Chapter 1327 - 671: Unexpected
This object was carved into the shape of a spiritual cat. The exquisite craftsmanship brought it to life with just a few strokes of the knife. However, strangely, the cat seemed to be biting its own paw, appearing somewhat eerie.
He flicked his fingers, and the wooden sculpture ignited on its own, burning completely to ashes in no time. The leader smiled and suddenly blew a breath onto the ashes, sending them into the water.
After a few moments, something emerged from the water, crawling wetly onto the sand; it was a plump black cat with green eyes and a white line down the center of its face. Its fur should have been sleek and shiny, but coming out of the water, it was inevitably drenched, with the fur plastered to its body.
As soon as the cat reached the shore, it shook off the water while complaining, "I’m all wet! Knowing I’m afraid of water, you still... ah!" The voice suddenly pitched higher at the sight of the Chi Wen’s corpse, surprising Run Qi with its abruptly changed female voice. "Dragon Child, it’s a Dragon Child! A supreme one soaked with Evil Qi, not useful for those stupid Cultivators, but just a few bites would be a great tonic for me!" Its eyes glowed green, and it lunged forward, intending to bite off a piece of meat from the Chi Wen.
The leader kicked it three or four zhang away impatiently, "Finish the task first and it’s all yours! Now, get to work!"
The force in that kick was significant, enough to kill a cow, yet the cat landed nimbly, unharmed. It dashed back, fawning, "What do you want me to do? Find someone, or kill someone?" A very human-like expression appeared on its cat face.
"Find someone." Just now, the Water Mirror showed that Ning Xiaoxian didn’t leave any personal items here. Although she touched the golden pestle, after it was embedded in the Chi Wen’s brain, it got soaked with blood, and the smell was no longer pure. The leader thought for a moment before carefully retrieving a light fox fur from the Storage Ring, with a few drops of blood on its collar. Somehow, the blood still looked fresh as if it was just spilled.
The cat sidled up, about to lick the blood, but the leader quickly dodged, saying, "Look with your eyes, don’t move your mouth!"
"Alright, but it will be slower this way." The cat dared not use its mouth again, instead it honestly sniffed the scent of the blood, then curled up on the ground, half-closing its eyes as if dozing off.
The crowd stood silently, not disturbing, and sure enough, after a quarter of an hour, the spiritual cat opened its eyes, extending a paw to point north, assuredly saying, "Oh, the one you’re looking for is still that little girl from three years ago. She went in this direction, about... over two hundred li from here."
The leader nodded, "Let’s go." With a motion, everyone followed closely behind.
"Hey, wait, my Dragon Meat..."
"We’ll come back for it later, hurry up and lead the way, or I’ll skin you alive." The leader impatiently grabbed the cat by the scruff, tossing it into Run Qi’s arms.
#####
In the days leading up to the New Year, there was plenty of feasting, firecrackers, and flower lanterns to enjoy, but come the night of the fourth day, it turned dreadfully dull. Yang Mo’er sneaked out of the house, where a black carriage awaited outside.
He climbed aboard, where three companions had been waiting for a while, one of them bundled in a splendid brocade coat, clutching a hand warmer but still looking blue-lipped from the cold, "Oh Mo’er, you’re so slow, are you trying to freeze us to death?"
All three were yawning consecutively, their faces sallow, eyelids swollen, clearly hollowed out by wine and women.
Yang Mo’er spat a glob of saliva out the carriage, which froze before hitting the ground, "You think I didn’t want to get out early? My dad’s been watching me like a hawk these days, he only just went to sleep a quarter of an hour ago, even told the butler to keep an eye on me!" Seeing he was about to say more, Yang cut him off quickly, "Alright, alright, I’ve got a lot of reward money this month, tonight’s on me, Liu San, you pick which brothel we go to."
"We’ve already played with all the girls in the brothels, and there haven’t been any new faces. It’s quite tiresome to go again." Liu San laughed slyly, lowering his voice, "Besides, the brothel girls call everyone ’master,’ and after a while, it’s just that. Why don’t we try outside?"
Yang Mo’er was tempted upon hearing this, but frowned, "Respectable women are often feisty. Last time we played with a young widow from the east of the city, the little tramp shamelessly went to report us the next day. If I hadn’t sent someone to intercept her, it would have blown up into a big scandal."