A quarter past the start of Mao Hour.
Near the Nourishing Heart Lodge in the East Courtyard of the Warrior Monk Prefecture, a neatly dressed figure whose face could not be made out was on all fours, his waist slightly arched as he "crawled" lightly through the weeds.
Every physical feature of his was no different from an ordinary person's, yet he insisted on crawling, his posture remarkably like that of a proud, noble little cat. Stranger still, a sparse layer of black fur had grown over the skin exposed outside his clothes. As though a cat's tongue had licked it, it gleamed brightly, as smooth as satin.
Dawn was just breaking. The morning breeze brushed through the endless weeds, making them ripple like ocean waves beneath the newly rising sun.
The "creature," part human and part cat, was exceedingly cautious. Looking back repeatedly with every step, he approached the Nourishing Heart Lodge and stared around for a long while before darting through a first-floor window and disappearing inside.
He moved down the corridor on all fours. With every step, the palms supporting him and the feet pushing off behind him released faint, uncanny ripples.
Less than another half quarter-hour later, light footsteps sounded nearby again. Ren Ye, in the guise of the Gray-Robed Woman, the Little Marquis, Fan Ming, Daoist Chu, and the others had actually followed him to the Nourishing Heart Lodge.
Daoist Chu peered furtively through the window and exclaimed, "He really is a fucking cat?! ... I don't believe it. He must be pretending."
"There's nobody around here. Who would he be pretending for?!" the Little Marquis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What the hell do you know? Someone skilled at disguising himself keeps up the act every moment. It has little to do with whether anyone's