"Take this cat fur to your Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion's Pavilion Master, and he will believe what you have said is true."
With Li Musheng's words in his ears, the storytelling elder reached out and accepted the tuft of fur that appeared, on the surface, entirely unremarkable.
He examined the black cat fur in his hand, and could make nothing of it whatsoever.
Even so, the storytelling elder did not dare take it lightly. He carefully tucked it away at once and said gravely, "Your Highness may rest assured. This old one will see this matter through without fail, and will not disappoint Your Highness."
With that, the storytelling elder bowed and took his leave, making his way downstairs on foot.
He did not return to the wooden stage over the tavern's courtyard, but instead walked briskly into the back premises of the tavern, entered a room, and shortly after disappeared entirely.
Before long, having safely reached an underground chamber, the storytelling elder finally let out a long and heavy breath.
He raised his eyes toward the ceiling above, and the expression on his aged face shifted back and forth in rapid succession.
In truth, there was something very important he had concealed from Li Musheng during their exchange.
But before that, he had also received a coded directive from the Pavilion's main hall in the Great Li imperial capital.
The storytelling elder was not one of the more important personnel in the various provinces, but as the person in charge of this small city, he had naturally received the directive as well.
And that directive had concerned only one thing, instructing all Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion branches throughout Great Li to search for the whereabouts of Li Musheng, the Great Li Eighth Prince.
Though the directive had not stated the purpose, the storytelling elder had a dim sense it was not anything good.
To be honest, he had no idea why the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had set its sights on Li Musheng. But right now he had absolutely no desire to get himself burned by the fire.
With that thought, the storytelling elder looked down at the tuft of cat fur in his hand and shook his head, "All I can hope is that once news of the Eighth Prince's situation reaches the main hall in the capital, those influential figures there will have the sense to stop. This old one has no wish to see the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion become another Falling God Peak."
He then immediately produced paper, ink, brush, and inkstone, and hastily wrote a coded letter. He tucked the cat fur he could make neither head nor tail of inside, then sealed it.
Once that was done, he went to a concealed room. Among more than a dozen bird cages lined up there, he found the most distinctive one, secured the letter to the falcon inside, and quietly released it.
After that, the storytelling elder did not dare remain in the tavern a moment longer. He packed his things quickly and slipped out through the back entrance, disappearing without a trace.
...
At the same time, back in the tavern, Shen Anran had ordered a few small dishes and was eating slowly alongside Cao Gaoshan.
Li Musheng, listening to the crowd around him still discussing his own exploits, suddenly realized he had forgotten something.
Specifically, he had forgotten to tell the storytelling elder that when spreading word of his reputation in the future, he absolutely needed to include something about his looks.
If the world knew only of his profound martial cultivation and overlooked his most fundamental quality, that really was rather difficult to justify.
He had always heard it said that wanting too much was unbecoming.
But Li Musheng wanted it all regardless. Both, thoroughly, without compromise.
Not only did he intend to have the highest martial ability among the best-looking people, he also intended to be the best-looking among those with the highest martial ability.
"Though this time it does not matter. That old man's reach is simply too limited. Better to wait for a more fitting opportunity."
Li Musheng shook his head slightly, then his gaze drifted to the big black cat beside him.
At that moment the big black cat was straining its neck sideways, trying to lick the patch of fur on its back where the tuft had been pulled. Unfortunately its frame was too large and it could barely reach.
Just moments ago, the big black cat had been happily investigating the Hidden Kill Order when it suddenly felt a chill on its back.
It had turned to look, and found a small patch of its fur was just gone.
Bear in mind that unlike ordinary cats, this was a cat that barely ever shed.
Just as the big black cat was reeling from the shock, its eyes happened to swivel to the culprit, Li Musheng, who had given a tuft of its fur to the storytelling elder without a word of warning.
Only then did the cat understand. Li Musheng had plucked its fur in complete silence.
Even so, the big black cat dared not say a thing, dared not ask a thing.
It was simply a little distressed over its missing patch of fur, and had no idea when it would grow back.
Maybe licking it would help it grow faster?
"Stop licking it. It is such a tiny patch, you cannot even tell it is gone."
Li Musheng reached out and patted the big black cat's head.
The big black cat cast Li Musheng a quiet glance and reluctantly gave up, letting out a meow before turning its attention back to the Hidden Kill Order, continuing to poke and examine the copper token with great interest.
Li Musheng watched the big black cat's antics and rubbed his chin, his gaze coming to rest on the tarnished copper token.
"Could there be something unusual about this Hidden Kill Order?"
Li Musheng turned the thought over.
The big black cat had clearly taken a marked interest in the copper token, which would not matter much if the cat were ordinary. But there was a person with divine nature behind it.
Something capable of attracting the interest of a person with divine nature was obviously not going to be simple.
With that thought, Li Musheng reached out and seized the token from across the table, pulling it into his hand, and began examining it with genuine curiosity.
He had possessed the Hidden Kill Order for some time, but had never bothered to look at it seriously.
Now, there might well be something hidden within it worth investigating.
At that moment, seeing Li Musheng suddenly take the token, the big black cat froze briefly, then immediately ran back to Li Musheng's feet.
It stretched out a paw toward the token and made grasping motions, clearly wanting Li Musheng to hand it back to continue poking at it.
Li Musheng raised an eyebrow, "What would you be able to figure out? Let me handle this."
At those words, the big black cat fixed its eyes on the token and let out several meows, gesturing with its paw in a series of movements.
Li Musheng could not understand what it was actually saying, but could roughly tell the cat seemed to be making some reference to the dark jade stele.
A faint frown crossed Li Musheng's face, and the thought came to him, "Could there be some connection between these two things?"
At that, Shen Anran and Cao Gaoshan exchanged a look between the big black cat and the Hidden Kill Order.
In their view, this big black cat was becoming stranger by the day. Now it had taken to investigating a Hidden Kill Order for no apparent reason.
As for the Hidden Kill Order itself, they had naturally heard of it. It was a dangerous object capable of plunging the entire martial world into chaos and bloodshed.
Speaking honestly, the fact that Li Musheng was the one holding it meant the martial world would be spared a great deal of unnecessary killing.
Though that did carry a certain degree of risk, given Li Musheng's martial cultivation, the one who might truly be at risk was perhaps the Hidden Kill Pavilion itself.
Of course, neither of them harbored the slightest contempt for the Hidden Kill Pavilion.
On the contrary, the Pavilion's fearsome reputation extended across all five nations of the world, and legend had it that within the Hidden Kill Pavilion there existed an Assassination Saint who had attained enlightenment through killing.
How formidable that Assassination Saint was, they could not say. But according to the stories, even the grandmaster of a supreme top-tier sect like the Primal Yin Origin Sect would not dare to stand in the open and meet head-on the gaze the Assassination Saint cast from the shadows. That said enough about how deep the Pavilion's killing power ran.
While Shen Anran and the others were lost in thought, Li Musheng directed the big black cat to sit quietly to one side while he observed the Hidden Kill Order in his hand.
Seeing nothing worth studying on the surface, he then used the same approach he had applied to the Divine Talent Stele.
He pinched the tarnished copper token and gave it a gentle bend, and the Hidden Kill Order visibly began to flex.
"Hmm, not bad. Its hardness is actually comparable to that of the Divine Talent Stele."
A flash of surprise crossed Li Musheng's eyes. The fact that the Hidden Kill Order was this indestructible was itself a sign of something unusual. Whatever material it was made of, it was certainly not ordinary copper.
Then Li Musheng applied just a fraction more force.
With a sharp crack, the bent Hidden Kill Order snapped cleanly in two.
In an instant, the two halves drew the eyes of Shen Anran, Cao Gaoshan, and the big black cat all at once.
Shen Anran's delicate brows rose slightly as she looked at Li Musheng's face and said admiringly, "So this is how Your Highness investigates things. Truly unlike anyone else."
At those words, Li Musheng felt the burning intensity of Shen Anran's gaze and gave a quiet cough.
After all, breaking open the Hidden Kill Order was, at most, a necessary expedient on his part.
He then turned to examine the broken token.
However, nothing appeared within the broken Hidden Kill Order like what had been seen in the Divine Talent Stele. There were no unusual markings, and no threads of steady light that seemed never to go out.
It appeared to hold nothing particularly special beyond its exceptional hardness. In that sense it was no different from an ordinary piece of copper.
Li Musheng tapped the two copper pieces against each other, and from the corner of his eye noticed the big black cat's large head had already pressed in close.
Its green eyes were fixed on the broken pieces without stopping, and it even stretched out a paw trying to get a swipe at them.
Li Musheng raised an eyebrow. Seeing the cat so invested, he casually tossed both pieces directly to it.
He wondered privately whether the Hidden Kill Pavilion would still honor a broken Hidden Kill Order.
At that, the big black cat was quick, catching the broken token in its mouth the moment Li Musheng tossed it.
And then, in the very next instant, everything changed.
The moment the big black cat bit down on the broken token, what had been a perfectly unremarkable two pieces of tarnished copper suddenly began to emit threads of golden light.
Shen Anran and Cao Gaoshan both saw it, and immediately wore expressions of complete astonishment.
The big black cat was equally shocked. It sat there with the two brilliantly glowing copper pieces in its mouth, the blinding golden light so intense that its green eyes could barely stay open.
It was forced to squint its cat eyes down to slits and try to peer at what was happening in its own mouth, trying to see what on earth was going on with the Hidden Kill Order it was holding.
And right at that moment, the copper pieces that had seemed indestructible began to melt visibly and rapidly, dissolving into a pool of golden liquid.
The big black cat, suddenly faced with this, could not help letting out an instinctive gulp.
And in the very instant of that gulp, the pool of golden liquid happened to flow straight down its open throat and was swallowed.
The big black cat's throat produced a swallowing sound.
The golden light that had been blazing around it faded completely the moment the token was swallowed, and everything returned to normal.
Li Musheng rubbed his chin and took it all in. He made no move to intervene, only continuing to observe the big black cat.
The big black cat seemed to register what had just happened with some delay. Upon realizing it had just swallowed an entire lump of copper, the expression on its cat face underwent a series of rapid and dramatic changes.
It immediately looked down at its own round belly, then reached out a paw and began feeling around on it, apparently searching for where the swallowed Hidden Kill Order had gone.
After a moment the big black cat raised its head and looked at Li Musheng sitting at the table, then began meowing insistently.
At the same time, beside them, Shen Anran and Cao Gaoshan both stared at the big black cat with wide eyes and expressions of genuine amazement.
Neither of them had imagined that the very token capable of drenching the martial world in blood and chaos, beyond whatever special significance the Hidden Kill Pavilion had invested it with, was itself such an extraordinary object, capable of glowing with its own light and dissolving on its own.
With that thought, Shen Anran turned and looked at Li Musheng curiously, asking, "Does Your Highness know what material the Hidden Kill Order is made from? It seems remarkably unusual!"
At those words, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow slightly, then beckoned to the big black cat and said, "I do not know exactly what it is made from. But the token showed no reaction in my hands at all, and yet the moment it reached the cat's mouth it underwent a sudden change. Clearly there must be some connection between the two."
At that, the big black cat, seeing Li Musheng gesture for it, immediately jumped to his side and crouched down, turning its belly directly toward him.
The gesture made it perfectly clear the cat wanted Li Musheng to give it an examination and see whether the Hidden Kill Order inside it could be extracted.
Li Musheng looked down at the big black cat. He had kept the Hidden Kill Order on him for some time and had never once sensed anything unusual about it.
But from the moment he produced it, the big black cat had behaved unlike itself, showing sudden curiosity and continuing to fiddle with the token on its own.
And just now, after he had snapped it in two, the broken token had undergone a sudden change the moment it reached the big black cat's mouth.
If all of this had been deliberate on the big black cat's part, then the creature had known the secret of the Hidden Kill Order all along.
The big black cat had deliberately drawn the token to his attention, in order to get him to do to it what he had done to the Divine Talent Stele and snap it in two.
The reason for doing so was that the cat had no way of breaking the token on its own.
And after using his hands to accomplish what it needed, the big black cat had been able to trigger the token's transformation and swallow it whole.
"Who would have thought you were actually such a calculating and crafty old cat."
After working through his theory in his mind, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes and studied the big black cat in front of him, which was now looking very anxious indeed.
Upon hearing Li Musheng suddenly say this, the big black cat clearly went still.
Then it raised its head, its green eyes looking at Li Musheng, one paw still on its belly, letting out a series of meows that sounded quite aggrieved.
The look and the sound were as though saying that Li Musheng must have misunderstood it entirely, and that it was absolutely not a scheming cat, but a trustworthy and good cat.