You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

Chapter 76 is just an imperial edict from the underworld, isn't it?
Cat spirits are one of the "deities" worshipped in folk rituals. Their origins are ancient and subject to various interpretations.

The first version of the story is that when Jiang Ziya conferred titles upon the gods, his wife, Ma, hid out of fear and was called a "cat ghost god," but unexpectedly gained a divine position... Of course, there is also a version that Jiang Ziya's uncle secretly watched the conferment ceremony and was ridiculed as a "cat ghost god" before being conferred a title.

The Book of Sui also records "cat ghosts and gods," saying that Dugu Tuo used "cat ghosts" to carry out witchcraft and poison the empress of Emperor Wen of Sui and the wife of the powerful minister Yang Su. His maid Xu Ani could also use sorcery to control the cat ghosts to transfer the victims' property.

However, in some parts of Northwest China, the worship of "cat spirits" stems from the veneration of cats and the needs of agriculture.

Cats can catch mice!

The Book of Rites records the ritual of "welcoming cats to worship gods" during the Zhou Dynasty.

Chen Yang carefully examined the tabby cat.

The tabby cat also looked at Chen Yang.

aside.

Inside the "fire circle" of the ghostly flames, Zhang Xiaolong, Yu Bao, and other classmates gradually calmed down from their initial shock and fear. As they watched what was happening before their eyes, they felt their worldviews were collapsing and being rebuilt!
A rat has become a spirit, wearing human skin!

The tabby cat spoke human language... and most importantly, his classmate Chen Yang actually possessed such mysterious abilities!
The students couldn't help but recall what Zhou Qiang had said back in school, at the last class reunion... He said that Chen Yang had dropped out of school to go home and inherit his father's magical skills!
At the time, they thought Zhou Qiang was joking or mocking Chen Yang.

Now it seems……

President Zhou probably already knew something.

"Mr. Zhou... what exactly is going on?"

Zhou Qiang: "..."

I don't know either!

All I knew was that Yang Shuai was dead. I had no idea that cats and rats would appear, let alone that Chen Yang was the legendary Night Wanderer... This... this is practically a god!
But it was Gu Jinghui.

He smiled faintly and said, "Fellow students, don't panic... With Chen Yang here, you can be assured of your safety."

"correct!"

Zhang Xiaolong's eyes lit up: "Gu Jinghui, you and Chen Yang are the closest... what's going on with him?"

Gu Jinghui: "As you can see, Chen Yang is a ghost official of the underworld, a night patrol god personally appointed by Lord Cui... just a little rat demon, merely a minor embellishment in Chen Yang's daily life... What?"

“I am different from Chen Yang; I have taken a different path.”

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately became respectful, and the way they looked at Gu Jinghui changed!

One of the girls said, "Gu Jinghui, why don't you go and help Chen Yang?"

Why would I help? Would I just be a hindrance?

Gu Jinghui thought to himself, but smiled faintly on the surface: "It's just a small scene. Everyone sit down and watch the show... Wait, Yang Shuai, don't fly over here. This ring of fire is Netherworld Ghost Fire. If you touch it, you will definitely be reduced to ashes!"

Yang Shuai, who had been rescued from the elm tree by Chen Yang, floated over upon seeing so many "old classmates" here.

Gu Jinghui quickly intervened to stop him.

However, the others were also stunned because they couldn't see Yang Shuai's spirit. Gu Jinghui's lips curled up slightly, knowing that his chance to show off had come again. He explained, "It's normal that you mortals can't see it..."

"I'm different. I have what's called the Yin-Yang Eyes, which can see through illusions and allow me to see ghosts and spirits..."

At the moment when Gu Jinghui was bragging.

On the other side, the tabby cat licked its paws and spoke in a human voice: "Are you really a night-wandering god? How can there be underworld officials in the human world these days?"

Chen Yang flipped his hand and took out the Night Wanderer's Decree.

Upon seeing this, the tabby cat immediately prostrated itself on the ground and loudly proclaimed, "This humble god pays respects to the Lord Night Wanderer."

Obviously.

The Night Wanderer is of a higher rank than its divine authority.

Before Chen Yang could speak, on the other side, the giant rat transformed into a wisp of yin energy and was about to fly away!
"Want to go?"

"Have you asked me, God?"

The tabby cat moved swiftly, darting out like lightning.

Its size rapidly increased the moment it pounced, and with a single pounce it knocked that wisp of demonic energy down from mid-air, transforming it back into a giant rat!

"Damn it!"

The rat demon roared, "Haven't you suppressed me for so many years enough? You're almost dead, and you still want to fight me to the death?" "Aaaaaah!!!"

"I'll fight you to the death!"

In an instant, two afterimages intertwined, and a cat and a mouse began to fight each other!
The hundreds of large rats squeaked and retreated like a receding tide, trying to scatter and escape.

Chen Yang activated the night-shining lanterns.

One by one, green, eerie will-o'-the-wisps flew out.

The will-o'-the-wisp was initially only the size of a fist, but when it landed on the rats, it burst open with a whoosh. The green will-o'-the-wisp passed through the rats one by one, and when the ghostly flames dissipated, hundreds of large rats had all been annihilated!

"Ahhh!"

"My children...my children...deserve to die!"

The large rat shrieked pitifully, and disregarding its fight with the tabby cat, it transformed into a blur and pounced on Chen Yang. Chen Yang was about to make a move...

Meow!

The tabby cat flew up from behind it and bit its neck!

This rat demon was extremely powerful. In a one-on-one fight, even ordinary Dao cultivators and martial arts masters might not be able to defeat it. However, the cat demon was too much of a counter to it. Once it bit down, no matter how the rat demon struggled, it could not escape. In just a moment, the rat demon died without a breath.
pat!

The tabby cat threw the rat demon's corpse on the ground and poked at it a few times with its paws.

After confirming that the rat demon was dead, the tabby cat's aura dissipated, and its cheetah-sized body rapidly shrank back to the size of an ordinary cat, but its aura continued to dissipate rapidly.

Chen Yang noticed something was wrong with it and asked, "Are you... going to die?"

The tabby cat nodded and spoke in human language, laughing, "Yes... I'm going to die, but I never expected to see Lord Night Wanderer before I die. Lord, is the path between Yin and Yang already open?"

"The path between Yin and Yang has not yet been opened, and I became the Night Wanderer by accident."

Chen Yang asked, "What can I do to save you?"

The tabby cat said bitterly, "My spirituality has long since vanished, leaving only a wisp of obsession that has persisted until now... Now that this rat demon is dead, this wisp of obsession should also dissipate!"

It turns out that the area was plagued by rats in the past, and the people built a "Cat Ghost God" temple to solve the problem.

Under the long-term worship of the people, the "Cat Ghost God" statue in the temple gradually developed spirituality and was born. At that time, the path between Yin and Yang was not yet separated, and this cat spirit was conferred an official title by the underworld and became the Cat Ghost God.

It enjoys the incense offerings of the people, solves the rat plague for the people, and even suppresses the leader of the rat demons!

Until later, the path between Yin and Yang was severed, the power of the cat spirit faded, and it could no longer display its divine abilities. The incense in the temple became less and less, and it grew weaker and weaker... until it fell into a complete slumber and its spirituality dissipated!
Even so, its obsession never faded, and it continued to suppress the rat demon.

until...

The villagers of Tufeng Village unearthed the "Cat Ghost Temple," broke the seal, and released the rat demon!
Zhou Qiang previously said that the bronze cat sculpture his uncle brought back would change its position and appear at the head of the bed every night, and many dead rats would appear in the house. In fact, it was the obsession of the cat spirit protecting the village.

Chen Yang couldn't help but think of the remnant soul of the evil god in "Qukou Village".

It is also a god.

Unfortunately... in the end, in order to prolong his life, he fell into evil!

Even though this cat-demon spirit had dissipated, it never forgot its duty and survived to this day with a wisp of obsession, killing that rat demon!
It would be such a pity if such a "deity" were to disappear.

Chen Yang said, "Are you really beyond saving?"

The tabby cat shook its head and smiled bitterly, "I was born with a spirit because of the people's offerings. Now the spirit has dissipated, and my divine position has long been eliminated. Unless I can receive a new imperial decree from the underworld, and the people build a temple for me, recast my golden statue, and offer incense to me again..."

"It's a pity that I'm just a lowly cat spirit. Even if I can connect the Yin and Yang realms, how can I possibly receive an imperial decree from the underworld?"

Its power was still waning, and its form was becoming increasingly ethereal: "I was born because of the offerings and sacrifices of the people, and my duty is to protect them and eliminate the rat plague."

"Now that the rat demon is dead, even if I die, I can face the people who worshipped and believed in me back then."

It has already shown signs of wanting to die, and its body is beginning to disintegrate.

"and many more……"

Chen Yang quickly stopped him: "It's just an imperial decree from the underworld, what's so difficult about that... Please wait a moment, I will get it for you right away!"

...............

PS: Thank you XXzai for the 100-point reward!
(End of this chapter)