The Cats Are Coming

After they finished a quick cleanup, the owner led the second group of players into the Castle.

Beyond the oak doors at the entrance lay a vast banquet hall. The dining table alone was absurdly long, with room for more than fifty people.

Ten Mouse Mascot Costumes lay on the table. Each had gray-brown fur, a slightly curved tail, round mouse ears, and off-white incisors and whiskers.

"Are these the costumes the rules mentioned?"

"They're almost lifelike."

Meng Chengcheng glanced at them in disgust. She had expected cartoon-style costumes at an amusement park, not realistic ones. They were honestly a little revolting.

Chen Feng, as carefree as ever, couldn't resist scaring everyone. "Why put mouse costumes on the dining table? That's a pretty clear hint. Put one on, and you're cat food."

While they talked, the vampire owner slipped away.

Apparently, he wasn't part of this game.

Chen Feng suddenly thought it might have been a good thing they had played the Air Rifle game early. The more games they played, the harder it would be to realize the owner might be a monster too.

"Spread out and scout the layout."

At Captain Wu's order, they discovered that the Castle had four levels.

The basement held the Dungeon and the Cellar.

The ground floor contained the kitchen, Bathhouse, hall, and Chapel. Outside were the Flower Greenhouse, Swimming Pool, Training Ground, stables, and Cattery.

The second floor consisted of several bedrooms.

The third floor housed the battlements, Collection Hall, study, meeting room, music room, Alchemy Room, and Painting Studio.

Add the bathrooms on every floor, and the Castle had around a hundred rooms by a conservative estimate. Just walking through it would probably take over ten minutes.

If they ignored the supernatural, hiding for thirty minutes should be easy.

After searching the place, Captain Wu found no bodies and cursed. "Damn it. They've cleared away all the players who failed. I wanted to see where we shouldn't hide."

The Pastor noticed swords and suits of knight's armor in the Training Ground. "Maybe they're hinting that we should fight the monsters with weapons?"

Meng Chengcheng looked toward the horses in the stables. "Could a horse outrun the monsters?"

Lin He had his eye on the Swimming Pool. "Cats hate water. Maybe soaking in the pool for thirty minutes is the answer."

Together, they came up with quite a few useful ideas.

Meng Chengcheng's was the wildest. "The most dangerous place might be the safest."

Captain Wu frowned. "You mean the Cattery?"

Meng Chengcheng nodded. "The rules say the cats won't start hunting until thirty minutes have passed, but they don't say whether the cats will go back. If we find a chance to hide in the Cattery, we might survive."

It was a bold idea, but not impossible.

Chen Feng glanced at the Cattery. Since the cats wouldn't attack during the first thirty minutes, he suggested they go in and take a look.

Know your enemy, and you could win every battle.

So despite knowing the murderous monsters were inside, they pushed open the Cattery door.

Hiss!

At the sound, everyone stared with their mouths open.

Round yellow eyes as bright as light bulbs, T-shaped pink noses, and fanglike teeth—any one of those features would have been adorable. But when the cats were as big as lions, adorable became terrifying.

Worse, their mouths were covered in blood. Some gnawed on severed limbs; others carried heads between their teeth.

"One, two, three... There are ten of them!"

Now Chen Feng understood why there were no bodies in the Castle.

The cats that weren't eating studied the group with malice, their mouths curled into eerie grins, as though they'd spotted new toys.

Meng Chengcheng's throat bobbed, but she couldn't make a sound. Her training kept her from fainting like an ordinary person might, but she couldn't help being afraid.

Even Captain Wu lit a cigarette. "Damn it. Now I know why mice freeze when they see a cat."

As everyone's hearts pounded, Chen Feng suddenly said something astonishing. "If we're safe for the first thirty minutes, why don't we kill them now?"

"What?"

No one had expected him to be so bold. They were lucky the monsters weren't eating them, and he wanted to pick a fight?

But... it might work!

Meng Chengcheng immediately agreed. "Yeah! Captain, let's try it!"

"I'll go first!"

Lin He drew the Coin Sword, channeled Magic Power into it, and aimed for a creature's most vulnerable point: its eyes.

Meow!

A flash from the sword blinded a black cat.

At the same time, the cat lashed out in pain and swatted the skull it was holding, shattering the toughest bone in the human body.

"I hit it with everything I had, and it's only lightly wounded. If that paw hit my head, would I survive?"

Cold sweat poured down Lin He's back as the monster glared at him. If the first thirty minutes hadn't been reserved for hiding, he would already be dead.

Then Captain Wu stepped forward. He raised Holy Judgment, aimed shot after shot at the black cat's head, and pulled the trigger.

Different problems called for different tools. Against a beast, bullets were far more effective than Daoist arts.

After three bullets, the one-eyed black cat finally collapsed.

Was it dead?

Just as Captain Wu winced at the thought of spending thirty bullets, the one-eyed black cat got back up as though nothing had happened.

Even its blinded eye opened again.

It had revived.

After dealing with the Landlady and the Nurse, Chen Feng wasn't surprised. "They say cats have nine lives. Maybe we can kill them for good if we do it nine times."

"Bullshit."

Captain Wu couldn't help cursing. "By your reckoning, it takes three shots to bring one down, so twenty-seven to kill it. There are ten cats here. Where am I supposed to get that many bullets?"

Since that plan was no use, they retreated from the Cattery.

Meng Chengcheng took out three sticks of incense and began to commune with the dead.

The moment she lit them, she frowned. "Why are you still here?"

Captain Wu paused. "Who's still here?"

"The little ghost that latched onto me yesterday. He still hasn't faded away. Forget it. I'll ignore him."

Meng Chengcheng made a gesture with her fingers. This time she was lucky enough to reach a female visitor who had kept cats. Knowing they hated baths, the woman had chosen the Bathhouse as her hiding place.

"She also knew cats hate strong smells, so she sprayed the perfume she'd brought around the Bathhouse entrance."

"A cat's hearing is more than three times as sharp as a human's, so she turned on every showerhead to make noise and interfere with its hearing."

"Finally, she hid in the sauna and locked the door."

After hearing Meng Chengcheng's account, the others had to admit the woman had known what she was doing.

Yet even she had died.

The Pastor, who had been quiet since being disabled yesterday, sighed. "For them to find her after all that, it must've been a lucky accident. She had terrible luck."

Just then, all three incense sticks snapped.

From his previous experience, Chen Feng knew that meant Meng Chengcheng had seen the woman's final moments.

Meng Chengcheng's face turned deathly pale. "She died."

Everyone hurried to ask what had happened.

Meng Chengcheng panted, her chest heaving. "Water, noise, perfume—none of it worked on the cats. As soon as the game began, a cat rushed into the Bathhouse and caught her."

Not only were the cats unafraid of water, they had used that line of thinking to search the Bathhouse first?

Chen Feng couldn't help remarking, "The rules say cats are as smart as people. They weren't kidding."

Meng Chengcheng struggled for breath. "Then... then..."

Captain Wu pressed her. "Then what? Spit it out!"

Meng Chengcheng said fearfully, "The cat tore off her arms and legs, pulled out her intestines, and tortured her for five whole minutes before she died."

While communing with the dead, Meng Chengcheng had seen it through the victim's eyes. No wonder she was so shaken after witnessing a living person butchered by a monster at such close range.

Seeing how distressed Chengcheng was, Captain Wu ordered, "Xiao Hu, go look after Chengcheng."

Chen Feng blinked. "Me?"

Fair enough. This was a job for the devoted admirer.

Chen Feng went to the kitchen and brought back a glass of water. "Here. Drink some warm water."

They returned to the hall.

Only six Mouse Mascot Costumes remained on the dining table.

Chen Feng remarked, "Only one person didn't put one on? They're all pretty brave."

Then again, anyone who had seen how the first group of players died and still dared to join in must have some tricks up their sleeve.

Captain Wu led by example and put on a Mascot Costume first. To his surprise, despite wearing another layer, he didn't feel weighed down. Instead, he felt faster on his feet, and his hearing had sharpened.

"Damn it, I really am like a mouse."

That was what Captain Wu meant to say, but what came out was, "Squeak squeak, squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak."

Watching Captain Wu squeak, Chen Feng understood at once. "So once you put on a Mascot Costume, even your speech turns into mouse noises?"

Unable to speak, Captain Wu pointed at the watch on his wrist. "Squeak squeak squeak squeak."

Chen Feng gave him an OK sign. "Got it! You mean we're almost out of time and need to pick our hiding spots."

Captain Wu nodded, then left first.

The others began putting on their costumes too.

Strangely, the costumes seemed to adjust their size automatically. Whether worn by the tall Pastor or slender Meng Chengcheng, each fit perfectly without looking the least bit odd.

It was as if human-sized mice really existed.

When the thirty minutes were up, a cat's cry rang through the Castle.

The Cattery doors swung open, and giant black cats emerged one after another.

The game had officially begun!