You are a cat demon

You racked your brains but couldn't come up with a way to both subdue the hunting eagle and avoid getting hurt. But you're stubborn; once you decide to do something, you'll hold out for days and nights, even if you can't do it yourself.

For several days, you wandered around that holly tree, just within the sight of that hunting eagle.

Golden eagles have excellent eyesight; they can spot field mice munching on berries even from thousands of meters in the air. It's impossible for them not to see you.

You didn't want to look like a thief, feeling insecure, so you boldly appeared in its sight. Sometimes you pretended to chase butterflies, sometimes you pretended to play with wildflowers and weeds by the roadside, acting as if you didn't care about it, hovering on the edge of its bottom line, becoming a thorn in its side.

Even if it loses its temper, there's still a long distance between you and the holly tree. And unlike before, this time you're prepared. You've memorized several escape routes and hiding places, so you can escape before it flies over. Then you can hide in a corner and gloat over its furious expression. That's how you achieve your goal.

You love how it gets so angry but can't do anything about it.

To be fair, from Carmen's perspective, while it was a bit unreasonable at first, it seems you've gone too far now. You're the one deliberately provoking it. You know it doesn't welcome you; you just need to stay far away and out of its sight, and it won't get angry. But you insist on acting like a jerk in front of it, and it can't escape or chase you away. It's infuriating!

Who told you to be a cat demon?

This is called an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

You have to go against those who don't like you or those who don't like you.

You still remember your first encounter with it, which was quite unpleasant. You had your eye on that lush holly tree and wanted to climb it to play, but before you even got close, a brownish "cannonball" grazed your back.

From that day on, you made a deep grudge against it in your heart. However, back then you were new to the area and unfamiliar with the environment, so you didn't dare to be too reckless. But now it's different. You've defeated all the dogs and geese in the village, even the hot-tempered old ox doesn't dare mess with you. You're the most pampered cat master of all the human children in the village, you're the true village bully of Sakura Village, your confidence has swelled, and you can do whatever you want.

You've been lingering around it these past few days, and even when Ruoye wanted to play with you, you refused without hesitation.

At first, you thought it was quite fun to mess around with the hunting eagle Carmen. You chased it and it chased you, which was more interesting than foxtail grass. You could play with it all day long. Later, you got so into it that you felt uncomfortable if you didn't play with it for a day, and you even refused to eat properly (the unsuspecting village chief Zhang Qingshan repeatedly emphasized that you no longer needed to lose weight), and you practically lived near its home.

But the novelty of everything wears off. Once the novelty is gone, it suddenly feels meaningless. It's like during a diet, everything becomes a task that you have to complete. It's like you have to clock in and out every day. It's not only boring, but also incredibly torturous.

You seem a little confused.

You begin to doubt the meaning of what you're doing, but...

"Meaning" itself has no meaning.

The cat demon's motto is simply to live, to live freely and unrestrained. Life is unpredictable, with more suffering than joy. All demons just want to live a carefree life; their own happiness is enough. Do whatever you want, who cares?

Over time, you've learned the hunting eagle's temperament, and it seems to have grown accustomed to your repeated harassment. Gradually, it's become too lazy to bother you anymore. Even if you slowly walk to the holly tree and curl up to nap in front of it, it will turn a blind eye, like an ostrich, and won't attack you again. It's hard to say whether it admires your willpower or is simply despairing of your despicable behavior.

You won, but for some reason, you weren't happy at all. Your mind went blank for a moment, and in the end, you ran away as if you were running away. You didn't even want to look back at Carmen the hunting eagle, who was still standing proudly on the tree branch, as if you were the loser.

Looking back now, you were really naive back then.

You have to admit, that hunting eagle was quite a character.

Humans often say "dogs are man's best friend." To please humans, dogs have mastered a whole set of almost perfect flattery techniques: wagging tails, begging, rolling around, and even "tongue therapy" (which you think is the most disgusting). It's fair to say that dogs have a firm grasp on human hearts. In the past, you didn't think much about it and just felt that the relationship between dogs and humans was something you couldn't understand. But after seeing all sorts of different people and dogs, now the more you think about it, the stranger it seems, but you can't quite put your finger on what's wrong, and you don't know if it's a problem with you.

Putting all that aside, your big black dog is absolutely 100% loyal to Village Chief Zhang Qingshan and his family; you can tell from all its silly antics. Village Chief Zhang Qingshan and his family occupy the largest part of its life, followed by its beloved wife and children, and then…

When you suddenly catch a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing through the bushes to your right, your breath catches in your throat and your heart skips a beat.

Thankfully, that wasn't your big black dog; it was another skinny black dog.

That said, while both are domesticated animals, golden eagles and dogs are different. Dogs, having lived with humans for years, are psychologically dependent on them and cannot survive without human presence. For dogs, their "master" is not only a source of food but also a source of emotional support. Golden eagles, on the other hand, are wild birds of prey, independent of the sky, the ground, and humans. They rely on their own strength to achieve happiness, and even if they unfortunately fall into human hands, they will certainly not be content to be caged. You can clearly see that although the hunting eagle Carmen remains here, her heart is elsewhere.

As long as Carmen's owner doesn't take it hunting, and as long as there are no other troubles, it often perches on the large branch of the holly tree, doing nothing but gazing into the distance.

Later, you admitted defeat and took the initiative to reconcile with it. Only after receiving its permission did you sit down under the tree. When you looked up, you saw that its eyes were filled with endless sorrow, like a spring that flowed continuously.

You think to yourself, no one is forcing it, it can leave if it wants to, why bother staying here and getting upset?

What are you pretending for? What are you pretending to be, this aloof and pure white lotus? You're just like me, unwilling to give up humanity as your long-term meal ticket. It's not shameful to want to cling to their coattails. Look how carefree those dogs have been for thousands of years. Although you secretly despise yourself for having stooped so low as to compare yourself to dogs.

The cat demon should be more realistic, and the golden eagle should be more realistic too. As long as they can survive, everything else is just fleeting.