Married a Big Cat After Transmigrating to the Interstellar Era – CH23

Chapter 23

This scent seemed to stir his emotions effortlessly. Although it wasn’t strong, he felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of delight.

“What are you doing, Jian Da Meow?”

Shi Xiaowang’s voice suddenly came, and the lion twitched his ears, then slowly turned and walked over to him, pretending nothing had happened.

Shi Xiaowang looked at him, then at the tiny sprouts on the table, and his eyes curved into a smile. He picked up the sprouts and held them in front of Jian Da Meow, watching his reaction with interest.

Jian Da Meow glanced at him briefly, then averted his gaze, as if the nearby roses were more interesting.

Shi Xiaowang found it amusing and brought his hand closer to the lion’s nose.

“Take a sniff.”

The lion paused for a moment, then looked back at him, his eyes a mix of surprise and restraint.

The surprise was that, for some reason, the scent of the sprouts seemed much stronger now that they were in Shi Xiaowang’s hands.

The restraint was that the scent was indeed a little intoxicating. It wasn’t uncontrollable, but…

Even though he was human inside, Jian Da Meow found it hard to accept that his emotions could be influenced by catnip.

So he turned and ran.

“Hey! Don’t go upstairs yet! I haven’t wiped your paws!”

Shi Xiaowang hurriedly called after him.

Looking at the small handful of seedlings in his hand, Shi Xiaowang understood. No wonder Jian Da Meow wanted to run—there were too few sprouts. These few seedlings didn’t even register with him.

No wonder he was a large feline. Next time, plant more!

After tidying downstairs, Shi Xiaowang went upstairs with the longevity lock in hand.

The lion lay on the carpet by the bed. When he saw Shi Xiaowang, he pushed the towel meant for wiping his paws toward him, signaling that his paws were already clean.

Shi Xiaowang chuckled and sat beside him, carefully examining the longevity lock. Jian Da Meow’s gaze also fell on the piece of jewelry.

The lock, about the size of a rose leaf, was engraved with ancient auspicious cloud patterns. Three small bells dangled from it, producing a light, crisp sound with every movement—audible but not intrusive.

To be honest, the longevity lock wasn’t particularly delicate. Up close, the patterns had slight imperfections and looked a bit crooked.

“I knew this longevity lock existed, but I thought it had been discarded long ago,” Shi Xiaowang said.

“It occupies quite a bit of space in Mom’s diary—from the records she saw in ancient texts, to her own design of the lock’s size and style, then consulting craftsmen. In three months, she ruined countless attempts: some too large, some too small, some pierced while engraving the patterns, even giving herself blisters. Only in the end did she make this one,” he said, lowering his eyes and lightly stroking the bells with his fingers.

“In fact, she wasn’t satisfied with this one either, but by then the frontlines had become critical. Dad received the order to go to the front. She had planned to redo it when he returned… but she didn’t come back.”

The lion rested a paw on his knee, quietly watching him.

Shi Xiaowang rubbed his head, then got up, threaded a string through the lock, and wore it himself.

The lock hung over his chest. He tugged at his collar and turned to smile at Jian Da Meow.

“Does it look good?”

The silver piece gleamed against his fair skin. The eye was drawn to the small bells, down along his deliberately loosened collar, giving glimpses of the faint red marks beneath.

Jian Da Meow’s gaze flickered. He instinctively looked away, his tail swaying slightly behind him, feeling strangely guilty.

But Shi Xiaowang didn’t notice. He continued examining the lock, fiddling with the three tiny bells, producing a soft tinkling.

“All done.”

Shi Xiaowang took off the lock and placed it by the bedside.

“I need to do another livestream. I left too abruptly just now; I should update everyone and let them know I’m safe.”

He turned to Jian Da Meow.

“Want to come along?”

Jian Da Meow seemed lost in thought. Shi Xiaowang called him several times before he finally looked up, then, unsurprisingly, leapt onto the bed.

He chose to sleep.

Alright.

Shi Xiaowang sighed and shook his head helplessly, thinking again of the ruined catnip plants. Next time, he’d plant them properly.

When Shi Xiaowang went downstairs, the lion opened his eyes again, but the image in his mind seemed frozen on that pure white scene… and the warm, fragrant scent of plants as it drew near.

The lion flattened his ears, feeling conflicted.

He suspected that his recent burst of anger had affected his internal frenzy. Otherwise, why, after thinking about biting Wang Huanhuan’s neck, did he suddenly want to bite Shi Xiaowang?

Unlike anger, the urge to bite Shi Xiaowang came simply because he was too tempting—both in appearance and scent.

He wanted to leave his mark on that white expanse…

These thoughts left him feeling both strangely ashamed and restless.

Jian Da Meow buried his head under Shi Xiaowang’s pillow, covering his eyes.

It must be the mental contamination. Sleep.

Just a short while later, footage from the previous livestream had spread across the StarNet, and official notices from the Royal Academy and the Federation had been released.

When Shi Xiaowang went live again, the viewer count multiplied several times.

The previous broadcast had been somewhat dangerous. Seeing Shi Xiaowang, viewers flooded the comments with concern.

“I’m fine. Thanks for worrying. Nothing like this will happen again, so don’t worry,” Shi Xiaowang said, smiling. He briefly updated them on events, then shifted the topic.

He buried the ruined catnip in soil and said regretfully,

“Unfortunately, these catnip babies, as the only victims of this misfortune, can only turn into flower soil and protect the next generation.”

He sighed and after a brief moment of silence, began planting new catnip, muttering as he worked.

“I’m really sorry…”

Shi Xiaowang’s relaxed demeanor gradually eased the tension of the previously wary viewers, who even held a “Cyber Catnip Memorial Ceremony” in the comments, amusing him.

Speaking of catnip, someone mentioned the lion briefly seen at the end of the previous shot.

[If I’m not mistaken, the one that pounced on Wang Huanhuan just now was the lion, right?]
[Could the big cat the young duke mentioned before be this lion?]
[What? The lion saved the young duke?]
[ …The young duke actually keeps such a hardcore pet?]

“Yes, the one who saved me just now is my big cat,” Shi Xiaowang said with a smile.

“Strictly speaking, Jian Mo raised him. He was already here when I came to the Marshal’s Mansion, but now I take care of him. I even gave him a name—Jian Da Meow. Doesn’t it suit me? You can tell we’re a family just by the name.”

Talking about Jian Da Meow made Shi Xiaowang a little proud. After all, it was a lion—the king of the forest!

The viewers were impressed too and began showering Jian Da Meow with compliments.

[Indeed, he stepped up at a critical moment. Isn’t he even more useful than Jian Mo?]
[I want a lion knight to protect me too! Super cool!]
[Where? Where? I didn’t see the lion!]
[Lion? I want to see!]

“Jian Da Meow is sleeping upstairs,” Shi Xiaowang shrugged.

“Cats love to sleep. They’re awake so little during the day. No wonder I look forward to catnip so much.”

Laughter filled the comments, and viewers began talking about their own pets.

Shi Xiaowang was briefly lost in thought.

Right—both Meng Zhan and His Majesty had asked about his safety immediately after the incident, but Jian Mo hadn’t sent even a single message.

Of course, Jian Mo might have been busy, unaware of what had happened, or perhaps Uncle Ye had contacted him or verified his safety by other means. Rationally, Shi Xiaowang understood.

But in his heart, he still felt a slight, lingering disappointment.

When he finished the livestream and went upstairs, seeing Jian Da Meow still asleep, Shi Xiaowang squinted, a mischievous smile on his face.

Then he let out a playful “Ha!” and pounced, hugging the furry lion, waking him up instantly.

Facing Jian Da Meow’s bewildered, wary eyes, Shi Xiaowang chuckled.

Realizing the prank, the lion gave a helpless, speechless glance, then lay back down, letting him laugh foolishly.

After enough laughing, Shi Xiaowang sighed, causing the lion to twitch his ears and glance at the person resting on his belly.

“Same surname Jian, but our Da Meow is the best. Look at your owner…”

Shi Xiaowang grabbed the lion’s tail, twirling its tip between his fingers, speaking plaintively.

Jian Da Meow raised an eyebrow.

Hmm?

Shi Xiaowang hesitated, torn between reason and emotion, then finally complained:

“Even His Majesty sent a video to check on me, but he hasn’t sent a single message! He really doesn’t care about my safety! I was on his turf! Even as a guest, he should care!”

Once he started complaining, he couldn’t stop.

“I know he might be busy, but he could have sent a message. Even if he usually ignores news or livestreams, something this big would surely reach him via Uncle Ye, right? Just because Uncle Ye said I’m fine, he won’t check on me at all? My body’s fine, but what if my heart’s hurt?”

Shi Xiaowang rolled over, hugging the lion’s neck, still looking unhappy.

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

Jian Da Meow… Jian Mo, was amused by the sudden accusations. People had pinned him to the ground—wasn’t that enough concern for his safety?

The lion stayed silent, tapping him lightly with his tail. Shi Xiaowang didn’t expect a verbal response, sighed, and lay back down.

“I’m not entirely unreasonable. One message is no big deal, but it’s just…”

He wanted Jian Mo to care more. In his heart, Jian Mo’s kindness had become something he took for granted.

Shi Xiaowang realized that at some point, his cautious, tentative feelings toward Jian Mo’s care had turned into greedy entitlement.

“Ah! No, no! I can’t be so dramatic!”

He buried himself in the blanket.

“Sleep! One sleep will fix it. I’m just too tense today…”

Watching the mound of the blanket, the lion’s eyes glimmered with an emotion even he hadn’t noticed.

He understood the unsaid words. Clearly, Shi Xiaowang hadn’t received enough care, and the little one was starting to throw a tantrum.

Shi Xiaowang was like a snail.

He carried a seemingly hard shell, always worried about bothering others, carefully maintaining boundaries with logic. Yet inside, his desire for home and family was like delicate, sensitive tendrils, cautiously seeking warmth he could call home.

Listening to Shi Xiaowang’s steady breathing, Jian Mo looked at the longevity lock by the bedside and sent a message to Uncle Ye:

[Uncle Ye, help me find some cords.]

After a moment, he added:

[Preferably red.]

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