On the first floor, you can see two spiral staircases directly, which lead to the second floor. If you look up from the middle, you can see the fourth floor floor directly.
In other words, the middle of the second and third floors is a circular hollow space.
"Please follow me to the fourth floor. Lady Hua Ji is waiting for you." The female ghost who led the way was of unknown race. All that could be seen was that she had six eyes and several arms, some carrying lanterns and others carrying things. Only one hand was left free, which was just enough to guide Yin Zhu and the cat.
Each floor is adorned with white lanterns, which seem rather ominous from the perspective of the Dragon Kingdom, but are considered solemn and auspicious from the cultural perspective of the Cherry Blossom Kingdom.
Those who are unaware of this might find it strangely creepy.
Soon, the three arrived at the fourth floor, which should be the top floor of the tower. However, unlike many towers, there was no large clock on the top floor. Instead, there was only a huge cherry blossom tree with its roots spreading across the entire fourth floor.
Yin Zhu looked along the tree roots and found that they eventually merged into the wall, as if the entire tower was supported by tree roots.
The six-eyed, multi-armed female monster who had led the way had already left, leaving only Yin Zhu and Mao You, one human and one cat, staring at each other. This couldn't go on, so Yin Zhu decided to freely explore the entire fourth floor and actually found a set of rules posted at the stairwell entrance.
After reading it once, Yin Zhu felt it was all rather dull. The rules themselves weren't very interesting. In other words, as long as you didn't deliberately court death, you probably wouldn't die here.
Although the cat looked at Yin Zhu with some concern, it did not stop her. When Yin Zhu obediently returned, the cat glared at her and said, "Why are you so disobedient? Don't you know it's dangerous to move around in unfamiliar places?"
Yin Zhu obediently lowered her head and let her scold her.
"Hehe, it's good for the child to be lively." A clear voice seemed to drift from afar, causing the cat to look around warily again, while also wrapping its tail around Yin Zhu.
Before Neko and Yin Zhu, the enormous cherry blossom tree trembled slightly, and countless petals fell. Inside the bustling building, the petals spun without wind, growing faster and faster until they became blurry afterimages in the eyes of the people and the cat. Then, the speed began to slow down, and Hua Ji, holding a flower umbrella, appeared in the vortex of petals at some unknown time.
"Gentlemen, there's no need to be so formal."
Hanahime said this, but her tone naturally revealed the sense of favor bestowed upon her by a superior, making the cat even more wary.
"Respected Lady Hanahime, we have already been to the Snow Woman's territory." The cat-like creature put its two front paws together in a feline bow, which, combined with its beautiful appearance, made it more cute than fierce.
Yin Zhu secretly rubbed the cat's fur a few times and added, "The Snow Woman woke up, but then she fell asleep again. Her domain seems to be very large; once you enter, it's hard to get out." Yin Zhu didn't go into details, such as the Snow Woman's name or how she escaped.
However, Yin Zhu's words reminded Mao You.
As someone who experienced the previous internal strife in the demon realm firsthand, Neko quickly added, "This time, the Snow Woman's domain is much larger than before. Even though she is asleep, she will continue to expand her domain, posing a great threat to the demon realm."
"I see..."
Hanahime's long, black hair fell loosely, gradually turning a light pink at the ends, similar to her pupils. Her words were vague, leaving people unable to understand what she meant.
"Since everything's alright, shall we leave?" the cat asked Hana-hime tentatively. "We've been staying here for too long; it's time to go."
For some reason, the cat always felt a deep-seated fear whenever it faced Hanahime.
This is an animal's instinct.
However, the cat didn't know why it was so afraid of Hana-hime, and could only attribute it to Hana-hime being too powerful, which was its instinctive fear of the strong.
"Sure, but—"
Hana-hime drew out her voice, and her clear and melodious voice sounded like the whisper of death to Nekomata.
"—Let the little girl beside you stay." Hanahime smiled sweetly, her delicate face like a newly blooming cherry blossom: "I have some questions for her, and I think they are also questions that Lord Shuten-dōji wants to ask."
The cat's pupils contracted sharply as it looked at Hana-hime in disbelief, instinctively shielding Yin-zhu with its body: "She's just a child."
"That person who once caused so much trouble for the Ghost Realm was just a child, wasn't he?" Hana-hime waved her hand, and the wooden window of the Flower Tower opened naturally. A flurry of petals, carrying a large clump of cat spirits, forcefully carried her away from there. Then, the wooden window closed, shutting out the moonlight as well.
What kind of trouble are you talking about?
Yin Zhu seemed completely unaware of how dangerous her situation was, and even had the leisure to gossip.
If I'm not mistaken, this person is [her].
The owner of the diary.
The reincarnation of Shuten-dōji.
"She's a terrifying girl. She was born into a good family in the human world, but because of her powerful background, she did all sorts of terrible things and killed many men and women. Her family couldn't take it anymore, so the Onmyoji discovered that she was actually Shuten-dōji who had escaped through reincarnation, so she was resealed into the demon world." Hana-hime explained to Yin Zhu quite leisurely.
"Oh, no wonder her diary has such a strong human touch."
Yin Zhu's conjecture was confirmed.
"That's not just ordinary human scent; it's the scent accumulated from hundreds of lives. Even if he were to reincarnate, Shuten-dōji would still be a terrifying and powerful demon," Hana-hime affirmed Yin Zhu's statement.
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