The Last Cat in the Universe

Yue An finally understood what the clan elders meant when they earnestly told him, “The will of the heavens cannot be denied”. He hugged the fallen tail that had been smudged with dirt, caressed it and rubbed against it. His heart was filled with reluctance to part with it.

Once the tail had fallen, it will slowly disappear as the human’s wish was granted.

Yue An looked on helplessly as his treasured tail gradually became a shadow. The pair of blue eyes that were saturated with the colours of the ocean glistened with moisture.

So angry!

He simply couldn’t be more aggrieved!

Yue An watched his tail disappear bit by bit, until not even a trace could be seen. Then, he exerted strength on the ground with his back paws, and jumped onto the body of the human lying inside the giant egg-shaped protector. Seeing the pectoral muscles exposed through the shredded clothes, Yue An got even angrier.

Fine! He lost a tail. It was heaven’s will after all. But this wild wish that murdered his chance to become an immortal wasn’t from a little lady!

It is actually a rough and stinky man!!!

Yue An’s tails bristled with fury. His cat eyes got rounder as he crouched on the stomach of this blood covered man and glared. Feeling the vitality of the human becoming stronger under his paws, he couldn’t help but extend his sharp claws. Raising his paws as he looked at the slowly rising chest, he deliberated over where he should claw to end the life of this foolish sleeping human.

However, he had wasted a tail to save this human. The paw that was about to land stopped above the human’s stomach. Even if it wasn’t him, some other human would still be there.

It was just like what those elders who had cultivated for many years and experienced the ups and downs of life would say as they stroked Yue An’s fur and smoked.

“Only when there is a human who genuinely and sincerely wishes for a cat to become an immortal can a nine-tailed cat escape the tragic fate of losing their ninth tail.”

Yue An looked at his claws, then looked at the unconscious and unresponsive human.

Since I wasted a tail to save this human, then his life is mine.

Thinking so, Yue An retracted his claws, and those soft and fleshy paw pads landed on the man’s chest. The relaxed chest muscles were soft, rising and falling as the man breathed.

Yue An absent-mindedly thought about how seriously and sincerely the elders would tell him those words, and his paws began flexing as he subconsciously began kneading.

The elders used to say, “You can’t escape anyway, might as well find a youthful, tender, pretty, and kind owner. In any case, after completing their wish, after twenty years just fake a death and escape. Twenty years, spending it anywhere is the same.”

What if they just happened to meet someone who wholeheartedly wished for them to become an immortal, though?

Only young nine-tailed cats like Yue An would try to escape the fate of losing tails.  After experiencing it a few times, everyone basically gives up struggling and goes off to find acceptable looking litter cleaning officials to be masters of. After all, thinking wishfully, what if – in all absurdness – their luck was amazing enough to successfully ascend?

Thinking this, Yue An’s beautiful blue eyes slightly moved, and he looked at the man beneath him. He lowered his head and immediately made eye contact with the man. It was a pair of eyes as black as the tranquil night sky. Rays of light scattered within and left fragments of splendor.

……???

The paws that had been kneading stopped, and Yue An’s mind went blank.

Ji Xiuyun didn’t think that he had any chance of survival. Moreover, other than feeling a lack of strength and some numbness, there was pretty much no pain or wounds. Even his old chronic illnesses and those invisible injuries that needed time to heal had disappeared without a trace.

It was as if his body had been thoroughly cleansed and cured of all the ailments, leaving only the surging blood filled with vitality and a youthful, vigorous body.

Of course, the most unexpected thing was … his chest was assaulted.

Originating from the Milky Way Galaxy, presently, he was the powerful Grand Marshall of the Hintas Empire. The dream lover of billions of women, the person hated to the point of gnashing teeth by enemy armies and space pirates alike. The mere mention of his name would cause the children of hostile nations to cry at night. He was the iron-willed silver blade, Ji Xiuyun, Marshall Ji.

He was at the brink of death and seriously injured, but mysteriously, he had somehow been completely healed. And then his chest got assaulted by a soft and fluffy unidentified creature that appeared to be quite cute.

This really is a very new and stimulating experience.

Ji Xiuyun thought calmly as he indifferently looked at the young seeming creature that was staring at him with its eyes wide open.

Yue An stared at this human for a bit, dumbfounded. Then he lowered his head to look down at the paws that were still placed on the man’s chest. He tilted his head, silently removed his paws, and returned to where his stomach was. Seeing the patch of black that had been smeared on the man’s chest by his dirty paws, he decided to act as if nothing happened, and turned his head to look at the scenery.

Originally, this was a small hillside with a large rock at the top. There was a huge cave under the large rock, one that was warm and dry. The geothermal supply in this place was plentiful. After spreading out some treated animal furs, with the elevation and the large rock to block the rain and wind, not much rain would enter the den, even during the sopping wet rainy season. Most of the den would remain dry, it was comfortable.

Yue An had been here for many decades and really loved his den. But now, to say nothing of his den, even that natural cave was smashed to pieces. A huge section had even been completely melted by the high temperature of the falling black mass.

As soon as Yue An thought about it, he got angry again. But even if he was angry, he couldn’t scratch the human, he could only angrily jump on the human’s stomach.

Ji Xiuyun, “……“

After jumping, Yue An’s tail swayed, fluffy and soft, as it slid across the man’s abdomen. It was both dry and hot since the traces of moisture in his territory had already been evaporated by the giant egg that had fallen from the sky, only this man’s body had some traces of coolness.

Yue An lowered his head. He looked at the fur that had been dyed black by the scorched ash, and then glanced at the human who was also not very clean. Under his attentive gaze, he meowed and lightly waved a paw. A few thin streams of water appeared out of nowhere, weaving back and forth between the sorry figures of the human and the cat as if they had self-awareness, taking away the blood and dirt on their bodies.

Speaking of this, he was ashamed. Back in the day, when spiritual energy was abundant, this technique could move mountains and drain seas, super awe-inspiring. But on earth, it could only be used to take a bath. Using it here, it wasn’t even enough for a bath. Only a little stream of water would appear every time, not good for much other than taking a few sips when thirsty, or cleaning those places that were hard to reach while licking.

Yue An raised his front paws, coordinating with the water streams to clean his black and dirty paws, exposing his cute tender pink paw pads below.  After his front paws were washed clean, he raised his back legs.

Ji Xiuyun looked at the little animal that had no scruples about washing its body while standing on his stomach, and his powerless fingers twitched slightly. He finally felt a bit of strength returning.

Yue An didn’t notice the changes in the human. After washing both the human and himself, the first thing Yue An did was to raise his head and study this human’s face. Yue An didn’t really have an appreciation for human beauty, his aesthetics basically followed his first owner.

For example, he felt that people like his first generation owner was quite pretty. She was usually bare-faced, only wearing some lipstick when heading out and had a lively and cute personality with a little fussiness. This only served to enhance her attractiveness. And the people admired and adored by the little girl mostly wore a fiery red lipstick, had leather jackets, and had a high heeled mature woman image.

So, Yue An felt that these kind of older sisters were also very pretty.

As for the male gender…

The little girl used to crazily praise people on her computer while stroking him. And most of those people were delicate and beautiful youths who looked slender, fair, and tender.

And so, Yue An felt that beautiful youths looked the best. When he had managed, with great difficulty, to save up enough spiritual energy to turn into a human form, Yue An specifically brought a mirror back to look at his appearance. When he found out that he had that type of delicate appearance, he was considerably pleased.

The man in front of him was not of that type. The shape of his face was quite sharp, and his gaze was as calm as to the point of being frigid. He seemed to be someone that was not to be trifled with.

Yue An’s gaze swept over the cleaned body and found that the man’s figure was very tall, with beautiful, flowing muscles where not a shred of excess fat could be found. Even as he laid there helplessly, Yue An could still clearly feel his scorching strength assault his senses. Not having knowledge of aesthetics regarding this area, Yue An’s gaze returned to the face that really couldn’t be considered to be one of a beautiful youth.

This human is so ugly.

The kitten that wasn’t equipped with an understanding of human beauty standards thought to himself.

His strength seems okay though.

If this was his new caretaker, Yue An could reluctantly accept this ‘Litter cleaning official’.

As for the possibility that the man may not want to raise him, Yue An had never even considered it.

Who would have the heart to reject such a cute kitty? Especially a cat that saved their life.

As he thought so, Yue An sat immovably on the man’s stomach and began to lick his fur to comfort himself. Having been washed, his fur was still slightly damp, which was a bit distressing for a cat. After he finished licking his front paws, he turned to lay on the man’s stomach.  While he was preparing to arrange the fur on his stomach, the human cushion slowly sat up.

Yue An slid from his stomach to between his legs, blankly raising his head to look at the human who was currently studying him expressionlessly. He then recalled the memories of when his first owner raised him, and licked his little nose while meowing softly and sweetly.

Ji Xiu Yu’s icy gaze shifted, retrieving the stare that seemed as if it was embedded with spikes. He raised his head and looked around at the rampant growth before opening his mouth to ask in a hoarse voice. “You saved me?”

Yue An swished his tail, “Meow.”

Ji Xiuyun didn’t count on an untamed wild animal to understand human speech, and didn’t treat Yue An’s ‘Meow’ as a response. However, he also didn’t think that the possibility of being saved by this seemingly pampered and unknown creature, that looked both cute and clean, was anything particularly surprising.

The universe was huge, without boundaries or end.

After humans stepped into the interstellar age, they had spent over two thousand years expanding towards the corners of the universe. Despite discovering countless new intelligent life forms and even finding many beings with special abilities, they were still unable to touch the ends of the cosmos.

To be able to come upon a special animal that was not recorded in the database of the Star Net and also had special abilities on this alien planet, Ji Xiuyun felt that his luck was very good.

——And there was a good chance that it was this special animal that had dragged him back from the brink of death and bestowed upon him a completely healthy body, as if he had been reborn.

Ji Xiuyun lowered his eyes to look at his stomach that was supposed to have a hole punctured through it. The intense pain seemed to linger but the gruesome wound had already disappeared.

The Empire’s Marshall that had fallen into dire straits picked up the little animal sitting on his leg. Despite the cold stiffness in his body, his movements were unbelievably gentle in order to not injure this little critter that appeared to be his saviour. His large hands carefully supported this unusual animal. He looked at its sky blue eyes, which were as clear as the tide-pools under sunlight.

Ji Xiuyun could even clearly see the thin red veins in the patch of blue.

Marshall Ji withdrew his gaze, feeling the soft, juvenile life in his hands. It seemed as if just a bit of force could easily squeeze it to death. He thought for a moment, and his coarse, callous hand smoothed over this little animal’s soft and warm coat, receiving a relaxing rub in return as well as a soft, velvety meow.

It had been a long time since someone picked him up and stroked his fur. Yue An stared at this human that had wasted one of his tails and narrowed his eyes as he began to purr in comfort.

Ji Xiuyun looked at the little animal that was clearly very cozy, and, out of some kind of very strict scientific attitude, he carefully flipped over the body of this amicable unidentified creature of unknown abilities, exposing its belly before his gaze landed on the area near Yue An’s tail.

Yue An was very opposed to exposing his stomach. As he prepared to flip back, he suddenly froze, raising his head to stare in disbelief at the human who had served him until he was quite comfortable only moments earlier.

And, at this time, the hand of the human, under his gaze, accurately landed on his balls. He even shamelessly squeezed them!

…Mhm, primary evidence shows that it is male.

Marshall Ji retracted his hand and saw the small creature glaring at him, with its mouth slightly open, showing the tips of its little fangs. Despite their different races, he could discern the other’s shocked expression. He paused slightly, and a flicker of bewilderment flashed through his usually placid, tranquil gaze.

Ji Xiuyun: ……