The Soul Returns to Its Roots

The Cat neither ran nor jumped.

She did not roll around, nor did she meow.

Yet, time continued its relentless march.

The old woman’s gaze grew increasingly clouded with each passing day.

She would often pull her child close, stroking their hand, intending to speak but then forgetting the words she wished to utter.

The couple took the old woman to the hospital.

She adamantly refused to go, yet they eventually coaxed her into undergoing a check-up.

The Cat, however, was not brought along.

After two days, they returned.

The couple seemed significantly relieved.

The old woman was already over eighty, and the doctors’ examination merely confirmed some common ailments associated with old age.

Thankfully, she only suffered from mild low blood pressure.

The doctors’ marvel at the old woman’s health greatly comforted the couple.

The Cat quietly watched as the old woman drew closer to her fated day, resting peacefully by her side.

The frail, ordinary human and the nascent, extraordinary being coexisted harmoniously until her very last day.

That evening, the old woman was exceptionally spirited.

She ate a large bowl of rice, then enjoyed a long stroll, chatting and laughing with her old friends.

Upon returning to her room, she brewed herself a strong cup of tea, sipping it while sorting through memories and anxieties from her younger days that she had never brought herself to discard.

Halfway through her tidying, the old woman rose to take a bath, donning clean clothes.

Sitting on the bed, she called Bai over.

“My little divine official, Bai… My useless son and my daughter-in-law, have they accumulated enough good karma in this life?”

The old woman held The Cat, speaking of things unknown, her words showing no concern for herself, only profound worry for her children.

What Bai did not know was that in her final moments, the old woman’s soul began to completely shed its earthly shackles, allowing her to perceive things differently.

The old woman saw The Cat enveloped in a soft, serene white glow.

Behind The Cat, this light manifested into mountains and forests, birds and beasts, wind and clouds, stars and the cosmos, and the myriad forms of human life, from scales to feathers and insects.

“Grandma is tired…” the old woman murmured, lying on the bed fully clothed, closing her eyes.

She drifted into the deepest slumber.

Liu woke with a start in the dead of night, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

He threw on his coat and rushed to his mother’s adjacent room.

“Mom… Mom? …Mom! …Mother…”

The wind swept up the paper money on the ground, obscuring The Cat’s vision.

The piercing wail of the suona horn drummed unbearably in her ears.

Today, Bai learned many new things, but Bai was not happy.

“The paper money doesn’t seem to work, does it?”

The old woman’s voice drifted from beside her.

Her translucent figure stood behind The Cat.

“Bai, help Grandma one more time, won’t you?”

The Cat turned her head in confusion, then followed Grandma into the house.

The old woman’s body lay within a large wooden coffin, beneath a dark canopy, surrounded by candles that still burned even in daylight.

Her daughter-in-law received mourners in the courtyard.

Inside the house, only Liu sat on his mother’s bed, staring blankly at a collection of small hairpins, rings, and old photographs in his hand.

The old woman walked over, intending to touch him, but her hand passed through empty air.

The man seemed to sense something, suddenly lifting his head.

He only saw The Cat squatting at the doorway, though he couldn’t recall when she had arrived.

In a daze, he thought he saw The Cat glowing.

“Meow.”

Bai tugged at his sleeve, trying to pull him towards the wardrobe.

The man, as if dispossessed of his soul, unconsciously obeyed, moving to the wardrobe.

He followed The Cat’s instructions, opening the bottom drawer, pulling it out completely.

Bai squeezed inside, only her tail wiggling outside.

The next moment, she emerged, her face covered in dust, a paper package wrapped in several layers of plastic bags and tape clutched in her mouth.

“This is…?”

The man peeled open the tightly sealed package.

Inside lay a letter, a medal, and a passbook.

The letter was a will, urging her child to live well.

The passbook contained a modest amount of secretly saved money, its password the child’s birthday.

The medal was a memento from the child’s father, who had passed away when he was young, with instructions for it to be buried with her.

Until moments ago, the man had been outside, boasting to his friends that his mother had lived to over eighty without illness or suffering before passing.

Now, a nerve was suddenly struck.

He thought of these half-sorted items, which would never again await their owner.

He realized that no one would ever again nag him.

The man burst into tears, weeping uncontrollably.

The Cat quietly left the room, having fulfilled Grandma’s request.

The old woman’s figure grew increasingly transparent.

As The Cat watched the old woman gradually vanish, something seemed to stir within her mind.

The cries from the house and the clamor from the courtyard instantly receded, becoming muffled and indistinct, like sounds submerged underwater.

The small patch of ground The Cat stood on suddenly expanded by an immeasurable degree, twisting into a colossal vortex.

The old woman’s soul had already closed its eyes, slowly sinking downwards.

The Cat curiously activated her ability, wishing to examine this unfamiliar phenomenon.

The moment the ability activated, the old woman’s soul immediately ceased its descent, instead floating towards Bai.

The vortex’s operation was also impeded, showing signs of collapse.

In the next instant, a young girl’s head emerged upwards from the center of the vortex, her face bewildered, seemingly unaware of what had transpired.

Upon seeing The Cat, the girl’s expression turned to one of terror.

With a whoosh, she sank back down and vanished.

Bai was perplexed; her ability had failed to discern anything this time.

The information was too vast, too complex.

Though she was observing a vortex, she saw countless humans, too many to count.

She could only perceive that the vortex’s sole purpose was to absorb souls.

The old woman’s soul was now on the verge of disappearing.

Bai seemed to sense that she had disrupted some process.

What to do?

The Cat attempted to mimic the vortex to remedy the situation.

She recalled the appearance of the vortex in her mind.

The effect was immediate.

The next moment, the old woman’s soul abruptly transformed into specks of light, which Bai absorbed into her body.

At this instant, Bai’s body emitted a faint, visible glow.

Bai was stunned.

The second she absorbed those light specks, a terrifying surge of information assaulted her mind.

In a daze, Bai witnessed the old woman’s entire life, along with countless fragments of other scenes, spanning hundreds of years and traversing several worlds.

Under this horrifying torrent of information, Bai’s abilities broke through their existing limitations, but The Cat also fell into an unconscious state.

In her daze, Bai seemed to glimpse the distant, indescribable end of time, where everything returned to the present, and a newly youthful Grandma smiled, pinning a hairpin in her hair.

‘Death is an end, but not the end of everything.’

‘Time is infinite. Under the power of eternity, everything will eventually return.’

‘You possess a unique power that can make Reincarnation transcend worlds.’

Someone seemed to whisper something in Bai’s ear.

The next moment, the flood of information vanished, and Bai regained consciousness, finding herself lying on a rooftop, with only the quiet night sky above.