The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

At this point in time, the cat had reached Xian Lang first while the nightingale was still flapping its tiny wings toward Xionmao's cave.

In Xian Lang's room. The prime minister bent his neck left and right as he leisurely sauntered toward his bed after a long day.

'Those foreigners are really cautious. They even placed a deadly formation in their hideout. We must tread this carefully. I can't afford to lose my men before the long fight. Talking about formation, I must ask Anghus1 about his knowledge about formation. It's one of its kind. I haven't heard such fearsome illusion formation in my life. Was it taught by the late Sorceress to her disciple?'

As he neared his bed, a white cat suddenly hopped in front of him.

Meow! Meow! The cat didn't waste time and purred, brushing its hairy body at Xian Lang's feet. 

"Hi, little cat? Why are you here late at night?" he said as he bent to stroke the cat's shiny fur. Yet, before his fingers touched the cat's back, the latter slightly bit his finger and jumped a meter from him, meowing and yanking its head sideways. 

Xian Lang's brows rose, looking at his bitten finger. It was not painful, nor had any mark teeth on it. Curious, he looked back at the cat. It shook his head at one side, as if gesturing toward the window. 

'Such an odd cat.'

When Xian Lang stepped forward, the cat jumped out the wide-opened window, paused, and turned at him again, meowing.

From the cat's attitude, this reminded her of Xinyi and her animals when they played before. 'Is it telling me to go out?'

"Are you leading me somewhere?" He probed.

The cat meowed aloud and ran off along the bricked path.

With a palm as his lever on the windowpane, Xian Lang leaped out gracefully and found the cat standing still, facing him, as if waiting for him. 

When the cat saw he stepped out from his room, it ran again and waited for him meters away where he could see it. With this, Xian Lang grasped the hint and turned aside all reservations. 

"Cat, lead the way." And chased after the rushing cat. "Fu, Luqat."

With that call, two men sprang out from the shadows, tagging along behind the man and the cat.

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The birds' surrounding her distressed Lifen. "What in tarnation is this? What's wrong with you birds?" She kept on stepping backwards, waving her hands with no clear aim, and hitting some birds in the air. The birds fell but went back flapping their wings around her again, without break.

Four guards rushed out from the house and shooed the birds away but failed, while the men in black watched in exasperation. 

If she was this upset with these winged creatures, the birds felt the same way with her. 

"Ugh! Stop hitting me or I will leave." A dove said, flying up and down, avoiding Lifen's and the guards swinging arms. "Why can't she understand that we're protecting her. We might even die because of her, and yet she acts like we are pestering her. Grrr."

"She is a stupid human, same as the rest. They can't understand us." A swallow muttered under its breath, gasping for air as it flew.

"I skipped my sleep for her, for the Sorceress' sake, but she is swatting us like flies. Ungrateful." A small bird said.

"I have a good idea." Another dove said, smirking as it flew behind the guards. "How about we shit on her, so she will retreat to the house?"

"Ohhh!" The birds' ears perked up in delight. They totally liked the idea and snickered like crazy, leaving Lifen and the guards oblivious of their 'shitty' plan.

While unsuspecting of the bird's plan, Lifen was astounded to hear sing-song tweets, as if the birds were chirping happily around her. This left her puzzled and stopped moving back.

'What the heck is happening here?' 

Poor Lifen. If only she could understand what they said, she would turn red in anger and might strike the birds without mercy. For what they said was...

"Oh, poopy, poopy. I love this."

"I like the idea."

"I agree." The birds snickered with the thought.

"Okay, let's do it." The swallow shouted. The owl heard them but didn't stop them. Instead, his big eyes lit up and Splat! Splat! Two sticky simultaneous poops fell on the two persons in black under him. 

Their hands reached above their heads and felt a wet substance. 'Argg!' They cursed inwardly. But they swallowed their disgust and anger. Disturbing the bird would give them away. That would be troublesome. They looked at each other and silently swore to cut the shameless bird into pieces once their work was over. 

With the birds around Lifen, they rose one by one above her head, giving her goosebumps. "What are they up to? Are they leaving?" 

She lifted her arms, afraid they might attack her face with their beaks. And turned to escape, but suddenly…

Splat! Splat! The birds' black, white, and black poops stained her from head to her toes.

"Ew!" The men in black, including the guards, cringed, watching the birds showering her with their dirt. The shooing guards stepped back, afraid to get the droppings.

Lifen froze, aghast at the wet and smelly droppings bathing her. In bad timing, Xian Lang arrived at this moment and flinched to witness such a terrible sight. 

Even the cat was stupefied with the birds' antics. It eyed the owl, as if telling him, "You're supposed to be in command. Did you tell them to do it?" 

The brash owl only shrugged and looked away.

Lifen's appearance was so pitiful, yet funny that a giggle escaped from a guard's throat, but he gulped it back after the prime minister gave him a glare. 

Fl.u.s.tered and vexed, Lifen blinked, and without saying a word flashed away to her room.

The birds chirped to a fit of boisterous laughter as they flew back to the trees. The other animals who laid in wait moved back to where they were before Kuaile's call.

Dumbstruck Xian Lang and the two Chiangdas hidden in the darkness were left in the garden.

The prime minister sighed, sorry for Lifen. He then swept his gaze around to find the cat not too far from him, staring at him, motionless. He stared back, silently asking the cat what it was exactly telling him. Why did it bring him there?

As the second man in command of the nation, experience grilled him to be vigilant, mostly for his safety, including his family's. Hence, he didn't take the cat's actions lightly. He didn't believe the cat brought him there merely for Lifen's awkward situation. 

He had seen bizarre things in his life, and this was not the weirdest. Xian Lang believed the animals' behavior had something more to it. Mostly, he trusted the creatures were Xinyi's friends. They wouldn't do such a shameful act to Lifen nonsensically, unless something evil possessed them or for another reason of which he would want to find out.

His mind went back in time when a fox went to his room and brought him to the crying wee Xinyi alone in her room. This recollection was the reason he took the cat seriously.

The cat fairly caught his questioning look and turned its face toward the trees. 

Xian Lang followed its line of sight and saw the owl's luminous green eyes. The owl had seen the exchange between cat and human, and joined the fray, hooting while nudging its head, and Splat! Another shit landed on the victim below.

'Just you wait, you bird.' The victim cursed.

Fu and Luqat found the prime minister's strange actions and moved their attention to where he was looking. The estate soldiers guarding the gate and those standing at the pavilion also followed suit. 

The prime minister's gestures and the guards' reactions alerted the men in black, but as seasoned warriors, they didn't move an inch, hands firmly holding on their weapons, but hoping the probing Xian Lang would leave soon so they could change plans without stirring the nest. However, he didn't leave. 

As Xian Lang continued to eye the trees, beads of sweat formed on these men in black's foreheads and backs as they waited. 

In the end, he shook his head and trudged back on the bricked road, relieving the men in black, including the guards.

Unknown to them, he formed a hand signal as he turned. He suspected someone was in the trees. The owl's poops gave the hiding person away. He saw it didn't touch the ground. Rather, it fell on something in mid-air. His pointing fingers told Fu and Luqat to check the area where the owl stood.

Luqat turned invisible, stealthily jumped out the walls, and moved closer to the owl's tree. And... held his breath as he saw the enemies. Not just one, but more. But before he could report to Xian Lang, a man in black who had powers in sight, found him and hastily shot an arrow at him.

[If you are not reading this in Web novel dot com, please read it there to support the author JoanB.] [One of the late Sorceress' descendants. Gifted in formation. The one who brought the anklet to Xinyi. Found in Chapter 79.]