Chapter 156

Ling Yue spoke nonsense with a straight face.

At first, Zhao Yan could still believe a little, but hearing the rest, he was so angry his ears were practically steaming—what selective face-blindness, not remembering important people, clearly just talking nonsense!

She was humiliating herself!

Zhao Yan stormed back, bumped into a contestant, and actually shoved straight past him; the unfortunate contestant was furious to the point of death, just about to demand an explanation, when he was blocked by the black-clad bodyguard behind him.

"You don't need to donate your eyes to anyone, do you? You bump into people and don't even apologize—you're a real piece of trash!" In the end, that contestant didn't get an apology either, and could only mutter a few curses at his bad luck.

By then, Zhao Yan had already blended into the crowd, disappearing without a trace.

His back view was just like yesterday's, when he had sullenly carried Queen back to the hotel; thinking of Ling Yue's reaction still made him seethe, and he hadn't expected to see her again today, yet he ended up getting embarrassed again by her.

No problem.

He kept warning himself, let her be smug for a while—just look at what cat she brought, a native cat that almost made him laugh his teeth out; his own cat, meanwhile, has won two CFA championships, a specially bred top-tier competition cat.

Just one mating session costs over thirty thousand; if it weren't for this domestic CFA pet cat competition, he wouldn't have flown back from abroad just to fulfill his wish of winning three in a row.

This really opened his eyes; if all the cats in the competition were like the one Ling Yue brought, he would surely win easily this time.

This CFA pet cat competition held in Jing Shi offers a prize unprecedented in its richness—a full two hundred thousand—and the key is, for his Ragdoll cat Queen, it will be an absolute queen!

It will also be his best moneymaker.

Thinking this, Zhao Yan couldn't help but smile; he grew more composed, gazing at the chaotic stage, knowing that soon everyone would see his true strength.

Soon, the venue was ready.

Thus the contestants took their places; this CFA pet cat competition lasted two days, judged by nine renowned judges from around the world evaluating the cats' physique, posture, temperament, ability, and more.

Zhao Yan looked up, and his heart immediately settled.

All set.

One of them was Charles, whom he knew best; as an old-school gentleman who only liked various precious pets, he would surely scoff at the native cat Ling Yue brought out.

Moreover, Zhao Yan recalled hearing that the CFA organizing committee was planning to disqualify domestic native cats from participation—such a lowly, ubiquitous breed, how could it possibly stand alongside the meticulously bred pet cats of other nations?

Between them, there is naturally a world of difference.

"Teacher Zhao," he was daydreaming when a girl beside him, holding a chubby orange cat, nervously greeted him.

Zhao Yan involuntarily chuckled, but after seeing the cat in her arms, a cold glint flashed in his eyes and his smile stiffened: "Nervous? This is your first time entering the CFA pet cat competition, right?"

The girl excitedly nodded: "Yes, it's my first time, but I never expected to run into you here, Teacher Zhao—you've always been my idol!"

"Queen!" she exclaimed, spotting the cage in his hand, and grew even more excited.

Zhao Yan said with a fake smile: "Keep it down, you'll scare Queen."

The girl instantly felt mortified, growing even more nervous; according to Zhao Yan's outwardly modest persona, he should have comforted her, and he indeed did.

However, as he walked past her, he added softly: "Actually, you don't need to be nervous at all— that big golden meatball you're holding looks like a giant chicken drumstick from a fried‑chicken shop; I'm sure any judge with taste wouldn't give your chicken leg a second look."

The girl could hardly believe her ears, staring in shock at Zhao Yan as he uttered those words, her mouth opening and closing; by the time she reacted, he had already walked away.

She

She trembled all over with anger: "You‑you, how could you say that!"

"My humph isn't a chicken drumstick!" At this moment, her fondness for Zhao Yan completely collapsed.

The orange cat in her arms began to meow, looking around bewildered: "Chicken drumstick? Where's the chicken drumstick?"

From that sentence you could tell not an ounce of her flesh was wasted.

At that moment, Ling Yue walked by, the Black Cat Queen on her shoulder flicking its tail, looking down on the owner‑pet interaction; the mixed smells here made it uneasy, and it felt a bit annoyed.

Suddenly seeing this adorable Daju cat, she couldn't help but laugh: "Greedy fat orange, doesn't even know when it's being insulted."

The Black Cat Queen said, gazing at the crowd‑engulfed Zhao Yan and his cat.

It despised this kind of human, as well as the seat‑warming accomplices, the cats with no trace of awe—one could say, when the Black Cat Queen ruled the cats of Jing Shi, this little kitten didn't even know where to nurse yet.

It spread its claws, the sharp talons extending and retracting with ease, like some kind of hidden weapon—except it didn't flash a cold light.

As the Black Cat Queen looked down on the other cats and people, they too were looking at it; most cats were kept in cages, except for a few gentle‑tempered ones that their owners held in their arms.

They swore this was the first time they'd seen a cat sitting on its owner's shoulder, and she bore herself like a queen surveying her domain.

And those cats that it gazed upon, facing the Black Cat Queen with her full aura, instantly felt an indescribable presence and all lowered their heads.

The timider ones had already crawled onto the ground, humbly welcoming the queen like subjects.

The owners were all startled, hastily summoning the organizing committee for a check, fearing their cats had fallen ill or were suffering stress.

Fortunately, nothing serious turned up.

No one imagined that all this stemmed from a single cat.

To some extent, the Black Cat Queen is no longer an ordinary animal but a spirit beast.

Its physique and abilities far surpass those of ordinary cats, and its spirit‑seeing pupils are especially marvelous.

Not long after, all the cats began inspection and were divided into groups; the adult and neutered groups would compete in the open, champion, and super‑champion categories.

Since it was her first time entering, the Black Cat Queen was placed in the adult group, and at the same time Ling Yue received her turn for that group's duties.

Ling Yue had already been tormented by these tedious rules before, and by now she was quite used to them.

The open‑group test proceeded quickly; among cats of the same breed and sex, the Black Cat Queen was unquestionably first, and after scoring from four judges it swiftly earned a blue ribbon.

A blue ribbon denotes first place in the quality‑color‑sex group, red second, yellow third; after successive competitions, cats that have earned both blue and red ribbons advance to the championship finals.

Moreover, the competition uses a point system.

After multiple rounds of selection, the points of each cat are summed, the top ten across all breeds advance to the final championship showdown; usually only those with blue and red ribbons make the cut.

Sometimes a yellow ribbon also qualifies, but only in exceptionally outstanding cases. In fact, this is much like the academic ladder—elementary to middle school, middle to high school, high school to college—of course it's just an analogy, but it's quite vivid.

There are also special admits who go straight to the finals, called DMs, but such cases usually involve connections.

For a kitten, its mother's lineage must have at least five champions, and its father's lineage at least fifteen titled champions; this signifies recognition of the cat's excellence and the stability of its inheritance.

However, this time there were no DMs participating.

The spotlight should have belonged to Zhao Yan's Queen, but the venue was too huge for Ling Yue to spare any attention.

She watched the Mysterious Cat Queen win one blue ribbon after another, her heart not particularly excited; anyone with eyes could see how outstanding the queen was.

In the CFA pet cat competition, it could do everything required; even what was not required, it also could do.

It could do it; if not choosing it for first place, who would they choose?

Ling Yue brimmed with confidence; after round after round of selection, the Mysterious Cat Queen never made a mistake. Perhaps it didn't look as affectionate as a Blue Cat, nor as cute as a Silver or Golden Gradient, nor as ethereal as a Ragdoll, but that innate boss-like aura, sitting there, the queen's aura was fully unleashed.

Perhaps cat lovers still like a hint of aloofness that is both near and far.

When it responds to you with indifferent affection, you instead become increasingly eager.

The Mysterious Cat Queen said it had fully mastered the secret.

When the judges judged by sight, it was a cold, arrogant, inviolable queen; when touched and examined, it became so obedient as to be unbelievable.

In those warm amber, moist cat eyes, filled entirely with your reflection, your heart is struck instantly; at this moment, you suddenly feel that you are its only one.

It treats others completely differently from how it treats me.

Seeing this, Ling Yue was also shocked, helping to receive the blue ribbons while watching the judges go from indifferent to obsessively fascinated.

"Oh, Jennifer, come look; I don't know what's happening, I seem to have become obsessed with it, goodness, I feel that in its heart I am completely unique."

"We are each other's only one."

Ling Yue felt a wave of cheesiness, then she silently clenched her mouth shut.

At the same time, the informant sent by Zhao Yan told him the news here; Zhao Yan immediately furrowed his brows, wondering if he really had to meet the opposing side in the finals.

He had thought the other side's little native cat had already been eliminated; it seems their luck is not bad.

However, the upcoming matches are not that simple; even with luck's aid, they ultimately cannot rely on it as much as on strength.

As time passed, more and more cats were eliminated, the competition entered white-hot intensity, and the nine judges began rotating.

Ling Yue's luck was terrible; in the final match, just as she was about to achieve a clean sweep, the stiff old gentleman Charles was assigned to her.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yan laughed out loud on the spot, his schadenfreude plainly visible; of course, he quickly composed himself.

As he expected, the newly swapped judges were very difficult to deal with, especially Charles; in his eyes, this dark, indistinct blob where you couldn't even see nose or eyes—could it even count as a cat?

As the most senior judge in the CFA pet cat competition, he even held a baronetcy granted by the Ying Guo royal family, earning respect from others, at least on the surface.

As for himself, he favored purebred cats even more, having publicly expounded his view that only purebred cats are humanity's true companions, the truly evolved cats; all other cats are defective.

This once sparked great public outrage.

No one expected that the breed theory, abandoned for years, would one day be imposed on animals; this is not unlike a certain country's caste system, except that one applies to people and the other to animals.

However, today's Baron Charles seemed not to have rested well; his face was pale, with some dark circles under his eyes, and his spirit was listless.

After the appraisal began, Baron Charles furrowed his brows; especially when others' praise grew, his brows locked tightly, and the lines on his face deepened further, as if carved by knife and axe.

"Mr. Charles, look at this cat; it is said to be a legendary ancient breed, the Mysterious Cat, also once a Spirit Cat, one in a thousand!"

Upon hearing this, Charles felt deep contempt; he was about to speak when he involuntarily yawned, his body stiff as could be.

One should know that a noble ought not to behave in such an ungainly manner in public.

His spirit has indeed not been good lately.

Everyone exchanged glances, tacitly skipping Charles and letting another judge score; even if a judge didn't particularly like this Chinese domestic cat, they could not deny that the Mysterious Cat Queen's condition was the best they had ever seen among countless cats.

"Its fur, smooth and soft"

"like a bolt of silk; its feel is superb, I feel my whole body heating up."

"Look at this elegant, proud posture; it reminds me of the legendary Egyptian queen, who, according to legend, also had a PetLove cat, namely today's Abyssinian cat."

That judge exclaimed admiringly: "Although their appearances are completely different, that posture and spirit fully satisfy my imagination of it."

Charles snorted arrogantly, lifted his black top hat: "Sixty."

Hearing this, the others were stunned: "You—you……"

Charles said arrogantly and rigidly: "What so-called Mysterious Cat, Spirit Cat—I don't think this incompletely evolved cat breed has anything worth saving."

"It deserves to be eliminated by history, just as you said, with a one-in-a-thousand occurrence rate; what breeding advantage does this cat have? Ornamental value? Look at its body—it's a complete mess."

He said while shaking his head, continuing: "I dare say, even photographing it would be a hundred times harder than other cats, because it simply cannot focus."

"Pfft——"

Someone laughed, like a spark, igniting the whole venue; many more felt offended, as the Mysterious Cat differs from foreign cats, being called the witch's familiar, bringing omen and disaster.

Yet in domestic history, it has always been a positive symbol, a representation of auspiciousness, warding off evil and eliminating disaster; it is a Spirit Cat.

Moreover, many find it quite handsome, with well-proportioned muscles and a sleek figure, like a cheetah.

It is obvious that this arrogant baron did not notice, as he held his head high yet felt his body extremely cold—a condition he had since childhood, which worsened upon arriving in the domestic realm.

He gave a light cough, failing to notice the Mysterious Cat Queen, whom he had belittled, gazing at him with deep meaning.

Those amber cat eyes suddenly turned black, like a bottomless abyss, in its gaze—

On the listless Mr. Charles's shoulder lay a fully blood-red female ghost, gently blowing air onto his neck.

The Mysterious Cat Queen suddenly wasn't angry anymore; after all, the old man doesn't have many years left, and even if he's alive, he's miserable enough to deserve scorn.

It could detect this, and Ling Yue could naturally see it too; she just didn't expect that when she received the red ribbon, it was actually sent by Charles.

"Are you very angry?"

Ling Yue shook her head: "Not angry, after all… you have one foot in the grave."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Charles trembled with rage; having judged in the domestic realm for many years, he naturally knew the meaning of that phrase—she was cursing him!

In his fury, he slammed into Ling Yue's deep eyes; her soft voice entered his ears: "Haven't you lately felt your body suddenly grown much heavier, your hands and feet increasingly icy, often conscious yet unable to wake, unable to open your eyes?"

She had actually gotten every bit of it right!

Charles wasn't stupid; he immediately realized something was wrong, and in the face of life, he promptly lowered his proud head: "You—you, what do you mean?"

Ling Yue gave a faint smile: "Such symptoms are usually called—ghost pressure—in our country." Recently, encoding issues have been severe, giving us more motivation to update faster; please trouble yourself to lift a finger and exit the mode. Thanks:,,.