Although we said we’d part for the afternoon,

But after just over four hours, Jiang Yu and the other witches had completed the dinner preparations for this Spring Hunt. As she hurriedly followed the paper crane to the third floor of the ancient castle, it was easy to spot the black cat dozing at the top of a marble pillar by the stairway, paws tucked in.

A little sprite in a gray gauze dress was holding a brush larger than her head, energetically flying and pushing it back and forth on the black cat’s back, as the cat purred comfortably from its belly.

The witch couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Didn’t you say this castle was worth visiting, and you’d spend the whole afternoon wandering around?" She tossed a gold bean to the sprite, and, enclosing the black cat in her arms, whispered in its ear, "How long have you wandered, and now you’re already slacking off."

After properly saluting the witch, the sprite happily flew away with her brush and her earned tip.

The witch’s warm tone made the black cat feel a bit restless; it squinted and curled its body into a ball.

"That’s because I didn’t know there were so many rooms in this castle where cats aren’t allowed." Without opening its eyes, it comfortably twitched its ears, lazily yawned, and hooked its tail around the witch’s arm: "Besides, this isn’t slacking off... where’s the laziness in visiting? This is called stealing a half-day’s leisure~~"

Jiang Yu ignored the black cat’s witty banter and gestured to the height of the marble pillar.

"Aren’t you worried someone will touch you, lying so low?" She scrunched her nose, suddenly lacing her tone with suspicion: "Honestly, did you turn into a cat to trick little girls into touching you!"

For this level of intimidation, Zheng Qing was already adept at handling it.

"Think about it from another perspective, would you randomly touch an unidentified black cat in this castle?" It tilted its head, opened its eyes, and looked at the witch with a bright gaze.

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, and eventually shook her head honestly.

"Probably not."

She murmured, scratching the black cat’s belly while explaining to herself, "To old-school wizards, black cats are a very special presence. And in Shanglin Garden, or this ancient castle, what they don’t lack most are old-school wizards. Plus, most who enter the castle are aristocratic disciples; out of basic courtesy, no one would randomly reach out and touch a stray cat like they would at school."

The black cat felt she was subtly insinuating something again.

It cleared its throat, stretched out its paw, and unfolded two cat toes, supplementing: "Beyond etiquette, a bigger factor I think is safety. Just now on the pillar, I heard a witch advising her friend, saying, ’That cat on the pillar might be some old pervert who transformed to take advantage of little girls, don’t fall for it’ ’Many old guys here have quirks, unruly in their age’..."

Jiang Yu couldn’t help but stifle a laugh halfway through hearing this.

"Please mind your image, Miss!"

In the portrait hanging on the wall nearby, an older nanny-like witch in a black robe lowered her eyelids and sternly warned the passing witch, "You’re laughing like a mockingbird..."

The witch snorted, held down the black cat’s head that was about to start cursing, and hastened her steps.

"Don’t argue with her; this isn’t a school... Shanglin Garden has antiques like these everywhere, and you can’t out-argue them."

She subtly reminded, then smoothly shifted the topic back to what piqued her interest: "Honestly speaking, turning into a cat was really clever... After that scene at Crescent Lake, it’s best to lay low for a bit to avoid trouble from Tushan Chujiu’s friends."

The black cat sniffed.

It would never admit its transformation into a cat was partly to consider this possibility. Not just because of potential trouble from Tushan Chujiu, but also because of the suggestions from those elder wizards on Centimeter Mountain, which echoed like magic voices in his mind, causing a random bout of ’delusions of persecution,’ feeling as if everyone talking to him bore ill-intentions.

Turning into a cat brought comfort.

No one would overly bother a cat here.

"I should’ve just transformed into a cat earlier and gone with you to the kitchen; it’d definitely be more fun than this eerie castle..." The black cat twitched its whiskers, diverting the topic.

"You’ll be chased out by the Blake family’s head maid with a broom." The witch looked at him with amusement: "Do you think no warlock has ever tried sneaking into the kitchen before? Their motives weren’t as simple as yours."

She emphasized the word ’simple’ with extra weight.

The black cat felt sick, no matter what the witch said, it always seemed like she was hinting at something.

It exerted effort to clear away those bad thoughts, diverting the topic again: "I just wanted to see what you were making for dinner and maybe snag a little dried fish... What’s for dinner?"

"Don’t get too high an expectation."

Mentioning this, Jiang Yu pulled a long face; her enthusiasm clearly wasn’t as high: "Shanglin Garden is a very traditional place, in every aspect, including food. There won’t be the wide variety seen at the Under the Moon ball, or even compared to the school cafeteria. The staple is all kinds of dry bread, big and small, in various shapes, and we’re not allowed much butter or sugar; the dishes are cold, mostly various prey hunted by the warlocks, freshly cut and made, if too greasy, paired with a bit of bitter herb soup or other herbal hot soup. The taste probably isn’t that great, but they’re beneficial to your magic...

"No wine?" The black cat couldn’t help but interrupt the witch.

"You know very little about wine; whether it’s Green Bee or Amber Light, or Sea Monster Langmu, they won’t openly appear at Shanglin Garden’s dinner. That’s disrespectful to ancient magical traditions."

At this, the witch quickly rolled her eyes, then swiftly resumed her dignified demeanor: "Of course, not appearing openly means they’re still around privately. You just need to find the right person. After all, young wizards have their own preferences."

"What do you mean by ’wine I don’t know’?"

"The banquet will feature fruit wines brewed from various magically infused fruits. They’re privately kept by various families and generally don’t hit market sales. The quantity won’t be large, but the taste is quite good."

In the witch’s arms, the black cat shifted to a more comfortable position, kneaded its paws, and sighed, "The ways of the clans, really, cutting ties from ordinary wizards in every aspect... is it necessary?"

The witch, feeling the unruliness of the black cat, blushed slightly, caught a glimpse of a large drawn curtain bundled and drooping to the ground beside her, and tossed the black cat behind it. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

At the same time spat, admonishing: "Change clothes quickly... The ball begins in less than half an hour. I do not want to be dancing with a cat by then!"

"You could let me crouch on your shoulder, and you dance with the other pretty ladies!" came the shameless voice of the black cat from behind the curtain.

The response was an unceremonious kick from the witch.

Across the curtain, the black cat let out a shrill cry, then instantly became much more behaved.