Chapter 436: We Have Cat Dignity!

Buli tilted his chin up slightly, his expression full of solemnity as he looked at Tu Ba Ge and spoke:

"We are free cats, with cat dignity!"

"That's right!" Ritz nodded continuously from the side.

Tu Ba Ge responded with a disdainful look and was just about to speak when Rekton, quick-eyed and deft-handed, picked up a piece of fruit and stuffed it into his mouth.

After blocking Tu Ba Ge's mouth, Rekton turned his gaze back to Ge Lan and said:

"The characteristics on them come from you?"

Ge Lan nodded gently, the corners of her lips slowly curving upward, as if recalling something amusing, and said:

"Not entirely. Before I encountered them, they had already been tainted by characteristics exuded from a deceased Knowledgeable."

"At the place where that Beyond-the-Ordinary died, there happened to be a group of cats lingering. After being tainted by the characteristics exuded from that Knowledgeable, all those little cats underwent varying degrees of mutation, and in the end, only these two survived tenaciously."

"The Knowledgeable's characteristics made the two of them much smarter. After meeting me, they got me to take them in by directly acting cute and playing endearing."

"Even though I knew they were faking it, who could refuse two cute and clever little cats?"

Rekton's gaze subconsciously fell on Buli and Ritz to the side. The two cats' bodies suddenly stiffened for a moment, as if some very unpleasant memories had been stirred up.

Rekton raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth slightly, his words carrying an obscure spiritual fluctuation that, without their noticing, pried at the emotions of those who heard the voice:

"Didn't you say you have cat dignity?"

A humanlike conflict appeared on Buli's cat face, but Ritz spoke up without hesitation:

"The prerequisite for having cat dignity is having a cat life. She waved her hand back then, and we were directly transported from our own base to in front of her."

"She even crushed a very powerful, very terrifying werewolf right in front of us—just lightly raising her hand like that, and then that werewolf was simply gone, turned into a pile of greyish-white characteristics."

As he spoke, the plump Ritz's fat jiggled a few times, as if merely recalling the scene from back then was frightening enough for a cat.

"After that, she even explained to us what Extraordinary Characteristics were, and told us that the reason we became smarter was because we had previously absorbed some Extraordinary Characteristics."

These two versions of the story differ quite a bit. Rekton's mouth twitched slightly, and from the corner of his eye he glanced without leaving a trace at Ge Lan opposite him. He saw that her posture remained as elegant and composed as ever, and from time to time she would sweep a glance at Ritz, who was still talking.

Poor Ritz—I hope you make it through tonight safely. Rekton silently offered a moment of mourning in his heart with not the slightest sincerity, then looked at Ge Lan and began asking about the matter of the Favored of Primordial Moon.

Ge Lan pondered and shook her head, saying:

"Primordial Moon's gaze has been resting on him the whole time. I haven't observed closely."

"He has been making constant moves in Pas River Valley—perhaps for the sake of his own advancement ritual for Coffin Bearer, or perhaps to draw down more power from Primordial Moon."

"What is the Coffin Bearer's ritual?" Rekton asked curiously.

Ge Lan swirled the cup in her hand with one hand while pondering and saying:

"Sow the seeds of life, create an area brimming with vitality, harvest it, and personally bury it."

Somewhat abstract. Create an area brimming with vitality, and then harvest it? How do you harvest that? Like an alchemist, draining the life force of the surrounding area? As his thoughts turned, Rekton looked up in confusion at Ge Lan sitting across from him.

As if seeing through Rekton's confusion, Ge Lan chuckled and offered an explanation:

"The key to this ritual is experiencing the process of life from birth to death, the continuation of life from generation to generation."

"Only by understanding the greatness of life can one become a qualified mother."

Rekton nodded in understanding and softly exclaimed to himself:

"Beyond-the-Ordinary who set foot on this Pathway are all step by step becoming mothers!"

Afterward, the two exchanged information for a while longer, until dinner ended. After paying the bill, Rekton brought Tu Ba Ge back to the inn he had rented.

Under the dim yellow streetlamps, Tu Ba Ge spoke as he walked:

"Those two cats have a metallic smell about them, like a Knowledgeable who fiddles with machinery all day."

"I don't recall the Cultivator Pathway having any enhancement to the sense of smell? The sense of smell you've displayed is nearly on par with a Blood Clan's."

Rekton murmured a sigh of wonder. He somewhat suspected that back then, Tu Ba Ge had not only been tainted by the Cultivator's characteristics but had also been tainted by some vampire characteristics, which was why he displayed such powerful olfactory ability.

After taking just a couple of steps, he saw in the area to his front-right where the gas streetlamps couldn't reach, three or four vagrants sitting huddled together in a circle, with suppressed groans sounding from time to time.

"They're all sick. If they don't receive treatment, they'll die one after another within the next two days."

Tu Ba Ge's gaze only lingered briefly before he quickly judged their condition.

"All of them? Can you tell what's making them sick?"

Rekton frowned slightly. The weather in Pas River Valley had been quite decent these past two days, and an ordinary illness shouldn't make this many vagrants fall sick at the same time.

As he spoke, he moved closer toward the corner where the group of vagrants was gathered, wanting to observe the situation up close.

He had barely taken a step when Tu Ba Ge tugged at his pant leg, staring with a serious expression at the group of vagrants gathered in the shadows, and said:

"It's an infectious disease. Best not to get close to them."

"It's fine. Ordinary illnesses can't affect me."

Responding in a low voice, he walked toward the group of vagrants while gently rubbing his fingers together, producing patches of brilliant starlight. This starlight quickly turned golden, shedding a clear, radiant, and pure warm glow.

The holy light of the Sun Domain had purifying power over most diseases. Yet after this light fell, Rekton found that the expressions on the surrounding vagrants' faces didn't change much; instead, they shut their eyes in discomfort because of the light that had suddenly appeared.

"You try," Rekton said, looking down at Tu Ba Ge by his feet.

Tu Ba Ge nodded, his furry rabbit face heavy with gravity. He stepped forward twice, and after approaching a vagrant lying on the ground, he extended two paws and rhythmically patted the vagrant's body for a while.

Then sharp, pointed claws grew from his dusty-gray paws, and he lightly scratched the vagrant's arm. Dark red blood immediately flowed out, appearing extremely murky, with a faint tendency to coagulate.

Only after a pool of dark red had seeped onto the ground did the blood from the vagrant's arm turn from dark red to crimson.

Tu Ba Ge nodded in satisfaction, then spread out his spirituality, scattering patches of emerald-green light spots that quickly merged into the vagrant's body.

The wound on his arm that Tu Ba Ge had scratched healed at a visible rate, and his pale complexion gained some color.

"Cough—cough—"

The vagrant, who had been unconscious, let out short coughing sounds, as if he would wake up soon.

Rekton's gaze swept in a circle around the area. He spread out his spirituality, creating specks of brilliant starlight in the air. These specks of starlight gathered and quickly condensed into a semi-transparent liquid with a slight golden tint.

Carrying a rich aura of the Sun Domain, this pale golden liquid was evenly distributed by him onto every vagrant around. Though it couldn't directly purify the diseases in their bodies, it could at least dispel the cold.

After doing all this, his eyes instantly became extremely deep, like the surface of the sea just before a storm arrives.

Under these circumstances, his eyes clearly lost focus, everything a blur.

Through divining fate, he saw the source of the disease infecting this group of vagrants:

That was a vagrant covered in dirt, with disheveled hair and dark skin, but his eyes were unusually clear; he looked young, yet gave an extremely aged impression.

He held a mushroom with pale blue fluorescent spots, speaking excitedly:

"I've discovered a strange mushroom that can fill our stomachs; it grows on both riverbanks, there are many of them, although tasteless, they give a strong feeling of fullness."

"These brightly colored mushrooms are obviously poisonous!"

Beside him, a vagrant of indeterminate age spoke dismissively, then lay down in the sunlight, closed his eyes to rest, conserving his strength, so he might still survive this winter.

"I'm still alive, which proves it's not poisonous!" the vagrant declared confidently, but nobody believed him.

Until someone could no longer endure hunger and cold, choosing between dying of poison now or freezing/starving to death overnight, they decided to try these brightly colored mushrooms.

Soon, almost all the vagrants, and even some impoverished groups, began going to the riverbank to pick these strange mushrooms.

"This mushroom is a gift from the Great Mother River to us; Her merciful love protects every child."

"We all grew up drinking the water of the Pas River; we are all children of the Great Mother River, we are all born equal, except that some rebellious children have seized the resources that belong to us, we cannot take back what is ours, why not seek help from the Great Mother?"

Leikdun's eyes gradually cleared as he looked at the vagrants around him who had fallen into sleep after receiving the Solar Holy Water baptism, his thoughts drifting.

Are those mushrooms used to spread disease? Perhaps it's just one of their uses, employing the New Teaching's methods to promote the Great Mother; the followers of the Primitive Moon learned it surprisingly quickly, but this also shows that Sasilier's New Teaching has long been targeted by them.

After a moment's thought, he lowered his gaze to Tu Ba Ge at his feet and asked:

"Can you completely cure their illness?"

Tu Ba Ge lightly nodded, then shook twice, speaking in a conflicted tone:

"Their illness isn't hard to treat, but after being infected, their bodies and spirits seem to be slowly undergoing an alteration that cannot be repaired; their bodies regard this as part of normal change."

"Normal change?" Leikdun murmured.

Tu Ba Ge nodded, a paw lightly stroking his chin, appearing to think hard:

"This change is the cause of their sickness, like an immune reaction after their bodies symbiotically coexist with some substance."

Leikdun gave a slight nod, then murmured:

"Let's return to the inn first; tomorrow we'll go to the Natural Church on the Abundant Harvest Plain, we need the Earth Church people to come quickly."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pulled at the shadow before him, the intangible shadow turning into a veil of night, wonderfully concealing the traces he left behind.

Having done all that, he bent over, lifted Tu Ba Ge onto his shoulder, and his figure turned transparent and vanished.

(End of chapter)