THE HUSKY AND HIS WHITE CAT

SHIZUN

Extra: Turning into a Cat (1)

Translated by: Shade

Recently, Taxian-Jun has developed a new hobby: playing mahjong¹.

However, since playing mahjong requires three companions and Mo
Ran and Chu Wanning have secluded themselves, Taxian-Jun’s mahjong
partners are not humans but the increasingly bold rice cake spirits from
Nanping Mountain.

These adorable little rice cakes have become quite accustomed to the
presence of their esteemed neighbors, Chu Wanning and Mo Ran—
though Mo Ran can’t always be considered “esteemed,” as he
occasionally turns “nasty.” Nonetheless, the rice cake spirits don’t mind.
They frequently visit the two’s residence to sneak food from the kitchen,
particularly enjoying charred bits. If caught by the yellow dog they keep,
the rice cakes play dead. If caught by Chu Wanning, they act cute to
escape punishment. If caught by Mo Ran in his Zongshi persona, they
only need to enthusiastically greet him with, “Ah! Beidou Xianzun is
truly invincible!” to earn his favor, often receiving snacks or fruits from
him. However, if they encounter Taxian-Jun, it’s not so easy to escape.

Taxian-Jun would demand offerings from them, claiming them as

“tributes to the emperor,” and then use them to please Chu Wanning,
shamelessly boasting that he procured them from some distant mystical
mountain. Over time, the rice cakes learned to avoid days when they
might encounter this “emperor,” to avoid losing their hard-earned
treats.

However, one seemingly ordinary day brought an unexpected event.

Taxian-Jun, feeling bored, planned a trip to Shu Zhong. On the country
road to Wuchang Town, he encountered an old man selling peculiar
books. The titles of these books, like “Marxist Philosophy”² and “Das
Kapital,”³ made Taxian-Jun frown. He recognized each word but
couldn’t understand them together even after pondering several times.
Determined not to appear ignorant, Taxian-Jun pretended to
understand, nodding occasionally while swiftly putting down “Das
Kapital” when the old man wasn’t looking. Other strange books caught
his attention as the old man and onlookers discussed them. They
mentioned these books as fantastical novels about the mundane world,
where people didn’t ride horses but used something called “cars” and
didn’t fly on swords but used something called “airplanes.” These books
were reportedly quite popular in the cultivation world lately.

Taxian-Jun scoffed at the idea of these “flying chickens,” believing

nothing could compare to his Bu Gui’s carefree flights. Nonetheless,
thinking Chu Wanning liked books, he bought a random assortment of
these strange books, including “Marxist Philosophy,” “Three Years of
College Entrance Exam and Two Years of Mock Tests,” “Medical
Records,”⁴ and “Wuling Hongguang Maintenance Guide,”⁵ and brought
them back to the mountain.

To his surprise, even Chu Wanning found the content of these books
baffling. This puzzled Taxian-Jun, as Chu Wanning was knowledgeable
about ancient and modern matters. Feeling deceived, Taxian-Jun was
ready to seek out the old man, suspecting him of being a fraud. Chu
Wanning, however, suggested they might have been out of touch with
contemporary popular writings and decided to investigate further when
they went down the mountain.

Visiting Ma Zhuangzhu,⁶ a well-informed friend, they inquired about

these books. Ma Zhuangzhu had never heard of such mundane fantasy
novels involving cars and airplanes and was clueless about “Das
Kapital” and the like. This confirmed Taxian-Jun’s suspicion of being
swindled, and he angrily went to find the old man, only to discover he
had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only the dubious books
as proof of the encounter.

Despite Taxian-Jun’s dissatisfaction, Chu Wanning decided to keep

these strange books on their shelf. Taxian-Jun, every time he passed by,
couldn’t help but grumble about buying such useless things, often
pulling one down to see if he could decipher any hidden wisdom.
After a month of effort, Taxian-Jun finally made sense of one book,
“Let’s All Win Together!” Elated, he ran to Chu Wanning, who was busy
repairing the latest Night Wanderer.

“Wanning! This is about winning tile games!” he exclaimed.

Chu Wanning looked up, confused, with a pen in his mouth, “What?”

“It’s about tile games! The rules are a bit different, but it’s pretty much
the same,” Taxian-Jun said, excitedly pointing at the book. Chu
Wanning momentarily wondered if he was talking about tiles or ribs.

Realizing the gambling nature of the game, Chu Wanning replied,

“Hmm. Then I won’t read it.”

Taxian-Jun’s face fell, “Why don’t you praise me for deciphering such a
strange book?”

Preoccupied, Chu Wanning offered a perfunctory, “Of course, you’re

very impressive.”

Encouraged, Taxian-Jun suggested, “Then let’s play tiles tonight?”

Chu Wanning bluntly refused, “No.”

Feeling slighted, Taxian-Jun grumbled and hinted at other nightly

activities, only to be hit by a screwdriver Chu Wanning threw at him.
Nevertheless, Taxian-Jun got his revenge that night.

Eventually, Chu Wanning played mahjong with him for a few days.
Needing two more players, he modified two Night Wanderers to join
them. However, despite Taxian-Jun’s claims of understanding the book,
his tile-playing skills remained as poor as ever.

This was supposed to be a good thing for Chu Wanning, but Mo Ran
had terrible gambling habits. When in his Zongshi persona, if he lost, he
would resort to sweet-talking and cheating. If in his Taxian-Jun persona,
he would blatantly cheat. Regardless of the persona, when Mo Ran was
about to lose, he always came up with shameless tricks to unfairly win
against Chu Wanning and then demand his reward.
Chu Wanning, having a nature inclined to heavy gambling, placed
significant bets and naturally had to fulfill many demands when he lost.
Especially when it was Taxian-Jun’s turn, he would boldly ask for
anything. Despite being reluctant, Chu Wanning would comply due to
his pride and principle of keeping his word. Being too upright, he was
easily manipulated by a rascal like Mo Ran.

As a result, Chu Wanning quickly learned his lesson and decisively

decided not to play mahjong with this scoundrel anymore. He also
reverted the modifications on the Night Wanderers used for playing and
strictly forbade Mo Ran from playing, as the sight of tile games irritated
him.

Mo Ran, in his Zongshi persona, naturally listened to Chu Wanning.

Taxian-Jun, on the other hand, would be an exception if he did. After
playing for a few days, Mo Ran got addicted to the game. When he
couldn’t play, his hands itched. Going down the mountain to find
companions wasn’t appealing as it kept him away from Wanning, and
bringing villagers up was undesirable as it brought them too close to
Wanning. After much thought, he concluded that people weren’t a good
option.

Thus, Taxian-Jun turned his attention to the rice cake spirits who
frequently visited their home. Initially, they feared him and avoided
him, but he devised ways to lure them back.

Luring the rice cakes was simple; Taxian-Jun would occasionally make
two pieces of charcoal in the kitchen, using them to attract the rice cakes,
then randomly capture three lucky ones, and then—

“Pay up.”

“Woo woo woo, we don’t have money,” the little rice cakes whimpered.

“Give tribute!”

“Woo woo woo, we didn’t bring any...”

Taxian-Jun flashed a grin, his white teeth gleaming. “Fine! Then you’ll
pay with your services!”

“???”

Moments later, the terrified rice cakes were taken by Taxian-Jun to a

secluded spot in the forest where he had already set up a mahjong table.

Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Come, come, sit down, play tiles
with me! Play to your heart’s content, and then I’ll let you go back!”

So that’s what “services” meant.

The rice cakes were reluctant. “Woo woo, we’re still young, our moms
told us not to gamble—”

Taxian-Jun noticed his captured rice cake was so small it struggled to lift
a tile. Stroking his chin, he pondered, “Hmm… you do seem a bit
young.”

The little rice cake, full of hope, pleaded, “Right? Let me go home, thank
you, Emperor!”

Showing surprising leniency, Taxian-Jun waved his hand, “Fine! Go

home and bring your mom to play with me!”

“...”

A case of sending a parent to gamble instead of a child.

Thus, for over two months, Taxian-Jun tormented the rice cakes. Finally,
one day, a brave rice cake spirit, driven by desperation, ran to find Chu
Wanning while Taxian-Jun was engrossed in a game.

“Xianjun, Xianjun!”⁷

Chu Wanning turned, “Yes?”

The rice cake, tears streaming down, wailed, “Xianjun, save us! We can’t
take it anymore! Help us, please!!!”
“......”

That night, after hearing the rice cake’s tearful complaint, Chu Wanning,
with a stern face, took a bamboo lantern and walked towards the
bamboo forest to capture the culprit.

“Hahaha! I win!”
“Hahaha! I win again!!!”

Mo Ran, in the midst of a winning streak, heard the rustle of footsteps in

the forest. From years of living with Chu Wanning, he instantly
recognized them.

“W-Wanning?!”

Taxian-Jun’s eyes widened, sensing trouble. Chu Wanning was strict

about gambling, and getting caught red-handed in the bamboo forest
meant trouble. The rice cake spirits, terrified, huddled together,
trembling.

One said, “Ah, I don’t want Xianjun to see me here! I betrayed him!”
Another cried, “Wah, I don’t mind betraying Xianjun, but I feel I’ve lost
his trust! How could I yield to the Emperor’s tyranny and gamble with
Xianjun’s enemy?!”
Another screamed, “Stop talking! Run, run!”

Running was futile; their short legs couldn’t outrun Chu Wanning. As
they faced imminent capture, one rice cake suddenly had an idea,
digging into its little pouch and pulling out an orange mushroom.

“Look! Transient Shadow Cat Mushroom!”

The other two cheered, “Wow! Transient Shadow Cat Mushroom!”

Transient Shadow Cat Mushrooms are a type of mushroom that has

recently become quite popular among the demon clans. Its effect is to
teleport the user from one location to another within a certain range, but
it must be used when the user is not captured and not engaged in battle.
Therefore, they couldn’t use it while being captured and playing
mahjong with Taxian-Jun. However, now that the game had stopped
and Taxian-Jun was distracted, the Transient Shadow Cat Mushroom
came in handy.

If they didn’t run now, when would they? The three rice cakes,
disregarding Taxian-Jun’s predicament, hastily consumed the
mushrooms and disappeared one after another, leaving Taxian-Jun
standing there, shocked.

“Hey? Where did you go? Are you serious? Just leaving me here alone?”

“Hey! Hey hey hey!”

But aside from the crickets watching the drama, no one else paid him
any mind. Only a soft “plop” was heard as a leftover Transient Shadow
Cat Mushroom fell among the bamboo leaves. Its orange cap dotted
with white specks glowed eerily in the shadowy bamboo grove, much
like a sardonic eye.

Taxian-Jun blinked.

Though not particularly bright, his mind worked quickly in critical

moments. He contemplated several options:

First option: All his accomplice players had run away. He could quickly
dismantle the game setup and pretend to be practicing spells before Chu
Wanning arrived. Was this feasible?

Taxian-Jun immediately dismissed it: No, Wanning was already angry.

If Tianwen questioned him about gambling, his guilty conscience might
make him slip up, leading to days of Wanning giving him the cold
shoulder. Given that he occupied this body less frequently than that
mongrel Zongshi, enduring Wanning’s silent treatment for ten days to
half a month was unacceptable. No, absolutely not.

Second option: All his accomplice players had run away. He could
adjust his emotions quickly, crouch on the ground, hold his head, and
feign regret with tears streaming down his face. When questioned by
Chu Wanning, he would cry and claim that the rice cake spirits had
tempted him into this error, that he had been foolish, and would never
dare again, begging for mercy…

Taxian-Jun immediately dismissed it: No, this sounded too much like
the lines from one of those strange books sold by that old peddler about
people in the secular world caught in crackdowns. Absolutely not.

So, the third option…

Taxian-Jun swiftly turned his gaze to the Transient Shadow Cat

Mushroom, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

—Teleport himself to Taobao Manor to avoid the fallout, letting Jie

Kema serve him with good food and drink until Wanning cooled down?

…Hmm… This seemed like a viable plan…

Taxian-Jun picked up the mushroom, sniffed it, and sneezed.

If he had read more of the old peddler’s books, he would have

discovered a blue and white booklet titled “Health Promotion Manual”
that printed a bold warning:

For your safety, do not consume wild mushrooms!

“Xianjun! Here! They were playing mahjong here!”

The brave rice cake spirit hurriedly led Chu Wanning down the bamboo
path, pointing with its small white paw to the clearing.

Chu Wanning furrowed his brows slightly. “...Here?”

“Yes, yes—huh??!!”

The rice cake spirit turned its head, its eyes widening in shock. “Where
did they go? I swear I saw them here… Xianjun, I’m not lying!”

Chu Wanning patted the little rice cake on the head, comforting it before
moving forward to inspect.
The stone table serving as the mahjong table was still there, with half-
finished bamboo tiles scattered on it. Judging by the poor tile
arrangement, it was indeed Mo Ran’s doing, with others even helping
him win.

But where was that rascal?

Chu Wanning’s face turned grim as he called out, “Come out.”

There was no response.

“Mo Ran, come out.”

Still no response, only the crickets chirping louder in the bamboo grove.

Chu Wanning’s expression darkened, his voice cold, “I’ll count to three.”

“One.”

The wind rustled the bamboo leaves.

“Two.”

The moonlight illuminated the mountains.

“Three.”

“...Meow.”

Chu Wanning was taken aback.

From the underbrush emerged a black-and-white cow-patterned cat,

with markings resembling a husky, and three flame-like stripes on its
forehead. Its tail ended in a tuft of white fur.

The cow-patterned cat looked despondent, trying to puff up its fur but
too deflated to do so, finally snorting in frustration. Despite being just a
cat, Chu Wanning could clearly see the words “Damn! I’m so unlucky!”
written all over its face.
Chu Wanning stood in silence for a long moment, barely able to believe
it. “...Mo, Mo Ran?”

1. Mahjong: (麻将 mai jiang) It is a traditional Chinese tile-based game

that originated in the Qing Dynasty. It’s often played by three or four
players and involves strategy, skill, and a bit of luck.

2. Marxist Philosophy: (马克思主义哲学 makesi zhuyi zhexue) It is a

branch of philosophy that is based on the ideas of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels.

3. Das Kapital: (资本论 ziben lun) Also known as “Capital: Critique of

Political Economy,” is a foundational theoretical text in communist
philosophy, economics, and politics by Karl Marx.

4. Medical Records: (病案本 bing an ben) The characters are the same as
Meatbun’s other novel “Case File Compendium.” Literal translation has
been used here.

5. Wuling Hongguang Maintenance Guide: (五菱宏光维修指南 wuling

hongguang weixiu zhinan) The Wuling Hongguang is a series of multi-
purpose vehicles (MPVs) manufactured by SAIC-GM-Wuling
Automobile.

6. Zhuangzhu: 庄主 means “master” or “lord.” It typically refers to

someone who is the owner or head of a household, estate, or
organization. In some contexts, it can also denote the leader or chief of a
group or faction.

7. Xianjun: 仙君 is a form of respectful address for individuals who have

attained a high level of cultivation or possess divine-like powers.