The Missing Cloaks

After nightfall, Yise took her makeup box from the Raven Key.

The box wasn't large, its outer shell shimmering with a subtle luster. Inside were several compartments containing fine powder, ointment, and small brush blades.

It has a kind of "small but perfectly formed" feel to it.

She made Su Ming sit down and began applying the product to his face.

"Is your ' Raven Key ' large enough?"

Su Ming closed his eyes, habitually gathering information.

Yise shook his head.

"It's quite small."

"It can only hold one set of spare combat gear and this box."

She dabbed some dark-colored ointment with her fingertips, rubbed it in her palm, and then gently spread it on Su Ming's face.

"Furthermore, the ' Raven Key ' is very picky; anything that doesn't reach the Saint Rank quality will shatter if put inside."

Su Ming was speechless. This was something most people couldn't afford. "I was planning to use it to store things that were hard to hide."

"Forget about it," Yise replied. "I barely managed to find this little box, and there's just enough room to squeeze in some odds and ends."

As she applied the ointment, she beckoned over Yuye and reached out towards their tails.

The Yuye immediately wrapped around the tail.

"No need to pull it out!"

She picked up the tail herself, shook it, and tugged at it, successfully pulling out a few tufts of cat hair.

Yise picked up the soft hairs and placed them near Su Ming's temples, gently smoothing them out with a small brush and adjusting their direction.

Make them look like naturally growing down.

Su Ming let her do whatever she wanted.

Suddenly, something else came to mind.

Yise's sword-fighting armor had been damaged in the previous battle, so she simply threw it away.

The rose-patterned gown she later wore was also badly damaged in the spatial turbulence.

"So now, both your primary and backup sets of equipment are broken?"

"Yes, that's right." Yise sighed.

"The umbrella sword was also shattered."

"Back to square one."

"Please accept my condolences." Su Ming raised an eyebrow. "So you're now a Qiwu Envoy without any Qiwu?"

"Not really," Yise replied, "There's also a longbow in the Raven Key. I've practiced archery; I can handle it."

If it can be put into the Raven Key, then it's a Saint Rank Longbow.

In other words, Yise can still be a pretty good shooter.

Su Ming nodded and began to consider whether he should get some arrows.

Yise gestured for him to tilt his head back, shaved his eyebrows, and replaced them with cat fur trimmed to the appropriate length.

She pressed each tiny hair into an arc, and then covered the edges with light-colored powder.

The excess was blown away by her breath.

Su Ming suddenly realized.

"Hey, that bow..."

"Could it be Leoni's?"

"Yes, that's right," Yise replied, "I just grabbed it when it got swept over."

Thinking of Leoni, the hunter who died heroically not long after they met, Su Ming felt a pang of sadness.

****

Yise quickly finished dressing Su Ming.

She took out a pair of sewn cat ears and put them on Su Ming.

Then they used tape to flatten his ears, and tousled his hair to cover his original earlobes.

Finally, she draped a newly altered cloak over Su Ming's shoulders.

With the hood up, the cat ears bulged slightly, there was soft downy hair on the temples, and the eyebrows had changed to a half-cat-human shape.

She brought over Yuye Yugan for comparison, and Jinxiu flew over to give her opinion as well.

"Good!"

At first glance, no flaws can be discerned.

Su Ming touched his face, and felt a deep sense of emotion.

If this girl went to Earth, she would definitely be a perfect cosplay icon.

Jinxiu circled Su Ming more than a dozen times, her small hands tracing tiny runes all over his body.

Then she raised her hand, and a Qingfeng swept over Su Ming.

A fine breeze seeped through the collar, cuffs, and strands of hair, carrying away the scent of humans.

"Alright." Jinxiu clapped her hands. "The human scent on you has been temporarily removed."

Su Ming took out his phone.

Satellite data shows that the orc soldiers involved in the search are finishing up, Cloud Fang City is beginning to return to calm.

"Yise, Yuye and I are going out to gather some ingredients."

"Is there a problem with you and Jinxiu staying home together?"

Yise gave an OK sign.

The subtext is that you still need to keep an eye on the Yugan; everyone understands that perfectly.

****

Jinxiu bound Su Ming and Yuye with a magical Mental Link, allowing them to transcend language barriers and communicate directly through their minds.

"Don't be too far away, this spell only lasts for an hour," she instructed.

"Remember to bring back a roll of soft cloth," Yise said.

"Don't worry, I'll bring you a whole new set of clothes," Su Ming said. "No sewing or anything."

Yise's clothes were torn; Su Ming would naturally remember this without being reminded.

"I'm talking about soft cloth," Yise said, puzzled. "Otherwise, how am I supposed to shoot arrows?"

What does archery have to do with soft cloth?

Su Ming was equally puzzled.

This touched upon a blind spot in his knowledge.

"You really don't understand?"

Yise sighed.

She spread her arms, showing off her figure.

Do you understand now?

Su Ming still looked completely bewildered.

Instead, the Yuye poked Su Ming.

"She has to be wrapped up, or she'll get scratched by the bowstring."

"Because it hurts."

This comes from basic archery hunting knowledge.

Su Ming was immediately somewhat embarrassed.

"Okay, I understand."

Then, he took the Yuye with him and went out.

****

Near the royal palace.

Death Knell rode on the back of a dragon, leading a group of people back, his expression utterly bored.

His Holiness Abidaqi, as the chief of the hands of the Clock Hand, is indeed undeniably powerful.

But as soon as he arrived, he took over all command and made everyone run around in chaos.

Even creatures like the Death Knell and the Hairspring had to come out and participate in the city's search operation.

Death Knell was very dissatisfied.

Shouldn't we be focusing our attention on defending against the impending attack from the Final Bone Mad Machines?

This sudden spatial fluctuation is certainly strange.

However, dimensional travel is inherently accompanied by various accidents, and the accident rate has always been quite high.

She did not object to the investigation.

Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss and show?

The deployment and preparation of the coastal defense line, as well as the construction of the magic array in the Blackstone Mine, must be expedited.

Isn't that even more important?

A sudden commotion arose from the street below.

Looking down, the Death Knell saw a half-tiger man shouting something in a hoarse, furious voice.

The Death Knell initially didn't want to pay any attention.

But she remembered Abidaqi's instructions—to thoroughly investigate the area around the spatial fluctuation point, for anything suspicious or any signs.

She beckoned with her finger.

A half-fox following behind immediately approached.

"What are your orders, sir?"

"Anrelo, go and take a look."

"Yes."

The Death Knell did not stop on its own, but led the rest of the people back to the royal palace.

****

Anrelo landed immediately.

He approached the half-tiger man, asked him questions directly, and after a few sentences, he understood what had happened.

The half-tiger had overslept and rushed out to work, only returning home now to find his two cloaks missing.

The half-tiger was furious. He started yelling and cursing in the street while asking around if anyone suspicious had been there during the day.

Compared to the half-tiger, Anrelo was not large in size.

His tail was broken in half, and he had obvious old wounds on his body. Several patches of his fur were severely bald, with unsightly scars that could not be covered up.

But the half-tiger dared not disobey in the slightest.

On Anrelo's chest was a badge that Principal Minute Hand.

Among the native orcs, only a handful can attain this status within the Plundering Clock organization.

Anrelo gestured for the half-tiger to lead the way, and they soon arrived at his residence.

The house smells terrible.

This is normal, but there are definitely too many rats.

The rats carried multiple diseases and ate a variety of random foods, making it difficult to determine what had accumulated in their bodies.

Therefore, the more particular the residents are, the less likely they are to eat rats.

Therefore, the situation becomes ironic:

Nowadays, the cleanest place for rats in Cloud Fang City is actually the slums.

Catching a mouse there is definitely extra luck and a treat.

Anrelo stomped her foot.

A tremor rippled out from beneath his feet, and rustling sounds of fleeing immediately rose from the corners of the walls, under cabinets, and piles of rags.

He looked around.

There was no suspicious odor, nor any inexplicable trace.

"Besides the cloak, did you lose anything else?" Anrelo asked.

The half-tiger man was taken aback.

"Sir, I haven't had a chance to check yet—"

When he finished work and went home, he found that his cloak was missing. He was so angry that he didn't bother to look at anything else.

"Hurry up and look!" Anrelo said irritably.

The half-tiger man hurriedly searched the house, examining each item he considered valuable.

Anrelo sat down on a chair to the side, picked up the teapot from the half-tiger's house, and poured himself a glass of water.

Drink it down in one gulp.

He spent the entire day following the Death Knell and was utterly exhausted.

I haven't even eaten yet.

****

Not long after, the half-tiger replied cautiously.

"Sir, nothing else is missing."

Anrelo immediately perked up.

Are you sure?

"Confirmed!"

Anrelo.

This is indeed a significant point of contention.

If it were an ordinary thief, they wouldn't just take two cloaks.

This shows that the thief's goal was simply to conceal his identity.

And judging from this silly tiger's carefree attitude, the item might not have been lost during the day, but rather taken much earlier.

That's definitely worth investigating!

A glimmer of light appeared in Anrelo's eyes.

Have you ever worn either of these cloaks?

"One of them was just worn, sir," the half-tiger man replied immediately.

That makes things easier.

Anrelo grabbed the half-tiger man's tail and plucked a large clump of fur from it.

The half-tiger man shuddered in pain.

The tracking technique was activated in the next moment.

The amount of hair, far exceeding what is normally needed for casting, ignited within the spell. Ripples carrying a beastly scent spread outwards, penetrating walls, sweeping through streets and alleys, and dissipating throughout Cloud Fang City.

Before long, the spell gave its response.

"Is this direction... towards the slums?"

Anrelo frowned.

The slums are teeming with Black Claw, forming a complete industrial chain.

But this only makes things more suspicious.

When those people made their move, they wanted to take even the tattered socks with them; there was no way they would just take two cloaks.

Anrelo, a half-tiger, went out and summoned a squad of orc guards from Cloud Fang City, and they marched in a grand procession towards the slums.

He casually plucked a large handful of hair from the half-tiger man.

The half-tiger was in pain, and its tail was almost half bald, but it could only suffer in silence.