Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 86 The Spiritual Cat

The sudden appearance of something he had only recently encountered in reality in the castle gave Han Su the feeling that the boundary between reality and illusion had been broken.

Judging from its shape, it resembled a finger bone placed inside a lantern, radiating a crystal-clear glow, its light almost as bright as a flame.

The Crystal Skull has the ability to infect humans who come near it. Infected humans will also undergo changes in their bones, becoming crystallized, gaining strange strength and regenerative abilities, and emitting an unusual luster.

But who in their right mind would think of using crystals for lighting?

He realized that it was only the hunchbacked man who had come to check, and that there were no other living creatures outside the cellar. So, taking advantage of the chaos, he quietly took a step back.

Slowly raising his right hand, his spiritual power activated, he silently recited the incantation:
I am about to plunge into the abyss!

【…】

As the incantation was uttered, Han Su felt no spiritual power seeping out of his right hand.

He was stunned for a moment before he realized that it was because his right hand had been penetrated by Miss Crow in the "future," so at the age of ten, he did not yet have the ability to let his spiritual power penetrate into reality through this "gap."
But as he was thinking, his right eye suddenly hurt slightly, and a cool sensation emerged—a feeling that Han Su was familiar with: the permeation of spiritual power.

'Only phenomena related to that fisherman's chant can be brought back to the castle...'

'...'

At this moment, the guy with the sideburns who had been beaten was getting up from the ground, scrambling around. Compared to the attack from behind, the light shining down from the hunchbacked man above seemed to give him a sense of hope.

She was wailing and crying loudly, complaining, "He hit me! He hit me..."

But as he cried, he turned around to point at the audacious child who dared to hit him, but in that instant, he didn't know which direction to point with his raised finger.

"he……"

"...where are the people?"

"..."

At the same time, Han Su, who was in the dark cellar, also recited the incantation. As soon as the incantation came out, he felt as if the surrounding darkness had come alive, gathering in front of him and obscuring his figure.

Originally, there was only a faint shadow left, but when he hid behind a child and came out again, even the faint shadow could not be seen.

He then nimbly and deftly arrived at the stairs and tentatively stepped onto the first step.

Before them, a flickering light appeared as the hunchbacked man struggled to carry a crystal lantern, trying to observe the situation below. The only light illuminated the children, making them huddle together, unaware that a barely perceptible shadow was rising above them.

Han Su climbed three steps one by one, and was about to see the hunchback's face with its uneven, sandpaper-like skin. He held his breath slightly.

But the hunchback still couldn't see him, and was letting out a furious roar, as if he were telling the children in the cellar to be quiet.

'it works……'

Han Su was encouraged and was about to try to step onto the next step when the hunchback suddenly seemed to sense something was wrong and abruptly turned his head to look at Han Su's current position.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the crystal lantern and shone it in the direction where Han Su was.

Han Su immediately took a step back, narrowly avoiding the crystal lantern that was pointing at him.

The hunchbacked man saw nothing and only showed a puzzled expression. He shouted twice more, scaring all the children into silence. He then put away the lantern and slammed the small door of the cellar shut.

Only then did Han Su, who had retreated back into the crowd in the underground cave, breathe a sigh of relief and stop chanting the incantation.

'The invisibility ability is effective.'

He silently calculated in his mind: 'But I need to maintain a certain safe distance, I can't get too close. Damn it, if I can't even get too close to him, what about the others?'

Compared to other monsters, this is just a servant, or even merely a tool of the steward...

'...'

But his frustration was useless at this moment. He forced himself to analyze the situation, which was at least useful when he was a little further away. After all, he didn't plan to walk right past the monster. Compared to before, this was already a considerable advantage.

'Besides, if I recited the divine decree first before using this ability, wouldn't the effect be much better?'

Unfortunately, he didn't dare to try anything too daring. Last time on the fifth floor, he recited that incantation, and all the bronze statues on the entire floor came back to life. The commotion was just too great.

Divine pronouncements should only be used in critical moments.

Another limitation is that while divine pronouncements can enhance one's invisibility, they also exacerbate the depletion of mental energy. One can only maintain this state for a few seconds before falling into a period of exhaustion.

The battery needs to be replaced.

'If that's the case, then this spell isn't enough for me to devise a plan to steal the key, let alone rescue anyone else.'

'Does this mean we have no choice but to wait for another opportunity?'

He thought to himself, and the thought of the worm monks made him realize how difficult it would be to steal the key, yet he couldn't help but feel a longing:

'If only a second key existed.'

But the first key was discovered by chance after rescuing Xu Ji. He found a key tied around the waist of the pig-headed butcher because he hadn't had that key before. So he immediately took note of it.

Later, during the night of pleasure, the clever and cunning tuxedo girl caused a ruckus, and in the chaos, she grabbed the key, discovered the door, and escaped.

This time, I don't have a single clue at all, so how am I supposed to find it?
Just as his mind was in turmoil, and the incessant sobbing of the boy with the parted hair was irritating him, and he was even considering whether to beat him up again, a soft cry suddenly rang out from above.

"Meow……"

Han Su was lost in thought when his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He looked up and saw a black cat demon gracefully slipping through the bars of the sealed window in the cellar. 'Oh, it's just a cat…'

Han Su withdrew his gaze, then suddenly paused, abruptly raising his head: 'Wait, a cat?'

He suddenly stood up, staring intently at the cat—its bulky body, its wise eyes…

The unexpected appearance of the black cat also caught the attention of the other children in the cellar. Even in their state of fear, they couldn't help but be a little mesmerized when they saw the cat.

Only the guy with the parted hair glanced at it and said disdainfully, "What's so great about it? I've killed several of them, and they were all more expensive than this one..."

The other children just watched the cat, but considering their own situation, they weren't in the mood to do anything.

Only Han Su, who was staring intently at the black cat, felt an overwhelming sense of unease.

This cat has never appeared before.

So, is this cat the new change that appeared in the castle after I rescued Meilan last time?

I was wrong!
The last time they rescued someone, the castle did indeed undergo changes that were to their advantage, but a second key did not appear.

Instead, a cat appeared.

Most importantly, he didn't know why, but looking at this cat, he felt an unusual sense of familiarity. He couldn't remember where he had seen it before, but the more he looked at it, the stronger that feeling of familiarity became.

Even subconsciously, she softly uttered a sound:

"Duke, come here..."

"..."

The word "Duke" seemed to slightly stir something deep within Han Su's memory.

He couldn't recall anything about the cat, but he had a strange intuition:

"This is my own cat!"

"..."

This strange intuition made him excited instantly; his heart trembled slightly as he looked at the cat with great longing.

then……

...and the cat didn't react at all.

It wriggled its fat body, without even turning its head, slowly walked around the railing, and then disappeared into the narrow gap between the wooden railings. No one knows how such a fat body could fit into such a narrow gap.

'Um...this cat doesn't seem to know me very well...'

Han Su stood there somewhat disappointed, even feeling a little embarrassed.

Was that strong intuition I just had just been false?

Somewhat disappointed, I sat down. Although after some deliberation, I was certain that this cat had never appeared before and that something must be unusual about it.

But what good is it?

A key allows you to open the door and leave, but what about a silly cat...?

Crackle!

Just then, a commotion erupted outside the cellar, accompanied by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground and the angry shouts of the hunchbacked man.

All the children suddenly looked up at the small door at the end of the stairs, somewhat frightened.

Han Su was also unaware of what had happened; there hadn't been any such commotion from above before.

Then, to his surprise and somewhat uncertain expectation, a few seconds later, the small door suddenly opened silently.

It was deathly silent outside.

The hunchback's roar had vanished, as had all the clanging and jingling sounds; only a deep, deathly silence remained.

Then, a lithe figure quietly arrived at the entrance of the cellar; it was the fat black cat.

It sat there at the entrance of the cellar, the faint light from the crystal finger bones behind it casting a proud and languid shadow.

They looked down at us from their high vantage point, their gaze seemingly filled with arrogant disdain.

"This……"

Inside the cellar, Han Su could hardly contain his joy.

He could keenly sense that the black cat's eyes were precisely piercing through the crowd, staring at him with a hint of impatience, as if asking why he hadn't arrived yet.

'It recognizes me!'

'So it wasn't that it didn't respond when I called it, it was just too lazy to pay attention to me...'

'Is it calling me to go out now?'

(End of this chapter)