Xu Yang woke up drowning.
Cold air rushed into his lungs, sharp and burning, making his chest spasm violently. He rolled instinctively, body jerking as he coughed and gasped, claws scraping uselessly against wet earth.
The ground was soaked.
Mud pressed into his fur, icy and heavy, sticking to him as rain fell steadily from above. His vision swam, blurring between shadow and pale light filtering through the forest canopy.
For a long moment, Xu Yang didn't understand anything Then pain faded.
And confusion rushed in.
I'm alive? (....)
A faint silence pressed against his senses. The air was too clean, too cold. Nothing like the last thing he remembered.
I remember… I was going to meet someone.
There was a road. A car… headlights too fast.
A sharp fragment flashed through his mind. Impact. Metal. A sound he couldn't quite place anymore. Then… I died. I'm sure I died.
His breath or what should've been his breath stuttered.
Where is this? Why am I in a forest?
The thoughts didn't feel stable. They came in pieces, like broken glass trying to form a picture that refused to complete itself.
That thought barely formed before something felt terribly wrong.His body felt… wrong. His body felt small and light. He tried to lift his arm and instead, a black-furred paw slid into his view.
Xu Yang froze. His heart slammed violently against his ribs as he slowly raised the other limb. Another paw. Short. Clawed. Covered in soft, dark fur matted with rain.
"No…" he tried to say. What came out was a weak, broken sound. "Meow."
The sound echoed softly in the rain-soaked forest. Xu Yang's mind went blank.
His own voice no, that sound felt wrong. Foreign. Like someone had stolen his throat and replaced it with something small and helpless. Xu Yang's breath turned sharp.
"I ...I didn't " he tried again, forcing meaning into his thoughts. "Meow." It came out again.
Louder this time.
A pause followed. Even the rain seemed to hesitate for half a second, as if the forest itself had acknowledged it. Xu Yang's eyes widened in panic. "No… stop I'm not... I'm human, I'm..."
"Meow!" The sound cut through the air again, sharper, almost distressed.
He tried harder this time, forcing every bit of will into the words. "I said.. I said I'm..."
"Meow." Even that came out, smaller, almost pleading. His body trembled.
He staggered backward, hind legs slipping in the mud, until his back hit the rough bark of a tree. His breath came fast and shallow as panic finally took hold. This wasn't a dream.
He remembered dying. The blinding headlights.
The impact.
The sudden, crushing silence.
People didn't wake up as cats after that.
Xu Yang squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The forest was still there.
Tall trees loomed overhead, their leaves whispering softly as rain slid down their edges. The air itself felt thick alive in a way he had never experienced before. That was when he felt it.
A faint warmth deep in his chest. Weak. Flickering. Like a candle struggling against the wind.Instinct told him what it was.
Spiritual energy. His heart sank. A demon world. A cultivation world.The book.
Xu Yang's breathing turned uneven.
His small claws dug into the damp soil as the realization refused to stay buried.
" No." His voice came out again as a soft, involuntary "meow," but his mind was screaming far louder than his body could ever express. "No… no, no, no."
He shook his head violently, rain scattering from his fur. "I'm dreaming. This is a dream. That's it." Another pause.
Then, weaker " Right? This has to be a dream." His golden-green eyes darted around the forest as if expecting someone to step out and laugh, to tell him it was a prank, a hallucination, anything. "I just got hit by a car," he muttered in fragments, forcing logic into panic. "People don't… wake up in forests as as cats. That doesn't happen."
His throat tightened. " I'm in a coma. Or unconscious. That's it."
A shaky breath. "Yes. Yes, that makes sense. Hospitals… machines… I'll wake up any second." But the warmth in his chest flickered again.
His pupils trembled. " No." The word came out smaller this time. Xu Yang swallowed hard, trying to force his mind away from the conclusion forming against his will. "I've read this," he whispered. A pause. Then it hit harder. "I've read this."
His paws froze mid-movement. The forest seemed to press closer. " No way," he breathed, voice cracking. "No way, no way…"
His tail something he still wasn't used to acknowledging stiffened behind him.
"I'm not… I can't be…" His eyes widened as the pieces aligned against him.
Weak body. Beast form. Spiritual energy. Forest awakening. A familiar, hated pattern.
" I'm in a book?"Silence. Even the rain felt quieter now. Xu Yang let out a broken laugh that turned immediately into another helpless "meow." "That's impossible."
A beat. " Right?" His claws curled tighter into the mud. "No… no, this is just my brain trying to make sense of trauma. Car accident, shock, hallucination " His voice faltered.
The forest went unnaturally still. A cold, emotionless presence pressed briefly against his consciousness.
Identity confirmed.
External soul detected.
Vessel: Non-human.
Condition: Nine Lives.
Xu Yang's heart pounded.
The presence lingered just long enough to leave one final imprint
Death is mandatory.
Then it vanished.
The rain resumed. The forest breathed again.
Xu Yang collapsed into the mud, shaking.
Nine lives.
Mandatory death.
Whatever this world was, it had already decided how his story would end.
" Great," he thought weakly, curling in on himself. I don't even get to complain.
Xu Yang's mind went quiet for a second after the phrase settled in. Nine lives.
Then " Huh?"
His ears wrong, sensitive, real twitched as if trying to confirm what he just understood.
"No. Wait." A pause. " Say that again."
No one answered him. Only rain.
His breathing grew uneven. "I heard that wrong," he muttered, forcing logic back into place like a broken puzzle. "I definitely heard that wrong." But the warmth in his chest pulsed again, faint and cruelly steady.
And with it came certainty. His expression twisted. " Nine lives?" he repeated, slower now. "Like...like a cat thing? That's...that's folklore. That's not..."
His claws dug into the wet ground.
Then it hit him fully. His voice cracked.
"Wait." A sharp inhale. " I have to die nine times?" Silence. His pupils shrank.
"That's not a system. That's a curse."
His tail stiffened behind him. " Are you joking with me?"
A short, breathless laugh escaped him, immediately breaking apart.
"No, no, no ...this is insane." He lifted one trembling paw as if arguing with the world itself. "First I get hit by a car," he said rapidly, voice rising, "then I wake up in some cultivation demon forest novel world, then I turn into a cat fine! Fine, I accept it!"
A beat. His voice sharpened.
"But what is this? Nine lives? Die in every life?" His fur bristled slightly as emotion surged through him. "Are you messing with me? Is this supposed to be funny? Who designed this?!"
He took a shaky step forward, then another, forcing his small body upright despite the instinct to curl up. "I didn't even finish my last life properly," he muttered bitterly. "I was literally on my way somewhere and bam. Gone." His breath trembled. "And now you're telling me I have to do it again. Nine more times?" A pause. His voice dropped, quieter but sharper. " What if I don't want to?"
The forest didn't answer.
"Fine." He said.
He forced himself to stand. Walking on four legs felt awkward but strangely familiar, as if his body remembered things his mind didn't. His tail swayed unconsciously, helping him balance as he staggered forward.
The scent hit him first.
Human. Xu Yang froze instantly, instincts screaming. Footsteps approached through the rain slow, careful, not aggressive.
Xu Yang darted beneath a thick bush just as a figure appeared on the narrow dirt path.
A young man. Plain gray robes clung to his body, soaked through by the rain. A bamboo hat shielded his face, though strands of dark hair stuck to his cheeks. He carried no sword, no visible weapon only a bundle slung over one shoulder. Not a cultivator Or barely one.
Xu Yang could feel it faintly weak spiritual energy, unstable, harmless. The young man paused, frowning slightly. " Huh?" he muttered. "I thought I heard something."
Xu Yang froze.
He heard that? (... )
His thoughts snapped instantly into alertness.
No, no...don't look here. Just keep walking.
(....)
His body refused to move, every muscle locked tight against instinct. The man's head turned slightly again. Xu Yang's mind raced.
Who is he? Why is he here in the first place? (...)
A colder thought followed immediately.
What if he's not "probably nothing" kind of person? (....) His ears flattened without him realizing it.
I can't even test anything right now… I don't know how strong I am, or what counts as dangerous in this world. (....)
The man shifted his weight. Xu Yang held his breath.
If he comes closer… I won't even have space to run. (...)
A sharp realization settled in, quieter but heavier than panic.
I'm basically helpless right now. (...)
His claws tightened slightly into the mud.
Calm down. Think. Don't panic. (...)
But his next thought betrayed him anyway.
…What if he hurts me? (....)
A pause. Xu Yang swallowed.
I can't afford to find out the hard way. (....)
Xu Yang pressed himself flat against the ground, breath shallow. The man glanced around, then shrugged. "Probably nothing."
He took one step Xu Yang slipped.
Mud squelched softly beneath his paw.
The sound was small.But it was enough.
The young man turned sharply. Their eyes met through the leaves. Xu Yang's heart dropped straight into his stomach.
For a split second, he expected fear.
Instead, the man's expression softened.
"Oh," he said quietly. "There you are."
Xu Yang tensed, ready to bolt.
The man crouched slowly, deliberately lowering himself so he wouldn't seem threatening. "Easy," he said. "I won't hurt you."
Xu Yang didn't believe him. Still, his body trembled uncontrollably, cold finally catching up to him. Rain dripped from his fur, pooling beneath him. The man noticed. " You're freezing," he murmured.
He hesitated, then removed his outer robe and gently spread it on the ground a short distance away. "You can take this," he said. "I'll be fine." Xu Yang stared at the robe.
Warmth radiated faintly from it. After a long, careful moment, he stepped forward.
Then another. He curled into the fabric instinctively, body shuddering as heat seeped into his bones. A small, broken sound escaped him before he could stop it.
The man smiled softly. "That's better."
He stood and adjusted the bundle on his shoulder. "I'm heading back to the village," he said. "It's close. You can follow if you want."
Village.
Xu Yang hesitated only a second before padding after him. The village was small and quiet, tucked between low hills and soaked rice fields. Lantern light glowed warmly through rain-splattered windows as people hurried indoors.No one spared Xu Yang a second glance. He was just a cat.
The young man led him into a modest house at the edge of the village. Inside, it was warm and simple. A small stove crackled softly, filling the room with comforting heat.
The man shut the door and sighed.
"Home." He poured warm broth into a shallow bowl and placed it on the floor.
Xu Yang drank greedily.
As warmth spread through him, tension he hadn't realized he was carrying finally eased.
The man sat nearby, watching him with gentle curiosity. "My name's Lin Chen," he said casually. "You don't look like you belong to anyone."
Xu Yang kept his head down. Lin Chen smiled. "That's okay. You can stay here."
Xu Yang's tail twitched. Outside, the rain continued to fall. Above, unseen, Heaven remained silent. And in a small village, a cat that should not exist curled up beside a stove choosing, for now, to survive.