Calico Cat Blackmails Art Student

"Speaking of the official channels, I reported the broadcast content related to the [Hunters]."

Yang Zhanbai chimed in, "Including that hidden mark and nickname. Damn human traitors, I reported them with my real name!"

Zhu Yan held back hard so he wouldn't laugh out loud.

He grabbed the sandwich Yang Zhanbai had made and stood up from his seat.

"I'm going to take a stroll around the school to see if there are any other clues."

"I'll leave it to you guys to keep an eye on the information online. I'm going to sweep the teaching building. If you want to go somewhere else, that's fine too."

He really wanted to stay here and rest for a while, or browse the internet and read the news with his two roommates.

But he couldn't; time was a bit tight.

He had to go see the art student, get a leave slip to feed the cat, and then go to the [Recitative Terrace] to apply for a mission. He had to enter the instance tomorrow.

Oh, and drop by the [Demon Department Store] to restock.

Yang Zhanbai said, "I'm going to the library. While you were asleep, we already made a trip to the cafeteria."

Zhu Yan gave them a "hmm" of acknowledgment and didn't say much else.

He grabbed his dirty jacket from the back of the chair, hastily slipped on his shoes, and left in a hurry.

Passing by the first floor, he heard crying and screaming burst out from behind a dorm door, followed by someone saying something, and then it quickly quieted down.

Zhu Yan couldn't help but turn his head, seeing dark red blood gushing out from under a door in the inner room of the first floor—

107? 105?

Zhu Yan didn't get a clear look.

He subconsciously frowned, jogging away from the dormitory building and heading toward the teaching building where the art student was.

This was a 10-person dorm; someone must have been murdered.

It was bad, but the best approach was to stay far away.

Even though Zhu Yan considered his own strength to be decent, there was no need to interfere in such matters.

The smell of blood in his nose dissipated a bit.

Zhu Yan turned on his phone's flashlight, the faint white light slightly piercing through the fog ahead.

Visibility was too low—

The tall sycamore trees on both sides of the road loomed faintly in the gray, rolling fog, leaving only blurred outlines.

Zhu Yan couldn't see any intersections at all.

He could only follow the map navigation's instructions, straining to keep his eyes on the asphalt road two meters ahead, stumbling forward unevenly.

Fifteen minutes later, he finally saw a short flight of stairs in the fog.

Above the stairs hung the familiar corpse of a door lock; it was definitely the art student's masterpiece.

Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

After confirming repeatedly, he pushed open the glass door and walked toward the depths of the familiar corridor.

There was no aura of terrifying creatures here; it was very clean.

Two vending machines sat obediently beneath the stairs.

Zhu Yan took out a bone copper coin he had robbed from the [Bar] from his ring, and then struggled to pull out that old card from his pocket.

The slogan on the card had changed from "Forward" to "Cicada Slough."

Zhu Yan stuffed the copper coin into the broken machine. The indicator light quickly lit up, began spinning wildly, and finally stopped at the cherry blossom-flavored cola.

"Cicada Slough," he said with clear articulation.

The vending machine quickly moved aside, revealing the warm, short corridor behind it.

Zhu Yan slipped inside, and just as the vending machine closed, he heard a familiar voice.

"Wow! You're back!"

An Xuyin bounced into his line of sight, his fluffy curly hair jiggling like a freshly baked soufflé.

He shoved a white envelope into Zhu Yan's hand and pushed up his large black-framed glasses.

"I'm going to kill you, Zhu Yan (Bamboo Salt)."

Zhu Yan looked down at the envelope. It was thick and exquisite, engraved with a line of small text.

"The wondrous dharma proclaims the supreme."

"What is this?"

He asked, quickly tearing it open with his hands.

"I'll beat you to death!!" An Xuyin couldn't help but interrupt him loudly. "Zhu Yan (Bamboo Salt), don't you take your little pet with you when you enter an instance?!"

"Irresponsible father! Your cat has been freeloading food and drinks at my place for days, and it ate all the food you brought me!!"

Inside the envelope was a small card with writing on it and a string of red sandalwood prayer beads.

Each bead of the bracelet was polished into the shape of a bamboo joint, looking unadorned and simple.

But the moment he held it in his hand, a strange sense of reassurance enveloped Zhu Yan. A warm current surged into his chest, followed by a clear, cooling sensation.

Zhu Yan felt his mind clear up—

He enjoyed it for a moment before looking up at the art student, who had his arms crossed.

"Huh? My cat is here with you?"

An Xuyin sneered and led him into the small reception room.

Zhu Yan saw it at first glance.

In just a few days, the genuine leather on the sofa's armrests was completely ruined, peeling up piece by piece like fish scales.

The culprit, a tuxedo cat, was lying comfortably on a corner of the sofa, its furry, round front limbs stretched out luxuriously to their fullest.

There was even a bowl of bubble tea placed next to it, seemingly poured specifically for it by An Xuyin.

Seeing Zhu Yan, the tuxedo cat immediately licked the bubble tea stains from the corners of its mouth and raised its tail, curling it into the shape of a heart.

"Wa-wu," the tuxedo cat said.

Zhu Yan could tell this meant a greeting.

He put the bracelet on his wrist, walked over quickly, picked it up, and gave it a good pet.

"Thank you," Zhu Yan sincerely thanked An Xuyin. "I was originally planning to go out of the school to look for him."

An Xuyin rolled his eyes.

"Compensate me for the food!" he said angrily. "This thing ate half of my stash!"

"I'll go out and buy some for you right away," Zhu Yan said. "How did it find you?"

An Xuyin put away his angry expression and shook his head.

"It ran to the vending machine and meowed, complaining that I scared it and demanding compensation in food and drinks."

"That attitude is exactly the same as yours."

Zhu Yan felt a bit embarrassed.

He entered the [Online Mall] and bought a new human leg for the cat, then scratched his hair sheepishly.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked.

"Don't bother buying anything for me," An Xuyin sighed. "Have you watched the news? You probably can't buy anything right now. I heard there's a total lockdown outside."

"Besides, Xishan University has fallen. You'd need money to go out, right?"

Zhu Yan showed him the bracelet the slime had given him. "I'm going to participate in an instance tomorrow. I'll be teleported directly."

An Xuyin looked at him with a complex expression. "Such a workaholic."

Zhu Yan shook his head, not confessing to An Xuyin that he was going to kill someone.

He lowered his head to fiddle with the sandalwood bracelet and then looked at the card with writing on it.

"Novice mission successfully completed. Welcome to officially join [Mount Fangcun]!"

"The bracelet contains the power of the [Heart of Constancy], and your current rank is carved on it: F."

"As your rank increases, the power you can wield will grow greater and greater."

"It can directly suppress [Shivering Euphoria]. Try it; that uncontrollable euphoria will rarely appear again."

"Additionally, no matter what you do, don't internally consume yourself. You are the most important."

"Kill if you want to kill, do what you want to do, don't repress yourself too much."

Zhu Yan felt like the last two sentences were referring to his next instance, but he had no proof.

He looked further down; the last line was a new mission given to him by [Mount Fangcun].

"In your opening exam instance, continue to attract the attention of the [Court of Many Acts], and obtain the [Chaos Order] fragment."

"Upon completion, you can unlock the access rights to the [Fangcunshan Convenience Store]."

Zhu Yan's gaze swept over the completely unfamiliar words "[Chaos Order] Fragment" a few times before he solemnly tucked the small card away.

The back-to-school exam instance was a matter for later; it had absolutely nothing to do with the instance Zhu Yan was going to participate in tomorrow.

He didn't need to dwell on it right now.

Besides, if that were the case, the phrase "no need to stress yourself out" was most likely just a simple word of comfort...

With this in mind, Zhu Yan walked over and picked up the tuxedo cat from the floor, which had already devoured the human leg at the speed of light. He casually stuffed the leftover bones into his spatial ring.

"Thank you for helping me look after the cat," he expressed his gratitude to An Xuyin once again. "I'll be taking off now. I still need to head to the [Xuanxu Terrace]."

"If everything goes smoothly, I'll see you the day after tomorrow!"

An Xuyin didn't try to keep him any longer.

"See you the day after tomorrow!" he said. "Zhu Yan (Bamboo Salt), you must remember to tell me what the situation is like outside! You didn't use the card to contact me last time, and I was worried to death!"