"Situ Brother, you!"
After scholar Zhang Wending stood up, clapped his hands, and said to Situ Ji, "Forget it, let's go. You've seen enough, you'll understand."
"Follow Zhang Brother's arrangements."
Scholar Situ Ji smiled and nodded, and the two continued to walk together.
They strolled through Cat Play Square, with Zhang Wending smiling as he introduced the local customs to Situ Ji.
"When it comes to the liveliest celebrations in the various states and prefectures of the Long Life Celestial Dynasty, there is only the Annual Celebration."
"But after the Annual Celebration in Mao City, there will be a grand Spirit Cat Festival in early spring, which far surpasses the Annual Celebration in terms of scale and excitement."
"Oh?"
Situ Ji snorted lightly, not saying anything, letting Zhang Wending continue.
"The most important thing is the coexistence of cats and humans in Mao City. Cats trust humans, and humans do not disappoint cats."
"For example, in ordinary households, most people raise guard dogs to protect their homes from theft, but Mao City does the opposite."
"In Mao City, dogs are rare, and you can hardly find a handful of household dogs in the entire city."
"Doesn't this mean that the public security in Mao City is..."
Situ Ji didn't say much, stopping at that point, after all, both he and Zhang Wending were scholars.
And scholars, well, fools are a minority.
"The bailiffs in Mao City are good at finding and rescuing cats. Officials also have an easy job, only dealing with trivial matters in court every day."
"As for guarding homes in the community, there are specialized guard cats. These cats are fierce, they enjoy eating snakes, and even wolves can only last for the time it takes to burn an incense stick."
"There are many strange things in this world that I have rarely seen or heard."
Situ Ji smiled indifferently, and seeing his expression, Zhang Wending didn't say much either, instead pointing to a building beside the street.
Situ Ji followed Zhang Wending's direction and saw a songstress holding a pipa, singing with a soft voice, with cats dancing to the music by her side.
There were also many people gathered under the building, most of them carrying their own cats, either in their arms, on their shoulders, or on their backs, none willing to let their cats walk on the ground.
"The songstress closes her eyes and plays the pipa, while the cat slaves dance to the music." Situ Ji took out a folding fan from his sleeve and tapped his palm lightly.
"It's quite interesting!"
"The Spirit Cat Festival is far more than this. Apart from the cat dance in the center of the city's Cat Market, there are many scenes of humans and cats dancing together to celebrate the festival."
"Let's continue watching!"
Zhang Wending pulled Situ Ji's sleeve and led him forward.
As they walked along, they also saw street performers with cats performing, but the demeanor and gaze of these performers did not seem like ordinary street performers.
"This..."
Situ Ji noticed this and hesitated to speak, while Zhang Wending smiled and said, "Do you think these street performers seem a bit off?"
"Indeed."
"That's because these people are not ordinary street performers at all. They might be the shopkeepers or landlords of some shops in the city."
"But why would people like them..."
Situ Ji was puzzled. How could people with vast wealth perform acrobatics on the street to entertain the public?
"Because today is the Spirit Cat Festival!"
Zhang Wending blinked at Situ Ji, who was at a loss for words. The people around them laughed and said, "You two are not locals, are you?"
"Yes, we came from out of town."
Situ Ji immediately bowed slightly with a folding fan in hand and curiously asked, "Earlier, my brother here mentioned something, I believe you heard it. Could it be that the street performers..."
"Heh, the street performers are from the largest silk shop in Mao City. They may not be wealthy, but they own thousands of acres of good land."
"Why is that?"
Just as Situ Ji spoke, a passerby chimed in, "Because their family enjoys it!"
"Oh?"
Situ Ji was momentarily speechless, and the passerby explained with a smile, "During the Spirit Cat Festival, the owner of the silk shop would dress up as a street performer and bring their pet cats to perform on the streets."
"Look over there, do you see the child playing the gong?"
"That's the young master of the silk shop, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Isn't he out here performing with his father?"
"When the owner grows old and the young master grows up, the street performers will be replaced by the young master."
"When my grandfather was still around, I saw their performance. I believe when my grandson is born, they will still be performing at the Spirit Cat Festival!"
"This..."
Situ Ji didn't know what to say and could only look towards Zhang Wending, who bowed to the passerby.
"Thank you."
"No problem, enjoy yourselves!"
The passerby smiled and turned away, clapping and cheering loudly for the father and son street performers.
The two scholars walked away, Situ Ji tapping his hand with the folding fan, looking puzzled.
"Mao City is truly strange."
"The strangeness of Mao City doesn't stop there. Come, Situ, I'll take you to the Cat Market to see the spectacle of the cat slaves parading the streets!"
"Cat slaves parade?"
Situ Ji blinked, isn't parading the streets something only the top scholars who pass the imperial examination do?
How could Mao City come up with the spectacle of cat slaves parading the streets?
"Let's go!"
Zhang Wending led Situ Ji into the crowd, disappearing from sight. The bustling crowd, the sound of cats, it was a scene of celebration.
...
"Where are we now?"
As Du ke spoke, Thirteen leaped over a river with a cat on his back, displaying extraordinary agility, a rare sight.
After landing, Thirteen's limbs barely touched the riverbank before he dashed out again, his speed so fast that only his shadow could be seen.
"Woof!"
Thirteen's elongated howl reached Du ke's ears, raising an eyebrow, he shouted loudly into the wind, "Are you sure you're going the right way?"
"Arf!"
Thirteen responded confidently, perhaps he couldn't do other things, but long-distance running and finding his way, he was a professional.
"Don't take the wrong path, we need to hurry back!"
Du ke reminded again, pulling out a Blood Qi Pill, a Blood Food Pill, and a Moonlight Pill, and giving one of each to the dog to eat.
With three pills consumed, the dog was replenished and ran even harder.
Just two hours later, Dog directly led Du ke to cross half the distance, as long as they didn't take the wrong path, they could return to Mao City in the afternoon.
Well, as long as they didn't take the wrong path!
.........
In the afternoon.
Cat Market, Zhuangyuan Road.
The road was wide, with a constant stream of tourists.
There were platforms set up on both sides of the road, with flags fluttering, embroidered with cat images, dancing in the wind.
There were drummers in red and green on the platforms, beating drums.
On the platforms were cats adorned in red and colorful attire, matching the cat images on the flags. They were either squatting, standing, or lying down on the platform.
Each cat on the platform was dressed differently, some in fitted vests, some in large red robes, some with helmets and armor, some with red eyebrows.
These cats on the platform were all dressed according to their own characteristics, each with a unique style.
Pedestrians strolled along Zhuangyuan Road, each person entering the road would be given a token.
The token was only three inches long, but exquisitely crafted, divided into black, white, floral, and colorful, each color token engraved with a corresponding spirit cat.
Tourists walked around with their tokens, watching the drummers on the high platforms on the sides of the road, listening to the loud calls of the pitchmen in front of the drummers in cat costumes.
Each pitchman shouted loudly to the tourists in front of them, preaching about the cats on their platforms.
If someone took a liking to the cat on the platform, they would throw their token into the bucket below the platform.
When a certain number of tokens were accumulated, someone would come over and raise the flag next to the platform to promote how popular the cat on the platform was.
"Come, take a look, have a look."
"Look at how adorable my Wuyun slave is, look at this fur, look at these eyes, so spirited!"
"My Golden Jade slave is the best, look at these patterns, look at this posture, truly excellent!"
"Don't listen to their nonsense, our Silver Bottle Gentleman is the most handsome cat for the Spirit Cat Festival, silver-like color, star-like eyes, tail three sections long, calls with the wind!"
......
Each pitchman was vigorously promoting their own cat, with the extravagant ones even throwing copper coins into the street, attracting people to vote with their tokens.
However, a platform located in the second half of Zhuangyuan Road was empty, despite the flag embroidered with the image of a White General riding a wolfhound, the White General and the wolfhound were nowhere to be seen.
This was unheard of and unseen in the past.
Zhang Dongsheng was dressed in a white fur coat, with white facial fur patterns painted on his face, his eyes filled with anxiousness, unlike his usual calm demeanor.
The drummers behind him were half-hearted in beating the drums, lacking spirit without a cat on the platform.
And the flag of the cat on the platform remained motionless, still at its initial height.
"Manager, manager!"
An assistant from the livestock market arrived breathlessly in front of Zhang Zongcheng, and upon seeing his assistant return, Zhang Zongcheng quickly asked, "Have you found the White General?"
"No, Commander, I mobilized all available personnel on our side, scattered throughout the city in search, even checked Long Insect Ditch outside the city, but still, no sign of him!"
"Oh dear, today is the grand day for him to take on the role of selection. How come we can't find White General on such an important day?"
Anxious as ants on a hot pan, Zhang Zongcheng paced in front of his own arena. The drummers below the stage, observing the anxious host, stopped and suggested, "Boss, why not find a temporary replacement for now? Leaving the stage empty isn't a solution!"
"Wouldn't that be deceitful?"
Zhang Zongcheng widened his eyes, addressing the drummer, "I, Zhang Zongcheng, act with integrity and stand upright. I never engage in such deceitful acts. What you're suggesting would be leading me into injustice, wouldn't it?"
"Moreover, White General is a heroic figure, accompanied by a wolf-dog. A mere cat can't substitute for him!"
"Enough, stop talking!"
Zhang Zongcheng's rebuke left the drummer ashamed and looking down.
"But leaving the stage empty isn't a solution either..."
"Commander, Commander, we found him, we found him!"
Another attendant ran breathlessly, holding a white cat in his arms.
As soon as he reached Zhang Zongcheng, he directed his gaze toward the cat and exclaimed, "Did you really find him? This isn't White General!"
"Isn't it?"
The latter attendant was dumbfounded, involuntarily looking at the white cat in his arms. The cat, in turn, disdainfully rolled its eyes.
Ah, foolish humans!
"White General has hair as white as jade, eyes as golden as gold. Plus, he has a wolf-dog companion. This cat may have white fur, but it's more like white rock, and its eyes are apricot-yellow. How could it be our White General!"
"So, what do we do now?"
"Continue the search; we must find White General!"
At this point, an official responsible for the matter approached the arena.
Looking at the empty stage and the cat flag that hadn't been raised, the official asked, "Commander Zhang, haven't you found your White General yet?"
"Please wait; we are still looking!"
Zhang Zongcheng pleaded, but the official said, "But keeping this stage empty is not a solution!"
"Remember, while the Spirit Cat Festival lasts for three days, the cat has been absent since the first day. Even if you find it later, and the flag hasn't been raised, removing the stage on the second day would be a loss!"
"Commander Zhang, think about it!"
"But this cat is my chosen one. How can I, for the sake of family wealth, break my promise?"
Frowning, Zhang Zongcheng said, "Even if I spend all my money, I will set up this stage!"
"Just because there's no cat on the stage, I can attract spectators and participants by throwing a lot of money around!"
"But Commander Zhang, it's not worth it!"
The official continued to advise, but Zhang Zongcheng, tossing his sleeves, said, "I trust White General!"
"Stop saying more!"