CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 57: WORLD WITHIN THE CAVE, MARVELOUS MANIFESTATION

Ping’an Lane.

The sunset had completely drawn to a close, and the fine rain swept obliquely across the hazy celestial light, as if it had turned the whole world into a painting in the rain.

Chen Xu swiftly walked down the bluestone-paved alley, seeing the smoke from cooking fires rising among the streets and neighbors in the rain.

But then he overheard a few casual remarks: "It’s strange. This afternoon, a stray cat appeared from nowhere, running wild all over the lane, very annoying."

"Indeed, it even scared my own tabby terribly, it’s not like a normal cat..."

"Hey, Mr. Chen, you’re back?"

Chen Xu replied casually, an uneasy premonition already rising in his mind, and when he heard talk of a "stray cat" and such, his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

He immediately rushed back home, closing the courtyard door behind him.

Bam!

Separated by a single door, the whole world seemed to momentarily plunge into a stagnant silence.

Of course, the sounds of the world hadn’t truly disappeared; it was just that upon returning home, Chen Xu instantly felt a strange illusion that his senses had been veiled.

Fortunately, at this moment, Chen Xu was no longer the same Chen Xu who had been completely ignorant of cultivation.

He immediately circulated the innate Qi within his body, focusing his heart and soul, elevating his divine thought.

Level 2 of Chopping Wood, Microscopic.

Within several yards around him, all illusions explosively revealed themselves at this moment.

The pattering sound of the rain returned, accompanied by the panicked squeaking of a little mouse: "Master Jiu, Master Jiu, don’t die... wah, ah, bad cat, get away from here! Wind Control, I want Wind Control, wind, come, go..."

"Meow—"

A fierce cat’s cry followed closely behind,

joined by the faint sounds of collisions, hurried footsteps of escape, and the piercing whoosh of claws wielded...

Yet all of these did not take place in the big world where Chen Xu’s small courtyard was located.

Rather, as Chen Xu had previously sensed, all these events and disputes were occurring in that peculiar small space at the western corner of the kitchen, resembling a bubble that overlapped with the larger world.

There were cats, cats imbued with demonic energy, and cats full of ferocity, charging into the world where the two Mouse Demons were.

Chen Xu hesitated for only a moment before resolving to face the unknown dangers ahead; he wanted to rescue the two Mouse Demons!

Following his senses, he charged into the kitchen, then set foot into the northwest corner of the kitchen, stepping into that wondrous little bubble invisible to the naked eye.

In an instant, Chen Xu felt as if he had passed through an invisible water membrane, his body momentarily halting.

Then, suddenly, the ground beneath his foot disappeared.

"Squeak-squeak—" followed by the panicked squeaks of mice, "Ah, a person, a person fell from the sky! Quick, hide."

Whoosh, a gray shadow dragged another white shadow as they rolled with great effort past him.

Chen Xu felt his body rapidly descending. Caught off guard, he was about to fall into the void.

Fortunately, having begun to master the Wind Summoning Skill, he instinctively captured a wisp of wind from the surrounding space.

The urgently summoned wind lifted him, preventing him from falling directly to the ground.

Yet Chen Xu still staggered slightly before finally landing underground, turning around to clearly see the scene before him.

This was indeed a gigantic underground cave, and the towering cavern made Chen Xu acutely aware of his own insignificance at this moment.

The surrounding rock walls were uneven, the ground dry and clean.

Strangely, there were no obvious sources of light in the cave, yet the overall illumination was soft and bright.

"Squeak!" Suddenly, there were squeaks from behind.

Chen Xu turned his head, seeing a small head peeking out from behind a protruding rock near the cave wall.

The little creature had a pair of round, shiny eyes, and upon closer inspection, its fur was a gray color, yet when Chen Xu made eye contact with it, he noticed subtle, silky strands of dark gold fur growing amidst the gray.

In the interplay of light and shadow, those slender strands of fur swayed gently, appearing exceptionally clean and adorable.

But these weren’t the key points; the key point was this gray-golden little mouse—

It wasn’t really a little mouse; it stood almost as tall as a child of seven or eight!

The upright-standing little Mouse Ah Shi squeaked in surprise, "Scholar, Scholar, how did you get in here? Oh no, run quickly!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Chen Xu suddenly sensed a tremor beneath his feet.

Rumble——

As if a giant object was crashing in from the other side of the cavern, causing the walls to shudder, and falling debris from above.

At the same time, the distinct shrill cries of a cat came from the direction of the tremor.

Ah Shi shrieked in urgency, then bent down to frantically pull at something from behind the rock.

"Master Jiu, Master Jiu, wake up..." He was so worried his voice took on a sobbing tone, and it was apparent that what he was trying so hard to drag was Master Jiu.

Chen Xu quickly rushed over, only to see a large white-furred mouse stained with blood behind the rock.

The large mouse lay unconscious, its belly round, and its body length not much shorter than Chen Xu himself.

Such a massively large white-furred mouse, Ah Shi was just over half of its height, no wonder he couldn’t drag it.

Chen Xu wanted to assist, but simply fleeing at this moment was clearly not the best strategy; mice fear cats, but he might not—

Rumble!

Just as Chen Xu’s thoughts turned, the tremors on the other side of the cave intensified.

He turned his head, spotting an enormous, towering stray cat charging from the far end of the cavern.

"Meow!"

The cat demon, like a mountain, drooled, its limbs on the ground, while its head nearly reached the ceiling of the cavern.

In the face of this terrifying cat demon, Chen Xu’s form seemed so minuscule he appeared little more than a small mouse himself.

No wonder Ah Shi was only thinking of running.

If not for the cat demon’s excessive size and restricted movement in the cavern, the two mice would likely have been caught and devoured by it long ago.

Boom!

The cat demon pounded the ground with its front paw, its other gaudily marked paw swinging down like a collapsing mountain towards Chen Xu and the two mice.

"Squeak-squeak!" Ah Shi yelled, "Scholar, step back, I’ll fight this bad cat!"

In the fierce gust, as the gray-golden little figure prepared to charge forward, Chen Xu’s mind moved, and he immediately released his Mud Ball Daoist Soldier.

Swish!

The Daoist Soldier charged forward with a spear, growing in the wind, transforming into a towering giant in an instant.

In a flash, that spear, like a shooting star, swept across and collided with the cat’s paw.

"Meow!"

The shrill and pained cat cry instantly echoed throughout the cavern as the cat demon pulled back its paw, its massive head thrashing wildly between the cavern walls.

This action amazed Chen Xu.

He hadn’t commanded the Daoist Soldier to enlarge.

Or rather, his Mud Ball Daoist Soldier was currently at a low level, lacking the abilities of the legendary Dharma Body and Dharma Appearance, growing with the wind.

Why did the Daoist Soldier suddenly grow?

Thud, the halfway-jumping little Mouse Ah Shi fell beside Chen Xu, raising its fluffy head, equally dumbfounded.

"Squeak!" Ah Shi excitedly squeaked, "Scholar, your puppet isn’t suppressed by the She Lord’s domain, hurry, drive away that nasty cat!"

"Meow!" The cat demon, while parrying the attacks of the Mud Ball Daoist Soldier, hastily retreated.

Chen Xu wouldn’t hesitate; although he was initially surprised by the Daoist Soldier’s sudden growth in size, seeing the advantage it held, he naturally controlled the Daoist Soldier to swiftly strike the enemy.

Of course, upon hearing Ah Shi mentioning "suppression," Chen Xu finally understood why the Mud Ball Daoist Soldier could grow with the wind.