The sickness began with the chickens.
Lin Chen noticed it early in the morning.
One of the hens lay on its side near the coop, wings twitching weakly, eyes half-clouded. Its feathers were dull, breath shallow and uneven.
"That's strange…" Lin Chen murmured.
He crouched down, careful not to startle the rest of the flock. "It was fine yesterday."
He gently nudged the hen with a stick, then frowned when it didn't react properly. "No injury… no blood… just weakness?"
Lin Chen straightened slowly, his expression turning thoughtful. "Did it eat something wrong?" he muttered to himself. "Or… is something wrong with the water?"
He glanced around the yard, eyes narrowing slightly. "I should check the other animals too." A pause. "If this spreads…" he added under his breath, "it won't be good."
Xu Yang sat on the fence nearby, tail wrapped neatly around his paws. He knew.
The moment he stepped outside, he had felt it. a thin, sour presence clinging to the morning air, faint but persistent, like the after taste of something rotten.
His gaze drifted back to the sick chicken.
So it's already started. (...)
A quiet weight settled in his chest.
First day. Not even a full day. And something's already happening. (...)
He let out a slow breath.
Of course it is. (...)
His tail tightened slightly around his paws.
Why would I get a calm tutorial phase? That would be too kind. (...)
A pause. His thoughts turned slower, more uncertain now.
But what am I supposed to do? (.....)
He looked at Lin Chen moving around the coop, still unaware of the deeper implication behind what he was seeing.
I'm just a cat. A newly reincarnated… whatever I am. (...)
A faint frustration rose in him.
Do I warn him? Even if I try, I'll just meow. And he won't understand anything beyond "hungry stray animal noises." (...)
His ears flicked back slightly.
Do I ignore it? Pretend I didn't feel anything? That feels worse. (....)
Another pause. Or do I just… watch?
That thought lingered uncomfortably.
That's all I can do right now, isn't it? Watch and survive until I understand more.
(....)
His claws shifted slightly against the wood beneath him.
I don't even know the rules of this sickness. Is it poison? Curse? Spiritual contamination?
A bitter realization followed.
I used to read novels like this. Characters always figured things out fast. Why can't I just… do that? (...)
He glanced again at the chicken, then at Lin Chen.
Right now, I'm just sitting here pretending I have control. (...)
A quiet exhale. I don't. But even as that thought settled, another, smaller one followed.
Lin Chen squatted beside the coop, checking the chicken carefully. "You didn't eat anything bad, did you?" he muttered, more to himself than to the animal. Xu Yang's ears flattened.
The presence pulsed once, as if reacting to attention.Very lightly, Xu Yang shifted his weight and let his spiritual senses open just a crack so small even he almost didn't notice it.
The world sharpened. He immediately regretted it. The chicken's body was wrapped in something thin and gray, like smoke pressed too tightly against flesh. It wasn't alive, not exactly. More like a mark.
A fingerprint.
Lin Chen sighed and lifted the chicken gently. "I'll ask Granny Wei if she's seen this before."
Xu Yang jumped down from the fence and followed, keeping his pace casual.
The village felt different today.Not louder.
As if invisible paths had shifted overnight.
People moved around as usual, but Xu Yang noticed small things. a child tripping for no reason, a basket rope snapping suddenly, a dog whining at nothing.No single event was alarming. Together, they formed a pattern.
Granny Wei lived near the edge of the village, her house leaning slightly to one side with age. She opened the door before Lin Chen could knock. "You too?" she asked, eyes sharp. Lin Chen blinked. "You've seen this already?"
Granny Wei stepped aside, revealing two more chickens lying motionless inside.
"They were fine yesterday," she said.
"This morning, they wouldn't eat. Wouldn't move."
Xu Yang stayed close to Lin Chen's feet, head lowered. Granny Wei glanced at the cat. "That's a good-looking one."
Lin Chen smiled. "Found him in the forest."
Granny Wei studied Xu Yang for a long moment. Xu Yang forced himself to yawn.
"…Hmm," she said at last.
"Animals feel things before people do."
Xu Yang's tail flicked once.
So… what do you want from me?
His thoughts were dry, slightly irritated now.
I'm also a weak demon, apparently. Not a detector. Not a warning bell.
He shifted subtly, keeping his expression as "normal stray cat" as possible.
I just got here. I don't even know how this body fully works yet, and now I'm supposed to sense disasters? (....)
His ears angled slightly toward Granny Wei.
Don't look at me like that. I don't know anything useful. (...)
Granny Wei reached into a drawer and pulled out a small pouch, opening it slightly. The smell of dried herbs spilled out.
"I'll burn these tonight," she said. "Just in case." Lin Chen nodded. "Do you think it's something bad?"
Granny Wei hesitated.
"There are years," she said slowly, "when the world feels thinner. Things slip through easier."
Xu Yang's ears twitched sharply.
That word scraped against something deep inside him.They returned home before noon.
The chicken didn't survive.
Lin Chen buried it behind the house, marking the spot with a small stone. Xu Yang watched silently, unease coiling tighter in his chest.
Death here felt…. incomplete.
As if something had taken a bite and left the rest behind. (...)
Xu Yang stared at the fresh mound of dirt.
It just died. A pause. Just like that. (...)
His tail twitched faintly.
One moment it was fine… and now it's gone.
A colder thought slipped in before he could stop it.
How long until I end up like that? (....)
His ears lowered slightly.
If even a chicken doesn't survive this… what am I supposed to do? (...)
A bitter, uneasy laugh formed in his mind.
Great. I reincarnated into a world where random animals drop dead and I'm the weakest thing here. (....)
His gaze dropped to his small paws.
I'm next, aren't I? The thought wasn't loud.
That was the worst part it came too naturally.
First the chicken. Then maybe something bigger. Then people start noticing. And then… me. (....) He swallowed.
I don't even know what I'm up against.
A pause. How long can I survive like this?
(...)
His tail curled tighter around him.
If I stay here, I die. If I move, I still don't know anything. Either way…
(...)
His eyes drifted back to the grave.
I'm just waiting for my turn. A small, helpless thought followed.This is really not the kind of "new life" I was hoping for.
That night, the wind rose suddenly.
Xu Yang lay awake, eyes open, staring into darkness. The presence was closer now.
Not inside the house but circling it.
Xu Yang pressed himself closer to the floor, breath shallow. He did not cultivate. Did not reach outward.He waited.
A soft scratching sound came from outside.
Once.
Twice.
Xu Yang's heart slammed violently.
The door did not move.But something brushed against the wall, lingering too long to be coincidence.
Xu Yang closed his eyes.
What now? His mind snapped instantly into alertness. Don't start this again. Not now.
His body stayed still, but every instinct screamed at him to move.
I'm not listening. I'm not reacting. It's nothing.
He forced the thought down like a command.
Just ignore it. A pause.
If I don't acknowledge it, maybe it doesn't count. (...)
His ears twitched despite him trying to control them. No. Don't react. That's how you die in horror stories. You react, you lose.
A faint pressure lingered near the wall again.
Xu Yang swallowed. It's probably just wind. Or animals. Or… something normal. (...)
He didn't believe it. But he repeated it anyway in his mind.
Normal. Normal. Normal. (....)
His claws pressed lightly into the floor.
I just got here. I don't have the luxury to investigate every creepy thing that passes by.
A small, shaky thought followed anyway:
Please just go away. He stayed perfectly still.
Eyes closed. Stretching noise stop.
Morning came with fog. Thick, clinging fog that swallowed half the village. Lin Chen stepped outside, frowning. "That's unusual…" Xu Yang followed, fur bristling.
The fog smelled wrong.Metallic, Cold.
Shapes moved inside it not bodies, but distortions. Places where the fog bent inward unnaturally.
Xu Yang stopped walking.Lin Chen took another step and froze..Something stood ahead. A figure, barely visible.
Too tall, Too thin. Its outline flickered, as if struggling to stay defined.
Lin Chen swallowed.
"Hello?" The fog answered. Not with sound but with pressure. Xu Yang's instincts screamed. The figure shifted closer. Xu Yang's body moved before his mind could stop it. He hissed.Loud, Sharp, Feral.
The sound cut through the fog like a blade.
The figure recoiled Just a little.
Xu Yang immediately dropped to the ground, rolling onto his side and curling up, as if frightened by his own noise. Lin Chen stumbled backward, heart racing.
"…It's just fog," he muttered desperately.
"Just fog."
The pressure eased. The figure blurred, then thinned pulled away by something unseen.
The fog began to lift. Minutes passed nothing else happened. By noon, the village looked normal again. That evening, a stranger passed through the village. He wore plain robes, unremarkable in every way. No visible weapon. No obvious cultivation aura. But Xu Yang felt it instantly.
The man stopped near Lin Chen's house and looked around slowly, as if confirming something. His gaze fell briefly on Xu Yang.
For half a breath, Xu Yang felt measured.
Not judged. Then the man smiled politely and moved on.Lin Chen exhaled.
"Travelers come through more often these days," he said casually.
Xu Yang did not respond. That night, as he curled up to sleep, the warmth in his chest stirred faintly. Xu Yang stared into the dark.
Heaven noticed, he thought.
His gaze drifted toward the ceiling, as if he could see beyond it.
If I'm really in a cultivation world… then everything probably gets "noticed" eventually. (...)
A faint, tired realization settled in.
Weak things first. Strong things later.
His claws curled slightly. I'm definitely in the first category. A pause. The warmth in his chest pulsed again, subtle but steady, like a reminder that he wasn't ordinary even now.
Xu Yang frowned slightly.
Don't start glowing at me now… I'm trying to sleep. A humorless thought followed.
I don't even know if I'm lucky or cursed anymore. Silence stretched. Then, quieter.
If something noticed me… and didn't act…
His eyes narrowed slightly in the dark.
It means I'm not worth its attention yet.
A long pause. I should use that time.
He exhaled slowly, forcing his body to relax.
Sleep first. Survive first. Understand later.
But even as his body curled tighter into rest, his mind refused to fully settle.