Chapter 18 - Meow Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor
It seems I can only stay here.
After looking around once, Luo He returned to that small wooden cabin.
This environment was very small, with a radius of only a few dozen steps around this cabin. Further out, there was just a stretch of hazy mist, impossible to pass through.
His clothes and attire were still in their original state. Luo He judged that he had entered a special space, rather than being drawn into some kind of spiritual world.
Alright, the biggest problem now was, how to get out.
Sitting cross-legged in the center, Luo He observed the objects displayed and arranged inside the cabin... They were lifelike, as if someone had really been living here not long ago.
On the bed-couch to the side, there were even a few traces of a yet-to-disperse, refined body fragrance; it almost allowed one to imagine a woman, like the rain of early spring, yawning and falling asleep here.
This place might have a story.
Of course, Luo He was currently not interested in this possible story.
The simplest way to get out was naturally to find the person who had brought him in and have her let him out.
But that person was a true immortal in the real sense; her principles of conduct were probably not something he could currently ponder or fathom.
But no matter what, this Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor didn't seem like someone who would idly tease him for fun. She definitely had some purpose in doing this, or there was something about him worthy of her attention...
"Nya~"
"...?"
I didn't mishear, did I?
Luo He raised his head. He saw that on the cabin's window lattice, a cat had appeared at some unknown time.
Its whole body was snow-white, its form long and slender. Its paws and forehead were dotted with a touch of deep ink-black, yet, strangely, a golden bell was tied to its tail.
This cat sat there properly, meowed once to attract Luo He's attention, and then spoke no more. It neither approached Luo He nor moved away from him.
But its eyes were not just shaped like a cat's eyes; those pupils were like a calm golden sea, faintly revealing a noble and stunning divinity that transcended the mundane.
"......"
Logically speaking, Luo He shouldn't have made such an association. But recalling the impression left by the glimpse of that figure before he lost consciousness, and various other indications... he couldn't be sure.
But the other party was an immortal, after all. Her way of thinking might be entirely different; for her, perhaps there was fundamentally no difference between a cat's body and a human body.
Never mind. Anyway, there was no one else here.
Luo He stood up and performed a salutation to that tail-wagging cat.
"Junior Luo He pays respects to Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor. I was impolite earlier, I hope..."
"......"
Luo He was stunned for a moment.
This voice... Just now, did I actually speak?
No, it wasn't him speaking, but rather the thoughts in his heart being broadcast aloud; he himself hadn't moved his mouth at all.
Just as Luo He was surprised, the kitty's eyes showed an approving look, and it nodded its head quite cutely.
Its tail swayed gently, the golden bell making a "ding-a-ling" sound. Afterwards, a wisp of spiritual energy in the air transformed into a piece of spirit paper as soft as silk and landed in his hand.
"Not bad. In my presence, there's no need for excessive courtesy."
Then, the characters on the paper flickered and changed, forming a new sentence.
"This place is called Little Azure Peak. It is one of my mind-scape worlds. The flow of time here is different from the outside world; one day in the outside world is one month here."
This small mountain peak... is Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor's mind-scape world?
Spoken words can deceive people, but a mind-scape cannot; it is a cultivator's truest understanding and portrayal of their inner world.
What was buried deepest in the heart of this immortal, who enjoyed worship and incense offerings in the mortal world, was actually this ordinary-looking small mountain peak... It truly was somewhat surprising.
However, Luo He didn't particularly want to know the reasons behind it.
Unlike Huoxin's mind-scape, which could only interfere with reality, this Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor's mind-scape could actually form an independent space. And according to what she herself said, this was only one of her mind-scapes.
Luo He quietly looked at the white kitty that was also quietly looking at him.
Is this an immortal?
The spirit paper flashed with a trace of radiance; the words on it changed again.
"What you heard just now was the sound produced by the interweaving of your thoughts and my mind-scape."
"If you don't like it, it can also be made to not appear again."
"...Troubling Your Ladyship then."
No one would want their innermost thoughts broadcast aloud like this, even if the only people here were him and this immortal before him.
Sure enough, afterwards, he could no longer hear his own inner voice.
Luo He looked at the spirit paper in his hand. A thought stirred in his mind, and he tried to infuse a trace of spiritual energy into it.
Sure enough, the kitty's golden bell chimed lightly; the meaning he wanted to convey was transmitted.
Why did Your Ladyship bring me here?
But the cat did not answer. It just gave him a deep look, then jumped down from the window lattice, sat properly in front of Luo He, and licked its paws.
"Fun."
"......"
Fun where?
A look of helplessness appeared in Luo He's eyes, and he happened to miss the few fleeting smiles from the cat.
What does Your Ladyship need me to do?
"I don't need you to do anything. Just do what you yourself can do right now."
"I remember you should have a book to read, right?"
Luo He nodded his head. He took out from his bosom that "Introduction to Ghost Language" book Huoxin had given him.
He had tried to flip through it when he first got it. However, as he had expected, the result was not gratifying; how could Huoxin so easily let him gain benefits?
Although he was a soul confined to a physical body, he was still considered a living person; and the ghost language was fundamentally not a language for the living to learn.
Every time he looked, every time he tried to read a character, he would feel wisps of ghostly qi tugging at his soul, and yin-cold, ominous whispers would sound baselessy in his ears.
Although he could ignore the painful effects these brought him, it would still greatly reduce his learning efficiency; and what he lacked most was precisely time.
Wait, time...
Luo He looked at the kitty; he suddenly understood the meaning of its actions.
But, why...
Seeing Luo He seemed to have guessed something, a hint of a smile appeared in the kitty's eyes. It lifted its paw and tapped lightly; a golden light entered Luo He's body.
"This is a Dao Source Immortal Imprint; it will be of great use to you."
As this immortal imprint entered his body, when Luo He flipped through the ghost language book again, that soul-rending pain and the seductive evil sounds lingering in his ears had completely vanished.
The characters in the book, which were previously obscure and difficult to understand as if covered in a mist, also became clear and bright.
But it didn't stop there.
Luo He looked inward at his own body; his heart trembled even more.
That Black Lotus Demonic Seed, which he previously needed to use the Remnant Moon heart method to barely guide and draw, was now dejectedly driven away by that immortal imprint.
It even went so far as to hide beside the malevolent qi in his dantian, not daring to act presumptuously in the slightest, exactly like a mouse hiding from a cat.
Su Huanhuan had mentioned before that the methods to control this Demonic Seed, besides cultivating the Remnant Moon heart method, was to find a True Immortal's aura to suppress it... This True Immortal's aura had arrived.
Now, that Demonic Seed could be said to be extremely well-behaved, allowing him to manipulate and refine it at will.
And that immortal imprint, newly residing in his spiritual platform, emanated a soft glow, making Luo He feel as if he were in a small, gently flowing river, his whole body enveloped by a refreshing aura.
Although the pain of his battered body and remnant soul still reminded him of his situation at every moment, he was still lost in a daze for a moment due to this feeling of ease he hadn't experienced in over ten years. Only then did he immediately collect his mind.
The immortal imprint solved the two problems of the ghost language and the Demonic Seed, and her mind-scape solved the problem of time for him. Clearly, Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor understood his situation very well.
And the reason for this favor...
"What are you still waiting for? Shouldn't you be racing against time now?"
...Yes.
Luo He swept all thoughts from his mind and poured his energy into the ghost language book in his hands; he chose to sincerely accept this Her Ladyship the Sovereign Emperor's goodwill.
And that kitty also didn't leave. It watched Luo He's engrossed appearance, slowly lay down on the bed, and lowered its eyes.
At this moment, on this Little Azure Peak, the setting was illusory, yet the people were true.
The kitty swayed its tail, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling; the sound of the bell seemed to once again carry it into an irretrievable past.