The Sacred Flame Shines Bright, Meow Meow Meow Meow

Xiangpu is a cat spirit who loves human food, so the moment she finished cultivating a human form, she headed down the mountain, ready to feast.

But she never expected that everything in the human world would cost silver.

Food costs money, lodging costs money, and even those glittering, curious trinkets cost money!

Xiangpu's plans fell through before they even got started. Luckily, her neighbor pulled some strings and found her a fine position: working as a maid in a wealthy household, earning half a tael of silver a month.

Her neighbor was a black bear spirit. Counting off the benefits on his fingers, he said, "Half a tael of silver a month, one day off every ten days, fine silks and satins, plenty of good food and drink, and beautiful people all over the estate to feast your eyes on... If my second uncle's wife's nephew hadn't made a name for himself there, how would a fine position like this ever have fallen to you?"

Xiangpu was thrilled and humbly asked, "May I ask which esteemed person your second uncle's wife's nephew is, and what job he does there, Lord Black Bear?"

"Oh, he serves as the young master's dog."

Xiangpu: ...??!!

Black Bear, is your relative really a proper dog?

*

Later, Xiangpu learned that the so-called wealthy household was actually a demonic cult, the fine silks and satins were stolen, and all those beautiful people had been abducted. In the end, the cult's hideout was ruthlessly wiped out. As one of the few servants to survive, Xiangpu fled for her life with the young master.

That was because, before Dog Uncle went back into seclusion to cultivate, he had entrusted his young master to her.

Under Xiangpu's guidance, the young master grew up day by day, from a young child to an awkward teenager, and finally into one of the greatest martial artists in the jianghu, restoring the demonic cult to its former glory.

On the day the young master became the cult leader, Xiangpu rode on the coattails of her canine connections and became the cult's one and only Auntie in Charge. Everyone treated her with respect. At long last, she got to enjoy the good life she had dreamed of when she first arrived in the human world: all the food and drink she could want.

It was just that the young master's gaze grew stranger and stranger.

One night, the young man cornered her against a wall, trapping her between his arms. "Auntie, there's something I've never understood."

"What is it?"

"Why has your appearance not changed at all after all these years?"

Xiangpu lied through her teeth. "That's because I secretly learned your demonic cult's supreme martial art. It keeps me looking young forever and makes me immortal."

The young man chuckled softly. "But Auntie, many years ago, I saw a fox's tail sticking out from behind you."

Xiangpu's heart immediately settled. Thankfully, she had a cat's tail. This guy was just trying to trick her.

*

Mini-scene 1:

There was a rumor in the jianghu that the demonic cult leader, Song Zhaoxue, was a great fiend, guilty of every evil under the sun, with such fearsome martial arts that no one could last three moves against him.

But someone scoffed. "What's so special about Song Zhaoxue? The real terror is that beast-taming demoness under his command."

"Oh? Do tell."

So, during the siege that brought together renowned sects from all across the martial world, a woman descended from the sky and landed on a tree branch. At her command, countless stray dogs came charging from every direction in the wilderness, nearly costing them their lives.

That scene would stay with them forever!

They might never guess that someone could be a dog's servant by day and the emperor of dogs by night.

Theme: Choose your own path and walk it with conviction.