Chapter 44 – Lord Xuan’s dream lover?

The skin at the corners of the cat’s eyes is thinner, and the fur is very soft. Lord Xuan’s slender porcelain white hand rubbed Tang Qing’s eye corners, playing with the fur.

“Meow!” Tang Qing couldn’t help but dodge away. The man’s hand was very rough and he didn’t handle it gently, making his eye corners a bit sore.

The man finally came back to himself, returning to his carefree demeanor, teasing, “Good boy, have you been wronged?”

He leaned his head against the cat, soothing it for a while before saying, “How about giving you a name?”

Alright, alright!

Tang Qing raised his paws in agreement! ( )

“Your eyes, like glass candy, colorful and bright, I’ll call you Tang Tang.”

“Okay? Tang Tang.” After saying that, the man lifted the cat up with both hands.

Tang Qing paused for a moment, feeling a sense of deja vu.

But his nickname in the present world was Tang Tang, so he was very happy and softly meowed in response, “Meow~~”

“Lu Shang, take Tang Tang down to clean up and put him in my room tonight.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Lu Shang took the cat in a basket, feeling somewhat envious.

Lord Xuan had raised so many orange cats and never named them. Because the cats cleaned themselves and Lord Xuan didn’t get close to them, there was no need for the maids to attend to them. This was the first time they were asked to bathe a cat.

Being able to work in Xuanming City, everyone was eager. Many volunteered to change their names to show loyalty to Lord Xuan. However, these names were all given by the steward, just like her and her sister Ziyi.

Lord Xuan had never given anyone a name, yet now he was so special with a cat. The more Lu Shang thought about it, the more unfair it seemed. As she bathed the cat, her movements became rougher, pulling out quite a bit of fur and even accidentally getting some foam into Tang Qing’s eyes.

Tang Qing was also angry. He sensed the malice of this person and fiercely scratched back.

“Oh!” Lu Shang immediately had two fresh red scratch marks on her hand.

She was furious but didn’t dare to cause trouble again. She could only honestly finish washing the cat.

After washing, she brought the cat back to Lord Xuan and then stepped back.

Tang Qing immediately switched to tattletale mode.

He extended his white furry paw, clinging to Lord Xuan’s arm, gazing up at the man with those big watery eyes, looking pitiful, and let out a soft meow, “Meow!”

The man lifted the cat in his arms and said, “Tang Tang smells so good.”

Tang Qing was still trying to catch the man’s attention to his slightly swollen eye. However, the man just found him extremely cute.

At that moment, one of Lord Xuan’s subordinates approached respectfully and reported, “Jing Ge, we’ve found another young man with a mole near his eyebrow. He looks very handsome. We can bring him over in three days.”

Lord Xuan nodded.

Before the apocalypse arrived, he was called Gu Mijing, just an ordinary college student who, along with his friend Chen Ji, was participating in a competition in the capital. Suddenly, the apocalypse came, and both he and Chen Ji gained supernatural abilities, one wood-based and the other earth-based. The national base needed people with powers as volunteers for research, so they joined… Later, he spent three years at the base, living aimlessly, until he awakened his dark powers again and, with Chen Ji and other power-holders, left the base to establish Xuanming City.

Now, the only one who still knew his name was Chen Ji.

“Hey, Jing Ge, your taste has changed. You’re not collecting orange cats anymore; is this a ragdoll cat?”

Tang Qing curiously stuck out his round white head. The cat’s pair of big round eyes, like a pair of glass beads, looked over.

Chen Ji was immediately enchanted, “Such a beautiful cat, Jing Ge, your taste has greatly improved.”

After speaking, Chen Ji naturally reached out to touch the cat.

Tang Qing quickly dodged. Hmph, just took a bath, smelling good, not letting strangers touch.

“Oh, this beauty has quite a temper.” Chen Ji regretfully withdrew his hand, unable to touch that soft little white head as he had wanted.

Gu Mijing rubbed the cat’s head and checked its eyelids, “Chen Ji, don’t scare my cat.” The lower eyelid seemed a bit red, but since Tang Qing’s eye was a watery blue, it wasn’t very noticeable.

As Gu Mijing made his move, Chen Ji also saw the mole at the cat’s eye corner. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Seriously, Jing Ge, not only are you searching day and night for someone with a mole at the eye corner for a dream, but now you’re not even letting go of a cat with a mole at the eye corner?”

Truly my Jing Ge, too extreme.

Chen Ji couldn’t help but advise, “Jing Ge, why bother? Searching for a figure from your dream for over a decade. With your current status, so many handsome boys and girls are waiting in line for you.”

Gu Mijing didn’t even look at him, still earnestly looking at the cat in his arms.

Chen Ji continued, “Moreover, times have changed. If you haven’t found that person after so long, your dream lover might not even be alive now. It’s better to focus on the beautiful cat in your arms.”

Gu Mijing’s whole body pressure suddenly dropped, as if he had hit a sore spot, his face darkened sharply, and his voice turned extremely cold: “I’ve said it, only him.”

Thinking of the person he had been unable to find in his dreams, amidst the uncertainties of the apocalypse, he furrowed his brows tightly, his complexion not looking good, and he set down the cat in his arms, standing up.

Chen Ji, aware that he had spoken carelessly again, touched his nose, not daring to mention that topic again, and reported, “Lord Xuan, there is a group of mutant rats causing trouble in the farmland surrounding Xuanming City.”

“Summon the newly arrived fire-based and water-based ability users to go check it out.”

After speaking, the man didn’t spare a glance at Tang Qing and prepared to leave.

Tang Qing quickly used his soul-binding technique, firmly latching onto the man’s arm with all four limbs, tilting his round head, his watery eyes pitifully staring at the man, meowing a few times.

Chen Ji looked down at the little cat, feeling envious once again, and said, “She’s¹they haven’t checked gender. They just assumed its a girl still a clingy little fairy, Jing Ge, take her with you.”

Gu Mijing couldn’t be bothered to respond and walked away in large strides.

Chen Ji called for Ziyi and Lu Shang, carrying a basket, and brought Tang Qing along.

As they walked out of Xuanming City, Tang Qing realized for the first time that this was the apocalypse.

Everything around was desolate, the so-called farmland consisting of just a few acres of land with some poorly nourished plants growing on it. Surrounding the farmland were many ordinary people living in tents or low grass huts, each person looking disheveled, skinny as a rake, struggling to fend off the rats.

These rats were actually mutant field mice, each about the size of a pig, with front teeth as sharp as cleavers. They seemed to have been hungry for a long time, rushing into the crops, gnawing away at the crops recklessly, injuring many farmers.

Tang Qing suddenly felt that Lord Xuan was actually quite kind.

If it weren’t for Xuanming City being so close, he believed that these unarmed ordinary people would find it difficult even to grow some crops to fill their stomachs.

Qi Jingsheng and Shen Miao quickly joined the battlefield. Qi Jingsheng intended to showcase his abilities, partly to gain Lord Xuan’s trust and attention, and partly because ever since he had seen Lord Xuan, he always felt uneasy, afraid that Shen Miao would catch Lord Xuan’s eye.

He released his fire-based ability with all his might, and the farmland was instantly filled with flames, crackling sounds echoing as the rats in front were burned, sizzling. Tang Qing even smelled a scent of roasted meat, quite fragrant.

Shen Miao pushed him away, complaining, “You’ve burnt the crops like this.”

She used her water-based ability, a large stream of water rising out of nowhere, extinguishing the fire released by Qi Jingsheng, and washing away the rats on the side of the crops with a water column.

Then Tang Qing noticed that those crops had also been uprooted by the water column, and a few underdeveloped sweet potatoes were washed straight towards the rats.

Tang Qing leaped out of the basket, poking his furry head out, watching with great interest.

Chen Ji couldn’t help but say, “You two, control your powers.”

The two nodded awkwardly, trying to control their abilities to only harm the field mice. But this reduced their efficiency significantly.

Lord Xuan glanced over, is this the ability of a military-grade level three ability user? The energy was substantial, but the combat experience was lacking, and their control over their abilities was very low.

At that moment, Tang Qing heard rustling underfoot, and then holes started appearing on the ground, with a group of mutated groundhogs emerging from them. Their heads were round, not small in size, their claws evolved to be very sharp, and they dug tunnels very quickly.

Quietly, they dug away at the crops in the fields, taking bites big enough to chew off a chunk of an adult’s leg. The farmers grabbed chairs and brooms, smashing at the groundhogs that suddenly popped up.

“Chen Ji, take a few level one ability users to practice.”

After Lord Xuan finished speaking, he turned around to leave.

Tang Qing, seeing no melon to eat²nothing interesting to watch, shook his ears and prepared to jump back into the basket.

At that moment, a crisis emerged. A groundhog emerged from the ground, its sharp claws hooking onto Tang Qing’s fluffy tail, trying to drag the cat back into the hole.

“Meow—!”

Tang Qing extended his claws to retaliate, but the groundhog’s fur was like needles, thick and hard, completely ungrabbable.

Lord Xuan turned around, and instantly a black force burst out, like an invisible blade, cutting the groundhog in half on the spot.

Another groundhog emerged, trying to drag away a five or six-year-old girl, who cried out in fear.

Chen Ji quickly manipulated a large rock, knocking out the groundhog.

The girl’s parents finally noticed the danger on the ground. The woman bowed to Lord Xuan, and the man picked up the girl and ran.

Gu Mijing was somewhat displeased. “Chen Ji, change the density of the ground.”

Chen Ji was also a level three ability user. He used all his strength, instantly softening the ground. He leaned against a tree, exhausted.

Gu Mijing waved his hand, clearing away the soil, revealing many groundhogs underneath, chubby and big-eared, rapidly digging tunnels, opening their mouths wide to gnaw on crops. Tang Qing widened his eyes; little cats were most afraid of big rats, meow meow.

However, in the next moment, as if all these groundhogs were simultaneously gripped by an invisible giant hand, crushed forcefully, they instantly turned into countless black particles. In no time, they dissipated in the air.

Tang Qing blinked, if not for his slightly painful tail, he would have doubted that these groundhogs had ever appeared.

Gu Mijing patted Chen Ji’s shoulder. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Chen Ji nodded, along with a few low-level earth ability users, compacting the land.

Lu Shang suddenly realized she was so scared that she hadn’t kept an eye on the cat, quickly bringing the basket over to put the cat inside.

But the cat in front of her was picked up by a porcelain-white hand, falling into a sturdy and warm embrace.

Gu Mijing looked calmly at Lu Shang, then turned and walked back.

The villagers couldn’t help but kneel down, bowing gratefully in the direction Lord Xuan had left.

• 1
  they haven’t checked gender. They just assumed its a girl ↩︎
• 2
  nothing interesting to watch ↩︎