Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Wang Qian and Li Kun cleaned up so quickly that when Zhang Zian returned to the shop, they had finished all the cleaning, so Zhang Zian told them to go back to the university early. When they left, the pet shop became quiet. Seeing that it was late, Zhang Zian pulled down the shutter door and locked it.

  He went to the corner, squatted down before the Cat Goddess statue, and observed it closely. The truncation surfaces of the split-in-half nose ring were glittering under the lights.

  Fina opened her eyes and jumped quietly from the cat tree. This action was so agile that Snowy Lionet, who was closing its eyes, immersed in its fantasy towards Fina, didn’t notice that the tail in front of it had disappeared…


  Old Time Tea also walked over with its steady steps, its eyes staring at the statue with a very serious expression.

  Zhang Zian stretched out two fingers to flick at the statue, producing a firm and low-pitched sound. Undoubtedly, the statue was solid-cast, so his fingernails were in pain from the flick. In his eyes, this was a statue with a graceful posture and an antiquated and simple style, but he couldn’t figure out why Fina and Old Time Tea would have such dramatic reactions against it.

  “Fina, Grandpa Tea, what’s wrong?” he asked while squatting.

  Old Time Tea indicated to Fina with its eyes, “About this, I think it would be best if Your Majesty could explain to us. For I know little about this, and I hope to know more from Your Majesty’s illustration.”


  Fina proudly squatted on the ground. Upon close observation, it was easy to find that Fina’s posture was exactly the same as that of the statue. This fact was hardly noticeable unless they were placed side-by-side, for Fina’s fur was too splendid and the statue’s design was way too simple.

  “Thousands of years ago in the black land, in addition to the worship of the Cat Goddess, Bastet, there were a few people who had faith in the darkness. These people secretly worshipped another deity—the evil god visualized as a cat. It came from the underworld and had no name. Never having been recognized by the mainstream society, only those who had anger and hatred would worship it as a god.” Fina raised one of its paws and pointed to the statue, “The only difference between that and Bastet lies in the nose ring. The statues worshipping Bastet will never have nose rings on them.”


  There’s nothing new under the sun. Zhang Zian thought it was not an uncommon phenomena since ancient times. If some people believed in true gods, then there were others who followed false gods. If people were believing in Jesus, then others could decide to be disciples of Satan. Believing in evil gods was just a way for those people to rebel against then-current rulers and the society that they were not satisfied with.

  He picked up the split-in-half nose ring from the ground and looked carefully at it under the light, but couldn’t see what was wrong with it.

  “This is the thing related to the evil god?”


  Fina nodded solemnly, “Don’t underestimate this nose ring, which has existed for thousands of years. It came into existence even before the times I once lived in. This is the very reason that it frightens the kittens.”


  Zhang Zian shook his head, “It’s not that I don’t believe you. This is truly incredible. A nose ring made thousands of years ago still possesses such great power? Don’t tell me this nose ring is also blessed with the Strength of Faith…”


  Fina sneered coldly, “You are just a mortal, what do you know about this?! The history of this nose ring is not that simple. During sacrificial services, over thousands of years, the blood and flesh of numerous livestock had been offered to it—the sacrificial rituals for worshipping evil gods had always been so bloody, and the fear in all of those livestock before they were slaughtered was absorbed by this ring. Don’t you see that this golden nose ring has a tinge of red color?”


  Hearing that the nose ring had been soaked in numerous bloods and fleshes, Zhang Zian felt a little bit disgusted and wanted to throw it away. But upon learning that it was made from gold, he clenched it even tighter…


  “Anyways, that’s all I know. Those evil god worshippers vanished a long time ago, and no one knows where the god they worshipped is now. There’s nothing to be worried about.” After these words, Fina swung her tail proudly, jumped back onto the cat tree, closed her eyes, and took a nap.

  Old Time Tea nodded, “It’s very interesting to hear about these strange and weird stories in the West. Zian, you don’t have to worry about anything. As Your Majesty Fina has said, evil can never prevail over good. These evil and crooked paths might gain their momentum rampantly for a period of time, but they will be doomed in the end. Good and evil will be rewarded accordingly — it’s only a matter of time.”


  Finishing its words, Old Time Tea walked away slowly to the electric blanket to watch TV and drink tea.

  Zhang Zian smiled and stood up, put the nose ring into his pocket, and moved his recliner to where it had been at the beginning. He lay there and played on his cellphone.

  He still longed for more information after Fina’s narrative. After all, Fina came from the ancient times, and she didn’t know about the things that had happened in these two thousand years since its decease. Old Time Tea was born and raised in the East, so it had little knowledge of the myths and legends in the West. If he wanted to hear more about the story…


  Zhang Zian’s finger, that had been sliding around on the screen, stopped moving. It happened to be pressed on the profile photo of Wei Kang.

  Struggling a little bit, he decided to click on Wei Kang’s profile. He took a picture of the Cat Goddess statue and sent to Wei Kang, accompanied with his question, “Professor Wei, do you know the origin of this statue?”


  It was around dinner time now, so Zhang Zian thought Wei Kang would not reply soon. Just when he was going to look around at some of the gorgeous pictures of the buyers on Taobao, he received Wei Kang’s message.

  Wei Kang: This is the Gayer-Anderson Cat; the original version is in the collection of the British Museum. This is a replica, right?

  Zhang Zian forgot to ask Snowy about the origin of this statue. Now he finally knew.

  He sent another message, “Yes, it’s very impressive that you can tell from a picture. Sorry to bother you, Professor Wei. Are you having dinner?”


  Wei Kang: No, I’m still in school.

  Zhang Zian looked at his watch. It was already 7:30 p.m. What a diligent professor.

  He replied, “Please go have dinner. You have plenty of time to conduct academic research, but it’s not worth it if you get sick.”


  Wei Kang: Well, I will have dinner in a while…Wait! Where is the nose ring of the statue?

  Zhang Zian pulled out the split-in-half nose ring from his pocket, took a picture and sent it to Wei Kang.

  Zhang Zian: It accidently broke off. Professor Wei, you are a knowledgeable person. May I ask if this statue represents the Cat Goddess?

  Wei Kang: Generally, people believe it is, but occasionally doubts are heard.

  Zhang Zian: Why doubt it?

  Wei Kang: Very simple. There’s only one so-called Cat Goddess statue in this world that wears a nose ring, so it’s normal that people doubt the orthodoxy of it. There is another Cat Goddess figure in the British Museum, where the Cat Goddess has been personified with the head of a cat and the body of a female. It wears a splendid golden long dress and a tippet; its ears are pierced with earrings, but there is no ring through its nose. Besides this one, another Cat Goddess statue in the Walters Art Museum also has earrings but no nose ring.

  Zhang Zian felt marveled by Professor Wei’s eruditeness. He was familiar with all kinds of allusions and was convinced because of his well-founded reasoning.

  According to Fina’s narrative, Zhang Zian thought about his wording and said cautiously, “Professor Wei, I’m just making a wild guess, if I am wrong please forgive me! Is it possible that…this statue doesn’t stand for the orthodox Cat Goddess, but a pagan evil god?”


  After sending that message, he held his cellphone anxiously, waiting for Wei Kang’s reply.

  He thought Wei Kang was going to scold him for his whimsical idea, but to his surprise, Wei Kang replied very quickly, “This possibility cannot be ruled out completely. It’s not uncommon that cats are worshipped as evil gods throughout history, the most famous example is Baphomet. In Christianity, the legendary devil of Baphomet is secondary only to Satan, and it is said that Baphomet was secretly worshipped as a cat figure by the famous Knights Templar. Thousands of years ago, Jewish people were enslaved by the ancient Egyptians for quite a long time. And I believe you need no more introduction to the relationship between the Jewish and the Bible?”


  Wei Kang’s words were a little bit obscured. Zhang Zian didn’t understand what he meant at the beginning, but after staring at the characters for a few minutes, there were two clues that linked a few key words together in his mind.

  The first clue: Ancient Egyptians—Jewish—Christianity—Knights Templar.

  The second clue: Cat Goddess Bastet—pagan cat from underworld—Devil Baphomet.

  Zhang Zian suddenly realized what was going on. Associated with the persecution by Christians towards witches and cats in the Middle Ages, the mystery in history was unravelling a little bit in front of him.

  It seemed that Wei Kang had deliberately left Zhang Zian some time to think about it. He continued texting moments later, “Of course, how many of these things are rumors and how many are facts are still unknown. Unless people living during those times have resurrected and can tell the stories, no one really will ever know the truth—including the story of this Cat Goddess statue.”


  Zhang Zian replied, “I understand now, thank you, Professor Wei. Brilliant story!”


  And then he locked his cell phone screen, looked at the Cat Goddess statue alone in the corner, and uttered a gentle sigh.

  Whether it was an orthodox or pagan Cat Goddess, whether it was worshipped by numerous people or was soaked in blood and flesh, it didn’t matter anymore, for everything would be lost to history in the end.

  As the poem goes: Of present or past, more or less——O throw to gossip and jest.