"...So, you weren't beaten up, but you beat someone else up?"
At the dinner table, Miao Miao stood on its hind legs, forepaws crossed over its chest, like a dignified little miss of a cat.
A look of disbelief was written all over its face.
It had been so worried it couldn't even pretend to be dumb and keep silent—little did it know, the situation was the complete opposite of what it had imagined.
Xue Jing's appearance was overly deceptive, so cultured that anyone meeting him for the first time would think he's an intellectual scholar-type man, even though Miao Miao had seen him well-muscled, it still subconsciously believed he was the one likely to be bullied.
"Thank you for being so worried about me, Wan,"
Xue Jing chuckled.
Then, seeing Miao Miao standing up with its paws crossed looking too adorable, he couldn't help but reach out and pinch its cheeks.
The fight had been worth it, with an unexpected bonus.
Accidentally achieving success, Miao Miao, who would otherwise not choose to speak, had actually started talking because it was worried about the bloody scent of the Razor Gang thugs on him.
While touched, Xue Jing also couldn't help but find it amusing.
"...Don't call me Wan, you must respectfully refer to me as Sect Leader!"
True to its name Ning Fengwan, the cat stretched out its paw and slapped Xue Jing's hand away, saying indignantly.
The childish voice of a young girl didn't seem to have any deterring effect on Xue Jing, who nodded and said with a smile, "Alright, Sect Leader Wan."
He then reached out again to pet Miao Miao's head, stroking back and forth.
If this were a comic, by now Ning Fengwan's forehead would have bulged with veins as she tried with both white-gloved paws to stop Xue Jing's caresses, which were ineffective, and she exclaimed in frustration:
"Show some respect for your elders!"
When it had been pretending to be a cat, it was okay; it could deceive and comfort itself that it was just a cat, and being petted was no big deal—might even be somewhat enjoyable.
But now that its identity had been completely exposed, being 'teased' like this spread a wave of embarrassment from the tips of Ning Fengwan's toes right up to the top of her head.
Xue Jing saw that it was really getting anxious, so he withdrew his hands and curiously asked:
"An elder? Exactly how old are you, Wan?"
Miao Miao replied discontentedly, "You should call me Sect Leader."
After a pause, "Anyway, I'm older than you, that's for sure."
When Ning Fengwan spoke these words, her tone was somewhat evasive, but Xue Jing didn't pay it much attention as he stroked his chin and said:
"Leader of Dragon Sect... the same Dragon Sect mentioned in the news reports?"
He had heard this name before in news reports, described as a 'gang disguised as a religious organization,' which Kangde Security Company had now dismantled.
Wait? My Miao Miao is a mafia boss?
Miao Miao crossed its paws over its chest and lifted its head proudly, huffing in a young girl's voice:
"Correct, it's that Dragon Sect, scared now, aren't you?"
Finding it a bit adorable, Xue Jing couldn't resist any longer; he enveloped its cat head with both hands and began to rub its cheeks back and forth, laughing, "So scared, Sect Leader."
Miao Miao gritted its teeth, "Where are you scared? Let go now!"
Xue Jing withdrew his hands and asked, "The news said that the Dragon Sect has been destroyed by Kangde Security, so are you all alone now?"
Miao Miao stretched out a paw and signaled toward the pot of chicken soup, asking Xue Jing to serve a bowl for it and then said:
"Well... you could say that for the time being."
Xue Jing took the ladle, scooped up half a bowl of chicken soup, added a large chicken leg into the bowl, and placed it in front of Miao Miao.
"So, what are your plans for the future?"
Miao Miao tore off a bite of the tender, delicate chicken leg, chewed it, and its face showed an anthropomorphized expression of enjoyment.
After swallowing the meat, he said, "You don't need to concern yourself with these things. It's better for you not to know. I am only temporarily staying with you, and I'll leave soon."
Miao Miao showed a serious expression.
Even though she had coincidentally started communicating with this boy, Miao Miao still wanted to avoid getting him involved as much as possible.
For a behemoth like Kangde Security Company, even the official government found it to be a massive headache. For an ordinary person like Xue Jing, if Kangde sneezed, he would be blown to smithereens.
"Alright."
Seeing its serious demeanor, Xue Jing also nodded in agreement.
Then, as if asking casually, he questioned:
"By the way, Wan, since you are a person, why can you transform into a cat?"
"You should call me Sect Leader," Miao Miao initially expressed dissatisfaction before explaining, "Well, about that."
It stretched its tail forward, and the platinum tail ring reflected and twinkled in the light.
"This is a type of artifact known as a 'Divine Relic,' purportedly the legacy left behind after 'God' died."
"I don't quite understand the specifics, I just know that every Divine Relic possesses some miraculous abilities, like this one."
It shook the tail ring on its tail.
"I bought this from a swindler, serial number GOD-1391, Cat Tail Ring, and its power is to allow the wearer to transform into a cat."
"...It's just that once transformed, temporarily you cannot change back," Miao Miao's mouth twitched.
Xue Jing's mind stirred.
"Serial number GOD-1391? Are there many Divine Relics? The serial numbers go beyond a thousand," he commented.
"Hmm... there should be many, I think. I don't know about these things; I've only seen this one Divine Relic. The serial number and the name were told to me by that swindler," Miao Miao said.
"...Okay," Xue Jing replied, somewhat helplessly.
This was almost the same as saying nothing at all.
The plan to obtain more 'Divine Substance' through Miao Miao had apparently gone up in smoke.
The upgrade and unlocking of the active effects of 'Twin Lifes' was still far in the future.
However, it wasn't without gain; at least he now knew that these items were called Divine Relics, and judging by the serial numbers, there seemed to be quite a lot of them, at least over a thousand.
As Xue Jing watched Miao Miao lowering its head, eating chicken and sipping chicken soup, an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he spoke up:
"Oh, there's one more thing."
"Go on," Miao Miao replied, her speech muffled with a mouthful of chicken.
"The Leader of Dragon Sect sounds very imposing. You must have a lot of clout on the streets and be well-informed, right?" Xue Jing began with a bit of flattery.
"Hmph, of course," Miao Miao replied haughtily as she lifted her head.
"Here's the thing. I want to join a dojo for Martial Arts Practice. Which dojo is more formidable? Sect Leader, do you have any recommendations? Oh, and if I could leverage your supreme authority to get a discount on the tuition fees, that would be great." Xue Jing made a request.
Miao Miao nodded, "Regarding that, I was actually about to discuss it with you."
"You've taken me in and allowed me to eat and live at your place without charge, so I must repay this kindness."
"In a few days, I'll introduce you to someone. When it comes to Martial Arts Practice, there should be no one more formidable than this person in Qingcheng."
Xue Jing asked curiously, "Who is it?"
"The Old Dojo Master of Hidden Dragon Dojo, 'Dragon King' Li Qi."
A name spilled from Miao Miao's mouth.
...