The abandoned park behind Yusheng's school was desolate.
There were even a lot of garbage piled up here. All the facilities around had rusted and looked extremely dilapidated.
"Da Hei... Da Hei... Mimi..."
As Yusheng led the way, he called out to the black cat. With each of his "Mimi" calls, many kittens popped up around them.
They varied in size and weight, but all looked quite cute. They should all be the stray cats living here.
But soon, the atmosphere around them suddenly turned strange.
Many relatively ugly or fierce - looking cats popped out of the grass one by one.
They stared at them menacingly.
Many other cats, who seemed to have emerged from nowhere, jumped to high places and looked down at them haughtily.
Their looks seemed to say: Stupid mortals, get out of our territory quickly.
Niannian took a rough look. Most of the cats here had already gained a bit of humanity.
The harmless little kittens and pretty flower - cats that appeared at first were probably the ones that usually came out to beg for food.
All things have spirits. They also knew what ways to use to fill their bellies.
The cats that appeared later were trying to scare them.
For them, these few people had already threatened their territory.
"Junior Yu Niannian would like to ask the Black Cat Lord for help. Please do us the honor of coming out to meet us!"
Little Tuanzi stood in the most spacious area in the center of the abandoned park. She clasped her fists in front of her and bowed, speaking in a loud, sonorous and powerful voice.
But the cats around didn't seem to buy it. When she uttered the words "black cat", they all arched their backs and their fur stood on end.
A large group of cats growled in their throats. The continuous purring sounds were eerie. Even though it was daytime, in such a desolate place, facing so many glaring cats, Yusheng still felt a sense of fear.
Niannian just stood there quietly, waiting for the black cat's response. She had no time to comfort her second brother.
She maintained the bowing posture, with her stance very low.
I don't know how long it took, but the familiar big black cat finally appeared.
It walked with a cat - like gait through the cat group. Its huge body and shiny fur glistened in the sun. Its big, round eyes had a sense of maturity and vicissitude that didn't belong to an animal. It just stared at Niannian silently and let out a "meow".
"Meow~"
"The Black Cat Lord is finally willing to come out and see us?"
Little Tuanzi was a bit surprised. Judging from the hostility of these cats around them, she thought the black cat wouldn't show up today.
"Meow~"
(What do you want from me? If it weren't for the great merits on you and the fact that you're just a little girl, a Taoist like you who dared to step into my territory would have been beaten out long ago. Speak quickly. I don't like dealing with people like you who study dreams.)
No one knew why the black cat was so hostile to people from the Taoist sect. Clearly, it was quite friendly to humans. Otherwise, as the cat leader, it wouldn't have to go to the school gate every day to beg for food.
It had plenty of minions to offer food to it. Even if it just stayed in its territory and did nothing, it could still eat and drink to its heart's content.
"The thing is like this. We found a lot of rats in a cave. Those rats were not normal. There were also zombies nearby. Those rats were a bit difficult to deal with. I would like to ask the Black Cat Lord to help us get rid of those rats."
"Meow~"
(There can't be such a rat colony in the area under my jurisdiction. You must be talking about some other place. I'm not going. Each black cat has its own territory. Setting foot in someone else's territory will lead to war. I don't like to look for trouble.)
Little Tuanzi of course knew how strong a cat's territorial awareness was. Even if there was no other black cat in the imperial capital, this lord wouldn't be willing to leave its territory easily.
"It's in the imperial capital. There's no other black cat there. To be honest with you, that place is my third senior brother's home. If we don't solve this problem in time, my third senior brother's family may be in danger. I know the Black Cat Lord is reluctant to leave its territory, but if you're willing to help us, I can confer a title on the Black Cat Lord."
The bait that Niannian threw out was quite tempting. For a spirit - transformed animal, getting a conferred title was extremely important.
For some animals, if they met the right person during the conferring process, they could become a local immortal with just one sentence.
There has always been a legend about the conferring of titles in the north.
For example, a weasel might block someone's way at night, stand up straight, speak in human language and ask: What do you think I look like?
If the other person answered that it looked like a human, then that weasel would immediately become a local immortal.
If the other person answered that it looked like an animal, all the cultivation of that weasel would be scattered and it would have to start all over again.
So getting a conferred title also meant taking a great risk for an animal.
Moreover, the person they chose to ask couldn't be just anyone. It had to be someone with great merits or great luck.
And little Tuanzi met this requirement.
The black cat was already qualified to ask for a conferred title, but it just didn't want to take the risk and hadn't met the right person.
At this moment, the condition that little Tuanzi offered really hit its heart.
"Meow~"
(I don't think it's enough. It's just a conferred title. Even if you make me a local immortal, I can only continue to stay in this small area as a loose immortal. There won't be any difference in my cultivation or other aspects compared to before.)
The black cat had lived for who - knows - how - many years. It was very smart and knew how to ask for more. But the requirements it wanted to put forward were not excessive.
It just depended on whether little Tuanzi could understand.
"Okay. If the Black Cat Lord is willing to help, I will not only confer a title on you, but also ask my master to let you be the immortal elder of our Taoist temple. You will receive the incense and offerings from the temple every day. However, there are only a few of us disciples in our temple and the temple is quite poor. The incense may not be as prosperous as those big temples, but the offerings every day will not be lacking."
Niannian immediately understood what the black cat meant. She tilted her head and thought for a while. Anyway, as long as she asked to set up a memorial tablet for the black cat, her master would definitely not refuse.
Moreover, their temple wouldn't suffer any losses from this. A spirit - transformed animal would have an infinitely long lifespan. In the future, the later generations in the temple would be blessed by the black cat. It was just a matter of offering some incense. It wasn't a difficult thing.
The black cat tilted its head and thought for a while. It was quite surprised that this little girl was so understanding. But with such a good opportunity in front of it, it definitely wouldn't hesitate any longer. It quickly nodded.