Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 61: Caring for Stray Cats

Some of the cat fiends hid behind the flower bed, some fled into the rooms, while others jumped onto the walls. All of them stared at Chu Qiguang with wary expressions.

”Are all cat fiends this cowardly?” Chu Qiguang asked.

”We’re not cowards! This is called being prudent and cautious!” Qiao Zhi protested.

He then turned to the scattered cat fiends and shouted, ”No need to be alarmed. This is the man who’s been buying food for all of you every day.”

A white cat jumped down from the wall, observing Chu Qiguang with a curious look as it asked, ”You’re the one who’s been buying food for us? Are you trying to suck up to us? What kind of fiend are you?”

”Shut up, White Rice!” Qiao Zhi snapped when he saw the displeased look on Chu Qiguang’s face. ”Show some respect! This is the man who’s been feeding you these past few days!”

White Rice held Qiao Zhi in high regard. Among cats, he was considered both handsome and an expert martial artist. After being scolded, White Rice fell silent and began licking its paw.

Before long, the other cats also returned to the center of the yard and began sizing up Chu Qiguang, their eyes filled with curiosity and wariness.

”You’re the one who’s been feeding us?”

”Make sure to clean up the poop in the flower bed before you leave. There’s barely any space left for us to walk.”

”How come you order the same dishes every day? Can’t you change things up a little?”

A tuxedo cat walked over to Chu Qiguang and began rubbing against his pant legs as it said, ”All of you humans look the same, so I have to mark you to make sure I can recognize you next time.”

Chu Qiguang was stunned by the cat fiends’ arrogance.

”Are all cats this cocky?” he asked, turning to Qiao Zhi with a bewildered expression.

”You think this is cocky? You haven’t seen anything yet!” White Rice scoffed.

Qiao Zhi quickly covered White Rice’s mouth with his paw, then turned to Chu Qiguang with an apologetic look as he promised, ”I can assure you that not all cats are like this. I’m a humble and hardworking cat, am I not? With proper training, other cats can become like me.”

Chu Qiguang frowned as his gaze swept over the group of arrogant cats in the yard.

It seems like these cats aren’t going to be as easy to win over as the dog fiends.

”I understand,” he said with a smile. ”I’ve always been very confident in the potential of cat fiends. Tell them what I want them to do for me.”

Qiao Zhi turned to White Rice and said, ”This is Master Chu. From now on, he’ll continue to provide all of you with food every day, but in exchange, you must work for him.”

”No way!” White Rice protested immediately. ”We cats never work for anyone, even if you’re the one asking, Brother Qiao!”

”Why can’t you work for us?” Qiao Zhi asked, adopting a patient approach. ”The food we provide will definitely be better than what you can scavenge outside, and it’ll be more stable.”

The tuxedo cat continued rubbing against Chu Qiguang as it scoffed, ”We’re not working for anyone! We’d rather scavenge for food on the streets!”

The other cat fiends echoed the same sentiment, and Qiao Zhi couldn’t help but feel a little envious of their free-spirited nature.

Since when did I become like this? Reality has worn me down and turned me into a hard-working cat who only knows how to cultivate...

Despite these thoughts, Qiao Zhi kept a stern facade as he reprimanded, ”That’s enough, Lulu!”

From Chu Qiguang’s observation, it seemed that the tuxedo cat named Lulu and the white cat called White Rice were regarded as leaders by the other cat fiends.

It came as quite a surprise to Chu Qiguang that the cat fiends were so resistant to work.

”If you’re all so against working, then why were you catching rats for Lin Nan?”

”That’s not work! We were only doing it in exchange for cat wine!” White Rice scoffed.

”Cat wine?”

This was an alarming revelation for Chu Qiguang.

Are these cat fiends a bunch of alcoholics? I can’t have them drinking on the job!

Chu Qiguang turned to Qiao Zhi, and the latter explained, communicating to Chu Qiguang through his thoughts.

We cats enjoy nibbling on cat leaf, and this cat wine is brewed from cat leaf. It makes us feel really good when we drink it.

Cat leaf? That must be catnip, right? Chu Qiguang thought to himself.

He knew from his time on Earth that cats enjoyed sniffing and consuming catnip. The plant was a strong stimulant for cats and could even cause hallucinations, but it was neither harmful nor addictive.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang asked a few more questions, and he discovered that although it was called cat wine, it actually contained no alcohol. Instead, it was a concoction made from catnip and other plant-based ingredients.

Even though it contained no alcohol, it could put cat fiends into a slightly intoxicated state, which was why it was called cat wine.

Given the conflict between humans and fiends in this world, no one was going to brew cat wine for stray cats on the streets. Lin Nan had clearly seen this as a business opportunity, brewing catnip wine and trading it for rats, which he used as a substitute for pork in his steamed buns.

Essentially, he had made catnip, which was readily available in the wild, just as valuable as pork.

Granted, this production chain was still very rough around the edges, but it was rare to see anything like it in this era.

I knew I wouldn’t be the only one in this world who had thought about using fiends to make money.

After learning that all the cat fiends wanted was catnip wine, Chu Qiguang confirmed with Qiao Zhi that it wasn’t harmful in any way, then communicated through his thoughts, Tell them that I can brew cat wine as well.

Qiao Zhi relayed the message, but the cat fiends were unconvinced.

”Am I the only one that feels like he’s trying to trick us?” Lulu asked. ”Who knows if he can really brew cat wine? What if he’s lying?”

”We can give you all a sample to try once the cat wine has been brewed,” Qiao Zhi said.

”Really? I don’t believe you,” Lulu scoffed.

”I just want everyone to have a place where you can reliably trade for cat wine,” Qiao Zhi explained.

”So you think we can’t get cat wine ourselves? Are you looking down on us?” White Rice shouted.

”I’ve never brewed cat wine before, but I’ve seen Lin Nan do it, and it looks very simple. I think we could easily pull it off ourselves,” Lulu said.

Qiao Zhi was starting to lose his patience.

”I’m not looking down on you. I just want any cat who wants to drink cat wine to be able to get it at any time.”

”What? So you don’t care about cats who don’t want to drink cat wine?” Lulu asked.

”You’re discriminating against cats who don’t drink cat wine!” White Rice yelled.

”You’re not thinking that all cat fiends have to drink cat wine, are you?” Lulu continued. ”You’re a fiend! Don’t tell me you’ve fallen into human drinking habits! Surely not!”