Cat Court

Having no particular destination in mind, Bai figured if this human who gave such good massages wanted to take her somewhere, she might as well follow along and see.

The shop wasn’t far, but it was rather secluded, tucked away in an alley with only a few scattered hardware stores.

The storefront, clearly a converted residence, bore a simple sign with the name “Cat’s Court Cat Cafe” written in elegant, rounded script.

Though Bai didn’t quite understand what a “cat cafe” was, the moment she arrived at the entrance, she noticed a very strong feline scent emanating from within.

It was just like the pet shop from the other day, filled with the distinct aroma of many cats.

Unlocking the door, the girl carried Bai inside.

Immediately, a throng of cats, big and small, emerged from their wooden enclosures, circling around the girl’s legs.

The girl set Bai down, but then, observing Bai’s massive form, she hesitated.

Reaching down, she picked Bai up again and ascended to the second floor.

“You seem quite formidable, so I’ll give you a private room. And you lot, stop staring! She’s taken, she won’t fight you for food. Go back to sleep,” the girl habitually spoke to the cats with utmost seriousness.

The second floor was divided into two compartments: one served as a bedroom, and the other as a rescue and treatment room.

This was clearly more than just a simple cat cafe.

Her name was Zhou Zhiting, and she came from a fairly well-off family.

Her love for cats had led her to open this cat cafe.

Patient and compassionate, she had established the city’s cat rescue group.

The cats in her cafe were all rescues that hadn’t found adoptive homes, but thankfully, these obedient and adorable felines were responsible for the cafe’s operations.

Consequently, the cats were of mixed breeds.

Due to their less-than-perfect appearance, the cafe’s secluded location, and the considerable rescue expenses, Zhou Zhiting primarily relied on online operations.

She promoted and sold cat food, and earned money by selling handmade cat meals to local cat owners.

The cat cafe itself only accounted for a small portion of her income, barely covering the food costs for the working cats.

To return to the main point, a reinforced security door had been installed between the second and first floors, providing sound insulation and preventing sick cats from interacting with the others.

Upon reaching the second floor, the first thing that caught the eye was a towering stack of various cages, housing other cats.

Unlike the cats on the first floor, most of these felines bore injuries; they were listless or dirty.

They didn’t greet the girl with affection, unlike the cats downstairs, but instead hissed constantly, their claws striking the floor with sharp thuds.

Bai’s pupils narrowed into vertical slits, and her All-Knowing Eye swept over these cats.

Bai fell silent.

The world’s small, dark underbelly was revealed to her for the very first time.

Some of these cats might have been born strays, but more than half had once known a happy home, only to be abandoned.

They scavenged for food in trash cans, hunted rats in sewers.

Some had fallen ill with infections, others were harmed by humans, some injured from fights with their own kind, and a few had limbs torn off by packs of wild dogs.

Regardless of what had transpired, these less-than-intelligent cats were now filled with a deep wariness towards everything.

They couldn’t distinguish between traps set to capture them and those meant to lead them to a new home.

Nor did they understand if the stinging pain of medicine on their wounds was part of a cure or a new form of torment.

The girl gently placed Bai on the floor, took off her jacket, and hung it by the door.

Then, she donned heavy arm guards and gloves.

During the change, her exposed arms were covered in scratches.

Humans had harmed these cats, yet the cats, in turn, harmed good people.

‘This shouldn’t be…’

Bai could perceive almost everything.

While her worldview prevented her from discerning the complexities of good and evil in the human world, she could certainly comprehend the cat world.

‘This is incorrect, unreasonable.’

“You’re all a bunch of ungrateful little brats. If you keep being so unlovable, no one will adopt you, and you won’t be able to work downstairs. Is this how you plan to freeload?” the girl grumbled as she, equipped with her protective gear, opened the cages to change the cats’ medicine, scoop their litter, and replenish their food.

“Meow!!!”

A tabby cat, consumed by fierce aggression, kicked its cage, dislodging it.

Seizing the opportunity as the door opened, it bolted out.

The girl cried out in alarm.

Beside her, Bai saw the tabby about to leap onto the table, threatening to knock everything over.

She subtly raised a front paw.

In the next instant, Bai’s form had already appeared before the tabby.

Her paw descended, bringing the tabby’s head into intimate contact with the floor.

The force wasn’t heavy, yet the tabby’s frantic thrashing limbs were utterly unable to escape.

‘No matter. Even if these cats don’t understand my words, I can educate them in the language of felines. This is not how one treats a kind human.’

“Holy crap… what just happened?” The girl, standing nearby, was utterly stunned.

She watched as Bai, with a single paw, effortlessly suppressed the unruly cat, much like the Buddha’s Five-Finger Mountain pinning down the Monkey King.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen cats fight before.

Even with Bai’s immense size advantage, a skirmish shouldn’t have been this effortless, especially against a tabby—the legendary warrior among cats.

Bai fixed her gaze on the tabby’s eyes, ignoring its struggles and hisses.

She approached with an undeniable, dominant presence, gave its forehead a swift lick, and then released her paw.

“Awwwwoooo!”

The tabby arched its back and sprang up in an instant.

Just as it seemed poised to flee again, Bai repeated her tactic, raising her paw.

In the next second, the tabby’s head, as if offering itself up, was slammed back to the ground with a thud.

This time, the girl observed clearly.

Bai had swiftly taken two steps to the side, turned, and, as if anticipating its every move, elegantly intercepted the tabby as it darted back and forth in the confined space.

The tabby’s eyes were wide, and after receiving another lick on its forehead, it let out soft whimpers.

An ignorant human might, at this moment, assume that such whimpering from a cat signified submission.

However, quite the opposite was true.

This was merely the calm before the storm.

When Bai released her paw, the tabby didn’t immediately leap up and flee.

Instead, it crouched low, ears flattened against its head, and slowly, cautiously, retreated while keeping its eyes fixed on Bai.

Bai sat regally on the floor, gently raising her right paw.

She watched as the tabby moved away to what it deemed a safe distance, then abruptly spun around and darted off.

“Duang!”

The tabby crashed headfirst into a cage, then, disoriented, changed direction, knocking over a broom in the corner.

Startled, it frantically changed direction again, only to deliver its head precisely into Bai’s waiting paw.

Bai lowered her head and gave the tabby another lick.

Upon releasing her paw, the tabby no longer attempted to escape.

Its tail was slightly tucked, its pupils no longer dilated, and it made no sound.

Awkwardly, it licked the corner of its mouth, then approached Bai and gave her fur a couple of small licks.

This was true surrender.

Once submission was achieved, reasoning could begin.

A subtle glow emanated from Bai’s fur, especially around her ears.

The tabby cat, along with the other restless cats in their cages, quieted down.

[Heart’s Pure Land] had silently activated.

Within the simple illusion, Bai linked the girl’s scent with the aroma of delicious food.

Combined with the tranquil sense of peace from the Heart’s Pure Land, the cats quickly remembered this simple association.

This ensured that the cats would no longer act hostilely towards the girl.

The rest was a matter of time; the easiest way to build a good relationship with cats was to be with them daily.

Over time, as they grew familiar, their relationship would naturally become harmonious.

Ah, humans who constantly pester cats for no reason, and a small number of naturally wild cats, were exceptions to this rule.

The girl, who had witnessed the entire process, felt a sense of absurdity, a feeling of detachment from reality.

‘This big white cat… seems a bit strange? Its agility isn’t like an ordinary cat’s, and its posture is so elegant. And just now, did it glow?’

“Uh… thank you? My name is Zhou Zhiting. They’re not bad children, they’re just scared…” The girl, feeling a little nervous around a cat, could only resort to her usual habit of speaking to felines with seriousness, using Bai to alleviate her anxiety about the unknown.

“Meow~” Bai tilted her head, yawning innocently.

After much deliberation, the girl ultimately decided to pretend she hadn’t seen the strange phenomena that had just occurred.

After all, she couldn’t solve it herself, and treating it politely should be fine, right?

With that thought, the girl went downstairs to warm up a portion of cat food for Bai—chicken breast, a small amount of dried shrimp, carrots, and broccoli, all cooked, chopped, then mixed with egg yolk, fish oil, vitamins, and taurine.

It was specially prepared food for cats.

Bai sniffed the food before her, taking a few shallow bites.

While not as delicious as cat treats, it was substantial and tasted quite good.

‘Hmm, a good human who gives massages and helps cats, and also cooks.’

Bai nodded contentedly, then rose and circled the girl.

She rubbed her head against the girl’s side, marking her with her scent, then quietly slipped out of the room.

The girl froze, then followed her out.

The room was already empty of Bai’s presence.

The main door was securely locked, with no gaps large enough for Bai to squeeze through.

After searching thoroughly and confirming that Bai had indeed vanished into thin air, Zhou Zhiting couldn’t help but shiver.

“What the hell is that thing?”

Looking at the rescued cats in their cages, who were no longer hissing or slapping the floor at her, Zhou Zhiting murmured, “A cat demon? Is this a good demon? Did I treat it okay? Nothing bad should happen, right?”

Zhou Zhiting was facing a sleepless night, while Bai simply felt tired and wanted to go home to sleep.

The next day, Zhou Zhiting, with dark circles under her eyes, finally opened the shop door around noon.

She began cleaning and preparing goods, ready to start business.

“Meow~”

A familiar, ethereal meow, distinct from the other cats’, echoed from behind her.

Zhou Zhiting’s body stiffened.

She turned her head and, sure enough, Bai had silently appeared on the table behind her.

She was watching with great interest as Zhou Zhiting prepared cat food, canned goods, coffee beans, and concentrated drink syrups.

“…………”

“Meow?”

‘Why is it back? Did I do something wrong last night? Or do I have some special constitution? No, no, if I had a special constitution, I would have discovered it long ago. But it could also be that it awakened at a certain age. No, no, what am I thinking? This isn’t some fantasy novel! Wait, why can’t it be a fantasy world and I’m just a mortal? So, is it really a cat demon? It shouldn’t eat people, right? Oh no, I have a bunch of sick and disabled cats upstairs. Could it have misunderstood? No, no, if it misunderstood, I would have been dead last night. So why am I being haunted by a cat demon?’

In an instant, a chaotic torrent of thoughts, like ten thousand horses galloping and a train passing by, flooded the mind of the blank-faced shop owner.

Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

The girl, her mind frozen, trembled as she offered Bai the cat food she was currently mixing.

“Haven’t eaten? Want some?”