Chapter 189
Chapter 189: Old Crone
Upon hearing this, Hu Rui An and the others quickly gathered around, looking in the direction Li Mu Sheng pointed.
After a moment, Shen An Ran spoke first: “These cat paw prints are all going upward, none downward. It means that big cat often climbs up this wall.” Her gaze followed the paw prints upward, noticing a hidden opening in the wooden beam above Little Hall.
At this moment, the large cat, previously lying outside, had silently come up behind them without anyone noticing, then suddenly let out a loud “meow.”
Wu Shang and his companion, who had been listening intently to Shen An Ran and staring at the paw prints, jumped in fright. They quickly turned around, only to see the robust black cat casually strolling past them.
Then, with a body as large as a country dog, the cat lightly leaped up, stepping onto the wall precisely where the paw prints were. In a few agile moves, it bounced onto the beam above. Once atop the beam, the cat turned its head to glance down at them and meowed again, as if saying, “Fine, you’ve discovered my secret.”
The next moment, it slipped into the dark hole in the beam, emerging shortly after with a bundle in its mouth.
Hu Rui An and the others’ eyes lit up when they saw this. But suddenly, with the bundle firmly in its jaws, the cat dashed swiftly along the beam toward the other end of Little Hall.
“Stop it!” Wu Shang quickly called out. Hu Rui An reacted immediately, raising his hand and grasping upward into the air. Instantly, a giant hand made from martial Qi appeared above the cat, swiftly reaching out to capture it.
However, the Qi hand suddenly dissolved as soon as it touched the cat, vanishing completely in the blink of an eye.
Hu Rui An’s expression shifted in surprise, but Li Mu Sheng, standing beside him, rubbed his chin thoughtfully and remarked, “Don’t rush, let’s watch for now. This cat is rather fascinating. It doesn’t seem like an ordinary animal.”
Hearing Li Mu Sheng, Hu Rui An breathed a sigh of relief. He had feared someone else interfered secretly. Knowing it was Li Mu Sheng, he relaxed immediately.
Hu Rui An then watched as the cat swiftly reached the other end of the beam, leaped down, and bolted toward the hall entrance without looking back.
“Let’s follow that cat and see where it leads,” Hu Rui An said decisively, immediately chasing after the cat. Wu Shang and the others glanced at Li Mu Sheng, who had already begun following, and quickly joined without hesitation.
The large black cat, with gleaming green eyes and the bundle in its mouth, darted swiftly through the pitch-dark grounds of the Heavenly Brocade Guard branch office. Behind it, Hu Rui An and the others maintained a cautious distance, neither too close nor too far behind.
After a short chase, the big black cat stopped in front of the torture room at the rear of the Heavenly Brocade Guard, skillfully bumping open a window and slipping inside.
Hu Rui An reached the torture room instantly, effortlessly breaking the copper-locked door with silent Qi. He entered unhindered, catching sight of the cat slipping through an iron gate on the floor inside.
“This must be the dungeon of the Heavenly Brocade Guard,” Hu Rui An explained to Li Mu Sheng beside him. “Common criminals are usually imprisoned in the Prefecture City’s main jail. Only significant prisoners are kept here.” With a casual wave, Hu Rui An flung the locked iron gate aside.
After a moment’s hesitation, he suggested, “The cat seems to have intentionally led us here. But the dungeon is likely filthy and unpleasant. Perhaps Your Highness could wait here while I investigate below?”
Li Mu Sheng, however, shook his head unconcerned, vanishing from his spot and reappearing within the dungeon. Hu Rui An’s gaze flickered slightly, quickly following after him.
Inside, the dungeon was pitch-black without any light, darker than the outside, with damp, cramped air filled with an unbearable stench and a suffocating feeling. Yet for a martial dao master like Hu Rui An, it was nothing challenging.
At that moment, the cat stopped at the deepest cell in the dungeon. Turning its ghostly green eyes toward Li Mu Sheng and the others, it gently placed the bundle on the floor, retreated to a corner, sat down, and gave a soft meow.
Seeing this, Hu Rui An immediately frowned, glancing first at the bundle on the ground and then at the figure lying within the cell.
Behind them, Wu Shang and the others arrived, crowding the narrow corridor, though Hu Rui An paid them no attention. His gaze fixed through the darkness onto the figure lying sideways on the cell floor. The figure had its back to them, making it hard to see the face clearly, but the frail form was unmistakably that of an old crone. Her clothes were filthy, her white hair caked with dirt and grime, hardened into stiff clumps. Yet she breathed rhythmically, clearly alive and merely asleep, not dead.
Hu Rui An observed her briefly before flicking his finger to ignite an oil lamp on the wall, and asked abruptly, “Are you the one pretending to be a ghost in the Heavenly Brocade Guard?”
His words were straightforward. Although he didn’t know who this old crone was, he clearly had no intention of wasting time with niceties.
At this, the old woman inside slowly sat up, awakened by his question. She silently turned her head to look outside the cell, causing Wu Shang and the others’ expressions to change dramatically. Her head rotated fully one hundred and eighty degrees while her body stayed unmoving, making her appearance deeply unsettling.
Moreover, her face was horrifyingly ugly—extremely aged, covered with festering sores and scars. Under the dim, yellowish lamplight, she was truly frightening.
The old crone’s cloudy eyes studied Hu Rui An and the others outside the cell, eventually landing upon Li Mu Sheng. With a coarse, hoarse voice, she said, “Though my appearance is hideous enough to frighten anyone, I am no ghost. You have misunderstood this old woman.”
But Li Mu Sheng wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he glanced toward the cat crouched quietly in the corner, signaling Hu Rui An to check the bundle on the ground.
Without hesitation, Hu Rui An reached out through the air, picked up the bundle, and swiftly unwrapped it. Inside, he found a small book the size of a palm, stained with dried blood and wrapped tightly in blood-soaked cloth.
Ignoring the macabre sight, Hu Rui An quickly opened the book, scanning its contents briefly. Moments later, his brow furrowed deeply, and turning to Li Mu Sheng, he announced gravely, “This…is a death list!”