Chapter Fifty-four: The Righteous Mouse

(Still asking for your votes, Three Rivers!)

Chen Jianchen struck out with his palm, and before he even got close, a radiant light shot forth from the “Fix” character in his palm, piercing into the demon’s body like a needle.

At that prick, the previously enormous ghostly creature deflated instantly as if a balloon had been punctured. With a whoosh, its body shrank rapidly, and within the blink of an eye, it had become no bigger than a fist, trembling uncontrollably on the ground.

Looking closer, it was actually a gray-furred rat, curled up tightly and unable to move. Beside it lay a scrap of cloth, roughly the size of a palm, tattered and ragged.

So, it was a rat spirit!

Chen Jianchen could not help but laugh, though a hint of suspicion rose in his heart. He was just pondering whether he ought to stomp it flat when the rat spirit suddenly leaped up, struggled to its feet, and kowtowed to him with all its might, crying out in human speech, “Please spare my life, young master!”

Its words were somewhat garbled, but unmistakably human, and perfectly intelligible.

“Oh? You can speak?”

Chen Jianchen was amazed.

The rat spirit pressed its tiny paws together in a gesture of deep fear and humility and replied, “By chance, I found and ate a spiritual pill, which transformed my throat’s cartilage, allowing me to utter human speech.”

So that’s how it was. Enlightened, Chen Jianchen bent to pick up the scrap of skin and examined it carefully. Wasn’t this a painted skin?

Yet this one’s lines were faded and broken in many places, tattered as though it had been ruined. Whether it had always been so or had just been pierced by the righteous energy from Chen Jianchen’s palm was unclear.

Master Qingyun had mentioned that a painted skin was a type of magical implement, refined from human skin. As for the process, Chen Jianchen didn’t know, but he’d also heard there were treasures of even higher rank than magical implements.

Those legendary treasures could be as large or small as one wished, with astonishing power, sentient and intelligent, capable of flight and escape—truly objects of legend, as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns.

Chen Jianchen’s face darkened. “Rat spirit, now that you are enlightened and possess intelligence, you ought to keep away from the mortal world and cultivate in peace. Why would you haunt human dwellings and frighten people?”

Terrified, the rat spirit immediately banged its head on the ground. “It’s all because of my greed for a taste of oil. I only wanted to drink a little…” It recounted the entire process in detail.

It turned out it had once been an ordinary rat. While digging a tunnel, it had accidentally entered an ancient tomb—the burial place of a cultivator. Inside, it found a pill with an enticing aroma. Its hunger overwhelmed it, and it swallowed the pill in one gulp, gaining intelligence out of nowhere and even transforming its throat so it could mimic human speech.

Typically, for a demon to speak, it must either cultivate until it can take human form or rely on certain magical implements. This rat spirit, however, had leapt straight to enlightenment in a single bound.

In the tomb, the rat spirit had also found a painted skin. When worn, it could take the form of a fearsome ghost and terrify others—a perfect fit for its needs. Although it had gained intelligence, it hadn’t even reached the Yin Spirit stage, and its natural body was weak, lacking any means to protect itself. With the painted skin, it could at least frighten away predators.

By nature timid yet gluttonous, the rat, still dazed by its newfound intelligence and utterly ignorant of human affairs, blundered into the Geng family’s oil shop. Without a second thought, it dove into the oil barrel and drank its fill, feeling utterly satisfied. If anyone approached, it would don the ghost disguise and scare them off, which led to the recent string of incidents.

After hearing all this, Chen Jianchen found it rather amusing.

Just as humans come in all types, so do monsters; there isn’t only one kind of temperament. As the saying goes, “Mice steal oil.” Who would have thought that even after gaining intelligence, this rat spirit still loved oil so much…

Seeing Chen Jianchen lost in thought, the rat spirit grew ever more anxious, not knowing what fate awaited it. Though it longed to flee, its limbs were still limp, so it could only bang its head on the floor until its forehead bled, pleading desperately, “Spare me, young master! If you let me live, I will follow you wherever you go, brave any danger, leap into boiling oil or raging fires for you…”

The phrases it used were all ones it had learned from listening to the Geng family’s workers. Now, they rolled off its tongue with practiced ease and dramatic flair, even bringing forth a couple of mouse tears. It truly had the makings of a sycophant.

Chen Jianchen’s heart stirred, and he said sternly, “Are you truly willing to serve me?”

At these words, the rat spirit swore with newfound vigor, “Absolutely! Should I break my word, may I drown in a barrel of oil!”

Chen Jianchen chuckled. “Very well. Although you caused some trouble, you have not committed real evil. Your nature is not bad. If you genuinely wish to follow me, I will not treat you poorly. When the opportunity arises, I’ll even grant you cultivation techniques and guide you on the path.”

This was an offer too good to refuse.

Sure enough, the rat spirit’s beady eyes lit up immediately.

Newly awakened, it had no sense of direction and no idea where to go or what to do. To follow Chen Jianchen and learn genuine cultivation was a rare and priceless opportunity. If missed, it might never come again. Most cultivators, upon meeting a spirit like it, would strike with a talisman and eradicate it on the spot.

The rat spirit, of course, had no idea that Chen Jianchen was not a traditional cultivator; it only knew that he was incredibly powerful. That single palm strike had unleashed an awe-inspiring pressure that scattered its soul and left it utterly incapable of resistance. All it could do was await its doom.

It was just like when it had been an ordinary mouse, encountering a cat.

A natural enemy.

To the rat spirit, Chen Jianchen was an utterly irresistible force.

“Little Mouse pays respects to Master!” The rat spirit promptly prostrated itself, all six limbs on the ground—counting its four feet, head, and even its tail.

Unexpectedly acquiring a rat spirit as a follower, Chen Jianchen felt a surge of excitement. “Do you have a name?”

The rat spirit scratched its head with some embarrassment. “Since gaining intelligence, I gave myself a title: ‘Ancestor Tunnel-Borer.’”

Chen Jianchen laughed. “That’s too crude. Why don’t I give you a new name?”

The rat spirit quickly replied, “Please, Master, grant me a name.”

After a moment’s thought, Chen Jianchen recalled a story called “The Righteous Rat” and said, “Your name shall be Little Yi. I hope you will be a loyal and righteous spirit and never harm the world.”

The rat spirit was delighted. “Thank you, Master, for the name.”

Then Chen Jianchen laid down three rules for its conduct: it must not wander aimlessly, must not speak human words to frighten people, and so forth.

Little Yi agreed to everything, pledging absolute obedience.

The painted skin it had found was now ruined by righteous energy, nothing but a worthless scrap to be thrown away. But since its body was small and hiding places were many, and it no longer needed to pose as a ghost to scare people, the loss of the painted skin hardly mattered. At Chen Jianchen’s command, it dove into a hole and fell fast asleep, soothing its badly frightened little heart.

c@