Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Cheng Miao’s group rested all morning. That afternoon, the little white cat placed her and Qi Jiajia inside the carrier, bringing the two newly arrived men along as well.
Seeing how calm Cheng Miao was, without the slightest hint of concern, the One-Eyed Man timidly asked, “Boss, where are we going?”
Cheng Miao couldn’t be bothered to correct how he addressed her. Leaning against the inside of the carrier with her eyes closed, she said, “Probably for something like a physical. Cats who just arrived home… Ah, no, people, especially ones who spent a day and night wandering outside, need to be checked for parasites and such.”
The two men nodded and curiously peered outside through the little transparent window.
Qi Jiajia sat beside Cheng Miao and leaned against her shoulder to catch up on sleep. “I don’t like this instance.”
“Mm.” Cheng Miao didn’t like it either. Having cats around made her happy, but this instance was far too restrictive. If someone made the wrong choice at the start, the difficulty afterward multiplied severalfold.
Most importantly, once danger appeared, the players had virtually no ability to resist.
That meant new and veteran players were equal inside this instance. Veterans had no advantage whatsoever. Survival came down entirely to luck and the ability to react.
Qi Jiajia yawned. “I wonder whether Items work on the animals.”
Cheng Miao rapped her on the head. “Stop thinking about things like that. You know perfectly well they don’t.”
Qi Jiajia released an exaggerated sigh and fell silent.
The clinic wasn’t far away, and they soon arrived. The white cat sent the two men inside for their examinations first, while Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia looked around the clinic.
“Little Miaomiao! Little Miaomiao!” Cheng Miao heard someone calling her name and looked up, searching in every direction.
“I’m over here!”
Cheng Miao finally spotted Qiao Jin.
She was inside a cage hanging high overhead. At that moment, Qiao Jin was clutching the bars with both hands and craning her neck as she called down.
Cheng Miao hurriedly waved. “Are you all right?”
Qiao Jin seemed to remember something and gave a childishly aggrieved pout. “More or less.”
Then she studied the carrier holding Cheng Miao’s group. “Are you… cats?”
Cheng Miao nodded. She couldn’t guess Qiao Jin’s identity.
The corner of Qiao Jin’s mouth twitched. “A lark.”
Cheng Miao couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
Qiao Jin glared at her. Touching her throat, she looked miserable. “Do you know what kind of torture it is to be forced to sing every day? I’ve gone hoarse.”
Seeing that no natives were watching, Qiao Jin lowered her voice. “There’s a native in our home too. I think his identity is a cat. He catches us for fun. Another female player died that way.”
Cheng Miao bit her lip without speaking. Qiao Jin looked around for a while longer, anxiety appearing on her face. “Have you seen Qian Ming?”
Cheng Miao nodded. “I saw him at the pet store earlier. He should be a pet dog.”
Qiao Jin relaxed at the news. Given Qian Ming’s abilities, he shouldn’t face too much danger as a pet dog.
“Hey, look! Something happened in the eastern district!” The people in the shop suddenly began clamoring. Cheng Miao followed their gazes. A television hanging on the wall was broadcasting breaking news.
The elk reporter was jostled from side to side by the crowd of animals. It kept pointing toward the scene of the incident. The footage showed animals shoving one another, and also…
“Uncle Qin!” Qi Jiajia had sharp eyes and spotted Qin Musong at once. She tugged Cheng Miao over to look.
The distance made it hard to see. Cheng Miao squinted for a long while before finally finding him.
Qin Musong wore a strikingly handsome uniform and held a penguin the size of a seven- or eight-year-old child as he walked toward a less crowded area.
The elk reporter spotted him too and headed toward Qin Musong with the camera. Qin Musong’s expression stiffened for a moment at the sight of it.
Then he suddenly seemed to think of something. His sharp eyes narrowed, and a smile touched his lips. “Miaomiao, Jiajia, Lin Zhu, I don’t know whether you can see the television, but I’m safe. Don’t worry about me.”
The moment he finished, a gigantic penguin ran over crying and wrapped the little penguin in a hug, quacking in distress.
Qin Musong was about to leave when the adult penguin grabbed him, hugged him close, and kissed and petted him repeatedly. He wasn’t rescued until the handsome wolfdog arrived.
Although Qin Musong’s identity carried a high level of danger, Cheng Miao and Qi Jiajia still burst out laughing at the sight of an ordinarily refined and aloof mature man being vigorously petted by a penguin.
Qiao Jin laughed too, though there was envy in her eyes. “It’s good that he’s safe.”
Cheng Miao saw her worry and comforted her from across the distance. “Don’t you trust Qian Ming’s abilities? Try not to worry. Once time runs out tomorrow, it’ll all be over.”
Qiao Jin nodded and watched the television distractedly.
The screen flickered as if cutting to an emergency report. A beautiful leopard police officer had uncovered a case of intentional harm.
Cheng Miao had only glanced over, but once she saw the footage clearly, she couldn’t look away.
The cat the leopard had arrested was the same one Cheng Miao had seen in the pet store!
The thin cat had been arrested in its own home. The scene shown on-screen could only be described as hell on earth.
It resembled a slaughterhouse, with blood and filth covering the floor. Several human corpses had been discarded around the room, each killed in a different gruesome, brutal manner.
Cheng Miao saw the five players who had been selected and taken away. None was breathing. Their eyes remained wide open and filled with despair, unable to rest even in death.
Feeling sick, Cheng Miao looked away while the surrounding natives cursed and discussed the report.
“That monster! I’ve seen it before, at the pet store!”
“Really? I heard it loves torturing people and even performs all kinds of experiments on them.”
“What kind of creature does that? If you don’t love them, fine, but don’t hurt them!”
“Sigh, there are always twisted Spirit Masters like that.”
“Those poor people…”
Cheng Miao closed her eyes. She had decisively pulled Qi Jiajia forward to attract the white cat’s attention because, even though she hadn’t understood the instance yet, there had been something deeply unsettling about that thin cat’s gaze.
It had looked at them as if selecting some kind of plaything.
If she had been a moment slower or hesitated even slightly…
Inside this instance, once Cheng Miao fell into such a situation, even she would have no way to escape alive.
“If this instance gives us a lousy reward, I swear I’ll smash up its Hotel.”
Cheng Miao heard Qiao Jin mutter through gritted teeth and wholeheartedly agreed.
The examinations soon ended. Cheng Miao said goodbye to Qiao Jin and urged her to take good care of herself.
“Hey, have you heard? There’s a rumor that keeping humans as pets is going to be banned.”
“What? Really? Then what are we supposed to do…?”
“I don’t know… They say humans carry too many parasites and are unhygienic…”
…
That was the last conversation Cheng Miao heard among the natives as the white cat carried her out of the clinic. She frowned, a bad feeling rising inside her.
Lin Zhu sat blankly in the cage, hugging his knees. The male player’s corpse lay on the floor not far outside.
Like the native before him, the male player had been beaten to death by the tall, powerfully built man whose identity was a “cat.”