Princess Hui Ming: Stay Tonight (iPad Giveaway!)

Qiu Tu lifted the curtain and followed the female official into the tent.

The clamor of battle and the heavy stench of blood outside seemed to be cut off by an invisible barrier.

The tent was spacious and sparsely furnished, containing only a few chairs and a massive blackwood desk piled high with documents and battle reports.

A huge sand table stood before the desk, its countless battlefield developments marked by glowing points of divine power. Princess Hui Ming stood quietly with her hands behind her back, gazing at the war map before her.

Qiu Tu and the female official walked softly, but in the deathly silent tent, their footsteps sounded especially clear.

As though she had heard them, she slowly turned around.

For that instant, even Qiu Tu, who had seen plenty of beauties, found his breath catching.

What an exquisitely beautiful face.

Her features were as delicate as the most perfect creation of a god, yet so cold they bore not a trace of mortal warmth. Her long black hair hung loose to her waist like an Ink-colored waterfall, making even the Black Python Robe embroidered with golden patterns seem more elegant.

This was Grand Princess Hui Ming.

Qiu Tu quickly matched the woman before him with the image in the files, then imitated Cloud Cat God King's manner and gave a slight bow.

"Your Highness, I have brought the item."

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Princess Hui Ming did not respond immediately. Her icy phoenix eyes silently examined him, as if they intended to see straight through him.

Second by second, the atmosphere in the tent grew increasingly oppressive.

Qiu Tu maintained his bow without moving, though inwardly, he had already raised his guard to its highest level.

After a moment, Princess Hui Ming finally spoke.

"You may rise."

Her voice was cool and clear, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as though she were merely stating an established fact.

"Yes, Your Highness." Qiu Tu answered respectfully in Cloud Cat God King's slightly sweet voice. Then, he presented the jade box wrapped in cloth from his arms to the female official with both hands.

The female official accepted the jade box and hurriedly brought it to Princess Hui Ming.

Yet Princess Hui Ming's gaze only paused on the jade box for an instant before returning to Qiu Tu.

Rather than taking it, she asked, "Was there anything unusual on the way?"

"Everything went smoothly. I encountered nothing unusual." Qiu Tu's answer was flawless.

Hui Ming gave a noncommittal hum before extending her slender, fair hand to take the jade box. Her fingertips were icy, and the heartbeat coming from within the box seemed to freeze the instant she touched it.

She stroked the smooth surface of the jade box, her phoenix eyes lowered as though she were lost in thought.

The entire tent fell into dead silence, broken only by the silent flickering of lights across the sand table.

After a moment, she sat down, casually placed the jade box on the table beside her, and waved to the female official.

The female official promptly bowed, then backed out of the tent.

For a time, only Qiu Tu and Princess Hui Ming remained in the tent.

The tent once again sank into silence.

Qiu Tu knew that the real test had arrived.

Hui Ming had not summoned him here merely to deliver a box.

She suspected him. She was testing him.

Now that the box had arrived, keeping him here was itself a signal, a test. He had to perform perfectly if he wanted to dispel her suspicions.

As he thought this, every detail Cloud Cat God King had told him on the road flashed through his mind.

Cloud Cat God King said Hui Ming did not like taking the initiative.

Most of the time, Cloud Cat God King was the one who went looking for her.

And whenever Hui Ming had handled official business for a long time or encountered a major incident, she would want to pet Cloud Cat God King.

It was also one of the ways the two of them deepened their bond.

As he considered this, Qiu Tu's gaze inconspicuously swept over the mountain of documents on the desk before flicking toward the overwhelmingly complex battle simulations on the sand table.

Clearly, Hui Ming had been exhausting herself lately and was fairly worn out.

This was an opportunity.

But it was also a risk.

If he got it right, he could instantly dispel eighty percent of her suspicion.

But if he got it wrong, Princess Hui Ming might see through his identity immediately.

At such close range, Qiu Tu would not even be able to escape.

With that in mind, Qiu Tu rapidly weighed the pros and cons.

A moment later, he reached a decision.

He glanced at the upper-left corner of his vision. After confirming that Crisis Intuition had not been triggered, he removed the silver mask from his face.

As the silver mask came off, space twisted, and his body rapidly shrank.

A moment later, the cold and ruthless Silver Mask God King was gone. In his place stood a petite cat-eared girl in a black palace dress, her enchanting eyes gleaming.

It was Cloud Cat God King's true form.

Hui Ming's golden eyes flickered slightly, but quickly returned to calm. Only the scrutiny in her gaze grew stronger.

Qiu Tu—or rather, "Cloud Cat God King"—paid no attention to her gaze.

Barefoot, she padded gracefully toward Hui Ming with swaying catlike steps.

Then, without saying a word, her body changed once more.

With a soft pop, the little girl vanished. In her place appeared a long-haired cat, snow-white all over except for its four paws and the tip of its tail, which were pure black.

The cat had rare heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one blue, like two translucent gemstones gleaming with lively light.

It raised its head and looked at Hui Ming in the seat of honor with those beautiful mismatched eyes, then let out a soft, sweet "Meow~."

Next, it made a light leap onto the desk, walked elegantly around the documents, and finally stopped beside Hui Ming's hand. Then it gently rubbed its fluffy head against the back of Hui Ming's cold hand.

Hui Ming's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Her cold eyes quietly watched the snow-white cat by her hand, a faint glimmer flickering deep within them.

The white cat seemed wholly unaware of the change in Princess Hui Ming's emotions. After rubbing against her hand, it pushed its luck by jumping onto Hui Ming's slender legs, curling up in a comfortable position, and purring contentedly.

For a while, the faint purring was the only sound in the entire tent.

Hui Ming remained motionless, sitting silently as though she were thinking about something.

Qiu Tu, transformed into a white cat and lying on Princess Hui Ming's lap, was also feeling somewhat at a loss.

He had clearly approached Princess Hui Ming according to Cloud Cat God King's personality and habits.

Why was it not working?

Had he made some mistake in his act and aroused her suspicions?

But that should not be possible.

Crisis Intuition had not been triggered at all.

Then what was going on?

Just as Qiu Tu was pondering this, Princess Hui Ming finally moved.

She slowly lowered her eyes, her gaze falling upon the ball of white fur on her slender, smooth legs.

Then she extended her other hand.

That fair, slender hand, exquisite as a work of art, slowly descended onto the white cat's head with a trace of hesitation.

When her fingertips touched its soft, silky fur, Hui Ming's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.

Then, without any more hesitation, she began to pet it gently.

Feeling Princess Hui Ming stroking him, Qiu Tu narrowed his eyes in enjoyment.

Being a cat was not bad at all. He could lie on a beautiful woman's lap and get petted.

As he thought this, Qiu Tu raised one of his short little legs and, under the pretense of adjusting his position, touched Princess Hui Ming's slender legs.

The feel was superb. Her skin was soft enough to seem like it might break at a touch.

As expected of a High-level God King. This is amazing.

Once I regain my true body, who would believe me if I said I'd touched the legs of the Grand Princess who controlled the Destruction Royal Court?

Princess Hui Ming had no idea what Qiu Tu was thinking. Cloud Cat God King might not have been wrong—privately, she truly was a tranquil woman who liked petting cats and keeping fish. Thus, despite all the suspicions in her heart, when her hand touched Qiu Tu's fur, she could not help herself.

And so, amid the battlefield where the three great Paths were locked in chaotic war and tens of millions of gods had fallen, one god and one cat found a brief moment of leisure.

The originally solemn atmosphere in the tent also became warm because of Qiu Tu's actions.

After silently petting Qiu Tu for a while, Princess Hui Ming looked at him on her lap, her expression complicated.

Honestly, the fact that this "Cloud Cat God King" had boldly jumped onto her lap had truly caught her off guard.

Before this, she had been roughly ninety percent certain that Cloud Cat God King had been replaced or controlled through some special method.

But after this little cat leaped onto her lap, only thirty percent of that suspicion remained.

Who was she? She was Princess Hui Ming, a High-level God King of the Destruction Path and the true ruler of the Destruction Royal Court.

Even other High-level God Kings had to stay vigilant around her. How could anyone possibly jump onto her lap so naturally?

And perhaps because this little cat was simply too adorable and had melted her heart.

Even though her intuition was frantically warning her, no matter how she looked at it, the cat before her—its appearance, aura, and even the way it acted cute in a manner so familiar to her—was exactly like her "Cloud Cat."

Could it be... that I was overthinking it?

As she thought this, Princess Hui Ming considered it for two seconds and could not help recalling what the female official had said earlier.

She hesitated for an instant, then glanced at Qiu Tu on her lap and said, "Stay tonight."

Qiu Tu, who was still enjoying himself on Princess Hui Ming's lap, was startled. He could not help looking up at her.

His mismatched eyes revealed no emotion. He merely rubbed his head lightly against Princess Hui Ming's leg and gave a "Meow~," accepting her invitation.

Yet after responding and settling back onto Princess Hui Ming's lap, he was far from as calm as he appeared.

It's that easy to sleep together?

Isn't this moving a little too fast? Something feels Not Right.

Qiu Tu's mind raced. In less than two breaths, he concluded that this was likely a trap.

After all, on the way to Chaos West Capital,

Qiu Tu had nearly fallen into one of Princess Hui Ming's traps.

After listening to Cloud Cat God King's account back then, he had continued on his journey while examining the jade box in his arms.

Though he did not know what was inside, Qiu Tu was certain that Princess Hui Ming had not lied to him.

It had to contain something extraordinarily precious or important, something likely related to the secrets of High-level God Kings or even the "Undying."

In other words, the object within that box could have an enormous impact on the situation across the entire Ancient Continent.

So Qiu Tu had once considered secretly opening it to see what was inside. If it really was precious, he could always abandon the Cloud Cat God King identity.

But the moment that thought arose, Crisis Intuition began frantically popping up before his eyes.

Judging from the warnings of Crisis Intuition, if he opened the jade box, never mind whether he could get the item—Princess Hui Ming would most likely teleport directly before him and twist his head off.

That was the true reason Qiu Tu had not dared to make a move on the jade box during the journey.

And judging from that small matter,

Princess Hui Ming asking Qiu Tu to stay the night was certainly not a good thing either. It was probably another trap.

However, now that Princess Hui Ming had already spoken, Qiu Tu had no way to refuse. He could only agree and take things one step at a time.

Of course, although he knew tonight would probably be another test, Qiu Tu was not anxious.

The reason was simple. He believed that after his performance just now, Princess Hui Ming had likely lowered her suspicion of him to the minimum.

Tonight's test would most likely be the final one.

As long as he did not expose any flaws, he would certainly get through it.

And after what had just happened, Qiu Tu's model of Princess Hui Ming's personality had become even more complete.

After a brief moment of thought, he made another decision.

He raised his head from Princess Hui Ming's lap and gave her a "Meow~."

Seeing this, Princess Hui Ming looked down at him and gave an inquisitive "Hm?"

Qiu Tu gave another "Meow~," then made a small leap and lightly landed on Hui Ming's shoulder.

Hui Ming hesitated for a moment, already guessing what Qiu Tu intended to do.

Sure enough, Qiu Tu extended his little paw with its soft pads and began rhythmically kneading her tense shoulders and neck.

Knead, knead, knead.

Neither too light nor too heavy, the pressure was just right.

Hui Ming's shoulders were somewhat thin, and even through her Python Robe, he could feel their distinct contours. She seemed especially like a fragile work of art, so Qiu Tu did not dare use too much force as he kneaded.

Meanwhile, as Qiu Tu's little paws rhythmically pressed against her, a strange comfort spread from Hui Ming's shoulders and neck, easing the tension that had gripped her mind for so long.

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