Lose My Heart to the Lovely Kitten Princess - Chapter 31
Chapter 31: Oracle bone
“MEOW!”
NO!
WATCH OUT!
Cheng Xiaoxiao looked at the deep pit filled with swords pointing up with a threatening glow lying in front of Chu Yunshen.
All it took was a single step before Chu Yunshen plunged into it!
But Chu Yunshen looked down and saw the little fellow!
That can’t be right!
Hadn’t Xiaowu brought the little fellow back to the residence in her cage? How could she be here?”
Chu Yunshen flicked his sword hand and plunged his sword straight at the lion cat.
“MEOW!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao was so terrified that she swiftly dodged to the side. Chu Yunshen was insane!
She was trying to save him here. How could he hurt her?
“Do you even know about how much I like the little fellow? Did you think I would let you off if you impersonated her?” asked Chu Yunshen as he hacked the lion cat with his sword again.
Cheng Xiaoxiao dodged him desperately!
CLANG!
The sword hacked the pillar.
Chu Yunshen hastily woke up. He realized that the fire was gone, and the room had reverted to the previous one with many doors.
Then a tiny little head suddenly craned out from behind the pillar.
Chu Yunshen suddenly reached out and pulled the cat into his arms.
“Are you going to keep running around?”
The room swiftly spun before Cheng Xiaoxiao could reply Chu Yunshen.
In the blink of an eye, many more pillars appeared in the room.
Cheng Xiaoxiao looked at the pillars, which made the room appear like a maze.
She looked around the room with her third eye and discovered a red string connecting all the pillars together.
Chu Yunshen put Cheng Xiaoxiao down on some empty space in front of him. Then he studied the pillars. It was a labyrinth just like Cheng Xiaoxiao had mentioned.
No matter which pillar Chu Yunshen walked out of, he ended up returning to the starting point.
“It’s just a smokescreen.”
Chu Yunshen kept walking up and down the pillars trying to locate the eye of the formation.
Until he stopped in front of a pillar and raised the Zhanlu sword, the sword was so formidable that it could split huge rocks into half.
It was a powerful ancient sword.
The Zhanlu sword was fashioned from black iron. After forging it for 49 days, the bladesmith sacrificed himself before he finished casting it.
Since the bladesmith’s spirit had united with the sword, it could control the minds of those who wielded it, and most people went mad from using it.
In the martial arts circles, the Zhanlu sword was known to be the evilest sword in existence.
Hence despite its fame, no one dared wield it.
Chu Yunshen took great interest in the sword after he learned of it, so he ordered for its search. But strangely, the moment Chu Yunshen laid his hand on the sword, it felt as though it was destined for him.
“This pillar must be the formation eye,” said Chu Yunshen as he looked at the pillar before him with his sword raised.
Cheng Xiaoxiao looked at the intricate mechanism under the pillar. Although she didn’t know what the formation eye was, she knew the mechanism beneath it would get activated the moment Chu Yunshen hacked the pillar.
“Meow!”
You can’t hack that pillar.
Cheng Xiaoxiao kept shaking her little head.
Chu Yunshen gazed at Cheng Xiaoxiao and said, “If we hack this pillar apart, we can get out.”
“MEOW!” meowed Cheng Xiaoxiao shrilly. Then she bit the corner of Chu Yunshen’s robe and pulled him back.
“Be good. Quit fooling around!” said Chu Yunshen as he pushed Cheng Xiaoxiao aside. Then he raised his sword and hacked the pillar with a boom!
The pillar toppled to the ground with a soft rumble.
Cheng Xiaoxiao looked towards the broken pillar. The gear wheel of a mechanism was activated. Then an arrow came pointing at Chu Yunshen.
“Meow!”
Be careful of the arrow!
Then a glaring white light lunged towards Chu Yunshen.
Cheng Xiaoxiao pounced towards Chu Yunshen. She waved her paw, and the arrow swept across it.
“Little fellow!” said Chu Yunshen as he grabbed hold of the lion cat. Then he was shocked to see something red on her chubby paws.
“Meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao swallowed her agony as she meowed at Chu Yunshen.
RUMBLE!
Splinters started to appear on the ground by Chu Yunshen’s feet, so he stepped back instantly with the cat in his arms. Yet the ground kept fracturing, and there was already a huge chasm where he was standing previously.
Chu Yunshen accidentally entered another room with the lion cat in his arms as he evaded it.
Chu Yunshen hurriedly lowered his head to check on the cat in his arms. He held her paw and raised it to his eyes to see that her furry paw was dripping with blood.
“Meow.”
The little fellow shrunk weakly into his arms. His eyes turned dusky as he hugged the lion cat tightly. If not for the cat, he would have gotten shot by the arrow!
Chu Yunshen’s breathing constricted as his eyes scoured the place fixedly.
It seemed he was too careless!
Cheng Xiaoxiao noticed that this house had a similar structure to the previous one.
And each pillar was connected by numerous glowing red string.
Chu Yunshen studied each pillar with the lion cat in his embrace.
“Meow.”
Cheng Xiaoxiao swallowed her pain to ask Chu Yunshen what they were looking for.
Chu Yunshen replied as he studied the pillars, “We need to locate the eye of the eight trigram formation. If we find the formation eye and hack it…”
He lowered his head to look at Cheng Xiaoxiao’s injured paw as she lay in his arms. Then he swallowed his words.
“Meow meow.”
What did the eye of the formation look like?
Cheng Xiaoxiao meowed eagerly at Chu Yunshen. Since she had the third eye, she could help locate the formation eye if she knew what to look for.
“It’s a pillar located at the gate of life in this formation. To put it simply, it’s the heart of the formation,” explained Chu Yunshen as he looked.
“Meow.”
Cheng Xiaoxiao nodded with understanding. Then she activated her third eye to help Chu Yunshen find it.
Although she didn’t know what the gate of life was, she should be able to locate the center of the formation.
The atmosphere went quiet for a while. Chu Yunshen’s eyes landed on the little fellow who kept looking around while she was in his arms. Why did he talk to the cat earlier?
He must have been trapped here for too long.
Chu Yunshen studied each pillar, but to no avail.
He couldn’t act as recklessly as before. If he cut the wrong pillar, he would perish here.
Found it!
Cheng Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up. The moment the heart of the formation was destroyed, then all the pillars connected by the red thread would fall apart like dominos.
Cheng Xiaoxiao struggled out of Chu Yunshen’s embrace and jumped onto the ground.
“Little fellow, don’t run about!”
Chu Yunshen bent over to carry her, but the cat kept meowing at a pillar next to it.
Chu Yunshen’s eyes landed on the pillar, but it didn’t resemble the formation eye.
“Meow meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao kept meowing at Chu Yunshen anxiously. Hack it now! Where had all his drive gone?
“No, it’s probably a load-bearing pillar judging from its position,” replied Chu Yunshen as he shook his head. Then he wanted to take the cat and go somewhere else in search of the formation eye.
“Meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao kept nodding at the pillar and touching the Zhanlu sword hanging from Chu Yunshen’s waist.
“Be good,” said Chu Yunshen as he reached his hand for the lion cat, but she dodged his hand and meowed at the pillar nonstop. She was telling him to hack the pillar with her eyes.
Chu Yunshen was worried that they might perish if they ended up hacking the wrong pillar this time.
But the little fellow kept meowing at the pillar persistently as she stood by Chu Yunshen’s leg. Chu Yunshen looked around before looking at the pillar again. It would be wiser to take a gamble rather than die here.
He thought about how Cheng Xiaoxiao discovered the sacrificial altar in Huangquan Forest and located Deputy Minister Gu’s daughter’s corpse. Considering her keen sense of perception, perhaps she was right this time?
“Step aside,” said Chu Yunshen to Cheng Xiaoxiao as she stood by the pillar while he unsheathed the Zhanlu sword hanging from his waist.
Cheng Xiaoxiao instantly hid behind Chu Yunshen when he finally believed her.
RUMBLE!
The pillar toppled to the ground with a thunderous boom.
Then a white object came falling from the ceiling.
Cheng Xiaoxiao discovered it was a goat shoulder blade with a hole drilled through it. The pattern engraved on it seemed somewhat familiar and resembled the ones found on the sacrificial altar found in Huangquan Forest.
Chu Yunshen bent over to pick up the oracle bone. His eyes turned darker when he spotted the engraving on the oracle bone. Then he put the bone away before bending over to pick up the lion cat and said, “Let’s go.”
“Meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao nodded.
The instant Chu Yunshen opened the door, a piercing ray of sunlight came shining in.
Chu Yunshen raised his hand to shade his eyes as he looked out. Then he swiftly got a shock and retreated as he was standing over a bottomless cliff.
Since his feet were only an inch away from the cliff, loose rocks and sand went tumbling down from beside his feet as he backed up.
“Meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao was so startled that she instantly grabbed Chu Yunshen’s robe tightly.
She glanced around to discover a cliff located right behind the house. If she hadn’t appeared in time, Chu Yunshen would have jumped off the cliff after he fell for the ghosts’ ploy. Then Prince Jing’s death would end up being an unsolved case if his body couldn’t be located.
The people behind this certainly set up a major plot to kill Prince Jing.
If Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t return from the Netherworld, Prince Jing would undoubtedly perish.
Chu Yunshen hugged Cheng Xiaoxiao tightly as he walked along the foot of the wall and headed to the front of the house.
“Meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao blew on her injured paw the moment a sense of relief washed over her.
It hurt so badly!
Then Xiaowu’s anxious voice came from behind.
“Master, are you okay?”
Chu Yunshen turned to stare angrily at Xiaowu.
Xiaowu was instantly petrified. He was so startled that he froze as he held his breath.
Was this Prince Jing still Xiaowu’s mere hallucination?
“Ma-master?”
Xiaowu gripped his sword tightly as he looked at Chu Yunshen warily with the lion cat in his arms.
The lion cat?
It appeared Xiaowu was still hallucinating.
Prince Jing had already killed Xiaowu once. Xiaowu didn’t want to be killed by this fake prince a second time. This time, he had to retaliate!
Just as Xiaowu was struck by the dilemma of whether to attack Prince Jing, he suddenly heard him say coldly, “Let’s go home!”
Then Prince Jing left the forest swiftly for his horse, Yueying, with the lion cat in his arms.
Prince Jing wasn’t a hallucination.
So Xiaowu instantly chased after him.
Shortly after Chu Yunshen got onto the horse, he saw Xiaowu chasing after anxiously as he said, “Master, wait up!”
Only then did Xiaowu catch sight of the blood on the lion cat’s paw as she lay in Prince Jing’s arms. Was the little fellow hurt?
But how did the little fellow escape?
Didn’t he wrap the cage firmly with strips of cloth?
“20 paddles from the punishment officer when you get back!”
Chu Yunshen looked coldly at Xiaowu as he sat on the horse.
Xiaowu instantly knelt to explain that he didn’t know how the lion cat managed to escape and run after them, “Master, I…”
“Hyah!”
The moment Xiaowu looked up, all he saw was the horse’s butt. Then he quickly got onto his horse and shouted as he chased after Prince Jing, “Master, wait up!”
Xiaowu turned to look back at the house, which had reverted to normal.
But the pain in his chest was a stern reminder of what just transpired in the house.
Although it was a mere hallucination of Prince Jing stabbing Xiaowu to death by plunging a sword into his chest, it was so realistic that he couldn’t help trembling in fear at the thought.
Chu Yunshen got onto the horse and swiftly headed for the residence.
Cheng Xiaoxiao kept staring at the jade pendant on her neck while it glowed as she lay in Chu Yunshen’s arms.
The moment Chu Yunshen carried her out of Luohun Forest, she saw the jade pendant absorbing all the balls of black smog.
Then the green glow from the jade pendant seemed to grow stronger.
Did the jade pendant become stronger after absorbing the spirits of the dead?
