Chapter 254

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【November 26, Tuesday, 10:32】

【In the City Village】

【?? Perspective】

“Master, Xiao Kai and the others have left. Should we follow them?”

Looking down at the three people passing by, I stood on the eaves of a house by the roadside and reported to my master, who was hiding and slacking off.

“Yuzu, I said… Is there really a need to hide so far for surveillance?”

The jewel hanging around my neck transmitted my master’s lazy voice.

The position I chose for surveillance was indeed quite far from the Chang family, separated by three houses, where I could look down from above… but there was a reason for this.

I sighed, “There are over ten wild cats in front of their door. As soon as they pass by, those cats stare at them with fierce eyes, which is too much for one to bear mentally.”

“Hey, you’ve turned into a human, how can you still be afraid of wild cats?”

“But I’m just a marten!”

Unlike the cat lady from the Chang family, because my master isn’t a true deity, I can’t maintain human form all the time. Transforming requires continuous consumption of my master’s magical energy, and thankfully, my mind doesn’t regress back to an animal when I transform…

But I’m still just a marten in size. How can I fight against wild cats, predators? Being stared at by a group of glowing-eyed cats is too scary for me.

“Calm down. With Little Lin Hua there, they will definitely take a taxi to the Balance Commercial District. With your four little short legs, you can’t keep up. You need to find a way to hitch a ride.”

Easier said than done. Wild martens aren’t common, so I still stand out. Jumping down like that would definitely draw attention.

Seeing Xiao Kai and the others leave the village, they are now waiting for a car on Mí Fēng Street.

“They’ve left the village… What should I do?”

“Hmm? Do you need to ask me that? Just charge forward and get on the car while they’re not looking.”

I seriously asked my master for advice, but she didn’t provide any meaningful suggestions. Frustrated, I shook my whiskers and sighed, “If I were a wild cat, I could do that, but I’m a marten.”

Not to brag, but my street presence is 100%—everyone looks at me unless they’re blind.

“Fine, I’ll throw the jewel into the taxi’s trunk, and you can come back and hide.”

Everything went black, and I was sucked into the jewel.

The jewel hanging around my neck was my master’s treasure. This unassuming jewel was a divine artifact obtained from some great being, containing a space of about fifteen square meters, where we had been living during this period.

Because the jewel itself was small, the magic power and time needed for teleportation were minimal, allowing my master to achieve instant movement beyond what Xiao Kai and the others could imagine, and also keeping our residence hidden from them.

However, the space inside the jewel was messy. My master’s carefree personality made life somewhat chaotic. A bed was placed in the center of the fifteen-square-meter space, with a workbench in front of it, but the area for movement was limited. The surroundings were cluttered with various items she had collected, leaving no room to move around. As a highly intelligent pet, living with such a person was painful.

“Little Yuzu~”

At this moment, I was grabbed by my master from the workbench, and she rubbed her face against my fur…

She never complained about my odor.

“My fluffy little darling~ You can rest before we reach the commercial district.”

“I don’t think being grabbed and rubbed counts as resting… Don’t touch my belly!”

“That’s my way of resting~”

Facing such a rogue, I sighed and curled my tail around my master’s arm. She changed her position and started stroking my spine.

“Yuzu, after this, let Xiao Kai officially turn you into a human? Although I can’t do it yet, she definitely can.”

“Is my master eager to send me away?”

“I will disappear eventually. If you want to become human, you will have to see her… You need to become independent. Although I transformed you into a human for convenience, I don’t want you to suffer without me.”

“Don’t worry about me, don’t underestimate animals’ survival instincts—”

She suddenly threw me into the air and caught me again.

“Scared me half to death! What are you doing!”

My master didn’t speak, but her face, almost identical to Xiao Kai’s, had a completely different aura. She never told me their relationship, but they seemed to be sisters… No, siblings?

Xiao Kai’s gender was too confusing. If my master hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have imagined it at all.

I asked, “How much magical energy does my master have now?”

“It’s enough for you to move around for the afternoon. I entrust this task to you. I hope Xiao Kai’s matters won’t drag on too long, ah—”

She released me and yawned, patting her mouth.

I turned to look at the intricate array carved on the workbench, though I couldn’t understand it, I still asked, “How is the spell my master is working on coming along?”

“It’s almost done, it will be completed very soon.”

“Then once this is done, I won’t be able to see my master anymore?”

I didn’t know the purpose of this extremely detailed spell, and I wasn’t entirely sure what a spell even was, but I had a vague feeling that whatever my master was doing might accelerate… or directly lead to her disappearance.

She scratched my head with her index finger and vaguely said, “If it succeeds, maybe the Heavenly Path will show mercy? But the success rate is extremely low. I’m just trying it out. If I don’t try, I’ll definitely disappear, but what if it succeeds?”

This sounded like a self-rescue method, but what exactly was the spell for?

I climbed onto her neck, curling my body around it.

“I haven’t repaid my master’s kindness, you can’t just disappear…”

“You say the same thing Xiao Kai does, silly marten.”

My master held my fine tail and said, “Although I hope you live freely, if you truly want to repay me, go find Xiao Kai. She and her old dad are the few things I care about in this world.”

“… I will, I promise my master!”

————–

Fun Fact: Mustelidae belongs to the Caniformia order!

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“Then I’ll set out!”

Although I can’t maintain human form continuously, the modified spell by my master grants me special abilities. I have full control over my transformed appearance, not just in looks and attire, but I can even mimic my master’s appearance. That was the purpose of the modified spell, and another part of my identity is to act as my master’s shadow dancer.

Oh!

Shadow Dancer!

What a cool title!

Today, I’ll act under my master’s identity.

However, each transformation can only adopt one appearance, and I can’t change it until I revert to a marten. Additionally, for some reason, I can’t hide my ears and tail. Fortunately, it’s winter, and thick clothes prevent exposure.

My master patted my head and warned, “Be careful of the surveillance cameras. I don’t want that cunning hacker to notice us.”

“Yes, I’ll wear a hat.”

She handed me her wallet.

“Spend the gold coins freely, but use cash sparingly.”

“I know.”

“Oh, this kind of life, like a thief, must be hard on you.”

“This isn’t like being a thief, we are thieves.”

“But I gave you money!”

“Forced transactions are worse than thieves; they are bandits!”

“Stop nagging, why should I be lectured by a silly marten?”

Angry, my master kicked me out of the jewel.

Actually, my moral compass isn’t that strong, after all, I’m just a marten.

Near the entrance of the pedestrian street, between two closely adjacent buildings, it was always dark and damp, even during the day. Without clear boundaries, there were no surveillance cameras installed. At night, vendors might set up stalls here, but during the day, it was very quiet.

“Where are Xiao Kai and the others now?”

My master spends most of her time in the jewel completing her ultimate spell, and the rest of the time spying on Xiao Kai’s situation… This is almost pathological.

She replied, “They are at the fruit tea shop ahead, having found two reinforcements to help deal with potential trouble.”

“Reinforcements?” I asked.

“The Glorious Family’s true nature remains unknown.”

“Yeah, just the three of them are quite dangerous.”

“But it’s okay, right? You’ll be there at the critical moment, won’t you?”

I sighed, “Even if you describe me as a superhero appearing at the critical moment, it won’t help since I’m not good at fighting.”

If I were a wild river otter, it would be different, but I’m a purebred Swedish Angora, a domesticated pet. If I were thrown into the wild, surviving would be difficult.

I secretly observed from across the street from the fruit tea shop, saving precious cash, so I couldn’t afford to sit in a shop and wait…

Then I saw a girl run out of the shop.

My master explained, “That young girl is Mù Xī. She has a dog’s soul inside her. Originally, she was like you, but something happened recently, and now the soul resides in her body.”

“Can such a thing happen?”

As soon as the girl left, a short girl, about one meter fifty tall, walked into the shop. It looked like she was Xiao Kai’s other reinforcement.

“Who is that little girl?”

“Léi Shān, a smart girl. She seems to have the ability to remember everything she sees.”

“Wow, remembering everything is impressive.”

With such memory, learning anything would be quick.

A few minutes later, a woman in a black suit entered the shop, carrying a heavy handbag, wearing rare dark red pantyhose… Although many guests came and went, she looked peculiar.

“Oh, you noticed too? Your observational skills are pretty good~”

Even though I hadn’t said anything, my master praised me and added, “The woman sitting at the bar in a suit is likely the one sent by the Glorious Family for the transaction.”

“What a coincidence, meeting before the transaction?”

“Maybe it’s fate… I’ll handle Ling Meng’s side. Find a chance to verify the other party’s identity, then find a chance to give her the bracelet!”

It seemed my master wanted to seize control of the other party’s body and use their identity to provide convenience for Ling Meng and the others.

“Understood, I might have to spend some money!”

[img=480，480]https://rss.sfacg.com/web/novel/images/UploadPic/2020/07/a1413531-2fb1-4b9c-a7dc-e013f2147d0a.jpg[/img]

(Yuzi is probably like this.)