Publish Time: 2026-06-18 10:32:00

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«Chapter 513: Hong Sancai, City God of Autumn Moon Market

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Hong Sancai found it hard to believe too. He’d heard the Old City God mention before that Mr. Chen was no ordinary cultivator.

Now, seeing this, Hong Sancai finally understood: if cultivators were like mountain ranges, then Mr. Chen must be that one towering peak punching through the clouds amid thousands of foothills.

It truly made his heart tremble.

But as for the specific reason behind it, Hong Sancai wasn’t clear. After all, he hadn’t held his position for long, so how could he know much?

In the end, he simply handed the authentic scroll of that cultivation method to Mr. Chen, without further guesses.

Chen Changsheng accepted the scroll, exchanged a few casual words with him, then said his farewells.

To Hong Sancai, Mr. Chen seemed a bit hurried this time, so he didn’t try to detain him longer.

Chen Changsheng left the City God Temple, carrying the Tabby Cat.

Hong Sancai saw him out and watched as the Green-Robed Gentleman walked farther and farther away.

Decades had passed in the blink of an eye.

He realized Mr. Chen had changed greatly, nowhere near as casual as when he sat debating the Dao by the Mountain Stream. He had become deeper, heavier, as if burdened with many thoughts.

Hong Sancai’s own thoughts then drifted.

When would he see Mr. Chen again?

There was no longer a fixed answer to that.

……

The Tabby Cat looked up at Chen Changsheng and asked, “That person just now… was that who you said is ‘already dead’?”

“Correct.”

As he walked, Chen Changsheng pondered the matter of the cultivation method.

The Tabby Cat blinked its eyes. “He made Lihua feel very uncomfortable.”

Chen Changsheng explained, “That is the City God who protects this region. His duty is to ward off evil and slay monsters. Lihua is a monster, so naturally you feel fear seeing him.”

“Oh, so that’s why.”

The Tabby Cat finally understood why it felt that way.

But… why?

The Tabby Cat lifted its gaze and asked, “But why slay monsters?”

“Humans follow the Human Dao, immortals follow the Path of Immortality, monsters follow the Demon Dao. The rule of the Mortal World is that these paths should not cross.”

“What happens if they do meet?”

“If it’s Lihua, you might be caught as a bad monster.”

“Ah…”

Hearing this, the Tabby Cat glanced left and right nervously. “Then we need to hurry.”

Chen Changsheng chuckled. “Okay.”

Lihua kept looking back until the City God Temple disappeared from sight. Only then did it relax.

Chen Changsheng intended to find a place to stay the night.

But unexpectedly, there were no inns still operating in Autumn Moon Market.

Probably because this place was too remote. Back when Autumn Moon Brew was unique, several inns had sprung up in the market for traveling merchants to rest. But now, Autumn Moon Brew was no longer exclusive. Merchants mostly came one day and left the next, so the inns had all shut down.

“Is there nowhere for us to stay?”

“Correct.”

“What do we do then?”

“Rest under a tree for the night. Acceptable to Lihua?”

“Lihua can rest anywhere.”

“That’s good.”

Finding a slightly larger tree, Chen Changsheng gathered some dry branches.

The Tabby Cat helped too. Soon, a campfire was crackling.

“Crackle, pop…”

Sparks occasionally flew from the fire, capturing Lihua’s attention.

Chen Changsheng, meanwhile, leaned against the tree, using the firelight to examine the authentic scroll of the cultivation method and the one he had copied.

He looked for a long time but found no answers on the two scrolls.

According to what Hu Junhan once said, cultivation methods couldn’t be copied. If one truly managed to copy it, wasn’t that defying the heavens? Such acts usually invited Heavenly Tribulation.

So why hadn’t anything happened back then?

Chen Changsheng couldn’t figure it out. He remained perplexed.

The Tabby Cat scooted closer, glanced, and asked, “What’s this?”

“A cultivation method,” Chen Changsheng replied.

“Lihua knows about those! Mo Yu talked about them. And Divine Abilities, and Spells.”

“Quite knowledgeable.”

“Of course!”

The Tabby Cat lifted its head proudly, then looked down again. “Is it powerful?”

“Just a common cultivation method.”

“Then why do you keep staring?”

“There’s something I can’t understand.”

“What is it?”

Lihua was sometimes fond of digging deeper, unwilling to give up without getting answers.

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment. “It’s like molding clay figures.”

“Molding clay figures?”

“Mm,” Chen Changsheng nodded. “There’s a rule beforehand: you can’t mold two identical clay figures. But I molded one exactly the same as an earlier one by copying it. I don’t understand why that’s possible.”

He simply chatted with Lihua. On this journey, he’d gotten used to sharing useless thoughts with the cat.

The Tabby Cat blinked. “Why can’t they be alike?”

“Hmm…” Chen Changsheng tried to explain. “It’s like saying there cannot be a second Lihua in this world.”

“Oh!”

Lihua seemed to grasp it, but then added, “But you said clay figures.”

“The principle is the same.”

“Fine… Let Lihua think.”

The Tabby Cat fell into thought.

Its gaze fixed on the fire, lost in concentration. Its eyes grew somewhat vacant.

Chen Changsheng returned to studying the two scrolls.

He looked until late at night, with the bright moon high overhead.

When he glanced down at the Tabby Cat, it was curled up asleep by the campfire.

Chen Changsheng shook his head with a faint smile. Seeing the fire growing weak, he added more branches. The approach of dawn brought the coldest hours. He himself didn’t mind the chill, but Lihua might.

The thing that finally woke the Tabby Cat was the sound of roosters crowing in Autumn Moon Market.

The sky was just beginning to brighten when the roosters called.

The Tabby Cat yawned, stretched its paws on the ground, and stretched its whole body long.

Looking up at the sky, it said, “Dawn now.”

It looked back. Chen Changsheng sat with his arms folded, eyes closed as if resting. The campfire had burned out, thin wisps of white smoke curling up.

Lihua blinked, then a playful impulse struck.

It stuck a paw into the cold ashes of the fire pit, stepped gingerly closer, and pressed its sooty paw against Chen Changsheng’s Blue Robe.

It left behind a dark gray paw print.

Lihua seemed to find this highly amusing, admiring its handiwork with satisfaction.

“Having fun?”

“Yep.”

Lihua froze the moment it answered.

It looked up and saw Chen Changsheng’s open eyes.

“You woke up sneakily!”

“…?”

Chen Changsheng sometimes struggled to grasp the nonsense pouring from the Tabby Cat’s mouth.

He sighed helplessly and stood up.

“Last night, didn’t Lihua promise to help me solve my problem? How come it fell asleep while thinking?”

“Lihua did not.”

“But I saw it sleeping.”

The Tabby Cat thought about it and claimed, “Was thinking in dream.”

It sounded a bit guilty.

“Really?”

Chen Changsheng smiled faintly. “Did you figure it out then?”

“Um… No.”

“Means you weren’t thinking at all.”

“Nonsense!”

The Tabby Cat looked serious. “Say it again! Lihua will know why right away!”

Chen Changsheng repeated, “Molding clay figures. Remember? The rule is you can’t mold two that are exactly alike. But I did it.”

The Tabby Cat snorted lightly. “Easy! It’s your rule. You should be able to mold it how you like!”

Chen Changsheng burst out laughing.

“What’s funny? Lihua isn’t wrong!”

Suddenly, Chen Changsheng’s smile froze.

Lihua blinked. “Why stopped laughing?”

Chen Changsheng’s expression abruptly turned grave. He stared at the Tabby Cat, memories of yesterday flooding back.

He was momentarily stunned.

«Chapter 513: Hong Sancai, City God of Autumn Moon Market

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