The sound of cats meowing spread far on the night streets, but obviously, the city had no shortage of cat meows.
Only two people were attracted by the cat's meows. One was, of course, Xia De. He made eye contact with his cat, quite certain that Mia was looking directly at him. But considering that this cat had also seen an Evil God with him, and had even absorbed a wisp of divinity, it didn't seem surprising that she could see him now.
Leia, who also heard Mia's meow, subconsciously looked in the direction Mia was staring, and then was surprised to notice Xia De standing there. Xia De earlier hadn't disappeared in her eyes; she had just subconsciously ignored his location. Now that she truly noticed him, she felt how strange that previous oversight had been.
“Xia De, now—”
The Golden-haired girl quickly walked towards Xia De, holding the cat.
“Take a breath first, don’t be so anxious. Don’t come near me now, hold Mia tightly, and don’t let her touch me.”
Xia De continued to walk forward, recognizing Leia from her eyes:
“The dice story collection, I know.”
“Iluna Bayas.”
“That’s the friend from the church I mentioned before.”
He gave her continuous replies under Leia's surprised gaze, then asked:
“Leia, I need to know what’s happening right now.”
“No problem.”
Leia leaned on a nearby lamppost, but let go a few seconds later.
“Meow~”
Mia meowed softly, looking up at Xia De, who had walked away. Xia De immediately asked:
“Do Iluna and the others know that you appeared by my side?”
Dorothy, who had just opened her eyes, was startled. She immediately shook her head as she caught up:
“We only knew you slowed down; we didn’t know what you were looking at.”
“Then keep walking forward.”
Xia De said, then worriedly added:
“I know the rules myself, and now I know that you haven’t appeared in the story yet, so you and Leia shouldn’t switch easily. Such frequent switching will greatly damage your spirits.”
“But this is Angel-level—”
Xia De saw the worry on Dorothy’s face. He quickly explained:
“Is this my first time encountering an Angel-level relic? Don’t worry about me. The current situation is that only if a certain target directly affects me, or directly threatens my life, can it appear in the story’s narration. So, just keep talking to me while holding Mia. What’s the situation inside the relic now? Have the three storytellers found Jack the Thief?”
“Iluna Bayas’s two opponents have been found.”
Dorothy directly clarified the location of Jack the Thief. The two walked past the edge of two lamplit areas, heading towards the next gas lamp. Patrol police officers walked from a distance. Dorothy hid her sword inside Xia De’s large overcoat. The tall police officer in the group merely glanced at her, thinking she was a girl walking alone late at night.
“Miss Bei Ya Si is in a difficult situation; it seems she doesn’t want to expose your Ring術士 identity. Leia cannot directly communicate with Miss Bei Ya Si; there are many church Ring術士 there. Do I need to attract the church’s Ring術士 squad stationed on Silver Cross Avenue? Let them enter the story and apprehend Jiaogeli Dius and Lydia Penggeluo. Since Mia can let me see you, I should also be able to let the church’s High-Ring Sorcerers see those two sneaking around.”
“No, with rules and story-type relics, never try to cheat. Just make reasonable use of the rules. Moreover, we cannot easily introduce other variables into the story.”
Xia De looked straight ahead down the street and said softly:
“Introducing extra variables means every one of us will have to pass an extra roll of the dice. Iluna, I mean Miss Bei Ya Si, when she can’t expose my identity, I’m at a disadvantage every time a roll is made.”
“What needs to be done now?”
Dorothy asked. She held Mia tightly, and the cat was uncharacteristically well-behaved. Although Miss Writer had not experienced similar things, her thinking was very broad:
“I’m not a character in the story yet, so what if I just go and kill Jiaogeli Dius and Lydia Penggeluo? They are only PentaCircle, and I am PentaCircle.”
“I can’t let you take risks. You are a normal person, and they are story characters affected by the relic’s rules. Who knows what they might do? I’d rather not catch Jack the Thief than let you suffer any harm.”
Xia De emphasized. Dorothy curved her lips, about to say something, when she suddenly saw Xia De’s expression change:
“I received the next instruction. Miss Bei Ya Si wants me to return home directly? Strange, even if she doesn’t know what to make me do, she shouldn’t make me leave Silver Cross Avenue.”
“Let Leia answer you.”
“Wait—”
Before Xia De could stop her, Dorothy, holding the cat, leaned against the lamppost again, then immediately stood up. The short soul swap made her face look very bad, but the Golden-haired girl didn't complain at all.
The princess, who had opened her eyes, stated the current situation:
“Jack the Thief is moving, heading towards Saint Delan Square. The church’s judgment was wrong; its target is not Yodel Palace at all. The Society of Truth’s High-Ring Sorcerer and the Cultists passed a judgment with a high score of 1200 points, learned that the destination was Saint Delan Square, and successfully allowed Jiaogeli Dius and Lydia Penggeluo to follow behind Jack the Thief. Miss Bei Ya Si had no choice but to issue an instruction for you to go home.”
As she spoke, Xia De clearly sensed the two “sneaking” individuals hurrying past them, but he still couldn’t sense the trace of “Jack the Thief.”
“Yes, when Jack the Thief is not stealing, it’s equivalent to not existing. Although it possesses the power of The dice story collection, the judgment required for capture at this time must be extremely strict. Iluna’s opponents should be thinking of waiting until the theft occurs before capturing it.”
Xia De’s steps remained unchanged, as he had just been walking in the direction of home:
“Saint Delan Square? I wonder which of my neighbors will be so unlucky.”
Hearing Xia De’s words, the Golden-haired girl glanced at him but did not voice her inner guess:
“Also, Miss Bei Ya Si’s opponents are The Society of Truth’s High-Ring Sorcerer and Cultists who believe in Evil Gods.”
She and Xia De turned at the street corner, leaving Silver Cross Avenue. The lights suddenly dimmed. There was still about seven minutes of walking distance before entering Saint Delan Square.
“But who will be the thief’s target?”
Leia asked again. Xia De shook his head:
“Including tenants and homeowners like me who occupy an entire house, there are no fewer than 100 families living in Saint Delan Square. Anyone could be his target, and our only advantage now is that, as a story character, I can directly learn things through you from the Keeper that I shouldn’t know in my identity.”
“Xia De, this situation is very unfavorable for you. Perhaps I can do something for you.”
Leia said softly from the side, while the cat stared wide-eyed into the surrounding darkness, its bright amber eyes seeming to notice something.
“My Knight, at a time like this, I must do something for you.”
“Leia, you’ve already done enough for me. Now, walk with me and return to Saint Delan Square together. We need to confirm which unlucky household was stolen from before we can take action. The two people walking ahead of us will enter the Saint Delan Square area in a few minutes, and although Miss Bei Ya Si cannot manipulate me to use Ring術士 power, we actually have other methods. Once we must enter a combat scenario, I will need your help.”
“Okay, Xia De.”
Leia was about to nod, but found Xia De had stopped on his own. She looked around in surprise and suddenly realized that at some point, all the surrounding lights had gone out. Drifting dark clouds obscured the stars and the Moon, and large swathes of darkness enveloped them, even the lights from the windows of surrounding buildings had disappeared.
The surroundings were extremely quiet, a quietness that even brought a strange sense of fear. Leia subconsciously hugged Mia tightly and then moved closer to Xia De:
“I sensed whisper element? A relic? But how?”
After her words fell, she realized how hoarse her voice was. The Golden-haired girl was surprised by her body’s instinctive reaction, and then finally saw pairs of green glowing eyes appearing densely from the darkness all around them.
Along with those gazes, the darkness was slightly illuminated, and Leia and Xia De together saw dense crowds of wild cats surrounding them. It was like swarms of locusts, or dense white maggots in a decaying corpse.
The whisper element suppressed all surrounding light and sound. The crowds of wild cats watched them like this, and they all stood up from their crouching positions:
“Meow~”
“Meow~”
“Meow~”
A continuous wave of shrill cat meows swept over them, making Leia’s hair stand on end in the dark night. She had never known cat meows could be so terrifying.
The shrill cries were like the last wails of a dying person in the dark night, or the low roars of an unspeakable entity hidden in the darkness of a horror story. Thousands of wild cats gathered towards the two in the darkness, their cat eyes glowing with increasing terror.
Leia, who subconsciously wanted to summon her Destiny Ring, was shocked to find that the thick air seemed to be suppressing her own power.
In a daze, the cat 群 had already surrounded them, coming to their feet. Black, white, orange, brown—cats of all colors possessed a similar eerie aura. As the crowds of wild cats shrieked and approached, Leia felt that she might never like cats again.
Just as she was about to unleash her Miracle power regardless of the consequences, her cold body felt warmth—the warmth of the cat she held in her arms. It was as if she had instantly transitioned from winter to spring; Mia’s body temperature at that moment was so reassuring that the princess once again believed she would still like cats.
“A relic related to cat groups.”
Xia De's voice clearly reached Dorothy's ears, and Leia then fully recovered. She quickly took a step forward, pressing against his back at a distance that wouldn't touch Xia De. In the darkness, Xia De's body was glowing. Leia knew this was one of Xia De's unique abilities; she had seen it several times in the dark night.
At this moment, that steady silvery Moonlight was so delightful that Leia even felt her face flush for some reason:
“What should we do now?”
“My luck isn’t so bad that I’d encounter a dangerous relic while walking at night. It seems the story has taken a new turn. However, this time it’s good luck; although it’s on the verge of losing control, the whisper element isn’t very strong. This relic is probably Document-level, Leia, you probably need to act. Take the Night Watchman, and then try to—”
Leia was not a story character. If the princess were to expel the relic, the story might develop into “encountered a relic but it was dispelled by a powerful Ring術士.”
But before Xia De could finish speaking, Mia, held in Leia’s arms, quite displeased, stretched her small head out from the Golden-haired girl’s arm and looked at the surrounding cat groups.
She had always been unafraid of her own kind, and always disliked any other cats approaching Xia De. Her amber eyes stared at the surrounding cat 群, just about to meow in response to the continuous cat calls, when suddenly Moonlight and starlight poured down from above, and the gas lamps and window lights around them sequentially returned.
The whisper element gradually subsided. Those eyes, emitting an eerie glow, and the crowds of cats that were gradually surrounding the two people and one cat, stopped their steps the moment the small Mia saw them. Then, they slightly lowered their heads and retreated into the shadows like a receding tide, disappearing from view.
Xia De, who was mid-sentence, froze and looked around in surprise:
“Huh? Where’s the relic? Why did it disappear before we even did anything?”
【Who knows?】
Only “She” chuckled softly.
