Extremely Embarrassing

Although Ao Yiyi felt that Su Qing was being a bit excessive... she had no intention of exposing her.

After all, while she personally disliked lying, it didn't mean she had to forbid those around her from doing so. To do that would certainly be off-putting.

Moreover, Ao Yiyi could tell that Su Qing had likely put quite a bit of effort into tricking this little fellow into coming back with her. If the little thing were to run away, Su Qing would surely be unhappy. Thus, there was no need to do something so pointless.

Of course, those were the objective reasons. Aside from those, there were her own personal reasons: Ao Yiyi herself quite liked this silly little cat. Even though it was as black as a coal ball, its appearance was truly adorable.

Su Qing looked at the exceptionally easy-to-fool kitten and couldn't help but smile, reaching out to rub its head twice more. The texture of this little fellow was truly wonderful! It had to be said—petting a cat felt completely different from touching a person.

"Stop petting me, stop petting me! You're messing up my fur again," Coal Ball said dissatisfiedly.

Su Qing only chuckled at the words, then nodded and asked, "By the way, I haven't asked yet—are you a male cat or a female cat?"

"Meow?" Coal Ball was stunned for a moment, then raised her proud little head and said, "This General is a female general, of course! Also, if you have rats here, you can leave them to me! This General will absolutely ensure not a single rat remains in this place."

Su Qing poked Coal Ball's head and said with a smile, "Very well! If there are rats, I'll let a little fellow like you catch them."

While she said that... there were likely no rats at all in Su Qing's vicinity. After all, with Su Qing here, let alone ordinary rats, even a rat that had cultivated into an immortal wouldn't dare to scurry about in front of her. Su Qing's agreement was purely perfunctory and for her own amusement.

"But if Coal Ball is a little female cat, she'll probably be quite cute when she transforms in the future. I wonder if she'll keep her cat tail and ears when she transforms? Hmm, actually, better not. If she keeps them, she'd have to use spells to hide them to move about the mortal world."

Su Qing rubbed her chin, already thinking about the future. She thought: "But maybe I can try making her some cat ears and a tail like I did for Yuer. Hmm, that would be quite cute too."

As she thought of this, another matter suddenly came to mind...

"Speaking of cat girls... isn't there another one back in that county town in the Qinling Mountains? She was just born when I left. Calculating the time, she should be two or three years old by now!"

Su Qing couldn't help but think: "I'll go see her once the matters here are finished... I've forgotten how long it's been since I last checked on her. I wonder how that little one is doing..."

As Su Qing was thinking...

Li Yichou walked out of the room.

"Miss? You're back!" Li Yichou quickly greeted Su Qing upon seeing her.

Although she had been injured, they were mostly superficial wounds. Only the old woman had been more seriously hurt, having broken a bone. Thus, after a simple bandaging, Li Yichou could move about freely. She didn't even really need to recuperate—it was just that Su Qing had told her to rest and handle her own affairs.

Su Qing nodded slightly and said, "Mhm, I'm back. The business I had is finished."

"I see. By the way, Miss... what's the deal with this little cat? Also, this cat looks a bit familiar?" Li Yichou looked at the little black cat, her brow furrowing slightly as she said, "This couldn't be the same cat that saved me today, could it?"

Su Qing smiled faintly and said, "Of course not! This is just an ordinary little cat. I happened to see it while I was out walking, so I picked it up. It's quite cute, isn't it? By the way, this little fellow is called Coal Ball."

"But it looks exactly like that cat from today."

"All black cats in the world look the same; you're overthinking it," Su Qing said with a smile, shaking her head.

"Is that so? Perhaps I really did see it wrong then," Li Yichou nodded, not dwelling on it further.

On the side, seeing Su Qing say this, the little black cat couldn't help but ask via Sound Transmission, "Why didn't you tell her that I'm the Black Mysterious Great General who helped her today?"

"Naturally, because it cannot be said."

"Why can't it be said?"

"If you say it, the Heavenly Court will find out!"

"Is the Heavenly Court that powerful?"

"Of course, they're super powerful!"

"I see! How terrifying..." The little black cat nodded and said, "Then I can't speak to her in the future?"

"That's right! You can't. You have to pretend to be an ordinary little kitten in front of her. Except in front of me, Ao Yiyi, and Hu Lin'er, where you can be the Black Mysterious Great General, you must be Coal Ball in front of everyone else."

Su Qing nodded and poked the cat's head with a finger.

"How troublesome..."

"But this way, there's no danger."

"Fine! Then I'll be a bit troubled," the little black cat said helplessly. "By the way, doesn't this mean you're lying?"

"It doesn't matter. It's fine to lie a little to protect you."

"Then will you turn into a terrifying big green snake?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Su Qing rubbed her chin, transmitting her voice with a face full of smiles.

"I see! It's okay, I won't hold it against you."

"Is that so? That's good then." Seeing that the other party believed her, Su Qing nodded with amusement.

"Hmph, this General is very kind! You better treat this General better in the future! You have to give this General delicious dried meat to eat."

"I know, I know, I definitely won't mistreat you."

"Is it really okay?"

"Don't worry! How could I just change like that?"

"That's good then." As the little black cat spoke, she became much happier.

Looking at the little fellow's expression, even Su Qing, who was used to hoodwinking people, felt a bit of guilt in her heart. Truly, she was too wicked. How could she even bully a little thing like this? She really had to change this bad habit in the future. But fooling the little thing was just so much fun... what to do? Maybe she wouldn't change it after all!

Su Qing's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts, but the smile on her face remained unchanged.

Before long, Su Qingyu also came out from inside. She saw the little black cat standing on the counter and immediately revealed a look of surprise, her eyes seemingly lighting up. She ran excitedly to the little black cat and said, "Master, Master, is this the Black Mysterious Great General that Aunt Yichou mentioned today?"

Su Qingyu naturally didn't know if the little black cat was the Black Mysterious Great General. She just saw it was a little black cat and assumed it was that 'Great General.' Children's thoughts were always strange. Su Qing didn't quite understand them either, but it didn't stop her from finding it fun.

Su Qing smiled faintly, patted her head, and said, "Guess! If you think she is, then she's the Black Mysterious Great General."

Su Qingyu looked at Su Qing's smile and thought seriously for a moment, forming an idea in her mind. She felt that if Su Qing was wearing such an expression, it meant this definitely was the Black Mysterious Great General. It was just that in order to make her think it wasn't, Master was smiling at her to make her feel she had guessed wrong.

"Hmph, I'm just too smart. Master is so wicked, she must be thinking that. But too bad, I'm too smart! She can't fool me at all." Su Qingyu looked at the little black cat, her eyes sparkling with affection. She looked at the cat and said, "Black Mysterious Great General, can I pet you?"

Coal Ball was a bit dazed by the words and turned to Su Qing in confusion, asking, "How does she know I'm the Black Mysterious Great General?"

"She guessed."

"Then if she knows, will the Heavenly Court find out?"

"No, as long as you didn't tell her yourself, it'll be fine."

"Then can I talk to her?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You just can't."

"Fine then!" Coal Ball nodded helplessly. She actually quite liked this little girl because the girl knew to respect her and called her 'Black Mysterious Great General.' Unlike that wicked Su Qing who kept calling her Coal Ball. If it weren't for the fact that Su Qing was saving her life, she wouldn't have accepted that name! She might have even given her a lesson with her claws.

Coal Ball looked at Su Qingyu's expectant gaze, then nodded helplessly and extended her head. She didn't understand why humans always liked to pet her... clearly, it was meaningless. But every person who had petted her seemed very happy.

"Hmph, seeing how much she likes it, I'll let her pet me! After all, she's a girl who calls me Black Mysterious Great General," Coal Ball thought to herself, then squinted her eyes as Su Qingyu stroked her.

Su Qing sat to the side, watching Su Qingyu and Coal Ball play together, feeling that the scene was quite beautiful. "Two silly little cuties, they seem to get along quite well," Su Qing thought with a smile. Now that there was a cat in the clinic, it seemed things would become much more lively.

The situation at the clinic was going very smoothly. Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Qing's other self had not yet seen the good show begin, so she could only wander around the city. Wandering around today was somewhat boring without Bai Yuhe to accompany her.

In the blink of an eye, another day passed.

On this day, Su Qing performed a brief divination. She soon calculated the positions of Wukong and the others. "If nothing goes wrong, the show can begin today." Su Qing rubbed her chin, sitting by the window and looking at the scenery outside. "So, what kind of tribulation will it be?"

Su Qing waited. Unconsciously, the streets outside became noisier. Hearing the commotion, she rubbed her chin and said, "It looks like they've arrived."

Su Qing knew that there were no men in this Women's Kingdom, so once a man entered the city, it would surely cause a stir. Thus, through this, Su Qing could tell that Wukong and the others had come. She leaned out to look and saw the master and disciples struggling to push through the pedestrians as they walked forward.

"Mhm, there's a show to watch." Thinking this, Su Qing turned into an ordinary pedestrian and blended into the crowd. Su Qing still had the effect of the spell cast by Guanyin Bodhisattva on her, so she wasn't worried about Wukong discovering her. However, she had to change her appearance slightly.

Just like that, Su Qing watched the master and disciples enter the official post house. Then, Su Qing transformed into a servant of the post house to watch the show from the side. No one knew of this, and even Wukong was unable to sense her.

After the master and disciples arrived at the post house, they handed their travel permits to the female official. Upon learning that they were from the Great Tang... the female official of the post house immediately became exceptionally respectful.

"So you gentlemen are also from the Great Tang... Please forgive my lack of respect!"

"Benefactor, you overstate it. But when you say 'also,' could it be that someone from the Great Tang has been here before?" Tang Sanzang couldn't help but ask upon hearing this.

"Yes! Our King's wife is from the Great Tang."

The female official nodded and said with a sigh, "Moreover, the Empress is very powerful... Back then, the Abortion Spring was occupied by someone, and it was the Empress who helped drive them away! Since that Daoist at the Abortion Spring was driven off, the lives of our people have been much better."

"Ah... if I'm not mistaken, the King of this Women's Kingdom is a woman, right?" Tang Sanzang didn't notice the latter part of the sentence, being instead attracted by the earlier words.

"Naturally. We have no men in this country, so the King is naturally a woman." The female official nodded seriously and said, "After all, we have the Mother-Child River, so we don't need to worry about carrying on the family line."

"Then..."

"Sigh, you monk shouldn't be too pedantic. Here, it's common for women to marry each other. Since there are no men, naturally we only look for women!" The female official smiled and said.

"I see..."

After a moment of being stunned, Tang Sanzang chanted 'Amitabha' several times and said, "It seems this poor monk's knowledge is shallow."

"No matter, no matter. It's not strange for you outsiders to not understand these things."

The female official chuckled and didn't delve deeper. She could understand the mindset of those from the outside. "By the way, did you ask about the Abortion Spring being occupied before?" Wukong suddenly spoke up and asked, "Could it be that someone else occupied the Abortion Spring before?"

Wukong couldn't help but think of what happened earlier. He had fought several battles just to take some water from the Abortion Spring. Now he learned that the spring had actually been occupied and driven off once before. However, he didn't want to know anything else; he was just curious if it was the same person.

"Ah, that's no secret..."

The female official smiled and explained the situation to Wukong, then added, "However, another fellow seemed to have come to the Abortion Spring recently. Although he doesn't take money from our people, it's still very hard to get the spring water... It's a pity the Empress wasn't here, otherwise she would have certainly been able to drive that person away."

"There's no need to worry about that person; I've already driven him away."

"This? Then I must thank this Monkey Brother for saving the Empress a lot of trouble and doing a good deed for the people of the Women's Kingdom." Although the female official was surprised, she wasn't overly so. After all, she had already witnessed Su Qing's strength, so she was only slightly surprised that Wukong could do such a thing.

Su Qing, listening from the corner, felt her mouth twitch slightly. She felt that if she really fought with Guanyin Bodhisattva, she probably still wouldn't be able to win. Wukong snorted at the words, thinking to himself, 'That Empress you speak of is probably no match for that evil Daoist.'

However, despite his thoughts, Wukong didn't say it directly. Wukong might be brash, but he wasn't completely without emotional intelligence. If he spoke ill of their Empress like that, would they still give him the travel permit? But he had also confirmed that the person he drove away was not the same one the Queen's wife had driven away. So he said, "It seems I was unlucky when I went to ask for the spring water... By the way, you said the Empress—why is she not in the palace?"

"The Empress is an immortal; she rarely stays in the palace."

Faced with this question, the female official didn't hide it and said, "By the way, if you go to the Donglin Temple to take a look, you might even see a Bodhisattva who looks very much like the Empress! I don't know if the Empress herself went and took a Bodhisattva status, or if they just look alike. After all, the Empress is so powerful, anything is possible! Moreover, the Empress has a separate temple that the King personally supervised the construction of; it's very magnificent! If you gentlemen are to stay here for a few days, you can go there and take a look. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!"

Hearing this, Wukong was also stunned for a moment. He felt that these identities sounded somewhat familiar. He couldn't help but ask, "I'm a bit curious, what is your Empress's name?"

"The Empress's name is not something to be spoken lightly!" The female official shook her head and said, "However, I can tell you the Empress's Daoist title."

"Oh? And what title is that?"

"The Empress is titled Azure Spirit Sovereign, and she is the Lord of Changbai Mountain. I've heard that Changbai Mountain is a magnificent mountain, very powerful! It's a pity this place is too far from the Eastern Purvavideha Continent... otherwise, I would really want to go to Changbai Mountain to worship the Empress!" The female official's eyes were full of light as she spoke excitedly, "Monkey Master, do you know? The Empress is the light of our people! No one in the city doesn't admire the Empress and the King. Strong and beautiful. No one doesn't want to see the immortal mountain where the Empress lives with their own eyes."

After hearing this title, Wukong was momentarily stunned. What did the female official mean? Did she mean that Big Sister had been to this Women's Kingdom and was even the Queen's wife? Hiss... Wukong felt completely overwhelmed. "Big Sister is truly amazing..." Wukong scratched his head and thought to himself.

Su Qing, watching all this dialogue from the side, felt completely unwell. She had come to watch the show. Not to watch a show about herself! She was now so embarrassed her toes were curling. She had completely not expected this female official to be so eloquent. If she was this eloquent, she should go perform in a play! Stop blowing her horn so hard here!

Su Qing couldn't take it anymore and felt an urge to slip away first... but in the end, she held back. After all, since she was already here, it would be a waste not to finish the show. She only hoped this female official wouldn't continue to praise her. It was truly a bit unbearable. If her acting skills weren't superb enough, she probably wouldn't have even been able to control her expression.

"Speaking of which, is your Empress still away lately?"

"She should be away... but specifically, one can only ask Her Majesty to know for sure." The female official shook her head and said.

Wukong nodded, thinking to himself, "I wonder where Big Sister went, that she's not even here."

But Wukong didn't think much of it. After all, he couldn't control what his Big Sister did or where she went. He was just slightly curious. At this time, Tang Sanzang spoke up: "Alright Wukong, stop asking so much. The priority is to find Her Majesty to stamp the travel permits and continue our journey west."

Wukong didn't say more, nodding and saying, "I know, I know."

Seeing that the group finally stopped talking about her, Su Qing also breathed a slight sigh of relief. Finally, she didn't have to watch others praise her. This feeling was truly too awkward. Honestly... was this her tribulation or the tribulation of Tang Sanzang and his disciples? Shaking her head in her heart, Su Qing continued to watch.

Afterward, things didn't go much beyond Su Qing's expectations. The female official soon went to notify the palace... and Bai Yuhe decided to grant an audience to these monks from the Great Tang. After the group set off, Su Qing naturally followed them to the palace. All of Su Qing's movements were silent and unnoticed, so she could still peacefully be an audience member. Provided that a situation like the female official's didn't happen again.

But it seemed Su Qing was still overthinking... because Bai Yuhe's praise was even more excessive. So much so that Su Qing felt this was definitely her own tribulation. It made Su Qing completely numb.

"Your travel permits have been stamped... take them!" Bai Yuhe didn't forget the main business and said, "Gentlemen, if you're not in a hurry, stay in this Women's Kingdom for a few days! We have many wonders to see here. However, you must also be more careful, as the people in the Women's Kingdom are exceptionally fierce. If someone suddenly takes a fancy to you, they might just kidnap you!"

"Her Majesty need not worry; my disciples are all extremely capable," Tang Sanzang nodded and said.

"Good if they're capable!" Bai Yuhe said calmly, "By the way, if you're looking for a place to stay, you can stay at the Donglin Temple. It's a Buddhist temple, and the nuns inside also follow the precepts, so you don't have to worry about this or that. If you want to stay there, I'll write a letter to the abbess."

"Then I thank Her Majesty." Tang Sanzang was naturally willing to stay in a Buddhist temple. Although it was still filled with women, at least they were practitioners of Buddhism... everyone could get along better. In fact, even if Her Majesty hadn't mentioned it, he would have chosen to stay there.

"No need for thanks. You're from the same place as my Empress, so naturally I must host you well." Bai Yuhe chuckled and said, "Alright, take the letter!"

"Thank you, Brother-in-law! Thank you, Brother-in-law!" Wukong took the letter and said with a chuckle.