Chapter 106 Kitten Again

“Asama!” After the woman screamed, Jing Yuanheng almost immediately stood up and walked into the house, his voice a little panicked, “Asama, what’s wrong with you?!”

"Heng Jun, I'm fine—" the female voice sounded again, "It's just that the cat came to our house again, and I was scared."

"Really? You're not hurt?"

Ling tilted his head slightly and listened to the voices coming from inside the house. After confirming that it was not a trap, he focused his attention and started eating his meal seriously.

The freshly cut fish meat is juicy and very sweet, which perfectly makes up for the rough texture of the whole grain rice in the bowl, while stimulating the unique sweetness of the whole grains, bursting with a rich flavor in the mouth.

When Ling had almost finished eating, he heard two footsteps from the direction of the house. He put down his cutlery, turned to the door, and smiled, "Looks like the trouble has been solved?"

"Ah, yes, it has been resolved..." Jing Yuanheng sighed, "I am sorry to have embarrassed you, little brother."

"You are the traveler that Hengjun just mentioned, right?" A cheerful female voice sounded, "You are really amazing. I feel inconvenient to move just because it's getting dark!"

Ling tilted his head slightly, "You are..."

"My name is Qianma, and I'm Hengjun's wife! How's the food? Since I don't know what your taste is, I just used scallion and ginger water to remove the fishy smell of the fish fillet. Is it to your taste?"

"Yes, it's delicious. Your cooking skills are really good." Ling smiled and nodded, "But please forgive me for being rude... What happened just now?"

"Ah, this..." Asama sighed and looked at the cat that her husband was holding by the collar, "A little guy has been eyeing our house for some reason. I was busy in the kitchen just now and didn't notice it right away, so I was scared by it."

Jing Yuanheng also pinched the cat's neck and moved the little guy who was breathing on him away from him, but his voice was full of laughter, "This little guy is very famous among the fishermen in our fishing village."

Ling calmly picked up his cane and sword again, but was stunned. He frowned slightly and said in a gentle voice, "I am very interested in this aspect. Can you please tell me in detail?"

"It's nothing, actually." Jing Yuanheng laughed a few times. "It was probably startled out of the mountains by the earthquake a few days ago. It's probably very hungry. It hasn't learned how to hunt yet, so it always comes to us fishermen to take advantage of the situation. This little guy knows how to eat, and he only picks the fat part of the fish belly."

Hearing this, Asama sighed, "Actually, such a small cat can't eat much no matter how much it eats. It would be nice to keep it to catch mice or something, but it's a pity that it's a cat...

It is said that if a cat lives with a person for a long time, it will take on the person's appearance and replace the person. Although it seems very cute, I really don't dare to keep one."

"I haven't seen Nekomata yet," Ling put the cane sword horizontally on his knees again, "Excuse me, can you let me touch the little guy to feel it?"

"Of course," Jing Yuanheng handed the cat over, "Be careful. Although it's small, it can be quite powerful when it gets angry."

Ling reached out, "Yes, I will be careful."

The warm and soft feeling was clearly fed back from his fingertips. Ling carefully held the kitten in his hand, but the next moment his finger was bitten hard by the kitten, and a threatening "woohoo" sound was clearly heard.

"Ah, little brother, your hand——! I'd better take it away, right?" Jing Yuanheng looked at Ling's bleeding hand and was about to pinch the cat's neck to pull it away, "Qianma, go find something to stop the bleeding."

"It's okay, it's just a minor injury...but the little guy is really scared." Even though the wound was bleeding, Ling held Maozi's right hand steadily, and the smile on his face did not change at all. "Okay, okay, don't be afraid, I won't do anything to you, relax a little."

Ling used less force and gently rubbed the depression behind the kitten's ear with the tip of his index finger. As Ling stroked it, the kitten finally loosened its mouth and lay quietly on Ling's hand, licking its bloody teeth.

"Oh... This is the first time I've seen someone so well behaved." Asama came back with the medicine box, looking at the little cat in Ling's hands with some surprise, "How did you do it?"

Feeling the kitten in his hand calm down again, Ling bent his fingers and stroked the kitten's hair along its growth direction. "My friends and family all have cats, so I have some experience."

"Rather than that, you should take care of your hand first... the blood is already flowing everywhere."

"Sorry for the trouble." Ling quickly and deftly changed the hand to hold the kitten. While extending his right hand, he did not forget to use his knuckles to gently rub the kitten's chin. "You really bit it mercilessly. Do you think I'm scary?"

However, the kitten in his hand just squinted its eyes and made a slight purring sound as he continued to stroke it.

Ling chuckled and shook his head, then raised his head again, "Just now you said that this kitten appeared after the earthquake?"

"Ah, yes, I don't know what's going on, but it's been very turbulent recently." Jing Yuanheng sighed, "First, people kept disappearing in Leiming Gorge, and in the end, those noble lords seemed to have invited some amazing ninjas to deal with these things. After that, earthquakes and tsunamis have always occurred frequently..."

"Eh... now that things have turned out like this, the nobles are just going to stop caring?"

"How can those big shots care about us?" Jing Yuanheng shook his head. "What's more, the most common news I hear in the market recently is that the daimyo is seriously ill. Under such circumstances, how can those nobles care about our lives? Anyway, no matter how many disasters there are, there will always be someone to take the lead for the nobles."

"Indeed..." The smile on his lips faded, and he took back his bandaged hand. "Please pack some food for me. Although day and night are meaningless to me, the coldness of the night is still not friendly to travelers."

"That's true. Then I'll just take some for you, little brother?"

"Well, please, what did you do with the kittens you caught before?"

"Ah, well, brother, just give it to me. I'll release it when I pass by the woods on my way to the city to sell things."

"Then why not let me do it," Ling took out his money bag and placed it on the table, indicating that Jing Yuanheng could use it at will, "I just happen to be heading in the direction of Leiming Gorge, so it won't be difficult to release the animals along the way."

"Eh? Is this okay? Is it too much trouble for you, little brother?"

Ling lowered his head again and smiled at the kitten that had collapsed in his hands. "How could it be? It's just a piece of cake."