Chapter 36: A Kind Soul with a Cold Exterior

In a certain courtyard, a cat-person was kicked to the ground by Xia Tianqiong, only to have its throat slashed open by Huang Yu’s claws moments later. The two had teamed up to carry out this act four or five times already, and their coordination was becoming increasingly seamless.

In the corner of the courtyard sat a heavily made-up woman, somewhere in her thirties, wearing a black, strapless, body-hugging dress that left little to the imagination. She had been cornered by a male cat-person who not only intended to turn her in to fulfill a task but also sought to molest her. Her desperate screams had drawn Xia Tianqiong and Huang Yu to the scene, leading to the current situation.

"Thank you for saving me!" Bao Jingya said, looking disheveled yet mindful enough to thank her rescuers.

"Don't thank me. I didn't come here to save you," Xia Tianqiong replied casually. He bent down, picked up a cat hair from beside the corpse—his sixth acquired supernatural object—and walked away with Huang Yu to hunt for the next target.

"Hey, don't leave! What am I supposed to do if you go?" Bao Jingya hurriedly chased after them.

Xia Tianqiong frowned. "Don't follow me."

"Where are you going? Take me with you!"

"Find a secluded place to hide; you might live a little longer. If you're lucky, you might even make it to the end. But if you follow me, you'll only die faster."

Bao Jingya’s face fell, but she didn't give up. She grabbed Huang Yu’s arm. "You’re so beautiful, you must be kind-hearted. Since you saved me, you have to take responsibility until the end!"

"There are plenty of other people with the 'mouse' identity out there. Go find them. We have things to do and can't take you along." Huang Yu tried to shake her off, but the woman held onto her arm with a vice-like grip.

Just then, an orange-red hair drifted down from the sky and landed in Huang Yu’s hand. Simultaneously, screams erupted from various parts of the ancient town. Fragments of flesh rose from all corners of the town, dissolving into the crimson sky. The second round of the game had ended. Those who had been captured as mouse-people, as well as cat-people who had failed to capture a mouse, were all exploding into gore. Having learned from the first round, fewer cat-people died this time; the casualties were primarily the captured mouse-people.

"Ah! You... you..." Bao Jingya suddenly shrieked, backing away and pointing at Huang Yu, unable to finish her sentence.

Huang Yu realized her own body was undergoing a transformation. Her previously petite claws had grown larger and sharper. Her protruding muzzle and teeth retracted back to their original state, and white whiskers sprouted from her cheeks. Her black, triangular ears had turned into large, beautiful, orange-red ones.

"I’ve become a cat-person? So our identities can change!" Huang Yu stood frozen, unsure if this was a blessing or a curse.

Terrified, Bao Jingya hid behind Xia Tianqiong. "She’s turned into a cat! She’s dangerous now, hurry and subdue her!"

Hearing this, Huang Yu trembled. She and Xia Tianqiong had killed several cat-people, and she had sensed that this young man wasn't just collecting hair—he was intentionally hunting them. Now that she had become one, would he kill her too?

"Brother, I’ve helped you so much, you won't kill me, right?"

"You can go," Xia Tianqiong said. He didn't want to kill her; after all, she had been obedient and helped him secure several cat hairs. There was no need to burn bridges.

"I'm not leaving. I can keep helping you kill other cat-people." Huang Yu felt unsafe as a cat-person. Being a woman, if she encountered a male mouse-person, she might not be able to capture them and could even be killed in retaliation. Most importantly, she had a strong premonition that only by staying with Xia Tianqiong could she survive to the end.

"Cat-people cannot kill other cat-people, or they will die," Xia Tianqiong explained, a rare piece of insight.

"Why?"

Before Huang Yu could finish her question, the voice of the Cat Demon spirit echoed from the sky, announcing the start of the third round. Huang Yu’s vision went black. Panicked at the thought of being abandoned, she reached out blindly, grabbed Xia Tianqiong’s arm, and clutched it to her chest, refusing to let go.

Xia Tianqiong frowned, hesitating. Seeing this, Bao Jingya whispered, "She’s a cat now. If she holds onto you like that, you’ll die."

Hearing this, Huang Yu quickly let go, desperately explaining, "I didn't mean that! I was just afraid you'd leave me behind."

"You’ve turned into a cat; you’re no longer in our camp," Bao Jingya retorted coldly, then turned to Xia Tianqiong. "It's dangerous to keep her. Why don't you take me instead?"

"You..." Huang Yu was infuriated. If she had known, she would have killed this woman earlier. "I didn't want to become a cat! This isn't something I can decide."

Xia Tianqiong watched the two women argue, finding it rather amusing. "You became a cat because you killed a cat-person in the previous round."

"So that's it!" Huang Yu realized. "No wonder you didn't do it yourself."

"You can become a cat by killing one?" Bao Jingya was equally amazed. "Then if I kill her now, can I become a cat too?"

"That's right. But you'll have to wait until this round is over," Xia Tianqiong replied with a slight smirk.

Huang Yu’s face drained of color, a bad premonition washing over her. Bao Jingya looked at Huang Yu intently, then turned to Xia Tianqiong. "You know a lot about this game. Do you know how to return to our original world?"

"Those who survive until the game ends can go back."

"Survive until the game ends, and I can go back." Bao Jingya repeated the words softly, pondering for a moment before asking, "Can you protect me? If you agree, I can give you money, or you can make any request—as long as I can fulfill it, I’ll agree."

Xia Tianqiong shook his head, refusing.

"Then if I kill her, will you stop me?"

Xia Tianqiong shook his head again.

Bao Jingya’s eyes narrowed, a murderous intent rising within her. In this strange world and game, being a cat clearly offered an advantage and a better chance at survival. Although she was an ordinary person who had never thought of murder, she began to hesitate, weighing her options. Xia Tianqiong stood by, watching coldly.

Huang Yu felt despair. She understood that Xia Tianqiong was baiting the woman into killing her. But why? She had already given him the hair she had collected! Now, with her vision gone, she was blind and couldn't run.

Bao Jingya hesitated, looking at her hands, which now resembled mouse claws. She remembered that this woman had used those same claws to slit the previous man’s throat. *Killing is simple. If she can do it, why can’t I?*

With that thought, Bao Jingya strode toward Huang Yu. Lacking experience and gripped by extreme tension, her arms shook. She swiped, but only managed to graze Huang Yu’s chin, missing her neck entirely.

Huang Yu shrieked and scrambled backward, but unable to see, she collided with a wall and fell to the ground. "Don't come any closer! Please, don't kill me! Brother, save me!"

Huang Yu screamed for help. Bao Jingya froze for a moment, then gritted her teeth and lunged again. Suddenly, *pop!* Bao Jingya’s body exploded, shattering into countless fragments that drifted toward the sky.

"What happened? What was that?" Huang Yu asked, trembling as she pulled herself up against the wall.

Xia Tianqiong watched the gore drifting into the sky and said flatly, "She’s dead."

"How did she die? Did you save me?"

"It wasn't me. It’s the game rules. When a cat-person’s vision is stripped, no one can kill them, or they will die themselves."

Huang Yu was stunned for a moment, then a look of joy appeared on her face. "So you said that on purpose to bait her into killing me, just to save me? I was right—you’re a kind-hearted person with a cold exterior!"

"Kind-hearted with a cold exterior?" Xia Tianqiong touched his nose and gave a self-deprecating smile, offering no explanation.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly. It was time for the cat-and-mouse hunt again, and Huang Yu’s vision returned. They continued to act together, but instead of killing cats for hair, they focused on helping Huang Yu catch mouse-people, handing over all the cat hair collected to Xia Tianqiong.

As they played round after round, the red light on the communication box suddenly flashed rapidly during the fifth round. This meant Guo Sheng and Liu Ya were in danger or needed him urgently. Xia Tianqiong decided to check on them, leaving Huang Yu in a secure courtyard.

Following the arrow on the box, he found Guo Sheng, Liu Ya, and, to his surprise, Bai Tianxiong, who had been swept into the spirit domain as well. All three were injured, looking as if they had just finished a battle, standing back-to-back and scanning their surroundings with tension.

Xia Tianqiong approached, his expression grave. "Did you encounter the main body of the entity?"

"We ran into him first," Guo Sheng said, pointing at Bai Tianxiong. "Then we stumbled upon the entity's trail. We discussed it and decided to test its strength. We hoped we could kill or contract it, but it’s too powerful. We were no match for it."

Bai Tianxiong looked disheveled, his shirt torn open at the chest, revealing three deep, bone-exposed claw marks. "It’s not just that it’s strong; this is the spirit domain, its territory. No matter how strong we are, we can't beat it here."

Xia Tianqiong thought they were incredibly bold—that was a Fierce Spirit, three levels above a Wild Spirit, and they had dared to challenge it. Yet, the fact that they had survived proved they were far from ordinary.

"Where is it now? Did you call me here to help fight it?"

"Even with you, we may not be its match," Liu Ya said, bandaging her left arm. "We’ve figured out most of the rules. Officer Guo intends to terminate the game early, and we need your help."

Xia Tianqiong was taken aback. "You found a way to break it?"

"It’s what we discussed before: kill all the mouse-people or all the cat-people. Our analysis suggests that since mouse-people become cat-people upon killing them, the cat-people are inexhaustible. We intend to wipe out all the mouse-people; that should terminate the Death Game early."

Guo Sheng’s expression was dim as he spoke, as if the decision had been a difficult one to make.