Meow
The cold wind howled, carrying faint, fragmented sounds that seeped out from every household in the corridor. The door of the apartment closest to the stairwell was tightly shut, rusted marks on its iron surface forming what looked like a crude, eerie smile.
The broken cries echoing through the building sounded like whispers of death, as if trying to drag everyone present down to hell.
Lu Congxing stood at the very bottom of the hallway, looking up. Dressed in clean white clothes, with smooth black hair, he gave off an obedient and well-mannered appearance.”
Standing at the bottom of the corridor, Lu Congxing gazed upward. Dressed in pristine white, his sleek black hair gave him an obedient and well-mannered appearance.
He looked nothing like the so-called exorcist described in the rumors.
The building’s old and worn-out facilities only made him seem more out of place.
The property manager, sticking close behind him, was already regretting his decision. His face twisted in distress as he whispered, “A delicate-looking kid like you… You’re not just here to scam us, are you? Maybe we should leave first. I’m scared of that female ghost…”
Before he could finish speaking, a sharp, bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.
Lu Congxing’s hand shot up instinctively. At some point, a ball of eerie blue fire had ignited in his palm.
The property manager screamed along with the ghost.
The female ghost materialized at the top of the staircase, her eyes locked onto Lu Congxing. She licked her lips hungrily. “Such refined spiritual energy… If I devour you, I’ll finally be free from this place and no longer be trapped as an earthbound ghost!”
Lu Congxing lowered his gaze, as if he hadn’t noticed the vengeful ghost lunging toward him. Or perhaps, he simply didn’t care.
Wherever he went, vengeful ghosts naturally fixated on him. That was precisely why he hadn’t stopped the property manager from following—so the man wouldn’t become the ghost’s target instead.
Though the property manager couldn’t see ghosts, the building’s bad feng shui and dense yin energy made it so heavy that even an ordinary person like him could hear the ghost’s voice.
He instinctively grabbed Lu Congxing’s arm, intending to run. But before he could even lift his foot, the boy’s calm voice rang out—
“It’s done.”
“Huh?” The property manager froze, still trembling, and stared at Lu Congxing’s now-empty hands in disbelief. “It’s… over? You exorcised it?”
Lu Congxing blinked innocently. “Yeah.”
The ghost had barely reached him before being completely burned by his ghostly fire, leaving not a trace of resentment behind.
Still in a daze, the property manager muttered, “Aren’t you supposed to chant some spell? Or set up a ritual or something?”
He gestured vaguely, still struggling to process what had just happened. After all, he had paid 200 yuan for this so-called “master,” and all the kid did was stand there for a moment?
But gradually, he stopped questioning it. Instead, he tilted his head, surprised. “Hey… the building really doesn’t feel as eerie anymore.”
Ever since a female tenant had jumped to her death a month ago, the place had felt unsettling. Residents frequently reported hearing strange, sorrowful cries echoing through the halls at night.
But now, for the first time in weeks, the air felt lighter.
The terrifying thing was that the cries didn’t seem to be coming from the hallway—they were coming from inside their own home. One by one, those who could move out did, and those who couldn’t kept their doors shut tight during the day, too scared to step outside. It was eerie beyond words.
The pressure on him was immense. Both his superiors and the residents were constantly urging him to find a solution. Left with no choice, he searched online and hired a not-too-expensive agency.
“The ghost presence is gone. Once it’s eliminated, the lingering resentment will naturally dissipate,” Lu Congxing said calmly as he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to him.
The property manager leaned in curiously. “What’s this?”
He expected it to be some kind of protective talisman, but before he could react, a cloud of dust was blown straight into his face. His vision blurred instantly.
This was an ironclad rule in exorcism: if an ordinary person came into contact with a ghost during the process, they had to be given Forgetfulness Powder to erase the memory. Those affected would forget most of what happened, only retaining vague impressions. In today’s world, where information spreads rapidly, they had to take precautions to prevent mass panic.
Slowly, the property manager’s gaze refocused. He looked at Lu Congxing with a trace of confusion.
All he could recall was that something strange had been happening in the building lately. He had spent 200 yuan to hire someone online to perform an exorcism—and judging by the results, it seemed to have worked.
“Thank you, Master.”
Having forgotten the embarrassing moment when he had hidden behind Lu Congxing in fear of the ghostly woman’s voice, the property manager regained his composure and became polite again.
Lu Congxing simply nodded, his expression indifferent.
With a wave of his hand, he left. On the way, he stopped by the entrance of the residential complex and had a bowl of wontons.
The shop owner, seeing his youthful appearance, assumed he was a local student and generously added a few extra wontons to his bowl.
She chuckled and teased, “You’re so handsome—you must be the campus heartthrob!”
Lu Congxing gave her a polite smile. Since childhood, he had received countless compliments on his rather strikingly exquisite appearance. By now, he could hear such praise without even batting an eye.
He focused entirely on blowing on his steaming hot wontons, undistracted.
Only after finishing his meal did he leisurely answer the phone that had been ringing nonstop.
. . . . .
The Bureau of Supernatural Affairs looked no different from an ordinary office building from the outside. Due to the protective enchantments placed on it, no passersby ever paid it any attention.
Only those who stepped inside could see its true form. To match the director’s extravagant taste, the entire interior was decorated in dazzling gold and jade.
Even the grand crystal chandeliers overhead sparkled brilliantly—not just with simple glass or gemstones, but something much rarer.
Every time Lu Congxing came here, he felt like he needed a pair of sunglasses.
He greeted the receptionist, who was a lucky cat demon. Seeing him, she smiled at him with motherly warmth. “Go on up, the director has been waiting for you.”
Unlike Lu Congxing, most demons at the bureau didn’t bother with taking the elevator—they had all sorts of creative ways to reach the upper floors. Flying up was considered one of the more mundane methods.
Yet, whenever Lu Congxing arrived, the elevator would suddenly become packed with demons. They all wanted to spend a little more time around the young one who had only been found a few years ago.
He smelled so nice. His spiritual energy was so pure. Just one breath of it could dispel a year’s worth of gloom.
Lu Congxing was constantly being nudged and sniffed. Even a little furball barely reaching his knees was trying to cling to him and soak up his aura.
The moment the elevator doors opened on the director’s floor, he quickly slipped away.
However, his once-empty pockets were now bulging with small gifts the demons had secretly stuffed into them.
Though they always praised his pure spiritual energy, Lu Congxing believed the real reason demons adored him was simply that the supernatural world hadn’t seen a “young one” in ages. That was why every time he appeared, they couldn’t help but flock to him.
Compared to these demons, who were hundreds or even thousands of years old, he really was just a kid. But having grown up among humans, Lu Congxing firmly believed that turning eighteen two months ago meant he was now an adult.
The “adult” Lu Congxing reached into his pocket and pulled out a milk-flavored spiritual energy snack, specially designed for young demons. Munching on it with loud, satisfying crunches, he knocked on the director’s door.
“Hmph, so you still know to come back?”
The director sat in his executive chair, staring sternly at the young man who had just walked in.
Though his appearance hovered between boyhood and adulthood, in the director’s eyes, he was still a baby who hadn’t even weaned yet.
Lu Congxing casually plopped down on the plush cashmere-covered sofa. It was so soft that he sank into it halfway, making him look even more delicate and harmless.
The director’s anger, which he had just managed to build up with great difficulty, dissipated instantly like a punctured balloon. Though he habitually kept a stern face, his words told a completely different story: “Did you come running over here without eating again?”
Like a magician, he pulled out a steaming cup of milk and handed it over.
The director’s true form was a Taotie1, a mythical beast of gluttony. Lu Congxing had long grown accustomed to being “fed” every time they met. He accepted the honeyed milk and sipped it slowly.
He really liked anything with a milky scent.
The director watched fondly as the young one obediently drank the entire cup.
Lu Congxing licked away the faint milk mustache left on his lips and asked seriously, “Is there anything else? If not, I’m heading back now.”
The director’s expression instantly turned serious when he looked over. “Do you think I called you here just to offer you a glass of milk?”
There was an inexplicable hint of grievance in his tone—after all, he had called the little cub over a dozen times today.
Lu Congxing lowered his head, looking like he was obediently listening to a lecture, but in reality, he was thinking about asking the deputy director to persuade the director to stop watching so many strange TV dramas.
“When are you going to see your guardian demon?”
Lu Congxing shook his head in resistance, his expression as if he had just seen his most hated food—mushrooms. “I’m not going to him.”
The director sighed and said earnestly, “I don’t know why you dislike him so much, but your unstable period has become very serious. You can’t keep delaying this. What if one day you suddenly revert to your original form and can’t use your spiritual energy, putting yourself in danger?”
Every young demon beast experiences a period of instability. During this time, their spiritual energy fluctuates uncontrollably, causing them to shift back and forth between their original and human forms. There are two ways to get through it: either isolate themselves in a deserted place and endure it or find a powerful demon they share a bond with and absorb their spiritual energy to stabilize their own.
Normally, young demons seek out relatives with similar bloodlines for this, but Lu Congxing’s spiritual energy was so pure that no demon—no matter how ancient, even a Taotie—could determine what kind of creature he was. His original form was even more baffling; every time he reverted to his cub form, he would appear as a different kind of fluffy creature.
The director had used the power of the ancient artifact, the Star Disk, to determine the most suitable demon to guide him through his unstable period. The Star Disk was an artifact that only emerged in times of world-threatening crises. Since the birth of the Earth, it had only been used three times. This fourth emergence was solely for this unusual little cub.
Most intelligent artifacts were proud and untamed, yet the Star Disk showed no dissatisfaction. It didn’t think this was an exaggeration at all—in fact, it seemed delighted, radiating an unmistakable sense of joy.
However, the answer it provided was one the young cub disliked for some reason.
“I don’t like him. We’re sworn enemies,” Lu Congxing muttered, frowning in frustration.
The director raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that just one-sided?”
After all, that so-called “enemy” didn’t even know he had been chosen as the guardian yet. The identity of the guardian demon had not been publicly revealed, and no matter how many demons tried to dig up information, the director hadn’t leaked a single word.
Especially those powerful high-ranking demons—almost all of them were eagerly hoping to be chosen as guardians for the young cub.
Thinking about that troublesome guardian, the director felt another wave of headache. He just couldn’t understand why the Star Disk had determined that person to be suitable for raising a cub.
Normally, any cub who saw him would burst into tears from fear.
“I just hate him.” Lu Congxing stubbornly repeated, placing his gold-rimmed milk cup on the table.
He sank into his own world, his mind uncontrollably replaying the image of that tall, cold man and the deafening downpour from that day. He shook his head, trying to erase the memory, but the sound of rain in his ears didn’t stop. His mood deflated.
The director’s heart softened. He couldn’t bring himself to force the cub, so after a few words of persuasion, he simply waved his hand and let him go.
The nagging voice disappeared along with the sound of rain in his ears. Lu Congxing happily stood up and headed home.
The agency wasn’t in the city center, so it required a subway ride to reach, but his home was conveniently located right above the agency.
The timing was perfect—just as he opened his front door, there was a soft plop, and he instantly reverted to his original form due to his unstable spiritual energy.
Though calling it his “original form” wasn’t exactly accurate, since even he had no idea what his true form actually was.
His cub form changed every day. Today, he was a little tiger; tomorrow, he might be a small deer. But without exception, he always transformed into a cub form of some earth animal.
He truly woke up each morning as an entirely new species.
Lu Congxing angrily flicked his tail. He raised his tiny paw to see what he had turned into this time—only to be met with the sight of a soft, pink paw pad.
“Meow!”
Taw’s Note: Hi~!
So, I just want to explain that this novel revolves around 妖怪 (yāoguài). 妖怪 (yāoguài) refers to supernatural beings, spirits, or monsters in folklore and mythology, which can be either malevolent or neutral, depending on the story.
Yāoguài is often translated as ‘demon,’ ‘ghost,’ ‘goblin,’ or ‘supernatural creature,’ depending on the context. So, I decided to use the term ‘demon’ in place of ‘Yāoguài’ in this novel.
I hope you guys didn’t misunderstand my use of the word ‘demon’ here as referring to an evil creature. (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
- 饕餮 (tāotiè). According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas , Taotie has a human face and a sheep’s body, eyes under its armpits, tiger teeth and human claws, and sounds like a baby. It is a symbol of greed and is often used to describe people who are gluttonous or greedy. ↩︎
