TL: Cat
TLC: sleepchaser, Callis
The Autumn air was refreshing, with the heat of Summer having just receded. The sky was the colour of water that had been filtered blue to the point where it made others feel comfortable and refreshed, beautiful to the point of intoxication.
Somewhere in the palace of the state of Wei, lay a beautiful house that was built in the northwest corner of the imperial palace.
The house was built with two layers of green tiles and ridges on the roof, and a pair of auspicious beasts were lying on the top of the ridges. Although they were carved from wood, the knife technique was very delicate and lifelike.
From time to time, the sounds of cats and dogs could be heard inside the house. Looking at the plaque hung up on the door, such a beautiful house was actually a place for raising such animals. The palace was indeed a palace, but even the domesticated animals prospered so well.
Two little eunuchs dressed in blue came from the room, one carrying a small and exquisite gold cage. Closed inside the cage, lay a little snow-white dog with short legs. The other eunuch carried a package that was filled to the brim with items needed by the dog. While walking, they talked.
"Tell me, what breed is this dog that was given as a tribute from the West? We've raised so many different types of cats and dogs, yet have never seen such a breed before. Not only is it cute, look at its round eyes that are looking everywhere. Even when it's not in its sleeping area, it won't make a sound. It's really intelligent…"
"You don't say! This dog doesn't need us to train it every day. When it needs to do its business, it will climb into the wooden basin by itself. Whenever it's time to eat, it'll bark twice. It only barks twice at meal time every day, as if he were human…"
"Yeah, yeah. It's rare to see such an intelligent dog. No wonder it's a tribute. Now it's been adopted by Her Majesty, Consort Ru. When a person achieves the Dao, everyone around him will also ascend. Even the dogs and cats of the courtyard would have a higher status than the people outside…"
"No, in fact Her Majesty Consort Ru is the most gentle and kind. This dog really has it good…"
As the two little eunuchs conversed while walking, they didn't notice that the little snow-white dog in the cage had unexpectedly a human-like expression, like it wanted to cry but no tears would come out.
Gu Bai was very depressed. He had always thought that all the tasks that he would receive would all be in the form of a human being. He never would have thought that he could become some other creature besides a human.
For this task, the original host was a dog. Although it was a dog who had achieved spiritual wisdom, and reluctantly became a Yao, in essence it was still a dog!
The original host was called Ah Bai. As an animal, it originally had no name. Ah Bai was the result of its own white fur.
When Ah Bai was born, he was separated from his birth mother. The master who carried him away did not yet have the chance to name him before dying in an unforeseen, accidental death in the forest due. As a result, Ah Bai was left in the forest, and was then later taken away by a white tiger, thought of as a toy. That was how Ah Bai survived the ordeal.
Because he was left in a mountain that had a lot of spiritual energy in it, his consciousness had prematurely awakened, breaking away from the beasts and rising into an insignificant Yao.
As a Yao, it was more difficult to practice than it was for a normal human being. To make it more challenging, there was no longer any spiritual master to help teach Ah Bai.
The effect of this kind of cultivation was not that obvious. Many Yao who had been practicing for hundreds of years might not be as talented as those who had only been practicing for 30 years.
Therefore, his cultivation was not only meagre, but he also was not able to identify other Yao. What was even worse, was that Ah Bai couldn't even recognise that he, himself was a "Yao". He practiced instinctively all day while playing in the mountains.
So after one or two hundred years living in the mountains, Ah Bai felt bored. One day, he decided to leave the mountain, venturing off into the bustling human town.
Although he was originally just a common puppy, because of his Yao's cultivation Ah Bai's canine appearance had changed entirely.
His white fur was first class, with it changing to a softer and brighter feel, even surpassing that of a seductive fox's fur. His four short legs, plus his pair of round eyes that shone with intelligence, just take a glance and you didn't even have to mention how cute Ah Bai was.
Although he was a "Yao", because of his low cultivation, Ah Bai had little magic power, except for attaining some intelligence and agility. Overall, Ah Bai was still just an adorable and good-looking puppy.
As a result of his beautiful appearance. After Ah Bai left the mountains, he was caught by a passing tribute team, from the Western Regions. As a tribute, it was sent to the palace of the State of Wei.
Once he had arrived at the imperial palace of the State of Wei, due to his adorable appearance, Ah Bai was adopted by Her Majesty, Consort Ru, who took a fancy to him.
Speaking of this, one should also talk about Her Majesty, Consort Ru. Her real name was Su Xinru. She was originally a xiunu, and could only be considered pretty. She could not be called a calamitous beauty. Compared to the other beauties in the imperial harem, she was not as eye-catching.
However, it was a mystery as to when Su Xinru had begun to change. Her skin became smooth and soft, like it could be broken from a tap or a puff of air. Her picturesque features and complexion were tender, and her appearance became extraordinarily beautiful..
With such a beautiful face and a gentle and understanding character, she had smoothly won over the Emperor's favour. One day, she was finally granted the title of Imperial Consort, and was then allowed to manage the harem.
Therefore, being bestowed to such a beloved concubine, Ah Bai ought to enjoy a very comfortable life.
In truth, Ah Bai's life by Consort Ru's side was pretty good. His meals, drinks, living area, and entertainment were all taken care of by other people. It was even better than some of the lower-ranked Imperial concubines.
In addition, to Ah Bai's luck, he was able to often see the Emperor Tianchen of the State of Wei, which had opened up an unrequited puppy love towards the Emperor.
Seeing this, the corner of Gu Bai's mouth twitched. He had already guessed what the key points of his task were.
That Emperor Tianchen was nothing more than a prince born from a low-ranking palace maid of the State of Wei. Without a powerful maternal clan to support him, he was inconspicuous among the other princes.
However, he had practiced the martial arts skills very well, and had kept a low profile. In the later stages of the battle for the throne, he defeated the other princes and forced the Wei Emperor to pass the throne to him before he died.
Such a cruel and merciless means of ascending the throne naturally made others brand him a tyrant. However, Emperor Tianchen did not care, and in addition to his personality and schemes, he was despotic. Yet all the courtiers had to admit that Emperor Tianchen was a very capable ruler.
Beyond that of his reign, Emperor Tianchen's appearance was very handsome; he had bronze-coloured skin, a tall and strong physique, along with a pair of thick eyebrows that was slanted towards his sideburns. His face was sharp as a knife, and was handsome too.
So, it was no surprise that Ah Bai, a simple puppy Yao who had never seen the world, would fall head over tails for this tyrant.
In addition, Ah Bai noticed that because Tianchen was the emperor, his body carried the purple Dragon Qi. It was this type of Qi that was off-putting to demons and ghosts.
However, he was not afraid. On the contrary, he often met with Emperor Tianchen and was even intimate with him. The purple Dragon Qi that the other had inherited helped Ah Bai cultivate. In a short amount of time, his cultivation was equal to what it would have been had he cultivated in the mountains for a hundred years.
In this way, Ah Bai was more fond of sticking to the Emperor Tianchen. He secretly wished to have the body of a human so that he could be together with the Majesty that he loved and admired.
The imagination is the flesh, reality is the backbone.
He didn’t know when it began, but Ah Bai noticed that his cultivation was like a funnel. He’d cultivate one day, and it would be gone the next.
It went on until one day, he found that he had become an ordinary puppy, and his spiritual cultivation disappeared. He was shocked to know that it was Her Majesty, Consort Ru. The other side somehow found Ah Bai's "Yao" identity and managed to absorb all of his cultivation.
From then on, Su Xinru tore off the disguise she had long since been hiding behind . She not only tortured Ah Bai in private, but also colluded with the Imperial Prince to conspire for the throne.
He often saw Her Majesty, Consort Su reach her hand out to hook around the Heavenly Emperor's neck. The Heavenly Emperor had smiled at her with an expression he had never used with any of the other imperial concubines, tapping her nose, face showing his pampering. In his heart, the original host was both envious and worried.
Ah Bai was eager to rip off the mask that the other had put on. He didn't want his beloved Emperor Tianchen to be deceived by this woman's deceptive mask. However, it was pointless because he was just a dog, and who would believe a dog?
By this time, Ah Bai's life had already tragically come to its end.
Her Majesty, Consort Ru, had taken it upon her own hands to kill him. Before he died, he suffered from all kinds of torture, finally being skinned by Consort Ru.
When his immortal soul flew out of his body, he could see Su Xinru's bloody and ruthless expression, murmuring words that he could not understand.
"…Fortunately, I’m an Imperial Consort now. There are no animal protection laws in this era. Otherwise, I'll be put into jail for two years, if the dogs lover knew about my behaviour. Hey! System! Didn't you say you wanted to absorb the grievances? Hurry up! I lived the first half of my life in the 21st century where the red flag was fluttering about, I never learned about stuff like extraordinary things, unnatural strength, chaos and spiritual beings! How long can the Emperor Tianchen live for?…"
Ah Bai couldn't understand most of these words, but he understood one thing, that was, his beloved Majesty was going to be killed by this witch!
However, at that time, he had already died and couldn't do anything, but by chance, the original host found his mysterious master and made a deal.
The original host currently had two wishes.
First, stop the evil woman Su Xinru from murdering his Majesty. Second, he must gain the favour of the Emperor Tianchen. Fuck!
After receiving the story, Gu Bai was unable to restrain his thoughts.
The first task wasn't hard to do: stopping Su Xinru, the evil woman, from murdering Emperor Tianchen. The degree of difficulty for the second task, obtaining the Emperor Tianchen's favour was more difficult than making Monkey King of Tang MonkGJ!
Don't forget, the original host was just a dog. Even if he was already a Yao, he was still short on time for transforming into a human.
Was it normal for a person to fall in love with a dog? Furthermore, it was even the Emperor, His Majesty, the ruler of a harem of the three thousand beauties!
A dog VS a group of harem's concubines. This… Was there any chance of success…?
It's been such a long time since Gu Bai felt that it was going to be a difficult task to handle.
In addition to the original host's desire for the Emperor Tianchen's love being difficult, another truth unveiled by the plot gave him an even larger headache.
Perhaps the original host didn't understand Su Xinru's inexplicable murmurings to herself before he died, but as a system user, he understood that she was from a modern world, provided with help in the form of details of the storyline. He already knew what Su Xinru's origins were.
It was obvious from the other party's words that Su Xinru was a transmigrator. In addition, the other was not just an ordinary transmigrator.
The original Su Xinru was just an average, pretty daughter of a humble family, but she suddenly turned into a gorgeous beauty. With the last words, Gu Bai guessed that the other party might have a very peculiar system.
Gu Bai had also been influenced from living during the modern age of the Internet, so he knew what a system was. . . There were various signs that Su Xinru's system was not that simple.
In addition to releasing tasks to the host to exchange things, it seems to have intelligence, almost like a 'Yao'. Obviously, it was not Su Xinru who uncovered the status of the original host, but the system that had discovered that the original host was a Yao, devouring the cultivation of the original host for its own use.
In this way, Gu Bai had to deal with quite a powerful system as his enemy, of which he was not very clear about the details of.
After receiving and analysing the whole plot, Gu Bai felt an oncoming headache.
However, he was not the kind to just give up easily. No matter how hard the task was, he will try his best to finish it.
Only this time, the original body of this task was just a dog. If he wanted a majesty who had the beauty of rivers and mountains to fall in love with a dog, Gu Bai could only smile bitterly and put this wish behind him.
He'd better finish the task of preventing Su Xinru from murdering Emperor Tianchen first. As for the task of making Emperor Tianchen fall in love with him… He would try his best, but it truly was impossible. This time, he could only admit defeat. A human – Yao relationship wasn't difficult, but it was very difficult for a Yao that hadn't transformed……
*************
Two little eunuchs went all the way to Her Majesty, Consort Ru's Biquan palace with Gu Bai in a golden cage. Gu Bai was in a hurry to get out of the cage. Su Xinru had a system in her hand. He currently didn't have any ability to protect himself. If he fell into the other's grasp, he would share a fate similar to that of the original host's.
Seeing that he was getting closer to Biquan Palace, Gu Bai's heart was full of worry. Since he was already here, he might as well see it to the end.He suddenly rammed himself against the cage. Because the little eunuch wasn't careful, the cage fell from his hands onto the ground and the door opened. Gu Bai rushed out.
"Ah, how did it run out? Hurry, catch it…"
The two little eunuchs were shocked. They hurried to chase after him. This was the dog Her Majesty had taken a fancy to. If something bad happened, they'd have to bear all the consequences.
Gu Bai didn't care about the two little eunuchs behind him. When he left the cage, he ran straight towards the Imperial study.
As a dog, if you wanted to survive in the palace, you had to find a good master. Who in the palace would be more powerful than the Emperor?
The answer was, of course that there wasn't, so embracing his Majesty's thigh was now the primary goal!
Although the original host's accomplishments were not high, he was already a Yao. His body was extremely agile and flexible. Gu Bai soon threw off the two little eunuchs and had found the Imperial study using the original host's memories, and jumped in through the window.
As soon as he had arrived at the Imperial study, Gu Bai caught sight of a man sitting behind a desk. He was dressed in bright yellow imperial robes. Handsome in a heroic and righteous way, a high nose bridge and deep eyes. His whole body exuded the majesty and imposing manner of someone belonging to the imperial family. Who else could he be but Emperor Tianchen?
Gu Bai's eyes widened in an instant, and then from his chest bubbled out a burst of excitement.
"Woof, woof, woof…" Your Majesty, your Majesty! My dear Majesty! The majesty I love and respect, I love you!
After a moment of feverish excitement, he could not hold himself from sprinting over with his little legs any longer. Then he lay by Emperor Tianchen's feet, stuck out his tongue, and licked his shoes. His gaze was full of passionate love and endless yearning , wishing that he would never leave His Majesty's side for a lifetime.
It wasn't until Emperor Tianchen felt something at his feet, reached out to grab Gu Bai's nape, and lifted him as if he were lifting a kitten, that this ended. It wasn't until he doubtfully asked, "Where did this little dog come from?", that Gu Bai finally came to his senses.
Gu Bai's expression immediately distorted.
What the fuck! Due to his excitement, he had actually licked the other person's shoes to express his love! He had actually barked so naturally and full of sentimental attachment! He had actually continued to act out the original host's canine instincts! What the fuck!!
He cursed in his heart. Gu Bai really could not bear to look at himself. He had actually done such an idiotic thing. The emotions of the original host were truly difficult to deal with for each task.
However, after a short roar, he still had to bow to reality. He widened his eyes, and stretched out a fat, short front paw to scratch the sleeves of Emperor Tianchen, acting cute.
"Woof woof…"
Well, in order to finish the task, even if he was a dog, he had already accepted it. Anyway, no one would be able to recognize him after he finished the task! Yes, that's it. In order to complete the task, his integrity could be eaten completely!
T/N:
Cat: Hi all! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ Some of you may know me or you might be the latter in which you don’t! but that’s okay! Just need to remind you to not call me a translator cause i'm no way in the same league as the other (awesome) Translators.
Now onto what most authors you see in novels do! The Thank you messages! ˭̡̞(◞⁎˃ᆺ˂)◞*✰
I want to thank sleepchaser, DanDan and Callis for all the help, along with Divi, Elestrea, Mina, BaobaoBeth and Cheonsa_I_BL for helping me during my rookie/noob times.
You won't be seeing me often as I don't think I'll have a go at this again, but to end it off with a happy or funny note, here are a bit of commentary of the chapter i did:
What you don't do when MTLing a chapter:
Callis' reaction to skinning the dog moment:
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