15. Learning to Read

Run!
Until you can run no more.

As he collapsed to the ground, Lu Xun faintly heard someone shouting.
...
"Dr. Chu, how is he?" Zhao Jia asked with concern.
The physician, dressed in loose robes and a broad sash, bowed and replied, "It’s nothing serious, just exhaustion from running too long."
"And this wound..."
"It seems to be from a tiger's claws, but fortunately it's only a surface scratch, no damage to muscles or bones."

Dr. Chu looked surprised. He found the black cat astonishingly large, but it was not unheard of for tabby cats to reach three or four feet in length.
Yet this wound was truly unusual. The tigers of Jiujiang were notorious for attacking travelers, and he had become something of a specialist in treating tiger wounds, so he was certain there was no mistake.

Strangely enough, that day he had treated two cats.
One belonged to the inspector's family, the other to Captain Zhao.
He wanted to protest that he was not a veterinarian, but when it came to the cats of the nobility, their worth often surpassed that of many people.

Dr. Chu took out his writing brush and paper. "I’ll prescribe a restorative remedy."
"Thank you."
Zhao Jia handed him a piece of silver, a full tael in weight.

After seeing Dr. Chu off, Zhao Jia instructed Aunt Chen to fetch the medicine.
Little Moon kept watch by the couch, chin in hand, gazing at the old cat. Wang Ruo teased, "Jia cherishes him, and so do you, little one. What’s his magic?"
"Thank you, my lady," Zhao Jia said, returning to himself and stepping forward to embrace Wang Ruo.
He had rushed home the moment he received the news, but everything had already been taken care of by Wang Ruo: sending for hot soup, fetching the doctor, all done in a flurry. He had seen it all.

It wasn’t easy for Wang Ruo to suppress her own fear and care for the black cat that had returned.
"You treasure him, Jia, I know that well. I would never leave him unattended."
Wang Ruo was deeply afraid of monsters, but even more so of disappointing Zhao Jia.

She grew anxious. "The road you travel is long, plagued by bandits and tigers. Do well, and you’ll be rewarded; do poorly, and you’ll be dismissed on a whim. Especially since you’re only a jailer, not a constable—if anything happens, the magistrate will throw you to the wolves, accuse you of meddling, and continue to bask in his reputation."
"Why not just resign and open a martial arts school in the county city instead?"
Zhao Jia patted her hand gently and shook his head. "Life is hard—being skilled doesn’t guarantee recognition. Don’t worry."
"I’ll need to return to the yamen shortly."
...

Working for the magistrate was always a gamble, with risk and opportunity going hand in hand. Success would be credited to the magistrate’s leadership; failure would be blamed on him for dereliction of duty. But Zhao Jia didn’t care for such things.
Let the magistrate take all the glory if he wishes. Zhao Jia’s own assessment was a different matter—he was never meant to remain a jailer for long.
...

"Where am I?"
Lu Xun struggled to open his eyes. Familiar beams and a simple bed came into view; he recognized at once that he was in Zhao Jia’s home.
He also remembered the mad dash for his life just outside the city gates—
Narrowly escaping being eaten by a white-browed tiger.

He had run like a madman until he collapsed in the courtyard.
He vaguely recalled voices calling out before he fainted; it seemed the Zhao family had saved him.
"Ah, the kitty is finally awake!"

Little Moon rushed over with a bowl of medicine, only to see the old cat suddenly retch up a puddle of mush.
Lu Xun felt immense relief after vomiting.
Usually, swapping heads left him dizzy and nauseous, but this time he’d risked everything and switched twice—then ran until he was utterly spent. When he suddenly sat up, the nausea surged again, and everything he’d been fed came pouring out onto the floor.
His mouth tasted sour and bitter.
"Are you all right, kitty?"
Little Moon set down the medicine and started forward.
"Be careful!"
Wang Ruo, who had just arrived, quickly stopped her.

A frightened wild animal is most likely to lash out, and approaching carelessly was sure to end in scratches. She had witnessed the black cat’s prowess with her own eyes—this was the creature that had leapt off a monk’s head into a well to battle a monstrous toad. If it attacked, even a moment’s inattention could be fatal.

Little Moon listened to her mistress and stopped short.
Wang Ruo breathed a sigh of relief and, not knowing if the black cat could understand her, scolded sternly, "Stray cats and dogs are dangerous. Packs of wild dogs will surround and devour a lone traveler."

Yet the black cat was unusually well-behaved.
Not only did it show no signs of aggression, it even leapt onto the table and began to lap at the bowl of medicine.
Little Moon exclaimed, "Mistress, the kitty seems different."
Wang Ruo’s expression said it all: Of course—it’s a monster!

Still weakened, Lu Xun’s golden eyes flickered, as though searching for someone.
"Jia is busy with official duties. He rushed back yesterday when he heard the news, but it turned out a habitual thief had escaped from the jail, so he didn’t stay long before returning to the yamen. He hasn’t come back yet."

Wang Ruo had noticed the black cat searching for someone, so she simply told him what Zhao Jia had explained.
Jin Sheng!
Lu Xun’s gaze hardened. The jailers must have discovered that Jin Sheng, the habitual thief, had escaped.
Behind Jin Sheng was a formidable organization—not only strong fighters, but also priests skilled with talismans, elusive female ghosts, and... the tiger that had nearly devoured him.

Lu Xun jumped off the table and headed for the door.
"Wait for him at home. If you go out again, I’ll have a hard time explaining it."
Lu Xun looked at Wang Ruo, considered her words, and nodded slightly.
Little Moon was amazed. "Mistress, it understands human speech!"
She squatted down in front of the black cat.

Wang Ruo’s shock was plain to see. She had only repeated Zhao Jia’s instructions, never expecting the black cat to actually understand. Just now, the cat had even looked as though it were contemplating something—an expression no ordinary animal could fake.

Lu Xun had no intention of playing dumb.
To gain a powerful new head, he needed help, and Zhao Jia was undoubtedly the best choice.
It was fine to act like a cat in front of others, but with Zhao Jia in danger, he couldn’t just sit and wait for death.
How could he pass on a message? Lu Xun pondered. He remembered that the piebald tomcat used to speak, and the bald monk as well, but that was always in illusions—once those illusions were broken, he could no longer speak. Yet he himself couldn’t cast illusions.

This was truly troublesome.
Anxious, Lu Xun paced in circles, meowing.
He considered the usual ways to deliver a message.
If he couldn’t speak, he could always write.

In a flash, Lu Xun leapt onto the table, dipped his paw in the teapot, and began writing on the solid wood table.
Wang Ruo leaned in.
The symbols he scrawled were an indecipherable jumble to her.
"Mistress, it’s writing!"
Wang Ruo was astonished. She looked at Little Moon. "Do you recognize it?"
Little Moon was puzzled. "I can’t read, but when Master writes in the study, it looks like that. Mistress, you can read—see what the kitty wrote."

Wang Ruo’s shock deepened. Though she wasn’t from a noble family, she was well-educated and could read. That was precisely why she hadn’t realized at first that the cat’s scribbles were supposed to be characters. To her surprise, it took the illiterate Little Moon to see through it.
"I don’t recognize what he wrote."

Lu Xun smacked his forehead.
He had written in simplified characters.
This world resembled the ancient times of his own, but its language and script were completely different. Even in his own world, the ancient script came in countless variations—classical, vernacular, simplified, traditional—with vastly different meanings for the same character.
He had only understood their speech after obtaining the three-legged cat’s head; otherwise, the language would still have been a barrier.
Now it was too late to learn their script.
He would have to resort to a foolish method.

Lu Xun dashed out.
Alas—
In the study, he found an open book on the desk, grabbed it in his mouth, and carried it back.
He set it on the table, stretched out his paw, and tapped the book.
"What does this mean?"
Seeing they still didn’t understand, Lu Xun opened the book, pointed with his paw at the unfamiliar inky blocks, and meowed: "Meow."
Then he moved his paw and pointed at another character: "Meow."
Point, meow. Point, meow.

Wang Ruo leaned in and read aloud, "Stone, stream, walk, script, pool..."
The black cat shook his head and flipped the book back to the beginning.
Then, one character at a time, he pointed and meowed.