Eight-tailed cat (9): Want to make a wish?

No need to doubt it—this was once again a dream involving a black cat. But this time, the main character had changed, and so had the setting.

The first dream seemed to take place in ancient times. Whether it was the streets, the ruined temple, or the wealthy young man, they all wore clothing from the distant past, just as Tan Xiao remembered from historical stories.

This time, however, the era felt closer to modern times, though still far from the present. The backdrop appeared to be the turbulent Republican era, a time of chaos and unrest, set in a bustling metropolitan city.

It was the same city he lived in, only two hundred years earlier—a time of warlord conflicts and gunfire. Some lived in extravagance and debauchery, while others struggled just to survive.

That was the dream setting Tan Xiao found himself in. His consciousness appeared on a street that felt vaguely familiar yet strangely unfamiliar.

Familiar, because he had walked those streets before. Unfamiliar, because they looked much more run-down than in his memories. After all, it was a post-war alleyway that had seen better days.

But Tan Xiao didn’t pay it much mind. It was just a dream, after all. Scenes in dreams were often inconsistent with reality. Space often jumped around, borrowing from real life while still being distinctly different—it was a normal phenomenon.

The alley was dim, and just then, a thin, frail-looking boy in patched-up clothes appeared in front of Tan Xiao. He looked around thirteen or fourteen years old, with delicate features—completely unlike that rich wastrel from before.

“That kid ran that way! After him!”

The boy stumbled as he ran. Behind him were several strong, burly men covered in tattoos—dragons on the left arm, tigers on the right. As they chased him, the boy darted into a courtyard and hid inside a trash can near the end of the street.

When the men caught up, they couldn’t find him. Perhaps to add to the tension, the old, neglected street lamp flickered under unstable voltage. After flashing a dozen times, the bulb burst with a sharp crack.

Now there was no light in the alley. What had already been dark turned pitch black.

“A ghost! There’s a ghost!” One of the men, startled by the exploding light, turned his head and saw a pair of glowing green eyes on the wall. He stepped back in fear.

Unable to see clearly, he knocked over the overflowing trash can. Garbage spilled out—rotten banana peels and apple cores landed on the leader’s feet.

“x%$#@…” he cursed loudly, then kicked the frightened man beside him. “Why the hell are you yelling? What ghost? That’s just a stray cat!”

As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they could see more clearly. Sure enough, there was a black cat perched on the stone wall. It had blended perfectly into the shadows, its green eyes glowing like two burning ghost flames.

If it hadn’t meowed just then, the man who kicked the other probably would’ve truly believed they’d encountered a ghost.

It was ironic. They were ruthless to living people, with dozens of lives on their hands, yet a ghost could still scare them out of their wits.

“What a damn dump. Let’s go!”

After the group left, the boy crawled out of the trash can in a sorry state. The black cat on the wall approached him gracefully. Their eyes met—green meeting black—and that was the boy’s first encounter with the cat.

Tan Xiao, though fully aware it was just a dream, felt a twinge of something sour in his heart. This scrawny boy was in such a miserable state, yet the scene was so romantic. Why? He and Wen Yi’s first meeting hadn’t been this beautiful. And here it was—handsome cat saving the day. It made him feel jealous.

The scene in the alley quickly shifted. The black cat followed its fated human home. The boy’s home was poor, but very clean.

It was a very ordinary poor family: a father doing hard labor, a sick but hardworking mother, a sensible and adorable little sister, and a teenage brother trying his best to earn money—and now, a little black cat named Mimi.

The cat was aloof. It ignored other names, but responded to “Mimi.” And so, the very common name became what the family called it.

It was a poor but loving and united family. Perhaps because the boy had a better nature than the previous dream’s character, the cat wasn’t as clingy with him—no cuddles or kisses—but it still let him pet it and ate the food he gave.

Time passed quickly in the dream. Tan Xiao watched as the black cat accompanied the boy from their first meeting to a deepening bond, and as the boy’s life gradually improved from the initial poverty.

But it seemed fate couldn’t stand to see them too happy. The boy’s mother fell seriously ill. The little money they had saved was quickly drained by her illness, and they were soon burdened with heavy debt.

The boy, who had never believed in gods or Buddha, knelt in front of a deity’s statue, crying, begging heaven to save his beloved mother.

At that critical moment, the little black cat spoke: “Do you want to make a wish to me? If you do, I can grant it.”

A cat speaking human language—it was shocking. The boy was startled, but he knew the black cat was a good one. It had helped him before, so it wouldn’t harm his mother.

Even knowing it was a dream, he asked, “If I wish for my mother to recover, will that really come true?”

The black cat gave a reserved nod. “You could also wish for lots of money, but you can only choose one: the money, or your mother’s health.”

“Of course I want my mother to get better!” he blurted out, then asked, “If the wish comes true, what do I have to give in return? My lifespan?”

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. A wish like that had to come at a cost.

The black cat shook its head. “If you make the wish, I’ll lose one of my tails and then disappear from your life.”

The boy felt a sense of relief. Losing a tail and disappearing meant the cat couldn’t grant more wishes, especially for wealth and status—but that price meant little to him.

He reaffirmed his decision: “I ask the great Cat God to make my mother well again.”

That night, a soft green light fell over the frail, gentle woman.

The boy’s sister cried out with joy, “Brother! Mom’s getting better!”

As the boy rushed to the room, the black cat stood behind him. Eight tails swayed behind it. One fell off, then another grew in its place—and the cat disappeared from the boy’s life. The story ended with a happy family in that alley, and one clever, understanding black cat quietly missing.

By the end of the dream, Tan Xiao was supposed to be touched by the warm and beautiful scene. Most people would understand the boy’s choice: a mother who gave him life was far more important than a cat, no matter how magical. And the cat seemed to suffer no real loss—it grew back the tail. Yet Tan Xiao still felt a vague sense of loss and emptiness.

After that, he had more dreams, though none as vivid. Most were blurry. But the general idea was clear: the cat would appear to people in need and grant their wishes.

In some dreams, the cat lost a tail and didn’t regrow it. In others, it gained an extra tail after losing one. The difference lay in the nature of the wish—if it was selfish, like gaining wealth or revenge, the tail wouldn’t grow back. But if the wish was altruistic, like the boy’s, the cat would grow a new tail.

The cat wasn’t all-powerful. Wishes like world peace couldn’t be granted. But within its limits, it would fulfill the wish.

Tan Xiao woke up from the dream and saw “his mother” lying sick in bed.

His own story bore similarities to the boy’s—poor, struggling. But worse. The boy had a father and a sister. Tan Xiao had no siblings, no father—just a massive debt and a sick mother, the only one left.

If making a wish to a cat could cure his mother, that sounded like a worthwhile deal, didn’t it?

Two different scenes, but the same black cat. In every dream, the message seemed clear: the black cat couldn’t die. It was only one simple wish. Just make it—and everything you desire could be yours.

“Cough, cough, cough.” Li Li suddenly began coughing violently, blood spilling from her mouth.

Tan Xiao rushed to press the nurse call button. Already in intensive care, Li Li was quickly transferred back into the ICU.

He overheard a nurse sigh: “What a shame. She’s still so young—just in her thirties—and already this sick. If only the gods would bless her.”

Thanks to the critical illness insurance he’d bought, her worsening condition wouldn’t bankrupt him. But money couldn’t buy back health.

“Meow.”

A black cat appeared in the hospital where it shouldn’t have been. It jumped into Tan Xiao’s arms and let out a soft meow.

Tan Xiao didn’t ask how Wen Yi got there. He simply stared at the red light over the operating room and held the black cat tighter.

Heaven worked in strange ways. Li Li’s original illness had been expensive but treatable. But after his dream, she suddenly fell into an emergency condition. And even a nurse—someone who had seen countless life-and-death situations—whispered words she shouldn’t have said.

It was as if an invisible hand was pushing everything forward, eagerly waiting for him to make a wish.

So—should he?

Should he make a wish, just like the boy in the dream, and ask for his only family, his mother, to get well again?