A few seconds passed by as Lin Mu chanted the calming heart sutra. At first, no change could be perceived, and the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat still seemed to be in the same condition as before. Its eyes were closed and its whiskers were scrunched in distress.
Lin Mu could not feel anything from his spirit sense either. The mind of the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat was still empty, and no thoughts arose. But soon he could sense a cry. The cry seemed to have only rung inside his mind and was not audible in the real world.
The volume of the cry was slowly getting lower and lower until it completely disappeared and the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat also relaxed.
"Pain" An innate feeling appeared in Lin Mu's mind.
"Hungry" He heard again.
"Food" Another thought popped into his mind.
'Huh, are these… it's thoughts?' Lin Mu thought to himself.
"Incredible, it's actually working!" Xukong exclaimed.
"Is this how I am supposed to proceed, Senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes, yes, continue. Focus on its thoughts and try to convince it by offering it what it wants." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu inwardly nodded before focusing completely on the mind of the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat. He could hear the same words repeating in his mind, although they were not exactly words but rather an innate understanding of those emotions.
'So it just wants food, it seems. Like cooked food that Senior Xukong talked about.' Lin Mu thought to himself before trying to communicate.
At first, Lin Mu spoke a sentence but realized that no matter how much he tried, it was not transmitted to the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat. Then he realized that he would have to simplify it, making it similar to the thoughts the beast was having.
"Food" Lin Mu expressed first.
The beast seemed to have understood him this time and had stopped its incessant thoughts. Seeing that it seemed to be working, Lin Mu decided to continue.
"Give" Lin Mu paused and took a look; finding the beast to be calm he went further.
"Me" He stated.
"Hot Food" Lin Mu explained.
He realized that he could now increase the complexity of the thought by a slight amount as he got more used to this kind of communication.
"Food give?" The beast expressed.
"Yes, give" Lin Mu replied.
"Pain?" The beast asked, which actually made Lin Mu feel its fear.
There was something hidden deep inside the beast's mind, but Lin Mu could not understand what it was. But he could realize that whatever it was, it had made a great impression on the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat.
"No Pain" Lin Mu answered while trying to show a calm state of his mind.
As soon as he said this, there was a change in the state and Lin Mu could feel a strange wave spreading into his mind. A second later, the wave disappeared and Lin Mu could feel a connection forming between himself and the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat.
"Good, good, very good. You have succeeded." Xukong congratulated.
"I did?" Lin Mu questioned, still being in disbelief.
"Yes, you did. You should be able to feel it now," Xukong said.
Lin Mu focused on his mind and indeed could find something new there. It felt similar to his connection to Senior Xukong, yet completely different. Lin Mu felt as if a string was connected between himself and the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat.
The string was invisible and incorporeal, yet it felt very real. Through this connection, Lin Mu could feel the mental state of the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat. Right now he could sense extreme tiredness and fatigue from the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat.
Lin Mu opened his eyes and saw that the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat was lying on the ground and seemed to be in a deep sleep.
"Hmm, it has been quite exhausted due to the process of formation of connection. You should let it recover before you try to obtain the location of the Dual Circle Ascension fruit." Xukong suggested.
Lin Mu nodded with approval before approaching the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat. He touched its belly and found it to be rather soft due to being coated with fur. He then stroked his hands over the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat's back and head.
"So soft…" Lin Mu muttered to himself as he basked in the feeling.
Lin Mu felt as if his fatigue from earlier attempts was now fading away.
'This is rather nice.' Lin Mu thought to himself before picking up the beast in his hands.
The beast did not squirm in his hands and instead curled up in a more comfortable manner before sleeping again.
"Seems like it likes you," Xukong spoke up.
"Its a 'he' Senior." Lin Mu chuckled.
"Ah, so it's a male Brown Shrubby Forest Cat. That's fine, it doesn't matter either way." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu nodded with a slight smile on his face before looking around the area. He knew that he could have been in great danger if he stayed vulnerable like that while trying to tame Brown Shrubby Forest Cat thus wanted to be sure that he was still safe in his current area.
A quick sweep of spirit sense later, Lin Mu confirmed that there was no man or beast nearby his location and that he was completely safe.
~Phew~
"Now that this is done, time to head back to the town and wait for the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat to wake up again." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
"You also need to make plenty of food for him as you promised, remember." Xukong stated in a teasing tone.
Lin Mu rubbed his head in embarrassment with one of his hands and then stored the meat that had now been cooked into his ring.
'Let's head back.' He thought before leaving the area.
Lin Mu walked through the forest rather calmly and tried not to disturb the Brown Shrubby Forest Cat. This resulted in him talking over two hours before he reached the town. But the slow journey did seem like a waste of time to him, and he rather enjoyed stroking the fur of the beast during the journey.
