Moonlit Reunion

As evening approached, a group of drunken revelers singing loudly had all "fallen in battle," collapsing one after another onto the ground, forming a heap of slumbering figures tall and short, fat and thin. The sole survivor was Wu Zhen. Throughout the banquet, she had been the one holding the wine pot, pouring drinks for others—half of those present had been thoroughly drunk under her relentless toasting. Yet she herself had not drunk much and remained clear-headed and composed.

Mei Zhuyu came downstairs and helped Wu Zhen lift the inebriated men from the ground, handing them over to the servants and carriages waiting outside to take them home. By the time they finished the busy work of sending everyone off, dusk had already fallen. The evening clouds stretched across the sky, painting half of it in hues of orange and red, their reflections shimmering on the lake beside the pavilion and atop the verdant treetops, casting a dazzling glow between heaven and earth.

Wu Zhen leaned against the second-floor railing, sipping slowly from a cup of clear, bright liquor as she gazed into the distance. Weary birds returned to their nests, their distant cries echoing. Setting down the cup, she exhaled and tapped her fingers against the railing, her tone languid as she spoke:

"Every year, I gather with these friends of mine twice. This time, fewer came than last—two of my elder brothers were assigned to official posts in distant regions and couldn’t return so freely from the far corners of the land. The friends who once rode with me through Chang'an can no longer all gather together as they once did."

"Those who came today were the ones still in Chang'an with time to spare. Many others are no longer in the capital, or couldn’t make it, or have grown distant and no longer wish to come."

Mei Zhuyu listened quietly, watching her just as silently. The setting sun outlined her profile in a warm glow, and a spark of brilliance seemed to light her eyes, making her appear especially captivating.

"Since my youth, I’ve had a notorious reputation for mischief, unlike the other young ladies of Chang'an. My father and sister worried endlessly over me, but I was born with a rebellious streak, never one to submit to discipline. By chance, I became close with these gentlemen, and they taught and protected me in countless ways."

"The memories of those youthful days are vivid, but those friends are no longer young. Those brothers of mine, who once spoke so passionately of traveling ten thousand miles to see the great rivers and mountains, now sit steadily as officials in the Six Ministries, buried in paperwork and domestic trivialities."

"The one who was once the most unruly, who hated books and despised his tutors, now teaches students in the Imperial Academy. The one who was timid and frail, who couldn’t bear the sight of blood and only watched from the sidelines during hunts, is now a general guarding the frontier…"

Wu Zhen tilted her head back and drained her cup in one go, then turned to Mei Zhuyu with a playful blink. "Don’t you think it’s fascinating how much people change from youth to adulthood?"

Mei Zhuyu finally spoke. "You haven’t changed."

Wu Zhen neither agreed nor disagreed. "Of course I’ve changed. My temper in my youth wasn’t nearly as good as it is now."

Mei Zhuyu: "…"

Setting down her cup, Wu Zhen smiled at him. "What about you? What were you like in your youth? How did you live?"

Mei Zhuyu gazed into the distance, lost in thought for a moment before replying, "From childhood till now, my life has been very ordinary and uneventful."

His claim of uneventfulness only piqued Wu Zhen’s curiosity further. She leaned closer to him with a grin. "Tell me more."Mei Zhuyu watched her lazy, unrestrained demeanor and his gaze softened slightly. After a moment of thought, he began, "I don’t remember much before the age of three or four. It wasn’t until after I turned four and was sent by my parents to Changxi Temple that I truly started forming memories. Though due to certain circumstances, I was only considered a nominal disciple, my master and senior brothers were all very kind to me."

At this point, Mei Zhuyu paused, unsure how to continue. Life at the temple wasn’t particularly eventful, and he worried Wu Zhen might find it dull. So he racked his brain for something slightly more interesting to share.

"The snow comes early in the mountains. By the tenth month every year, the peaks are already covered. When I was ten, I was injured and had a high fever that required cooling with ice and snow, so I recuperated on the ridge. One day, a fierce storm blew my hut down. I tried to return to the temple halfway up the mountain but got lost in the blizzard. Just as I was disoriented, I encountered a snow wolf. The wolf was remarkably intelligent—not only did it not attack me, but it also guided me all the way back to the temple. However, the moment it led me to the temple gates, it suddenly dissolved into a pile of snow. Later, my master told me it was the mountain god of the Western Ridge, who occasionally takes the form of an animal to guide lost travelers."

Having finished his story in one breath, Mei Zhuyu expected Wu Zhen to express curiosity about the mountain god. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "How were you injured?"

Mei Zhuyu was momentarily taken aback before replying, "I went down the mountain with my senior brother and encountered a monster that tried to devour me. Though I escaped, I was still wounded."

Wu Zhen was dissatisfied with his terse answer. His earlier story had been quite detailed—why was this one so brief?

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Mei Zhuyu elaborated further. "My third senior brother said I was too young to spend all my time on the mountain without experiencing the liveliness below, so he secretly took me down during a festival. But on the way, we encountered a massive hound with flames in its mouth. It bit my waist and left me with fire poison."

Wu Zhen’s gaze flickered to his left side in sudden understanding. "So that’s how you got that scar. Was the injury severe?"

Mei Zhuyu shook his head. "Not too bad." In truth, he had been small and frail at the time, and the hound’s enormous jaws had nearly torn open his abdomen, almost spilling his intestines. The gaping wound had bled profusely, and had his master not arrived in time, he likely would have died on the spot.

Wu Zhen suddenly remarked, "I bet you were a very obedient child. You probably didn’t even want to go down the mountain when your senior brother took you, did I guess right?"

She was correct. Mei Zhuyu hadn’t wanted to go at all—his senior brother had practically carried him down. After the incident, his third senior brother was consumed by guilt. Despite Mei Zhuyu’s indifference, the brother knelt in the temple hall for a full month, refusing to rise no matter who tried to persuade him. Later, when the third senior brother took on disciples, he would sternly instruct them to always heed Mei Zhuyu’s words—Shuangjiang was one of his disciples.

Wu Zhen suddenly scooted closer, sitting on the railing before wrapping her arms around Mei Zhuyu’s waist. Afraid she might fall, he steadied her with an arm around her back. Their intimate posture cast a single, entwined shadow on the ground.

Holding her husband’s waist, Wu Zhen rested her chin against his chest and looked up at him. "You’ve been able to see those things since childhood too, right?""That's right." Mei Zhuyu lowered his head to meet her gaze and couldn't help but smile. "But there are no monsters in the temple. The entire Western Ridge Mountain only has some harmless creatures. It's only when I occasionally go down the mountain that I encounter those monsters who want to harm people."

"So you were sent to Changxi Temple to avoid disaster?"

"That's just one of the reasons." Mei Zhuyu didn't elaborate further on the matter and instead asked her, "In Chang'an, you must see those monsters often. It must be quite exhausting." As he spoke, he recalled the little girl who had trembled in fear at the sight of monsters, and his heart ached unbearably.

Wu Zhen: "Exhausting? Not at all. I find seeing those things quite interesting."

Mei Zhuyu: "..."

But hadn't she been trembling in fear before?

Wu Zhen burst into laughter. "Before becoming the Cat Official, I couldn't fight the monsters that came to trouble me, so of course I was scared. But after I became the Cat Official and could defeat them, what was there to fear?"

In fact, after she became the Cat Official, the situation completely reversed. The monsters that had once frightened her were now the ones terrified of her and never dared to appear again. Those that had tried to harm her—she caught every single one and turned them all into stone statues placed at the entrance of the Demon Market. The little monsters in the market had grown accustomed to using those statues as benches.

Wu Zhen had always believed in repaying grievances in kind. Even if someone didn't provoke her, she might still cause trouble if she was in a bad mood. But if someone dared to provoke her and thought they could walk away unscathed? They were dreaming.

Among all the Cat Officials throughout history, Wu Zhen was the youngest, but she quickly adapted to the role. Unfazed by the endless troubles and powerful monsters, she managed to bring order to the unruly crowd of troublemakers, relying on her innate mischievous streak.

With the Cat Official's legacy, Wu Zhen was like a mischievous child wielding a sharp sword—her destructive power was even more terrifying than an adult's because she acted on whims rather than reason, and her moods were unpredictable. During that time, no one in the Demon Market dared to provoke this little tyrant. Countless monsters who came to stir trouble in Chang'an met their end at her hands.

Mei Zhuyu knew nothing of her past exploits. He firmly believed that "a child of only a few years old becoming the Cat Official and managing the Demon Market must have been bullied," and his heart was filled with pity. Even after hearing Wu Zhen's words, he still thought she had suffered greatly in her youth without anyone to protect her.

Noticing his expression, Wu Zhen's eyes sparkled with amusement. She gave up trying to explain and instead sighed, nestling into her husband's arms. Lowering her head, she said, "Actually, even though I was the Cat Official, I was too young back then to command respect. Once, a powerful monster heard about it and tried to take advantage by causing trouble in Chang'an. That time, I got a huge hole in my head."

It was true that she had a hole in her head, but the monster who had come to cause trouble lost its entire head. Its skull was still displayed in Yan Tower, where she used it as a vase for flowers.

Mei Zhuyu gently stroked her hair, unable to hide the anger and pity on his face. It was clear that if the monster who had injured Wu Zhen were here now, he would have put a dozen holes in its head.Wu Zhen chuckled inwardly and pressed on, her cheek against her husband's chest as she said, "The energy of Chang'an is different from other places, and with so many people, it's easy for all sorts of filth and monsters to arise. We often have to deal with them. Before, I could never rest properly at night—I had to go out under the cover of darkness to handle those things."

"To keep it hidden from others, even during the day I had to roam around constantly. Sometimes, to solve problems, my methods had to be a bit unconventional. Over time, my reputation for arrogance and recklessness became known throughout Chang'an..."

She sighed softly, a sigh that tugged at Mei Zhuyu's heart. He pulled her into a tight embrace and murmured, "I won't let you suffer like this anymore. From now on, if there's anything difficult, I'll do it for you."

Wu Zhen stroked her husband's waist, thinking to herself, Such an easy mark—he must have been taken advantage of a lot before. With that thought, her hand slid lower to his buttocks and gave a playful squeeze.

Mei Zhuyu: "..."

He quickly stepped back, his face flushed, at a loss for words. Wu Zhen sat on the railing, laughing heartily, swaying back and forth until she nearly toppled off. Watching her, Mei Zhuyu had no choice but to step forward and pull her down.

"Why are you laughing so much?" her husband asked helplessly.

Wu Zhen pinched his fingers and replied with a smile, "Because... I suddenly realized how much I love you."