Chapter 280: Where Should I Sleep?

(The previous chapters have been merged, a big chapter of four thousand characters)

A just Knight is welcome everywhere; just now I settled a crafty vendor, and now an even bigger matter has arisen.

The matter of the Knight illegally collecting fees is as serious as whether the vendor has a criminal case.

Although I know Knights elsewhere have corrupt conduct, such blatant illegal fee collection is also outrageous.

Jierte watched the boss in front of him weeping bitterly, and beside him Lan Baoshi eating with oil all over his mouth, feeling helpless inside.

He stirred the oily fried rice in front of him; although it was indeed plentiful and greasy, to be honest, Jierte had no appetite at all.

However, for a vagrant, this is a very decent meal; one can't even get full, let alone worry about whether it's oily.

This shop is favored by vagrants for its affordable prices, such as the catgirl beside it.

She even sucked up the oil left in the plate.....

How long must she have been starving?

"Knight Sir? Knight Sir?"

The two calls gave Jierte another black line.

"Don't call me that; just call me Jierte."

"I'll handle this matter you mentioned; there will be results tomorrow."

After leaving the shop, Lan Baoshi patted her belly satisfied; she had eaten an entire adult portion of fried rice!

"Thanks for helping me pay!"

In the end, it was still Jierte who helped pay; actually the boss gave them a free meal, but the catgirl who keeps every account straight certainly won't forget this.

"I'll remember this bill! I'll pay you back when I have money!"

"Want to come to my place for a sit?"

That was just polite talk, but to Jierte it was a blatant invitation.

"Alright, let's go to your place and have a look."

Lan Baoshi:????

"You... you really came?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"I thought you nobles all despise us."

"If I despised you, I wouldn't have brought you to my house's guest room to sleep."

"Then come!"

"If you don't despise me!"

Lan Baoshi's cat ears twitched twice, unknown for what reason.

But anyway, it's still quite cute.

"Come on, go this way."

Lan Baoshi's figure was agile, scaling the wall in a few moves, while Jierte, wearing heavy armor, could only climb bare-handed.

Finally, after scaling four or five walls, Jierte finally found a small square nook enclosed by four walls; I don't know how he managed to find such a hidden spot.

Entering the tiny cat den, a little home made of cardboard, the floor was lined with the sheets and blankets taken from Jierte's home.

Now it's been slept in and gotten dirty; beside it is a cat hole, where those oily, smooth cats lazily curl up in another cardboard nook.

"Hmm....."

"My... my home is a bit messy, please don't mind...."

Lan Baoshi felt a bit embarrassed, after all her little dirty den really isn't presentable, although Jierte originally didn't mind anyway.

"No, it's not that I mind."

"I'm wondering where I should sleep tonight."

"You still want to sleep here!!!"

Lan Baoshi truly didn't understand Jierte's train of thought; she had thought he was just coming to visit, and would leave afterward, who would have thought he actually wanted to stay here?

Could it be that he doesn't mind?

"A noble Knight won't let external things restrict his heart."

Jierte wore a look of righteousness; it seems the fine qualities of the Ge Dun family have been perfectly practiced by him.

"I dislike a person with a dirty heart more than external filth."

"So, is there a place for me to sleep?"

Lan Baoshi stared blankly for a moment, her cat ears twitching nonstop, but she also didn't know if she had thought of something she shouldn't; her face suddenly flushed, and then she pointed to an empty spot piled with cardboard elsewhere.

"Just... just there will do, if you don't mind."

"Alright."

Jierte nodded, took out a tent from his large pack he carried, and began setting up camp on the spot.

The catgirl Lan Baoshi blankly watched his practiced tent‑setting skills, then glanced at her own cardboard house, suddenly feeling like a dummy....

Right, why didn't she buy a tent with money?

Clearly her little treasury has plenty of money....

"Um...."

"?"

Jierte looked at the hesitant catgirl, waiting for her question.

"What's up?"

"I've wanted to ask you before, why are you carrying such a big pack?"

"Are you going out to travel?"

I guess....

Actually I want to leave this place.

Ah?

A question mark appeared on the catgirl's head; the young her still didn't understand the meaning of Jierte doing that.

Isn't this your home? Why do you want to leave?

Did something happen?

Although their ages aren't far apart, Jierte already has the demeanor of a certain adult, not just in appearance but also in behavior and thought patterns.

Although he is still somewhat immature, his way of handling things is already extremely close to that of an adult.

Listening to Lan Baoshi's question, Jierte fell silent for a moment, looked at the little cat glowing with golden light on his body, his heart tangled for a long time, and finally decided

My little aunt... has a serious illness.

I need to find a way to cure her, but....

This probability is very very small...

Jierte felt somewhat helpless and dejected; Lan Baoshi looked at him and spoke cautiously.

What's wrong with your little aunt?

Spiritual energy erosion, you know?

Mm-hmm, I know.

That's it.

Actually.... I can try.

?

Jierte looked at the catgirl with some doubt; you say this terminal illness can be cured just by saying so?

Looking at Jierte's face full of disbelief, Lan Baoshi proudly pursed her lips and let out two hums.

Tell you a secret! I'm not just good at stealing money!

I also steal lives!

Jierte:?

This kid's brain is fried, huh?

Don't not believe me!

The catgirl suddenly sat up from the dirty blanket, aimed her little hand at Jierte, and in an instant he felt something important being drained, making him feel dizzy.

Only when the other party retracted their little hand did this feeling disappear.

How about that? Look at my condition, believe me now!

At this moment, the catgirl's complexion was rosy and spirited, as if she had taken a hundred ginseng roots.

What's going on?

This is my special ability; I call it Life Replacement!

Looking at the excited catgirl, Jierte fell into thought; perhaps this cute guy also suffered from spiritual energy erosion, which is why he has this ability,

This.... Life Replacement.

When did you get this?

When....

Lan Baoshi thought for a long time and finally gave an answer that Jierte expected.

It should be.... when I was running errands at the Spiritual Energy Mine before.

Hmm, as expected.

So-called rich rely on technology, poor rely on mutation; those poor who aren't afraid of death but can't afford safe spiritual ore, if they want to achieve something big, mostly go to the Spiritual Energy Mine to try their luck.

Although sometimes being eroded to death yields no awakened ability, but once there is some gain, this life is worth it.

So.... what do you usually use this ability for?

Eh?

Lan Baoshi's eyes twitched, her ears also twitched, she put her finger to her lips and thought for a long time, only to conclude that I think your dad is your dad.

Usually I just use this ability to replace life~

Be more specific.

Oh, that is stealing some bad guys' lives and transferring them to the kittens, as well as some vagrants and sick aunts.

Jierte understood; this is the reason for the golden light on this catgirl's body.

Ability has no good or bad; it only depends on who uses it.

Just like the Ge Dun family and the Pope's lineage, both of whom know Holy Light Technique, their Holy Light Techniques are not the same.

The Knight's Holy Light is used to kill, yet it is unusually warm.

The Saintess's Holy Light is used to save, yet it is icy and piercing.

This is the difference.

You haven't told anyone else about this, right?

Hmm.... no.

Hmph! Let me tell you, I'm usually very afraid of people! When others talk to me, I ignore them!

But I don't know why, when I'm with you, I suddenly am not afraid.

At this moment, the catgirl giggled and snuggled into Jierte's tent; after seeing his luxurious little nook, she started to enjoy herself and forget about Shu.

She didn't want her dirty little den anymore; although the den had been with her for a long time, she thought she should later spend a lot of money to buy a tent.

However, Jierte didn't mind her little actions; a dirty catgirl is still a catgirl, at worst tomorrow I'll take her to the bathhouse to scrub off the dirt, and then she'll be clean.

Still the same saying: compared to outward filth, only inner filth makes Jierte want to vomit even more.

"Just don't tell anyone; they might think you have healing abilities, otherwise...."

"Yeah yeah, they keep asking me how effective this healing ability is, and I always say it takes a lot of effort."

The catgirl unknowingly avoided the tragedy befalling her; if she fell into the Church's hands, many would surely suffer.

With such miraculous power, you could wildly expand the church's influence—just drain the life of anyone who doesn't trust my Lord!

Eventually everyone under heaven will have to worship my Lord!

What foreign evil god....

By then the world will have become whatever chaos, Jierte currently has no good feeling toward the Church at all; although he hasn't yet seen the Pope's evil, he feels the Pope is no good either.

Feili has become like that; her own daughter, so young, already has heaven‑reaching sin, and Jierte doesn't even know what wicked thing she has done.

"In short, don't tell anyone about your ability."

"Huh? If I say it... what will happen if I say it?"

"You'll die horribly; it's very likely someone will chop off your limbs and make them into ***, then use your ability to reign as king."

The catgirl shuddered instantly, hurriedly retreating to her little nest, as if that could give her a bit of warmth.

"Is... is it really that serious...."

"It's much worse than I said; in short, speaking of it brings only harm, no benefit."

The catgirl fell silent, just curling up in her little nest, her posture hardly different from an ordinary cat's—both are curled into a small ball.

The sky gradually darkened, followed by rolling thunder; raindrops began to fall continuously, and the conversation between the two came to an abrupt halt.

At this moment Jierte was flipping through a book; he glanced at the opposite figure trembling with the thunder, and sighed.

The other party wasn't asleep; Jierte could see a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark little nest.

Those eyes flickered with expectation and a hint of fear; their pitiful look made it impossible to refuse.

The catgirl was waiting for Jierte to invite her inside.

The rain grew louder; on the other party's cardboard little house there was a piece of waterproof cloth, but no one knew how long it would hold.

Rainwater was accumulating, but fortunately there was a small cat hole at the edge of the wall, and the water gradually flowed out through it.

Those cats knew they couldn't take shelter here, so they had already sneaked away before the rain started.

The city is big, so finding a place to dodge the rain is still easy.

"Do you want to come in?"

"May I?"

The catgirl sprang up, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Jierte, and stretched out her limbs while lying on the ground.

Jierte nodded, stepped out of the tent on his own, and reached his hand under the blue sapphire's armpit to lift her up.

"Meow?"

The blue sapphire blinked for a moment, her little hand just stretched straight forward, the whole cat was lifted up and then stuffed into the tent.

But what she couldn't understand was that Jierte just stood outside like that.

"You... you're not coming in?"

"It doesn't matter; I intend to conduct an endurance‑training exercise regarding the environment."

The blue sapphire stared blankly, as if a universe appeared behind her brain; she thought frantically, but was forced to stop due to insufficient cup capacity.

All that could be seen was Jierte sitting cross‑legged against the wall opposite the tent, motionless like a statue in the downpour.

Faced with this situation, the catgirl couldn't sleep even more; she tried meowing twice.

"Knight Sir? Knight Sir, are you asleep?"

"......"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong!"

The catgirl merely checked whether the other was still alive; in such an environment before, she could only half‑close her eyes, finding it hard to sleep amid the huge rain, and she prayed for the downpour to pass quickly.

But now it's different: a safe little tent, and outside the Knight Sir emanating a cat‑nip scent—these all made her feel very reassured.

Although she felt a bit embarrassed about letting him get soaked in the rain, she could totally squeeze in with him!

But it looks like he doesn't want to.

Thus, the catgirl immersed herself in her own world, and the rain that once kept her awake all night became the best lullaby.

Soon enough, she obediently fell asleep.

That night was the sweetest sleep the catgirl had ever had since she was born.