Night, in the Funeral Shop.
Xuan Yu watched Xu Qing with unease, as in front of it, Xu Qing was packing its belongings.
Water-Repelling Pearl, Thousand Insect Gu Jar, and even the feather shuttlecock and the pair of walnut hand toys were not left out.
Xu Qing packed those items into the Brilliant Cup, which had a space measuring three feet by three feet, not too large, but enough for a cat to use when going out.
Xuan Yu felt a void in its heart, its expression tense, not at all like a great demon of several hundred years.
Rather, it seemed like a child being forcefully packed off to private school for enlightenment by an adult.
It instinctively wanted to escape, to roam on Flower and Bird Street or places like the fish market at the dock, to temporarily avoid the sharp edges.
But unexpectedly, its speed, which it had always been so proud of, turned out to be nothing before this human!
Xuan Yu darted left and right, finally resorting to manifesting eight figures to flee in all directions but was still mercilessly grasped by Xu Qing at the nape of its destiny.
That effortless manner was just like how it usually caught small mice!
But it was a Spirit Cat with nearly five hundred years of cultivation; how could a human possibly outrun it in speed so easily, even if they had avoided a thunder disaster?
With its Daoist heart shattered, the cat had no choice but to sit obediently on the side, allowing Xu Qing to help it pack its luggage.
"You shouldn't always think about escaping; some things need to be resolved sooner or later!"
Xu Qing placed the Brilliant Cup in front of Xuan Yu, and through the glass-like cup, the various items inside, shrunken to the size of fingertips, were vaguely visible.
"Tell me about your past, about the matters concerning your life."
Xuan Yu remained silent, attempting to feign ignorance.
The cat nursed its own little schemes, thinking that as long as it didn't tell Xu Qing who its enemies were or who caused its misfortune, Xu Qing couldn't take it to seek revenge actively.
That way, they could continue to guard this little shop and live their lives in Jin Sect untroubled.
Xu Immortal Family wouldn't suffer because of this matter.
However, the next moment, Xuan Yu heard Xu Qing utter a string of place names that made its fur stand on end.
"Quyang County, Yunmeng Mountain, Bailong Village, Ruyi Temple."
"——Old Taoist of Baiyun!"
Obviously, Xu Qing's voice wasn't loud, but upon hearing these words, Xuan Yu felt as if thunder was booming in its ears, leaving the cat somewhat dazed.
"How do you know everything..."
"I don't know; someone told me about these things."
"Who?!"
Xu Qing did not hide it, detailing Emperor Jingxing's attempts to seek favor with Emperor Longping by seeking the Immortal Pill.
"As for who told me, the old eunuch of the Mirror Inspection Department, you should know."
"Old eunuch?"
"The one who broke the merchant's son's leg."
Xuan Yu now understood.
"So it was that old eunuch."
At this moment, Xuan Yu's tail flicked back and forth, evidently quite displeased with the old eunuch who secretly tattled.
"He's already dead."
Xuan Yu widened its eyes, looking at Xu Qing.
"Did you do it?"
Xu Qing did not deny it.
Now Xuan Yu truly panicked; with the eunuch sent to obtain medicine dead, who was Xu Qing's next target?
The prince who sought the medicine, the current Emperor, or the demon Taoist of Yunmeng Mountain...
Each of these targets was like an insurmountable chasm or mountain to Xuan Yu.
"Is it possible not to go?"
Seeing Xu Qing looking up, Xuan Yu summoned courage and said many things, essentially meaning that it had nine lives, losing one was nothing, but the Xu Immortal Family had only one life...
Xu Qing stared at the Xuan cat, who was only thinking for others, and suddenly asked, "Why did you go to the Taoist temple on Yunmeng Mountain initially? Was getting caught really just because of the demonic Taoist of the Ruyi Temple?"
Xuan Yu averted its gaze, refusing to answer directly no matter how Xu Qing pressed.
Seeing this, Xu Qing did not get angry; he stood up and turned to walk outside the shop.
"Where are you going?"
"To the Capital City; since you won't say, I'll go to the Imperial Palace and ask the dog Emperor what the matter is."
"But I'm definitely not the dog Emperor's match now; he's hiding in the deep palace, protected by the national fortune, and the eighty thousand imperial guards in the Capital City are not for show. If I go, I'll return scattered in pieces, and Xuan Yu, having never learned how to sew corpses, will probably sew me up particularly ugly..."
"However, none of these matter; I only hope by then Xuan Yu could burn a stick of incense for me and tell me the truth so that I can rest in peace."
Xu Qing, though a dead man, a Zombie, spoke such lies without batting an eye.
Xuan Yu believed it, and after hearing these statements, the entire cat couldn't take it.
"You can't go!"
The black cat jumped off the coffin board, dashed to the shop door, stood on two legs, and blocked Xu Qing.
"Xu Immortal Family just wants to know the truth, and I will tell you everything, but you cannot go to the Capital City, and you must not come back in pieces!"
How could a cat be as scheming as the human Xu Qing; these small combos laid out everything clearly for Xuan Yu.
In the Funeral Shop, a single lamp flickered.
Xuan Yu sat in front of Xu Qing, with its silhouette on the wall just barely concealed by Xu Qing's tall figure.
Xu Qing acted as a listener, quietly listening to Xuan Yu recount the past buried deep within its heart.
From its first encounter with humans, to the first time being fed, and to the first time being abandoned by humans...
It was then Xu Qing learned that Xuan Yu's first human companion was an old temple priestess, an eccentric and reclusive old woman who never liked interacting with outsiders.
But it was this very old woman who, the second time Xuan Yu met her, led it to the Ruyi Temple and into the trap the demon Taoist had set to capture it!