Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 87 wasn't that inspired either.

One is above, one is below, one is outside the cellar, and one is inside the cellar.

One eye revealed impatience, the other delight.

Then, the atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.

Han Su was certain that the cat was calling to him, urging him to hurry up and leave the cellar to find it, but this was inside a grand castle.

Should I just run out like that because of a cat?

Fight!

The Disaster Management Agency's guidelines also state that there is no such thing as a 100% safe situation, and execution is the primary factor.

Having confirmed that this cat was the variable that led to his kidnapping, and feeling a mysterious sense of familiarity, why not go?

At least you need to understand its differences!
Most importantly, the hunchbacked man on the first floor wouldn't dare to hurt the children.

He gritted his teeth slightly and climbed up the stairs, the black cat, or rather, its name, the Duke, gracefully stepping aside.

Peeking out, Han Su was immediately surprised to see the hunchback lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance. It turned out that the lantern he had been carrying had broken on the ground, and the crystal finger bone had fallen into a pile of glass shards.

The entire lobby was in a mess, looking as if a small war had taken place.

Although the hunchbacked man wasn't as persistent as the old steward or the other monsters, he was incredibly strong, tireless, and his hands were like iron clamps. Once someone grabbed him, it was impossible to escape. Now, he had inexplicably fainted.

How did this cat do that?
To my surprise, I saw the black cat, its plump body surprisingly agile, lazily circle the lobby, run to one side, sniff the crystal finger bone inside the glass shards, a look of disgust on its face, turn its back, and scratch its paws backward a couple of times.

It lazily walked over to the hunchbacked man on the ground, sniffed him, and then immediately collapsed.

It yawned, its long tail swaying lazily.

"?"

What are you doing?

Han Su had been eagerly anticipating some amazing phenomenon, but instead, it just lay there.

This cat must have some purpose in knocking down the hunchback, opening the cellar door, and calling itself out.

But it just kept licking its fur, oblivious to the awkward atmosphere spreading in the darkness.

'Should I go back?'

Han Su waited for a while, feeling somewhat anxious.

'I think I'll go back...'

Regardless of why this cat is here, we need to observe it further.

But this kind of staring contest shouldn't be the way we observe each other.

That commotion was quite loud. What if some monster upstairs heard it and came down to investigate?
Just as Han Su was about to turn his head, the black cat stood up again, lazily walked to the left side of the hall, stood in front of a narrow door, and turned to meow at Han Su.

Seeing that he didn't follow, she called out again.

Meow meow meow...

In the deathly silent ancient castle, the screams were so clear that Han Su almost wanted to go up and cover their mouths.

What is this for?
Before figuring out his purpose, I couldn't possibly wander around with him in this gloomy castle.

In the midst of the tense and conflicted moment, the outer gate of the castle suddenly made two soft, rhythmic knocks.

In an instant, Han Su turned his head away alertly, and the black cat also lazily turned its head to glance at him.

Several children had peeked out from the cellar ladder behind them, but they immediately retreated when they heard the knocking.

Han Su immediately chanted the incantation silently, retreated to the side of the cellar, and then nervously looked towards the gate.

The hunchbacked man had fainted on the ground. Who would open the door?
And, is it that old butler who has returned?
All I know is that he will leave the castle on this first night, but I don't know when he will return. Now, it seems I should hurry back to the cellar.
As he was thinking, the knocking stopped. Suddenly, Han Su saw a pale face with cracked porcelain-like features reflected in the window next to the door through the strangely shaped iron window frame. The face wore an eerie smile and its gaze was fixed on his own face.

It was the old butler.

He stared intently at himself, then smiled and said, "Looks like there are always some mischievous little ones..."

"..."

"Deadly!"

Han Su met the old butler's strange face and felt a chill. He had already recited a spell to maintain his invisibility, but it seemed to have no effect at all in front of him.

He was certain the old butler could see him, but he wasn't sure if the butler could see his face clearly.

So, should we retreat back to the cellar, or...?

"Kakakaka..."

As the old butler clapped his hands softly outside, the dusty trunks in the corner suddenly began to tremble. Inside the room, the oil paintings on the walls, the tableware on the table, and the tools by the wall all seemed to come alive. "Snap!"

Even the cellar door behind Han Su suddenly slammed shut, as if it had been welded shut.

"Meow!"

Just then, another cat meowed.

Han Su finally made a decision, rushed forward quickly, followed the black cat, and disappeared into the back of the restaurant, into the passageway leading to the kitchen.

This was an area he had never been to before; all he knew was that the monsters' feasts were served from behind this door.

Behind me, I heard the sound of a box being opened, followed by heavy footsteps approaching the door. Then, the door creaked open, and the old butler's footsteps echoed on the lobby floor.

Han Su, on the other hand, felt as if he had been electrocuted, his heart filled with urgency, wanting only to get further away. But the black cat in front of him was not in a hurry at all, still wagging its snake-like tail, walking slowly and steadily through the chaotic mess.

This was indeed the place where food was prepared for the monsters. Han Su glanced around and saw a row of dead rats hanging there, along with cured high-quality ham, meat cut into square pieces, and rotting crows stuffed into a huge wooden barrel to ferment.

Behind me, I could already hear the butler's elegant footsteps.

"You're going to kill me..."

Hearing the butler's footsteps approaching, Han Su thought sadly and grabbed a kitchen knife.

Be prepared to fight tooth and nail.

But then the cat suddenly twisted its body and disappeared into a kitchen cabinet with one door half open.

Han Su's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly followed him inside. He found that the seemingly narrow cabinet was actually quite spacious. He climbed over the stacked dishes and crawled forward half a meter, only to find that there was nothing above his head.

Surprisingly, there's a passageway leading up here, resembling a dining aisle found only in old buildings, used by servants to deliver meals to their masters upstairs. However, it's been abandoned for a long time and is covered in cobwebs.

The black cat curled its tail and perched on Han Su's shoulder.

Han Su turned his head and met its gaze. He immediately understood its intention, looked up at the dining path, and then, supporting himself with his hands, slowly climbed up the path.

At that moment, the kitchen door opened, and the butler walked in, seemingly observing his surroundings. After a long while, he let out a low, cold laugh.

Han Su dared not be careless. Relying on his small size and agility at the age of ten, he climbed up the dining corridor and quickly found a gap. He carefully crawled out and saw what looked like a storage room, with strange herbs and dusty bottles and jars placed all around.

He held his breath, picked up the rather heavy black cat, put it on the ground, and quickly went to the door of the storage room.

Looking out, I was so startled that my heart almost jumped out of my chest.

Outside the door was a spacious and quiet apothecary. In that instant, he spotted a tall and elegant figure—the owner of the second floor, Madam Fleshhorn.

She was holding a candlestick in one hand and a dropper in the other, as if carefully preparing some kind of medicine.

He gripped the knife in his hand tightly again.

Looking back at the storage room, Han Su knew that going back would mean certain death, and hiding here meant that being discovered was only a matter of time.

With a resolute heart, he rested for a moment, silently recited the invisibility spell again, and his figure disappeared into the darkness. He quietly walked out of the storage room, and then tiptoed, little by little, toward the half-open back door of the potion room.

Throughout the entire process, he barely dared to make a sound of his heartbeat.

But no one knew which deity had protected her, as Lady Flesh Horn focused on preparing the potion and didn't look back.

The effect of reciting a spell from behind the target is many times better than reciting it under the target's gaze, and Han Su actually walked out like that.

Just as Han Su breathed a slight sigh of relief, he heard a rustling sound from the floor inside, which was extremely clear in the quiet room.

It's the black cat.

It followed behind him, swaggering out of the apothecary with a cat-like gait.

Han Suxin immediately felt a chill run down her spine. Hiding behind the door, she saw that Madam Flesh Horn stopped moving and slowly turned around. Her expression was obscured by the mysterious veil.

Suddenly, Lady Fleshhorn flashed and appeared beside the black cat. With a nimble scoop, she grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.

He darted to the table, and with his other hand, he took out a shiny silver pair of scissors and slowly approached the cat.

Han Su could hardly bear to watch what happened next.

Then he heard a crisp snap, and saw Lady Fleshhorn cut a tuft of fur from the black cat, put it on the ground, and in a flash returned to the table, carefully placing the tuft of cat fur into the flask.

"Meow……"

The black cat scurried out, tilted its head and glanced at Han Su, as if blaming Han Su for not waiting for it.

'How dare you look at me like that?'

Han Su thought it was all too crazy.

This cat has disrupted all its strategies for escaping and surviving in the castle...

How do you make a cat understand that it's courting death?
(End of this chapter)