It was to remember the animals that had lost their eyes, their paws, and their freedom.
Yet on the back of the divine statue, Zhu Lingxi had also carved countless tiny feathers, paw prints, tails, and patterns.
It did not belong only to cats.
Nor did it belong only to civet cats.
It belonged to all weak, voiceless lives that had once gone unprotected.
Cen Yao stood to the side and watched for a long time.
“It's beautiful.”
Zhu Lingxi looked up.
“Really?”
“Really,” Cen Yao nodded very seriously. “It's exceptionally beautiful.”
Zhu Lingxi felt a touch of joy.
The tips of her ears seemed to flush a faint red.
Pei Tinglan sat by the door, gazing at the cat statue. Only after a long while did he speak coolly.
“A scar on the left eye, and a deformed front paw. And you call that beautiful?”
Zhu Lingxi immediately looked over at him.
“Master Pei does not understand.”
Pei Tinglan: “?”
Zhu Lingxi was very earnest.
“Imperfection is not ugliness. They have been hurt, yet they are still willing to protect others. That is what makes it precious.”
Pei Tinglan stared blankly at Zhu Lingxi, his thoughts unreadable.
Cen Yao nodded silently beside them.
“Lingxi is right.”
Pei Tinglan kept a cold face, only looking down after a long pause. “Fine, I apologize.”
Once the divine statue was finished, Cen Yao stepped forward.
Little by little, she guided the souls that were unwilling to reincarnate into the divine statue.
The first to enter was the kitten missing its left eye.
It flew in a circle around the statue, gently rubbing against the scarred eye, before turning into a speck of warm white light that settled into the statue's brow.
Next came the black dog, the mother cat who had lost her kittens, the civet cat with broken legs, and the bird with broken wings.
More and more souls entered.
The divine statue gradually lit up.
It was like winter sunlight falling upon snow—gentle and quiet.
Cen Yao raised her magic wand and laid down several layers of nourishing arrays around the divine statue.
The first layer gathered the drifting spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The second layer stabilized the souls, preventing them from being eroded by the stray thoughts of the mortal world.
The third layer was connected to the Karmic Retribution Array.
As long as the array runes remained undamaged, the retribution array would exist forever.
It would not actively harm anyone.
But if anyone stepped into this place in the future and committed unforgivable acts of cruelty against weak animals, the guardian deity would be able to see it through the array.
And then, retribution would return to the wrongdoer.
However, there was a glaring problem.
The animal guardian deity had only just been born.
They had a will, but no power.
Without power, they could not truly activate the Karmic Retribution Array.
Cen Yao turned to look at Pei Tinglan.
“Pei Tinglan.”
Pei Tinglan's eyelid twitched.
“What do you want now?”
Cen Yao squatted down beside his wheelchair with a beaming smile.
“Have you cleared a lot of dungeons?”
“Yes.”
“And among them, weren't there a lot of supernatural dungeons?”
“Yes.”
“Then do you happen to have a cultivation method for ghosts?”
Pei Tinglan narrowed his eyes.
“You plan to have them cultivate?”
“Yes,” Cen Yao pointed at the divine statue. “They need power to protect other small animals from being bullied in the future.”
Pei Tinglan fell silent for a moment.
“Ghost cultivation is not child's play. Sinister energy, obsession, incense, offerings, environment... missing even one will make their foundation unstable. One wrong step, and at best, their souls will be damaged; at worst, they will turn into mindless, malevolent ghosts.”
Zhu Lingxi immediately spoke up. “With me here, I can stabilize and calm their souls.”
Cen Yao chimed in.
“With the nourishing array, they'll also be protected. As for incense and offerings, this place will become an animal rescue and memorial site in the future. People will naturally come.”
She lifted her chin.
“All we're missing is a teacher who knows how to cultivate.”
Pei Tinglan looked at her.
Then he looked at the quietly glowing cat statue.
He originally wanted to ask why on earth he should teach a bunch of cat ghosts how to cultivate.
But seeing the soft white light at the brow of the statue, the words died in his throat.
He remembered when he was trapped in dungeons before, hearing all too many cries that refused to fade away.
Some ghosts were truly evil.
But some ghosts simply never got the belated justice they deserved.
Pei Tinglan lowered his eyes, his fingertips lightly tapping the armrest of his wheelchair.
“Fine,” his tone was still indifferent. “I'll teach them.”
Cen Yao immediately smiled. “I knew Teacher Pei was the best.”
Pei Tinglan's face darkened. “Don't call me something so disgusting.”
“Then, Master Pei?”
“Even more disgusting.”
Zhu Lingxi asked in earnest from the side, “Then what should we call you?”
Pei Tinglan fell silent for a couple of seconds.
“Whatever.”
Cen Yao and Zhu Lingxi exchanged a look.
They both laughed.
Over the next few days, Pei Tinglan indeed did not slack off.
He started teaching them from the absolute basics of focusing their minds.
He taught the souls how to gather their scattered consciousness, how to absorb faint spiritual energy with the help of the divine statue and the nourishing array, and how to avoid being influenced by the overly intense malice of humans.
His words were still far from polite.
“Don't fool around. Your soul forms are more tone-deaf and scattered than some people's singing voices. Pull in your aura. Don't turn yourselves into vengeful spirits. If anyone dares to disrupt the array eye with resentment, I'll throw them out.”
Zhu Lingxi added from the side.
“Do not rush. Cultivation is not a race. If your mind is unstable, your incense offerings will be unstable too.”
Meanwhile, Cen Yao occasionally reinforced the arrays around the divine statue or bought inexpensive but useful materials from the System Mall.
Outside the cabin, the original coffee plantation had been completely cleared out.
People from the rescue center came, the police came, and the news media came as well.
The Cat Cafe live stream incident had caused a massive uproar.
Countless people demanded severe punishment for the animal abusers.
Countless people began to pay attention to the illegal breeding of civet cats and the civet coffee industry chain.
The local government departments urgently convened meetings to begin drafting more comprehensive animal protection regulations.
Of course, those were future developments.
Drafting a bill and passing it into law would take a long time.
It would be difficult.
There would also be endless controversies.
But at the very least, people had started to listen.
Those lives that had once been casually dismissed were finally brought into the scope of laws and regulations.
On the day the remaining dungeon time hit zero, the trio of Cen Yao stood in front of the small wooden cabin.
The cat statue had already stabilized.
It still crouched in place, looking out the door.
A speck of warm white light at its brow flickered gently in the morning light.
A group of rescued civet cats, soon to be relocated, stopped not far away.
They seemed to know that Cen Yao and the others were about to leave.
The civet cat with the damaged ear walked to the very front.
It was no longer afraid of humans.
It looked up and let out a soft cry toward Cen Yao.
More and more civet cats began to join in.
Their cries echoed one after another.
They were all bidding them farewell.
Cen Yao squatted down and reached out to pet the civet cat's head.
“Live well from now on.”
The civet cat rubbed against her palm.
Zhu Lingxi stood to the side, gently bowing to the cat statue.
“May you guard your good intentions, and guard yourselves.”
Pei Tinglan did not speak. He cast a glance at the group of small animals.
After a moment, an extremely soft melody drifted from his throat.
There were no lyrics.
Just a very short hummed tune.
It was so gentle, as if the old Pei Tinglan had returned.
Like a quiet curtain call left for the audience after the stage lights had dimmed.
The light at the cat statue's brow swayed gently.
The civet cats quieted down as well.
The System's notification chimed.
【Dungeon stay duration has ended.】
【Preparing to teleport players out of the dungeon.】
White light rose from beneath their feet.
Cen Yao took one last look at the small wooden cabin.
She looked at the cat statue.
She looked at the small animals still gazing toward them.
There was gratitude in their eyes.
Attachment.
And the courage to finally hold their heads high.
Cen Yao smiled.
“Goodbye.”
In the next second, the white light completely swallowed the three of them.
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