Suspicion did not arrive loudly.
It crept.
Xu Yang felt it in the way voices lowered when he passed, in the way doors closed a little faster at night. In the way children stopped reaching out to touch his fur.
Animals noticed first.
Dogs growled at him now. Chickens scattered when he approached.
Even the old ox tied near the granary refused to look at him directly.
Xu Yang stayed close to Lin Chen.
Closer than before.
Lin Chen noticed.
"You've been clingy lately," he said with a small laugh as he knelt to mend a basket. "Scared of the rain?"
Xu Yang rubbed his head lightly against Lin Chen's knee.
He couldn't answer.
If he did, everything would end.
By midday, the village head called for a gathering.
Nothing official just "a talk."
Xu Yang lay beneath the bench near the courtyard, eyes half-closed, listening.
"…strange things keep happening," the village head said carefully. "Fog Sickness ,That boy collapsing."
"We're not blaming anyone," another added quickly.
No one ever did.
At first.
"But," someone else said hesitantly, "animals do react to demons first."
Xu Yang's tail curled tighter.
"I saw the cat near the shrine," a woman said.
"Late at night."
Another voice followed.
"My dog barked at it for hours."
Lin Chen frowned. "It's just a cat."
Silence.
Not disagreement.
Consideration.
Xu Yang felt something cold brush past the edge of his senses.
Not demon.
Not human.
Inspection.
Heaven again but distant, like someone flipping through pages without reading closely.
The village head cleared his throat. "We'll ask a cultivator to pass by. Just to be safe."
Xu Yang's heart sank.
After the gathering, Lin Chen walked home quietly.
He did not look at Xu Yang.
That hurt more than suspicion.
That night, Xu Yang did not sleep.
The warmth in his chest pulsed erratically, responding to something unseen.
He slipped out just before dawn, moving low and fast toward the fields.
He needed to leave traces.
But not of myself.
Near the old shrine, Xu Yang found it again
A lingering demon scent.
The one from before.
Wang Xiao's friend.
Xu Yang hesitated, then deliberately scraped the ground with his claws, scattering demonic residue just enough to confuse origin.
"Clever," a voice murmured.
Xu Yang did not turn.
"You're framing me," the demon said mildly, stepping out from the shadows. "Or at least borrowing my reputation."
Xu Yang finally faced him, eyes sharp even in cat form.
"I'm buying time," Xu Yang said quietly.
The demon studied him.
"For what?"
Xu Yang did not answer.
The demon sighed. "You know humans don't forgive uncertainty."
"I know," Xu Yang replied.
"And you know Heaven doesn't either."
Xu Yang's ears flattened.
"Then why are you still here?"
The demon's expression shifted just a little.
"Because my friend hates loose threads."
Xu Yang stilled.
"You're not the first anomaly," the demon continued softly. "But you're the first that feels… familiar."
Xu Yang swallowed.
"Leave the village," the demon advised. "Soon."
Xu Yang looked back toward the houses.
Toward Lin Chen.
"I can't yet," he said.
The demon watched him for a long moment. Then he laughed quietly.
"You're worse than I thought."
He stepped back into shadow. "I'll divert attention. Once."
Xu Yang bowed his head slightly.
It was more than most demons would do.
When Xu Yang returned, the village was already awake.
A cultivator stood near the well.
Blue robes.
Sharp eyes.
Xu Yang slowed his steps, forcing himself to limp slightly, to seem ordinary.
The cultivator glanced at him and frowned.
Not in recognition.
In confusion.
Xu Yang felt his chest tighten.
He can't see me clearly.
That was new.
That was bad.
That night, Lin Chen finally spoke.
"They asked me questions," he said quietly as he lay down.
"About you."
Xu Yang curled beside him, heart pounding.
"I told them you're just a cat," Lin Chen continued.
"Because that's what I believe."
Xu Yang pressed closer, shaking slightly.
Lin Chen hesitated, then rested a hand on his back.
"But," he added softly, "if you ever need to leave… I won't stop you."
Xu Yang closed his eyes.
Outside, clouds parted briefly.
Far above, unseen eyes paused on this small village
on a cat that should not still be alive.
And somewhere even farther away, Wang Xiao opened his eyes suddenly, a single thought cutting through his mind without reason
Something is wrong.
The cultivator did not announce his intentions.
He never did.
That alone told Xu Yang everything.
The man in blue robes stayed in the village for three days.
Three days of casual questions.
Three days of walking the same paths.
Three days of watching without appearing to watch.
Xu Yang kept his head low, movements dull, instincts screaming.
The cultivator's aura was restrained, disciplined Heaven-aligned but not fanatical. A mid-rank executor. Someone trusted to verify, not judge.
Which meant
If something was wrong, he would report it.
Not fix it.
On the fourth morning, the test began.
Xu Yang felt it before anyone else.
The air tightened.
Subtle spiritual threads sank into the village like invisible needles, brushing against houses, wells, animals and finally, him.
Xu Yang froze mid-step.
The threads recoiled slightly.
Confused.
Good.
He let his body relax fully, emptied his mind, forced every thought into the shape of instinct and hunger and nothing else.
The cultivator frowned near the well.
Lin Chen noticed. "Is something wrong?"
"No," the cultivator replied calmly. "Just confirming peace."
Peace.
Xu Yang almost laughed.
By noon, three talismans were placed quietly around the village.
Not protective.
Revealing.
That was the moment Xu Yang knew.
I can't stay.
That night, he slipped out without sound.
He did not go to the shrine.
He went the opposite way into the hills where mist lingered longer and paths broke into nothing.
He ran.
Not as a demon.
Not as a man.
As a cat that did not want to be caught.
He ran until his lungs burned and the warmth in his chest throbbed dangerously.
Only then did he stop.
"You're late."
Xu Yang turned sharply.
The demon leaned against a pine tree, arms crossed, crimson markings glowing faintly in the moonlight.
Up close, he looked younger than expected.
Sharp-featured, Relaxed posture. Dangerous in the way seasoned predators were dangerous not tense, not eager!