Chapter 17

The so-called "eight-tailed cat demon" as the name suggested was an old cat which had grown eight tails from cultivating for years. The old cat demon would grow a tail every eighty years after their next tail was cultivated. So, it would take 640 years for the ninth tail to grow and then it would achieve Dacheng and be considered an immortal class expert.

But entering the celestial world was not easy. After the ninth tail grew, in order to test them, Buddha would let them explore the mortal realm to find a predestined person and help them fulfill a wish. When the person's wish was fulfilled, then they will have passed the test but by doing so, their ninth tail would fall off on its own and they would fall from being a nine-tailed cat demon to an eight-tailed cat demon again. This way, after another eighty years, when they grew back their ninth tail, they would have to find a good person again to fulfill their wish and then, their ninth tail would fall off once again. And like that, this endless cycle continued.

On the TV screen, the scientists failed to find the reason why the wild cat had three tails. Without proof, the name "eight-tailed cat demon" from myths could only be worn without any meaning. The host was talking about various legends and stories about the "cat demon."

Gong Lixin's brows creased as he listened to the story of the "eight-tailed cat demon." Holding Gong Lixin, Song Haoran felt the story was a bit cruel. He sighed, "Isn't Buddha turning the cat demon into a joke? Once fulfilling the wishes of others, the tail would fall off. The eight-tailed cat demon would eternally remain so. If he can't grow and keep his ninth tail, will he eternally be trapped in the mortal world?"

"It's just a legend, how could it be true?" Lin Wenbo whispered as he glanced at him.

"Yeah, there are no ghosts or mythical creatures in the world. People make up these kinds of stories just to find hope in their illusion-like lives." Gong Xiangyi licked her lips then smiled, but the smile never reached her eyes.

"When people are alive, hope is always good." Song Haoran gave Gong Xiangyi an unreadable glance. He paused for a moment before asking with interest in his tone, "If you met a nine-tailed cat demon, what would you wish for?"

"Naturally to make me stronger!" Gong Xiangyi replied without thinking about it. She lived through the apocalypse so she naturally knows how difficult it was to survive more than anyone else. No one could be trusted. No one could be relied on. The only thing that could allow a person to survive was strength. The world was cruel, and it followed the rule of the jungle: Survival of the fittest.

Lin Wenbo glanced at Gong Xiangyi obscurely, his eyes darkening as he spoke. "I hope to be with my loved ones forever and bless them with good health and happiness for a lifetime."

Gong Xiangyi's face heated up, she was touched by his words.

Song Haoran laughed and scoffed, "You're a lover of literature but it seems that you didn't notice that was two wishes." He added,"I may be a bit vulgar in my desire but I wish for world peace." A bigger smile could be seen on his face.

World peace - these two words were very unrealistic but they were the most urgent desires everyone wanted realized. The three people fell silent. Thinking about the apocalypse cast dark clouds, which weighed heavily on them, in their hearts. Their desires were suffocating because they knew they would never come true.

Song Haoran touched Gong Lixin's cheek. "Lixin, what would you wish for?" It was hard to relax for a day knowing the apocalypse was near. Song Haoran knew his words had destroyed the mood thus he diverted everyone's attention to happier thoughts.

"Hn," Gong Lixin licked his lip and earnestly answered. "My wish is for the nine-tailed cat demon to keep it's ninth tail after it has fulfilled a person's wish and be able to enter the celestial world it had been long dreaming of." He had also been imprisoned. He knew what it was like to lose his freedom. The eight-tailed cat demon had supernatural powers, but its endless life of being trapped in a vicious cycle was too bitter for him. It was more tragic than what he had experienced in his past life. If a sentence could solve the cat demon's dilemma then, why would he not wish for the cat demon to achieve it's dream?

The youth's voice was soft and his eyes were clear. The boy's wish was hopeful and pure. The adults were greatly shocked by his answer. Silence descended upon the living room.

The Buddha's test was not a joke nor a dead end. As long as the eight-tailed cat demon was lucky enough to meet a pure and innocent person who would be willing to use their wish for the cat demon's benefit, then the cat demon would be able to enter the celestial world. Presumably, after meeting such a person, the accumulated grievance from countless fulfilled wishes and the numerous tails it had lost, would dissipate immediately.

The Buddha's intention was not only to test the cat demon's resolve but to also test the hearts and minds of humans. The person who could make such a wish were those who had an unquestionably pure and selfless temperament.

Song Haoran's turned around a thousand times before he looked down at the serious teenager in his arms. He felt ashamed and dirty. How selfish and hypocritical were they compared to this teenager? Such an innocent and beautiful child should be spoiled and taken care of for a lifetime instead of struggling to survive and suffer in the coming apocalypse.

Thinking of this, Song Haoran's heart felt painful. He secretly grit his teeth, tightened his hold on Gong Lixin and pushed the youth into his chest. He feared that he would never be able to touch the other again in the future. Conviction bloomed in his heart- if he could keep the beauty in his arms safe, then he would be willing to pay any price.

Lin Wenbo's eyes completely changed as he stared at Gong Lixin, shock hidden in those dark pools. His heart rate gradually accelerated until he took a deep breath to steady his breathing. The deep palpitations in his body slowed down as he relaxed. Lin Wenbo stared at the youth's eyes, noticing a trace of loss and gloominess that he had never noticed before.

"Tch, what hypocrisy!" Gong Xiangyi's cold mocking laughter banished the silence from the living room. She stood up and hugged her chest and left the living room in a hurry but not before looking at Gong Lixin who was being embraced by Song Haoran.

The longer she looked at his pure and cute image, the more she wanted to tear the other into pieces. She had once been deceived by this illusion in her previous life, which led to her falling into an inescapable, disaster-filled pit. This time she would not repeat the same mistakes. However, she did not expect Haoran to buy the youth's act, it greatly differed from her past life. She was somewhat uneasy and frustrated.

"Wenbo, you need to have a long talk with Xiangyi. Don't you think she has changed a lot recently?" Song Haoran restrained his anger, speaking quietly to his friend. The child in his arms blinked his pair of big clear eyes, his expression showing his confusion. There was no trace of sadness on the boy's face which slightly eased the anger in his heart.

"I will." Lin Wenbo said with a somewhat cold tone as he rubbed Gong Lixin's head in a consoling manner. He did not reveal his thoughts.

How could he, Lin Wenbo, Gong Xiangyi's fiancé, be unable to notice Gong Xiangyi's drastic changes in personality. He had tried to talk to Gong Xiangyi many times but she used all kinds of excuses all the time, making him unable to say anything to her. Gong Xiangyi was really busy, so he had no reason to blame her. Originally, he wanted to understand her better but that desire was slowly disappearing bit by bit.

Unknowingly, Gong Xiangyi and Lin Wenbo were treading down the same road they had in their last life, but this time their roles had swapped. It was a pity how Gong Xiangyi tried her best to prevent all the tragedies that hadn't happened yet. Due to this, she did not cherish those that should have been cherished.

Time ruthlessly passed by. Now that animals had mutated, the time for humans to mutate had come. The largest outbreak of influenza in human history affected the entire world. According to the preliminary statistics from the World Health Organization, influenza had affected at least 65% of the world's population. The scale was unprecedented.

Fortunately, this new type of cold virus was very fragile. It was killed by the human's white blood cells after invading the human body for three days. The disease could be cured without medicine so the harm caused wasn't much. Using media platforms to get word out, medical experts informed citizens that only when the cold was serious enough to cause a fever or coma then they should be sent to the hospital for treatment. This would prevent congested hospitals.

When he saw the news about the flu on TV, Gong father's heart became heavier and heavier. He was deeply grateful that they had believed Gong Xiangyi's words and prepared for it in advance.

Gong father had a detailed list of those that suffered from influenza in the army, so that it would be easier to manage in the future. According to Gong Xiangyi's prediction, most of the people who had been infected with influenza would become zombies but a small number of them would become people with abilities. Those who didn't get the flu would remain ordinary people.

These soldiers were registered early and on the day of the apocalypse, he would arrange for them to be separated from those that were unaffected by the flu so as to avoid death and injury. This was also to prevent those who had developed powers from being injured. As for the infected population beyond his jurisdiction, he couldn't do anything about them. There was simply too many people.

In the Gong family team, Gong father, Old Lao and Gong Xiangyi, who already gained her abilities, did not catch the flu. Gong Lixin, Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo had fevers of varying degrees.

This was why Gong father was so anxious. In the three days his son had a fever, he gained countless white hairs and seemed to age by a whole decade. It was because his daughter predicted that he, his son and Old Lin would be ordinary people and Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran would become ability users. His daughter's prophecy had not been wrong before. But now his good son had suddenly gotten a fever and he didn't know if, in the future, he will become a zombie or an ability user. The unknown suffering his son would go through made him feel guilty.

On the other hand, Gong Xiangyi was also secretly surprised. She remembered very clearly that in the previous life, Gong Lixin didn't have any abilities. He relied on his beautiful, androgynous face to survive the apocalypse. How come in this life his fate was different? If Gong Lixin had an ability, then what should she do? Could she avoid his future schemes? Gong Xiangyi worried about the future.

The infection could be nothing. Since Gong Lixin has gotten the virus in his body, he would either become a one-of-a-kind ability user or become a zombie. Of course, the possibility of becoming a zombie was much greater. Thinking of this, Gong Xiangyi's creased eyebrows lifted, the fear in her heart retreated like the tide. Her lips curved into a cold and horrible smile.

Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo had also considered this possibility. They strongly suppressed the fear in their heart and forced themselves to think positively. Seeing Gong Lixin suffering from the fever, they hated not being better and stronger for him.

In fact, the incident of Gong Lixin being infected by a virus was just a misunderstanding. One month before the apocalypse, the last ingredient for the Baidu Dan, the blood jade tree frog, was finally found in Brazil.

When all the raw materials were gathered together, Gong Lixin immediately began refining the Baidu Dan. The day he began preparation of the medicinal herbs was the day when the virus broke out on a large scale. He used his internal force to catalyze its medicinal properties when he had eaten the poisonous Dan. This caused a huge fever to break out due to his body attempting to purge hundreds of toxins. It was mere coincidence that his fever, and the fever from the zombie virus was very similar.

Because the misunderstanding was caused in such a way, Gong Lixin was identified as a rare ability user that had several abilities. Of course, this identification only happened later on in the future.

CrazedCookies: Bonus chapter No. 2. Thanks again Jessie and Hide for the Ko-fi and hope you enjoy the chapter~!