Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 52

The little cat was held by the scruff of its neck, struggling violently while cursing loudly. “Meddling psychopath, let me go! What are you staring at, you despicable ugly monster? If you’ve got any courage, fight me fair and square!”

In its agitation, the fluffy white cat’s paws spread open, resembling a furball blooming like a flower.

Yun Qing laughed and said, “Go ahead and cry out, the more you shout, the more excited I become.”

With those words, not only the little cat but everyone else fell silent.

Cheng Suiyan patted Jiang Baiyu’s shoulder consolingly and said, “Brother, you’ve had it rough,” in a sympathetic tone.

Jiang Baiyu. “?”

Yun Qing carried the little cat back to the courtyard and found a cage to put it in.

The cat finally regained its mobility and vigorously shook its satin-like glossy fur, spraying tiny droplets of water.

Yun Qing placed the cage on the table, and everyone gathered around it. Yun Qing glanced at Jiang Baiyu.

Understanding her intent, Jiang Baiyu silently cast the Incantation of Truth on the little cat.

The cat sat properly inside the cage, elegant in posture, with eyes like pure emeralds cautiously examining everyone.

When it saw Jiang Baiyu forming the lotus seal, the cat was inwardly wary, but its mouth remained sharp. “Are you playing cat’s cradle? Are you some delicate little girl?”

This little cat’s cultivation was formidable, and Jiang Baiyu wasn’t entirely confident that the Incantation of Truth would work. After casting the spell, he decided to test it with a question.

He knew little about this cat, and wasn’t sure what to ask, when he suddenly recalled what the cat had blurted out earlier, and inspiration struck.

Jiang Baiyu. “Am I good-looking?”

“Yes, you are,” the cat answered immediately. Realizing what it had said, the cat seemed shocked, its round eyes widening as it raised its fluffy paw to cover its mouth.

This gesture, coming from a cat, looked utterly bizarre.

Jiang Baiyu nodded with satisfaction, confirming that the Incantation of Truth had worked.

The cat cursed, “What a disgusting pretty boy, asking such questions! You may have no shame, but I still do! So it’s the Incantation of Truth from the Huayang Sect, is it?

Even your Elder Founder Huayang Zi is my junior, so who do you think you are? Tell Huayang Zi to come speak to me himself!”

Fu Xue couldn’t help saying, “Why don’t we stop the false accusations? Your cultivation level doesn’t even match that of Huayang Zi’s juniors.”

The cat opened its mouth, but instead of arguing back, it looked at Jiang Baiyu with emerald eyes full of curiosity. “Your cultivation is abnormal. What relation are you to Huayang Zi?”

Jiang Baiyu ignored its rambling and continued, “Why were you following us?”

“I wasn’t following you.”

The four exchanged glances, and Fu Xue said.

“We don’t even know each other, yet we’ve already met three times. First at Mingyue Tower, second in the outskirts of Guangling City, and third—which is remarkable—in Linglong City, so far from Guangling City, we meet again. If you weren’t following us, what an incredible coincidence!”

“Indeed, too much of a coincidence. So why not say you were following me?” the cat retorted.

“Uh,” Fu Xue was taken aback, “Why would we follow you? We don’t even know you.”

“I’ll return those exact words to you. Why would I follow you when I don’t even know you? Besides—” it lifted its head and gave Fu Xue a disdainful glance. Fu Xue had never before seen such contempt and mockery on a cat’s face.

It said, “In our three meetings, twice I was summoned by your wretched bell. I should be asking what your intentions are.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Fu Xue scratched her head in confusion and whispered to Yun Qing, “Senior Sister, what’s going on?”

Yun Qing pondered while scratching her chin. She hadn’t studied the Six-Path Sealing Bell extensively, only knowing that what it summoned depended mainly on one’s cultivation level, though occasionally luck played a role.

Her junior sister had always been fortunate, so at the time, she hadn’t found it strange that they summoned a powerful spirit beast twice.

Could there be another reason for this?

Jiang Baiyu changed his question. “Were you guiding us to Linglong City?”

The cat impatiently said, “No! I’ve already told you, I don’t even know you.”

Jiang Baiyu and Yun Qing exchanged a glance. After some thought, Yun Qing said, “Ask why it came to Linglong City.”

Jiang Baiyu then asked, “Why did you come to Linglong City?”

“Chu Yanzhang abandoned one of my tribe’s younglings. Liaoliao cried until she went blind because of him. I came to Linglong City only to gouge out his eyes as revenge for Liaoliao.

Didn’t I already tell you this? You young people are even more long-winded than old men.”

Yun Qing asked, “Did you appear at the City Lord’s mansion that night for this reason?”

The cat replied irritably, “Yes, but that night I saw you all and felt you were inauspicious, so I didn’t make my move. Tonight I thought you weren’t around, so I planned to act, but you returned. Talk about bad luck.”

“I see. Does this Liaoliao know you’re here?” asked Yun Qing.

“She doesn’t need to know.”

“But we can’t just stand by and let you harm City Lord Chu.”

The cat didn’t respond, only grinning before beginning to leisurely lick its paws.

Yun Qing understood its meaning. They couldn’t stay in Linglong City forever and would eventually leave. It could simply wait until they were gone to make its move.

This was indeed a problem.

Yun Qing felt troubled. They still had no clues about the missing earth souls, and now they had to deal with this mischievous powerful spirit beast.

Cheng Suiyan thought the little cat was quite adorable. He extended his index finger into the cage, wanting to poke the cat’s head, but was swatted away. The cat then glared at him with its brilliant emerald eyes.

Watching this interaction between man and cat, Yun Qing suddenly recalled the mysterious and domineering dandelion and said, “Suiyan, let me see the Zhaoming Painted Bone Fan.”

“Sure.” Cheng Suiyan took out the fan and handed it to her.

The cat harbored considerable hatred for that fan, and couldn’t help trying to stir up trouble. “She asks and you just give it to her? You’re so spineless.”

Cheng Suiyan smiled and said, “She’s my friend. Why wouldn’t I let her see it instead of showing it to you?”

Yun Qing opened the folding fan, with Jiang Baiyu and Fu Xue flanking her to look.

The caged cat pretended to be bored, licking its paws while secretly peeking at them.

On the amber silk fan surface, the beauty remained the same, except for one difference—her flower basket now contained a small tuft of white fluff, clearly the dandelion fluff that had been gathered earlier.

Yun Qing asked the cat, “What’s the name of your magic treasure?”

“Dissolving Water Gathering Wind.”

“Dissolving Water, Gathering Wind…” Yun Qing muttered.

The cat watched her warily. These people had cast the Incantation of Truth on it, and if they wanted to extract the secret methods of the Dissolving Water Gathering Wind, it wouldn’t be able to hide them.

Yun Qing asked, “So it can not only dissolve water but also gather wind?”

“Obviously.”

“How strong a wind?”

“Strong enough to blow you into the sea to feed the turtles.”

Yun Qing was momentarily silenced by this retort but wasn’t annoyed. She continued, “Where did your golden beads go?”

“Didn’t they transform into falling stars? Are you blind?”

Yun Qing wasn’t so easily fooled. She stroked her chin and smiled at the cat, “Let me guess, could it be your natal treasure?”

Her guess was based on evidence. A natal treasure was spiritually connected to its owner, could be controlled without incantations, and could return to its owner regardless of distance.

When the young man had used the golden beads earlier, his lips hadn’t moved. After he transformed, the beads disappeared, clearly having returned to their owner.

The cat gave a cold laugh. “You dare covet my natal treasure?”

There was only one way to take someone’s natal treasure—kill the owner and seize it.

Seeing Yun Qing’s mischievous smile, the cat finally couldn’t contain its anger. It stood upright in the cage, gripping the bars with its front paws, glaring fiercely at her while saying.

“Hah! If it comes to that, we’ll both perish. Let me show you the power of a great spirit beast!”

Yun Qing flicked its pink nose with her finger and said with a grin, “Oh my, someone’s angry.”

The cat. “…” It was fuming with rage.

Cheng Suiyan saw that the fur on its back had bristled up, making it look like a fluffy ball. Finding this amusing, he asked, “Tell us, little cat, what’s your name?”

“Ci Li.”

When the four heard its name, they all showed strange expressions. The cat didn’t understand. “What’s with those faces? Haven’t you heard a nice name before? What’s yours?” it looked at Cheng Suiyan, “Don’t tell me it’s Er Zhuang?”

“No,” Cheng Suiyan shook his head with a smile, “I mean, aren’t you that ‘Ci Lili’ who taught Little Tower the incantation?”

“I did teach that child an incantation, but my name is Ci Li.”

“Got it, Ci Lili.”

“…You!”

Fu Xue laughed, slapping the table, “Suiyan, how did you become so mischievous?”

“Of course I learned it from Yun Qing.”

Yun Qing chuckled and lightly tapped the table with her finger, “Alright, let’s rest now. It’s getting late.”

The four returned to their rooms, with Jiang Baiyu taking the cage to his room.

In the end, they hadn’t shown any intention of stealing its treasure, which secretly relieved Ci Li, though it remained vigilant.

Ci Li had planned to escape once Jiang Baiyu fell asleep, but to its surprise, he spent the entire night cultivating, leaving it astonished.

Did this pretty boy never sleep?

****

The next morning, Yun Qing borrowed the Chu family genealogy from Chu Yanhe and looked through it, but didn’t find the name Chu Jing’an.

“Could I have guessed wrong? Perhaps the ‘Chu’ in Chu Jing’an isn’t from the City Lord’s family?”

Jiang Baiyu recalled something, “Last night, Wei Sanniang said she loved osmanthus flowers. The Chu family’s suburban villa, Osmanthus Garden, has many osmanthus trees that are two to three hundred years old. Could there be a connection?”

“Right!” Fu Xue’s eyes brightened as she clapped her hands and said, “Yanhe once told me that these osmanthus trees were planted by a former city lord for his beloved woman!”

Speaking of osmanthus flowers, Yun Qing suddenly remembered something else. “The mysterious statue in the Chu family temple, Qingcheng Zi, also holds a branch of blooming osmanthus flowers in his hand. At the time, I only noticed that he had no face.”

So many coincidences made it hard not to see connections.

Jiang Baiyu pondered, “Could Chu Jing’an and Qingcheng Zi be the same person?”

“It’s possible.”

Fu Xue asked, “What about the city lord who planted the osmanthus flowers? Could all three be the same person?”

“Let’s find him first.” Yun Qing said, and based on the year of Wei Sanniang’s death, she continued examining the genealogy.

Both the second and third generation city lords fell within the suspect range.

The second generation city lord was Chu Xiangzhi’s eldest son. Since Chu Xiangzhi had been city lord for a long time, his eldest son was nearly sixty when he succeeded the position and died after only two years in office.

He was replaced by his son, who served longer, for eleven years.

Naturally, neither of these names in the genealogy was Chu Jing’an.

Fu Xue asked, “Could it be a case of changing names or soul possession?”

Jiang Baiyu replied, “Based on what we know, soul possession seems more likely—Chu Jing’an was probably an evil cultivator.”

Yun Qing remained silent, casually looking through the information on all the city lords, and then let out a surprised “Oh.”