Chapter 189 – Trained "Cat" Maimed Neighbors When Local Trainer Took Her for a Walk. All Dead Bodies Found in Florida Man's Refrigerator Marked as "Cat Food".
At night, routed troops of Qiang Qiang returned to base. They rushed to Qiang Baidu and reported their failure. As only a few hundred men managed to come back alive, it raised a commotion in the camp.
Qiang Baidu glared at the kneeling men in front of his palace. He walked down the stairs and sat next to one of the captains in a low voice.
"What happened there?"
"I-I'm so sorry, my lord!"
"Calm down and take a deep breath. I won't punish you. We're family, okay?"
"Y-Yes, my lord."
The captain narrated what he had seen at Magpie City. He retold the event from when Qiang Qiang got ambushed to the appearance of Tang Xuan and two strange cultivators with long-ranged weapons. He also reported how Dugu Ying got captured by a quasi-immortal.
"A quasi-immortal?"
"Y-Yes, my lord."
"Hmm."
Qiang Baidu patted the captain. He kept his promise of not harming his soldiers.
But when he turned around, a hundred quasi-immortals came out from the palace. They cupped their fists, saluting Qiang Baidu.
They were the bodyguards that had been companying him.
Qiang Baidu ordered them.
"Treat the wounded and let them rest. Then, gather everybody. Finish it before midnight."
The quasi-immortals nodded. They rushed to pick up the wounded and the troops.
Qiang Baidu rubbed his throat and sent his voice transmission to every subordinate.
"Assemble troops. Tang Xuan and his Tang Clan have mobilized his little army to face us. We'll trample them and set an example for those heinous cultivators! Then, we'll use this momentum and probe Florida Man next!"
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At midnight, the one hundred quasi-immortal mutants rallied the rest of their troops. They left behind a few people to guard the base, but 8,000 soul transformation mutants and 100 quasi-immortal bodyguards were ready for another big war.
Qiang Baidu gazed at his tribesmen. He nodded at them.
"Let's go! We'll strike them at night and turn Magpie City into a bonfire! We'll roast and eat humans and cultivators like cows and horses! Tonight, WE FEAST ON THE TANG CLAN!"
The four-armed people raised their arms and roared. None of them rebuked or complained about cannibalism or human flesh as they no longer considered themselves as one of the local people.
They were demons. They had already sold their souls to the demonic realm's ruler, who was also an apostle of Fenrir race's overlord.
Qiang Baidu took flight. The rest of the troops kicked the ground and flew to the sky, flying north.
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Canyon River
As Leo hadn't returned home yet, Cat continued to chill in the river as the contaminated water was delicious and fresh. She floated freely on the surface, pretending to be an aquatic plant.
WHOOSH
A shadow from the north flew over Cat's head.
Cat flinched as she failed to follow the shadow's movement. She widened her eyes and was about to chase after the mysterious being.
Fortunately, the shadow turned around and flew back. She stopped in front of Cat to show her appearance.
The shadow was none other than Ivy. The blindfolded girl in a black hooded robe faced Cat and smiled at her.
"Hi, Cat."
Cat recognized an ally. She waved her branch to greet her.
"Nom-Nom Meow?"
"No. I don't have anything to feed you at the moment."
"Meow…"
Cat sulked. She thought that she could get some exotic night snacks.
Ivy laughed, "Well, I have a task to do at the south. Will you come with me? Maybe, we might catch something you can eat."
"Nom-Nom Meow!" Cat regained her energy. She repeatedly nodded.
"Alright. Come with me!"
Ivy resumed her task. She flew at a low altitude and lowered her speed. As Ivy matched her speed with Cat's, the latter managed to follow after her.
Coincidentally, their flight path collided with Qiang Baidu's troops.
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Qiang Baidu and his men had trained in a harsh environment for 500 years. Their constitutions changed, and they gained many new abilities. Nightsight was one of the necessary skills that everybody was forced to learn.
All 8,100 soldiers formed a square formation in the sky, hiding under the shadows of night clouds. Still, they never stopped scanning below for rogue cultivators or enemy units. Everybody stared at the Canyon River.
Qiang Baidu also gazed at the river. He recalled that one of his scout units went somewhere north and never returned. He wondered if they ran into Tang Xuan or something in the river.
WHOOSH
While Qiang Baidu was in deep thought, two shadows moved along the river, flying at a low altitude. Their destination seemed to be their base.
Qiang Baidu narrowed his eyes as he inspected their cultivation base.
"An 8th-stage plant monster and a hidden master?"
Qiang Baidu couldn't see through Ivy's strength as he couldn't detect her Qi. However, judging from the movements of the monster, it seemed to follow after the hooded person peacefully.
One of Qiang Baidu's bodyguards asked him, "Your order, my lord?"
Qiang Baidu pondered hard as he didn't remember any prominent monster tamer. He vaguely remembered a gorgeous young lady who tagged along with a quasi-immortal of the Dongfang Clan. However, according to his memory, the Dongfang Clan migrated to the immortal realm before the sweet dream mushroom calamity. Their descendants or disciples shouldn't be in this world anymore.
"Meh, I'm overthinking things. Send five elites and a 100-man unit after them. The rest will continue north!"
"Yes, my lord."
The bodyguard's throat vibrated, sending secret messages to five colleagues of his. Five quasi-immortal mutants dove down and a hundred soldiers followed them, chasing after Cat and Ivy.
Qiang Baidu gazed north. He glared at the flying island on the horizon.
Looking at the mystic realm island, Qiang Baidu narrowed his eyes. He changed his plan.
"That place seems to be too close to Magpie City. Change of plans, troops! We'll eliminate the variables first! It doesn't matter if Florida Man is an immortal like me. We'll remove them and get rid of Tang Xuan next! We shouldn't forget that we're here for Yan Xiang's Earth Fate Crystal!"
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WHOOSH
WHOOSH
Ivy and Cat calmly flew along the river as usual. But as they passed under the 8,100-man army above, they glanced up.
Sure enough, a hundred men above dove down and turned around. They flew after Cat and Ivy.
Cat turned around and laughed, preparing to extort some nom-nom tax. However, Ivy pulled Cat and threw her further south. Then, she hovered in front of the plant monster.
"Five quasi-immortals are among them. You aren't their opponent, Cat."
"Nom-Nom Meow?" Cat tilted her head and gazed at the 100 soul transformation cultivators behind their leaders.
"You can take on their minions. I'll take on the big guys."
"Meow <3"
Cat nodded. She then dove into the river and vanished from plain sight.
Ivy pulled out a wane and a cane from her spatial ring. She rotated them and held the sharp bottom tip upward like daggers. Then, she lowered her stance.
One of the quasi-immortal mutants silently merged with his dao avatar and transformed his arms into wolf heads. The heads extended and lengthened as if they were tentacles, shooting toward Ivy.
Four silver lines after images flashed, but Ivy's cane and wane didn't look like they moved. However, red bloodstain got on the sharp edges.
A second later, four wolf heads fell to the river, leaving the assailant's four amputated arms.
The quasi-immortal mutant didn't flinch. His severed arms regenerated, and he continued his pursuit. His four colleagues caught up with him and unleashed their abilities.
One of them transformed into a four-armed werewolf. The second quasi-immortal became invisible. The third summoned a hundred 9th-stage flame wolves while the fourth transformed into a flame spirit.
Ivy was unperturbed. She tilted her head to the side, finding them cute.
"No domain ability? Then, rest in pieces."
Ivy ejected a long staff from her spatial ring. Glowing in purple light, the staff generated a small purple dome, covering all five quasi-immortal mutants and her inside. Then, the dome shrank.
POOF!
Everybody inside the purple dome vanished!
"!!!"
The 100 soul transformation mutants froze as they were taken aback by the abrupt chaos. They could no longer sense Ivy and their leaders.
Cat was also confused. However, she never missed an opportunity to strike. While being underwater, she flipped upside down, pointing her roots upward. Then, she created spike bullets with her roots and branches.
Green bullets shot out from the river like a machine gun. All sacred wood bullets from her were radioactive, and they carried a weaker version of Leo's cells.
The bullets pierced through half of the men's bodies!
The wounded mutants screamed in pain and pulled the bullet heads out of their bodies. As they already sold their souls to a demonic Fenrir, their flesh and blood were tainted. Thus, the sacred wood burnt their flesh and blood the same way they burnt undead creatures.
Sensing a threat, the remaining mutants dispersed and dove into the water to chase after Cat. As for the injured, they remained above the river to recuperate and recover. Little did they know that they fell into Cat's trap.
"Nom-Nom Meow!"
As if Cat was a marine creature, her roots and branches slithered into the water like eels. They snatched a dozen mutants in the water and pulled them toward her monster mouth.
The mutants sneered and summoned their dao avatars. But as they were about to unleash their Qi and essence, contaminated water got into their stomach and mutated them from the inside.
The others also felt the changes. Their skins corroded, and their eyes ceased functioning. Everybody in the water became blinded. Even their dantians, meridians, and Qi were blocked as their DNA was destroyed and altered.
Red rashes rapidly spread, and their muscle bloated and distorted. Let alone fighting, they could no longer swim or maintain their balance underwater.
Cat took her time, collecting her food. She brought out a storage ring, which she had stolen from Leo's warehouse.
She had been getting smarter. She already learned how spatial rings worked!
"Nom-Nom Meow!"
Cat gently pulled one of the mutants to her mouth. She bit his head off. Then, she stored the corpse in her storage ring.
CLINK
As storage rings couldn't be stored inside another spatial ring, a few rings remained in the water.
Cat pouted as she found multiple rings annoying. Still, she used one of her small branches to insert the rings. Afterward, she turned her attention to another mutating mutant.
The nom-nom festival began.
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The 50 injured mutants still hovered over the river, looking at the blood-tainted water. They tried to communicate with their friends, but no one answered.
"What the hell are we fighting?!" One of them asked their colleague.
"I don't know! Isn't it supposed to be just a plant monster? It's only at the 8th stage!"
"Can an 8th-stage plant monster really fight underwater?!"
"Like I said, I don't know!"
The troops panicked. They looked at each other, unable to make decisions.
The quasi-immortals mysteriously vanished, and half of their unit lost contact with them. They started panicking.
One of them turned toward the main army. He fled the scene and shouted to others.
"I'm going to call for help! Don't just float there and watch! Keep attacking even if it's random!"
"…"
The men frowned as they didn't have to listen to the guy's order. However, his words made sense.
Everybody summoned their dao avatars. They utilized their unique techniques and threw various projectile skills at the river.
A barrage of fireballs, flame hurricanes, earth meteors, and lava beasts fell into the river, causing random explosions.
The river boiled. Bubbles burst on the surface while explosions and fountains erupted one after another.
"MYAAAA!!"
The trick worked. Cat leaped out of the river and fled toward a forest nearby.
The mutants sneered. They stopped attacking and pursued after Cat.
WHOOSH
A purple dome reemerged behind the group. As if it became a portal, Ivy slipped out of it.
Behind her were five purple four-armed men. They lifelessly followed after her as if they were mannequins.
"Oh, you're still here."
Ivy deeply sighed as she was slightly disappointed in Cat's performance. She thought that Cat could handle all of them on her own. Unfortunately, the creature still lacked experience in combat.
The lich girl waved her cane, pointing at the injured men.
"Go and unalive your former colleagues."
The five purple four-armed mutants widened their eyes. Instead of having eyeballs, purple flame lit inside the eye sockets while a part of their skin was reduced to the bone.
The quasi-immortal mutants had been converted into undead!
The mutants roared and started using their skills at their former friends. The latter screamed in fright before the stampede devoured their lives.
A minute after Ivy's return, the remaining mutants were wiped out, except one guy who had fled earlier.
When the ordeal was over, Cat ran back to Ivy's side. She moaned and cried as her plant body was burnt and scarred because of the barrage earlier. Even though the wounds slowly healed, she kept yowling.
"Meow! Meow!"
Ivy shook her head. She sat on top of the monster's body and patted Cat's human head.
"It's okay. The fight is over. We're safe."
"…Meow?"
"Yes. I got rid of them. Nobody can hurt you anymore."
"…"
Cat stopped crying. Then, she beamed at Ivy with a sly grin.
"Nom-Nom Meow?"
Ivy's expression changed. She crossed her index finger.
"No, Cat. My new soldiers are not your food. You can eat what you killed, but you can't take my spoil of war."
Cat lowered her head. She then crawled back to the water to fetch the corpses.
Ivy bitterly laughed. She wondered what kind of teaching Leo had given to Cat as she was spoiled rotten.
