Chapter 33 Part 2

“If you ever see her again, whatever you do, don’t bring this up. She’ll get really mad.”

Tong Yuwu looked away without responding, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Sensing that she’d reached the limit of Tong Yuwu’s patience, Meng Yiran waved farewell with good grace. “Well, that’s it for tonight. Chatting with you was fun. I hope we get a chance to hang out again sometime.”

She flashed a bright smile. “I’m heading out. Bye, good night!”

Tong Yuwu gave a faint “Mm” in response. Meng Yiran didn’t take it personally and hurried off.

She returned to Assistant Teacher Meng’s dormitory. The moment she pushed open the door, she spotted Ling Ge sitting in the living room. “Back?” Meng Yiran greeted.

Ling Ge cradled a cup of water in her hands and nodded. “Mm.”

Meng Yiran glanced at the clock and figured she had a bit of time. She plopped down beside Ling Ge. “After I left earlier, did Teacher Liya say anything about me?”

Ling Ge nodded without hesitation. “She said you might be even more suited than my brother to specialize in Summoning Magic—as a member of the Golden Marten Clan.”

Meng Yiran rubbed the tip of her nose. “Ah… really?” She frowned in confusion. “Why, though? Ling Ze’s magic aptitude is way higher than mine.”

Ling Ge met her gaze. “Summoning Magic has nothing to do with magic aptitude. It’s about your connection to the clan.”

Meng Yiran threw up her hands. “In that case, I can’t compare to Ling Ze at all.”

Ling Ge furrowed her brow, clearly puzzled as well.

She wasn’t one to dwell on it, though. “Anyway, Teacher Liya and my brother will take care of the details. Just go along with whatever they ask when the time comes.” A smile tugged at her lips. “If it fails, no harm done. If it succeeds…

“Well, success makes everyone happy.”

Meng Yiran nodded.

She couldn’t help feeling a spark of anticipation. “Is this Summoning Magic Array… really that impressive?”

Ling Ge shook her head. “No idea. I’ve never seen one in action.”

Grinning, she patted Meng Yiran’s shoulder. “I’m counting on you to blow my mind.”

Meng Yiran gave a wry smile. “Don’t get my hopes up.”

She stood. “I’m going to wash up and hit the hay. You should rest soon too.”

“Mm,” Ling Ge replied, rising to her feet as well.

She waved. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you,” Meng Yiran echoed.

The two returned to their respective rooms. After a quick wash-up, Meng Yiran climbed into bed and closed her eyes. Her consciousness slipped away from her human body, and the little white cat in Tong Yuwu’s room stirred awake.

The little white cat stretched lazily in place, loosening up her body that had gone a bit limp from lying down too long. When she lifted her head, she saw that Tong Yuwu had already returned and was sitting on the edge of the bed, fiddling with a small object in her hand.

She hopped down from the soft cushion and padded over to Tong Yuwu’s side. Only when she got close did she realize it was a Third-Tier Magic Cube made of transparent crystal.

The little white cat was instantly captivated by the exquisite little thing and couldn’t tear her gaze away.

Tong Yuwu naturally noticed her approach and bent down to stroke the little white cat’s head. “Not sleeping anymore?”

Meng Yiran smoothly leaped onto her lap and let out a questioning “meow meow” about the strange object’s origins.

She really wanted to touch the Crystal Magic Cube but was afraid it was too precious and she might break it. So she extended a small paw and gingerly rested it on Tong Yuwu’s wrist.

Tong Yuwu’s attention was fully on her. She had seemed about to put the object away, but seeing her interest, she switched the Magic Cube to her other hand and held it up in front of her for closer inspection.

Meng Yiran leaned in and sniffed at it but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Still, she behaved herself and didn’t reach out.

In contrast to her caution, Tong Yuwu seemed far more nonchalant.

She scooped Meng Yiran up onto the bedding and at the same time casually tossed the Crystal Magic Cube onto the covers. Picking up some clean clothes from nearby, she left behind the words, “You can play with it. Just don’t break it,” before heading into the bathroom to freshen up.

The little white cat watched her go. Soon, the bathroom door clicked shut, followed by the muffled rush of running water. She yawned and turned her attention back to the Magic Cube.

The bedding was vast and plush, and the spot where the cube had been placed was almost exactly in the center of the bed—no risk at all of accidentally knocking it off or damaging it.

Emboldened, Meng Yiran tentatively reached out with her paw pad to touch it.

But strangely, her paw swiped right through empty air. The Magic Cube lay quietly on the bedding, still about a centimeter away from her claw tip.

The little white cat shook her head.

Was it possible that this cat avatar had slept so much she’d messed up her senses? How could she make such a basic mistake? But she quickly rallied and swiped again.

Incredibly, she missed a second time.

Her round paw hovered a centimeter from the Crystal Magic Cube, flexing open and closed in a way that looked utterly ridiculous.

Refusing to give up, the little white cat this time brought both front paws into play, probing forward alternately.

Miss. Miss. Still a miss.

The little white cat ground her back teeth, arched her back, and kicked off with her hind legs, launching her entire body into the air to pounce straight down onto the Crystal Magic Cube below.

The next moment, eyes squeezed shut, she face-planted into the soft bedding. When she opened her eyes, the Magic Cube was still a centimeter from her nose tip.

Had she hit a ghost?!

Meng Yiran’s fur bristled along her back. She twisted around and leaped off the bed—and unexpectedly, she landed smoothly on the floor.

She craned her neck up. Under the light, the Crystal Magic Cube gleamed with a dim yellow glow, lying utterly still in the center of the bed. Compared to when Tong Yuwu had set it down, not only had its position not shifted, even its angle was unchanged.

A strange competitive spirit ignited in her, making her forget her fear. She whirled around, nimbly hopped onto the nearby cabinet, gauged her angle, and sprang back toward the bed with a “whoosh.”

She figured she’d judged the force just right, but upon landing, her nose tip was still that centimeter short.

On the second try, she put more oomph into it—and overshot without a doubt.

The little white cat glanced back. Without any extra flourish, she suddenly whipped her tail around in a surprise strike toward the cube. Unfortunately, the little trick wasn’t enough to work a miracle. No matter how she maneuvered—how far back she retreated—the Crystal Magic Cube always maintained that precise one-centimeter distance from her tail tip.

Meng Yiran grew so furious her voice sharpened.

In two bounds, she jumped off the bed and dashed to the bathroom door. She reared up on her hind legs, frantically scratching at the door with both small paws while unleashing a flurry of urgent “meow meow meows” to tattle.

Tong Yuwu really thought something had happened and opened the door at once, wrapped only in a snow-white bath towel.

She looked down at the perfectly healthy little cat and lightly furrowed her brow. “What’s wrong?”

The little white cat froze in place, forgetting what she even wanted to say. She opened her mouth, then felt it wasn’t right. Her two paws, held up in the air, trembled before finally covering her eyes.

“Meow…”

Seeing she was fine, Tong Yuwu relaxed. She glanced at the Crystal Magic Cube on the bed, her expression turning thoughtful.

She murmured, “Wait a moment,” shut the door, and returned to the bathroom.

Meng Yiran obediently backed away from the door and returned to her soft cushion.

That earlier interruption had pulled her attention away from the Crystal Magic Cube, but replaying what she had glimpsed would have been rude. The little white cat licked her paw, recalling the conversation she had shared with Tong Yuwu on the road.

She glanced down at her soft belly, more convinced than ever that Tong Yuwu was slandering her.

Take right now, for instance—if she weren’t so obedient, she could have squeezed through the door and shamelessly trailed Tong Yuwu into the bathroom.

But she hadn’t.

She was the perfect pet: obedient, well-mannered, and brimming with the noble virtues of a cat from the magic era!

Two minutes later, the Noble Miss stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed.

A closer look revealed water droplets behind her ear that she had missed drying, and her hair was damper than usual, as if she had rushed.

Meng Yiran remembered the important matter and meowed up at her.

Cat speech couldn’t quite convey the details, so she arched her back, took aim, and leaped onto the bed, ready to recreate the “crime scene” for the Noble Miss.

But this time, as her paw stretched out upon landing, she touched something cool and hard.

The little white cat’s mind blanked. For an instant, she had no idea how to react. Her eyes bulged wide as she stared at the Crystal Magic Cube lying quietly in her paw.

Tong Yuwu drew near. “What’s wrong?”

Meng Yiran dropped the cube and scrambled back four or five steps, her front paw jabbing accusingly at the sinister object while she meowed and whined her complaint to Tong Yuwu.

Tong Yuwu stroked her little head, leaned down to retrieve the cube, and held it before her eyes once more.

This time, the little white cat wouldn’t even sniff it. She turned her head away in disdain.

Tong Yuwu smiled, pulled her hand back, sat on the bed, and scooped the cat onto her lap. She rubbed her small ears soothingly.

They savored a brief moment of warm master-and-pet bonding. When Meng Yiran mustered her curiosity again and wanted another peek at the cube, it was gone. She replayed Tong Yuwu’s movements in her mind but couldn’t fathom where the Noble Miss had stashed the little thing during that single withdrawing motion.

She let out a meow and licked Tong Yuwu’s empty fingers.

Tong Yuwu lay back on the bed. “Time for sleep.”

Meng Yiran studied her expression and sensed she wasn’t entirely clueless about the cube’s oddity. Ling Ge had speculated that Tong Yuwu had handled those three troublesome male students with some extraordinarily powerful magic item. Insight flashed through Meng Yiran’s mind—perhaps the Crystal Magic Cube was the Tong Family foundation Ling Ge had mentioned.

With that thought, the little white cat shelved her curiosity and stopped fretting. She curled up in a cozy spot beside Tong Yuwu’s pillow.

That night, her sleep was fitful. In a hazy blur, she dreamed several times over.

The one dream she didn’t fully forget trapped her entire body inside a crystal. No matter how she pounded, kicked, or thrashed, she couldn’t break free from its cramped confines.

A woman whose face she couldn’t make out stood outside, gazing at her with an eerie intensity. Meng Yiran pleaded for help, but the woman wept tears of blood and tossed a knife at her feet.