Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Inside the room, the people in the cages reacted differently when the door opened. The players and some of the more timid natives shrank toward the backs of their cages, while a few of the more curious ones continued peering out.
Qi Jiajia pulled Cheng Miao back, her voice rising to a shrill pitch. “Cheng Miao, get a grip! We’re inside an instance!”
Cheng Miao reluctantly retreated to a safe distance, her eyes never leaving the two figures that had entered.
Perhaps her gaze was too fervent, because the two figures began walking toward them.
They were two gigantic cats, one large and one small. The larger tabby clearly knew the room well and was meowing at the little snow-white cat beside it.
Stars filled Cheng Miao’s eyes. She knew that smell had been familiar. It was the scent of cats!
She loved this instance!
The tabby stopped in front of a cage first. With a nimble front paw, it opened the cage and plucked out a person.
The person was probably a native. Although they twisted around in alarm, they didn’t react too violently.
The little white cat shook its head, and the tabby immediately tossed the person back into the cage.
The little white cat pointed at someone else. This person was a player. Being held by a cat more than ten times his size, combined with the baffling setting of the instance, made him lose his composure.
Cheng Miao didn’t know what the player did, but she clearly saw the tabby yowl in pain as blood flowed from its paw.
The player was too small to cause much damage. Not only did he fail to escape, but the tabby slammed him to the floor beneath its paw.
The player’s companions were also in the room. Items shot out from two separate cages and struck the tabby squarely.
Ignoring the small wounds on its body, the tabby called several times toward the door. A powerfully built orange cat walked in.
Without the slightest hesitation, it bit down on the player’s head and swallowed him in two bites.
It then opened the cages of the players who had just attacked and dragged them out as they kicked and punched.
Sharp, coldly gleaming claws extended from its paw pads. The orange cat drove them viciously into the top of one player’s head…
The player’s blood sprayed across the floor. The tabby meowed twice in displeasure, so the orange cat picked up the remaining player and carried them out the door.
A short while later, the player’s bloodcurdling screams sounded from outside.
Once it had dealt with the players, the orange cat brought over a mop and cleaned up the blood and corpse covering the floor.
Cheng Miao took two steps back. Ignoring the player beside her, who was trembling as if being electrocuted, she sorted through the clues in her mind.
She now knew why the instance hint had included an exclamation point.
Although she still didn’t understand the true meaning of “Be yourself,” the player’s fate had proven one thing: inside this instance, players had no power to resist.
Their Items were still with them, but they had no effect. Using them only backfired.
The other players didn’t act rashly either. They stood behind the natives, concealing themselves.
The two cats were still selecting people. The little white cat chose a woman, toyed with her briefly, then prodded her with a paw pad.
The woman was timid and rather dull, offering almost no reaction, so the little white cat put her back in the cage.
Cheng Miao noticed that the orange cat that had just eaten a player was moving things around. Its furry body looked both supple and powerful.
“I think those are… compressed biscuits… and a water dispenser?” Taking advantage of her small size, Qi Jiajia peered around the natives in front of them.
As Qi Jiajia described what she saw, a bold theory took shape in Cheng Miao’s mind.
The little white cat had reached them when yet another cat came through the door.
This newcomer was very thin, with an unsettling gaze. It looked the cages up and down, then approached the orange cat and meowed something to it.
Cheng Miao grabbed Qi Jiajia. “Hold on to me. No matter what happens, don’t let go.”
Qi Jiajia didn’t ask why. She pressed herself tightly against Cheng Miao.
The little white cat came to their cage. Everyone else inside shrank back, including the three players.
Cheng Miao did the opposite and brought Qi Jiajia to the very front of the cage.
Qi Jiajia watched as the enormous cat, large enough to swallow her in one bite, sniffed the air with its pink nose.
She didn’t dislike cats, but the sight still made her avert her eyes in alarm.
Cheng Miao, however, stared steadily into the white cat’s pale eyes. Gritting her teeth, she reached through the bars and stroked the feline face just inches away.
Qi Jiajia nearly bristled in fright at her actions. She thought Cheng Miao’s cat obsession had taken over again, but on closer inspection, there were no stars in Cheng Miao’s eyes. Her gaze held the same composure and calm as it did in every instance.
Qi Jiajia swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and silently tightened her grip on Cheng Miao.
The cage door opened. Cheng Miao felt a furry paw grasp her and place her on its palm.
Because Qi Jiajia hadn’t let go, she was carried out as well.
Cheng Miao hugged the white cat’s furry paw. The corner of Qi Jiajia’s eye twitched when she saw Cheng Miao nuzzle it too.
The white cat turned and exchanged a few meows with the tabby, then carried the pair toward the door. As they passed Qian Ming, Cheng Miao was afraid making a sound would attract the strange cat’s attention, so she mouthed a word to him.
Cheng Miao noticed that the strange cat selected several people to take away, including four or five players.
Seeing Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia carried off, the players remaining in the room sighed with relief at having escaped disaster. Only Qian Ming narrowed his eyes, pondering the word Cheng Miao had mouthed.
Pet?
A pet, huh…
Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia were placed inside a box shaped like a backpack. A moment later, they felt it being lifted and carried on someone’s back.
The jostling left Qi Jiajia looking sick. “What kind of instance is this? The NPCs are animals, and there aren’t any hints. How are we supposed to play?”
Cheng Miao was a little nauseous too. She took several deep breaths before answering, “I think I know what kind of instance this is.”
Qin Musong stood perfectly straight. Several giant wolfdogs suddenly entered, startling him. Fortunately, he had nerves of steel and didn’t act recklessly simply because he was a skilled fighter.
Otherwise, he would have ended up like the man on the floor who had been mauled beyond recognition.
The wolfdogs turned him this way and that, inspecting him meticulously, before setting him aside with the chosen group.
He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew the best approach was to remain calm and adapt to whatever came.
A gigantic hamster picked Lin Zhu up between its front paws, looked him over from every angle, and even poked his belly.
Perhaps because he behaved in such an adorably docile manner, nothing unexpected happened.
Lin Zhu looked at the pools of blood on the floor and closed his eyes.
This wasn’t any easier than a supernatural instance. The deaths here were even more gruesome!
Lin Zhu had also noticed that the players who had died were all far stronger than him, yet every one of them had been killed with ease.
That meant brute force wasn’t the way to clear this instance.
He saw a snake slither over and show the hamster a large cage. It contained a little room and even a treadmill.
Lin Zhu looked miserably up at the sky. So this was what the name “Reversed World” meant!