"I think it was about five years ago. I remember meeting Haitang not long after my grandmother passed away."

Chen Gao Yang replied after a moment of thought.

"Oh, I see." Tu Xiao'an nodded.

Chen Gao Yang quickly asked, "Did you discover something?"

"No, I was just asking. You don't have to be so down. Maybe one day your girlfriend will just suddenly reappear."

Chen Gao Yang gave a bitter smile. "Is that even possible?"

Tu Xiao'an didn't answer. Instead, he left the room and walked around, making small talk with Chen Gao Yang.

He didn't bid Chen Gao Yang farewell until a WeChat message from Li Qingzhao arrived.

Before he left, they exchanged numbers.

Tu Xiao'an then walked out of the courtyard. Before he had taken more than a few steps, he glanced back, a complex look on his face.

'Looks like I've stumbled into another bizarre situation.'

'Girlfriend?'

'How absurd. If I'm not mistaken, Chen Gao Yang's girlfriend must be a cultivating Cat Spirit.'

'This courtyard is filled with the Qi of a Cat Spirit.'

'It's clearly lived here for a long time.'

'I found some fur in the room. It was clearly from a cat, and it was radiating the Qi of an Awakened Creature.'

'There's no faking that.'

'As for why the Cat Spirit suddenly vanished, I don't have a clear answer.'

'To have been with Chen Gao Yang for five years, living as his girlfriend, means this Cat Spirit genuinely cared for him. It would never harm him.'

All things in heaven and earth have a soul. Awakened Creatures have souls, and they have feelings, too.

Not every Awakened Creature is a ferocious, man-eating monster. They have emotions, too.

Tu Xiao'an recalled what Dr. Snake had told him. Some Hidden Clans, for the sake of their Cultivation, would capture Awakened Creatures to either refine into elixirs or eat directly.

This big city was home to hidden human Awakeners, and it surely concealed many Awakened Creatures as well.

If these Awakened Creatures were discovered by an Awakener, the Awakener certainly wouldn't be merciful.

How could they let walking Heavenly and Earthly Treasures get away?

Unless you were strong enough, of course.

'Could it be that this Cat Spirit was captured?'

'Otherwise, it wouldn't have vanished without a trace.'

From the memories I stole from Chen Gao Yang, that Cat Spirit had incredibly strong feelings for him.

Tu Xiao'an didn't tell Chen Gao Yang the truth, because the truth is often cruel, or even absurd.

'What could I tell him? That his girlfriend is actually a Cat Spirit? She could speak human language, but logically, how could someone be fooled even if an animal could talk?'

As luck would have it, Chen Gao Yang was born blind. All it took to deceive him was a pleasant voice.

Animals becoming spirits has been a concept since ancient times. But with the founding of the new nation, all of it was relegated to the realm of myth.

Ordinary people no longer believe in things like Spirit Monsters or Demon Fiends. But Tu Xiao'an was different; he had already stepped into this hidden Domain.

It seemed now that countless types of animals could become spirits. Any animal, given the right opportunity, a long enough life, or perhaps an extraordinary bloodline, could potentially awaken. After awakening, they become an Essence, a Demon.

Everyone knew the country's most famous male Demon was a monkey, his sidekick was a pig, and the most famous female Demon was a White Snake. He wondered if she was still in H Province after Leifeng Pagoda fell.

In Tu Xiao'an's eyes, these once-familiar Demons were now likely all beings with powerful Cultivation.

After everything he had experienced, Tu Xiao'an wasn't even particularly surprised to discover that Chen Gao Yang's girlfriend was actually a Cat Spirit.

He couldn't be bothered to dig any deeper. Besides, she had already disappeared, and most importantly, the Cat Spirit had no intention of harming anyone.

Lost in thought, he walked until he had unknowingly left the old residential district and arrived at a bustling, signal-controlled intersection.

After waiting a moment, a lovely, cute girl appeared, skipping toward him.

"What do you want to eat? My treat."

Li Qingzhao grinned cheekily, determined to butter Tu Xiao'an up so the Taiyin Snake could stay with her a little longer.

"Whatever. You know the area. I'll leave it up to you."

It was almost six in the evening, but the sky hadn't darkened yet. The streets were growing more crowded with the evening rush hour.

"Alright, follow me then."

Li Qingzhao led the way while Tu Xiao'an followed quietly, looking around from time to time.

Along the way, Li Qingzhao told Tu Xiao'an all sorts of things. For instance, Wencheng didn't just have Wencheng University; it had five schools in total—three universities and two vocational colleges.

And they were all located near the city center, but Wencheng University was the most well-known.

Soon, Li Qingzhao led Tu Xiao'an to an "Ancient Street." It was called that, but in reality, it was brand new—just imitation-antique architecture that couldn't have been more than a few years old.

With so many schools and students nearby, the Ancient Street had become the most bustling street in the city center, surrounded by quite a few high-end residential complexes.

The Ancient Street was lined with restaurants, and the rows of various shops stretched as far as the eye could see. Needless to say, the foot traffic was immense.

It was a scene of bustling prosperity.

'A big city is a big city,' Tu Xiao'an thought with a smile.

"Let's eat at this restaurant."

Li Qingzhao stopped in front of a large restaurant and said pointedly, "Don't you dare say I'm cheap. This is the most expensive place on the entire Ancient Street. A casual meal here costs five or six hundred."

"I can't even bear to come here myself most of the time," she added with a pout.

Tu Xiao'an rolled his eyes at the girl. She hadn't even invited him in for the meal yet and was already making excuses.

Tu Xiao'an didn't know how much money she had, but considering she'd tried to buy the Taiyin Snake for a million on the bus, he knew she was a wealthy young lady.

Even if this meal cost five or six hundred, for her, it was just a drop in the bucket.

"Wei Xian Pavilion." Tu Xiao'an glanced at the restaurant's name, smiled, and strode right in without ceremony. A pretty hostess greeted him at the entrance. "Sir, how many in your party?"

"Two, two!"

Li Qingzhao declared, playing the part of the host.

The hostess then led them inside, found them a nice table, and set down a menu.

"You order." Li Qingzhao tossed the menu to Tu Xiao'an and took out the Taiyin Snake to play with.

The Taiyin Snake was very docile, looking for all the world like a simple pet snake. Who would have guessed that such a small serpent was actually an Awakened Snake Spirit?

Tu Xiao'an didn't hold back. He picked up the menu and saw that the prices were indeed steep, with all sorts of expensive seafood listed.

Caviar, two-head abalone, Australian lobster... the prices casually started in the thousands.

"So, I can order whatever I want?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Tu Xiao'an glanced at the menu, then looked at Li Qingzhao with a teasing smile.

Li Qingzhao's heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling washed over her. "Don't you dare say you want the Australian lobster. That's really expensive!"

A single one starts at two thousand RMB.