Compared to the quiet of the flower street, the small attic at the mouth of the gourd felt utterly silent.
The door was left ajar.
The medicinal scent drifting from inside the house mixed with the alley air, even stronger than before.
Had she gone out?
Su Zhan frowned, but then decided it was unlikely.
Granny Su had trouble getting around, and her identity was sensitive.
She probably wouldn’t wander off casually.
After a moment’s thought, Su Zhan called out from outside the door.
When no answer came after waiting a while, she slowly stepped inside.
Sure enough, the room was empty.
But the moment Su Zhan crossed the threshold, she saw the white cat sitting upright on the floor, staring straight at her.
It let out a soft meow in greeting.
Behind the white cat, in the center of the main hall, sat a wheelchair with a wooden box resting on the seat.
The inner room beyond it was shut tight.
Su Zhan looked away, crouched down in front of the white cat, and waited until it tilted its head in confusion before carefully choosing her words.
“Little cat, do you know if there’s anyone else in the house?”
The white cat meowed again, shot her a disdainful look as if it thought she wasn’t very bright, then stood up and sauntered off to the side.
Of course, Su Zhan hadn’t actually expected the white cat to answer her.
This place was the closest spot to the flower street, and that girl Ji Xing had the liveliest mind of all.
If she wanted to slip past everyone’s notice, she wouldn’t take the usual roads.
She was very likely to have come through this hard-to-enter, hard-to-exit gourd-mouth alley.
And once she stepped into the alley, the girl would definitely catch the herbal fragrance wafting out.
If the mood struck her, she would probably wander in for a look.
If Ji Xing had offended Granny Su and been caught, there would surely have been some commotion.
Yet right now, the place was far too quiet.
Unable to get any useful information from the white cat, Su Zhan pushed herself up from her knees and called out loudly.
“Junior Sister Ji Xing, are you here?”
No response came—only an irritated meow from the white cat, as if it found her too noisy.
She called a few more times, then gave up. Her gaze swept the room and finally settled on the wooden box sitting on the wheelchair seat.
She walked over slowly and stopped in front of the wheelchair.
The white cat, drawn by her movement, leaped straight onto it, clearly curious about what was inside.
“Going through Senior Su’s things without permission… doesn’t seem right…”
Su Zhan pressed her lips together. In the end, curiosity lost. She sighed and murmured to the white cat.
“I still need to find someone, so I won’t disturb you any longer. Leaving the door wide open isn’t safe—thieves might come. I’ll close it when I leave. Don’t run around like my junior sister, understand?”
The white cat tilted its head again. It couldn’t understand Su Zhan’s rambling, but it knew she was talking to it and meowed twice in reply.
“Silly girl, a cat isn’t a person. Even if it’s gained some intelligence, it’s only on the level of a child. How could it understand your long-winded chatter?”
A slightly hoarse voice came from outside the door. Su Zhan turned and saw Granny Su had returned at some point.
She had kept her spiritual sense active the whole time yet hadn’t detected her at all.
Then again, as a poison cultivator who had lived this long, it wasn’t surprising she knew a few tricks to hide herself.
“Senior Su,” Su Zhan greeted respectfully.
Granny Su gave a soft hum, slowly wheeled past Su Zhan, and stopped beside the chair.
She picked up the wooden box and explained in an even tone.
“There’s poison powder inside this box. If some reckless fool opens it and breathes in even a little, they’ll die. No need to worry about thieves.”
Su Zhan’s face stiffened. She silently thanked her stars that she hadn’t given in to curiosity earlier.
“The poison has no effect on Nascent Soul cultivators,” Granny Su added, glancing at Su Zhan’s frozen expression. She shook her head slightly and settled into the wheelchair.
“Did that little immortal who came with you last time go missing?” she asked, smoothly changing the subject to spare Su Zhan further embarrassment.
She had returned while Su Zhan was calling for someone and had overheard every word of her muttered conversation with the white cat.
“No, it’s another junior sister of mine. She went missing last night. She was wearing clothes similar to the ones I… ah, similar to the ones I wore last time. Long hair, about this tall…”
Su Zhan described her as best she could. Granny Su’s attention seemed to wander. Only after Su Zhan finished did she snap back.
“I haven’t seen the little immortal you’re describing. Today I’ve only seen you,” Granny Su said.
“I see. Then I won’t disturb you any further, Senior.”
Su Zhan let out a sigh. Fangcheng had plenty of interesting spots. Looked like she would have to check them one by one.
“I only said I hadn’t seen her. I never said I couldn’t help you. Why the sigh?”
Granny Su closed her eyes and reached out to stroke the white cat in her lap.
“If it’s just a matter of finding someone, let Little Snow go with you. This little fellow may not be the brightest, but it has a real talent for sensing faint spiritual traces.”
“Really? Thank you, Senior.”
Su Zhan’s face lit up. With the cat’s help, finding someone would be much easier.
Still, a twinge of guilt hit her—she was still hiding the truth about Su Beiyan’s death.
Granny Su was only willing to lend her the spirit beast because of Su Zhan’s slight resemblance to Su Beiyan and because she had accepted the commission to visit her.
“It’s nothing. Next time, if you’ll just call me Granny, I’ll be satisfied,” Granny Su said softly.
When she opened her eyes and looked at Su Zhan, her expression was complicated.
But she only glanced once. Unlike the raw nostalgia from two days ago, today she seemed almost afraid to meet Su Zhan’s eyes.
She lowered her gaze and whispered a few words into the white cat’s ear.
The cat meowed, jumped down to Su Zhan’s feet, and tugged at the hem of her robe with a paw.
“…All right, Granny. I’ll be going now.”
Su Zhan agreed.
To her it was only a title.
She knew she was being treated as a substitute, but since she had just asked for a favor, she didn’t feel right refusing.
She picked up the white cat and headed out.
She had barely stepped halfway through the door when Granny Su’s voice drifted after her, light as a feather.
“Girls your age should smile more and dress brighter. Don’t go around with an icy face like a block of wood. The clothes should be more vibrant too. This robe is too plain—it doesn’t suit you.”
The robe was actually quite beautiful.
Though it was simple in color, it had many clever little details.
The outer layer and inner lining connected in an intricate way, giving off a cool elegance mixed with a touch of charm.
It complemented Su Zhan’s aloof aura perfectly and made her already fair skin look as white as snow.
Xia Liu had said the person who commissioned the outfit must have put a lot of thought into it.
Ordinary ready-made shops wouldn’t add so many elaborate touches.
Tiny tassels hung between the two layers, swaying like wind chimes under the eaves.
It would look especially lovely worn in the rain or snow.
But… if it were Su Beiyan, she probably wouldn’t have liked such plain clothing.
That must be why Granny Su said it.
Su Zhan didn’t turn around.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words and simply answered.
“Mm. I understand.”