The Aloof Master Relies on This Cat's Kisses to Survive - Chapter 41

The West Lake Deception

Ming Xi saw it.

Reading dreams was as simple as drinking water for her.

She saw the dream of resentment that Ji Wu had entered, heard all their conversations, and naturally guessed that Ji Wu was the very person who had swung a sword at the Spiritual Mountain Deity back then.

It was the original owner of the name “Ji Wu.”

But Ming Xi did not know that she herself was the original Spiritual Mountain Deity.

Because she had only entered the dream of resentment, but had not looked into Ji Wu’s own dreams.

Wives must respect each other and not spy on each other’s dreams. These past few days, Ming Xi and Ji Wu had entered dreams within the Dream Court of Spiritual Mountain; she followed ancient etiquette and never entered Ji Wu’s personal dream manor.

After all, given Ji Wu’s temperament—she had spoken of decorum, boundaries, and propriety.

So, even after knowing the other party had hidden her identity, Ming Xi resisted the urge to peer through to the end.

Indulgence is liking, but restraint is love, right? This kitty understands.

“Long time no see, Master Ancestor.”

These words were more of a complaint.

Ming Xi didn’t understand why Ji Wu wanted to hide it from her. What was so bad about being the Master Ancestor? Was she afraid it would be a burden to Ming Xi?

Although Ming Xi wasn’t as powerful as that Spiritual Mountain Deity, she was still a very remarkable dream beast. Why did Ji Wu need to hide her identity?

Could it be that she felt Ming Xi wasn’t worthy of that status?

Ji Wu, however, did not know that Ming Xi’s thoughts were so simple. Her expression tightened, becoming somewhat wary, but soon an uncontrollable wave of guilt surged up.

After all, she had deceived someone; it didn’t sit right.

The Grand Priest watched the expressions of the two from the side, let out a lazy yawn, and intentionally allowed their perceptions of each other to remain miles apart.

Sang Banzui didn’t care about Ji Wu or the Dongfang family. The only person connected to her who was still alive was Ming Xi. She took another sip of wine and asked her old friend, “You didn’t think to say these words to me? You truly have a wife and forgotten your partner.”

“What are you? You haven’t told me yet,” Ming Xi turned her face. “What are you transformed from? Why are you unaffected by the Yin wind?”

The Grand Priest was not human; she was a half-ghost. But when she possessed a complete life, she clearly wasn’t human either.

“I was born in Nanling, by the sea. What do you think I am?” Seeing Ming Xi turn back to talk to her, Sang Banzui stopped looking at Ming Xi and instead looked toward Ji Wu, who was walking toward them.

Ji Wu’s sword was behind her back, no longer in a posture of attack or defense. She was poised and graceful, truly worthy of being the Master Ancestor.

Ming Xi glanced at the guests and spiritual beasts still prostrate on the ground and snapped her fingers, making them all retreat.

With a whoosh, only Ming Xi, Ji Wu, and the Grand Priest remained on the sacrificial altar.

There were still some red-clothed maids below the stage, while Xiao Xiyue…

“Let her go.” Ji Wu didn’t see the demon dragon, but she expected that with the Grand Priest’s ability, it wouldn’t be easy for Xiao Xiyue to escape.

“From what standpoint do you make demands of me? Master Ancestor?” Sang Banzui laughed wantonly. “That demon dragon delivered herself to my door. I simply took her and used her. Why won’t that do?”

Nothing was wrong with it; it was indeed Xiao Xiyue who hadn’t known her own limits and had walked into the trap herself.

But Ji Wu still spoke up to help. “That demon dragon is a rarity who can collect Xihua for cultivation. Spare her life.”

“Oh, oh.” Sang Banzui turned to Ming Xi. “Come, you preside over justice. You tell me what kind of logic this is. Just because there’s a rare talent, she’s more worthy of living than others?”

“Was Dongfang Konggu worthy of living?”

“…What?” Ming Xi didn’t know they were talking about Xiao Xiyue, because that demon dragon had indeed run very fast after exiting the dream and was long gone by now.

However, Ming Xi understood Sang Banzui’s words. She considered for a moment and only replied, “Since they are already alive, if there’s no problem, let’s just not have them die.”

The Grand Priest was amused and laughed, “If it’s not in the way, there’s no need to die, right?”

“Mhm.” Ming Xi nodded seriously. “As for whether there’s a ‘talent’ or not—talents have their way of living, and fools have theirs. Just take care of yourself.”

“But I have a use for her, a great use. She came to my door and even wanted to kill me. Is it too much for me to take her life in return?” The Grand Priest lazily signaled the red-clothed maids to serve wine to Ji Wu. “Please.”

“It’s not too much,” Ming Xi responded, then urged Ji Wu to drink. “This is delicious, Wuwu. It’s made of lychee.”

She finished speaking and poured a cup for herself, sitting cross-legged back in her seat. “Do you have a grudge against that demon dragon? You said you were born by the sea; could it be you are also a demon dragon? No, no, you aren’t bewitched by the Yin wind, so you definitely aren’t a demon.”

“Not a beast either… could it be a spirit? Flowers, grass, or trees?”

Ming Xi guarded Spiritual Mountain and had always been closest to nature. No wonder she felt Sang Banzui was easy to get along with.

Sang Banzui nodded, not denying it.

Ming Xi continued to guess, “But I don’t know many plants by the sea. Let me think… Ah! I just learned of one yesterday, and I suspect that’s it. Are you—a Sea Stone Flower!”

Sang Banzui froze: ?

Ji Wu also didn’t react for a moment: ?

Only Ming Xi looked proud of herself. “Am I right? Am I right? I saw it at the night market. I even wanted to ask what a Sea Stone Flower is, what it looks like, and what it tastes like. Can I take a bite of you?”

“…You’re the Sea Stone Flower, you ungrateful cat.” Sang Banzui was irritated by Ming Xi and tapped the table, calling a red-clothed maid over. “Bring her a bowl of Sea Stone Flower jelly! Bring a bucket!”

And so, Ming Xi finally learned what a Sea Stone Flower was.

“Oh, it’s actually quite tasty… Then what exactly are you? I can’t remember. And the Dongfang Konggu you mentioned, I have no impression of her.” Ming Xi shook her head and rubbed her face. “Humph, the only person I remember only knows how to lie to me.”

“…” Ji Wu was speechless.

She felt a bit wronged, yet didn’t know where the wrong lay.

“It doesn’t matter, at least I’m alive… arguably alive. It’s just a pity about Dongfang Konggu. Wasn’t she a rare talent? How did she compare to that demon dragon? A thousand, ten thousand times better? Did your Dongfang clan let her live?”

The Grand Priest smiled as she looked at Ji Wu, but her lips only curved slightly; her eyes were swirling with interrogation. “Is she to be blamed for being born into the Dongfang clan and walking into the trap herself?”

“I will investigate Konggu’s matter clearly.” Ji Wu didn’t need to explain anything to Sang Banzui.

But the Grand Priest insisted on pestering her. “How will you investigate? Master Ancestor, you can barely protect yourself right now. There are only a few days left until the full moon night. How do you plan to get through it then? Won’t you still have to rely on this forgetful kitty? Oh, this kitty is also a rare talent, isn’t she? What does your Dongfang clan intend to use her for this time? How many more days can she live?”

Ming Xi was unhappy hearing the Grand Priest interrogate Ji Wu. “Are you really that close to me? Then who exactly am I? You know?”

“Of course I know.” Sang Banzui rolled her eyes. “My brain isn’t broken. I remember what you are and what I am.”

“Then what are you?” Ming Xi stubbornly avoided asking about herself.

“I am… a little Eucalyptus tree,” the Grand Priest said helplessly.

This Spiritual Mountain Deity was exactly the same; even with amnesia, she had a reckless personality. Sang Banzui was about to force the answer out of Ji Wu’s mouth, but Ming Xi detoured to ask what she was.

She was just a tree, and because she couldn’t be burned to death, she survived.

“Eh? Then why are you called Sang Banzui? Shouldn’t your surname be You (Eucalyptus)?” Ming Xi was still puzzled.

“Because when you saw me transform back then, you insisted on giving me a name, yet you couldn’t remember what kind of tree I was.” Sang Banzui could still recall the situation from back then.

She was actually a tree that Ming Xi had brought from Spiritual Mountain and planted in Nanling. As for why, she didn’t know herself. Later, she occasionally heard this cat mumbling that it was because Ming Xi had an old friend living in the sea who had never seen camellias, and camellias happened to be common in the North Abyss.

So Ming Xi insisted on planting one for them, but she broke off the wrong branch and planted Sang Banzui, who was a Eucalyptus tree, by the sea.

It wasn’t until it had fully grown that Ming Xi realized she had made a blunder, but that old friend didn’t mind. They even joined Ming Xi in granting Sang Banzui spiritual awareness, and every time they gathered there to drink, they gave the Eucalyptus tree half a cup.

Long after that, the Eucalyptus tree became a Eucalyptus spirit, took on human form, and received the name Sang Banzui.

And a long time after that…

“She died, didn’t she?” Ming Xi pursed her lips. “Old friend, Dongfang Konggu, so many, many people. The people I should remember are all dead, aren’t they?”

Otherwise, why wouldn’t they come looking for Ming Xi?

She had forgotten, but others hadn’t. Just like Sang Banzui, they would always come looking.

If they didn’t come, they were dead.

“Dead.” Sang Banzui nodded. “You are so old, who could outlive you?”

Her words were half-true and half-hidden.

It was true that Ming Xi was old, but her friends were all outstanding individuals; how could they not outlive her?

It was just that accidents happened to everyone, and not a single one was left… No, there was still half a one.

“Since I’m so old, I’m surely not just a house-raised guardian beast, am I?” Ming Xi’s tone finally lowered slightly, no longer joking or seeking fun.

She was finally taking her memories seriously.

As it happened, Sang Banzui didn’t want to cooperate anymore. “Hmph, I thought you were so stupid that you’d be blinded by love, claiming not to see the facts laid out right in front of you.”

She stood up, making the bells on her clothes jingle. “You have indeed lived for a very long time, so long that if I had to say everything, I wouldn’t finish even if I spoke for three years. I don’t owe you anything; to waste this much breath, how many jars of wine would I have to drink to make up for it? It’s more direct to activate the formation for you.”

As she spoke, the Grand Priest looked at Ji Wu. “Master Ancestor, do you have any objections to this?”

“A word in private.” Ji Wu stood up, following the Grand Priest.

“No private words! First, tell me what formation?” Ming Xi also jumped up, even standing on her chair. “Whatever needs to be said, I want to hear it now. No waiting, and no ‘words in private’ allowed.”

“I am very tired. I am a half-ghost, a half-ghost with no strength. I only took pity on your amnesia, fearing you would be… deceived in body and heart.” Sang Banzui laughed again. “But seeing you like this, it seems you’re still more willing to believe that Master Ancestor, aren’t you? If you two want to talk, go talk by yourselves.”

“You’re still bickering with me.” Ming Xi wrinkled her nose. “Even though I don’t remember you, having spoken with you, I know our temperaments get along. You aren’t allowed to be angry. If you’re tired, go and rest.”

The Grand Priest lazily stretched her waist. “Fine, chasing me away now. Then I shall leave.”

She truly did as she said, but didn’t forget to pick up a golden bell from her sleeve and shake it a few times. “I have a room that is quite suitable for you two. In the past, I used it once a year. This year I won’t need it, so why don’t I give it to you for a candlelit night talk.”

Just as she finished speaking, the bell rang, and everything around them changed.

It was as natural as when Ji Wu had entered the dream earlier. The Grand Priest’s dream techniques were likely not much inferior to the current Ming Xi, who had lost her memories.

This time, Ming Xi didn’t care to explore the details of the illusion, whether it was the red candles or the window decorations, the leaning phoenixes or the full moon over flowers.

She only asked Ji Wu, “I know the elders of the Dongfang clan were lying to me from the start, but I didn’t care, because that meant I could be with Wuwu.”

Ming Xi’s heart was churning, not at peace. “But did you also lie to me, Wuwu?”

“Yes.” Ji Wu looked at her, unwilling to deceive her.

Yet she also didn’t know how to tell her clearly.

“I have many friends, but they don’t include you, do they?” Ming Xi asked again.

Ji Wu lowered her eyes, her expression solemn yet firm. “Yes.”

“And you and I truly have never been of one heart, have we?” Ming Xi’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Yes.”

“Fine, okay.” Ming Xi picked up the nuptial wine on the round table and drank the contents. It wasn’t sweet. Why wasn’t it sweet?

But the kick was strong, and there seemed to be something inside that Ming Xi very much disliked.

For a moment, she felt dizzy, watching Ji Wu walk toward her.