Pain.
It hurt so much.
It felt as though countless red-hot needles were simultaneously piercing her bones, and her limbs lost control in an instant.
She opened her mouth, but she couldn't even make a sound.
This was the first time she had been so severely injured.
The shadow of the cat-headed NPC loomed over her.
It seemed highly satisfied, slowly drawing closer as it dragged its stun baton.
Cen Yao lay prone on the ground, her paws trembling violently.
She could feel her body still tingling with numbness, her heart beating in a chaotic frenzy.
But she couldn't stop.
Zhu Lingxi was still in the cage.
The sun was almost down.
Cen Yao clenched her teeth, forcing herself to crawl up from the ground.
Her body swayed, and she nearly fell again.
Yet, she still ran toward Zhu Lingxi's cage.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
Only two words remained in her mind.
Open the door. Open the door. Open the door.
But before Cen Yao could even reach the cage, Zhu Lingxi's cage door suddenly opened with a click.
Cen Yao froze.
Zhu Lingxi inside the cage also moved.
Although she looked weak, her reflexes were not slow at all.
Almost the exact instant the cage door swung open, she dragged her battered little body and squeezed out of the cramped cage.
Cen Yao had no time to wonder how the door had opened.
She immediately rushed over, using her body to nudge Zhu Lingxi and help her completely clear the cage entrance.
Right at the moment Zhu Lingxi emerged from the cage, the very last sliver of the sun sank completely below the horizon.
Dusk was swallowed by darkness.
Time was up.
Almost simultaneously, Cen Yao and Zhu Lingxi's bodies were tugged and stretched by an unseen force.
Fur receded, and bones reshaped.
In the next second, both of them reverted to their human forms.
It wasn't just Cen Yao and Zhu Lingxi.
The moment the sun went down, the entire breeding area felt as if an invisible hand had gripped its throat.
The players inside the cages also began to revert to their human forms.
But they hadn't managed to escape in time.
The cramped, filthy iron cages, which were originally only large enough for a single civet cat to curl up inside, were now forcibly stuffed with the rapidly expanding bones and limbs of adult humans.
Someone had just regrown a human arm, only for their wrist to be violently pinned by the iron bars.
Another person's shoulder bones pressed hard against the top of the cage, forcing their spine to bend at a grotesque angle.
Still others had their legs squeezed by the wire mesh at the bottom of the cages, their flesh sliced into bloody gashes the instant they reverted to human form.
In the next second, a dense web of blue-white electricity suddenly flared to life across the cages.
Zzzt—
Shrill screams instantly erupted.
“Ahhh!”
“Save me! Save me!”
“Open the door! Hurry, open the door!”
“I don't want to die! I don't want to die!”
Those voices mixed with the crackle of electricity, so high-pitched they barely sounded human.
The iron cages buzzed and vibrated from the electrical current. The people inside struggled frantically, clawing at the iron bars until their fingernails split and blood dripped down the metal.
But the cages were too small.
The more they struggled, the tighter their bodies were squeezed.
The electric current surged through the iron bars into their bodies over and over again, and the smell of burnt flesh quickly mingled with the night breeze.
Some of the screams gradually turned into broken whimpers.
Others stared wide-eyed, their mouths still frozen in a silent cry for help, but they could no longer make a sound.
Within moments, the cages slowly fell silent.
Only the crackling of the electricity remained.
On the background interface panel, the number of surviving players ticked down silently.
【Current surviving players: 5】
But Cen Yao and Zhu Lingxi had no time to look.
Because an attack was already right in front of them.
The stun baton in the cat-headed NPC's hand crackled with blinding electricity as it swung straight down toward Zhu Lingxi.
Having just reverted to human form, Zhu Lingxi was still covered in wounds. Her face was so pale it was almost translucent, and she struggled even to stand steady.
Cen Yao almost instinctively stepped in front of her.
With a flick of her wrist, her wand appeared in her palm.
“Get lost.”
The moment the words left her mouth, a snow-white flash of sword light swept out from the tip of her wand.
The light was too fast.
So fast that it seemed to slice the night right open.
It was freezing cold, razor-sharp, and exceptionally clean.
The cat-headed NPC was still in the middle of raising its stun baton, the yellow slit pupils on its massive cat head barely starting to contract, when its body was sliced horizontally by the sword light in the next second.
Crack.
The first sound was the snapping of the stun baton.
Immediately after, the cat-headed NPC's massive body seemed to be shredded by countless invisible blades. Its shoulders, arms, chest, and neck scattered across the ground in a messy heap.
Dark red blood splattered across the cages and the muddy ground.
Standing behind Cen Yao, Zhu Lingxi saw everything clearly.
She saw Cen Yao's back shielding her.
The girl was not particularly tall, and she even looked somewhat disheveled after just transforming back from a civet cat—the hem of her clothes was stained with mud, and her hair was a bit messy.
Yet, in that moment, Zhu Lingxi felt that Cen Yao's shoulders were incredibly reliable.
It was as if, as long as Cen Yao stood there, nothing could ever bypass her to cause any harm.
Zhu Lingxi finally let her guard down.
She leaned against Cen Yao's back, her body nearly devoid of strength.
Feeling the weight behind her, Cen Yao immediately stabilized herself.
Without looking back, she simply raised her wand. A brilliant emerald light lit up from the tip, resembling the first green sprout of spring breaking through the soil, or a gentle, flowing spring.
The healing magic washed over both of them.
First, the bloody whip wounds on Zhu Lingxi's flank slowly closed. The bleeding cuts were enveloped by green particles of light, and her pain was soothed bit by bit.
Then, the numbness and searing pain Cen Yao felt from the stun baton's strike also gradually dissipated as the light flowed over her.
Within moments, all the wounds on their bodies had completely healed.
However, the nightly pursuit had also officially begun.
A dense barrage of footsteps echoed from the end of the cage area.
Pair after pair of glowing yellow eyes lit up in the darkness.
The number of NPCs appearing tonight was noticeably greater than yesterday.
It wasn't just cat-headed people.
Dog-headed people had also joined them.
Cen Yao took a quick glance and estimated there were about sixty or seventy of them.
Wearing the standard coffee plantation employee uniforms, they had twisted animal heads sitting on their necks. Some held stun batons, some dragged capture nets, and others carried blood-stained iron hooks.
They emerged from the shadows of the breeding area, the coffee forest, and the production workshop.
Layer after layer.
It was as if the entire coffee plantation had bared its true fangs at this very moment.
Cen Yao stood her ground without moving.
Looking at the approaching horde, she suddenly sneered.
They had arrived at the perfect time.
She was just looking for a place to vent her anger.
Cen Yao held her wand in her right hand and tightly grasped Zhu Lingxi's hand with her left.
Without turning back, she gently patted the back of Zhu Lingxi's hand.
“Don't be afraid. I'll protect you.”
To her surprise, Zhu Lingxi looked up, her eyes shining brightly as she gazed at her.
“Miss Cen, I'm not afraid.”
Cen Yao was slightly taken aback and turned to look at her.
In that instant, she felt as if she had stepped into a sea of stars.
Zhu Lingxi's eyes were incredibly clear.
Despite having just escaped from the cage and still bearing the marks of abuse on her body, there was no fear or hesitation in her eyes as she looked at Cen Yao.
There was only a very earnest, quiet trust.
Cen Yao felt a gentle tug at her heartstrings.
She softly replied, “...Okay.”
By the time Cen Yao turned back around, the gentleness on her face had completely vanished.
It was replaced by a mask of cold indifference and disgust.
She stared at the approaching cat-headed and dog-headed people, her pink lips crisply uttering the words.
“Mountain of Blades and Sea of Fire.”
In the next second, magic power surged violently from her body.
The air seemed to freeze for an instant.
Then, the ground of the entire breeding area began to shake.
The scorched earth split open, and streaks of crimson fire flared to life within the fissures, resembling molten lava rushing underground.
The fiery glow expanded from thin lines into a massive sheet.
Within a mere few breaths, a wall of fire dozens of meters high erupted from the ground.
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