The sound of the axe dragging across the ground drew closer and closer.
Screech—
Screech—
It was like a dull knife scraping against bone, slowly grinding from the distance to right beside their ears.
Hidden beneath her Invisibility Spell, Cen Yao could clearly sense the cat-headed employee holding the axe slowly drawing nearer to the shadow where she hid.
With every step, it behaved as though it already knew what was concealed there, simply taking pleasure in watching its prey hold their breath, too terrified to move.
Cen Yao's back tensed slightly, and magic power silently gathered at her fingertips.
She was ready to strike at any moment.
The instant the cat-headed employee noticed something amiss, she would immediately hurl an explosive fireball at it.
As for whether the commotion would be too loud or if it would draw other ghosts over, that was a problem for the next second.
Either way, she couldn't just stand there and let herself get chopped.
Yet, her face remained perfectly calm.
One might even call her relaxed.
It was as if she didn't care in the slightest whether the cat-headed employee would discover her and the person beside her.
She even had the peace of mind to look at the person in the wheelchair next to her.
Things had been too rushed earlier, so she had only managed to catch a vague silhouette, but she could tell he was quite good-looking.
Cen Yao thought idly.
No wonder even when he was turned into a civet cat, he was still a rather pretty, albeit bad, kitty.
Pretty as he was, though.
His mouth was truly toxic.
With these thoughts in mind, Cen Yao looked down.
Her eyes immediately locked with a pair of eyes brimming with mockery.
The shape of those eyes was very beautiful.
The outer corners tilted up slightly, and the irises were extremely dark. The night fell into them like a thin layer of cold mist.
He sat in his wheelchair, his face pale and his lips light in color. The black hair on his forehead was somewhat messy, and the pair of civet cat ears on his head added a touch of incongruity to his sharp, handsome features.
He didn't speak.
After all, Cen Yao had placed a Muting Spell on him.
But his eyes had already said everything.
Cen Yao: “...”
He really was quite good-looking.
Of course he was.
How could he not be?!
He was someone she had carefully selected back then by pinching pennies and saving every cent!
Holy crap!
Why did this guy share a face with Pei Tinglan?!
Cen Yao fell into a daze that felt like it lasted ten whole seconds.
Of course, in such a perilous environment, ten actual seconds couldn't possibly pass in reality.
She simply felt as though her brain had been struck by an axe on the spot. With a loud buzz, all her thoughts fell into complete disarray.
Pei Tinglan.
Her favorite idol before the Horror Game descended.
An excellent singer and dancer with top-tier skills, and a face that looked as if it had been hand-sculpted by God himself.
Cen Yao had listened to the songs he wrote on repeat countless times.
When he stood on stage and the lights shone down on him, his entire being seemed to glow.
In the past, to go see his live performances, Cen Yao had literally survived on steamed buns for an entire month.
Thinking back now, that month of steamed buns really hadn't been in vain.
At least her taste in aesthetics was indeed top-notch.
But the question was, why was Pei Tinglan here?
He had actually entered the Horror Game as well?
And even ended up in the same dungeon as her?
More importantly, the Pei Tinglan in Cen Yao's memory was not like this.
The Pei Tinglan she remembered was gentle, attentive, and always spoke with a warm, comforting smile.
He would remind his fans to stay safe after his concerts ended.
He would have the staff organize escorts to send lone female fans back to safe areas.
He would listen to his fans attentively, and even if it was just a tiny request, he would do his best to fulfill it.
He was someone who shone brilliantly on stage.
But what about the one she encountered in this dungeon?
Mean.
Toxic-tongued.
Fickle and moody.
Disabled in both legs.
He was like a bad cat covered in thorns; anyone who got close would end up pricked.
Aside from his face, he was practically a world apart from the person in Cen Yao's memories.
Pei Tinglan watched the girl in front of him stare at him in a daze.
Her expression went from hesitant to shocked, and then to as if she had seen a ghost.
The mockery in his eyes deepened.
Even after returning to her human form, she was still so stunningly foolish.
He couldn't move, nor could he speak.
The Muting Spell weighed heavily on his throat like an invisible chain, preventing him from letting out even a cold sneer.
But Pei Tinglan was in no hurry.
He even had the leisure to lift his eyes and look above Cen Yao's head.
The axe had arrived.
Without them realizing it, the cat-headed employee had already come to a halt behind them.
That massive cat face split into a wide grin in the darkness, revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth.
The blade of the axe was raised high.
A cold gleam descended toward the top of Cen Yao's head.
Pei Tinglan saw it.
Yet, he made no sound to warn her.
Of course, he could have warned her with his eyes.
Even if he couldn't speak, there were other ways.
But he didn't.
He merely watched with cold eyes.
He even thought with utter composure in his heart:
A fool with a bleeding heart like hers won't survive long out there anyway.
She might as well die here.
It saves her from going out and causing trouble for others.
Pei Tinglan despised this kind of person the most—those who lacked strength yet handed out kindness indiscriminately.
Seeing a bit of misery, they couldn't help but stretch out a hand.
Seeing someone trapped, they assumed they could save them.
People like this rarely made things better; they only dragged more people into worse situations.
Just like his past self.
Utterly sickening.
Tsk.
Looking at Pei Tinglan's dead-fish-like, cold eyes, Cen Yao suddenly felt a bit annoyed.
Though she had indeed been stunned for a moment earlier, she wasn't stupid.
The foul, bloody stench behind her was practically brushing against her hair. How could she not know something was coming?
Yet this guy saw it and still wore an expression that said, "Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."
Fine.
Very fine.
Her idol filter had completely shattered.
But it didn't matter.
Cen Yao had many virtues.
One of them was that she settled her grudges immediately, never leaving them overnight.
The moment the axe swung down with a whistling wind, Cen Yao abruptly leaned to the side and ducked.
The sharp blade grazed past her ear and slammed heavily into the ground.
Bang!
Dirt and gravel sprayed everywhere.
The cat-headed employee let out a shrill laugh.
“Found you—”
Before it could even finish its sentence, Cen Yao raised her hand and canceled both the Invisibility Spell and the Muting Spell.
Immediately after, she grabbed the armrests of Pei Tinglan's wheelchair and spun him around to run.
Her movements were swift and without a shred of hesitation.
Yanked back with sudden force, Pei Tinglan leaned backward from the momentum.
His fingertips instantly tightened around the armrests.
In the next second, the wheelchair shot forward at a speed that absolutely did not belong to a wheelchair.
Cen Yao cast a Lightweight Spell on herself.
Then, she cast a Strength Spell.
Finally, feeling that it still wasn't fast enough, she attached a gentle breeze to her body.
The wind swept back along the hem of her robe, her deep purple skirt leaving behind a blur in the night.
The ground was far from even.
The breeding area of the Cat Cafe was littered with mud pits, gravel, ditches, scattered coffee cherries, and wastewater left behind by who-knew-what.
Yet Cen Yao ran incredibly fast.
So fast that she was like a gust of wind draped in a Witch's robe.
And the wheelchair she pushed in her hands became the unfortunate passenger forced to tag along at the tail end of this gale.
Rate on N.U.
