Inner Demons

Chapter 60: Bestowing a Name

After seeing Jiaxin's ghost that night, she never reappeared. Li Yunxin had wondered if she had also been imprisoned outside the yamen, becoming part of the Yin Spirit Formation.

But after he spent an hour examining all the faceless ghosts, he was relieved. Qiao Jiaxin wasn't among them.

Ghosts' appearances are their original appearances—their clothes are also part of them. Wanting to change a ghost's clothes? That's impossible.

Now, she had unexpectedly come here.

Most ghosts are muddled and act on their pre-death instincts. She had sought him out before likely due to her affection and obsession. Now, coming to the cat demon, it was likely because her physical body was still here.

When this happened, Li Yunxin found it interesting.

He reached out and tapped Jiaxin's "face." The ghost's neck suddenly retracted, reattaching itself to the roof.

"Come out. I won't blame you for this." Li Yunxin said to the cat demon under the bed. As he spoke, he lifted the gray mouse from his instep and tossed it out the door: "What's this one's name?"

Animals that have gained spiritual intelligence generally have a vague awareness of their own identity. According to common sense, if the cat demon was teaching them, she should bestow a name.

The cat demon blinked, seeing that Li Yunxin was truly not angry with her, and her eyes darted around again: "Eh? Name hmm… oh dear, no name? Grandpa bestows a name… hmm? Haha, Grandpa bestows a name!"Li Yunxin knew her little trick. She seemed silly and a bit crazy, but she wasn't completely confused when it came to major matters. If Li Yunxin were to bestow names upon these animals, it would truly mean he was "not angry with her."

It was just that being called "Grandpa," "Grandpa," made him uncomfortable. He used to watch Journey to the West where demons called the Monkey King "Grandpa Sage," and now he was also being called Grandpa… but he couldn't get used to it.

So he said, "Don't call me Grandpa. Call me King."

The cat demon blinked, then crawled out from under the bed using both hands and feet, seemingly very pleased with this title. She sat on the bed with a giggle and said, "Eh? Hehe… King bestows a name, hehehe…"

Li Yunxin glanced out the door. The gray mouse was truly intelligent; it was still lying on the steps and hadn't left.

He pondered for a moment and said, "You shall be called Shuk. Taken from—your thoughts should be smooth and unobstructed, but you must also restrain your animalistic desires and quickly achieve the Great Dao."

The gray mouse listened, clasped its paws, bowed nine times, and remained motionless.

As soon as he finished speaking, the big black cat let out a meow and shot to the mouse's side, but not to pounce on it. Instead, its two front paws left the ground, and it stood on its hind legs, staring at Li Yunxin with two eager yellow eyes.

Li Yunxin swept a glance at her underside, knowing she was a female cat. After thinking for a moment, he said: "You shall be called Captain. 'Captain,' to remind you to be vigilant at all times and never forget your cultivation. 'Long' (zhǎng), as in 'long-lasting,' is to tell you not to be indecisive and lacking in perseverance. The path of cultivation is fraught with danger. Since you have met this destiny, do not squander it."

The black cat quickly put her front paws down, also bowed nine times, glanced at the mouse, licked her lips, and remained still.

Li Yunxin looked at her and snorted, "What are you thinking? I named Shuk first, so he is your senior brother. If you dare to harbor ill will towards your senior brother again, beware, I'll skin you."

The black cat quickly flattened her ears and shuffled backward.

Li Yunxin turned, pointed at the red-eyed white rabbit: "You come."

The rabbit quickly scurried onto the steps.

"You are a rabbit, so you shall be called Skii. Tuski." Li Yunxin thought for a moment, "'Ski,' refers to the foundation of a building. You were originally timid, but I want you to be steady and grounded in the future, like Skii."

The rabbit perked up its ears, twitched its three-part nose, and also bowed nine times.

Finally, the big rooster strutted over. Li Yunxin pondered for a moment: "As for you… alright. You'll be called Shanji."

"I won't explain this name to you now. Later, when you achieve enlightenment and take human form, and someone calls you 'Brother Shanji,' you will naturally understand my profound intentions."

The big rooster also pecked nine times.

Li Yunxin waved his hand: "Now, when I was coming over, an idiot was following me. He's probably already inside the gate by now. You four go to the courtyard and use your respective methods—they say spirits with spiritual intelligence are naturally good at mesmerizing people. Let's see how your cultivation is. Don't play too rough; I still have a use for that person."

He didn't know if the four of them understood Li Yunxin's intentions, they just looked at each other, then scrambled out in a flurry of feathers and fur.

It was then that Li Yunxin walked to the table, pulled out a stool, sat down, and sighed: "Tell me, what happened. First, about that mummified corpse outside. You didn't dig that thing up from underground, surely. And then her—"

He pointed to the ceiling, "Do you know she's the original owner of this body? What do you plan to do?"

The cat demon's speech was always incoherent, and this time was no exception. It took Li Yunxin nearly a quarter of an hour to figure out where the mummified corpse outside came from.

Originally, the Qiao family only had four servants, three of whom were killed by Meng E. The remaining young maid was not one to be trifled with. Knowing that her masters had lost their court case, some dead and some imprisoned, she harbored ill intentions, planning to abscond with the valuables.

The cat demon had originally been indifferent to these matters, simply playing inside the house. But that maid, being insatiably greedy, set her sights on "Miss."

Li Yunxin could also understand. In this era, for a woman, opportunities for advancement were so rare—unable to become officials, unable to engage in business, there were almost no chances to change her own destiny.

Now, having fallen into this predicament, it was hard not to go crazy.

So she took the money but didn't leave. Instead, she waited until night, intending to also take the jewelry and headwear that Miss wore.

But who knew that at night, according to the cat demon, a cloud of mist rolled in and enveloped the young maid. The woman screamed twice, then fell silent. The cat demon waited until the mist flew away before daring to look—the maid had already turned into a mummified corpse.

The cat demon found the mummified corpse wrinkly and quite cute, so she tapped it, making it into a spirit.

At this point…

Li Yunxin's eyes widened.

Leaving aside the mist for a moment. According to the cat demon's description, it shouldn't have been the Ninth Young Master, but some passing demon. Although it was a bit too coincidental, it wasn't impossible. In fact, it was related to some other recent events, but those weren't the most important.

He was surprised that…

The Tri-Flower Goddess tapped the mummified corpse on the head, and it became a spirit?

He questioned her in detail about this, but the cat demon couldn't explain anything coherent, only saying, "Eh? Oh, I want to, hehe… hmm… but most of the time I can't remember…"

Hearing her explanation… it seemed she possessed some kind of divine power unknown to him. But now her mind was impaired and hazy, only working sometimes.