The Cat-men Belong to Kurd City

"Heheh, I've gotten stronger!"

After the inscription finished, Que Ling adapted for a moment and activated the power of her Inheritance Spirit Rune to spar with the other Spirit Rune Warriors.

The more complete the Inheritance Spirit Rune, the stronger its power. Spirit Rune Warriors she couldn't beat before, she could now defeat.

And this was just the beginning. Once she fully restored her rune, she'd become even stronger.

"Que Ling, come here!"

Suixiang waved the beaming Que Ling over.

Suixin had restored her Inheritance Spirit Rune, and she also had a gift for the friend she'd grown up with.

She planned to teach Que Ling the Cat Clan Combat Technique she'd learned from the Spirit Cat Skeleton Warrior.

"Wow, this is a lost technique from the tribe!"

Suixiang was teaching a combat technique Que Ling had never seen before.

When she asked the name of the technique during practice, Que Ling's eyes went wide with shock.

Wasn't this the very lost technique their mentor had been yearning for?

In her amazement, Que Ling stole a glance at the Spirit Cat Skeleton Warriors patrolling the city walls. Those skeletons looked just like Cat-man ancestors.

Sensing Que Ling's gaze, a Spirit Cat Skeleton Warrior turned its head and nodded at her.

Transcendental Skeletons possessed high intelligence. They were quite friendly toward Cat-men of the same origin.

Spirit Cat Skeleton Warriors could understand and speak the Cat-man language, though their air-vibrating speech wasn't precise enough—unlike Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlocks, who could converse without barriers.

Que Ling's squad restoring their Inheritance Spirit Runes and learning lost Cat Clan Combat Techniques didn't go unnoticed by the other Cat-men.

They were envious but didn't rush forward to clamor. Under the restraint of their elders, they kept quiet.

Who got their Inheritance Spirit Rune restored and who learned the lost combat techniques was Suixiang and Suixin's decision.

Until Suixiang and Suixin called for them, no matter how envious they were, they couldn't push forward to compete.

Having survived in Odyssey for so many years, the Cat-men understood what was necessary.

Kurd City was the Necromancer's territory. That man liked obedient, quiet Cat-men, and they needed to know how to follow orders.

"I wonder how the tribe is doing?"

At lunch, eating delicious potato stewed fish, Que Ling felt a bit homesick.

When the Slave Hunter Group had captured them, Riddle was in the middle of fighting a hostile tribe's chieftain.

They all knew Riddle's body was in poor condition. They didn't know if she'd pull through this time.

The Slave Hunter Group valued Cat-men for their slave worth and wouldn't kill them lightly.

The hostile tribe was different. They were survival competitors with the Spirit Cat Tribe, their hunting grounds overlapping.

If Riddle fell, the Spirit Cat Tribe would be brutally slaughtered by the hostile tribe.

"We'll figure something out about this."

Suixiang and Suixin were equally worried about the Spirit Cat Tribe, afraid Riddle would fall and the tribe be destroyed.

But they knew their place well. They only reported the Spirit Cat Tribe's situation, without asking Medivh for help.

Whether to act and rescue the Spirit Cat Tribe was Medivh's decision to make, not theirs to meddle in.

To put it bluntly, they were just High Tower maids. Their master's interests came first.

"You want me to be the Cat-man tribe's savior?"

That day, Medivh smiled as he stroked Suixiang's cheek.

These days, Suixiang, Suixin, and the other first batch of Cat-girls to integrate into Kurd City had pulled out all the stops to please him.

They hadn't pleaded with words, only using actions to beg Medivh for mercy.

Medivh understood their thoughts clearly—they wanted him to resolve the Cat-man tribe's crisis.

"Cat-men belong to Kurd City!"

Suixiang shouted passionately, giving her best performance to attract Medivh to invest life energy in her.

Her thoughts had never changed. The Cat-man tribe's future lay in Kurd City.

Ever since she accepted the Spirit Cat Skeleton inheritance, she'd had her eye on Medivh conquering the Spirit Cat Tribe.

Now that the Spirit Cat Tribe was in crisis, it was the perfect opportunity for Medivh to step in, save them, and win their loyalty.

"I can give them a chance. Whether they're willing to move to Kurd City is up to them."

It really was a good opportunity. Medivh didn't mind having another vassal race under his command.

He was willing to send troops to help the Spirit Cat Tribe relocate and let the Cat-men settle in Kurd City.

"Thank you for your mercy, Lord Medivh!"

With Medivh's offer of rescue, Suixiang reached the peak of her life in a surge of double excitement.

At dusk, Suixiang, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion, woke up right on time.

She greeted Medivh, then ran out of the High Tower, rendezvoused with the Skeleton Caravan outside the city, and traveled swiftly through the night.

The Skeleton Caravan chose remote routes. Along the way, Skeleton Assassins and Skeleton Rangers fanned out to eliminate any targets that might spot the caravan, ensuring operational secrecy.

Skeletons needed no rest. After ten days and nights of nonstop travel, they arrived at the outskirts of the hills where the Cat-man tribe dwelled.

"Lord Riddle, a group of skeletons is approaching!"

The skeletons did not eliminate the Cat-man sentries. News of the Skeleton Caravan entering Spirit Cat Hill quickly spread within the tribe.

Upon learning that several thousand skeletons, including nearly a hundred first-tier Transcendental Skeletons, had breached Spirit Cat Hill, the middle-aged chieftain, who had only recently succeeded his predecessor, reported to Riddle with a grave expression.

As he reported, sorrow was barely concealed in his eyes.

Riddle's health was very poor—this was known to all the tribe.

The middle-aged chieftain knew that Riddle's time had long since come, but she could not let go of the Spirit Cat Tribe. She had been holding on with secret arts, guarding the tribe in a state neither alive nor dead.

After fighting the enemy tribe's chieftain a few days ago, the aura of decay around Riddle had grown even heavier.

"I'm just old, not dead yet!"

Riddle's form was withered, and in her sunken eye sockets, there was no trace of the vitality a living person should possess.

"Spirit Cat Hill can no longer be our home. I'll hold off those skeletons. You lead the tribe to relocate."

Riddle's words carried no emotion. This would be her final battle.

Without her protection, the Spirit Cat Tribe could not survive in this region. They would need to migrate as a whole and find a new place to settle.

This would be an incredibly arduous process. The Spirit Cat Tribe's decline had begun with that great migration.

Riddle vaguely remembered being only a few years old then, watching too many tribesmen die along the way.

It was precisely because of the horrors she had witnessed as a child that she clung to life, refusing to die. She feared that scene would repeat itself.

But her power had its limits. The Spirit Cat Tribe had once again reached a point where they had no choice but to migrate. She only hoped this time the tribe could relocate safely.

"Riddle, it's me, Suixiang! We're not here to attack Spirit Cat Hill!"

When Riddle led the rearguard forces forward, Suixiang rushed to the front lines and shouted to prevent a fight from breaking out.

Running out to shout alongside her were Que Ling and other rescued Cat-man slaves.

"It's Suixiang!"

Some among the rearguard warriors recognized Suixiang or other Cat-men who had run out to shout, and they responded.

"So, you've returned this time to recruit us on behalf of the Necromancer?"

Once the misunderstanding was cleared and Suixiang explained her purpose, the middle-aged chieftain was momentarily stunned.

From the Spirit Cat Tribe's perspective, this recruitment offer seemed utterly absurd.

"Yes. Cat-men belong in Kurd!"

Suixiang understood the root of the Spirit Cat Tribe's crisis. Only by going to Kurd could the Spirit Cat Tribe have a future.