I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

"Register and issue ordination certificates."

He only said those eight words, but I was a little confused because I knew I didn't seem to be going to die. So, looking at the pastries in my hand, I didn't know whether I should put them back.

After thinking for a moment, I still didn't put it down, and even popped another one into my mouth, saying indistinctly, "I still won't say anything, and you might be lying to me. My sister said that human mysteries..."

"Oh? You have an older sister?"

I quickly shut up, secretly regretting that I had inadvertently exposed my sister.

Seeing that I stopped speaking, the man got up from behind the desk and paced a few steps in the hall. He said very seriously, "I am not deceiving you. There have indeed been cases of cultivators killing demons, but those were mostly old stories from the previous dynasty. Now we are in the Tang Dynasty. Do you know what the current sage once said?"

"..."

"Since ancient times, the Chinese have been valued and the barbarians despised, but I alone love them equally."

He spoke these words to himself and then explained them to himself: "Whether they are barbarians from beyond the Great Wall who are not of our kind, or the millions of common people of our kind, as long as they are devoted to our teachings, they are subjects of our Great Tang. The current emperor can treat them all equally, which shows the magnanimity of a sage. He treats you demons the same way."

"All things in nature are created, and whether they are human or demon is not something I can decide by my own power. You were born and raised within the territory of my Great Tang, so you are my citizens. Why must you be killed?"

He said a lot in one breath, and I thought it made a lot of sense. I believed him to a large extent; he probably really wouldn't kill me.

So I asked him, "You've read a lot of books, haven't you?"

"...I have indeed read some."

"Oh..."

I said "Oh," and continued eating the pastry in my hand, thinking to myself, "No wonder he can say so many reasonable things; scholars are always particularly eloquent."

"Now, may I tell you what kind of spirit you are?"

"cat."

I thought about it and felt that the identity of a fox spirit was not good. People in the world have too many prejudices against fox spirits, so I said that I was a cat.

"A fox demon transformed from a cat?"

“…”

Hearing this, I looked up at him, puzzled. If this person already knew, why did he ask me?

He didn't answer at the time, but much later I learned that this thing was called going through a process.

What's your name?

When I received the transfer certificate, I asked him this question.

"Li Chunfeng".

"That general who went to war?" I suddenly remembered the general surnamed Li that I had heard humans talking about some time ago.

"The one you speak of is General Li Jing, the Duke of Dai. I am merely a lowly military officer; how could I possibly be him?"

When Li Chunfeng said this, he had a smile on his face, a very comforting smile. I took the opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering me before, "Why do those people seem so happy when they talk about going to war? Doesn't war mean people will die?"

"Perhaps it's because it wasn't them who died," Li Chunfeng said after a moment's thought.

Just then, a lot of noise came from the front yard, and then my older sister arrived.

She didn't blame me for being arrested because of my gluttony. She just silently led me out of the mansion. On the way home, I told her that those people didn't intend to kill me. They just gave me a certificate of ordination and took it out of my pocket to show her.

My sister was never at ease with humans, so she didn't get the ordination certificate like I did, and even warned me not to associate with those government officials.

Later, she didn't keep her promise.

Because she also had a certificate of ordination, I was able to visit Li Chunfeng in my spare time. My original intention was just to get a few pieces of his pastry to satisfy my craving, but as we spent more time together, I discovered that he was a very capable person.

It seems like nothing can stump him. No matter what I ask him, he will answer me very seriously. It's as if he knows everything in the world, and can even know the future.

He would sometimes talk about a person named Yuan Tiangang.

Every time this person is mentioned, he would suddenly stop talking and look up at the sky.

Later I learned why: the man named Yuan Tiangang was already dead.

Later, he died too.

I didn't go to see him off on the day of his burial because I couldn't understand, or rather, I couldn't believe, how could such a powerful person die?

From then on, whenever I thought of him, I would gaze at the sky.

After that... I don't remember how much time passed, I only remember that the Tang Dynasty had many emperors, but we never saw that scene of soldiers going to war and people being proud again.

I have never encountered an emperor with a heart as vast as the ocean.

The Tang Dynasty was constantly at war, with people dying every day, and once prosperous towns and cities became dilapidated.

The Tang Dynasty was no longer the mighty Tang Dynasty it once was.

I thought I was a citizen of the Tang Dynasty, and I should help the Tang Dynasty, so I went to the palace to find the emperor and asked him to appoint me to an official position.

Perhaps I could become a general and go to war, just like General Li Jing back then.

This is what I thought at the time: the emperor just wanted me to stay in the palace first, and then after a few days there would be some kind of investiture ceremony. I asked the eunuchs around me, and they called me Your Majesty and said congratulations on becoming a concubine.

Oh, so they wanted me to be their concubine.

I left the palace, and then the Tang Dynasty became the Qi Dynasty. Not long after, it turned back into the Tang Dynasty. Finally, one day, the Tang Dynasty became the Liang Dynasty, but it never turned back into the Tang Dynasty. However, wars were still raging, and people were still dying.

Later, the Great Liang Dynasty also disappeared, and several dynasties came and went, eventually becoming the Great Song Dynasty. However, we did not go to apply for any more ordination certificates.

I never considered myself a citizen of the Song Dynasty again. My sister and I lived a quiet life, watching the Song Dynasty perish, watching the emperor and officials in the court flee from the north to the south, and watching one day, many, many people jump into the sea together.

My sister said that the people of this dynasty still had some backbone.

Next, a group of horsemen became the masters of this land, while the former masters of this land...

Fortunately, such days did not last long. War broke out again, people died, and then a dynasty called the Ming Dynasty was established amidst the chaos.

I've heard of a man named Liu Bowen who knows everything about the world and can even predict the future.

This rumor reminded me of someone, so I went to find Liu Bowen. Although he was also a very powerful old man, I felt that he was not as good as him.

Yes, he's better.

Many years later, the Ming Dynasty fell, and a group of people with ugly braids hanging down their backs became the masters of this land.

The whole world seemed to have changed.

Then, many more years passed in chaos, until one day, I obtained a degree certificate, or rather, an ID card.

By this time, I had transformed from a weak fox demon into the powerful demon they spoke of.

Looking at the fat man across from me who was so respectful to me, I didn't know what to feel.

A few years later, I received a phone call while playing mahjong.

That evening I met the man surnamed Nie.

He is the newly transferred section chief.

The way he spoke was not respectful, but rather neither humble nor arrogant, and even subtly threatened me.

I didn't know how I felt at the time either, but when I looked at Director Nie's expression as he spoke, I thought of someone else, and I felt that they were very similar.

Yes, very similar.

The same seriousness, especially the eyes hidden behind the lenses, equally deep and profound, seemingly identical.

For some reason, I suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

Ever since then, I've always wanted this guy to take his glasses off.

........

Chapter 360 Extra 2

Considering their resemblance, I've been more than kind to that Director Nie. Although he repeatedly provoked me, and I always said I'd beat him up, I never actually did it.

But I never expected this person to go too far and actually try to pursue me?

For those two years, I received all sorts of random things every day, including but not limited to bracelets, earrings, necklaces, rings, and sachets.

At first, I thought this person was just delusional, but then one time I found out that he was actually going on blind dates behind my back.

The saying "Men always want more than they have" is indeed true.

In a fit of anger, I hit him. That was the first time I ever hit him. After he was admitted to the hospital, a question suddenly arose in my mind: why did I hit him?

I asked myself if I had any such feelings for him. He can go and find his own partner. What does it have to do with me?

Is it because I feel betrayed?

still...

I'm confused and want to ask someone, but I don't know who to ask, like my sister?

That older sister I haven't seen in years?

During that time, I kept thinking about this question, wondering if I had developed feelings for that guy.

The moment the idea popped into my head, I immediately denied it. How could that be?

Humans are nothing but mortals.

Yes, he was just a mere human being. Even he, with his vast knowledge, astonishing talent, divine abilities, and mastery of the mysteries of the esoteric arts, was still destined to die.

Divination can predict the fate of a nation over hundreds or even thousands of years, but it cannot predict one's own lifespan.

The cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death is ordained by Heaven.

No one has ever been able to escape, not even him.

He... can't do it either.

I hope he can escape.

I've thought about this countless times, and every time I do, I gaze at the sky, whether it's the clear blue sky during the day or the bright moon and stars at night.

It seemed that if I were to look away even slightly, I could see his face from the sky.

He possessed the youthful vigor and handsome charm of his younger days, as well as the aged frailty and decrepitude of his later years.

But no matter what face he had, whether young or old, his eyes were always deep and far-reaching, with a serene understanding of everything.

Even when one is dying, it is the same.