say much. After quickly stating his location, he turned and started to run.
These actions were completed in just a few seconds, flowing smoothly like water.
The man, watching him escape right under his nose, merely continued tapping the small drum, unhurriedly.
The people who shouldn’t have been there at this time—the phone man, the white-collar worker, the store clerk—twitched for a moment the instant Heng Yuze started running, then swarmed him like puppets on strings, spreading their arms and lunging forward.
Heng Yuze would rather face these people than the strange-looking man. Holding the cat close, he tried to dodge the outstretched arms lunging at him, but he couldn’t avoid them. His arms were tightly grabbed, and his upper body was embraced.
Seeing the man approaching, Heng Yuze quickly shouted, “Sorry!” Relying on the excellent momentary explosive power of an adult male, he forcibly broke free from the restraints and rushed forward.
However, Heng Yuze, who thought he had successfully shaken off these people, suddenly felt an extremely wet and warm sensation on his back, the outside of his arms, and his chest.
He subconsciously looked at himself and found that his black jacket was covered in layers of flesh-colored material.
The material still had bits of flesh attached and retained a certain elasticity.
It was extremely fresh… skin.
This sight was enough to make him lose his composure, his mind almost blank with terror. How had so much skin suddenly stuck to him?
In that moment of lost thought, he finally heard the sound that had been faint and ignored until now.
“Bang—”
“Clap—”
It was the sound of fingertips hitting the drumhead.
It was rhythmic, gradually synchronizing with the frequency of his heartbeat.
Heng Yuze’s mind was consumed only by the skin on his body; fear threatened to drown his rationality.
The drumbeat replaced his heartbeat.
Amidst the incessant drumming, Heng Yuze gradually felt his body becoming lighter.
A thought slowly rose in his mind.
So heavy, so stifling, so hot, so cramped…
He wanted to escape his skin…
At the critical moment, an angry cat cry, like a clap of thunder, exploded in his ear.
Heng Yuze immediately snapped out of the illusory desire to shed his skin and regained his sense of self.
Looking closely, there was no skin on him. He was still being restrained by those few people.
They were grabbing and biting him. The wetness Heng Yuze had felt earlier was real; he had acquired many wounds that were now streaming blood.
What surprised Heng Yuze even more was that the cat in his arms had climbed onto his shoulder. After letting out a threatening cry, its claws swiftly lashed out at the people restraining him. In just a few swipes, it made them howl and retreat.
Heng Yuze seized the opportunity, wrapped one arm around the cat’s back to prevent it from being thrown off, and continued to run.
But after only a few steps, the drumbeat, like a maggot attached to bone, sounded again.
Heng Yuze’s pupils contracted. Unable to resist the wicked sound, the idea of shedding his human skin once again rose in his mind…