Cast Out of the Sect, the Most Hated One

Qi Jin was expelled from his sect for the crime of harming his fellow disciples.

His spiritual root was taken from him, and the restorative pills his master had given him were stolen. The last thing his master said to him was that he no longer had a disciple. His eldest senior brother detested him, and his junior brother, who had used his heart's blood and spiritual root to extend his own path to immortality, sent away the spirit beast kitten who had been Qi Jin's only companion.

Qi Jin slept on the streets and on the wooden beds of kind strangers. He walked for who knew how long, knocking on door after door to ask if anyone had seen a little black kitten.

At last, Qi Jin lay down, exhausted, in a ruined temple with a leaking roof. As he waited to die, he missed his kitten so, so much.

Qi Jin thought he must really be hallucinating. He saw a tall man, drenched in rain and radiating a murderous aura, hurry inside.

When the newcomer transformed on the spot into a sleek black panther, Qi Jin finally recognized that familiar figure.

The little cat he had searched for everywhere had been waiting for him on the road to the Yellow Springs all along, ready to take him with it.

*

When his master and eldest senior brother came looking for him, Qi Jin was truly terrified.

The wound in his abdomen still hurt. If not for Little Cat Qi, he would have died even sooner.

They hated him and Little Cat Qi. It wasn't enough to drive them out. Were they really going to kill them now?

Qi Jin decided to run away with Little Cat Qi, who had already grown into a big cat.

*

The man in black leaned against the doorway, his figure lonely as he looked at the old acquaintances who had come one after another to see Qi Jin. Slowly, he said, "He's afraid of you."

"His spiritual root was taken from him. He said he offered it willingly, as payment for the food, clothing, and carefree childhood you gave him."

"He said his master had promised that even if his spiritual root were taken, he would make sure Qi Jin suffered no lasting effects and could live out the rest of his life in peace."

"But when I found him, the wound in his abdomen was terribly infected. He was a hair's breadth from death. Even a little cold water made his bones ache."

"He said his eldest senior brother might usually be cold, but he had a warm heart. He was just too upright and too sentimental, and so easily blinded by appearances that he said hurtful things."

"The person he called too sentimental pointed at him and called him a faithless ingrate who didn't know how to be grateful."

"He said his second senior brother was the most thoughtful and gentle of them all. Once, when Qi Jin was in so much pain he couldn't sleep all night, his second senior brother came by to bring him medicine and didn't leave until he had fallen asleep."

"You believed that a boy who called even ferocious beasts 'kittens' would harm his fellow disciples."

"He had his blood drawn once every three months. Each time, he was sick for days, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, unable to eat a thing. Did anyone ever care about him?"

"He said he had only been raised as a medicinal ingredient, and that all his suffering came from foolishly yearning for things that were never his to have. Now that he had repaid his debt, they were even. There was no need to meet again."

*

Qi Jin only learned later that on the day his master and eldest senior brother came to "finish him off," Little Cat Qi had stabbed his master, his eldest senior brother, and his junior brother.

His master and eldest senior brother had actually let the wound in his abdomen fester for a whole month without treating it.

Little Cat Qi had also broken his junior brother's legs.

Qi Jin was stunned, then shocked. In a panic, he ruffled Little Cat Qi until he was a messy ball of fur and told him that kittens mustn't be so violent!

Little Cat Qi scowled.

So Qi Jin could only quietly ask if he could please not stab his second senior brother, and leave him with both legs intact.

Little Cat Qi: Fine. (He did.)

2026.7.26

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Theme: Sincerity can move anyone