IWOL Chapter 288: Tabby Cat

The moment he heard a familiar voice, Dong Zheng turned his head.

Clang—!

His arrow blocked the sharp claws. The black cat retreated after dealing a single blow. It left behind another wound on Dong Zheng’s arm and disappeared from sight again. With every movement, the lantern shook violently, and the shaking lights threw Dong Zheng’s shadow in chaos. As the Bright Holy Water evaporated, those unseen ghosts began to accumulate where the lantern couldn’t illuminate, waiting to give Dong Zheng a fatal blow.

“It’s not a good thing to be distracted at this time.” Midnight was like a ghost. He appeared behind Dong Zheng, and the moment Dong Zheng turned around, he grabbed his shoulder. If Dong Zheng hadn’t leaned back, those sharp claws would have pierced his neck artery.

Dong Zheng’s entire face was starting to get hot, and even his breathing was hot. He was just like a computer that was starting to overheat after it was overloaded and left running for too long.

How long could he persist?

His flexibility and speed were being suppressed, and there were ghosts ready to swarm him the moment he became weak, or turn him directly into a cat.

What could he use to deal with Midnight?

In that split second, Dong Zheng already thought of a good way. He took a deep breath and shouted in a loud voice.

“Cui Zuojing!!!”

—–

Cui Zuojing’s head snapped up.

The call was so clear in the quiet night that Cui Zuojing immediately determined the location of the sound. He carried the baseball bat and ran through the building.

By the time he hurriedly arrived at the place where the call came from, the hallway was already empty.

“Dong Zheng?”

His questioning voice echoed in the hallway. He walked forward in a hurry to look for traces of Dong Zheng. It was at this moment that he heard a faint “meow” coming from the corner.

Cui Zuojing lowered his head. There was a tabby cat curled up by the fire extinguisher. It looked at him with large blue eyes, and it’s front paw was injured. It tried to get up from the ground as it raised its head up to gaze at Cui Zuojing.

“Meow.”

“…Dong Zheng?”

Cui Zuojing’s voice trembled. He stared at the tabby cat in front of him, unable to believe the sight before his eyes. His throat was tight. “Is that you?”

The cat looked steadily at him with sad, beautiful eyes and stretched out its white-gloved claws to Cui Zuojing. “Meow—“

The sound burst into Cui Zuojing’s brain. He dropped to his knees on the ground and placed his hands under the tabby cat’s armpits. He hugged it tightly in his arms and pressed his lips firmly together.

He came too late.

Dong Zheng had consumed too much physical strength when fighting Midnight. At his weakest moment, Midnight turned him into a cat.

He still came too late.

Everything that happened that year appeared in Cui Zuojing’s eyes. Victor used his solid figure to block Midnight and buy Cui Zuojing time. He became a white cat that could only meow when Cui Zuojing picked him up.

The same thing happened in front of him again, and he was late again.

Warm liquid rushed out from his eyes and flowed down into the corners of his mouth. It tasted salty and bitter. Cui Zuojing could clearly smell the scent of blood on the cat. He could imagine what had happened. During this period of time, what kind of hard fighting must have Dong Zheng gone through to make him so injured that his physical strength was exhausted? So much so that he could only be turned into a cat in despair.

“It doesn’t matter.” Cui Zuojing sniffed, and said in a choked voice, “Even if you become like this, I definitely won’t throw you away. Just like Uncle, I will definitely find a way to change you back–”

“Ah’Zuo?”

The surprised voice interrupted Cui Zuojing’s unfinished words. Cui Zuojing was stunned, and then turned his head stupidly. The man was carrying a lantern, panting at the other end of the hallway.

“Why are you…” Dong Zheng saw the tears on the young man’s face and the tabby cat in his arms. He stopped talking when he realized something. Then, he continued to finish the remaining half of his sentence, “Why are you crying?”

Cui Zuojing: “……”

He looked at Dong Zheng and then at the cat in his arms. He sniffed, and acting as if nothing had happened, he stood up and said, “It’s nothing. The wind is a little bit strong and is blowing in my eyes.”

Dong Zheng went along with him. With a nod, he said, “Yes, then you should pay a bit more attention. The wind is too windy here…”

The corners of Cui Zuojing’s mouth drew down and he put the injured tabby cat down with a wooden face. In a low voice, he said, “Sorry, we can’t save you now. Wait for someone to come tomorrow morning.”

The tabby cat seemed to understand, and meowed softly.

Cui Zuojing’s tense heart finally relaxed. He quickly walked toward Dong Zheng, but in the end, he couldn’t help but run. He threw himself into Dong Zheng’s arms.

Dong Zheng opened his arms to hold the young man and rubbed his head. Dong Zheng’s body had innumerable injuries, but the scratch on the back of his hand was no longer bleeding. The blood had already coagulated.

Cui Zuojing kept his face down so that Dong Zheng wouldn’t see the child-like grievances on it and rubbed his tears on Dong Zheng’s clothes. The light of the lantern was as warm as ever as it illuminated their two figures. Dong Zheng lowered his head and kissed the top of Cui Zuojing’s head. He whispered, “Don’t cry.”

Cui Zuojing said in a stuffy voice, “Get lost, you liar.”

Dong Zheng laughed in spite of himself. He was about to say something when his kernel gave him a warning. By then, it was already too late to evade. In a moment of desperation, he made a quick decision. He abruptly tightened his arms around Cui Zuojing and adjusted their bodies, changing the target of the sharp claws that was aimed at Cui Zuojing to himself. Then he gritted his teeth and waited for the pain.

But the expected pain did not appear. Cui Zuojing opened his hand on Dong Zheng’s back and aimed it at Midnight, who was closing in on them. The scattering leaves outside the window, the shaking lights, the floating ghosts at the end of the hallway, and the cat’s trembling fur…all of them became extremely slow.

Cui Zuojing pushed Dong Zheng aside, then he stepped forward and picked up the baseball bat he had dropped when he mistakenly thought that Dong Zheng was turned into a tabby cat and cried. Full of anger, he swung the bat at Midnight!

An heir may seem to have unimaginable power when facing ordinary people, but in front of the elemental power of the Master of Time, Midnight was still frozen for a moment. The moment the cat froze in place, the baseball bat slammed mercilessly into it!

Midnight screamed as it’s body curved and it hit the wall.

“Ten years have passed. Do you think I’m still that same kid?”

Cui Zuojing swung the bat again. This hit was for the bloody wounds on Dong Zheng’s body. Midnight had dared to take advantage of Dong Zheng, and so the person who hurt Dong Zheng would have to be prepared to be beaten up by him!

The power that the White Queen gave him allowed Midnight to be able to cope. He rolled on the spot in a pitiful manner and uttered a sharp “meow” as pain flared all over his body. The ghosts who were afraid of the light from the lantern dared to step forward and, ignoring their fear, rushed at them.

Dong Zheng sprinkled the last of the holy water behind them, threw the bottle down, and dodged the ghost in front. When the ghosts encountered the holy water, they let out a sorrowful screech but continued to advance.

“Go!” The kernel told Dong Zheng that they had a dangerously low probability of winning. The so-called double fists could still have a hard time resisting against four fists. Even if they’re both incredibly strong, they still needed useful spiritual weapons in order to confront this wave of oncoming enemies. Furthermore, they also didn’t want to completely destroy Heimdall. Although they hadn’t joined the organization for long, they already felt affection for this place.

The moment Dong Zheng’s voice fell, Cui Zuojing grabbed his wrist. As two people who once had a spiritual connection, they still had a tacit understanding even though their blood bond was gone. Dong Zheng immediately opened the window next to him and jumped without hesitation!

They were on the third floor. In addition, the main base of the headquarters was taller than normal at seven to eight meters above the ground. After Dong Zheng jumped, gravity acted on his body and he began to fall. The hunting wind tore at his skin, and he strived to adjust his body to ensure that he wouldn’t be injured when he landed on the grass.

Many ghost hands stretched out at once from the window. Time was once again delayed, giving Dong Zheng the opportunity to grab the window sill to slow his fall before landing on the ground and successfully escaping.

The dried coagulated blood over his wound broke open and bright red blood began to flow out again. Cui Zuojing also landed behind him. Then he immediately swung the baseball bat and sent a ghost that was trailing closely behind them flying. He was very happy.

He recalled that he used to have an extremely powerful daggered called “Saravel.” The Duchess of Bathory had used the dagger to kill 670 virgins. No matter the type of boxes, the dagger was invincible. Regardless of whether it was monsters or ghosts, they were not his opponents at all.

“Where are we going now?” Dong Zheng asked.

Cui Zuojing had already thought about where to go. “I know a place, follow me.”

The electric motorbike was still parked in the same place. Inside the basket was an orange tabby cat whose fur was all puffed up. After Dong Zheng knocked down the little ghost that had chased over, it rose back up and hissed at him and the cat with a mouth full of fangs.

Cui Zuojing knocked the little ghost into the air without any sympathy. Then he took the lantern from Dong Zheng. The orange tabby cat was frightened by their aura that reeked of blood, and it hurriedly jumped out and scampered away.

Dong Zheng inserted the car key, and they quickly left Heimdall. Cui Zuojing turned his head and looked back. He could still vaguely see the swath of wandering ghosts. There were no traces of Midnight, so he ought to have injured him somewhat.

It was unknown whether Midnight would catch up. It had already been ten years since they last fought, but it appeared that Midnight hadn’t improved much, while he himself was blessed with the power of time. Whatever Midnight planned to do, he should be hesitant about directly confronting them in the open.

Sure enough, they were not attacked along the way. The ghosts followed far behind, hiding behind trees and corners, fearfully avoiding the light of the lantern in Cui Zuojing’s hand.

Dong Zheng parked the electric motorbike at the door of an abandoned factory. The lush vegetation had taken ownership of this abandoned area. It was the first time Dong Zheng came here, and so he stopped and looked up at the outline of the building.

When he turned his head, he found that Cui Zuojing was gone.

Dong Zheng: …?

The wind blew through the abandoned building, making a sorrowful whine that permeated this silent night.

“Ah’Zuo?”

His call was overwhelmed by the sound of the passing wind. There was no answer, as if Cui Zuojing had completely disappeared.

Dong Zheng didn’t have the lantern with him. Except for the lights from the electric motorbike, there was no other light source in the abandoned factory. Dong Zheng didn’t dare to carelessly walk around, and so he shouted in place.

The only answer he received was the sound of something being knocked over and rolling in the factory building. The vine-entangled windows were dark. Dong Zheng raised his hand vigilantly, and the crossbow appeared in his hand. Then he turned on his phone’s flashlight, and carefully approached the source of the sound.

Xixi: Imagine Dong Zheng throwing a card to summon Cui Zuojing to battle and saying, “Cui Zuojing, I choose you!”  And Cui Zuojing crying because he thought Dong Zheng got turned into a cat…LOL.