The Cat's Directions
Though Ling Ling didn't understand, she respected his choice. She'd clashed with the town's Players and was worried something else might happen, so they needed to gather more information as quickly as possible.
Whether the cat-whisker fruit that had gone missing from the home of the official surnamed Mi was real or not, it wasn't suitable for them to get involved. This wasn't an opportunity to clear the level.
"I'll head out first."
After breakfast, Xu Huo walked along the streets of the small town, keeping an eye out for the painted woman.
Along the way, he ran into the female traveler he'd met on the mountaintop of Cat-Whisker Fruit Mountain. She greeted him warmly and invited him to go see the craftsman's fruit-pit carvings with her. She had brought gifts and some of her own work, intending to make a determined attempt to become the old woman's apprentice that very day.
The place wasn't far, so Xu Huo went with her.
The two arrived at a shop called Small Item Carving. The female traveler pushed open the door and spotted a person and a cat crouched beside the shelves, furtively gathering cat-whisker fruit from the floor and putting it back.
They were all finished pieces. From their guilty expressions and movements, it wasn't hard to tell they'd knocked everything onto the floor and were trying to cover it up before anyone noticed.
When the painted woman met the female traveler's gaze, she immediately stood up as if nothing had happened. She pretended to wipe the shelves, then put on a standard welcoming smile.
The female traveler assumed she worked there and said, "I'm here to see Teacher Gui. Is she around?"
A small door at the back of the shop opened, and an elderly woman slowly