Chapter Forty-Two: I Made a Grave Mistake

Rebecca smiled, her eyes shining brilliantly as she looked at me.

“Qianqian, you really are a silly little cat. Don’t you know why I’m here?”

I was completely confused. Rebecca’s intimate manner of address and tone were something I hadn’t quite gotten used to, but I pretended to be happy, forcing a stiff smile onto my face.

“I really don’t know. Why did you come?”

Rebecca smiled again, then her tail flicked, and a long-haired kitten stepped out from behind her, smiling gently at me.

“Hello, I’m Claudia,” she said softly, her voice sounding much like Rebecca’s.

She was a long-haired calico, mostly white, her eyes not as blue as Rebecca’s but tinged with pale azure—a rather ethereal look.

“Damn! It’s that foreign cat again!” someone muttered behind me, the tone sharp; I guessed it must be Xiaomi.

“Qianqian, you’re such a scatterbrain. Ningning is gone now, so naturally, we need another cat to fill the spot—otherwise, how could we have six? There’d be no way to rotate shifts, hehe.”

A chill ran through me as I looked at the cat called Claudia.

She smiled at me, lowering her front paws slightly and wagging her tail twice, as if to show goodwill.

But who wanted her goodwill!

She was the same wretched cat who followed Xiaoyun and me last time when we were searching for the fetal souls, scattering them everywhere!

Life truly brings unexpected encounters. I had thought she was working for Ningning, but now it seemed otherwise.

If she were Ningning’s follower, she would have disappeared with her death.

Or perhaps she’s now allied with Rebecca?

I couldn’t be sure of the specifics, but I knew this cat would neither be as reckless as last time in the human world nor come with any good intentions.

I’d have to be extra cautious now, with Xiaoyun absent and only Fishball to rely on.

Yet, shift duty was strictly one cat at a time; Fishball couldn’t help me.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Fishball stood behind me, constantly pawing at my tail—whether to annoy me or remind me of his presence, I wasn’t sure.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of confidence. I straightened up, head held high, and answered without a trace of awkwardness.

“Hello, Claudia. I am Bai Qianqian.”

“Hello, Bai Qianqian.”

After that simple introduction—even Rebecca might not have expected it—I stood up and walked away, chatting and laughing with Fishball while the other kittens gathered around.

The two foreign long-haired cats were left behind, like lettuce leaves set aside.

I swear, this was the most delightfully satisfying thing I’ve ever done in my life!

Xiaomi, Luo Ning, and Yueke cooperated with me flawlessly.

Perhaps it was because Claudia had been a soul-guarding cat, but Xiaomi and the others were too—which meant there might have been past grudges.

Whatever the reason, this was the most glorious act I’d ever put on, and I intended to maintain this aloofness for as long as possible!

So, when it came to arranging the afternoon shifts, Claudia sat alone while the five of us huddled together.

Playing and fooling around, she was never included.

Occasionally, when I looked back, I’d catch Claudia glaring at me, eyes narrowed in frustration.

Caught in the act, she’d stiffen and turn away, pretending nothing had happened.

As I suspected, she was up to no good.

But what I hadn’t anticipated was—

On the first day of duty, the assignment was me and Claudia.

I was puzzled—why me and her?

---

I guarded the soul chamber, she guarded the fetal soul chamber. I thought it was fine, nothing to worry about, just needed a bit more vigilance.

Sure enough, the first shift was uneventful, as were the next two days, with the other four kittens rotating.

Soon, it was my second shift.

This time, the cat assigned next door was Yueke, not Claudia.

I relaxed, lazily playing with a little ball in the chamber.

But trouble struck swiftly! I hadn’t seen a thing—and suddenly, all the souls in the room drifted out!

They scattered like greenish fireflies across the sky!

“Damn!” I swore, rushing to shut the doors of the chamber.

Why were the jars containing souls opened? Who pulled the main thread?

I scrambled frantically, but soon realized the souls weren’t stopped by any barrier—they simply passed through the walls and flew away!

“Ah—!” I screamed, helpless and voiceless, sitting in place.

It all happened too fast. My second shift, and I’d made such a huge mistake!

A loud bang—door flung open—and a gust of black wind swept in!

I hugged my head, knowing it must be Master. But why so quick?

After Forgetting River had taken form, countless tendrils of black mist swirled everywhere, pulling back the souls still inside, gathering them once more in the jars.

But even if I was blind, I could see the jars held only two-thirds of their former contents—the rest must have flown... I dared not imagine further and hurried over.

“Master...”

Before I could even pretend to be pitiful, Forgetting River seized me.

I’d never seen him so furious; his whole body was wrapped in black smoke, swirling ceaselessly, his face as cold as Arctic ice.

For reasons unknown, I began to tremble—perhaps from fear.

But my feelings then couldn’t be summed up by fear alone; all I could do was shiver uncontrollably in his grasp.

Unexpectedly, Forgetting River did nothing to me, simply threw me to the ground.

Thank heaven—even though I saw stars from the impact, at least Master didn’t beat me.

But... the cat chamber punishment might be inevitable.

Pitifully, I looked up, catching Forgetting River’s dark eyes shining cold blue. I quickly lowered my head, not daring to meet his gaze. His voice came chillingly from beside me.

“Find them all within a week, or you’ll stay in the Soul Forbidden Land till you die.”

With that, Forgetting River vanished, leaving me frozen in place.

“No, no—please, no!” I called out to empty air, but he was already gone.

I’d heard of the Soul Forbidden Land... It was a torment more dreadful than plunging into molten steel.

Within, all manner of evil spirits and exiled cats would constantly tear at you, eventually assimilating you, but never ceasing the daily torment.

One had to endure the stench of decay—the rot would affect a cat’s fur and claws, causing ulceration.

Cats, being resilient, would linger on the brink of death, always rotting but never dying, suffering from the unbearable stench and agony.

Such endless torture was true suffering.

Only then did I realize the gravity of my mistake.

I stood stunned until dawn, when Fishball came to relieve me.

At the sight of Fishball, I threw myself at him, wailing loudly.

“What happened?” Fishball frowned, placing a paw on me.

---

He seemed to notice the jars beside me were missing so much and understood what had happened, stunned for a moment.

“Master said, if I don’t retrieve them in a week, I’ll be sent... to the Soul Forbidden Land.”

Fishball shuddered. “Did you touch the jars?”

Tearful and wronged, I shook my head. “No.”

Fishball gritted his teeth. “It’s alright. Go find your companion from the human world; maybe he can help. For now... he’s our only hope.”

I blinked. “Han Mingxuan?”

“Yes.”

After explaining, Fishball asked Xiaomi to take me to find Xiaoyun, telling us three to go seek Han Mingxuan together.

Xiaoyun gasped, mouth agape. “I—I’ll go ask Master!”

She darted off.

The two of us followed. Honestly, at this point, I couldn’t bear to face Forgetting River—not even hearing his voice without my heart panicking and losing face.

Standing outside, we overheard Xiaoyun pleading with Forgetting River to help us find the souls. He was still angry at first, but finally agreed to let Xiaoyun accompany me.

A tremendous mercy—Xiaoyun wouldn’t need to search for fetal souls for a week, only stick with me in finding the lost souls.

But with so many spirits, where could we even begin?

When Xiaoyun returned, she smiled awkwardly. “Come on, there’s always a way for cats.”

I couldn’t smile, only sighed, my paws limp as I walked.

Along the way, Xiaomi and Xiaoyun kept comforting me, but my heart remained uneasy—a guilty conscience never finds peace.

When I knocked at home’s door, I discovered a note left at the entrance.

“We’ve gone traveling, probably for half a month. No need for milk or newspaper deliveries.”

The handwriting was wild and scrawled—not Xin’er’s, but Han Mingxuan’s.

They... had gone traveling.

I laughed bitterly—this truly was fate; Han Mingxuan had left just when I was on the verge of disaster...

I stood there, spiritless, as Xiaomi patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry! I’m amazing at catching souls! Let’s do it together!”

Seeing Xiaomi’s determination, I forced a smile and turned to leave.

Now, I could see souls about to depart—those marked by black mist, black chains, and black ravens.

Xiaomi explained: black ravens signified violent deaths, like what happened to Xin’er before; we could snatch those.

Black chains meant their time was up, destined for a peaceful end with the ghost messengers already present—we couldn’t take those.

Those with black mist were tainted by evil spirits or cursed with bad luck—we could snatch those too.

For any we could grab, we had to act before the ghost messengers arrived, seize the soul, and escape quickly!

So, for the next five days, we wandered the streets, searching for the dying, but found precious few.

Three cats, five days without sleep, exhausted and sprawled by the roadside in despair.

A cloud of misery hung over us, leaving us utterly helpless...

Suddenly, with a screech, a sports car stopped right in front of us!

We instinctively tried to flee, but it was too late! Just like before, I was frozen in place—unable to move!