Cat 257: Braised Pork Trotters

Chapter 257 Braised Pork Trotters

Seeing more and more people arriving, Ajun realized she could not escape; her attacks on Yan Jiyun only grew fiercer, her expression showing her intent to put Cheng Xueying to death.

In Yan Jiyun’s hands, the bamboo pole served well as a long-range weapon. During the fight with Ajun, it left even more holes in her body—now, Ajun resembled a sieve riddled with gaping wounds.

All the presumed NPCs—except Yan Jiyun and the Ninth Lord—looked on in bafflement at her appearance.

How could this happen?

Didn’t fights between people here ever end this way before? No one could quite recall—perhaps they had, perhaps not.

Standing behind the Ninth Lord, Father Liu seemed paralyzed with fright, rooted to the spot.

Having already been scratched by the cat, Liu Jingxi and his wife were less shocked than Father Liu.

Yan Jiyun and Ajun’s fight ended quickly. After all, Ajun was a woman; Yan Jiyun’s movements were agile, and with the Ninth Lord’s support, he soon managed to knock the knife from Ajun’s hand.

“Who are you?” Yan Jiyun demanded. “Are you from the Lin family or the Chen family?”

At least it was not Wei Liu; the latter’s methods were different—Wei Liu never confronted them head-on, unlike this impetuous Ajun.

Ajun, her waist twisted, collapsed on the floor. “Why should I tell you?” She suddenly recalled something. “Wait—how do you know?”

Yan Jiyun’s expression remained steady. In truth, he was testing Ajun, remaining uncertain whether the five heads of household had created this paper town together. Her reaction now made it clear: she was indeed one of the five, only he didn’t know which.

“Nothing stays secret forever. You turned all of Jiangnan Town into a town of paper people—did you never consider the day you couldn’t turn back?”

Ajun laughed eerily from the floor. “As long as there are paper people, we can keep changing bodies and live forever.”

Yan Jiyun punctured her pride. “Then why are you so desperate to kill him, even at the cost of destroying the paper body you’re using now?” He pointed at Cheng Xueying.

Ajun’s voice was venomous. “A living person doesn’t belong in the paper town. He’s an anomaly—he must die.”

Yan Jiyun began to sow discord. “Why? Did you know Wei Liu is looking for him? Wei Liu doesn’t want to kill him—he wants to use his body, to keep living. Doesn’t that betray the original purpose of your paper town?”

Ajun hesitated, uncertain whether Yan Jiyun spoke the truth, though she was clever enough not to let it show.

“Heh. We’ve built the paper town for over forty years—bound together by shared ideals, and we know each other well. Wei Liu is the one who craves immortality most, obsessed with staying young. He wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“But people’s hearts change. Changing again and again is exhausting. These forty years, and the next forty or eighty—it’s the same. He doesn’t want to sink into this corruption with you forever.” Yan Jiyun pressed on. “Do you know where the Liu family head is now?”

Ajun frowned. “Where is he?”

Yan Jiyun’s trap succeeded: Ajun was possessed by the Lin family head.

“He’s dead—killed by Chen Qin. You surely know whose orders Chen Qin follows.”

Ajun’s expression shifted, her eyes growing venomous. “Impossible! You’re lying!”

“If you don’t believe me, ask them—did Liu Jinghao die, did he drown?” Yan Jiyun pressed, then turned to Father Liu. “Uncle, isn’t my third cousin an excellent swimmer?”

Father Liu, at a loss, still nodded. “He is.”

Yan Jiyun continued, “If he swims so well, why would he drown in his own waist-deep pond? Have you thought about that? You know the Liu family head was Liu Jinghao, don’t you?”

Ajun objected, “I know, but Chen Qin wouldn’t kill him…Impossible.”

Yan Jiyun continued to drive in the wedge. “Why not? Doesn’t it prove your allies aren’t as reliable as you imagined? Can you even find the Liu family head now? I believe you have your own secret hideouts, and you all know who became whom.”

After his earlier conversation with the Lin family head, Yan Jiyun realized that the five all had unique traits. The Cheng and Chen heads, who hadn’t become young again, clung to their power, while Wei, Lin, and Liu preferred other lifestyles—Wei Liu in particular, obsessed with youth and fearing old age.

The Lin head possessed Ajun’s body, which suddenly shuddered—he realized that these past days, he truly hadn’t seen anyone from the Liu family.

The onlookers still hadn’t absorbed everything Yan Jiyun had said, left agape and bewildered.

Suddenly, the Lin head laughed. “Good riddance to Liu, the old lecher—saves other families’ daughters much grief. Cheng Xueying, what did Liu say to you before he died?”

Cheng Xueying had always been enigmatic. Though her purpose in marrying the Liu family was known, did she know her own status as a living person?

When the Lin head asked, Cheng Xueying clearly paused, thinking it over.

His face darkened slightly, as if remembering something disagreeable. “He said nothing to me.”

“Liu was ever lustful—he’d heard the Cheng girl was beautiful, and so used Liu Jinghao’s body to marry you. Who would have expected his own wedding to be his day of sacrifice!”

Yan Jiyun drew a conclusion. “So, if you were all completely thrown into water or burned in fire, you couldn’t possess anyone else or use a new paper body; your souls would be utterly destroyed?”

The Lin head’s face changed. “What are you planning?”

He wanted to destroy Cheng Xueying to keep anyone from learning this secret!

Yan Jiyun was unfazed, crouching before him with the bamboo pole. “As long as you obey me and do as I say, I won’t kill you.”

The Lin head found himself unsettled by the youth’s nearness, as though he might suddenly leap and tear his face apart with sharp claws.

“What do you want?”

“Don’t worry. As long as you sit tight, I won’t let your soul be scattered.” His next main quest was to rescue all the paper people in Jiangnan Town. Since all the souls had been plucked and stuffed into paper bodies, the goal was to save everyone. The Lin head was one of the evildoers—they needed to draw more useful information from him.

“Haha, I’ve lived long enough. I won’t tell you anything!”

The Lin head didn’t trust Yan Jiyun. He pulled a lighter from his pocket, intent on burning his own skin, but before he could flick it, someone kicked his hand away.

It was the Ninth Lord, who’d been standing by, watching out for Yan Jiyun’s safety. With one swift move, he crushed the Lin head’s arm underfoot.

The Ninth Lord beckoned to the men who’d come with him. “Take him away.”

One of the bodyguards stepped forward and easily tied up the Lin head, slinging him over a shoulder.

Now Father Liu understood: the Ninth Lord’s interests lay elsewhere!

He struggled to speak. “Wait—Ninth Lord, Ajun is one of our household staff…”

The Ninth Lord didn’t bother to feign politeness. “You heard everything. That isn’t the Ajun you knew, but the Lin family head, from the Lin house.”

Father Liu was bewildered. “This—what on earth is happening here?”

Seeing the Ninth Lord had so adroitly patched his lapse, Yan Jiyun breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Cheng Xueying. “You’re coming with us.”

It was not a question, but a statement.

Cheng Xueying glanced at Liu Jingxi. “Alright.”

Father Liu spoke up again. “You’re my daughter-in-law—are you going with the Ninth Lord?”

Yan Jiyun shot him a scornful look; no one bothered replying this time—it was pointless.

In truth, Father Liu simply couldn’t accept such a sudden collapse of his reality, a fact that would soon make the rest of the Liu family ignore him as well—a terrifying prospect for any patriarch. What’s more, the mention of the long-dead Liu family head was truly chilling on reflection.

Cheng Xueying had never cared about the Lius—and was never even a woman, much less anyone’s daughter-in-law; he simply followed Yan Jiyun, chasing after the Ninth Lord.

Yan Jiyun noticed the Ninth Lord was silent as he got into the car. As a cat, Yan Jiyun was quite able to sense human moods.

He tugged lightly at the Ninth Lord’s sleeve. “What’s wrong?”

The Ninth Lord glanced at him, then at Cheng Xueying in funeral dress behind him. “Nothing. Get in. We’ll question the Lin head about all this later.”

“Mm, mm.” Yan Jiyun had already considered interrogating the Lin head the moment the Ninth Lord decided to bring him along.

It was clear the Lius didn’t know the truth; there was no point in further questioning them.

When they came out, Liu Jingxi also followed and got into the car with the bodyguards.

By now, it was dinner time. The Ninth Lord, perhaps in a foul mood, took everyone straight home.

Only at the house entrance did he realize who’d come back with him.

The Ninth Lord: “……” He hadn’t meant to bring everyone along.

Yan Jiyun praised him, “You really are thorough. Your home security is top-notch—I’m sure both Cheng Xueying and the Lin head will be safe here tonight.”

The Ninth Lord’s attitude shifted at once. “Mm, that’s what I thought. Frankly, nowhere in Jiangnan City is safer than my home.”

Once home, the butler immediately arranged dinner. The Lin head stubbornly refused to speak, but there was no rush.

The butler even went to find clothes belonging to the young lady, but Yan Jiyun interjected, “Just bring men’s clothes.”

Cheng Xueying eyed Yan Jiyun, finding him unfathomable. “Agreed.”

Liu Jingxi, refusing to leave, looked utterly confused until Cheng Xueying reappeared in men’s clothing, hair newly cropped short.

Liu Jingxi stammered, “Y-you’re a man?”

Cheng Xueying no longer needed to disguise his voice. “Of course. Your cousin could tell—how could you not?”

Liu Jingxi felt faint. “How can this be…”

Yan Jiyun ignored his confusion and checked again on the uncooperative Lin head. With no way to get him talking, Yan Jiyun left him alone for the moment. Paper bodies felt no pain, so threats were useless; the Lin head still had his uses—he would be watched and questioned when his guard was down.

What troubled Yan Jiyun now was something else: why had the Ninth Lord seemed unhappy since they returned? Yan Jiyun couldn’t think of anything he’d done to upset him. He’d been focused on tasks all day and hadn’t caused trouble.

He glanced at the time—his experience card was about to expire. He hurried upstairs to his freshly prepared room, waiting for the moment when he would turn back into Caramel.

As Caramel, he could wander freely around the house, without obstacle. He went to find the Ninth Lord, who seemed uncharacteristically gloomy.

He nudged open the door to the master bedroom. Outside was a sitting room with a huge bookshelf and a plush European sofa set. The door was ajar, and Yan Jiyun nudged it open, finding the Ninth Lord seated on the sofa, chin in hand, lost in thought.

Trying to brighten the mood, Yan Jiyun cheerfully bounded up to him, stretching out a paw to tap his hand.

The Ninth Lord reacted instantly, seizing his right paw. Yan Jiyun cried out in pain, “Mrow~” Why did that hurt so much?

As he tried to retract his paw for a closer look, the Ninth Lord was even quicker, scooping him up to check it over carefully.

He soon discovered the feline paw was horribly swollen—looking for all the world like a braised pork trotter. The Ninth Lord was worried. “Caramel, what happened to your foot? It’s all swollen, just like a pig’s trotter!”

Yan Jiyun: “……” Your paw is a pig trotter!