Chapter 215 : A Mouthful of Tiger Fur
After knocking out the guard, the Little White Tiger successfully slipped out of the cell and entered a corridor.
This demonic cultivator's magic vessel seemed even larger than Xuanqing Sect's spirit boat. The long corridor stretched as far as the eye could see, with rooms lining both sides and occasional branching hallways. Venturing into it felt like entering a small maze... at least for the Little White Tiger, whose sense of direction was unclear and who was somewhat directionally challenged, this environment was no different from a labyrinth.
The Little White Tiger ran around in a daze for a while without encountering anyone. She could only complain to the system in frustration: "I should've never knocked that person out. I could've at least asked where Senior Sister is. Now where am I supposed to look?"
The system attempted another scan, but the results remained unsatisfactory. It could only detect the general layout of the pathways, but couldn't scan what was inside the rooms along the corridor. Senior Sister might be locked up in the very next room, but even if the host passed by the door, she wouldn't necessarily know someone was there.
For the system, this situation was undoubtedly frustrating, so it cautiously suggested: "Host, from my scan, this should be the bottom deck of the magic vessel. The environment isn't great, and the rooms are so densely packed—the people staying here must be low in both status and cultivation... why don't you try breaking into one and grabbing someone to question?"
The Little White Tiger turned her head to look at the rooms along the corridor. Truthfully, she doubted there was anyone in these rooms at all; otherwise, the path wouldn't have been so deserted. Besides, though the demonic cultivators had ambushed and captured her and Senior Sister, they probably wouldn't have made it public knowledge. The chances of getting useful information seemed extremely slim.
However, besides the system's suggestion, she seemed to have no other options.
The Little White Tiger stamped her paws on the floor, about to randomly select a room to break into, when her fluffy ears suddenly twitched: "I think I hear footsteps?"
The system confirmed her perception: "Someone is coming this way."
The Little White Tiger immediately became excited and was about to rush forward to capture the person, but thinking about how she was currently in enemy territory, she decided caution was best. She looked around but couldn't find a suitable hiding place in the corridor. The system, sensing her intention, reminded her: "Host, you can hang from the ceiling."
Feline agility in climbing walls and roofs comes naturally, and though tigers might not be as nimble as cats, climbing up and down is no problem. The Little White Tiger simply looked up and with a single leap jumped onto the ceiling, hanging upside down to observe below.
At this moment, the Little White Tiger, influenced by the system, completely forgot she could fly, making this maneuver unnecessary.
But she had no time to think about this, as two people—one tall and one short—soon walked by, and fortunately, they were conversing. The taller one complained: "How much longer do we have to stay here? This western region is barren, the spiritual energy is so thin—what's the point of staying? Haven't all the people from the secret realm already come out?!"
Hearing the hint of grievance in his words, the shorter one hastily rebuked: "This is Young Master's order. What nonsense are you spouting? Aren't you afraid someone will hear and report to Young Master? Then we'll both suffer!"
The tall one immediately became sheepish and changed his tone, saying dejectedly: "But how long do we have to wait?"
Seeing he knew his place, the shorter one sighed with relief, but responded helplessly: "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Such important matters are not for you and me to decide. When the time comes, we'll just follow Young Master's instructions."
Hearing this, the tall one sighed and changed the subject: "Why haven't we seen Miss Ziqi today? Doesn't she usually stay by Young Master's side?"
This topic was obviously safer than the previous one, and the shorter one's expression relaxed. He even bumped the other's shoulder: "I knew you liked Miss Ziqi—can't go a day without thinking about her? But your feelings will probably remain just your own thoughts. Miss Ziqi belongs to Young Master. How could she possibly look at small fry like us..."
As the shorter one's words became increasingly inappropriate, the tall one's face, which had already gone pale, began to flush red. He interrupted: "Stop talking nonsense! I'm just looking, how dare I have any thoughts?!"
Their conversation wandered, and they were about to walk away, while the Little White Tiger hanging from the ceiling hadn't heard anything useful. She grew anxious and was about to follow and capture them for questioning when suddenly the shorter one spoke again: "You say you're just looking, but you probably won't even get to look for a while. I heard Young Master sent her to watch over someone, so she probably won't appear for some time."
The tall one's information was clearly not as good as the shorter one's, and he was surprised: "Huh? Do we have guests recently? How come I don't know about this?"
The shorter one shrugged: "How would I know? We live on the bottom deck—don't concern yourself with the affairs of those above us."
As they spoke, they walked away, turned a corner, and entered two adjacent rooms. Perhaps due to their low cultivation or being too relaxed in their own territory, they never noticed the tiger hanging above them, eavesdropping the entire time.
The system finally spoke: "Host, do you want to go in and capture them for questioning?"
The Little White Tiger thought about it but abandoned the idea. After all, judging from the fragments of conversation she'd overheard, these two were indeed low in status and their knowledge was likely limited. But from what they'd just said, she had grasped the key point—conveniently, the magic vessel had recently received "guests," and a Miss Ziqi had been assigned to watch over them, not to take care of them, suggesting the "guests" had an ambiguous status.
She pondered for a moment and asked the system: "System, do you think Senior Sister could be this so-called guest? If so, why would these demonic cultivators treat her differently?"
Of course, the system couldn't provide an answer, but based on its downloaded experience, there must be some hidden story here!
As for what that story might be, there were too many possibilities.
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On Mount Mingzong, the righteous and demonic paths were facing off. The righteous side had deployed Peak Masters, while the demonic side even had a Sect Leader personally attending. Though the Little White Tiger quickly confirmed through the system that she was on Nine Abyss Sect's magic vessel, not the Crimson Blood Sect with its Sect Leader present, an Elder from Nine Abyss Sect was still no simple figure, and certainly not someone a little Void Crossing stage tiger cub could handle.
Thinking of Peak Masters Qingyu, Qingxu, and Qingyuan, each a powerful Fusion stage cultivator, their opponents were simply not in the same league as the current Little White Tiger. Hence, from the moment she slipped up from the bottom deck, the system repeatedly reminded her to be careful.
The Little White Tiger took this advice to heart and was indeed extremely cautious—until she saw Chu Yang on the upper deck...
Since learning that she and Senior Sister had been captured by Nine Abyss Sect, and hearing those two demonic disciples mention the Young Master, the Little White Tiger knew this matter was inevitably connected to Chu Yang. Amid her anger, she couldn't help but recall her unfinished kill mission—a mission that needed only Chu Yang's head, which she had given up on, but now perhaps had a chance to complete?
The system was even more excited about seeing Chu Yang than she was. Previously it had repeatedly warned the host to be careful, but now it became so excited it almost wanted her to pounce immediately: "Host, host, it's Chu Yang! He's delivering his head to us!"
The Little White Tiger wasn't that reckless. She found a place to hide, as finding Senior Sister was clearly more important than claiming his head.
But perhaps the system's desire was too strong—Chu Yang, who had been walking forward, suddenly seemed to sense something and looked back. Fortunately, the Little White Tiger had hidden quickly, so his glance revealed nothing.
The subordinate beside him also stopped and looked back, equally finding nothing: "Young Master, is something wrong?"
Chu Yang scanned behind him, tilting his head in confusion, before withdrawing his gaze and continuing forward: "Nothing." After a pause, he resumed their previous topic: "How did you handle the matter I asked you to attend to?"
The subordinate hesitated before reluctantly answering: "Young Master, I delivered the invitation, but Sect Leader Zhu doesn't seem inclined to meet with you."
Hearing this, Chu Yang paused momentarily before continuing forward: "Then send it again."
The subordinate agreed and continued following Chu Yang, one step behind. Soon, they were gone.
After confirming no one was around, the small white tiger emerged from her hiding place. She had overheard their conversation, but interactions between demonic sects seemed ordinary to her, so she didn't pay much attention.
Eager to find her Senior Sister, the tiger looked around and decided to follow the direction from which the two had come. Along the way, she encountered several groups of demonic cultivators whose cultivation was clearly much higher than those on the bottom deck, but she managed to evade them with her keen senses. After her streak of bad luck, she finally caught a break when she spotted a beautiful woman in purple clothing, which reminded her of the Ziqi mentioned by the two demonic cultivators earlier.
Whether by coincidence or instinct, the Little White Tiger unconsciously followed the purple-clad beauty.
Following her, she eventually reached a room at the end of the corridor. The moment the tightly closed door opened, the system immediately scanned the interior and excitedly announced: "Host, Senior Sister is really inside!"
Hearing this, the Little White Tiger couldn't contain herself. With a single bound, she leaped forward, directly crashing into the door as it was about to close.
Ziqi's cultivation wasn't very high, at least not compared to the Void Crossing stage tiger, and she was immediately sent flying. She crashed right into the dressing table, knocking down the bronze mirror and various bottles and jars, creating a cacophony of noise that could be heard from far away. Frightened, the Little White Tiger immediately turned and closed the door, trying to muffle the commotion.
Meanwhile, Ziqi scrambled to her feet in disarray. Seeing the situation was dire, she was about to call for help when suddenly a slender white hand struck her directly in the back. The words on her lips instantly turned into a mouthful of fresh blood that sprayed out.
Having missed her chance, she would have no further opportunity to speak, as the Little White Tiger descended from above and knocked her unconscious with a single stomp.
With one successful strike, the Little White Tiger became spirited, wagging her tail as she looked toward her Senior Sister who had acted so promptly. Just as she was about to say something proudly, she saw that Senior Sister's face was terrifyingly pale. Startled, her raised tail drooped, and the whole tiger pounced over: "Senior Sister, what's wrong? Are you injured? Or did using spiritual energy just now aggravate your wounds?"
As she spoke, she rummaged through her innate space for medicinal pills and tried to stuff them into Senior Sister's mouth, nearly giving Yun Qingyue a mouthful of tiger fur. The latter had no choice but to take them herself, her pale face showing furrowed brows that seemed to hide a trace of worry.