They say once you die, nothing shocks you anymore. They lied.
Getting used to feline anatomy was hell.
My motions grew smoother with time, each spring, each curl of the back more natural. I could even sashay across the room with the grace of an alley king. But the back end? Those sad, sagging, empty bells? Every time I caught sight of them, my spirit wilted.
Still, if I didn't look back, I could almost pretend I was still all man on the inside.
To protest Jiang’s choice, I went a full thirty minutes without acknowledging him. A silent strike.
Not that it mattered. He was busy anyway. Reports from his men were rolling in. They might have traced the first thread of my death.
The irony burned I couldn't recall the moment I died. Complete blank, as if someone had scissored out the ending.
Jiang explained it clinically, "Memory loss. Symptom of the seal suppressing you. Once your body is recovered, everything will return. And with it, the pathway for offerings."
Offerings. Spirit money. My ticket out of poverty.
But in the meantime, I was useless. Not just useless pathetic. A cat hostage adding no intel. Humiliating. It grated against everything I saw myself as.
I sprawled on the sofa cushion, tail twitching, watching Jiang Yuyan work through maps and papers.
Since that first dream visitation, my existence had mutated. The path was twisting into directions unknown. And the most galling twist my rival was carrying me there.
Guilt hit me. My ears flattened. Shame clawed at me. I’d badmouthed him my whole life, seen him as enemy, nuisance. Yet here he was, bloodletting, burning spells, dragging me back from oblivion.
Tears prickled behind my glowing cat eyes.
I covered my face with both paws. "I misjudged you so badly."
Before I could spiral deeper into melodrama, Jiang flicked my forehead.
"Let's go."
Reflexively my new body lashed out. Two quick paw strikes. He froze.
I flailed. "No, no, reflex response. Cat body. Sorry."
He withdrew, unsettled. A strange flicker in his gaze.
And then betrayal. He didn't take me to chase a lead. He carried me into a pet clinic.
The nurse cooed, her dimples sweet, but her shot-hand cold.
"Now kitty, one quick jab. Don't get this wet for a week, or no baths."
My dignity fractured. I went limp against Jiang's chest. Life as I knew it the glory of Lu Zhen was officially shattered.
I was no longer man, no longer ghost. I was neutered, chipped, vaccinated, domesticated.
My despair deepened. "Mrrrow."
Jiang sighed. "It's just paperwork. The vaccine is an excuse. This way, I can get you an official pet passport. We'll need to travel. Easier with documents."
Travel. Documents. Useless consolation.
I sulked in silence.
Meanwhile, Jiang’s team turned up something a thread to Li Haofang, my boss when I was alive. Tall, thick necked, brick faced, with a bouffant haircut and dragon tattoos. I’d met him in an internet café couldn’t stand how bad he was at games. Carried him through two matches. He immediately threw his arm over my shoulders and declared me his brother.
That brotherhood lasted ten years. He was family in all but blood. He was the one who buried me. The one who cried first when police called him to identify remains.
And here he was now, knees on the ground in front of Jiang Yuyan, snot and tears running down his face.
"President Jiang, forgive me an unworthy fool. Dog eyes, blinded, didn’t know your glorious lineage. How dare I compete. Please, show mercy."
Jiang stood calm, barely reacting. He only said,
"Director Li, I need to ask you something."
"Yes, yes." Li bobbed. "Ask away. No secrets here."
"Lu Zhen. How did he die?"
Li blinked, then at last,
"Oh right, the kid. Police called me. Said there had been a multi-car pileup. He was gone on the spot."
"Did you confirm it?"
"Confirm how?" Li's face twisted. "He was mangled to pieces. They used his ID card. That's it. Poor bastard. My brother in all but blood. I signed the cremation papers myself. Even bought the finest plot at Zhusan Mountain Cemetery."
Then his eyes sparkled. "And guess what? I set him up between two unmarried long-legged beauties. Hey, wouldn't surprise me if downstairs he's living it up already "
The air temperature dropped. Jiang's jaw clenched.
"Long legs?" he asked.
Li rubbed his chin. "Don't all men like that? Then again, Zhen was strange. Never dated. Never chased women. Probably died a virgin, honestly."
Something unreadable flashed in Jiang’s eyes. He nodded briskly.
"I see."
Because the thread led to the police investigation, our trail stalled there.
While waiting, Jiang drove us out to Zhusan Mountain Cemetery.
Even though the urn was empty, my tombstone still stood. My photograph still stared out.
The cemetery sprawled at the edges of the city, a half wild hillside where few living dared linger. Yet it was peaceful, scenic.
Looking at my own face carved into granite-black, a whisper of ache pricked through me.
That’s me. I’m dead. I finally felt it.
"Something wrong?" Jiang’s palm rubbed over my small round cat head. I leaned instinctively into the warmth. I hadn’t felt human touch in so long.
"Am I useless?" I murmured brokenly. "I don’t even remember how I died."
He lifted me gently, nose nearly brushing my fur.
"You are the key."
According to his theory, my ghost and my body retained a reciprocal tether. Get us close enough, and I would sense it. My own corpse calling back. In that sense, I was the compass the only one alive, or dead, who could lead them.
Confidence swelled back into me. "Of course they can’t do it without me. What’s the underworld worth without Lu Zhen?"
But Jiang’s face darkened. He wasn’t looking at me. He was looking over my shoulder.
I followed his gaze and froze.
Because not twenty feet away stood Lu Wei, my sworn brother since childhood. He cradled a bouquet awkwardly, staring with wide black eyes flicking between me and Jiang like a horror victim.
"Holy shit." He pointed, lips trembling, knees knocking. "That cat. That cat just talked. Right?"
His eyes rolled, and he dropped stone cold to the ground.
Dead faint.
Jiang, expressionless, stepped right past him. Me? I shrank down in his arms, not daring to peep a word.
But of course, Lu Wei jerked up like a spring-loaded toy, scrambled upright, and lunged straight for Jiang’s leg. Hugged his calf like a drowning man.
Jiang: …
Me: …Brother, how dare you touch him?
Lu Wei’s face contorted through more emotions than I thought possible shock, fear, desperation, joy, all mashed into one pitiful stew.
Clutching at Jiang’s expensive slacks, he pointed right at me.
"This cat.... What in hell its voice it’s Lu Zhen. I’d bet my life on it. No one else in the world has a voice that annoying."
"In fact," he swore with miserable conviction, "the second it opened its mouth, my fist itched to punch it. Reflex. That is definitely Lu Zhen. If not, I’ll eat shit."
Me: …
I wanted to cry. My so called good brother, selling me down the drain in two sentences.
The bond was broken. The table flipped. This brotherhood was cooked
Chapter 03
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