Great.
She had turned back again.
Cen Yao stared at her furry little paw, falling silent for a full three seconds.
Three seconds later, she expressionlessly pulled her paw back under the blanket.
Forget it.
Just accept reality.
After all, this wasn't the first time this crappy dungeon had stripped her of her human status.
But where were Zhu Lingxi and Pei Tinglan?
Cen Yao sat up in bed, her movements still a bit awkward, her tail flicking instinctively.
She raised her head to look at the other two beds.
The beds were still there.
The blankets were there too.
But there was no one in them.
Cen Yao was just about to call the orb to help her check when she suddenly heard a faint rustling sound coming from the blanket of the bed on the left.
Rustle, rustle.
It sounded like some small creature was struggling to squirm inside.
Cen Yao: “?”
She hopped off the bed, padded over with light cat steps, and used her paw to tug at the blanket.
The next second, a furry little head poked out from under the blanket.
It was Zhu Lingxi.
Zhu Lingxi, who had turned into a civet cat, looked a full size smaller than she had yesterday. The two round ears on top of her head stood slightly erect, and her dark, bright eyes blinked a beat late.
She stared at Cen Yao for a moment, then spoke very seriously.
“Meow.” Good morning.
Cen Yao: “...”
Immediately after, the blanket on the other bed also started to move.
Except the commotion over there was noticeably more irritable.
A lump bulged under the blanket, struggling a few times but failing to get out.
It struggled a few more times, but still couldn't break free.
Finally, an extremely suppressed meow came from inside.
“Meow!” What is going on?!
Cen Yao perked up.
This tone...
She didn't even need to look to know who it was.
She and Zhu Lingxi immediately ran over. Each taking a side, they bit the corners of the blanket and pulled outward.
They dragged it for quite a while before finally rescuing Pei Tinglan from the blanket.
The civet cat that Pei Tinglan had turned into lay flat on the bed, his fur completely ruffled and messy. His handsome cat face was so dark it looked like ink could drip from it.
He shot a cold glare at Cen Yao.
“Meow.” This is all your fault.
Cen Yao: “?”
She endured it.
After all, none of them were human right now.
The three civet cats struggled in the tool shed for quite some time before they finally managed to groom themselves enough to look presentable.
As for how they groomed...
Don't ask.
Either way, the process was incredibly bitter.
And utterly devoid of dignity.
By the time the three cats finally squeezed out of the tool shed, the sky outside was fully bright.
The coffee plantation during the day was completely different from the night.
While the night was as gloomy as an open, black beast's maw, the day appeared exceptionally normal.
Sunlight fell on the coffee tree leaves, making them glow a bright green. Bunches of red coffee berries hung from the branches, and in the distance, the sounds of people talking, footsteps, and clanging metal buckets could be heard.
It looked like a perfectly ordinary, functioning coffee plantation.
Provided, of course, that one ignored the fact that they were currently three civet cats.
And that they ignored the cat-headed employees who had chased them with axes the night before.
Cen Yao kept her body low, carefully slipping out from the shadow behind the tool shed.
Zhu Lingxi followed beside her, walking very slowly but steadily.
Pei Tinglan lagged behind.
His hind legs were useless, so he could only drag his body forward with his two front legs.
His movements were extremely difficult.
But he didn't make a single unnecessary sound.
The three cats moved along the shadows cast by the walls, piles of sacks, and coffee trees, trying their best to avoid open areas.
They quickly discovered that all the daytime staff were human.
They weren't cat-headed employees.
They were actual humans.
Humans wearing work uniforms.
Some were carrying coffee berries, some were cleaning cages, some were recording data, and others were carrying buckets past the breeding area.
They talked, laughed, and complained about the hot weather.
Everything looked perfectly normal.
Yet, it was precisely because it was too normal that it made one's skin crawl.
When things are too normal, there must be something wrong.
Where were the cat-headed employees from last night?
Why did they turn back into humans during the day?
Or was it that the daytime humans and the nighttime cat-headed employees were actually the same group of things?
None of the three cats made any reckless moves.
Even though Cen Yao's mind was clearly not as fast as when she was human due to her cat body, she still instinctively felt they couldn't expose themselves carelessly.
They continued to edge forward.
But Pei Tinglan's condition was simply too conspicuous.
Normal civet cats were agile, finding it easy to climb trees, squeeze through gaps, and run or jump.
But he could only drag himself along with his front legs.
Not only was he slow, but when they needed to move quickly, he could barely dodge in time.
Several times when human staff members passed by, Cen Yao and Zhu Lingxi had to drag him into the shadows—one biting the fur near his scruff, the other biting his tail.
The first time they dragged him, Pei Tinglan's entire cat body froze.
The second time they dragged him, his face darkened.
By the third time, he didn't even want to speak anymore.
By the time they successfully dodged another patrol and slipped behind a pile of empty wooden crates, Cen Yao and Zhu Lingxi finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
“Blegh—ptooey!”
Cen Yao lay on the ground, frantically hacking up fur.
Zhu Lingxi squatted beside her, her expression serious and careful, but her actions were not hesitant at all.
“Hock—tui!”
To move Pei Tinglan, the two of them had been forced to swallow quite a lot of fur.
It was too painful. It was really too painful.
Pei Tinglan lay in the shadows, his face as dark as if it had been smeared with coffee grounds.
Several tufts of fur had been yanked out of his body; it hurt him a lot too, okay?
The two of them were spitting and hacking as if they had suffered some grand injustice, but the one who was dragged back and forth, bitten by the scruff, yanked by the tail, and had lost a coat of fur was clearly him.
Pei Tinglan closed his eyes and finally spoke.
“Don't mind me, you two.”
The air suddenly fell silent.
His voice was cold to the point of calm. Even if abandoning him at a time like this was equivalent to sending him to his death, he didn't care.
“Carrying me along is just a drag.”
“I don't want to owe you anything.”
Rate on N.U.
