NDM-C4

Chapter 4

Yunxing obediently let Tan Xu rub the pet shampoo all over him.

He had followed Tan Xu home today, yet he still didn’t know what his servant was called.

However, when Tan Xu had been on the phone earlier, he’d heard his grandmother call him Xiao Xu.

So his name definitely had the character Xu (序) in it!

Yunxing planned to check the documents on Tan Xu’s desk once they went outside. He had noticed them when Tan Xu first carried him into the apartment.

After finishing Yunxing’s bath, Tan Xu picked up the hair dryer and set it to a medium temperature. He held it at a safe distance from the little cat while gently ruffling the calico’s fur with his other hand.

“Xiaohua, is this temperature okay?”

Tan Xu secretly stroked the cat twice before pretending nothing had happened.

The moment Yunxing heard Xiaohua, his fur immediately puffed up.

“You’re Xiaohua! Xiaohua Xu!”

Tan Xu had no idea why Yunxing had suddenly started meowing again.

He was getting a little anxious, but the little calico looked energetic enough. If anything, he looked like he was cursing at him.

Yunxing was mentally deducting points from Tan Xu when he suddenly felt his hind leg being lifted.

Then the warm air from the hair dryer blew between his legs.

Yunxing immediately kicked and pulled his hind leg free.

His fur was already mostly dry, and he had no intention of staying in the bathroom any longer.

Besides, Tan Xu had gotten caught in the rain too.

Yunxing magnanimously decided to give his servant some time to take a shower.

He jumped off the sink and trotted out of the bathroom on his four little legs.

Tan Xu followed.

He watched as the little cat wandered straight into the bedroom and began exploring.

After looking around and confirming there was nothing dangerous in the room, Tan Xu grabbed his pajamas and went back into the bathroom to shower.

Yunxing watched him take his clothes into the little room and close the door.

Knowing Tan Xu wouldn’t be coming out for a while, he sprang onto the bed.

Then he looked at the desk opposite him.

There were lots of papers on it.

He crouched into a jumping position, preparing to leap from the bed onto the desk.

He pushed off hard with both hind legs.

Just as his front paws were about to land on the desk—

He slid right down the side of the drawer.

Yunxing had never been one to admit defeat.

He’d never given up easily.

He looked at the nearby chair.

The chair was very close to the desk.

It should be enough to help him reach his destination.

So he repeated the same maneuver.

This time—

Success!

Yunxing finally made it onto the desk.

He walked around the papers twice and examined the writing.

He knew that printed text and handwriting were different. Humans generally wrote their own names by hand.

But there wasn’t a single handwritten word on the papers.

So Yunxing had no choice but to try reading.

He quickly spotted two characters:

姓名 — Name

He knew these characters.

When he was little, his grandfather had taught him how to read them while writing the clan genealogy.

Although he was a small cat, he was still a future Mountain God.

Reading human characters was hardly difficult for him.

After 姓名, the characters written were 火子.

His grandfather had taught him that when you didn’t know a character, you could usually pronounce it by reading half of it.

It basically never went wrong.

So Yunxing didn’t think he’d misread the name.

Still, he found it strange.

He’d heard Tan Xu’s grandmother call him Xiao Xu.

Usually, a nickname used Xiao + the final character of someone’s name.

Just like him.

His grandfather called him Xingxing.

Therefore, Xu must be the final character of this human’s name.

And this character obviously wasn’t pronounced zi.

So his name is Huo Xu.

Tan Xu stepped out of the bathroom and immediately saw the little cat seriously reading his coursework.

His assignment this time was a 5,000-word paper.

Tan Xu had finished the first draft and printed it out, intending to show it to his professor tomorrow.

He hadn’t expected to come out and find Xiaohua studying his paper.

He walked closer.

“Well, look at you. Such a studious little genius.”

Yunxing didn’t know what a genius student was.

But he knew that being called studious was a compliment.

His tail immediately rose proudly.

Huo Xu.

Since you complimented me, I suppose I can stop holding your theft of my spiritual power against you.

But you have to treat me like an emperor!

Tan Xu hadn’t bought a cat bed yet.

For the moment, there was nowhere for Yunxing to sleep.

He also didn’t dare let such a tiny kitten sleep directly on his bed. If he accidentally rolled over and crushed him during the night, that would be disastrous.

While Tan Xu was looking for something suitable, Yunxing jumped down from the desk.

There was a small bedside lamp with a tassel hanging from it.

Yunxing was immediately captivated.

He pretended to casually jump onto the bed, stepped onto Tan Xu’s pillow, and gently poked the tassel with his paw.

The tassel swung back and forth.

When it stopped—

He poked it again.

And again.

When Tan Xu returned, he found Xiaohua having the time of his life playing with the lamp.

The corners of his lips involuntarily curled upward.

“Xiaohua.”

Yunxing ignored him completely.

He didn’t acknowledge that name at all.

Only that detestable Huo Xu kept calling him by it.

What an ignorant human.

Seeing the little calico ignore him, Tan Xu sighed softly and sat beside him.

“What happened, Xiaohua?”

Yunxing saw that Tan Xu not only dared to call him that but had even dared to sit beside him.

Clearly, this human was asking to get punched.

He pulled back his paw.

Bam! Bam!

Two punches.

You’re Xiaohua!

Such a tacky name!

Tan Xu had known Yunxing for less than half a day, yet the little cat had already beaten him several times.

He really didn’t understand what was going on.

Now this little cat was in his home, eating his food and sleeping under his roof, yet he still dared to treat him like this.

If he didn’t teach him a lesson, the cat would never understand who the boss of this house was.

Tan Xu scooped up the little calico and held him in his arms.

Yunxing immediately let out a piercing shriek.

“Huo Xu, what are you doing?! Put me down! Or you’re going to regret it!”

Tan Xu could tell that the cat wasn’t crying because he was in pain.

He was probably trying to say something.

Tan Xu couldn’t understand him, but he guessed it was something along the lines of put me down.

He wasn’t going to listen.

Instead, he rubbed his chin against the little cat’s head.

The soft fur tickled his face.

Then, on impulse, he opened his mouth and gently bit down on the cat’s ear.

Yunxing, who had been protesting with his entire body, froze.

Huo Xu… isn’t going to eat a cat, is he…?

When Tan Xu noticed the little calico had stopped struggling, he found it somewhat unusual.

He lifted the cat and carefully examined him.

“What is it, Xiaohua?”

At this point, Yunxing didn’t even have the energy to care about whether he was called Xiaohua or not.

Earlier at the temple, he’d overheard a child whining about wanting to buy something called cat ears to eat.

The mere thought had terrified him so badly that he’d hidden in the bushes and refused to come out.

And now Tan Xu had bitten his ear.

Is he trying to eat cat ears too?!

He knew it!

Huo Xu wasn’t that kind!

A person who stole his spiritual power couldn’t possibly have good intentions!

He had only brought Yunxing home because he wanted to eat his ears.

And Yunxing, in his eagerness for revenge, had foolishly fallen straight into the trap.

What a disgrace to a Mountain God’s dignity!

Tan Xu noticed that the little calico had gone completely still and became worried.

He turned Yunxing over and examined him from every angle before finally placing all four paws on the bed.

Except Yunxing didn’t stand.

He simply flattened himself into a little cat pancake.

Tan Xu became even more concerned.

“What exactly is wrong?”

Yunxing gave him a sideways glance before turning his head away.

Tears had already welled up in his eyes.

I’m sorry, Grandpa.

Xingxing won’t be able to come back to you anymore.

Tan Xu looked down at the little cat’s ear.

He hadn’t bitten hard at all.

Could he have accidentally hurt him?

Seeing Yunxing looking as though he were about to cry, Tan Xu could only scoop him up again and hold him in his arms.

Tentatively, he said:

“Meow?”

Yunxing looked at him.

Seeing that he had gotten a reaction, Tan Xu hurriedly meowed a few more times.

Yunxing had absolutely no idea what he was saying.

What kind of nonsense is “mud truck eats cat treats”?

Sure enough.

Once you have something, you don’t know how to cherish it anymore.

At the temple, Tan Xu had acted as though he couldn’t bear to be without Yunxing.

But the moment he brought him home, he wanted to share his snacks with someone called Mud Truck?!

The more Yunxing thought about it, the angrier he became.

He’d already said he was coming here to be treated like an emperor.

And this damn Huo Xu still dared to defy him!

Absolutely unforgivable!

Just you wait.

If you dare fall asleep tonight, you’re finished.

I’ll teach you a proper lesson in your dreams!

Seeing Yunxing go quiet again, Tan Xu asked,

“What is it, Xiaohua? Are you angry?”

Then he lifted one of the cat’s paws and lightly smacked his own face with it several times.

Yunxing was startled.

He quickly retracted his claws.

What is wrong with this Huo Xu?

Does he like getting hit?

Still, a Mountain God was a magnanimous being.

Since Huo Xu had already apologized, Yunxing supposed he could forgive him.

Yunxing freed his paw from Tan Xu’s grasp and began pacing across the bed.

The mattress was incredibly soft.

He liked it.

The little bed beside the tassel lamp was soft too.

Yunxing decided it was exactly the right size for him.

So he strutted proudly toward the head of the bed and curled up on the pillow.

Seeing that Yunxing had found a place to sleep on his own, Tan Xu relaxed.

He had already offended the cat once and had only just managed to earn his forgiveness.

He couldn’t provoke him again.

He carefully walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled back the blanket.

The early-spring weather was still somewhat chilly.

Worried that the little cat might catch a cold, he gently turned the entire pillow around and covered part of Yunxing with the blanket.

Half-asleep, Yunxing vaguely sensed that his bed had been moved.

But he was already drifting toward sleep.

He decided that when he had the chance, he absolutely had to teach this human exactly how a little cat was supposed to be served.

Tan Xu was afraid of accidentally crushing the cat in his sleep, so he deliberately kept a good distance between them.

He even adjusted his sleeping position so carefully that he lay perfectly straight.

Gradually, the entire apartment fell silent.

Only two faint breaths remained.

The scene suddenly changed.

Tan Xu found himself standing in the living room.

And sitting on the sofa he’d spent so long choosing was a young man with brown hair.

The boy had round eyes with pale-colored irises that looked crystalline, like glass.

His lips were full, and he had an innocent-looking face.

The only questionable thing was his clothing.

The young man was wearing a rainbow-colored shirt.

The seven colors did not harmonize particularly well.

Tan Xu nearly blacked out just looking at it.

It took him a moment before he finally managed to speak.

His voice was somewhat hoarse.

“Who are you?”

The young man simply rolled his eyes at him.

“I’ll have you know, I really don’t like you eating me!”