Chapter 72: A New Discovery

Xian Hongye's eyes widened in utter disbelief as she caught me "bullying" Zhao Shuihe. Staring at me with mounting annoyance, she demanded, "What on earth are you two doing?!"

What could I possibly say to that? I had no choice but to let go of Zhao Shuihe's hand, stammering as I readied myself to give Xian Hongye a full and detailed account of the situation.

Yet, at that exact moment, the mischievous and eccentric Zhao Shuihe decided to play the villain crying victim. Not only did she file a complaint, but she also... fabricated the whole thing entirely.

Amidst her howling and bawling, Zhao Shuihe managed to spit out just a single sentence to Xian Hongye... and those few words carried the destructive force of a lethal blow!

She actually wailed at Xian Hongye, "Sis! Your boyfriend was harassing me... and trying to eat my buns!"

Good grief! I was utterly stunned right then and there! Was that something a young girl should ever utter aloud? Was that a slander any innocent man could possibly stomach? Certainly not!

Desperate to clear my name, I hurriedly reached out, waving my hands frantically at Xian Hongye. "Hongye, please don't misunderstand. I was actually..."

"Actually what?" Hongye sneered coldly. "I didn't see a thing. Feel free to continue."

"No, wait..."

Before I could offer any defense, Hongye turned on her heel and strode away. Yet, she abruptly stopped and turned right back around. "A-Si is back. He trailed the Taoist Master Tian the whole way, and just as you guessed, there is something wrong with that charlatan. If you want to hear about it... come along."

With those words, Xian Hongye slammed the door shut behind her, leaving me utterly dumbfounded.

What was the meaning of this? Were we falling out just like that? Was she jealous? Or did she simply disdain to deal with me anymore?

Xian Hongye's attitude left me feeling anxious and awkward, though compared to my discomfort, Zhao Shuihe was practically ecstatic. She skipped over, patted me lightly on the head, pulled a funny face, and transitioned instantly from tears to laughter. "That made for a pretty good performance. Let's see how you talk your way out of this one now. If you hand over that knife you promised me, I might just help you explain..."

Chattering away, Zhao Shuihe skipped merrily out of the bedroom right behind Xian Hongye. Curiosity kills the cat, and impulsiveness ruins a man...

Feeling utterly helpless, I let out a long sigh and followed them outside.

Whatever happened, I would just have to explain things once we saw little A-Si.

...When we entered the guest room and laid eyes on A-Si, I received a severe shock.

Little A-Si was in a state of utter trance. His face was deathly pale as he sat slumped in a chair, gasping for breath with heaving chest. Beads of cold sweat covered his brow, and his lips trembled uncontrollably, painting a picture of indescribable fear and inexplicable terror.

I could sense that during his surveillance of Taoist Master Tian, A-Si must have stumbled upon something extraordinary—and whatever he had witnessed was certainly far from pleasant.

I stepped forward quickly and urged him, "Catch your breath first, then tell me carefully what happened."

The moment A-Si saw me, he leaped violently to his feet, grabbed my hands, and blurted out a sentence that left everyone utterly speechless!

"Taoist Master Tian has turned into a 'cat demon'! You guessed right! Everything was done by Taoist Master Tian..."

Little A-Si's emotions were so violently agitated that halfway through his sentence, he broke into a violent fit of coughing and wheezing. Gurgling sounds came from his throat as breathing became an immense struggle, and the tongue affected by his white-food Gu worm began thrashing wildly and uncontrollably inside his mouth.

He was on the verge of completely losing control!

Seeing his condition, I hurriedly fished a pill designed to suppress the Gu serpent from my tunic, dissolved it in a cup of water, and forced him to swallow it. Working together in a flurry of panic, some of us patted his chest while others massaged his back, and it took quite a while before A-Si's breathing finally regulated.

Even after his breath steadied, little A-Si kept repeating the exact same phrase: "He turned into a cat demon... He turned into a spirit..."

It seemed that Taoist Master Tian had inflicted quite a psychological trauma upon him.

Watching the dazed and absent-minded A-Si, Zhao Shuihe suddenly let out a cold snort. Seizing a teacup from the bedroom table, she promptly splashed its contents directly into A-Si's face!

Jolted by Zhao Shuihe's sudden shock, little A-Si let out a soft yelp, finally snapping back to his senses.

Zhao Shuihe asked with a cold, sarcastic smile, "Awake now? If you're awake, start talking already... everyone's waiting to hear!"

A-Si nodded, finally fully recovered as lingering terror gripped his heart. He began to recount the story of how he had tracked Taoist Master Tian.

"After receiving Brother Tian's orders," A-Si said, "I secretly tailed Taoist Master Tian, following him the entire way."

At first, this Taoist Master Tian looked no different from any ordinary person. With a hunched back, he walked along the main road at the village entrance, heading straight toward the southwest. He greeted the villagers warmly along the way, appearing completely integrated into the daily life of Zhaojialou, indistinguishable from an ordinary farmer.

In this manner, Taoist Master Tian strolled leisurely from the Zhao family homestead at the southeastern corner of the village all the way to the southwestern edge, seeming to wander aimlessly or perhaps searching for something...

During this time, little A-Si noticed a subtle detail.

Just as Taoist Master Tian stepped into a flagstone alley at the very end of the southwestern corner, a small, gray-striped cat was lazily basking in the sunlight beside the lane.

When the Taoist Master walked within about five or six paces of the feline, the lazy, dozing beast suddenly curled its entire body into a tight ball. Its fur stood on end as it pressed flat against the ground, trembling uncontrollably like a minor goblin meeting a great king, while letting out a continuous stream of mournful wails...

Hunched over, Taoist Master Tian walked right past the little cat without even sparing it a glance...

Just a dozen paces after Taoist Master Tian passed, the little cat abruptly returned to normal and resumed its dozing as if nothing had happened.

Little A-Si caught every single bit of this.

Witnessing such a bizarre sight, little A-Si felt his first wave of profound doubt toward this stooped, lean man. Recalling my words, he could not help but question a man capable of striking such "terror" into the heart of a cat.

It was entirely unnatural, as though the man carried an aura capable of forcing cats to cower in submission.

Harboring this doubt and astonishment, little A-Si put his martial skills to use, darting left and right, stepping even closer with heightened vigilance.

Thus, the two of them proceeded—one ahead, one behind, one in the open, one in the shadows—threading their way through the rugged and intricate alleys of Zhaojialou for a long time.

At last, Taoist Master Tian stopped wandering aimlessly. He halted, looked all around him, and after confirming that no one was in sight, he plunged abruptly into a dirt path leading out of the village.

That dirt path led straight to Shiren Gu.

Taoist Master Tian believed his actions were foolproof, entirely unaware that everything had been observed by little A-Si.

And so, Taoist Master Tian walked alone along the country dirt road, vanishing and reappearing intermittently, while little A-Si made full use of his most unique advantage... his short stature.

Because he was so short, ordinary weeds were enough to conceal his entire body, making him extremely difficult for a casual passerby to spot.

On several occasions, he accidentally made a rustling sound that caused Taoist Master Tian to spin around and scan his surroundings, yet the man still failed to detect his presence.

In this fashion, he shadowed Taoist Master Tian all the way to... the Zhao family ancestral tombs!

To his utter astonishment, little A-Si watched as Taoist Master Tian stepped into the Zhao family graveyard, immediately straightened his back, and rapidly stripped off his outer jacket and trousers amidst the dense cluster of tombstones, leaving himself clad in nothing but a pair of underpants. Stretching lazily and yawning, the man acted as though he had finally returned home, wearing an expression of complete ease and comfort.

Taoist Master Tian surveyed the surroundings one last time to ensure no one was tailing him, then turned around and strolled lazily into the Zhao family tombs.

At the exact instant Taoist Master Tian turned around, little A-Si suddenly noticed with acute sharpness that... protruding from the back waistband of the Taoist's underpants was a cat's tail?!