Ow!

Cheng Xiaoxiao sensed someone smacking her bottom and it made her even angrier.

Since she was a cat, she was not afraid of falling.

Come on! Was this stupid human being ready to pay for incurring her wrath?

Cheng Xiaoxiao rubbed her paws and thought about flipping over to lunge onto the culprit’s face and claw his face.

“Stop moving! Do you really want to fall?”

The culprit was still a little hesitant the first time he slapped Cheng Xiaoxiao’s butt, but this time, he gave her a solid slap.

However, this man and his cold voice certainly sounded familiar…

Chu Yunshen!

Cheng Xiaoxiao instantly froze…

Since when did he learn to slap her butt? This won’t do…

Chu Yunshen flipped the lion cat over and placed her in his arms. Now that the lion cat had quietened down, his voice became very gentle. “Haven’t you had enough fun? Come back with me.”

The servants had already swiftly left the yard in an orderly fashion when Cheng Xiaoxiao got caught by Chu Yunshen, so only Xiaowu remained standing beside him with a lantern.

Cheng Xiaoxiao refused to give up and wanted to convince Chu Yunshen to let her in. She stuck her head out of Chu Yunshen’s arms and look at the library entrance. Sadly, he hit her on the head quickly.

“Meow!”

The lion cat glared at Chu Yunshen in protest.

“If you want to use the library, you can come in the day and don’t have to be sneaky about it.”

Chu Yunshen pressed her head into his arms and gestured for Xiaowu to take the jade box on the ground.

Could she come in the day?

Could she come tomorrow?

Chu Yunshen was the best!

Cheng Xiaoxiao almost wanted to kiss Chu Yunshen just like the way she kissed the jade pendant, but Chu Yunshen did not let her move, so she could only obediently curl up in his arms as he carried her.

After Chu Yunshen and the lion cat made up happily, only Xiaowu remained upset.

He picked up the jade box to find that it was covered with the lion cat’s saliva and dirt.

Xiaowu could sense a strange texture in his hand when it came into contact with the sticky fluid and rough dirt.

Xiaowu’s lips twitched as he took the lantern and walked beside Chu Yunshen. He had probably scolded the lion cat a million times by now.

“Achoo!”

Xiaowu froze slightly when the lion cat sneezed while she was in Chu Yunshen’s arms making his legs lose rhythm.

It appeared that winter was coming soon, so it was starting to get cold at night.

After Cheng Xiaoxiao sneezed, she snuggled into Chu Yunshen’s arms deeply. She felt that it wasn’t warm enough, so she wanted to reach her paws under Chu Yunshen’s robes, but the moment she tried to yank Chu Yunshen’s robes, he grabbed her paws.

Fine… He was such a petty guy. She decided to try some other time.

Chu Yunshen had performed so well tonight. He had given her the jade box and let her use his library.

More importantly, Chu Yunshen surprisingly didn’t throw a temper when he found out that she secretly went to the library tonight.

That was the best news ever.

Chu Yunshen carried the lion cat back to the room. Now that it was already very late at night, he did not go out. Instead, he went to bed with the lion cat.

However, he moved his head away awkwardly when Cheng Xiaoxiao placed her belly near his face.

Cheng Xiaoxiao failed to observe Yunshen tonight and did not even realize when he moved his head away.

Although she was a queen, she was exhausted from all this excitement.

Even then, Cheng Xiaoxiao woke up unusually early the next morning and was in time to catch Chu Yunshen get dressed.

She was never early enough to see this.

“I will send you over in a minute.”

Chu Yunshen’s words came out of the blue and left Cheng Xiaoxiao worried.

Why was Chu Yunshen sending her to the library?

Had he noticed something wrong with her?

Was he there to observe her?

In an instant, all kinds of possibilities came to mind. Cheng Xiaoxiao sat on the bed in a daze for some time and didn’t know what to do next.

Chu Yunshen noticed that the lion cat didn’t jump into his arms. He turned and caught the lion cat sitting on the bed in a daze.

Why did it seem as though his cat had gotten a little dumber?

Didn’t she use to be really intelligent?

Then again, she did seem a little stupid to begin with.

Chu Yunshen decided to check his cat encyclopedia to find out more.

Since the lion cat continued to stare into the distance in a daze, Chu Yunshen could only place her in his arms.

Cheng Xiaoxiao finished her milk paste in a daze before eating her fish soup mechanically. She was still trying to figure out why Chu Yunshen wanted to visit the library with her when he had already set out for the place.

It was so chilly…

It was late autumn and the chilly cold morning wind made Cheng Xiaoxiao wake up right away.

Hmm?

Why were they out?

Where were they going? Oh… They were going to the library.

Cheng Xiaoxiao finally realized where they were going. She had to find some way to throw Chu Yunshen off her scent later.

Maybe she ought to check out every shelf in the library before settling in the jade objects section?

Perhaps she should check out some books about jade along with some other books?

Before Cheng Xiaoxiao had made up her mind, they had already arrived at the library.

“Your Highness!”

Cheng Xiaoxiao had never seen the old man in charge of the library before. His hair, eyebrows, and beard were all grey and he was clearly very old.

“You may leave and come back at mid-day,” said Chu Yunshen mildly.

Mid-day? That meant she until the afternoon.

Cheng Xiaoxiao did her Math. It was already 8:00 to 9:00 am, and it was only a few more hours to lunch. Since she was not a genius, how could she find the stuff she needed so quickly?

The lion cat got restless in Chu Yunshen’s arms as she gestured that she needed more time.

Chu Yunshen disregarded her reaction. He went up to the second floor and slowly placed her in front of a bookshelf. He proceeded to pet the lion cat’s furry head and turned to leave.

“Meow?”

Was he leaving already?

Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t know what Chu Yunshen was trying to do. She thought it was some trap, but Chu Yunshen genuinely only meant to walk her over to the library.

Chu Yunshen lowered his head and looked at the lion cat clawing at the corner of his robes with expressive big bright eyes. He contemplated before he touched the lion cat’s chubby face.

“Read as much as you like. I will come back for you at noon.”

After Chu Yunshen was done talking to the lion cat, he left without lingering. Cheng Xiaoxiao remained at a loss about what he was trying to do.

Never mind. She should get cracking with her reading.

Cheng Xiaoxiao decided to start with the bookshelf right in front of her.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was unsure if Chu Yunshen placed her here on purpose, but she realized that the bookshelf was filled with books about jade objects.

It must be just some dumb stroke of luck. How could Chu Yunshen know what she was thinking and help her? He always seemed disinterested in things that had nothing to do with him…

Cheng Xiaoxiao felt she was thinking too much and she probably just got lucky. Chu Yunshen certainly didn’t have it in him to help her like some enthusiastic middle-aged female neighbor.

Cheng Xiaoxiao complained about Chu Yunshen in her heart as she went through the shelf. She swiftly struck gold and found a book about jade boxes on the third shelf.

Also, Cheng Xiaoxiao realized that the library was very well-kept and there wasn’t a speck of dust on the books. Perhaps the old man in charge of the library had a penchant for cleanliness, so the place was spotless.

Initially, she thought there was bound to be thick layers of dust maybe even cobwebs in the library. Sure enough, she had an overactive imagination.

Cheng Xiaoxiao dragged the book to the corner of the library with great effort before she quietly opened it.

Despite knowing that the library was empty, Cheng Xiaoxiao nervously swallowed some saliva.

Cheng Xiaoxiao flipped the exceptionally thin book to the page where she found a drawing of the jade box that looked exactly like hers.

That was it!

Cheng Xiaoxiao laughed like a dodgy old man picking his feet with light in her eyes as she chuckled strangely.

There was a picture of the jade box along with a row of words accompanying the drawing which read Auspicious Bird Jade Box.

Auspicious Bird Jade Box?

Was that the name of the jade box?

Cheng Xiaoxiao flipped to the next page excitedly. It was densely filled with words that resembled small seal script.

The text used obscure words and she did her utmost to memorize them.

It was ancient prose…

The entire thing was written in ancient prose.

Cheng Xiaoxiao felt as though she had expended all the brain cells of a lifetime just to decipher it.

The page read:

“This box was called Auspicious Bird Jade Box since it was born in a Yin location at the peak of the mountain and is a gift of nature. Auspicious birds reside in ebony trees and absorbed phoenix energy. Legendary large fish thrive in the ocean in the most northern part of the lands and absorbs evil spirits. Auspicious birds flourish near sweet spring water and nature will reverse from Yang to Yin when met with extremes. The legendary large fish will transform into giant birds and extreme Yin will turn into Yang. When the jade box is combined with the jade disc, it is capable of reversing day and night and hold dominion over nature. It is able to stop death and bring about rebirth.”

Cheng Xiaoxiao felt this resembled descriptions of artifacts she saw at the museum. Also, there were some lines of poetry resembling chants following the text.

“The auspicious bird takes to the heavens. Combine the jade disc with the jade box. The jade disc summons good fortune when it is placed inside the jade box.”

Jade disc? What was a jade disc?

What did the book mean by being auspicious?

An auspicious bird?

Was it the baby bird?

Did this mean that the jade box was still missing a jade disc?

The groove under the jade box was there for a reason. It must be intended for the jade disc or something.

Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t know if her speculations were correct, so she flipped back to the picture of the jade box on the previous page.

She only then realized that she was not careful enough when she was reading the book. The jade box in the book came with a jade disc.

The bottom of the jade box became smooth and flawless with the jade disc inserted inside.

This time, Cheng Xiaoxiao went over the picture a few times and double-checked everything before she continued studying the prose.

“It is capable of controlling nature and reversing day and night.”

This line was far easier to comprehend than the rest of the text. Cheng Xiaoxiao felt the prose description was pretty useless.

All this talk about auspicious birds and legendary large fish was so confusing. If she only had the first part of the text to go with, she would have thought the description was messing with her.

It seemed it was simply used as a metaphor and meant that the jade box was able to absorb Yin and Yang energies and reverse them.

No wonder Uncle Gen was able to absorb the life energy belonging to Chu Yunshen and the others. Also, he had access to a neverending supply of Yin energy. From the looks of it, it was thanks to this jade box.

Then what about the last line?