Chapter 253: Little Kitties and Glowing Bugs

Panda Arena, Spirit Realm Zone.

Rows of Game Capsules were arranged neatly.

To be honest, Zhang Suannai had not expected that, as a guest from afar, Chen Shu would actually take her to play games; this was truly...

Exactly what she wanted!

It seemed that while this person was a bit of an idiot, he still had aspects worth her appreciation.

Zhang Suannai walked past the Game Capsules, which were either lying flat or standing upright, and asked the people beside her: "Do you want the lying-down ones or the sitting ones?"

Ning Qing spat out one word:

"Sitting."

"Alright!"

Zhang Suannai stretched her neck, her eyes darting everywhere.

There was a light on top of the Game Capsules; if someone was inside, it didn't light up, and if it was empty, it shone green. The upright ones were easier to find.

Zhang Suannai quickly found five empty Game Capsules in a row. She hurriedly turned her head to report to the group, and after reporting, she dashed over in a flash, managing to reach the Game Capsules ahead of two young men and announcing that she had claimed them all.

Fortunately, the two young men did not argue with her.

Given Zhang Suannai's notorious track record in Bai City last summer, Chen Shu truly broke into a cold sweat for the two young men.

"Come quickly, come quickly!"

Zhang Suannai looked smug, waving at the group repeatedly: "Luckily I ran fast! Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to connect together! The numbers are from 21 to 25, go in and connect! Oh right, what games do you usually play together?"

"Hide-and-seek, tag, things like that."

"?"

"You heard me right."

"So childish! I love it!"

Zhang Suannai was already feeling impatient.

"Beep beep!"

Zhang Suannai swiped open Game Capsule No. 21.

Usually, she was accustomed to using the lying-down type of Game Capsule, and the ones placed inside her sect were also the lying-down type; she rarely used the sitting ones... but in reality, it wasn't exactly sitting either. A person inside wasn't sitting perfectly upright; it was more of a reclined sit, like the difference between lying flat and a lounge chair.

The seat was leather, and it still retained the scent of cleaning agent.

The hygiene was handled well.

After Zhang Suannai closed the capsule door, she operated the panel to pull No. 22 through No. 25 into the same game room:

"Hello, hello, hello?"

"I can hear you."

"Then let's go in!"

"Alright."

Zhang Suannai relaxed her mind and pressed the button.

There was no need to wear any helmet or connect any wires; Spirit Realm technology was very mature in this world. How mature? Many powerful Illusion Arrays and Illusion techniques from ancient times could already provide people with extremely realistic sensations, and Spirit Realm games were merely their modern application.

The only thing to note was that for a top-tier Fifth-tier Practitioner like Zhang Suannai, who possessed a firm willpower, the effects of the Spirit Realm would be discounted.

One must be completely relaxed when entering the Spirit Realm, without a shred of resistance, otherwise, it would fail.

"Ying..."

It sounded like the sound effect of a Sword being unsheathed.

The group had already arrived in a void.

This void was designed in imitation of a Mijing; just like the Tesseract Secret Realm, it was deep pitch-black in every direction. If not for the support beneath their feet, one might even feel as if they were situated in the pitch-black, deathly silent deep space.

A light lit up ahead.

A menu panel appeared.

Zhang Suannai quietly peeked at the two roommates beside her; it was hard to imagine that the two of them would actually play games too.

And Xiaoxiao was still a minor.

It was all that person's fault.

Zhang Suannai glanced toward Chen Shu.

Chen Shu had already skillfully found "Hide-and-Seek (5021 Monster Edition)," clicked to enter, and a series of maps appeared.

"I haven't played this version yet; it's updated with many new maps. Shall we choose a new map?"

"Up to you."

"Then let's choose this 'Kingdom of Monsters'."

"Alright."

Chen Shu clicked into it.

The scene changed.

The group arrived in a dense forest. It was unclear whether it was dusk or dawn; the sky was neither bright nor dark.

The forest was composed of ancient trees so unimaginably huge that they did not exist in reality. The ancient trees were at least a hundred meters tall, with the tallest ones even having branches reaching into the clouds. Each branch was as wide as a highway, and indeed, they were treated as roads; they were either shaved flat and fitted with guardrails, or paved with flat wooden planks so that people could walk between the branches.

There were even other plants growing on the branches, bearing fruit.

The place where the group stood was an open space.

The open ground was covered in soft grass and grew several mushrooms, along with unknown red fruits that emitted an alluring sweet fragrance. All around were many glowing, beautiful plants, and scattered sparsely were some dense shrubs or large rocks. From time to time, unknown small animals would poke their heads out from behind them to take a look at them.

Near the shrubs or large trees, where the light was dim, there were some glowing little bugs the size of a fingernail flying about, moving slowly and not afraid of people.

Looking closely, each of these little bugs had a pair of tiny hands, and in their hands, they carried a tiny lantern. It was these tiny lanterns that were glowing, not the organs behind their tails.

A white circle was drawn on the ground.

"So pretty!"

Zhang Suannai widened her eyes, wanting to reach out and catch these bugs.

"Huh?"

A ripple spread through the air, blocking her.

Immediately, the system's voice arrived: "Setup complete. One monster will be randomly selected, and the remainder will be kittens.

"After the game begins, the kittens have two minutes to find a safe place to hide. After two minutes, the monster recovers its vision and can leave the circle. Finding all the kittens counts as a victory for the monster; the first kitten found becomes the monster in the next round. If any kitten returns to the circle to 'detonate the cannon' before being discovered by the monster, it counts as a failure for the monster, and the next round begins.

"The first round's monster is selected—"

"Poof..."

A pair of wings appeared on Chen Banxia, while the others each transformed into different kittens.

"Confirm start!"

"Yes!"

"Run quickly!"

Zhang Suannai's voice was so noisy.

The three cats ran out in a panic; Chen Black Cat even bumped into Xiao Flower Cat. Only Ning White Cat strolled along unhurriedly. Once two-thirds of the countdown had passed, she casually found a tree to climb, squeezed into a tree hole, lay down, and quietly pondered cat life.

Chen Black Cat ran quite far, squeezed into a dimly lit corner, fully utilized the advantage of his fur color, lay down without moving, and stared ahead.

To his front left, fallen leaves had piled up several layers deep; a small flower cat was earnestly wiggling its body, trying to hide itself in the leaves.

In the distance, Zhang Gray Cat was frantically climbing a tree.

In Chen Black Cat's view, this was truly not a wise move.

"Ding!"

The monster left the circle.

Chen Banxia, possessing wings, flew up at the first opportunity, increased her altitude, and aimed toward the nearby giant trees.

At this moment, Zhang Gray Cat was still huffing and puffing as she climbed up the tree trunk, completely unaware that the monster had already arrived behind her.

"Zhang Suannai!"

"Ah?"

"Zhang Suannai! Eliminated!"

Zhang Gray Cat looked back, locking eyes with Chen Banxia.

"Oh ho! Hahaha..."

Although she was the first to be found, she laughed like something or other.

It was truly strange for a cat to make such a laughing sound. Yet her laughter seemed to have a contagious quality, causing Chen Banxia to be unable to help but laugh along, and even the hiding Chen Shu felt like laughing.

Immediately, Chen Banxia continued her search.

She first flew around the circle to rule out anyone hiding nearby, trying to "detonate the cannon" while she wasn't paying attention, and only then began searching the outer circle.

Don't let the map seem large and the terrain complex, or the kittens seem inconspicuous; in reality, the game limits the range of activity. It isn't the case that the entire forest in view can be run through, and a Cultivator's observational skills are extremely sharp, so it isn't that easy to hide—if one were not a Cultivator, one could choose not to transform into a cat before the game starts, or choose to transform into other animals larger and more conspicuous than a cat, depending on the monster's cultivation and game abilities.

Chen Shu could only shrink himself tightly.

"Swish!"

The female monster suddenly swooped down.

Her wings fanned up a gale, flipping over the fallen leaves.

A flower cat was revealed.

"Ning Xiao! Eliminated!"

Chen Shu didn't dare move a muscle.

The female monster began to hover in front of him; the gaze of a Fifth-tier Practitioner swept across every part of the forest, and no unusual movement could escape her.

Chen Shu was extremely nervous inside.

Just at this moment, a glow-bug carrying a small lantern flew over and arrived in front of him. This little thing was truly bold, actually turning its head to stare at him, its little eyes full of curiosity.

Is this game development team toxic?

Chen Shu caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye: Zhang Gray Cat was following behind the female monster, clearly having discovered him too, and was constantly glancing toward his side.

What are you looking at?

You're still laughing?

Are you toxic too?

Chen Shu simply closed his eyes.

In the darkness, his pair of eyes were the most conspicuous; once closed, he became completely one with the environment.

The fallen leaves were stepped on.

The sound gradually drew closer.

"Rustle rustle..."

The female monster began to rummage through the bushes.

Bush after bush was turned over.

Chen Shu opened his eyes.

It was likely over.

Just at this moment—

"Meow~"

A cat's cry came from somewhere.

The female monster instantly turned her head.

Only to see a small calico cat tiptoeing, stretching its neck, and lifting its head high to stare at a glowing bug flying nearby.

"Hoo..."

The female demon withdrew her gaze and pushed aside the bushes in front of her.

Below was pitch black, empty and vacant.

The female demon continued to search.

These few spots had the dimmest light.

Based on her understanding of Chen Shu, since he had obtained the black cat, he would very likely be hiding in these places. But if he wasn't there, she would have to go look elsewhere.

Five minutes later.

Followed by two small cats and surrounded by a group of glowing bugs, the female demon found Ning the white cat in a tree hole in a large tree, contemplating cat life.

Almost simultaneously, the system voice sounded—

"Demon failed! Game over!"

"??"

The female demon turned her head instantly and flew back to the clearing.

A small black cat was sitting in the circle, lifting a paw to lick and lick, showing a strange expression while licking, then looked up at her.

Chen Banxia was full of question marks: "Where were you hiding?"

"Not telling you!"

"I know now..."

Chen Banxia caught a glimpse of Zhang Suannai's expression as she suppressed a laugh, and this person was looking at Xiaoxiao while suppressing her laughter, so she understood immediately.

"Again!"

Big Sister will not be defeated by the same mistake twice!

An afternoon passed.

Zhang Suannai had not expected that she would spend an entire day playing childish games after opening a thirty-yuan-an-hour Game Capsule at the arena.

It started with this magically modified version of hide-and-seek, then it was a magically modified version of tag, then it was turning into various objects to hide, and then it was a face-to-face magically modified version of Who's the Undercover; by the time she opened the Game Capsule and came out, it was already dark.

From morning, until night.

In between, she only ate a fast-food meal.

And she was actually still not satisfied.

Zhang Suannai felt her IQ had successfully returned to eight years old, ah no, five years old.

"Are you coming tomorrow?"

"Not coming."

"Ah? Why? It's so fun!"

"Play it occasionally, otherwise you'll get bored."

"How could I get bored? I will never get bored!"

"You are too young."

"?? How old are you?"

"I am one month older than Qingqing."

"I... then I am your senior schoolmate too!"

"Cultivate properly."

"Even if I don't cultivate properly, my cultivation level is still higher than yours!"

"Don't speak so definitively; if you find out I've surpassed you before long, you'll be very embarrassed."

"Are you dreaming!"

Zhang Suannai twitched the corner of her mouth: "It's just that you were lucky this time, that, whatever, you narrowed the gap between you and me, but it won't take long before I widen the gap again!"

"At what age did you start cultivating?"

"Seventeen, why?"

"I'm almost twenty."

"..."

Zhang Suannai's expression instantly turned serious.

The relaxation and joy of today ended here.

But she was silent for a few seconds before still stubbornly saying: "I was young and ignorant before, I was so playful and didn't put my heart into cultivation at all. Once I put my heart into it, I will definitely advance by leaps and bounds!"

"Heh..."

Why argue with this fool.

Chen Shu saw Qingqing and Chen Banxia walking side by side in front, with just enough space for one person between them, so he rushed forward, wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders, curled up his legs, and stepped through the air.

Zhang Suannai watched from behind, feeling extremely envious.