Chapter 507 - 253: "Bund" (Part 2)

Chapter 507: Chapter 253: "Bund" (Part 2)

’If that’s the case, didn’t Zhu’s Incarnation, Fragrant Maiden, just waste a whole year’s effort for nothing?’

The thought alone made Zheng Xiu feel sorry for Zhu.

"Hey, kitty," Zheng Xiu said, "if he and I have similar Abilities, why can’t I go to the places he can go?"

Zheng Xiu mulled it over, unable to find a solution. He pulled down the Orange Cat, which had been clinging desperately to his hair atop his head, grasped its shoulders, and asked in a low voice.

"Meow."

The Orange Cat let out a soft, indecipherable cry and turned its head away, ignoring Zheng Xiu.

The cat, having not eaten any fried fish cakes for a long time, was holding a grudge.

The devastated Lu Town had finally fallen quiet, and everyone had found a place to rest. Snake, still stubbornly refusing to give up, rubbed her chest and stared expectantly at the sky, hoping for another shower of sweet rain to soothe her wounds and let her regenerate a little more.

Ye watched Snake’s odd behavior, then turned with a peculiar expression to look at the young man in the distance who was petting the cat.

"Huh, Elder Divine Doctor, why does it look like..." Whether he was in his major or minor guise, the young man was the center of attention wherever he went. Xi’er, who was keeping an eye on Zheng Xiu, noticed his strange actions. She couldn’t help but poke the Elder Divine Doctor with her embroidery needle and ask in a hushed voice, "Is the Young Master... trying to suck up to the Pillar Cat?"

She had struggled to come up with the word "suck up," which didn’t feel entirely appropriate.

’If she were being more direct, the word she was looking for was "bootlicking."’

Situ Yong was examining the already-healed "chrysanthemum" scar on Mo Kuang’s belly. In his eyes, a wound that had healed so miraculously after bathing in the green rain was a medical marvel that defied the ages. He couldn’t figure out what kind of Path this young man followed to also know the Miracle Techniques of a Physician. He was wondering whether he should have Mo Kuang visit his clinic for further study when he heard Xi’er’s question. Without looking up, he rolled his eyes. "What’s wrong with sucking up? He’s just a kid. It’s perfectly normal."

The implication was clear: ’Kids just don’t understand adult pleasures.’ Look at the Elder Divine Doctor, for instance, studying chrysanthemum embroidery. ’Look at this stitch work! How beautiful! It’s practically art.’

The young man’s interaction with the Orange Cat continued.

The Orange Cat paid him no mind.

Exasperated, Zheng Xiu pulled out his trump card.

He secretively pulled a fried fish cake from his robes.

WHOOSH!

It was just a blur before Zheng Xiu’s eyes, and the next second, the fried fish cake was in the Orange Cat’s mouth.

"Meow meow meow!"

*It’s simple, meow!*

Unwittingly, Zheng Xiu’s [Foreign Language] Skill had progressed at Divine Speed, allowing him to understand most of the cat’s meows.

As it turned out, the shortcut to improving his Skills was to keep taking advantage of the opportunity.

By spending his days with the cat, Zheng Xiu had happily achieved great mastery in [Foreign Language]. Congratulations were in order.

"Talk. There’ll be an endless supply of fried fish cakes when we get back."

Zheng Xiu was dangling a carrot.

With the Orange Cat already munching on a fried fish cake, Zheng Xiu’s promise seemed much more credible. It glanced up at Zheng Xiu and pointed at the air, meowing.

*"Your ’Bunds’ are separate and not interconnected, meow."*

*"But if it’s you, you should be able to travel between ’Bunds’."*

Zheng Xiu paused. "The Bund?"

*"It’s what you call a ’Path,’ meow."*

The Orange Cat continued meowing, *"But the ’Bund’ also exists ’in the space between.’ If a mere Human were to ’truly’ enter, they’d probably die, you know."*

Zheng Xiu grinned. "I’m... not entirely Human."

Zheng Xiu was implying that he was an Incarnation; if it died, it died.

As he spoke, Zheng Xiu wiggled his single wing.

He still hadn’t canceled the demonic form of the [Caged Sparrow].

*"Okay then, meow~"*

The Orange Cat leaped onto Zheng Xiu’s head and, with a GULP, swallowed the fried fish cake whole. It licked its lips with its little pink tongue, as if wanting more. The Orange Cat held up eight fingers. "Eight horses?"

It took Zheng Xiu a moment to remember the "un-catchable by eight horses" gag, then he nodded emphatically. "Eight horses!"

The Orange Cat always liked to haggle over the strangest things.

*"The ’opening’ they made earlier is still there, meow."*

The Orange Cat guided Zheng Xiu toward the spot where Bai Qiuyue and Fragrant Maiden had disappeared. Its nostrils twitched. "Just as I thought, it’s still here, meow." The Orange Cat unceremoniously patted Zheng Xiu’s head with its soft paw. "Meow! Meditate on your ’Bund’! Imagine your ’Bund’ overlapping with the ’opening,’ and you can just whoosh right in!"

The Orange Cat meowed as if describing something incredibly simple.

Zheng Xiu was dumbfounded. He didn’t understand at all. "Can you speak plainly?"

The Orange Cat rolled its eyes. *"No."*

"I mean, can you explain it more clearly?"

*"You just whoosh it open! Then whoosh right in, meow! The key is in your breathing!"*

As it spoke, the Orange Cat made a slow-motion gesture with its left and right paws. A faint, gray mirror surface briefly materialized in the path of its claws, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Zheng Xiu tried to meditate on the "Path," but whenever he calmed his mind, he found himself easily slipping back into his Heart Prison, which almost caused his Incarnation to cancel its Divine Travel.

Opening his eyes, closing them, opening them again... no success.

"Mere Humans," the Orange Cat muttered impatiently, leaping down from Zheng Xiu’s head. Seeing Zheng Xiu fail repeatedly, it wrapped its tail around his neck for support and brought itself face-to-face with him.

The Orange Cat hesitated, meowing to itself for a moment before nodding resolutely. *"Mmm, for the sake of the fried fish cakes, meow."*

It opened its mouth and bit Zheng Xiu’s face.

In an instant, Zheng Xiu’s eyes turned pure black.

The whites of his eyes disappeared.

Like a puppet, he reached out toward the empty space before him.

PLOP!

Zheng Xiu felt himself enter a strange state.

It was as if something was controlling his Incarnation, yet his senses were incredibly sharp. His vision turned to black and white, and the surface of everything burned with a layer of white flame, some bright, some dim.

This was a vision more profound than [Spiritual Vision].

A perspective more detailed than [Scouting].

Even the bite the little cat had just given his face felt impossibly long, as if the Orange Cat were chewing on him over and over.

So slow, so slow, so slow.

Yet it was also incredibly direct and clear.

It was as if... he were looking directly at the essence of the world.

Zheng Xiu subconsciously reached out. There was a faint "Rift" there. He pushed his hand inside, his fingers sinking into the ripples. A cold, viscous sensation met his touch, like plunging his hand into seawater.

One hand wasn’t enough.

Zheng Xiu grabbed both sides of the Rift with his hands.

And pulled with all his might.

WHOOSH!

A strange "sound effect" echoed in his ears.

In the final second before entering the Rift, an absurd thought surfaced in Zheng Xiu’s mind: ’It really is just as the cat said. You just whoosh it open and whoosh right in. So simple.’

...

"That ’child’ Mo Kuang gave birth to..."

Ye watched Snake strangely thrusting her chest back and forth, feeling puzzled but not wanting to disturb her. He looked at the motionless "infant corpse" in the distance and said to the others, "What should we do with it?"

Situ Yong was still studying the wound on Mo Kuang’s belly. He finally looked up at the question and suggested tentatively, "Take it back with us?"

He wanted to say that such a precious case study should be brought back for research.

Xi’er immediately shook her head. "Let’s not. After all, he’s the one who gave birth to it. That seems cruel."

Ye nodded. "Why don’t we find a quiet place to bury it and let it rest in peace."

Situ Yong sighed deeply. "That’s fine too."

Xi’er said, "Why don’t we let the Young Master decide? Didn’t we agree earlier? While we’re out here on this case, we’ll follow all of the Young Master’s orders. Whatever he says, goes..." Since no one else had figured out that the "minor" Zheng Xiu was the Red King himself, Xi’er had no intention of exposing him. It was more fun this way. But just as she was halfway through her sentence, about to ask for the Red King’s opinion, Xi’er suddenly froze. "Where’s the master?"

Ye frowned. "What master?"

Situ Yong asked, "Which master?"

Xi’er’s scalp prickled. She scrambled over to where Zheng Xiu and the Orange Cat had just been. "The master—no, I mean, the Young Master! Where is he? He was right here a moment ago! In the blink of an eye, he’s gone!"

But Situ Yong just waved his hand dismissively. "No need to panic. The Young Master has always been elusive and loves to play around. He probably ran off to tear down a house on the next street over. If you want to ask him what to do with the infant’s corpse, there’s no rush..."

"Uh... brothers and sisters, allow me to interrupt." Jun Buxiao, who had been standing in a corner playing with his masks, now quietly raised a pair of scissors and pointed them into the distance. "I believe the matter of how to dispose of the corpse can wait."

Jun Buxiao instantly switched to a "somber" mask. "We might... have a problem."

The "dead" "Nascent Soul" had silently, soundlessly, stood up.

A faint "umbilical cord" grew from the infant’s navel, connecting to the Void.