Chapter 316: The Strange

Cut off from the whole world, like a solitary island in the sea, he did not dare to speak loudly, did not dare to move about.

The food he had stored inside the building would one day finally run out.

This scene was no different from the apocalypse — once the food was gone, what would happen next?

Zhou Yun, this young man who had lived through the era of information overload, was no stranger to it at all.

What a pity, though — it had dragged his sister down with him.

Thinking this, Zhou Yun looked toward his sister.

A few days ago, his sister Xiaoxiao, on her school break, had suddenly wanted to bring the family cat to visit him, and to let him see the cat he hadn't seen in a long time. But no sooner had she arrived than this situation had befallen them.

Sigh…

How had his life become just like the coffee table before him — its surface covered with "tragedies."

Losing his father as a child, the three of them — mother, sister, and himself — had depended on one another to survive. Just when he had finally graduated, found a good job, and life was gradually improving, this misfortune had struck him! And dragged his sister along with it!

He and his sister had vanished — their mother at home must be terribly worried, right?

The old woman's legs were already so stiff she could no longer get about — how would she manage without him…

"Brother, what's wrong?"

The girl, barely in junior high, stroked with heartache the cat that had been listless for the past four days, carefully feeding it a piece of snack. Seeming to sense her brother's gaze, she asked in a small, uneasy voice.

She thought her brother was about to scold her for giving their precious food to Mimi.

"It's nothing."

Zhou Yun shook his head — how could he share the bitterness and worry in his heart with Xiaoxiao?

As for feeding food to Mimi, he didn't really mind.

Although the situation was dire and food was scarce, Mimi held an extraordinary place in their family. Not only was it especially Spirit-touched, it had once saved his mother's life when she suffered carbon monoxide poisoning alone at home — it could long since be called a member of the family.

As long as they had a mouthful to eat, Mimi would never go hungry.

But for some unknown reason, four days ago — right around the Time they had arrived in this strange world — Mimi had suddenly wilted, as if running a high fever?

Zhou Yun was rather at a loss about it; perhaps Mimi had developed some kind of maladjustment symptom during the crossing…

Too bad, he didn't have any medicine here either…

"Knock knock—"

Just then, a faint knocking came from outside the door.

In an instant, the big man's cursing and the timid man's endless apologies cut off short.

The large shared apartment where Zhou Yun lived with others fell utterly silent, giving off a stifling, breathless feeling.

In the living room, everyone's heart tightened; they held their breath and stared toward the main door, which was blocked by countless tables, chairs, and miscellaneous items.

Even Li Dazhuang, who liked to intimidate others with his broad, burly frame, was the same.

This wasn't the first time they had encountered this — whoever was knocking on the door was no "living person"!

In the surrounding silence, it wasn't long before a "Boom!" rang out!

Rolling waves of sound echoed endlessly through the silent building.

That was the sound of the main door being smashed down,

Something had happened!

Zhou Yun's heart lurched — his instincts told him something had definitely gone wrong outside!

He instinctively glanced around his small room, sweeping his gaze over the storage rack, the chair, and the heavy table.

"Ah! N-no, don't come any closer…"

"Let her go!"

"I don't want to die…"

"Bang bang bang…"

At that very moment, a shrill female voice rang out from beyond the door, mingled with an angry man's voice and faint chewing sounds, followed by several thuds of a wooden door being smashed.

The force was so violent that even Zhou Yun, who was moving a table to block his door, felt a pressure brush against his cheek near the door crack.

Before long, the screams faded. Just as Zhou Yun thought "it" had left and leaned gently against the door crack to listen, his whole body suddenly stiffened — a soft voice slowly drifted into his ear:

"Zhou Yun, Zhou Yun, 'it' is gone. Open the door and save me, let me in, I'm so scared…"

It was a woman's voice, very gentle, giving one the impression of a soft, virtuous, refined lady.

Zhou Yun remembered who she was — the prettiest of the roommates. Usually timid, she would shriek and call him for help whenever she saw cockroaches or Laoshu in the kitchen. She was also the girl he dreamed of marrying and bringing home.

But she was dead.

When the shadow first appeared on the second day of losing contact, she had gone out with him. Before he could even cry out in shock at the sudden sight of the shadow, she had screamed in terror first — and so she had died.

He had survived.

Yet now, she was softly calling him from beyond the door.

In an instant, Zhou Yun felt a chill run through his entire body; sweat nearly soaked through his clothes.

He turned, somewhat stiffly, toward the peephole. What appeared before his eyes was a woman with a ruined face — one eye bulged out and hung down, bloodshot, and stared back at him through the peephole.

Cold, dazed, yet tinged with a hint of gloom — which then twisted into madness!

"Bang bang—"

"You, you saw it? You saw it, didn't you?"

"Quick, quick, open the door!"

"Ahhhhh—"

Caught off guard, Zhou Yun was so startled that he stumbled backward repeatedly and landed squarely on his bottom.

"Brother?"

From beside him came the worried, frightened voice of Zhou Xiaoxiao.

At the same time, perhaps because the commotion had grown too loud.

The white-gloved tabby cat in Zhou Xiaoxiao's arms slowly opened its golden feline eyes, a look of almost human bewilderment in its gaze.

【……Where is this place?】

【Right, wasn't I attacked by some mysterious creature earlier? And then I fell into a modern city that appeared out of nowhere?】

【Then I was accidentally swallowed by some creature, and what should have been a normal, effortless possession of consciousness—suddenly the strange substance I'd scraped off that black shadow came alive… started resisting me, and this unfamiliar body… what should have taken less than a day to possess was dragged out to a full four days…】

As Baichuan began to recall, his understanding of the situation before him grew clearer and clearer.

He remembered that there seemed to have been some fellow muttering from time to time, feeding the body he was possessing, which barely managed to keep a little vitality in it so it wouldn't simply die in the tug-of-war between him and that strange substance.

He kept his body still, quietly observing the surroundings.

After finally bringing a sliver of supernatural power in here and successfully surviving, he absolutely couldn't waste this opportunity for nothing.

A soft, squishy feeling all around?

He seemed to be lying in a human's arms?

It must be that fellow who had been feeding him earlier,

And then he had become… a small four-legged animal… apparently something like a cat?

Looking at the cat paw before him that seemed to be wearing a white glove, Baichuan was stunned.

He woke up and found he'd become a cat?!

But the situation before him seemed a little off?

He murmured slowly to himself, and Baichuan wasn't too surprised—after all, in ten years of attempts, the creative ways he'd died were more than one or two.

A human sitting on the ground in terror?

A main door blocked by something heavy, the sound of palm-slaps knocking coming from outside nonstop, and a girl clutching him, trembling with fear.

This was the information Baichuan gathered at first glance.

So this family was being visited by someone coming to press for… no, wait—a faint, very mixed smell of blood drifted in from outside, and beyond the window it was dim, without any of the vitality of a modern city…

And there was the unfamiliar city he saw rising from a deep pit at the very last moment.

So, my current predicament is being…

"Bang bang!!"

The knocking from outside grew heavier and heavier, and the spots on that wooden door being struck were actually beginning to show signs of aging!

On what had been a brand-new little wooden door, the struck spots were almost visibly mottling, rotting, and decaying.

The shadowy figure behind the door grew clearer and clearer!

【Not good!】

Coming to his senses, Zhou Yun had no time to curse the second landlord who'd installed such shoddy wooden doors, and instinctively lunged over to salvage the situation.

But he was too late.

"Crack!"

With another crisp sound, that fragile little wooden door shattered completely. Amid a flurry of aged wood chips mixed with musty wood dust, Zhou Yun was sent flying through the air.

Then a "woman" was revealed, her bloodstained head tilted at a 90° angle.

"Boom…"

A sudden clap of thunder rang out.

In the dim surroundings, the world turned white,

And within it, "she" slowly revealed a horrifying smile that split to the corners of her mouth; on her crimson gums, large amounts of shredded meat could faintly be seen wedged between her teeth.

A bloodstained, pale, slender long leg stepped out, passing over the wooden door that had nearly lost all ability to block, and "she" came in!

Wherever she passed, the tile floor began to yellow, crack with countless fine lines, and sprout moss; as her long black hair swayed, it seemed to drag the darkness closer by another step.

"Eek—!"

"Don't you dare hurt my brother!"

The girl's scream rang out; with tears at the corners of her eyes, she grabbed a broomstick from somewhere, and in a few quick steps placed herself before Zhou Yun, who still couldn't straighten up.

Beneath her trembling body was a courage brimming with the will to protect her family.

"Squeak—"

The "woman" advanced straight ahead as if she hadn't heard, yet beneath her emaciated frame lurked strength enough to move heavy tables and chairs!

The heavy tables and chairs blocking the way also began to grow old and rotten, with moss continuously sprouting up.

"Wuu~~"

With every step the "woman" drew closer, the girl let out a wail, and the wooden stick in her hands trembled more and more.

Sigh…

A faint, drawn-out sigh rang out.

In an instant, in the dim surroundings, a barely visible grey-white phantom figure swept toward the "woman's" neck, then lightly landed on the window on the other side—

"Pfft!"

A thin line of blood slowly surfaced on the "woman's" pale neck, and the blood that hadn't yet fully clotted spurted out like a faucet with its valve opened.

But not long after it began spurting, it turned into a shower of grey ash!

"Heh heh…"

Faced with such a wound, the "woman" finally showed an obvious change, her body retreating step after step,

"Ah!!!"

Finally coming to his senses, Zhou Yun looked at the scene before him, and a flash of inspiration told him this was a rare opportunity,

In an instant, he slammed his palms against the ground and surged up, then snatched the broomstick from his sister's hands, stepped on a chair, and leaped high; seizing the moment, he thrust with all his might at the "woman's" neck that was still spurting blood, driving it straight into the ground.

At the same time, the grey-white phantom that had landed by the window leaped once more, lunging at the "woman" pinned to the ground and unable to move, and completely tore her head off.

In an instant, the "woman's" violent struggling froze.

"Ha— ha—"

Only then did Zhou Yun, like a deflated balloon, slowly collapse back down into a sitting position.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he sharply looked toward where the grey-white phantom had fallen.

"Mimi!"

His younger sister cried out in disbelief.

"What, Mimi?"

Only now did Zhou Yun also realize that the grey-white phantom was actually their family's cat!

Facing the calls of the two, Baichuan—who had become a tabby cat—paid them no heed,

his expression solemn as he raised the right paw that had just seized the "woman," gazing thoughtfully at the patch of glaring pale-yellow brittle fur on what should have been smooth, sleek white fur—the spot where, at the very last moment, he had accidentally been stained by the "woman's" blood.

That "woman's" blood seemed to be problematic.

After a long while, he lowered his right paw and walked toward the living room outside.

"Mimi?"

Apparently receiving no response, the girl in the darkness called out again, somewhat puzzled.

Baichuan paused, and with his back to them, rolled his eyes speechlessly.

But considering that he was currently nothing more than a weak little kitten, and that the only power he had brought with him had chosen the Agility LV3 ability,

he was now at most a slightly "agile" little kitty, and might later need to rely on the strength of these humans, so he still responded to the two behind him.

Of course, that young man's earlier actions had been decent too—helping him suppress the "woman" for a while—barely qualifying as commendable courage, bold and decisive.

If he had truly been a useless good-for-nothing, he would have run long ago.

In an end-of-the-world-like world, being weak is not the original sin—useless teammates are!

Casting a light glance at the two behind him, Baichuan, with the crisis temporarily resolved, went off on his own, sniffing toward the direction of food.

This body, having endured four days of tug-of-war between him and that mysterious substance, was already ravenously hungry.

At this moment, he urgently needed food to replenish his energy.

'Wow, what a special Mimi!'

Staring blankly at Mimi walking toward the living room, Zhou Yun inexplicably felt that his family's cat seemed to have changed, as if reborn anew?

In the past, although his family's Mimi was very Spirit, her temperament was rather lazy; though a cat, she was afraid of Laoshu, and when she walked there was no shape to it—but what about the one before him now?

Although her appearance had not changed, every movement carried an inexplicable rhythm, radiating a strange charm from within, giving people an exceptionally dashing feeling.

Especially that scene just now—in the darkness, a grey-white figure glided through the air like a phantom, unleashing a lethal attack without stirring a whisper of sound, yet delivering a devastating blow to the enemy.

Like the most outstanding assassin.

This wild charm—looking at it was like seeing the king of beasts in the jungle, as if what stood before him was not a cat, but a far more powerful and mysterious lethal creature!

Of course, Zhou Yun did not suspect too much; perhaps after the transmigration, Mimi had undergone a special mutation, and perhaps Mimi's earlier fever had been her undergoing a metamorphosis.

Not only that, Zhou Yun discovered that under this cat's just-now dashing and elegant backward glance, he, who already liked Mimi, seemed to have become even more smitten with this Mimi!

"Mimi, where are you going?"

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoxiao's voice rang out from beside him, filled with panic and worry, and then she actually ran after her as well.

"Wait—"

Zhou Yun, who had only just caught his breath, also came back to his senses and instinctively reached out to stop her.

Because he suddenly remembered that the front door outside was already broken, and there was more than one of those "people" inside this building,

watching the person and cat run out of the room, he grew anxious, hurriedly looked around the room, grabbed a broken chair leg, and followed after them…

(End of this chapter)