Mythical Creatures Strategy Guide

Chapter 16 The Cat Receives a Holiday

Ella rested her head on Chu Sheng's knees, chewing on the jerky while making satisfied humming noises.

Arthur hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took a piece, took a small bite, and then squinted his eyes slightly.

Yinye lowered her head and began to pluck the strings of the lute again.

This time it was a complete melody. The piano music was soft, accompanied by the crackling of the campfire, creating a warm feeling.

Chu Sheng leaned back against the rock wall and closed his eyes.

The warm piano music and the sweet and sour smell of berries reminded him of something very distant.

It doesn't belong to this world.

It was an empty classroom after school. The windows were open, the wind billowed the curtains, and sunlight streamed in through the windows, falling on the textbooks piled up like a small mountain. The sounds of children playing and laughing came from the playground.

There was also that song I played on repeat late at night while wearing headphones, the headphone cord tangled in my fingers. I couldn't remember what the lyrics were, but I did remember that the melody was nothing like the one Yinye was playing now.

The music stopped.

Chu Sheng opened his eyes and found Yin Ye staring at him. Her emerald green braids hung down in front of her chest, and the light of the campfire gilded her light gray skin.

"Your expression just now," Yinye tilted her head, her pointed ears tilting to the same side, "made you look homesick."

Chu Sheng smiled and asked, "And you? What's your home like?"

Qin was placed flat on Yinye's lap, her voice soft: "The trees in the Sacred Tree Forest are so tall that you can't see the tops, only the light filtering through the leaves like a golden waterfall."

"There's fog in the morning, and the fog is sweet because the berries that fell to the ground overnight have fermented. My treehouse is built on the third branch of a big tree, and every morning when I open the window, the fog rushes in, carrying that sweet smell."

She paused, and her pointed ears slowly drooped.

"I had a fight with my grandmother when I left home. She said playing music was a waste of time, and I said, 'What do you know?' The day I left, she was making jerky in the kitchen, and the whole treehouse smelled of berries and spices, but she didn't come out to see me off."

Yinye stuffed a piece of dried meat into her mouth and chewed it for a long time.

"I was never able to recreate that taste on the road after that, even though the recipe was exactly the same."

The cave fell silent.

Ella had fallen asleep sometime earlier, her tail twitching occasionally, probably chasing something in her dream.

Arthur placed the polished sword aside, crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the rock wall with his eyes closed, but his ahoge (cowlick) still stood straight up.

Chu Sheng added a branch to the campfire.

Yinye picked up the lute again and began to sing.

It was a song that Chu Sheng couldn't understand. The lyrics were probably in Elvish, with melodious and long syllables, like a medieval tune.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it had a strange, infectious quality, and Arthur's ahoge (cowlick) slowly drooped down.

Chu Sheng didn't ask her what she was singing; some things don't need to be understood.

It rained heavily all night.

The next morning, Chu Sheng, who had fallen asleep at some point, was awakened by a quarrel.

He opened his eyes; the campfire had gone out, and the light curtain at the cave entrance had been removed.

As the morning light streamed in, Silver Leaf was crouching at the cave entrance, holding a huge leaf in her hand, carefully catching the dew dripping from the rock wall.

"Those are my leaves." Ella stood behind her, her tail held straight up.

"These are leaves from the cave entrance." Silver Leaf didn't even turn her head.

"The leaves at the entrance of the hole are mine too, I saw them first!" Ella grinned.

"You didn't even look at this cave entrance yesterday." Silver Leaf still didn't turn around.

"I saw it the day before yesterday!" Ella blurted out.

Yinye finally snapped: "We only arrived here yesterday, what did you see the day before yesterday?!"

Arthur sat to the side, chewing his dry rations expressionlessly, seemingly indifferent to the dispute.

In the end, the silver leaf divided the leaf, which was covered with dew, into four parts.

One portion for himself, one for Ella, one for Arthur, and one for Chu Sheng.

When she handed it over, Chu Sheng noticed that she had carefully folded a small corner of the leaf so that the water wouldn't leak out.

Yinye squatted back at the cave entrance and took out a handful of leaves from her bag.

"Do you still want to take it?" Ella's temper flared up and subsided quickly. She squatted down next to her, her tail wagging unconsciously.

"Yes, you can drink it on the way."

"I'll help you!"

Yinye glanced at her and handed her a leaf.

"When you receive it, you need to fold one corner, like this."

"I know, I will!"

"You didn't do that just now."

"I know how now!"

It has to be said that taking the detour through Cat Territory was a very wise decision.

The news was obtained from a group of merchants traveling in the opposite direction. The merchant had a shrewd look on his face, but when he spoke of Cat Territory, his tone carried a genuine longing.

"The Catkins are currently celebrating the ascension of their new ruler," he stroked his beard. "They're not only welcoming other races to the ceremony, but also holding a grand festival. If you happen to be passing by, don't miss it; the Catkins' celebrations aren't something you can catch every year."

Chu Sheng and Arthur exchanged a glance.

"A new ruler ascends the throne?" He pondered the phrase, something feeling off. "Isn't the ruler of Cat Territory a monarch, not a lord?"

Arthur seemed to be in a good mood today, perhaps because he hadn't encountered any monsters or experienced motion sickness and vomiting for several days.

"These demi-human territories are ruled by kings of the same race." She turned her head and explained patiently, "Of course, they are still under the jurisdiction of the empire. You can think of them as kings who existed before the empire was founded. Their titles and status are retained, only now they have an emperor above them."

Chu Sheng nodded thoughtfully.

These past few days of tutoring have indeed taught him something. Before the establishment of the empire, this continent was an era of warring states, with various races, city-states, and lords fighting each other. Finally, the "wise and mighty" George I emerged and unified the country.

However, George I's methods were not exactly honorable, and could even be described as quite unethical. He married off seven princesses to the seven most powerful princes of the time.

The wedding was a grand affair, with the dowry filling dozens of carts. Then, on the same night, all seven princes died suddenly.

Ella is acting quite strangely today.

Instead of going to play with her Pegasus friends as usual, she obediently followed beside the carriage, her tail hanging low behind her. Occasionally, she would raise her head to glance at Chu Sheng in the carriage, then lower it again in a sullen mood.

Because yesterday she was accidentally stepped on by the pegasus's hoof.

To be precise, she was on all fours trying to imitate the gait of a pegasus, and the pegasus just happened to shift its hind hoof and landed squarely on her.

Ella let out a scream that Chu Sheng never wanted to hear again. All the birds within a hundred meters were startled and flew away. The Pegasus was also startled and quickly moved its hooves away. Then it lowered its head and nudged Ella's head with its nose, probably as an apology.

But Ella didn't appreciate it.

She hugged her own tail and stared at the pegasus with a "you betrayed me" look for the entire afternoon.

So today she broke off all ties with the Pegasus fans.