I swallowed, feeling as if my stomach was hungry again. John Chou jumped straight down from the tree, landing lightly in front of me. He shook himself, sending off a cloud of dust.
"So this is the Tabby Cat King you mentioned, Head Wolf?"
John Chou nodded.
"Who exactly is that guy?"
The burly and powerful Bullhorn King shook his head.
"I'm not sure either. That guy has been on my turf for over two thousand years. During that time, he's eaten plenty of ghosts and is extremely strong. I fought him once—almost lost—especially when I saw his twelfth tail."
I was startled, but to this day I still don't understand what's going on.
"Can you tell me? Head Wolf, why didn’t you wait for me?"
"Of course it was urgent. Isn't that why I came to get you?"
John Chou said, and I didn't ask any further.
"Alright, Tabby Cat King, I'll take you to get something good to eat later."
I replied with a grunt and floated up alongside the two of them, swiftly heading north. Only later did I learn we were delivering an important message from the Wild Boar King in the living world to the Beast Lord.
I muttered under my breath. John Chou immediately cocked his head and glared at me. I quickly shut up. The mighty Bullhorn King didn’t seem to notice, but he clearly trusted us—he even came personally to protect me, the envoy.
Gradually, a brown smudge appeared on the horizon. I saw the entirety of Bull City—it really was shaped like a bull’s horn: thick at the base, thin at the tip, like a horn laid on its side. As we drew closer, I realized this massive city was truly built atop a bull’s horn. I’d never seen a horn so huge.
"Could it be..."
Before I could finish, the Bullhorn King turned his head, chuckled, and pointed to the spot where his right horn used to be.
"It really is my horn."
My heart leapt—I was stunned. John Chou stayed silent. We followed the Bullhorn King straight to the tip of the horn, where there was a vast cluster of round buildings, like interconnected tents. I saw many bull-spirits, all upright and robust, while the smaller, thinner ones were cows.
"You can rest here for now. Take a day off, and tomorrow I'll tell you about the Beast Lord."
From a distance, it looked like just the tip of a bull’s horn, but as we got closer, I realized the surface area was massive, dotted with large and small round tents. We were led by the Bullhorn King to a big round-topped tent on the left. Inside was a soft mat. As soon as we entered, John Chou flopped down without ceremony. I glanced around.
"Brother, get me some wine. Is it in the jar on the table?"
"You're the boss, aren't you? Can't you get it yourself? Or did your Bloodbane Power run dry?"
I grumbled. John Chou looked over at me.
"Sigh, you forget who saved you. If not for me, you would've vanished forever in this Animal Realm."
I walked over, grabbed the wine jar, and sniffed it. There was a rank odor mixed with a sharp scent. I stuck out my tongue and tasted a sip—instantly, the burn shot from my throat straight to my stomach.
"Not bad, right?"
I immediately spat it out, shaking my head.
"Terrible."
Then I handed the wine to John Chou. He took it and gulped down a huge mouthful. I stared in disbelief.
"You did that on purpose. You never wait for me."
Annoyed, I walked over to the edge of the soft mat and sat down heavily.
"If you can't keep up, the power of the Animal Realm will twist you into a beast."
I was startled and jumped to my feet.
"What do you mean?"
The moment I finished speaking, I felt my body go weak—and I was starving, so hungry my mouth was watering. Just then, a cow walked in carrying a big basket.
"Guest, please help yourself."
I hurried over, momentarily stunned—it was a basket of bamboo shoots.
"Can you eat this?"
I blinked. John Chou burst out laughing.
After all, when the Bullhorn King asked about my companion, I could only describe him as the Tabby Cat King—black and white, eats bamboo. What else could I say?
"You..."
I raised my big paw and pointed at John Chou, unable to say a word. My stomach was growling with hunger. The only thing to eat was the basket of bamboo in front of me.
"So what do you eat?"
John Chou licked his lips.
"Wolves have to eat meat, of course."
"So where's the meat?"
John Chou grinned and patted his stomach. I sat down, too tired to argue. It was pointless.
"Wait, we're not the usual ghosts here—why are we affected by the power of the Animal Realm?"
John Chou explained that as soon as he arrived, he tried to figure out everything about this place. Once he learned the direction to Bull City, he ran nonstop. Soon, he felt his body changing—his ghostly energy began to solidify, which was strange since ghost energy usually has no physical form. But here, it was turning solid, like drying mud. Even his spirit core was affected. For certain ghosts, a physical body isn’t unusual because their energy is dense enough to form one, but most keep their ghostly energy dispersed. In this place, though, it was hardening.
The most obvious change was hunger. That’s not supposed to happen—a hungry stomach means your spirit core can’t generate ghost energy anymore. You have to absorb it from outside.
Hearing this made my stomach rumble even louder. I stared at the pile of bamboo, swallowing repeatedly. The only food in the room was the bamboo. I picked up a leaf and chewed it. The taste was impossible to describe—refreshing, but not really edible. I couldn’t swallow it and spat it out.
"We came for the Bloodbane Power. The Underworld ordered us to reclaim it."
"Ha, here you go, brother."
As he spoke, John Chou pulled a big chunk of dried meat from behind him and tossed it to me. I gnawed on it—it was fishy and tough.
"If you have food, don't overthink it, brother."
It took me hours to finish a piece of dried meat. It was nearly impossible to swallow—raw meat, air-dried, foul-smelling and tough.
The sky outside was darkening; night was falling. Soon, Bull City would light up. I never imagined seeing such a sight here—green lights, like fireflies, hung all over the massive horn.
I stood on a small platform outside the tent, quietly admiring the view.
John Chou stayed inside the tent. He advised me to move as little as possible—every movement consumed ghost energy, just like people use up energy in the living world. I ignored him. He hadn’t changed much from the boy I’d known—still hard to tolerate.
After standing in the wind for a while, my stomach started to growl again. I hurried back into the tent.
John Chou was still lying on the soft mat, eyes half closed. Luckily, I’d asked a bull-spirit to bring me a plant-woven mat earlier. I lay down on the right side, but lying on my back was uncomfortable—I had to lie on my stomach.
"Does the Beast Lord really exist?"
John Chou muttered. I looked at him in surprise, not sure what he meant.
"Rest up, brother. Maybe you can even sleep here!"
I really did feel a bit tired, a little sleepy—even though ghosts aren’t supposed to sleep. Gradually, I closed my eyes.
Slowly, I felt myself actually drifting off. The sensation was incredible.
"You’ve come here, have you!"
I heard a voice. A patch of grayish white appeared before me. Gradually, I saw a beast with a dragon’s face, but also somewhat like a horse. Its nose was bovine, ears like a deer’s, and its head was covered in fine, glowing white hair. Its fur was long and soft, almost like a rabbit’s. On top of its head were pairs of antlers—I lost count of how many.
"Who are you?"
The beast in front of me—impossible to name—just stared at me, its golden-red eyes fixed and unmoving.
"Go back. You shouldn’t be here."
With that, the beast turned and galloped away. I woke up abruptly, staring in shock at my surroundings.
"What’s wrong, brother? Bad dream?"
I shook my head and began to describe what I’d seen in the dream. John Chou looked puzzled, then smiled. I noticed the sky outside was bright now, and the sounds of animals echoed all around.
"Not to your taste, Tabby Cat King?"
Just then, the Bullhorn King came in. His two attendants pulled the curtain down behind him. He pressed one hand to the ground, and instantly a green glow spread out in all directions, forming a magic array. Green walls of light appeared all around.
"You’re from the Underworld, aren’t you?"
I stared at the Bullhorn King in surprise. John Chou nodded.
"So you do know."
"I know because you claimed to be Wild Boar King's subordinates, here to report something important to the Beast Lord. But in this Animal Realm, there’s no such thing as a Beast Lord."
I glanced at John Chou. He was smiling, but his eyes quickly turned cold.
"We came for the power of Blood Fiend. The Underworld ordered us to reclaim it."
"Not yet."
The Bullhorn King spoke up immediately.