Rumors traveled faster than fog. Xu Yang learned that by the third day.
It started small. At the well.
" I heard the boy should've died." One of villager said.
" My aunt said something dark was clinging to him." Another lady said.
" And then the cat jumped."
Xu Yang lay on the roof beam above Lin Chen's door, eyes closed, breathing slow.
Every word reached him clearly.
That's exactly what I was worried about.
(....) A long, tired pause.
Of course it spread. (...) His tail flicked once against the wood.
Nothing stays small in villages like this.
(...) He let out a slow breath.
Now everyone's attention is going to drift here. (...)
A faint irritation rose in him, mixed with resignation. This is why people say "don't act without thinking." (...)
A beat. See? Results.
His ears tilted slightly as more voices drifted from below. He shut his eyes a little tighter.
I didn't even do anything on purpose. I reacted once, and now I'm the center of a story. A dry thought followed.
"Cat saves boy from unseen force." Great. I've been upgraded to folklore status in three days. His claws shifted slightly against the beam.
"They say it hissed like it saw something."
"No, no animals do that sometimes." One of villagers said.
"But still…"
Xu Yang's tail flicked once not fear but Calculation. Lin Chen poured water into a clay pot and shook his head. "People get strange when they're scared," he said lightly.
"They'll forget soon."
Xu Yang did not believe that. Fear forgotten too quickly was never natural.
They won't forget. His gaze stayed half-lidded, but his thoughts sharpened.
Not something like this. (...)
A slow, uneasy certainty settled in his chest.
People don't "forget" when something doesn't make sense. They adjust the story.
His tail curled slightly.
And I'm already inside that story.A pause.
That's the problem. (....)
He shifted subtly on the beam, adjusting his balance. Right now I'm a "cat that chased away something unknown." Tomorrow I'll become "a sign." After that… something worse. His ears flicked faintly as voices drifted from the village below. Attention spreads. Interpretation spreads even faster.
A dry thought followed. By the time I blink twice, I'll probably have a temple name.
He exhaled quietly. I don't like being noticed.
A brief pause. In my old life, attention meant inconvenience. Here… it feels like exposure.
Outside the village, the market road was busier than usual.Travelers passed through more often. Cultivators too though they pretended not to be. Xu Yang noticed their glances.Not at him but at the village.
As if checking a box.
By afternoon, Lin Chen left again, this time to deliver grain to a nearby settlement. Xu Yang watched him go, unease pressing heavier than before. He hopped down and slipped into the tall grass beyond the houses.
He needed to listen. The wind carried voices from the road. Two travelers stood beneath a tree, robes dusty from long travel.
" you felt it too, right?" one murmured.
The other nodded. "A disturbance. Weak, but… odd." Xu Yang crouched lower.
"It's not a demon outbreak," the first continued. "If it were, Heaven would've cleared it already." The second hesitated.
"Unless Heaven doesn't consider it worth clearing." Silence followed. Then the first scoffed. "This land isn't important enough to hide anything dangerous."
Xu Yang's claws sank into the dirt.The travelers moved on.Xu Yang stayed hidden until their footsteps faded.Xu Yang slowly loosened his claws from the dirt. Heaven doesn't consider it worth clearing.
That sentence kept repeating in his mind.
Then something strange happened.
Instead of fear… a thin line of curiosity cut through it. So I'm inside something even Heaven ignores? A pause.
That either means it's insignificant… or it's hiding under something else..His tail flicked once. And those two travelers… they didn't sound scared. They sounded like they were analyzing it. His ears tilted slightly.
Like it's a known category. Just not my category. (...)
A small, almost reluctant realization formed.
So I'm the only one treating this like an unknown disaster? He huffed softly.
That's… not great. Then another thought slipped in sharper, more alert. But if it's "weak enough to be ignored," why do I keep feeling it? He went still. And why did the chicken die first? A pause. His gaze slowly lifted toward the direction the travelers had come from.
Weak, odd, not worth clearing… He repeated it mentally. Then tilted it slightly. Unless it's not the thing that matters.
A faint shift in his expression. What if it's just… a signal? His pupils narrowed.
Xu Yang pushed himself slightly forward on the branch, peering into the distance.
Okay. A quiet thought formed.
Now it's interesting. (.....) His tail steadied.
I'm not just surviving a weird village anymore.
A pause. I might be standing at the edge of something that even "Heaven" decided not to look at.
That night, rain returned. Soft at first then heavy. Xu Yang lay curled near the window, watching water streak down the paper panes.
The warmth in his chest pulsed again slow, deliberate.He ignored it.
Elsewhere near forest. A man stood beneath the trees in dark layered robes. The fabric was clean and elegant, flowing naturally even when there was no wind, as though it followed his movement instead of reacting to it. His hair was black, long, and loose, falling smoothly over his shoulders without a single strand out of place. It moved lightly when he did, but never looked messy only controlled, precise.
His posture was relaxed, yet nothing about him felt careless. He simply stood there, as if the world had already made space for him.
His presence was quiet. But heavy in a way that didn't need force to be noticed.
His eyes were sharp, cold, and steady as he gazed toward the distant lands below.
"Still no confirmation?" he asked.
Behind him stood another figure taller, broader, with crimson markings tracing faintly along his neck and jaw. His eyes gleamed gold even in the dark. "Nothing clear," the second figure replied, voice low and amused.
"Only whispers. A failed correction. A fragment escaped."
The man in black Wang Xiao did not turn.
"Fragments do not escape without cause."
The demon laughed softly. "You always say that." "You always ignore it," Wang Xiao replied.
The demon stepped closer, rain hissing as it struck faint heat around him. "You're worried about something else." Wang Xiao's gaze hardened. " A pattern," he said. The demon raised an eyebrow. "You felt it again?"
"Yes."
"Like before?"
"…Yes."
The demon's smile faded. "That's impossible." Wang Xiao did not answer. Below them, clouds shifted. Far beneath Heaven's notice, a small village existed quietly and in it, something that should not persist.
Back in the village, Xu Yang dreamed.
Not of Heaven. He dreamed of falling.
Again And again. He woke suddenly, heart racing.The rain had stopped.
Xu Yang stayed still for a long moment, breath uneven. …Again?
His chest rose and fell too fast, the feeling of empty air still clinging to him like the dream hadn't fully let go. Why am I always falling?
A sharp thought followed.
I already died once. Isn't that enough?
His claws pressed lightly into the bedding beneath him, grounding himself.
His ears twitched faintly. That's somehow worse. Because impact meant an ending.
Falling meant waiting for one.
Xu Yang swallowed hard. Is this a warning? Trauma? Or is this world just adding nightmare effects for free? He lifted his head slightly, listening.
The night was too quiet. Xu Yang slipped outside, padding softly across wet ground.
The air was heavy. At the edge of the village, near the old shrine no one used anymore, something waited. Not attacking just Watching.
Xu Yang did not approach.He sat and stared from a distance, eyes narrowed. The shrine's door creaked open slightly.
A shape lingered inside humanoid, but wrong around the edges. Xu Yang recognized the feeling instantly.
Xu Yang did not move until dawn.
By morning, the shrine was empty.
But a single footprint remained in the mud
clawed ,Deep, Deliberate.Xu Yang stared at it for a long time.
They're circling now, he realized.
Heaven had checked.
Demons had noticed.
And somewhere far away, someone cold-eyed was staring in his direction
without knowing why.
Xu Yang returned to Lin Chen's house just before sunrise and curled up as if nothing had happened. When Lin Chen returned later, he frowned at the muddy paw prints near the door. "…Did you go out last night?" he asked.
Xu Yang yawned Wide.
Lin Chen shook his head. "Be careful. Strange things are happening."
Xu Yang closed his eyes.
Of course they are. A dry thought surfaced immediately. Trust me, I know.
His tail flicked once. Who else here knows better than me?
He resisted the urge to sigh dramatically which, unfortunately, would probably just sound like weird cat behavior.
I'm the one getting haunted by suspicious fog, random demon rumors, creepy smiling women, prophetic falling dreams, and a "nine mandatory deaths" situation.
A pause. You're worried about "strange things." His ears twitched slightly.
I am the strange things. That thought lingered for half a second.
Actually, no. I really hope I'm not. (...)
He mentally corrected himself immediately.
I'd prefer to be an innocent bystander with excellent survival instincts.