Chen Ji stuffed the System Cat into the bamboo basket and said mildly, 【I’m wondering if we should put up a few signs like that.】
【……】The System Cat replied, 【Fine, whatever you say.】
【So, can we head home now? It’s only afternoon. Let’s go down the mountain and pick up the deliveries! Quite a few packages have arrived. It’ll probably rain tomorrow, so let’s bring everything back today. Tomorrow we can just lie flat at home!】
Chen Ji rubbed its head and slung the bamboo basket onto his back. 【There’s one more place we need to pay respects to.】
The System Cat tilted its head. 【Huh?】
It racked its brains for a moment. Second Master Huang had said there were only a few spirits on the mountain: the snakes in the woods at the peak, the mulberry tree in the back hills… Oh right, past the mulberry woods there was a pond with a carp in it?
【We have to go through the woods to pay respects to the carp? It’ll be dark by the time we get back!】
Chen Ji stepped into the woods and explained, 【We’ve paid respects everywhere else. It wouldn’t be right to skip just that one.】
When you move to a new place, you could skip visiting all the neighbors, but if you visit everyone in the building except one family, you’d turn friends into foes even without any prior grudge. The same went for this mountain. He’d greeted every entity here—skipping just the carp down by the back hills would be asking for trouble.
So even if it was far, he had to go.
Perhaps because the master of these woods had shown goodwill, Chen Ji felt unusually at ease walking this path. The forest was just a forest—no lurking sense of being watched, no undercurrent of unease. It felt like an ordinary hike.
Chen Ji was in high spirits. The System Cat hopped out of the basket and trotted along at his feet as they ventured deeper into the woods. Casually, he asked, 【From the looks of things with Uncle Liu, we’ll finish the first phase in another half month at most. What’s next?】
【Let me check…】The System Cat flipped through its little ledger. 【The next phase is still restoration, but this one’s a long haul. Just putting up the structure won’t cut it—you’ll need hard finishes and soft furnishings too. That renovation package you got only covers the rooms you’re using. Everywhere else has to follow temple specs.】
【Oh, looks like this’ll cost a pretty penny.】Chen Ji said.
【Some people ought to have a sense of shame.】The System Cat shot him a glare. 【If you hadn’t insisted on cheating, you could’ve fixed it all yourself nice and slow. I’d supply all the materials—no cost to you, and you’d even earn some!】
By the original plan, Chen Ji should have been patching walls and laying tiles bit by bit—here today, there tomorrow. Who knew he’d go off-script and hire contractors with cash.
Chen Ji chuckled. 【Asking me to learn construction from scratch is too much.】
【By normal logic, unless you’re in the trade, everyone hires pros. Even without money, you’d work a job, save up, then hire help.】
【Eww.】The System Cat scoffed in disdain.
—Whatever. There was an old saying in the Hua Nation: It didn’t matter what kind of cat it was; if it caught mice, it was a good cat.
The System Cat didn’t care how Chen Ji completed the tasks, as long as he did. Competing with this programmer at exploiting loopholes was too exhausting.
Smoothly changing the subject, the System Cat asked, 【What are we having for dinner, Chen Ji~?】
Chen Ji fell suspiciously silent. He’d planned to bring the System Cat up the mountain, meet the neighbors, and see what spring’s bounty offered—how could the mountain lack food? But today was cursed; they’d walked all this way and found only a few bamboo shoots. Nothing else. Hesitantly, he suggested, 【Hand-peeled shoots, shoots stir-fried with cured pork?】
The System Cat promptly flopped onto the top of his foot, striking a dramatically languid pose as it gazed up pitifully. 【I want milk tea… not the instant kind…】
Chen Ji replied, 【I’ll brew some with tea bags and milk when we get back. Tastes authentic.】
The System Cat writhed darkly on his foot. 【But I want cheese grapes and mango pomelo sago…】
Amused, Chen Ji crouched down and patted the System Cat’s soft belly. The plush fat jiggled the fur in gentle waves. In a soft, coaxing voice, he said, 【I’ll simmer some brown sugar syrup for you. How about brown sugar boba milk tea tonight? Tomorrow, tomorrow we’ll head down to town first. There’s a milk tea shop there, plus barbecue and hotpot.】
The System Cat grumbled reluctantly. 【Fine~】
Just then, a familiar shadow darted past the corner of Chen Ji’s eye. He paused and called out instinctively, “Second Grandpa Huang?”
The yellow weasel skidded to a halt and turned back to look at him. Chen Ji peered closer and realized, though it resembled Second Master Huang, it wasn’t him.
The yellow weasel stood up on its hind legs like a person and waved its front paws, chittering softly. “Chitter chitter!”
Chen Ji spotted the black shadow swelling up behind it. He turned to the System Cat and said, “I thought it was the one we saw yesterday!”
The System Cat let out a soft, puzzled meow. “Meow?”
Chen Ji scooped up the System Cat, rubbing its neck as he said, “There sure are a lot of yellow weasels on this mountain.”
With that, he tossed the System Cat back into the basket, pulled out his electric baton, and grabbed an egg yolk pastry. He peeled it and flung it over. “Here! Eat or not?”
The yellow weasel chittered twice more, cocking its head at Chen Ji. The shadow behind him loomed as tall as a person—not as solid as Second Master Huang’s, even a bit diffuse—but with the same gaping maw and razor teeth. It was just like the first time he’d seen Second Master Huang.
The black shadow closed in. At the same time, the yellow weasel approached on its hind legs, one front paw waving. Faint, ghostly breaths whispered in Chen Ji’s ears.
It was like sinister laughter. Or someone calling his name.
Chen Ji’s eyes glazed over for an instant. The next, clarity snapped back. In that split second, the black shadow was upon him, drool dripping from its fangs. One more breath, and it would have torn him to shreds.
Chen Ji whipped out the electric baton. The segments extended with a snap, and in that moment, arcs of blue electricity crackled forth, slicing through the air toward the yellow weasel.
The black shadow shattered on contact. Chen Ji’s arm passed through unhindered and struck the yellow weasel.
The creature had no idea what the iron stick was, but instinct screamed danger. It spun to flee, but its tiny body was no match. Before it could outrun the baton’s reach, the tip was upon it.
A shrill wail erupted from the yellow weasel. Its tawny body blackened instantly, fur curling and smoking faintly.
Chen Ji approached and prodded it with the baton. The yellow weasel lay still, no rise or fall of breath.
【Dead?】the System Cat asked, still shaken.
Whoa, this mountain was seriously creepy. Chen Ji’s mind had blanked out for a moment there. If it hadn’t faked a shock to jolt his nerves, he might not have snapped out of it.
Second Grandpa Huang hadn’t pulled anything like that before.
Chen Ji stared expressionlessly at the charred yellow weasel. He cranked the high-voltage electric baton to max power and pressed the tip against it. The creature twitched once, then went completely limp. Calmly, Chen Ji said, 【Dead now, for sure?】
The System Cat gestured. 【If it was a normal yellow weasel, its organs would be fried.】
Chen Ji nodded. For some reason, he smiled. The baton’s battery was limited; max output drained it fast. He wasn’t stingy—he poured the last dregs into the weasel.
Oh, and he snapped a photo with his phone.
Chen Ji wasn’t really scared. That forced daze felt odd, but otherwise, nothing new—habit, maybe?
Remembering how the spectacle king cobra got eaten by the White Tiger, yet its bones still sought revenge, Chen Ji fetched cooking oil packets from the basket. Ruthlessly, he used ten of them to drench the yellow weasel, then set it ablaze.
The System Cat remarked, 【Do you have to go that far? I thought you’d take it back to show Second Master Huang.】
Chen Ji said darkly, 【How? Tie it to you? Or have you sit on it?】
The System Cat backpedaled at once. 【Forget I said anything!】
Chen Ji watched the yellow weasel burn to a crisp, even catching a whiff of charred meat. He didn’t flinch, observing as the flames roared then died to embers. He extinguished them, dug a shallow pit with his trekking pole, and dumped the remains inside.
…Something felt off.
But Chen Ji couldn’t pinpoint what, so he let it slide for now.
Navigation said it would take at least an hour’s walk to exit the woods. This time, the System Cat obediently returned to his body, playing episodes of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf to pass the time. He’d just finished the fifth when he reached the forest’s edge. Energized, he quickened his pace.
The air carried a damp chill. Second Master Huang’s pond should be nearby.
Chen Ji checked his phone map again. It showed a small pond right beside him—his location pin sat at the water’s edge. He glanced that way: dense trees. Unsure, he used his trekking pole to part the branches and pushed through.
Less than a minute in, he glimpsed shimmering water ahead.
He hastened forward—then froze.
It was a pond, all right. But slumped at the edge lay a man.
The fellow was barely clothed, half his body in the water. Blood stained a patch of the pond crimson. His ink-black hair splayed wildly, revealing glimpses of deathly pale skin amid the chaos. His face was drained of color.
Chen Ji rushed over without a second thought and flipped him onto his back. Staring at the handsome, aloof features, he frowned.
…How was it him?
