“Yidu.”

　　“Why are we going to Yidu?”

　　“San Hua Niangniang is such a curious one…”

　　“Why are we going to Yidu?”

　　“I haven’t decided yet.”

　　“Then hurry up and decide.”

　　“I’ll do my best.”

　　Having just escaped from a lonely journey, Brian Carter was immediately greeted by a little troublemaker—something he hadn’t expected.

　　“Then I’ll be counting on you, Mary, to look after me.”

　　For some reason, his mood shifted.

　　……

　　One person and one cat returned to that dilapidated temple.

　　By the time they arrived, it was already late afternoon. The round trip had taken up another whole day. But that was always the way in this era—everything moved slowly, and a day could slip away just traveling a few dozen li through the mountains.

　　Someone had actually come to offer incense again.

　　It was homemade incense, with ingredients different from those used in his own temple. The scent was fresh, and seemed to repel mosquitoes—Brian Carter rather liked it.

　　There was a loach on the offering table.

　　Mary quickly jumped onto the altar, sniffed the three sticks of incense, then forced herself to stop, looked at the little loach on the offering table with reluctance, then turned to Brian Carter at the door: “Daoist, the person from yesterday offered me incense, but I haven’t helped him catch mice yet. And now there’s this person today—can I go to their house tonight and catch the mice for them?”

　　Brian Carter looked at her for a long moment, then nodded.

　　“Can I eat that loach?”

　　“If you want to, go ahead. Anyway, it’ll be your last meal. Remember, from now on you can’t accept any more offerings, and you can’t absorb incense anymore.” Brian Carter looked at the Calico Cat in front of him. Because she had absorbed incense, she had gained some divine abilities—she could tell who had offered each stick of incense, who had given each offering, and could use that to find them. “Absorbing incense will unknowingly set you on the path of the gods, and then you’ll be inseparable from incense. When the incense runs out, you’ll weaken and even perish. Besides, the true gods of the Celestial Court will see you as an evil spirit.”

　　“Got it, got it.”

　　The Calico Cat lay down on the altar, looking listless. She couldn’t bear to leave her temple, her clay statue, or her incense—these were all things she had worked hard for, catching mice day after day for years.

　　At times like this, she especially missed her old little temple.

　　That little temple was small, only half as tall as the Daoist in front of her, but it was more than enough for a cat to live in. It couldn’t block the wind, but it kept out the rain, and being under a big tree, it wasn’t easily discovered by people. Thinking back, it was a cozy little nest.

　　The Calico Cat became even more dispirited.

　　When night fell, she went out.

　　Later that night, some wandering martial artists came to stay, bringing red incense sold in the city. Even though the temple only had a clay cat statue, they still respectfully lit three sticks, said a few polite words typical of their kind, greeted Brian Carter, and then settled down on the other side of the ruined temple.

　　Brian Carter meditated through the night, attuning himself to the mountain’s spiritual energy.

　　Above, the Milky Way turned; below, curtains fell over the human world.

　　No one knew when the Calico Cat returned, but when he opened his eyes the next morning, she looked a bit tired. When he asked why, she said the two families—one lived at the far end, the other at the near end—she didn’t even know which end was which.

　　“Let’s leave after breakfast.”

　　Brian Carter said to the Calico Cat, holding a steamed bun in his hand. The Calico Cat had eaten plenty of mice last night and was still full.

　　The martial artists nearby had also woken up.

　　One of them, well-dressed and accompanied by a young attendant, perhaps noticing Brian Carter’s Daoist robes and youthful appearance and wanting to make friends, walked over with some dried meat and said to Brian Carter:

　　“Sir, are you also a lover of cats?”

　　“Something like that.”

　　“I’m a cat lover too, but it’s rare to see someone like you, sir, bringing a cat along on a long journey.”

　　“Yes.”

　　“Sir, you can’t just eat steamed buns. I have some dried pork from my hometown—would you like to try some?”

　　“I appreciate it.”

　　“No need to be so polite, sir. We’re all wanderers—meeting is fate. Let’s consider ourselves old friends.”

　　“Thank you.”

　　Brian Carter still smiled and shook his head.

　　The man, rejected, didn’t get embarrassed like some prideful martial artists. Instead, he turned with a smile and shared with the others. After a few rounds of mutual flattery, they were soon calling each other brothers and chatting happily, as if they’d known each other for years.

　　These martial artists were well-traveled and had heard all sorts of gossip. Even if much of it was exaggerated, Brian Carter enjoyed listening to their tall tales.

　　Before long, the steamed bun was finished.

　　“Let’s go.”

　　Brian Carter said, then got up and walked out.

　　The Calico Cat followed him obediently.

　　The group of martial artists watched them, and after they left, began to whisper among themselves.

　　“This young gentleman is really interesting—traveling with a cat. And the cat is interesting too, actually following him. I can’t even get close to my own cat.”

　　“Come to think of it, isn’t the temple’s statue also a cat?”

　　“Yeah…”

　　They all turned to look at the clay statue on the altar.

　　Just then, they saw the statue, as if it couldn’t bear their gaze, suddenly crack in several places. The cracks spread rapidly, growing more and more numerous and larger, and in the blink of an eye, the entire statue was covered in them—then, with a crash, it shattered into countless pieces.