Cat Garden (Part 2)

"For a Bing-facing gate, keep the right-hand path away from the east; let the rear gate meet the Yin, Jia, or Gui sector. For a Wu-facing gate with a Ding orientation, the path lies to the left; with a Bing orientation, the right-hand path follows the same principle as before. For a Ding-facing gate, a rear gate in the Ren or Hai sector is good; take the eastern path and avoid Kun. For a Wei-facing gate, go out to the left; only a rear gate in the Kan or Hai sector is auspicious. For a Kun-facing gate, the Wu and Bing paths are suitable; only a rear gate in the Kan or Hai sector is exceptional..."

Ever since old Chen Sheng entered the Cat Garden, he seemed like a different person. His face was solemn as he muttered to himself. He even pulled out a Later Heaven Eight Trigrams compass, consulting it as he signaled for the other two to follow.

Hu Mang and Zhou Tong followed closely behind him.

After entering the Cat Garden, the old man made some calculations, then headed straight for a small gate on the left.

But when Hu Mang and Zhou Tong pushed through the gate, they found themselves back in front of the main entrance.

The old man frowned and began chanting again.

"Determine it according to the star of the inner gate. For a Li gate, begin counting from Li and arrange the wandering stars in sequence: Li, Liu, Wu, Jue, Yan, Huo, Sheng, Tian. Count to the sitting sector, and it is the Yiernian gate; both it and the sitting sector belong to Yiernian. Yiernian is metal and Xun, and is the heavenly physician. In this direction stands a tall building..."

Old Chen peered around with his dim, aged eyes and soon spotted a small tower in a rear courtyard. Without another word, he strode toward it.

Hu Mang and Zhou Tong followed behind.

Thus, when the three pushed through another gate, they found themselves back in the Cat Garden's front courtyard.

What was more, the Cat Garden was full of fluffy little cats of every color.

Had they reached the real Cat Garden?

This time, not only did Zhou Tong's eyes widen, even Hu Mang raised his brows slightly.

This old man... has some skill.

Hu Mang was no formation master. At the academy, he had enrolled in "spirit construction engineering," not "modern geomancy." Still, since he had studied civil engineering, he knew a thing or two about formation layouts and directions, though what he understood better were spiritual power circuits.

So it wasn't that this old construction project had no hidden circuits. They were concealed within the formation. No, the hidden circuits should be the formation's eyes themselves; this old man just brought them to light.

Hu Mang's murky yellow eyes swept around. Ever since visualizing the Mysterious Yin Devil Moon, his consciousness had grown increasingly clear.

Although he did not understand the formation's complex transformations, he could make out more and more "circuits." Rather than tangling together like a ball of yarn, these "lines" gradually formed a three-dimensional circuit diagram that only someone in construction could understand.

Or rather, a building model.

Then, just as the old man passed through the main gate once more, Hu Mang's mind went boom. Threads of warmth poured out of his Niwan Palace, spreading through his limbs and bones before finally rippling over the Mysterious Yin Devil Moon. Not only did his heart grow clearer and calmer, but more importantly, his consciousness seemed to resonate with the Cat Garden's formation at some deep frequency.

Hu Mang's expression did not change, but he was astonished.

He had not even broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm yet.

His Divine Sense had actually returned!

While Hu Mang and his two companions kept passing through gates large and small, the group that had followed them also charged into the Cat Garden.

Their reception, however, was completely different from that of the three ahead.

Almost as soon as they charged into the Cat Garden, they found themselves facing not birdsong and fragrant flowers, little bridges and running water, but a raging sea of blood-red fire.

At the Li gate they met Sha, and streaming fire burned their bodies!

The blazing Li Fire was no ordinary flame. Like a living creature, it devoured the protective spiritual light of those cultivators, and their Law Treasures gave a mournful cry before going completely dark.

In the blink of an eye, the flesh of several human torches curled amid piercing, violent bursts, and they turned to blackened charcoal.

Quite a few people immediately looked back.

Their retreat had been cut off. Where was there any gate to be seen?

Screams and cries of alarm mingled, and the air filled with the nauseating stench of charred flesh.

"Something's wrong! Where are those three people ahead of us? How did they disappear?"

"A trap! This is a trap!!" one man roared. "I said it was a con! I warned you long ago not to trust that gun-carrying 'remnant of the divine dynasty,' but you insisted it was a great fortuitous opportunity... A bunch of rotten-hearted, blind fools!"

His furious cursing stopped abruptly.

A hand punched through the man's chest and flung his ruined body into the sea of fire like trash. When the smoke and dust cleared, a blind middle-aged man stood revealed. His sinister gaze swept over the crowd, and everyone fell deathly silent.

He reached up, dug his fingers into his eye socket, and tore hard-

The next moment, a pitch-black eyeball radiating the awe-inspiring might to suppress devils slowly rolled out amid the hollow flesh.

From the perspective of this "Eye of Devil Subjugation," the world became hazy, reduced to "black and white," but a faint passage appeared through the sea of fire.

"Follow me!"

With that, the blind middle-aged man charged into the "passage" without looking back.

The band of Rogue Cultivators, reduced from seven or eight people to three or four, exchanged glances. With no other choice, they followed.

To their relief, the flames weakened by seventy or eighty percent the moment they charged into the "passage." As they continued forward, the firelight turned to ash until it vanished entirely.

Among the ashes were even some ghastly white bones that did not belong to them.

Quite a few people breathed easier. Whatever else happened, at least those strange flames were gone.

When they looked around, they found themselves in a large courtyard for keeping beasts.

High walls rose on all four sides of the courtyard, and a stern, evil-suppressing presence pervaded every corner.

Patterns of white tigers devouring evil were carved all over the courtyard, while statues of white tigers crouched at intervals atop the stone railings, floor tiles, and foundation pillars.

The fierce beasts held their heads high, fangs bared, their tiger eyes gleaming coldly and their claws tensed to pounce. A faint silver-white spiritual light flowed through the markings on their bodies, and their Sha Qi was chilling.

A tiger statue cast from dark iron stood in a corner of the courtyard. Its roaring pose seemed to echo faintly, while a heavy devil-suppressing presence lingered around it.

At every step, the entire courtyard concealed the might of white tigers suppressing Sha, as though it were a forbidden ground made expressly to subdue evil.

The blind middle-aged man at the very front, however, had a change of expression.

With their arrival, the statues of the "devil-suppressing white tigers" were coming to life one by one, their ferocious eyes fixed on them.

"Wow, what adorable little fluffballs!"

Zhou Tong had held back for a long time. Only after making sure it was safe did she finally let her eyes light up.

In the quiet, elegant Cat Garden, bluestone paths wound and crossed among clusters of flowers and trees, while warm sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows. Soft, fluffy cushions lay scattered everywhere, and a gentle breeze brushed past. Every corner was lazy and cozy.

On the cushions around them, snow-white kittens curled into balls of fur, while others lay on stone platforms with their eyes closed, taking a nap. Sleek, glossy black cats darted through the flowers, lively and playful.

Gold-threaded cats clad in gilded markings strolled leisurely, while brown-furred cats lay curled up docilely nearby. "Dark Clouds over Snow" cats had black backs and white paws, their bodies light as they bounded about. "Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms" cats had clearly layered coats, and their four snow-white paws touched the ground lightly, giving them a lively, delicate appearance.

Although Zhou Tong said that, she still did not dare move, instead glancing at the two people in charge.

The two of them largely ignored her and reviewed what had happened with rather serious expressions.

"...So first was the 'Later Heaven Eight Trigrams,' then the 'Eight Mansions Wandering Stars.' The eight mansions are 'Li, Liu, Wu, Jue, Yan, Huo, Sheng, and Tian.' Enter any gate by mistake and you run into an inauspicious mansion. Only the 'Life Mansion' and the 'Heaven Mansion' are safe."

"That's right. If you disturb the 'Later Heaven Eight Trigrams,' you'll trigger the Eight Trigrams devil-subjugating formation here. Entering the 'Eight Mansions' by mistake is just as dangerous. Six of the eight mansions are devil-suppressing mansions; only two are gates of life."

"Fortunately, I calculated everything with divine precision. Wait, what on earth are you drawing..."

Old Chen Sheng was boasting with gusto when he noticed Hu Mang scribbling on paper again. Unable to contain his curiosity, he leaned closer and saw that Hu Mang had started drawing all sorts of lines again.

"Nothing. Just learning a little. When I go back and take up my old trade, mixing concrete again, I can also make custom cave abodes for some high-end residential complexes, run wiring for Nascent Soul residential complexes, that sort of thing."

Hu Mang spoke without looking up.

"But those little brats who followed us won't be so lucky. Heh, did they really think we hadn't noticed them following us?"

"An elder in the house is like a treasure, isn't that right, little Tong?"

Old Chen Sheng had not understood a word Hu Mang said. Seeing that he could not show off to Hu Mang, he turned to Zhou Tong instead.

One could only say there was a reason the old man had been successfully schemed against before.

"That's right, Grandpa Chen is amazing," Zhou Tong hurried to make him feel good, then asked curiously:

"But Grandpa Chen, you just said the two auspicious mansions among the eight were the 'Life Mansion' and the 'Heaven Mansion.' So why did you bring me into the 'Life Mansion' instead of the 'Heaven Mansion'?"

"Ahem, that's not the point."

Chen Sheng could hardly admit that, with his level of skill in assessing mansions, he could only bring them into the "Life Mansion" and lacked the ability to bring them into the "Heaven Mansion."

"Oh, right. Now that I've broken the formation, you can move around here as you please. As long as you don't enter any of the other mansions in this Cat Garden, you'll be safe."

Hearing that, Zhou Tong finally dared to move. With a cheer, she immediately squatted down and began stroking the fluffy cats of every size and color.

Old Chen Sheng could not resist playing the teacher again.

"I know quite a bit about cat breeds as well. One with a black back and white legs, belly, and paws is called 'Dark Clouds over Snow.' If all four paws are white, it is 'Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms.' This one, pure white except for its black tail, is 'Dragging a Spear through Snow,' the most auspicious of all. As the saying goes, 'A black-tailed cat with a body of white brings heroes to the household that keeps it.'"

"But this one is good too. It is pure white except for its black tail, and it also has a patch of black on its forehead. This is 'Bearing a Seal and Dragging a Spear.' A household that obtains one will enjoy wealth and honor."

The old man then went on to introduce the "Embroidered Tiger," "Plum Blossom Leopard," "Wrapping Around," and "Lingwu Cat." He even described some methods of assessing cats, such as "a round head and face are prized," "gold and silver eyes are prized; black marks entering the eyes are to be avoided," and "stiff whiskers give a cat more of a tiger's majesty."

The little girl was utterly dazzled.

The cats, however, seemed to have no interest at all in the lively, adorable young female cultivator. Instead, they all came trotting over to rub against Hu Mang's feet. The more flirtatious ones climbed straight up his legs, while the more reserved ones kept casting him coy glances. Those putting on a prim act walked back and forth under Hu Mang's nose, necks stiff and tails held high.

It was a case of a hundred cats vying for affection.

As for Zhou Tong, she was completely ignored.

"Th-this, this-"

Disappointment filled Zhou Tong's face, followed by utter bewilderment.

She could not understand why Hu Mang was more popular than she was.

Old Chen, however, nodded in realization.

"Cats belong to the wildcat family and are also called wildcat servants."

"I think I know roughly where Brother Hu's demon blood comes from."