Chapter 232: Chapter 201: White Cat_1

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed. Xu Mu stayed in his room every day, not going out.

“Meow!”

The door, carved out of a single stone slab, slowly opened to reveal a puppet cat that was snow white all over, as if carved from white jade.

Like a graceful little princess, it stepped into Xu Mu’s room.

With its head held high and its tail curled, it trotted around him in a circle before lightly jumping onto Xu Mu’s shoulder.

Xu Mu frowned slightly, but because of the woman, he did not drive it away.

Just as he was considering how to speak, the puppet cat slowly opened its broad mouth, from which protruded a metal mask bigger than its own body.

The puppet cat held the mask in its mouth, tilting its head towards Xu Mu in a suggestive manner.

Xu Mu took the mask and asked, “What does this mean?”

“Put it on!”

The puppet cat said.

The voice sounded like a high-class lady with a cold attitude.

Xu Mu was taken aback.

“You can talk?” he asked.

“Is it that strange?”

The puppet cat, pride shining in its eyes, jumped down from Xu Mu’s shoulder and twisted its head to face him.

“Then why are you always meowing!”

“Because I like to!”

Xu Mu was speechless. He had always thought that the cat was merely a simple guide puppet.

“Meow! Hurry up! Meow!”

After saying this, the puppet cat turned its back towards him and, as if deliberately trying to provoke him, meowed a few more times before striding out.

Xu Mu did not follow immediately. Instead, he looked at the metal mask in his hands.

The mask was golden-yellow, with a glossy surface. It had two eyeholes but lacked a nose or mouth protrusion. However, it was adorned with a design of white cloud patterns.

As Xu Mu focused his gaze on it, the white cloud patterns twisted and transformed into a variety of animal forms.

When examined with Divine Intent, a repelling force came forth from the mask.

Is it used to hide one’s identity?

Xu Mu hesitated for a moment before sticking it onto his face.

Under the stimulus of the Spiritual Power, the Formation within the mask began to operate, forming a suction force against his face.

Xu Mu removed his hand from the mask and detected no discomfort. Only then did he leave his room to catch up with the puppet white cat.

The person and the cat walked down the corridor, turned a few corners and arrived at the veranda outside the palace.

The sky was still pitch black, indicating that it was nighttime, possibly even late at night.

There were no stars or moon in the sky. It was unknown whether the palace’s Formation was blocking them, or if it was merely the obscuring of clouds.

On one side of the veranda were the palace gates, while on the right lay a garden filled with various flowers, plants, and trees. Despite the darkest of the sky, Xu Mu could see everything clearly due to his cultivation level.

The person and the cat followed the path of the corridor.

They walked along the ground made of black wooden planks, each step echoing hollowly.

The entire corridor encircled all the palaces like a hoop.

After about a thousand steps, Xu Mu came upon an irregular-shaped pool filled with golden lotuses. There were also black cranes with long legs walking around in the pool.

As Xu Mu approached, he realized that these cranes were actually puppets made of black metal.

Beside the pool, there were ornamental rocks and Spirit plants. The ornamental rocks looked like ordinary rocks, while the Spirit plants were mainly fruit­bearing trees. Many of which were already bearing fruits, their Spiritual aura tantalizingly enticing.

On a stone bridge by the pool, several figures were standing.

One of them was that mysterious woman. Today, she had changed her appearance, wearing an updo, dressed in bronze armor. She had a high nose, cold features, and a heroic poise, resembling a female general.

Though her appearance and temperament had undergone enormous changes, as a cultivator, Xu Mu identified people by their aura and he recognized her nonetheless.

Besides her, there were four other figures wearing masks of blue, black, red, and green, their styles similar to the mask on Xu Mu’s own face beyond the color.

Each of them wore high-level mage robes. It was evident from their postures that two were males and two were females. However, they could not identify their cultivation level because they didn’t dare to casually release their Divine Intent.

But according to his guess, there should be none below the Golden Core Stage.

As Xu Mu was sizing up the four people, they were also sizing him up.

After the observation, they all diverted their gaze and feigned a meditative state.

Both parties remained silent.

“Meow!”

The puppet cat that had led Xu Mu here meowed once, then jumped onto a nearby faux mountain and settled down in a comfortable corner.

Only then did Xu Mu notice that several similar puppet cats were already lounging on the faux mountain.

The woman who had been focused on the pool seemed to react to the cat’s cry. She glanced at Xu Mu without expression, nodded slightly, and then continued to look at the water without uttering a single word.

Was she pretending to be aloof or had her temperament also changed with her appearance?

Xu Mu guessed in his mind.

He stood quietly on the side, not introducing himself, but followed the woman’s gaze and also looked into the water.

In the pool, there were many white fish as thick as thumbs, glowing softly, playing under the golden lotus leaves.

Huh?

At the sight of these little fish, Xu Mu’s pupils contracted involuntarily because these small fish were quite similar to what his second avatar had seen in the sea.

But there it was the sea, here it was a lake – the different water quality should mean that they weren’t the same species of fish!

If not for the mysterious woman being present, he really wanted to take a closer look with his Divine Intent.

About the time it takes to steep a cup of tea later, a fat, bald man, wearing a purple mask, also walked over, led by a white puppet cat.

“I apologize for making you wait. I was at a critical point in my cultivation and could not stop!”

The fat man with the purple mask said with a big smile.

His speech sounded congested, almost as if a normal person had a cold with a blocked nose and was having difficulty catching a breath.

Xu Mu was not sure whether what the man was saying was true or not.

If it was, then his state of mind was truly large, to dare to immerse himself in cultivation in a place like this.

“Enough with the idle chatter, since everyone has arrived, let’s get down to business!”

The woman withdrew her gaze, rudely interrupting the purple-faced man’s babbling.

“We will follow your instructions.”

The purple-faced man respectfully made a salutation.

The woman didn’t waste any more words with the man. She took out six jade tokens from God-knows-where and threw them out to the crowd.

“These are the map of the secret realm you are about to enter!”

The woman stood with her hands behind her back and continued: “Your task is simple, follow the map to the pointed position, kill the monster beast there, then meet at the endpoint marked on the map. I will inform you of the next steps when the time comes!”

“Monster beasts?”

All six people seemed to pause briefly.

Seeing their confusion, the woman explained: “The secret realm contains abundant quantities of yin evil spirit and Demonic Qi. The monster beasts inside have all lost their senses due to their corruption by the evil qi. They differ greatly from common monster beasts, hence I have denominated them as vicious beasts.”

“I see! Do you know any specifics about the situation inside?” The woman with a blue mask asked.

“There are only some insane low-tier monster beasts inside. With your level of spiritual power, you should be able to easily deal with them if you’re careful. I will also send Little White along with you. If you encounter any abnormal situations, just ask it!”

After finishing speaking, a number of white puppet cats jumped down from the faux mountain and came to their sides, each jumping onto their shoulders.

“Any other questions?”

The woman scanned over the six people.

They all nodded in turn.

“If that’s so, let’s get started!”

After saying this, the woman gave a grand wave of her hand, and the water in the pool suddenly split open, revealing a passage leading underground, into which the woman stepped first.

Xu Mu was somewhat surprised. He had not expected that the secret realm mentioned by the woman was actually hidden beneath the palace.

According to the woman, it was filled with yin evil spirit. Building the hideout above the secret realm, what if the yin evil spirit within the secret realm leaked out? Wasn’t that courting death?

Just as Xu Mu was perplexed, the purple-faced man already stepped down following the woman, seeming entirely unafraid of the upcoming mission.

Others followed after a moment of hesitation.

Xu Mu wasn’t sure if the others were like him, being coerced, but it seemed like they all had no way out.

“I hope it’s really as easy as she said it is!”