The sun was beginning to set behind the village rooftops. The last light of the day spread across the narrow streets, turning the walls of the houses a warm orange. Xu Yang walked beside Lin Chen, his small paws moving quietly along the stone path. His tail swayed from side to side as he followed Lin Chen, who was carrying a basket of groceries in one hand. Lin Chen glanced down at him and adjusted the basket on his arm. "You really are stubborn!" he said with a small shake of his head. "I thought I'd lost you again. You know I can't carry everything if you keep running off."
Xu Yang stopped and looked up at him, blinking his golden eyes. His tail brushed against Lin Chen's leg. Lin Chen looked down and couldn't help smiling. "All right, all right. I won't complain anymore." He crouched beside the cat and gently scratched behind his ears. "You just want to go wherever you like, don't you?" Xu Yang leaned into his hand and gave a quiet purr.
Lin Chen continued stroking his head, unaware of the thoughts running through the cat's mind. "You're ridiculous sometimes," he said with a quiet laugh. "If you were human, I'd probably call you spoiled." Xu Yang's tail stopped moving. He slowly raised his head and gave Lin Chen a doubtful look. Spoiled? Seriously? I deal with broken memories, ancient shrines, and Heaven knows what else. And you think I'm spoiled? His ears twitched in annoyance. What exactly am I supposed to do to earn your respect? Save the entire village before breakfast?.... He looked away with a small huff. Unbelievable...
Lin Chen only smiled, taking his reaction as another sign of the cat's stubborn nature. "What?" he asked, tilting his head when Xu Yang continued staring at him. "Did I say something wrong?" Xu Yang turned his golden eyes towards him again. If I could answer, I would have quite a lot to say. Lin Chen gave his head one last gentle pat before standing up. "Come on. Let's go home before it gets dark." Xu Yang followed him, his tail moving slowly behind him. As they walked, Lin Chen's words returned to his mind. If you were human... The thought stayed with him longer than he expected. What would I be doing if I were still human? Probably something ordinary. Eating dinner, complaining about work, and trying to get enough sleep... He glanced at Lin Chen's back. I doubt I would have imagined spending my days as a cat in a world full of cultivation and strange creatures... He lowered his head and continued walking. Well, there's no point thinking about it now. I've already ended up here. I should at least try to enjoy the peaceful moments while they last...
Deep in the forest, Yan Luo moved between the trees with a talisman held in his hand. Its surface gave off a faint light, which grew brighter whenever he passed over a patch of disturbed soil. He stopped beside an old tree and lowered the talisman. Beneath his feet, the memory threads could be seen faintly moving through the ground. Yan Luo frowned as he studied them. "This is worse than I thought," he muttered, pressing the talisman closer to the soil. "The threads are rewriting themselves, but the pattern makes no sense." He moved his hand slightly, following one of the strands with his eyes. "Someone is doing this deliberately, yet the changes are spreading in every direction."
A sudden sound came from behind him. Yan Luo turned at once, his hand closing around the talisman. "Yan Luo!" Qing Li emerged from between the trees, breathing a little harder than usual. He walked towards him with a displeased expression. "What are you doing here? You're touching things you don't fully understand." Yan Luo straightened and looked at him coldly. "I could ask you the same thing. If you interfere with these threads without knowing how they work, you may destroy what little stability remains."
Qing Li's brows drew together. He stepped closer, clearly unhappy with the answer. "You act as if you're the only one who can understand them. I've been trained to sense these distortions too." Yan Luo lowered the talisman slightly. "Sensing a distortion and understanding it are two different things. Do you even know what will happen if these threads unravel?" Qing Li stopped in front of him and crossed his arms. "And do you know what will happen if we leave the convergence point alone? That cat isn't an ordinary animal. It's holding everything together. If something happens to it, the entire village could be affected."
Yan Luo's expression hardened. He took a step towards Qing Li. "Stop. Do you understand what you're suggesting? You think protecting the anchor is enough? That we can preserve what people see and remember while ignoring the cause of the problem?" Qing Li's hands tightened at his sides. "I'm not ignoring anything. I know what's at stake." He looked directly at Yan Luo. "But you're acting as if you can handle everything alone. You're putting more at risk by refusing to work with me. These threads aren't ordinary strands. They are alive." The ground beneath them gave a faint pulse. Both men lowered their eyes as a few strands of light passed through the soil.
Yan Luo quickly stepped away from them. "You don't understand how easily one wrong move can affect the entire weave," he said, looking back at Qing Li. "If you cross even one strand without knowing where it leads..." Qing Li interrupted him, his voice rising. "Then I won't wait for you to decide what should be done! You're too used to making every decision yourself, Yan Luo. I won't stand here and watch everything fall apart because you refuse help." Yan Luo closed his eyes briefly and rubbed his forehead. "I'm not refusing help. I'm refusing to let you turn this into another problem."
Qing Li's expression changed slightly. His voice became calmer, though his frustration had not disappeared. "Then work with me. Don't keep giving me orders as if I'm a child." Yan Luo looked at him for a moment before turning away. "You don't know what it means to hold the balance of threads that carry the memories of an entire village. One mistake, and..." "I know!" Qing Li interrupted, stepping closer. His hands were clenched, and his voice had lost some of its earlier force. "Do you think I don't understand what's at stake? I'm not standing here because I find this interesting."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.Yan Luo finally lowered his gaze. "Look!" he said, pointing towards the soil. Qing Li followed his gesture and crouched beside him. Both examined the faint strands as they moved between the buried stones and tree roots. Small points of light appeared along their paths, gathering towards a single place. The pattern was familiar. It resembled the lattice that had appeared in the sky above the village. Qing Li leaned closer, his expression turning serious. "So the threads are connected to one place," he said quietly. "This isn't happening randomly. Someone, or something, must have bound them here."
Yan Luo held his hand above the strands without touching them. "They weren't placed here recently. They've survived beneath this land since long before the village existed." He followed the lines towards their centre. "And the cat is not the cause of all this. It is the centre. The anchor." Qing Li's eyes widened slightly as he looked towards the village. "So the cat really is holding everything together." Yan Luo nodded once. "If the anchor moves or becomes unstable, the threads may begin to unravel. People will forget things they should remember. Places may change, and the boundaries of reality may become unstable." Qing Li stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "Then we need to decide what to do before that happens." Yan Luo rose as well and placed the talisman back inside his sleeve. "We follow the threads and find their source. But we must be careful. Whoever bound them here left protections behind. There may also be traps."
Qing Li gave a firm nod. "Then we'll be ready." The threads pulsed beneath their feet once more. This time, the light gathered into a faint spiral that pointed towards the abandoned shrine. Yan Luo and Qing Li exchanged a glance before looking down again. Qing Li pointed towards the spiral. "You see that?" Yan Luo nodded, his expression serious. "Yes. That's where we need to go." Deep beneath the earth, the threads continued to move. Neither of them could tell what lay at their source, but it was clear that something old had begun to stir.
Lin Chen pushed the door open with his shoulder, the wooden panel creaking as he stepped inside. The house was warm, and the smell of cooked rice still lingered in the room. He placed the basket on the table and was about to close the door when a small black shape slipped past his legs. "You're in a hurry tonight," he muttered, turning to watch the cat walk across the floor. Xu Yang moved towards the window with his tail held high. He stopped near the wooden sill and looked back at Lin Chen. Lin Chen shook his head and began taking the groceries out of the basket.
After putting the vegetables aside, he glanced at the cat again. "You know," he said, wiping his hands on his clothes, "you appear out of nowhere, disappear whenever you like, and then come back as if nothing happened." Xu Yang blinked at him. Lin Chen gave a small sigh and crouched beside him. "I can't keep calling you 'hey, you' forever." He reached out, then paused before gently tapping the cat's forehead with one finger. "You belong to the night more than this house." he said, looking at the black fur around its face. "Always wandering around after dark..." A small smile appeared on his lips. "How about Xiao Ye?" Xu Yang's ears twitched. For a moment, he simply stared at Lin Chen. 'Xiao Ye'He just named me... He lowered his eyes, trying to understand why those two simple words felt different from the names and titles he had known before. It's not a bad name...He looked back at Lin Chen. Actually, it's quite nice.A name given without a reason, without a demand, and without expecting anything in return...
Xu Yang's tail moved slowly. I suppose being called by a name isn't so bad... He had spent so long thinking about survival, the strange rules of this world, and the fate waiting for him that he had barely considered something as simple as having a name. Lin Chen chuckled when the cat did not move away. "Yeah, that suits you." Xu Yang turned his head and flicked his tail once before jumping onto the windowsill. Outside, the forest stood beneath the rising moon, its trees dark against the night sky.
At the shrine, Yan Luo knelt near the moss-covered steps. He held one hand above the ground, watching the spiral of memory threads beneath the soil. Qing Li stood beside him, looking at the strands as they moved. "It's changing." Qing Li said, leaning closer. Yan Luo nodded without lifting his eyes. "The weave is tightening." Qing Li looked around the shrine grounds before turning back to him. "Is it happening because we're here?" Yan Luo shook his head. "No. It's because something has become aware of us." The threads shimmered beneath the soil.
A moment later, the spiral began to open, and several strands stretched away from its centre. They passed beneath the stones and disappeared between the tree roots. Qing Li stepped back, watching them closely. "That's new!" he said, his eyes following the moving strands. Yan Luo stood up slowly. "It's reaching out." Qing Li looked towards the village. "Searching for the anchor?" Yan Luo did not answer, but his expression made it clear that he shared the same thought.
Back at the house, Lin Chen poured water into the kettle and placed it over the stove. He glanced towards the window, where the black cat was sitting quietly. "You know, Xiao Ye," he said, turning slightly as he adjusted the kettle, "you could at least pretend to be a normal cat." Xu Yang's tail flicked once. At that moment, something moved near the window. A faint strand of light slipped through the opening and entered the room. It was too thin for a human to notice, and it moved slowly, as if unsure where to go. Xu Yang immediately became still. His eyes followed the strand as it approached.
Lin Chen glanced over his shoulder when he noticed the cat's sudden silence. "What is it?" he asked, looking towards the window. "Did you see a moth?" Xu Yang did not move. The thread trembled and came a little closer. At the shrine, Qing Li suddenly turned towards the ground. "It's moving faster!" he said, pointing towards the strands that were stretching beyond the shrine grounds. Yan Luo closed his eyes and tried to follow their movement. "The anchor is becoming unstable. The weave is trying to find another point where it can settle." Qing Li looked at him sharply. "Another point? Where?" Yan Luo opened his eyes and looked towards the village. "Wherever it can find enough stability."
Qing Li's expression tightened. "And what happens if it can't find one?" Yan Luo did not answer immediately. He watched the strands move further away from the shrine, his expression growing more serious. In Lin Chen's house, the thin thread reached Xu Yang's paw. Its touch was so light that it barely disturbed the fur, but Xu Yang reacted at once. His ears rose, and his golden eyes narrowed. The thread pulled back, then slowly returned. It circled his paw once, as if testing whether it could approach further. Xu Yang watched it without moving. What are you doing?... He knew the feeling carried by the thread. It was searching for something familiar, something it could hold on to. But why had it followed him here?... He looked down at the thread again. The strand trembled, then stopped moving. For the first time since it had begun searching, it did not try to move any closer.
At the shrine, Qing Li took a sudden breath and stared at the strands. "It stopped." Yan Luo's eyes opened sharply. He looked at the pattern beneath the ground, then towards the village. "Impossible." Qing Li stepped closer, following the still strands with his eyes. "It found him!" he whispered. Yan Luo slowly shook his head. "No." His expression grew darker as he looked towards the distant rooftops. "It was acknowledged." Lin Chen frowned when the lantern flame beside the stove suddenly dimmed. He turned towards it and waited until the light steadied again. "Why is the flame acting strangely?" he muttered, adjusting the wick.
After a moment, he looked towards the window. The black cat was sitting in the same place, its body stiff and its eyes fixed on the darkness outside. Lin Chen put down the small tool in his hand and walked closer. "Xiao Ye?" he called softly. Xu Yang turned his head. Their eyes met, and Lin Chen paused. For a brief moment, he felt there was something unusual about the small creature sitting before him. It was not simply the way it watched the darkness. There was something in its eyes that made him feel as if the cat knew something he could not understand.Lin Chen blinked, and the feeling disappeared. He gave a small shake of his head. "I must be imagining things." he murmured before returning to the stove.
At the shrine, the spiral slowly grew dim. The strands that had stretched towards the village began to withdraw towards the centre. Qing Li watched them disappear beneath the soil. "It's retreating." he said, letting out a breath. Yan Luo remained still. "No. It's waiting." Qing Li turned towards him. "Waiting for what?" Yan Luo looked down at the ground. "For a decision." The house grew quiet as Lin Chen finished preparing for the night. He closed the window and secured the latch before turning away.
Near the sill, Xu Yang remained seated. A single thread of light still lingered beside his paw. It was no longer searching, and it had not returned to the shrine. It simply stayed there, as if waiting. Xu Yang lowered his gaze towards it. What decision are you waiting for?...The house was unusually quiet that night. A little moonlight entered through the half-closed window and fell across the floor. Lin Chen sat on the edge of his bed, his sleeves loose around his wrists. The black cat was curled near his pillow, its body tucked into a small circle. Lin Chen looked down at him and gently touched the fur near his head. "Xiao Ye..." he murmured, trying the name once more. The cat's ear twitched.
Xu Yang kept his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.Lin Chen leaned back against the wall and watched him for a while. "You always come back late," he said, resting one arm on his raised knee. "It's almost as if you're guarding something... or someone." Xu Yang's tail moved slightly despite his efforts to keep still. Lin Chen noticed and smiled. "See? You understand me." Xu Yang opened one eye and looked at him. Of course I understand you. I understand far more than you think... He looked away again, trying to ignore the warmth in Lin Chen's voice. I understand that you're worried. I understand that you keep waiting for me to come back. And that's becoming a problem...
Lin Chen slowly reached out and rested his hand between Xu Yang's ears. His touch was gentle, and he did not try to pull the cat closer. "You don't have to talk." he whispered. "Just stay." Xu Yang opened his eyes a little. He looked at Lin Chen's hand, then at his face. For a moment, he considered changing back into his human form and telling Lin Chen the truth. But Yan Luo's warning came back to him. Humans fear what they cannot understand. Xu Yang lowered his head and closed his eyes again. Better not. I don't need to make things more complicated...
Outside, the wind moved through the trees. A strange scent entered the room, faint but familiar. Xu Yang's nose twitched. It was Demonic energy.His eyes opened at once. He raised his head and looked towards the door. The presence was near the edge of the courtyard, watching the house. Lin Chen noticed the sudden change in his posture and leaned forward. "Xiao Ye?" he asked, his hand pausing above the blanket. Xu Yang slipped away from the pillow and jumped onto the floor. He walked towards the door without making a sound. Lin Chen watched him and let out a quiet sigh. "Going out again?" he asked, standing up from the bed. There was no anger in his voice, only concern. "Be careful."
Xu Yang stopped near the door. Be careful... He repeated the words silently, his ears turning slightly towards Lin Chen. They felt unfamiliar. It was not an order or a warning given for someone's own benefit. Lin Chen had said it because he was worried about him. Xu Yang looked back at the room. I've never heard anyone say that to me in quite this way. The thought made him pause. He had lived through countless strange events and faced dangers that most people could not imagine, yet a simple expression of concern had caught him off guard. So this is what it feels like, he thought quietly, when someone is actually worried about you. He stood there for another moment, looking at Lin Chen. No one had said those words to him in centuries. Moonlight entered through the window, falling across the floor and the bed. Lin Chen was still standing beside it, watching him as if he simply expected Xu Yang to return safely because he had asked him to. Xu Yang hesitated, his gaze resting on Lin Chen for a little longer. He's really worried about me...