Chapter 273: You still want to go up onto the roof?

Xiao Er led Tuan Tuan, following the little Daoist, searching everywhere, and finally saw a little cat lazily basking in the sun.

It lay sprawled in the sunlight, its sleeping pose utterly adorable.

Its four snow‑white paws were stretched out straight, its whole body like a spread‑out, fluffy black blanket.

Hearing footsteps, it lazily lifted its eyelids, its big eyes revealing a slit, the tip of its tail lightly tapping the ground now and then.

Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up—what a pretty little cat!

She let go of Xiao Er's big hand and ran toward the cat: "Meow! Little kitty, I'm coming!"

But the spirit cat flipped over with a swish, turned its head and bolted, paying no heed to her calls.

Tuan Tuan froze, her steps halting.

"Why won't you pay attention to me?"

"Kitty, don't run! I came to play with you!" she said, taking short steps as she chased after it.

The cat moved nimbly, and in no time slipped into the incense‑filled hall, brushing past the offering table leg and darting past an old grandmother's futon.

Tuan Tuan followed closely, imitating it exactly; she lowered her small body and squeezed without hesitation through the narrow gap between the futon and the offering table.

The old grandmother, incense in hand, was stunned on the spot, and the nearby worshippers gaped in astonishment.

The cat swished up onto the offering platform before the statue, and Tuan Tuan, using hands and feet, followed, trying to climb up as well.

"No way! You can't go up there!" the little Daoist panted as he rushed into the hall, seeing the scene and quickly shouting to stop them.

Xiao Er glared at him, and the little Daoist shrank his neck: "Well, that's the offering platform!"

Tuan Tuan paid him no mind, continuing to climb, but just as she reached halfway, the cat leapt down from the platform, darted out of the hall up a tree, and with a light hop landed on the flying eaves of the adjacent hall.

Tuan Tuan ran to the base of the tree, looked up, and pointed at the roof: "Uncle Two! I want to go up!"

The little Daoist came running, panting like an ox, his Daoist cap askew, and hearing that he was outright stunned.

You still want to go up onto the roof?

When had the worshippers ever seen such a scene in the solemn Qingyunguan?

A delicately carved little girl chased a black cat, leaping up and down, while behind her ran a Daoist out of breath.

For a moment they forgot to offer incense, unable to suppress their laughter as they chuckled softly.

Fortunately, the cat didn't stay on the roof long before leaping down again, and Tuan Tuan kept chasing,

After circling most of the observatory, the cat finally slipped into a side hall, jumped onto a futon, and stopped.

Tuan Tuan lunged forward and scooped up the warm, soft little body in her arms.

She proudly announced, "I caught you!" her little face flushed from running.

She sat on the futon, gently stroking the cat's back, murmuring "meow" nonstop.

Xiao Er stood nearby, smiling, thinking, "My young lady is just adorable!"

The little Daoist who had followed saw the little girl finally holding the cat, stopped running, immediately relaxed, wiped his sweat, and leaned against the doorframe, panting heavily.

Tuan Tuan lifted the cat, face to face, their eyes meeting.

"Wow, your eyes are really beautiful—green!"

"But why are they so dull?"

She examined it closely—surely a cat's eyes should be bright and sparkling; why aren't yours? It's as if something is covering them.

Tuan Tuan held it again, feeling sorry, rubbing her little face against it and muttering, "Don't be scared, little kitty, your eyes are sick—I'll help you get them better!"

She placed the cat on her lap, one hand stroking its smooth back fur, the other covering its eyes and gently rubbing the eyelids.

"Good kitty, doesn't that feel nice? It'll be all right soon—don't rush!"

After a moment, she lifted her hand, and the cat opened its eyes.

The layer of murky mist vanished, leaving a pair of large green eyes crystal clear and radiant.

The cat looked around, let out a "mew," extended its tiny barbed tongue, and began affectionately licking Tuan Tuan's hand‑back nonstop, a contented purr rumbling in its throat.

Tuan Tuan kissed its little head—truly obedient!

The cat lay still for a moment, softly meowing a few times.

Tuan Tuan blinked, then replied with two meows.

The little Daoist at the doorway smirked inwardly, thinking, "What a child."

But then the cat swished, rubbed against Tuan Tuan's face, leapt violently from her arms, turned, and bolted out again.

Again? What a tiresome chore!

The little Daoist resignedly took off after it, but this time he merely followed from a distance, not pursuing as fiercely as before.

The cat ran into the hall again; this time it didn't leap up and down, but crept behind the statue, lay down quietly, and stared straight at Tuan Tuan, who was crouched before it.

Tuan Tuan kept petting the cat; after a moment she meowed a few times: "Little kitty, let's go—this place is full of bad people, don't come back."

The cat stood up, its little head nuzzling her hand affectionately, then whooshed out of the hall, leapt onto the high courtyard wall in a few bounds, and vanished behind the eaves.

Tuan Tuan stood up: "Let's go, Uncle Two—let's find Third Brother and the others."

Back at the lodgings, Xiao Ningxun and Xiao Ran were still chattering away with Qixiazi.

Tuan Tuan walked over, tugged at Xiao Ningxun's sleeve, and said, "Third Brother, I'm tired—let's head back."

Qixiazi looked at her, smiling: "Worn out from playing? Then I won't keep you any longer."

Several people bade farewell and returned to the inn.

Not long after, Lu Qi returned: "The rear courtyard of Qingyunguan looks normal; I just went to check the halls under repair."

"Indeed they're being repaired, the outside is all draped with cloth. But the workers doing the job are rather odd."

He paused, searching for words: "They seem… dazed; I walked back and forth several times, yet I never saw anyone chatting, nor did I see them drinking or eating."

Xiao Ran wondered, "It's not mealtime—what's so strange about that?"

Xiao Er interjected, "Even if it's not mealtime, repair work is hard; with so many people, they ought to have stopped to drink and quench their thirst."

Xiao Ningxun pondered for a moment: "Miss Ding only heard a couple of sentences and then went mad."

"Could it be that Qixiazi, like the National Preceptor of Da Xia, also has some method to control people?"

Tuan Tuan nodded vigorously: "He does."

Everyone looked at her, faces full of surprise.

Tuan Tuan said angrily: "That's why the little cat's eyes are so vacant!"

"I cured it! It told me there's something inside the statue's belly!"

Xiao Ran frowned: "Inside the statue? What is there?"

Tuan Tuan shook his head: "I don't know. I told the little cat to hurry up and leave, never to come back, and it left."

Xiao Ningxun understood: "So that's it! Qixiazi must have used some dark art to control those artisans, which is why they never leaked a word."

"Lu Qi said they don't even drink water—could it be that Qixiazi, in order to rush those things, actually disregarded their lives and made them work day and night?"