I Am a Cat (10)

"Got it." Little Nailuo popped out of the bedroom in a flash, a laptop appearing before her as she connected Li Jiewei's tablet.

In less than half a minute, she cracked Li Jiewei's password.

"Her diary is here." Little Nailuo opened the notes and handed them to Little Wei.

For her, digging up information was as easy as breathing.

Little Wei skimmed through a few pages. The diary contained entries from childhood to the present, though Li Jiewei had used notebooks in the past—now, the older entries were stored as images on the tablet.

Luckily, Li Jiewei's handwriting had always been neat, making everything easy to read.

"Seems pretty ordinary, doesn’t it?" The staff tilted its head at the tablet, then shook it slightly.

"There’s something."

Little Wei focused on one page—an entry from Li Jiewei’s tenth birthday.

"She says she accidentally swallowed a bead?" The staff spotted it immediately.

"That bead might be what those people are after, but it’s been so long..." Little Wei frowned.

It sounded crude, but that bead had probably been flushed down the toilet by now.

"Keep flipping. Look, she eventually got it out," the staff pointed out.

"But this bead... it seems..." Little Wei turned to glance at the mirror behind her.

Beneath it sat a watch embedded with a silver bead.

"Is this the thing?" Little Wei instinctively reached for the watch, intending to pry the bead loose, but the moment her fingers touched it, a beam of light shot out, knocking her back onto the bed.

"Holy—!" Little Wei yelped in shock.

The staff stared at the now-transformed kitten sprawled on the bed, deep in thought.

"Seems this thing has the power to suppress dark energy," the staff mused, not daring to touch it either.

In its former state, it could’ve handled it without a second thought.

But now, with its dual nature—housing a darker side—such objects were off-limits.

If it got reverted to its original form, things would get messy.

Little Wei rolled around on the bed, trying to shift back, but her energy was running low.

Dammit!

She should’ve never messed with that bead.

That thing was seriously weird.

Wait a minute—

"I’m the dark one?" Little Wei leaped onto the staff’s shoulder, claws itching to scratch its face off.

Who did it think it was talking to?

"That’s not what I meant," the staff protested, looking genuinely innocent.

Besides, weren’t demons naturally...

Never mind. It’d better shut up.

"Whatever, not worth arguing. Looks like Li Jiewei forgot to take her watch to class," Little Wei hopped over to the watch.

She’d never paid much attention to it before.

But one thing was clear—Li Jiewei usually kept it close at all times.

"If this is what they’re after, why go as far as killing Li Jiewei?" The staff settled into a chair.

"One explanation: the bead is bound to its owner. To transfer ownership, Li Jiewei has to die."

After mentally relaying this, Little Wei quickly called for Little Nailuo.

"Can you dig up the origins of this bead?"

If they could activate its power early, that’d be perfect. If Li Jiewei grew strong enough, she could evade the hunters targeting her.

But...

Why would the world assign such a mission?

Was Li Jiewei’s awakening necessary? And would it bring disaster?

The thought was almost laughable—was her own wife turning into the villain?

"I’ll try, but if it’s truly a rare artifact, I might hit a dead end."

Her access was limited to this world’s information systems.

For something truly extraordinary—likely of extraterrestrial origin—she’d be powerless, just like with Little Wei’s staff. Its background had always been a mystery.

"Just do what you can." Little Wei frowned.

Any lead would help her harness the bead’s power.

As for the rest, she hadn’t figured out the perfect plan yet.

"Found something!" Little Nailuo suddenly exclaimed.

Little Wei nearly jumped out of her fur.

"What is it?"

Little Nailuo emerged from her space and handed the staff a tablet.

"Use this—it’ll make sharing info easier."

"Thanks." The staff blinked, then flashed a genuine smile at her.

It opened the tablet.

"All the details are in the WPS file," Little Nailuo said.

The staff pulled up the document and read the records about the bead.

"It says this bead was excavated from the tomb of Princess Hanyu of the Li Dynasty, with the power to rewrite history."

"That’s it? Nothing else?" Little Wei scrambled onto the staff’s shoulder.

The staff had summarized it, but there wasn’t much more to add.

"If that’s all..." Little Wei’s frown deepened. "Well, it still sounds serious."

The ability to alter history was no small matter—yet not entirely catastrophic either.

But as long as it remained dormant, it shouldn’t be a problem.

What would drive Li Jiewei to change history, though?

Her parents dying in an accident?

Little Wei considered it. Possible, but the odds were slim.

"Enough digging for now. Focus on your training," the staff told Little Wei.

Given that she couldn’t even maintain her human form, her situation was precarious.

Worse, training zones were traceable. If someone ambushed her there, she’d be caught red-handed.

"We need to leave. Now." The staff scooped Little Wei into its arms.

"Where to?" Little Wei tilted her head.

"Somewhere safe for you to train, at the very least."

Little Wei agreed. In her current state, she couldn’t afford further setbacks.

"As for Li Jiewei, you know Little Nailuo can keep an eye on her." The staff ruffled Little Wei’s head.

Little Nailuo whined instantly.

"I wanna pet Little Wei too!"

Why did the staff get all the fun?

"Back off! Show some respect!" Little Wei bristled.

Ugh.

Being a cat was the worst—her body refused to cooperate.

Damn it, this was infuriating.

Still, for all its teasing, the staff had its moments.

After a three-hour high-speed train ride and several transfers, they arrived at a remote mountain.

The place was secluded, nearly uninhabited—perfect for Little Wei’s training.

Little Wei couldn’t help but laugh.

She never imagined ending up in such a backwater—not even a convenience store in sight.

"Are you trying to starve me to death?" She was on the verge of tears.