"That sounded like a joke." Zheng Qing was deeply skeptical of the Doctor's "supposedly."
"Life was nothing but a collection of countless jokes." Xiao Xiao merely shrugged indifferently.
Jiang Yu interrupted their argument.
"If I remembered correctly," she cautiously voiced her opinion, "the original line the Doctor just mentioned should have come from a poem in the Apennines: 'In this world, only time, beautiful women, and fine wine must never be wasted.'"
Zheng Qing smiled and patted Xiao Xiao on the shoulder.
The short wizard shook his shoulders, shaking off the young scholarship student's claw.
"It wasn't me who said it," he said nonchalantly. "Even if I borrowed it, those were the Speaker's words. I merely relayed them to you."
As they chatted, the Pumpkin Carriage gradually slowed down.
Zheng Qing craned his head out the window.
The carriage had entered a cluster of gray buildings. Tall pillars stood everywhere, along with ancient pointed roofs, crisscrossing walkways between small buildings, chimneys trailing blue smoke, and lanes paved with pebbles. As elsewhere in Ulthar, this cluster of gray buildings echoed with cats meowing greetings to one another and purring contentedly.
The Pumpkin Carriage stopped at the museum entrance.
The guests climbed down. The tabby cat politely tipped its hat to the witch, then cracked its whip and urged the Zoogs back onto the road. It seemed to dislike the atmosphere here.
The noise quieted the surrounding cacophony of cat calls for a moment. Zheng Qing noticed amber eyes appearing in the shadows, watching them with curiosity, scrutiny, and wariness.
He could not help smiling. His tail slipped out from beneath his robe and gave a friendly wave.
Even more cats began watching them, their eyes eager with anticipation. A few bold kittens had even slipped out of the shadows, pacing cautiously