At dawn, the eastern sky had just revealed a hint of whitish belly.
A figure descended from the sky and landed on the city walls of a walled city.
As soon as he landed on the ground, Ye Cha put the cats and dogs in his hands on top of the city walls.
"There you go, kitty cat, you're home!"
After putting down the cats and dogs, Ye Cha squatted down. At the same time, noisy voices were heard from not far away.
"It looks like something fell over there."
"Come with me and take a look!"
"Got it, Xue Leader!"
...
Just as the voices died down, Ye Cha stroked Du Ke's head.
"Don't go running around next time, or someone might take you away."
After poking the cat's nose again and glancing at the eastern whitish belly, Ye Cha spread his wings and soared into the sky again.
Hovering in midair for a while, Ye Cha bared his huge mouth full of fangs at Du Ke before returning in the direction he came from.
And he was so fast that he even produced a sonic boom.
Watching Ye Cha quickly move away, Du Ke stuck out his tongue and could not help sucking in a breath. This Ye Cha was so fast.
When he was carrying him and the puppy to fly, he should have been considerate of them and did not use his full strength.
But after a moment of distraction, Du Ke cursed wildly in his heart.
Damn you, go home yourself!
My home is in Qingzhou, in the Su family compound in Qingzhou city!
Where the hell have you taken me!
While Du Ke was freaking out inwardly, the three soldiers also walked along the city wall and came over. The leader at the front had a goose-feather sword hung around his waist, while the other two held long spears.
"The movement just now came from here. Search carefully and leave no spot unchecked!"
As the soldier with the goose-feather sword around his waist gave the order, Du Ke and Shi San were also spotted by these three soldiers.
When Du Ke saw the three soldiers, he also temporarily suppressed the emotions in his heart. He tilted his head to look at the three soldiers, meowed once, and looked completely harmless.
The soldier with the goose feather sword came to Du Ke and looked down at the cat condescendingly for a moment. His stern face suddenly melted away like the spring snow.
"Oh my, which family's weasel slave has run up here to play!"
The soldier squatted down and gently stroked Du Ke's head while the other two soldiers also looked over in surprise and admiration.
"Right, who was being careless with their weasel slave?"
"Hey, Xue Leader look at his eyes, they're like gold!"
"They are! No matter this cat's figure, fur, or eye color, they're all top notch!"
"Just look at this fur, as soft and smooth as satin."
...
The three soldiers kept talking around Du Ke. When the dog saw them pay so much attention to his cat, he suddenly glared at them and barked differently.
"Oh, where did this dog come from?"
When Xue Leader saw Shi San, he immediately sucked in a breath. The other two soldiers also said in disgust, "Not many families raise dogs in the city. If we investigate carefully, we should know."
"However, for this cat to be with the dog, they should be from the same family."
"The weasel slave went out for a walk and brought the dog along?"
"Should be!"
"Hey, let's take them off the city wall first. After all, this is not a place where weasel slaves and silly dogs can come as they please."
"Alright, I'll take this weasel slave down now!"
"You grab the dog. I'll personally take this weasel slave down!"
Xue Leader coughed and then picked up Du Ke. He threw the dog to his two subordinates. These two soldiers looked resentfully at the back of their Captain leaving.
What kind of person is he? He gets to hold such a nice weasel slave and walks away with it. And he leaves us with a smelly stupid dog!
"Let's go!"
One soldier grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck and dragged it to follow their Captain down the city wall.
After getting off the city wall, Xue Leader squatted down and Du Ke took the chance to jump out of his arms.
The full body armor was covered with dew, cold and icy, even wetting his fur.
Du Ke had just steadied himself when Shi San was thrown over by the previous soldier.
Shi San rolled over after landing, but still looked like an okay dog.
He first ran to Du Ke to confirm the cat was by his side, then turned his head to keep barking wildly at the soldier who had thrown him.
Damn you, who are you calling a stupid dog!
Woof woof, but I'm the cat's favorite dog!
"This dog really is silly!"
"Oh forget it, let's just go back on duty!"
While the two soldiers were talking, Xue Leader reached into his arms and took out a smoked small dried fish to give Du Ke.
Du Ke looked at the small dried fish hesitantly before accepting it and biting it in his mouth.
"Eat this dried fish and hurry back home. Stay away from here from now on and don't come here casually anymore."
After stroking Du Ke's fur a few times, Xue Leader stood up and returned to the city wall with his soldiers.
While Du Ke's three-lobed mouth chewed on the dried fish, he also jumped onto Shi San's back.
Where exactly did that Ye Cha send him?
But judging from the attitude of that Captain and those soldiers just now, the people here seem to be very friendly to cats!
While thinking this inwardly, the dog also carried the cat away from the city wall and headed into the city.
At this moment, the morning sun had just risen. The golden sunlight cut through the darkness and dispelled the cold to bring light and warmth.
And this unnamed city suddenly sprang to life. Leaving the area near the city wall and walking down a street along the bluestone-paved road.
The noisy shouts mixed with the bustling voices rushed into Du Ke's ears in an instant.
Just going out of the street, Du Ke's eyes lit up. The little puppy under him also opened his mouth wide.
Outside this street was a wide avenue running through the entire city. Pedestrians filled the road, ox carts were crowded together at the front and back, presenting a lively busy marketplace scene.
The bellows of cattle and horses pulling carts were endless.
But most numerous were still...
Cats!
Du Ke glanced around. Countless cats of various colors and builds were mixed into the streets in the early morning, appearing on streets, roofs, stall sides, shop interiors, trees, bushes, carts, people's shoulders and arms.
Moreover, these pedestrians seemed to be used to the cats scattered everywhere.
Some shops would even voluntarily give food to the cats.
Restaurants or breakfast snack bars where people were dining also had all kinds of cats coming in and out, yet no one found it strange.
"Oh my, which family does this handsome weasel slave belong to?"
A soft surprised voice came. Du Ke looked in the direction of the voice to see a woman in coarse cloth pushing a vegetable basket looking at him.
At the same time, there was also a cat's head poking out of the vegetable basket the woman was carrying.
The cat in the vegetable basket propped its chin on the edge of the basket and curiously looked at Du Ke while the woman also scratched her cat's ears.
"Hua Slave, do you think he's good-looking too?"
The weasel cat called Hua Slave closed its eyes twice, purred, narrowed its eyes to enjoy its owner's caress, but did not look at Du Ke at all.
"Oh you."
The woman watched Du Ke for a while carrying her vegetable basket before leaving.
And she was not the only one who noticed Du Ke. Xiao Liuer, the waiter of a lamb hot pot restaurant nearby, had just delivered a bowl of hot lamb hot pot to customers. Unintentionally, he saw Du Ke squatting on the dog at the street corner.
Xiao Liuer's eyes lit up and he took two steps towards Du Ke, but was instantly called back by his shop owner.
"Xiao Liuer, why aren't you serving customers but spacing out there?"
"Boss, there's a snow white weasel slave standing at the street corner, and the weasel slave is even squatting on a wolfhound's back. It looks so magical!"
"Are you out of your mind? Which family's weasel slave would mix with a dirty, smelly stupid dog?"
The shopkeeper walked out of the store and came to the shed set up outside.
Xiao Liuer pointed at Du ke and said, "Boss, look!"
The burly shopkeeper with the stature of five feet three inches looked at Du ke and shouted in surprise as well.
"Wow, whose cat slave is this? How could a raccoon dog be born so good-looking!"
Not only the shopkeeper, even the customers who were having breakfast cast their eyes at Du ke.
"Oh my, this cat is truly handsome!"
"Yes, just look at that fur and poise. Ah, those eyes are like gold, so attractive!"
"Even the snow walker voted the best last year doesn't look as good as this one!"
"And the cat is even riding on the dog's back, which is very amusing!"
"Tsk, tsk, I heard that Old Staff Wu from Chang'an Square raised a white cat named Young Lion King of Snow, which is said to have fur as white as the early winter snowfall. But having seen this cat today, Old Staff Wu's Young Lion King of Snow wouldn't even get onto the table for comparison."
"Come, come, kitty come over here to eat mutton!"
...
The customers surrounded Du ke, praising and commenting with sounds of astonishment. Some even held up a chopstick with mutton, coaxing Du ke to eat from their hand.
"Xiao Liuer, Xiao Liuer!"
As the shopkeeper called out repeatedly, the former handyman also walked out of the room.
"What can I do for you, Boss?"
"Bring some mutton over for the raccoon dog, remember to rinse it and don't get vinegar or salt on it, or else it'll lose fur after eating."
"Got it, Boss! I'll go prepare it now."
Xiao Liuer turned around and went into the room. The customers chuckled, "Haha, our Boss Chen is really spending money today!"
"Oh, it's nothing to feed such a good-looking cat a little."
"The boss said it right. I'll cover today's meal for this cat!"
"Haha, can't let the customer pay extra!"
"Mao City is indeed a nice place to live—having millions of cat slaves to protect us from wars and disasters!"
"That's right. Bumper harvests every year, granaries filled to the brim, all thanks to the cat slaves."
"This cat looks too attractive, just like one of the Four Great Mysterious Cats described by the storytelling master."
"Exactly, exactly!"
"If I can meet any of the Four Great Mysterious Cats, I'd die without regret tomorrow!"