Jin Luo had another dream.
Similar dreams, each one a continuation of the last, like a TV series.
In the dream, he was a stray cat - a skinny, matted-fur dairy cow cat that had been wandering for a long time.
Like countless ordinary stray cats, he spent every day struggling just to survive.
Jin Luo watched as "he" fought with other stray cats and dogs for food, darted through dangerous traffic, and was soaked by rain on stormy nights...
He wanted to help the dairy cow cat, but couldn't control its actions. He could only watch from the cat's perspective as it struggled through each difficult day, feeling its gnawing hunger and the pain of infected wounds.
On this day, he dreamed that the dairy cow cat was following a drunk man, the cat's gaze fixed intently on the bag in the man's hand.
As night fell, the cat's hunger grew more intense as it failed to find food.
A delicious aroma of grilled skewers wafted from the bag the man in front was carrying, making the cat's mouth water.
So Jin Luo knew the cat was waiting for the man to discard his leftover skewers.
Cats have excellent night vision. Besides the skewers, Jin Luo also saw the drunk man's increasingly slow steps and the glass bottle in his hand reflecting the streetlights.
He desperately shouted in his mind: "Run! It's dangerous!"
But Jin Luo couldn't control the dairy cow cat. He couldn't make it flee, nor could he communicate his thoughts to it.
"Meow—"
A piercing cat cry and the sound of shattering glass echoed through the empty street. The drunk man's flushed face twisted into a vicious grin as he smashed the bottle onto the cat that couldn't dodge in time, then kicked it hard.
"You beast! Trying to eat my skewers!"
The dairy cow cat struggled to its feet, dodging the drunk man and running away with a pained cry.
The drunk spat: "Lucky you ran fast!"
In the darkness, the cat with a broken leg limped away, tail tucked between its legs, towards a less populated area.
It hurts so much...
Jin Luo empathized deeply with the dairy cow cat.
But what could be done? No one would pay attention to a dirty, injured stray cat.
The dairy cow cat had no home. After walking for a long time, it finally found a seemingly safe bush to hide in. It slowly began licking its fur, wet with spilled beer, and its injured front paw.
Jin Luo felt sorrow for the dairy cow cat.
A stray cat with untreated injuries would likely die soon.
Suddenly, light footsteps approached. The bush sheltering the dairy cow cat was pushed aside, revealing a familiar face in the cat's view.
A young girl squatted down, tilting her head as she examined the cat in the bush: "Poor thing."
Manman!
Jin Luo shouted in shock internally.
Long brown hair, a sweet fair face, faint dimples, short round cat-like eyes with pupils as bright as black glass beads.
Except for the eye color, the girl before him looked exactly like Yun Manman.
But why? Why would Manman appear in his dream?
The dream world was clearly completely different from the Lingyi Continent.
Jin Luo's thoughts were in utter chaos.
But Manman had been in a relationship for many years, and he had long since let go of his feelings.
While he was still shocked and confused, the dairy cow cat had already retreated warily, hissing fiercely at the girl: "Meow!"
"Oh, quite spirited for a little guy." The girl remarked, placing a sausage half a meter away from the cat.
"Eat up. I hope you're still alive tomorrow."
With that, the girl left gracefully.
The dairy cow cat sat with ears perked up, watching with wide eyes. Only when the surroundings fell completely silent did it slowly approach the already opened sausage.
It was so hungry that the smell of the sausage was irresistible. Even if it contained poison, the cat would still eat it.
However, Jin Luo inexplicably knew this girl wouldn't do such a thing.
"Ring ring ring—"
Jin Luo opened his eyes to the sound of the alarm clock.
He stared at the snow-white ceiling, feeling dazed.
The events in the dream felt too real, as if he had experienced them personally. Even after waking, the details remained vivid.
He reached for his communicator to message Yun Manman: "Are you coming back for Grandma's memorial day?"
Jin Luo knew Yun Manman returned every year for her grandmother's memorial day, which was a week away.
Perhaps influenced by the dream, or perhaps wanting to confirm something, Jin Luo felt compelled to message Yun Manman.
Yun Manman replied quickly: "Yes, I'm coming back."
Followed by another message: "Lu Qi is coming with me."
Jin Luo's mouth turned down slightly.
Although he no longer had feelings for Manman, he really disliked this childish singing snake who seemed to have grown up drinking vinegar, even if he was a general of Kashida.
Inside the Singing Snake Mansion.
Yun Manman snatched her communicator back from Lu Qi's hand, looking at the message that she clearly hadn't written herself with a mix of amusement and exasperation: "What's wrong with you?"
She put down the communicator and straddled the man, squishing his sulking face between her hands: "How can you be jealous of this? Jin Luo was just asking if I'm going back."
Lu Qi's sharp, handsome face was like dough in her hands, his eyes and nose distorted as he grumbled sourly: "Mind your own business."
Even after being together for over twenty years, Lu Qi still regarded all males around Yun Manman with a cold eye.
"Oh my, your temper's improving, Lu Qiqi. You're saying I can't manage you now?" Yun Manman lay on top of him, trying to tickle him.
With her soft, fragrant body in his arms, and it being early morning, Lu Qi would have doubted himself if he had no reaction.
"You're not ticklish?" Yun Manman looked up in confusion after trying to tickle him for a while without seeing him laugh, only to find herself caught in his deep, whirlpool-like gaze.
Oh no.
Yun Manman instinctively sensed trouble. She tried to climb off the bed, supporting her still slightly sore waist, but a cool, smooth snake tail wrapped around her waist and pulled her back under the covers.
"Then why don't you come manage me now?"
As night fell, Jin Luo had never been so eager to enter the dream world.
Curiosity and confusion drove him to want to see the dream version of Yun Manman again.
The cat was still in the bush, exhausted and drowsy. Outside, it was already bright daylight.
Jin Luo had a feeling the cat wouldn't last much longer.
He moved his paw and was surprised to find he could now control the stray cat's body.
Jin Luo struggled to support the wobbling body and crawled out of the bush.
He had to find someone to help, or the stray cat would die.
But who could he turn to? This world had too many humans unfriendly to stray animals.
Jin Luo looked around anxiously, his eyes lighting up when he saw the familiar silhouette of the girl at the corner.
It was the girl who looked just like Yun Manman from yesterday.
The dairy cow cat limped towards the flower shop at the street corner.
"Meow~" Save me.
The weak cat cry attracted Manman's attention.
The girl who had been watering plants on the shelves turned her head, raising an eyebrow at the dirty little bundle on the ground.
"Oh, you want me to save you?"
Jin Luo watched the petite girl walk towards him step by step, inexplicably feeling his heart start to beat faster again.
The girl didn't mind the stray cat's filthy state, carefully wrapping it up in her work apron.
She called into the flower shop: "Dad, I'm going to the vet!"
"Can you watch the shop for me?"
A tall man with a refined air hurried out of the shop. Seeing the cat in the girl's arms, he frowned slightly: "How did this cat get so badly hurt? Poor thing."
"Hurry and go. Do you need Dad to give you some money?"
The girl shook her head, looking down at her phone to call a taxi: "The car's here, I'm leaving."
"Alright, be careful on the way, Manman."
Manman! The girl's father called her Manman!
Jin Luo's heart surged like a tidal wave. He tried his best to keep his eyes open to observe the girl holding him, but the stray cat's sick body couldn't withstand it, and he passed out.
"Captain Jin! Captain Jin! The witness from the last case is here!"
The shout from his subordinate made Jin Luo spring up from the bed in the on-duty room.
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Jin Luo responded while his mind raced with thoughts.
This was definitely not an ordinary dream.
The next time he entered the dream, the stray cat had already been adopted by the girl called Manman and was living in the flower shop. She had even named it Luoluo.
"Luoluo! Behave! We need to change the bandage on your paw!"
For a moment, Jin Luo thought the girl was calling out to him.
Manman picked up the dairy cow cat hiding in the corner, muttering: "Huh, why have you suddenly become so well-behaved..."
The dairy cat had grown up and was particularly wary due to being hurt by humans before.
Every time Manman tried to give him medicine or change his bandages, it was a huge struggle.
Fortunately, he was quite greedy, and could be bribed with small cat treats.
"Meow meow..."
Who are you really? Is this truly a dream?
Jin Luo stared at the young girl's beautiful, soft profile and couldn't help but ask aloud.
"Ah, I'm Yun Manman, didn't I introduce myself before?"
"What dream are you talking about? I don't understand. Are all you dairy cats' thought processes so different?"
The girl finished changing the dairy cat's bandages and gently scratched under his chin, her expression calm as she spoke words that shocked the cat.
Jin Luo: !
"Meow meow meow!" You can understand what I'm saying!
Everyone here is clearly pure human, so why can she understand cat speech!
Manman stared at the bristling dairy cat in front of her and rubbed her chin, "I remember you should have known about this a couple days ago..."
"Or do dairy cats have memories as short as fish?"
Manman had been in this world for several years now and had fully adapted to life here.
Her life was peaceful and smooth, and she had almost believed she was a native-born human of this place.
However, she could communicate with cats. Perhaps it was because she was a feline beastman in her previous life?
"Meow meow meow..." That's not important, where is this place, you and...
The dairy cat in front of her meowed a series of sounds, then suddenly fell silent.
"You and what? What are you saying?" Manman poked the cat's head, extremely puzzled.
The dairy cat dodged backward, hissing at the girl in displeasure.
Manman froze for a moment: "Why are you acting so strange all of a sudden..."
Jin Luo suddenly woke up in bed: "What's your relationship with Yun Manman from Kashida!"
The simply decorated bedroom was completely silent, with only the sound of his heavy breathing.
Jin Luo slowly sat up in bed, covering his face with his hands, his expression hidden.
Two days later would be the anniversary of Yun Manman's grandmother's passing.
Yun Manman brought Lu Qi, Jin Luo, Yan Xi, Yan Shuang, and others to the Yuntong Monument in Lili Town.
The Yuntong Monument was the collective name for Kashida's public cemetery.
The names of deceased beastmen would be carved on this towering monument that reached into the clouds. It was said that doing so would allow the Beast God to remember them and help them reincarnate sooner.
After the memorial service was over, Jin Luo found a moment to pull Yun Manman aside and asked mysteriously:
"Do you know what cars and phones are?"
Jin Luo hadn't had any more dreams in the past two days, but the doubts in his heart still lingered.
Years of experience as a police officer made Jin Luo keenly aware that something was amiss.
He searched for differences between the two Yun Manmans, wanting to figure out what this dream was all about.
Or perhaps, it wasn't a dream at all?
Cars and phones were unique and common items in that dream world, so he wanted to know if Yun Manman knew about them.
"Cars and phones?"
These two words felt both familiar and strange, and Yun Manman didn't react immediately.
These were things from Earth, so how did Jin Luo know about them?
Yun Manman suppressed her shock and asked with a puzzled expression, "What are those? Where did you hear about them?"
Jin Luo closely observed the girl's micro-expressions and replied, "I dreamed about them..."
She clearly knows about them.
Jin Luo recounted in detail what had happened in his dream to Yun Manman.
Yun Manman listened in a daze, taking a long time to come back to her senses.
She hadn't expected that Jin Luo's connection with her original self hadn't been severed.
Since Jin Luo already knew about her original self's existence, it seemed he would be able to understand something as fantastical as soul swapping.
Yun Manman's anxiety eased, and she told Jin Luo about herself and her original self.
After hearing it all, Jin Luo's eyes reddened slightly, his black cat ears on top of his head drooping dejectedly as he murmured, "So she doesn't belong to this world..."
It was very quiet under the tree. Yun Manman shifted her position uneasily, observing Jin Luo's expression and saying carefully, "I'm sorry."
"I couldn't explain this to you before, so I could only reject you."
Jin Luo waved his hand, his brow smoothing out, "I understand, I don't blame you. If it weren't for you, Manman might not have been able to survive in that other world."
"She's living well now, and that's enough."
Healthy, living a good life, with beloved family members.
That night, Jin Luo hugged the diary Yun Manman had given him and closed his eyes, sinking into dreams.
May the Beast God bless me, I hope to meet you tonight.