After shedding her cloak, the woman produced a veil woven from pearls and donned it. Her arrogant expression vanished instantly, replaced by a demeanor both tender and sweet, her bedroom eyes shimmering like silk. With a graceful wave of her jade-like hand, a bamboo flute materialized from thin air, settling into her supple, boneless fingers.
She lowered her head and brought the flute to her crimson lips. The hollowed pearl veil clinked softly against the instrument; even before a note was played, the sound was exquisitely pleasing. She reclined delicately upon the ground, supported by her two male servants. Their eyes gleamed with lecherous intent as they moved in perfect coordination, allowing her limbs to brush against them as if by chance.
Having lived as a human for sixteen years, I, a Pallas’s cat, had never witnessed such a scene. Flustered, I pressed my forehead against Wei Qingming’s back. Wei Qingming, however, remained indifferent and composed, calmly waiting for the woman to make her move.
The woman cast a sugary-sweet wink and began to play a wavering, melodic tune. Her body swayed with the rhythm, the display exceptionally erotic.
A cloud of toxic, fragrant mist began to spread—a hallucinogenic incense. I was shocked, feeling a mix of amusement and irritation. Wei Qingming let out a low chuckle. "Truly, she is showing off her meager skills before a master. My dear disciple of Goumeng Mountain, how about you teach her a lesson?"
I thought for a moment and said, "Breaking the illusion is easy enough, but I can't beat her in a fight."
Wei Qingming repeated her earlier promise: "Rest assured, you have me."
Emboldened by her presence—a true case of a cat riding the tiger's coattails—I leaped out from behind her and huffed, "A mere practitioner of the unorthodox arts dares to brandish a blade before the grandmaster!" I pressed my hands together and summoned my natal dharma treasure, the Huanzhen Flower.
It was the first time Wei Qingming had seen me get serious. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched with great interest.
Truth be told, the Huanzhen Flower was actually a demonic entity. Though it was a plant, weak animals or demons parasitized by it would often lose their minds, thrashing about in a frenzy until the flower sucked them dry of their warm blood. The Huanzhen Flower possessed its own hallucinogenic properties and, more importantly, the power to shatter illusions. My master had gone to great lengths to find the seed, and from the moment I took human form, I had used a secret method to nourish it with my own essence. It was, in fact, a living thing growing upon my body, connected to my mind and growing stronger alongside me. Master said that humans could never tame such a thing; only the resilient life force of a demon could withstand its parasitic drain.
While it sounded terrifying, it hadn't caused me any pain or discomfort over the years. Usually, I couldn't even feel its presence.
The Huanzhen Flower was beautiful, its form composed of countless grains of pure white, translucent sand. As it emerged from my body, the flower bud tilted upward like a shark scenting blood. It joyfully released a fine, nearly invisible thread of sand that lashed out like lightning toward the toxic mist. Like a nimble tongue, it swept through the air, effortlessly swallowing the hallucinogenic fog whole.
The woman seemed oblivious, writhing even more vigorously beside her servants. The flute music suddenly turned cold and sinister. Two black vipers, thirty feet tall with glowing green eyes, rose from the ground. One moved to block Wei Qingming, while the other lunged at me.
This was actually an entry-level technique of "manifesting illusions into reality." Unfortunately for her, the woman’s illusions were merely supplementary; her martial skills were her true foundation. The Huanzhen Flower once again enveloped the fragile illusion surrounding the snake's body, instantly forcing the serpent back into its original form—stone. However, stone was still stone, and it would hurt just as much if it crushed someone.
Wei Qingming’s reactions were far faster than mine. She soared into the air, slashing her blade at the snake before her. She spun through the air like a golden wheel, her sharp blade cleaving the snake's head in two. Immediately after, she kicked off the collapsing stone body, leaping in front of me. With split-second timing, she parried the fangs of the second snake as it lunged for me. With a heavy twist of her wrist, she sent four stone fangs spinning into the air.
The stone snake felt no pain. Urged on by the woman’s flute, it reared up and swayed frantically, letting out a dangerous, rasping hiss from its throat. Its massive maw opened wide, intending to crush us both. Wei Qingming leaped head-on, transforming into a streak of light. Compared to the massive snake—which was as thick as ten men's embrace—she looked tiny, yet she was incredibly sharp. She pierced straight into the snake's mouth. Moments later, a brilliant golden light erupted from within. The giant snake disintegrated into a pile of rubble; she had sliced it open from the inside.
This all happened in the blink of an eye. I stared blankly, forgetting even to blink, until the quick-witted Yangyang emerged and transformed into a shield to block the falling debris. Wei Qingming flew back to my side, her body radiating a terrifying blade qi that she couldn't quite suppress. It made my exposed skin sting. If not for the protective armor Master gave me, I probably would have been bedridden for days after leaving this place.
Seeing me wince in pain, she quickly restrained her aura and smiled. "Dazed? You should try to dodge, too."
I let out a soft "Ah," unable to find words. The woman let out a shrill, furious roar: "Still flirting at death's door? Fine, be a pair of mandarin duck ghosts in this pile of corpses!"
The flute music changed again. It was no longer seductive or eerily cold, but rhythmic and powerful, like the marching beat of soldiers.
The stone blocks embedded in the walls and ceiling of the tomb chamber began to vibrate violently. They fell one after another, slowly assembling into a stone giant. This time, she didn't care about illusions or aesthetics; she intended to crush us with raw stone. Wei Qingming scooped me up, darting left and right to avoid the falling rocks. Clinging to her shoulder, I didn't forget to crane my neck and mock the woman: "You look so delicate, yet you're just a shrew who can only throw rocks! Hahahaha!"
"You little slut!" the woman spat, using the most instinctive of curses. Her playing grew even faster. Just as the giant formed two massive feet and began to stomp toward us, a line of white sand suddenly snaked out from behind the woman. Like a venomous serpent, it climbed rapidly up her leg.
The illusory array created by the sand was finally complete. The Huanzhen Flower bloomed behind her, its petals opening wide, ready to swallow her whole!
The woman shivered in pain, and the bamboo flute fell from her hands. The giant instantly ceased its movements. She clawed frantically at her body, but the sand grains only multiplied, clinging to her like maggots on a bone. Her two ugly servants reached out with their dark, coarse hands to help her, but the sand latched onto them as well. The three of them became a tangled mess, howling in agony.
The woman’s upper body was already covered by the Huanzhen Flower. With a final scream, she transformed into a streak of light and fled. Her two servants were left behind, falling unconscious.
We waited a good while longer until the rocks stopped falling. Only then did Wei Qingming set me down. "Miss Su’s natal treasure is truly marvelous," she praised.
"A pity she got away," I said, shaking my head with regret. "Of course, my flower couldn't actually eat her. It was just an illusion, but look how scared she got! Hehe!"
Wei Qingming chuckled. "If she hadn't fled, she might have actually killed us. This entire tomb is made of stone; if it all collapsed, it would be disastrous."
Wei Qingming kicked the two "dead pigs" on the ground. Without hesitation, she used a soul-searching technique to extract their memories. After a brief inspection, she sneered. "As expected, she only knows the basics of illusions. She didn't forget to destroy their minds before she left."
"What did you find out?"
"I know who she is now." Wei Qingming’s tone turned fierce. "Meng Tingwu of the Thousand Colors Palace."
"Thousand Colors Palace? What kind of trash is that?" I squeaked, mimicking Meng Tingwu’s high-pitched, dainty voice.
Wei Qingming was amused. she pressed a fist to her lips and coughed before turning serious. "I only know them as a merchant house in the Guanzhong region. They primarily deal in antiques and curios. It makes sense for them to be involved in the business of 'extracting gold from the earth.' " She turned the jade signet ring on her finger—the symbol of an emissary of the Yingzhao Temple. A cold smirk touched her lips, and her narrowed eyes flashed with the sharp light of a predator. "It would be one thing if I didn't know who she was, but she had the misfortune of crossing me!"
I shivered, intimidated by her overwhelming presence, and pouted. "Let's go, let's go. Aren't you worried about your senior brother?"
"If you hadn't been here, that woman might have been troublesome," Wei Qingming said. "She must be one of the three experts mentioned by that man surnamed Duan. Senior Brother Feng and the others are two against two; it shouldn't be a major problem."
Despite her words, we moved quickly. We navigated the room full of scattered boulders with difficulty, only to find the exit completely blocked by a massive stone. Wei Qingming held an explosive talisman between her fingers and released it. The talisman struck the boulder like a stray arrow. I was nearly knocked over by the resulting shockwave and scrambled to hide behind her. Once the path was cleared, I ran out, my heart thumping wildly.
*Good heavens, is the life of a great sect disciple always this thrilling?*
The tomb passage remained silent. The fireflies flickered rapidly as if buffeted by a gale—a result of Wei Qingming pulling me along at high speed. Once outside, she casually traced a signal talisman into the air and headed off in a specific direction without hesitation. From time to time, she tossed an explosive talisman, crudely blasting open shortcuts. She didn't seem at all worried that Zhong He might return as a ghost to demand compensation for his ruined mansion... I was dragged along until I felt dizzy and nauseous; the experience was no better than riding that horse yesterday afternoon.
Finally, we approached the main burial chamber. From several hundred paces away, we could see the flickering of firelight and the sounds of a fierce battle within.
Wei Qingming whispered a single instruction in my ear: "Hide well." Then, she transformed into a streak of light and vanished. I quickly activated my Invisibility Incantation and, using my forward momentum, rolled into the room.
I had expected Meng Tingwu’s two accomplices to be of the same caliber as her, but what I saw nearly made my jaw drop. The two men fighting Feng Baili and Qiu Zhengshan were formidable: one was in the late stage of the Cloud-Swallowing Realm, and the other was at the peak of the same realm. Purple qi swirled around them; they were just a step away from a breakthrough. Currently, the bald powerhouse in yellow—the one at the peak of the realm—was fighting Feng Baili barehanded. On this trip, aside from Qiu Zhengshan who was in the late stage, the others were only in the early or middle stages. For Feng Baili to hold his own against such an opponent for so long with only middle-stage cultivation was impressive.
Feng Baili had tied back his messy hair with a dirty ribbon. His muscles were bulging, but his footwork was unsteady. He had clearly entered a battle frenzy. Even an amateur like me could see that his rhythm was shattered; he was barely managing to ward off the yellow-clad monk's palms. Why wasn't the more powerful Qiu Zhengshan fighting this man?
What I didn't know was that Feng Baili was a combat maniac. He had been provoked by the old monk's words at the start, falling victim to the enemy's strategy of pitting their strongest against the opponent's middle-tier.
Wei Qingming, of course, understood the situation better than I did. She didn't even spare a glance for the struggling Feng Baili. Her blade light pointed directly at the man engaged with Qiu Zhengshan.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 浣真花 | Huanzhen Flower | Su's natal dharma treasure; a parasitic, illusion-breaking plant. |
| 故梦山 | Goumeng Mountain | The sect/location Su is associated with. |
| 吞云境 | Cloud-Swallowing Realm | A stage of cultivation. |
| 千色宫 | Thousand Colors Palace | A merchant house/sect involved in antiques and tomb raiding. |
| 孟庭芜 | Meng Tingwu | An antagonist from the Thousand Colors Palace. |
| 央央 | Yangyang | Su's sentient shield/artifact. |
| 隐身诀 | Invisibility Incantation | A basic stealth spell. |
| 冯百离 | Feng Baili | Wei Qingming's senior brother; a combat enthusiast. |
| 邱正山 | Qiu Zhengshan | Wei Qingming's senior brother. |
| 关中 | Guanzhong | A geographical region in historical China. |
