Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Her head throbbed with a dull pain from lack of oxygen, and the suffocating feeling of her neck being tightly strangled left You Xu no time to process what had happened.
She could only try to survive as a cat. She could no longer let out a sharp meow, only soft “meow-woo-woo” sounds. Her claws scratched weakly, and she couldn’t even lift her tail.
The child in front of her, with tightly pursed lips and a determined look in his eyes, was determined to eat her.
If she were a human, would she let a little brat strangle her so easily?
You Xu screamed in her mind, “78, help! I’ve turned into a cat!”
“I didn’t know either!” 78 also collapsed, “I can’t help, waaaah, good luck!!! I’m outta here.”
“…” She hadn’t expected it to be unreliable at such a crucial moment; her mind was practically spinning from being strangled.
Was this it? Even cannon fodder survived longer than her.
As You Xu mentally grumbled, resigned, and resentful, she heard a loud bang as the dilapidated wooden plank, barely functioning as a door, was kicked open.
Four or five children walked in, each appearing larger and stronger than the boy who had been choking her, instantly making the small, run-down shack feel cramped.
Then, the chubby boy, acting aggressively, kicked the little boy in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground. As the boy loosened his grip, You Xu was thrown into a corner.
The sudden influx of air made her throat burn even more, and she lay helplessly on the ground, panting.
“You freak who killed a whole family, how dare you show your face in front of us! I’ll beat you to death!”
The children surrounded the little boy, punching and kicking him. “You must have stolen the sweet potatoes from our vegetable patch before! You killed people and now you’ve learned to steal! Today we’ll teach you a lesson!”
“He’s got some nerve.”
“If I were him, I wouldn’t have the face to face my parents in the afterlife.”
You Xu looked up in utter disbelief. These children, who should have been innocent, spoke the most vicious words with the most disgusted expressions. Perhaps they didn’t even know the nature of their actions, but they did it fearlessly, banding together in hostility.
The little boy who had been choking her just moments before was now curled up on the ground, his already thin body looking even smaller. His face was buried between his arms, and only from You Xu’s angle lying on the ground could she see his expression.
There was no anger or fear on his face, only a lifelessness, his eyes filled with cold numbness and a touch of leaden misanthropy.
His indifferent demeanor seemed detached from the body, coldly observing, as if he wouldn’t react much even if he were beaten to death.
You Xu was horrified; this was hardly the behavior of a teenager.
She couldn’t bear to watch and closed her eyes.
After some time, You Xu smelled urine. She paused, then looked up. Someone had started it, pulling down their pants and urinating on the person curled up on the ground. The pale yellow liquid slid down his cheeks, dripping from his gaunt chin, leaving a wet patch on the ground.
“…” You Xu was shocked, her worldview shattered. She cursed countless times in her mind, then looked at the little boy’s reaction.
His reaction was— no reaction.
After a commotion, the group of children left, laughing and cursing.
The room fell silent. The rotten wooden door was left open, letting in the howling wind. Fine snow was falling outside, and the sky was darkening; it looked like evening.
“78,” You Xu said weakly, “Send the world line information quickly.”
78 hesitated and said, “I haven’t received it either.”
“What?!”
“Maybe you’ve transmigrated into a cat, so the world line information can’t be sent.”
You Xu asked expressionlessly, “Then why am I transmigrated into a cat?”
“When matching a host with a character in the world, of course, we choose the identity that is closest to the mission target and has the highest degree of matching,” 78 was puzzled, “Who knew that your matching degree with a cat was 99.8%?”
You Xu gritted her teeth: “Then what do we do now?”
78: “I have submitted a situation report to the switchboard and am waiting for approval.”
“How long will it take?”
78 took out a cushion, lay down on the ground, and said leisurely, “I don’t know.”
You Xu looked down at herself. How was she going to build trust points? With an incomprehensible language and a body covered in short fur?
She asked again, “What is the mission target’s name?”
“I don’t know either.”
“…” You Xu was so annoyed that she wanted to chop it up and use it as firewood.
Since she had transmigrated according to the degree of similarity to the mission target, then this pitiful child not far away must be the target. You Xu looked around the place. The small wooden hut, no bigger than a pavilion, couldn’t even fit a bed. There were no tables, chairs, or stools, only a few broken bowls, some straw and wood chips. The hut was drafty, and the wooden planks were moldy.
You Xu saw him still huddled there motionless, his hands covered in chilblains, red, swollen, and cracked, his exposed calves and ankles a bluish-red from the cold.
You Xu glanced at the doorway; the cold wind felt like knives. She stood up, took two steps, then stumbled, her face hitting the wall. You Xu adjusted her pace, then took two more uncoordinated steps before tumbling to the ground.
You Xu: Hey, how do you walk on four legs?
“Oh dear, host,” 78 couldn’t stand it anymore, “cats walk by stepping their hind paws on the spot where their front paws have been, leaving only two sets of footprints on the ground, forming a straight line.”
You Xu felt insulted, but she didn’t say anything. She gritted her teeth and tried again, her steps stiff and unsteady as she passed by the little boy. She was even a little nervous that he might suddenly grab her and kill her on the ground, saying, “This cat is so stupid, it can’t even walk properly, I might as well eat it.”
But even when she reached the door, he didn’t react.
You Xu raised her paw and pushed the door, but it didn’t budge. She pushed again with all her might, but still no luck. In desperation, she pressed her whole face against the door and used all four paws to push hard.
But the wind was too strong, and the resistance was too great. She could only push it about a third of the way, so she simply sat down on the ground to conserve her energy and wait for the wind to subside.
After about half an hour, You Xu finally managed to close the door, but it was still very cold inside, and the child was dressed too lightly.
You Xu walked over to him and looked at him for a while. She roughly understood why he had been curled up on the ground, motionless. He had been enduring the pain before, but now he was too tired, hungry, and weak to move.
She saw his right hand resting on the ground; there was a deep wound on his thumb, still bleeding.
And in her current state, she couldn’t do anything.
The boy lay on the ground, his bones aching all over. He suddenly felt very tired and exhausted. These tormenting days seemed endless. He didn’t want to struggle anymore. Dying didn’t require much effort; just living had exhausted all his strength, and he had no strength left.
The kitten had accidentally wandered into his room earlier that day, almost becoming his meal. He had struggled to catch it, and just now he thought it was leaving, but it had returned.
Why had it come back?
Then he saw the kitten sitting beside him, head down, licking his bloodied hand with its little tongue.
Was it hungry? Oh well, whatever, he thought.
You Xu licked the blood clean, but the wound still looked painful. She then touched the back of his hand with her paw; his hand was as cold as ice. You Xu thought for a moment, then simply lifted her front paw and straddled his hand, curling herself up and wrapping her belly around his entire hand.
At first, her stomach felt cold, and her whole body shivered, but then she felt his hand seemed to warm up a little. Her previously tense nerves relaxed, and drowsiness overcame her; You Xu couldn’t stay awake any longer and fell asleep.
The boy stared blankly at the kitten, feeling the soft fur and warmth on his right hand.
Was it…warming his hand?
Why? He had wanted to kill it before.
The child, who had never received kindness before, at this moment, in the cold darkness, seemed to see a faint flame.
….
When You Xu woke up, it was the middle of the night. Outside, the wind howled and snow danced. The small room was dark, only the silvery moonlight seeping through the window cracks.
She felt as if she were held in place by some pressure, unable to move. Her paws and tail brushed against warm skin, and her forehead moved upwards, touching what looked like her chin and neck.
After a moment’s assessment, You Xu knew the boy had pulled her into his arms.
Perhaps thinking she had woken up from the cold, the boy instinctively held her tighter, stroking her head with his other hand.
You Xu stopped moving, quietly nestled against his skin, hearing his rhythmic heartbeat and the occasional rustling of the wind outside the window, then slowly closed her eyes again.
The boy and the kitten exchanged a little warmth.
In this ordinary winter night, it was still cold, yet it seemed less cold.
The author has something to say:
I hope this cold winter will no longer be so cold.
Everything will get better, everything will pass.
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