13 Mink Street

In the workroom behind the funeral home, Ms. Lake was sitting on a round stool, applying makeup to Jotto. The man had been euthanized at the church hospital, so his remains had already received a preliminary treatment. There was little damage, and his death had not been particularly gruesome. He even demonstrated a certain peace and release.

In the past, he absolutely would have been Ms. Lake’s favorite kind of client. She truly disliked receiving clients who had died miserable deaths, or who had even been torn completely apart, because most families were unwilling to pay extra for mortuary makeup.

Now, however, Ms. Lake really did not mind either way. Ever since Karon had replaced her husband as the true owner of the funeral home, business had been terribly slow, so slow that sometimes her hands itched for work.

Ciri walked in at this moment. Seeing Jotto’s current appearance, she exclaimed in admiration, “Ma’am, your skill is amazing. I want to learn makeup from you.”

“Applying makeup to the deceased is different from applying makeup to the living,” Ms. Lake said with a smile. “Besides, after you finish applying makeup to the deceased, are you going to go cook for the young master?”

“The young master would not mind that. I heard Mr. Alfred say that they also ran a funeral home before.”

“Whether the young master minds or not is his business. You are a maid, so you should know your duty.”

Ciri stuck out her tongue and said, “All right, I know.”

“If you want to learn painting, you can sit in with Dora and Dorin during class next time.”

“Then starting tomorrow, I’ll go listen in.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot the proper matter. Ma’am, do you want to go look at that jar of sauce? I saw something like mold growing on top.”

“Oh no!” Ms. Lake immediately put down the tools in her hands, stood up, and left the workroom with Ciri. Although Karon did not like bean paste, and Ms. Lake enjoyed the taste of the new dishes, she would still occasionally prepare herself some bean paste in secret as a late-night snack to satisfy periodic cravings.

A saying like this was popular everywhere: so-and-so could never be without so-and-so, just as the people of Veyn could never be without their bean paste.

After they left, Pu’er rode in on Kevin. She examined Jotto lying on the gurney and said with some emotion, “He is truly lucky. Once he died, the corruption could be completely erased.”

Kevin sensed that Pu’er seemed a little sad. The cat immediately shook her head, completely scattering away the gloom from earlier. She said, “Stupid dog, how about we go out for a stroll?”

“Woof?”

“There shouldn’t be any danger, right?” Pu’er blinked. “Report to the radio demon?”

Kevin nodded in agreement.

“You really are such a cowardly dog. Who did you learn that from?”

Kevin raised his dog’s brows.

***

What slightly surprised Pu’er was that the radio demon not only agreed to her and Kevin’s request, he even took the initiative to say that he happened to be going out and could take them along. Just like that, Pu’er sat on her puppet’s shoulder, while Kevin, as usual, had his own puppet lead him along. Together, they all climbed into Alfred’s car.

He drove them to the entrance of a bowling club. There were quite a few restaurants and dessert shops along the street outside.

“I have some business inside. You can walk around nearby.” As he spoke, Alfred took out five thousand rels and stuffed them into the pockets of Pu’er and Kevin’s puppets.

“Radio demon, is this your club?” Pu’er asked.

“The owner is one of my subordinates. We gather here regularly.”

“A gathering of demonkin?” Pu’er said in surprise. “Goodness, radio demon, you really are efficient.”

She remembered that Alfred had recently mentioned this matter to Karon, and Karon had agreed to it. But how long had it been? The radio demon had truly pulled his own gang quickly.

“If I were also a pet, I could live just as leisurely.”

Pu’er said, “I suspect you are insinuating something about me.”

“Woof!”

“Everyone has different divisions of labor. My mission is to help the young master handle his trivial matters as much as possible. Kevin’s mission is to provide the young master with advice in terms of knowledge and experience.”

“What about me?”

“Your mission is to sleep with the young master.”

“Woof!”

Pu’er shook her tail and contemptuously said, “Hmph! Do you think I’ll get angry just because you say something like that? Hehe, so naive! I know you are too busy envying me to do anything else. I’m not angry; I am proud! Meow.”

“All right. Remember not to go too far, and pay attention to safety.”

“Then if we get bored wandering outside later, can we come in and look for you?”

“Yes. Just give them my name.”

“Hmm? Radio demon, what is your name again?”

Kevin smiled and chimed in, “Woof?”

Alfred took a business card from his chest and handed it to “Miss Pu’er.”

“Miss Pu’er” held the business card in front of Pu’er, and she read, “Alfred Saucy?”

“Mhmm.”

“Saucy… what does that mean?” Pu’er asked doubtfully. “Is it a word from that language Karon created?”

“Yes. Saucy represents refined and elegant.”

“Is that so? Then I am Saucy Pu’er?”

“Woof!”

“All right, you are Saucy Kevin.”

“This is the epithet the young master bestowed upon me.”

“All right, I know you are deliberately showing off. The stupid dog and I are going shopping. Go handle your business, saucy radio demon.”

After parting from Alfred, Pu’er and Kevin first went to a dessert shop and ordered many desserts in one breath. The pocket money Alfred had just given them was essentially two months of income for a white-collar worker in York City, and was more than enough for them to spend freely. Very soon, the desserts were brought out one after another. Under the astonished gazes of the shop attendants, the young lady was seen earnestly feeding desserts to her cat, while the gentleman carefully and considerately fed his dog.

After finishing the desserts, Pu’er and Kevin went to an ice cream shop, and again bought many more snacks. In the end, they sat on a roadside bench, eating while watching people come and go.

Pu’er let out a full burp and said, “This is life, meow.”

“Woof!”

In terms of food, things outside were probably not any more delicious than the food at home. Even the maid Ciri, under Pu’er’s training, had greatly improved her cooking skills. However, the experience of eating within a crowd while enjoying life and treating oneself “as a person” had a special meaning for Pu’er and Kevin.

“Stupid dog, look over there!”

Kevin looked where Pu’er pointed and saw a pastry shop on the street with its rolling shutter half-open. Kevin lowered his head, not having much interest. He continued eating his hot dog.

“Worthless, stupid dog.” Pu’er shook her head. “Shouldn’t a normal man, after being shut in for so long and finally coming out, want to visit that kind of place first?”

At this moment, a woman in a white dress sat down on the other end of the bench. Instantly, both Pu’er and Kevin froze. Because this woman seemed to have appeared out of thin air, and when she appeared, she was already standing in front of the bench. After just another blink, she was already sitting down.

The alarms in Pu’er and Kevin’s hearts immediately started going off. They had only come out for some air. In fact, the reason they had stayed inside the home for so long was not because Karon had imprisoned them, but because they themselves were well aware that their current strength was completely insufficient to deal with risks they might possibly encounter while in the outside world. Home remained the safest place for them.

To avoid arousing the other party’s suspicion, Pu’er and Kevin instantly transformed into “competent” pets at this moment. Miss Pu’er held Pu’er in her arms and began stroking the cat. Mr. Kevin held Kevin’s two legs, letting him lie on his knees and playing with him. The sounds of a cat and dog kept coming from the bench.

“Meow~”

“Woof~”

“Meow~”

“Woof~”

“Is she here for us?”

“It does not seem so.”

“That is true. She does not seem to have noticed anything different about us.”

“Mhmm, we continue acting.”

The woman took out a white feather and gently toyed with it in her palm.

“Meow~”

“Woof~”

“Is that the feather of a demonic beast?”

“Yes.”

After sitting for a while, the woman stood and walked toward the club. After she was far away, Pu’er and Kevin’s expressions turned solemn, their cat eyes and dog eyes both staring at the woman’s back.

“Stupid dog, why do I have a premonition that she is heading for that club?”

“Woof?”

“Yes, will the radio demon be in danger? That woman’s aura is so powerful.”

“Woof.”

“Come on, we need to go notify the radio demon. If we go around through that alley, we should be able to enter the club from its side door!”

Immediately, Miss Pu’er and Mr. Kevin both began running. Pu’er perched on Miss Pu’er’s shoulders, while Mr. Kevin carried the golden retriever on his back. They absolutely could not leave the puppets on the bench, because as soon as the animals were more than five meters away, they were unable to control their puppets. By the time they left and came back, their puppets might already have been sent to the morgue by some kind passersby.

When they reached the entrance of the club’s side door, a burly man with tattoos on both arms was standing there.

Miss Pu’er immediately said, “We are friends of Alfred Saucy. We want to go in and see him.”

The burly man crossed his arms over his chest and said piously, “Praise the Preceptor.”

Then the man opened the door and made an inviting gesture. “The Preceptor should be in his office right now. There is still half an hour before the lecture begins.”

Miss Pu’er and Mr. Kevin brought their respective pets inside.

Bang! Miss Pu’er opened the office door. Mr. Kevin could not stop after charging in, and both the person and dog fell to the ground. Inside the office, Alfred was holding a fountain pen and revising a draft of a speech. Beside him, there was also a pale-faced little girl standing there and watching him.

Miss Pu’er shouted, “Radio demon, a very powerful woman is coming!”

“A very powerful woman?” Alfred looked at the little girl beside him.

The little girl said, “It should be my sister coming to see me.”

Pu’er looked at this little girl and frowned slightly. She sensed that there was something wrong with this little girl, so she leapt directly from her puppet and pounced at her. The girl looked at the charging Pu’er and reflexively raised a hand. In the next moment, a white ring of light appeared in front of Pu’er. The ring shrank and was about to bind the cat.

Pu’er contorted her body, changing directions to land on Alfred’s desk. Two of the cat’s paws began rubbing together, and a small fireball quickly appeared. Just then, a terrifying aura suddenly descended. The woman in white appeared before the girl, looking at Pu’er with cold eyes. The cat met the woman’s glare with one of her own. Although she was only a cat, Miss Poelle had almost never lost to others in terms of aura.

The woman raised her hand, and Alfred said at this moment, “All right, we are all on the same side.”

“The same side?” Pu’er turned her head to give Alfred a doubtful look.

The girl stepped around from behind the woman. She smiled at Pu’er. “You are so cute! Like me, you are also fluffy.”

As she spoke, a soft “click” came from the girl. Immediately afterward, she stood there motionless, but very soon, a fluffy, round, white ball appeared on the girl’s shoulder. It bounced once, then also landed on the desk. Pu’er looked at the white fluffy thing before her as it kept approaching, and asked doubtfully, “What the hell are you?”

“My name is Rumier. What about you?”

Pu’er ignored the question. Instead, she addressed Alfred, raising a paw and pointing at the woman in the white dress. “I think you should explain, or I will go tattle on you.”

“Rumier and I have known each other for a long time. In the past, I joined a very loose local Beguiler organization here in York City, but because it was targeted by a severe crackdown from relevant departments of the Church of Order, that organization has since collapsed. I met Rumier at that time. As for this club I have now established, I am the president, and Rumier is the vice president. This woman is Anita, who has a symbiotic pact with Rumier.”

Pu’er had heard about all of this before, because Karon made a habit of sharing information with all of them. Pu’er felt that the reason the radio demon had made this white fluffy ball vice president was to pull in the woman in white. It felt similar to how Karon had pulled Richard into his new squad in order to pull in his father as well.

Anita reached out, wanting to grab Pu’er, but Alfred blocked her and said, “She is my young master’s symbiotic partner. Please respect her, just as I respect Rumier.”

“It is a symbiote?” The corners of Anita’s mouth revealed a smile. “Your young master really is not picky. He actually found such a weak being to partner with.”

Pu’er: “!!!”

“Woof, woof, woof!” Kevin angrily barked wildly at Anita.

Alfred grew serious. “When speaking of matters related to my young master, please maintain the utmost respect. I do not want to give such a reminder a second time.”

“Heh. Without my help, you cannot establish this club.”

“But this club was originally established for my young master.”

Rumier looked at Anita with pleading eyes. It did not want its sister to come into conflict with Alfred.

Anita said to Pu’er, “I retract my earlier joke and apologize for it.”

Pu’er turned her head away and did not look at the woman.

Rumier floated up and returned to its “body.” The little girl regained movement and said, “Big Brother Alfred, the lecture should begin. Everyone should be here.”

“Mhmm. Rumier, help me to maintain order in the venue and reiterate the local rules.”

“All right.” Rumier grabbed Anita’s hand and walked out of the office.

Alfred looked at Pu’er, who was sitting on his desk, and said, “Thank you and Kevin for hurrying over to warn me.”

Pu’er ignored him.

“Well, I will go give the lecture. You and Kevin can come listen as well.” After saying this, Alfred walked out of the office.

Pu’er sat on the desk, her tail drooping behind her and her face lowered. Kevin placed his front legs on the desk and stood on his tiptoes with his hind legs so that he could look at Pu’er on the desk.

“Stupid dog, that stinking woman said I was the weakest symbiotic being.”

Kevin immediately shook his head.

Pu’er raised her head. In her amber-like eyes, a layer of mist was brewing. “I am furious!”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“If this were before, if that stinking woman dared to speak to me like that, I would definitely have thrown her to the ground and slapped her, then stripped her clothes off and hung her from a telephone pole!” Pu’er’s two cat paws kept fidgeting with each other.

“Woof, woof.”

“I want to become stronger.” Pu’er took a deep breath, then used her cat paw to wipe away the mist in her eyes. “I want to carry Little Karon and fly!”

“Woof!”

After adjusting her emotions, Pu’er stood up again. Kevin immediately dropped back to the floor and bounced his back, signaling for the cat to climb on. Pu’er jumped onto his back. “Come on. Let’s go see what the radio demon is going to talk about.”

Despite being a cat for a hundred years, she still retained her temper as a young lady. If she did not know how to vent and soothe her own emotions, the black cat would probably have long since found a rope in the Immers family and hanged herself.

Kevin carried Pu’er to the lecture hall. Nearly thirty people were seated inside. More than half of them emitted the aura of demonkin. Those without such an aura were demonkin who could hide their aura.

Anita and Rumier sat in the front row. Kevin’s gaze remained fixed on Rumier’s back, gradually deepening. At that moment, Anita seemed to sense something and glanced back. When she saw Pu’er riding on the golden retriever, she paid it no mind and turned back around. Kevin licked his lips. He remembered this woman.

Alfred had changed into a fitted burgundy suit and put on a pair of glasses. He walked to the podium, and after a simple opening, he picked up a piece of chalk and wrote one word on the blackboard behind him: God.

“God leads us forward, but have we ever stopped to consider where god actually stands?

“Does He stand at the end of the road? Like someone seated on an upper floor above one of York City’s pedestrian streets, holding a cup of coffee while it rains outside, drinking as he watches the people below hurry for shelter.

“Or does He stand beside you, walking that road with you? When the rain falls and you are caught in a wretched state, the person walking ahead of you hands you his umbrella and shares it with you, or perhaps takes your hand and leads you to the nearest place where you can shelter from the rain.

“If you had to choose, which kind of god would you hope for?

“All right, I will leave this question for you to think about after you return. At our next gathering, I will have everyone share their thoughts.

“Now, what we need to discuss is the topic left from our previous gathering: with what attitude should we face the road before us? There are many kinds of roads. The road of power, the road of life, the road of corruption, even the roads of the past and the future.

“Attitude is the stable psychological inclination an individual holds toward a specific object, such as a person, concept, emotion, or event. This inclination contains the individual’s subjective evaluation, as well as the behavioral tendency that arises from it. A correct attitude can help us constantly adjust our direction as we walk, so that we do not stray from the main course of the road. It is our good friend, because it can constantly urge us on.”

Alfred turned and wrote a line on the blackboard: Attitude: How to Receive the Breath of the Earth.