Chapter 66
Chapter 66
After Qin Musong joined the team, its youthful energy lightened even his state of mind. Like an alpha wolf returning to his pack, the sharp, profound lines around his eyes softened.
He looked toward where Cheng Miao had disappeared and smiled. “She really is still a young woman. She loves cats that much.”
Lin Zhu started downstairs as well. Sister Miaomiao had slept all day, and one steamed bun was nowhere near enough. He needed to make sure she ate the rest of the food he had brought. “Yeah. I’ve never seen Sister Miaomiao care this much about anything.”
Qi Jiajia bounded down two steps at a time, grinding her teeth audibly. “Someone should poison that cat. I hate him.”
Qin Musong suppressed the curve of his lips, his eyes as gentle as ever. “You shouldn’t say that. It’s wrong.”
Qi Jiajia bristled. “I don’t need you telling me what’s right! What business is it of yours?”
Lin Zhu had spent more time with Qi Jiajia and knew the secret to communicating with her. “You can’t say that. Sister Miaomiao will be angry with you.”
Qi Jiajia’s breath caught in her chest, turning her face red. In the end, she did not dare say anything similar again.
The moment the three reached the ground floor, they saw Cheng Miao crouched in a corner with a steamed bun in her mouth. Her starry eyes were fixed on the black cat across from her as he ate canned food at an unhurried pace.
As they approached, they heard Cheng Miao murmuring to herself. “You’re so cute. Can I pet you? Please? Fine, you keep eating… Can I touch you just once?”
The three of them were speechless.
Brother Parrot circled overhead. When it saw Qi Jiajia and the others emerge, it familiarly landed on Qin Musong’s shoulder.
Qin Musong’s wariness of Front Desk attendants ran too deep to erase. His body tensed for an instant.
Brother Parrot, however, was thinking only that the big man offered safety and Qi Jiajia could not reach its feathers from there.
Qiudong might be furry like Brother Parrot, but his temper was nowhere near as good. Brother Parrot intended to stay right where it was and enjoy the show.
Qiudong finished every scrap of meat in the can, stretched, and flicked his ears.
He lifted his gaze to the fair-skinned young woman before him, whose complexion resembled fine porcelain. His ice-blue pupils gleamed in the sunlight.
“Do you want something from me?” Qiudong spoke. His voice was as cold and piercing as a mountain spring, yet strangely suited his appearance.
Cheng Miao’s dark brown eyes widened slightly. This cat could talk!
She had imagined what it might be like if cats could speak and concluded that it would ruin their cuteness. Yet hearing the black cat before her talk did not seem unacceptable at all.
Cheng Miao grinned foolishly. “Yeah. I want to pet you.”
Qiudong fell silent.
Everyone else mentally shouted at her to wake up.
Qiudong’s pupils narrowed to slits beneath the midday sun. He studied the beautiful young woman in silence. The pressure he released in that instant made even Qin Musong straighten.
Cheng Miao froze and instinctively felt for her ring.
Qiudong glanced over without emotion, then sat with natural elegance, his thick, fluffy tail swaying behind him.
He had met countless players, many of whom loved cats. But affection was only affection.
Who had time to play with a cat in a place where their lives were constantly at risk?
Even those who dared speak to him invariably became vigilant and hostile once he exerted pressure. That was human nature.
Besides, Qiudong did not care whether anyone liked him. As a cat, he had no shortage of admirers.
Yet no defensive Item or weapon appeared as he expected.
Instead, Cheng Miao held out a catnip lollipop.
Under Qiudong’s terrifying pressure, she quietly edged forward and gave him her most ingratiating smile. “Here. Do you like this?”
Qiudong’s nose twitched. His face remained blank, but his tail swished faster.
“You’re not a failed player, so I can’t eat you.”
The implication was obvious: he ate people.
Cheng Miao grinned and kept the catnip raised with one hand while pointing at Brother Parrot with the other. “It told me you don’t eat people.”
Qiudong fell silent.
So did Brother Parrot. Damn it. It never should have stayed here!
One casual glance from Qiudong frightened two feathers from the top of Brother Parrot’s head. It flapped back inside the Guesthouse at top speed.
A moment later, its head poked back out, now crowned with three colorful tufts as it continued spying. That cat held grudges like no other!
Qiudong stretched lightly, leaned forward, and took the catnip from Cheng Miao’s hand in his mouth. He turned and crossed the roof in two bounds, vanishing like a streak of black lightning.
Cheng Miao hugged the hand that had brushed Qiudong’s tail and smiled radiantly. Beside her, Lin Zhu served as a human feeding tool, offering her another bite whenever she finished the last.
After feeding her, Lin Zhu saw how pleasant the sunlight was. He borrowed several chairs from Brother Parrot so they could bask outside.
Qi Jiajia rolled her eyes. She had no desire to accompany these idiotic adults and was about to slip away when Qin Musong caught her. “Children need plenty of sunshine if they want to grow taller.”
Qi Jiajia sank her teeth into his arm, but Qin Musong had immense patience for the girl who reminded him of his daughter.
Let her bite. The longer she bit, the longer she stayed in the sun.
When the Guesthouse’s few other residents looked down from their windows, they saw a team sunbathing outside a terrifying place where countless failed players had died and countless survivors had acquired lifelong trauma.
One tall beauty even had a bird nestled on her head, most likely the budgerigar serving as the Front Desk attendant.
“What are those people doing?”
“Who knows? Instances must’ve driven them crazy.”
“Those players aren’t normal. Who gets that close to a Front Desk attendant?”
“Exactly. I saw that bird eating a player in the grass two days ago.”
“Just stay away from them. Front Desk attendants are unpredictable. A veteran told me they might even attack guests. If that group makes it angry one day, we’ll have a good show to watch.”
The whispers continued.
After eating, Cheng Miao returned to her room. She had slept too much during the day and could not fall asleep now. Lying in bed, she stared at the hazy moon outside and thought.
On the surface, Front Desk attendants and players stood on opposing sides. Yet the attendants she had met were not difficult to deal with, nor had they deliberately deceived players.
When players failed an instance, a Front Desk attendant disposed of them. That was its work and its assigned duty.
Qiudong did not eat people, but any player who failed on his territory would still die. That much was certain.
Players had no need to keep such an extreme distance from Front Desk attendants. Qin Musong’s reaction showed that even a veteran of his strength remained deeply wary of them.
That wariness probably came from misunderstanding what Front Desk attendants existed to do.
They were neutral. Inside an Inn, they even leaned toward the players’ side.
They provided lodging and meals. If a player dared strike up a conversation, they could also offer plenty of information, even discounts.
This was the Survival Inn. Many players had already begun violating moral principles and even laws to stay alive. There was no reason to judge Front Desk attendants by ordinary moral standards.
In fact, Cheng Miao disliked strangers somewhat. Compared with players who said one thing and did another, Front Desk attendants made better companions and confidants for her.
She simply had to maintain the proper boundaries.
After thinking for a while, Cheng Miao grew bored and turned on the television, curious what kind of signal it might receive here.
The old television displayed static for a long time before a black-and-white image appeared. Cheng Miao kneaded her fingers as her mind involuntarily produced every horror scenario involving televisions she could remember.
Fortunately, none of them came true. What appeared on the screen was…
Cheng Miao’s eyes widened.