The strength of a monster was equivalent to that of a cultivator in the early-Meditation stage. That’s why Yun Mingchen only brought members of the Meditation stage in the Student Union to search for missing students.
Yu Tong originally thought that Su Feng, as the male lead, should have a protagonist halo to some extent.
After all, in the previous Swordsmanship Tournament, he defeated Yun Mingchen, who was in the Meditation stage, while his cultivation was still at the tenth stage of Body Refinement.
But the current situation was somewhat different from what Yu Tong had expected.
Su Feng was feasted upon by a dozen or so monsters, without even a chance to escape. In just a few seconds, he was reduced to nothing but bones.
Yu Tong lay in the arms of the antagonist, looking at this scene in astonishment. ‘Xiao Ba, the male lead died?’
The system took a deep drag of its cigarette, 【Hiss — this shouldn’t be happening. Although the worlds driven by novels often suffer plot collapses, the male leads usually have firm luck and shouldn’t just… die like this.】
As the system spoke, Yun Mingchen’s joy and unease were transmitted to Yu Tong through the ‘Heart-to-Heart’ prop.
Influenced by strong emotions, Yu Tong’s heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably.
But there was one thing he didn’t understand: if the male lead’s bones were all gnawed by monsters and the dead couldn’t possibly die again, what was there for Yun Mingchen to be nervous about?
8102 was an elite system that knew nothing except shopping.
No one could answer Yu Tong’s doubts, so he obediently lay still, waiting for Yun Mingchen’s next move.
The antagonist kept stroking his neck, and Yu Tong felt that he was probably hesitating, thinking if he should kill him.
After listening to Yu Tong, the system couldn’t help but click its tongue, 【Little Yu, your thoughts are so pessimistic. Wasn’t the antagonist surprised when he saw you? That meant he had no idea you would appear, you’re overthinking it.】
‘He’s pretending to be surprised.’
【Oh, right, you have the ‘Heart-to-Heart’ prop, so you can feel it.】
‘It’s not about the prop. As an actor with at least three personas, Yun Mingchen couldn’t possibly be a fool without any psychological defence. From the moment he picked me up, I knew he was pretending to be clueless.’
【Slow down, I don’t understand.】
Feeling the pressure of the antagonist’s grip on his neck gradually increasing, Yu Tong lightly swished his tail and gently patted his wrist.
The sensation of fur on his skin caused Yun Mingchen to involuntarily lower his head.
In his arms, the little cat was looking up at him, its big eyes full of dependence.
The kitten silently yawned its mouth as their eyes met, affectionately nuzzling Yun Mingchen’s cheek with its head.
Yun Mingchen let the kitten rub against him for a few seconds, the coldness in his eyes subsiding slightly.
The monsters surrounding the male lead’s remains dispersed, and the forest returned to its original silence.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Tec Zlcumtfc iloafv tlr tjcv ab ufcais ajq atf xlaafc’r tfjv, ibkfglcu tlr nblmf, “Qts jgf sbe rb milcus, vb sbe gfjiis ilxf wf?”
Ktf xlaafc geyyfv jujlcra tlr olcufgalqr, rkffais wfbklcu lc gfrqbcrf.
Mbg j wbwfca, j tlca bo kjgwat olcjiis jqqfjgfv bc Tec Zlcumtfc’r ojmf.
Qlat atf tfiq bo atf “Lfjga-ab-Lfjga” qgbq, Te Kbcu obecv tlwrfio gfilfnfv jr tf rfcrfv Tec Zlcumtfc reyais gfijz.
Yun Mingchen released his grip on the kitten’s neck and continued to hide behind the tree, staring intently at Su Feng’s corpse.
Yu Tong continued to knead the antagonist’s chest, as diligently as a masseur at a massage parlour.
The system watched him cluelessly,【[He hugged you, and then what? What’s wrong with that?】
Yu Tong glanced at the small glowing sphere with some astonishment.
He couldn’t understand how such a silly and sweet system became an elite.
‘I’m asking you, where are we?’
【In the forest behind the back mountain, where advanced formations are set up?】
‘To be more precise, this is a restricted area filled with fog and monsters that can trap Meditation stage cultivators. Do you think in such a perilous forest, a mere two or three-month-old ordinary kitten could enter?’
【…It seems so. Your presence does seem unreasonable. No no no, that’s not it either. According to what you said, your appearance was so mysterious that regardless of whether he saw you kill the servant or not, he wouldn’t have hugged you. After all, he doesn’t know what you are and whether you could pose a threat to him.】
‘He doesn’t need to know all that. He just needs to know that we’re on the same side. I only started attacking the servant when he sent a message to Mr. Wen. And the first thing I did after the servant died was to delete the message he failed to send.’
After kneading for a while, Yu Tong felt a bit tired. He found a comfortable spot in the antagonist’s embrace and lay down leisurely.
‘Yun Mingchen must have seen the scene where I deleted the message and knew I was covering for him, so he let me live until now.’
【Although I don’t quite understand, what you say sounds reasonable. My goodness, he doesn’t even spare the kitten?】
‘As a person who can control monsters to kill and can play different roles 24/7 to achieve his goals, why would he hesitate to kill a kitten? Yun Mingchen isn’t some sunshine boy; he’s a certified antagonist.’
The system opened and closed its mouth, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Yu Tong continued to lightly nuzzle the antagonist’s chest, alternating between being cute and being deep in thought.
Ever since Yu Tong saw Yun Mingchen hiding behind the tree observing the male lead, he knew his opportunity had come.
There was a high chance that the antagonist would suffer an unidentified attack in the fog plot, making it difficult for him to advance in cultivation thereafter.
To fulfill the mission and prevent the antagonist from blackening, Yu Tong had to be involved in this part of the plot. He had to ensure that the antagonist wouldn’t suffer severe injuries like in the original novel, which could lead to chronic problems.
So, Yu Tong had two choices.
One, he could hide in the shadows and wait for the antagonist to encounter danger, then rush over as a cat to block the attack.
There was a high chance he would die in the process, but he could respawn in another cat body and restart the mission strategy.
However, there was also a chance that the antagonist wouldn’t encounter any danger, and Yu Tong would have made the trip for nothing.
Yu Tong was a gambler, and option one was time-consuming and tiring without any guaranteed benefits. If he was discovered while tracking the antagonist, it could raise suspicions and lead to a BE.
Option two was to take a gamble and run straight to the antagonist.
If the antagonist was shocked and attacked him, it would mean Yu Tong’s previous speculation was wrong.
The fog event may have had nothing to do with the antagonist, so he never left the fog area and didn’t return to the dormitories.
Alternatively, the antagonist could indeed be behind the fog event, but when the defence formation on the cat cage was triggered by the servant, he didn’t go back to check the situation.
If Yun Mingchen didn’t see the kitten deleting the message and covering for him, once he saw the kitten in the fog, he would definitely kill it.
This is because he couldn’t be sure what the kitten really was and whether it posed a threat to him.
Considering they had only known each other for about two days. The antagonist wouldn’t have much emotional attachment to Yu Tong and wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if necessary.
Based on these two days, Yu Tong felt that Yun Mingchen should be a composed and cautious person.
The deep recesses of the back mountain were designated as a restricted area, and the clues to the missing students happened to lead to a dead end here.
With Yun Mingchen’s nature, he would likely wait until the teachers returned from the underground secret realm before leading the Student Union members into the restricted area.
Yun Mingchen’s reckless behaviour just didn’t add up.
Yu Tong licked his paw earnestly, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes.
From the antagonist’s reaction, Yu Tong’s gamble paid off.
Yun Mingchen understood Yu Tong’s allegiance and realized that the kitten didn’t pose much of a threat to him.
Now he was considering whether to take the risk and keep the kitten, and let this unidentified creature help him.
However, upon entering the forest and seeing the bodies of the Student Union members, Yu Tong realized he had misunderstood something.
Yun Mingchen didn’t set up the fog to test the kitten; he intended to use the fog to kill several members of the Student Union.
It just so happened that the servant chose this morning to target the kitten.
Yun Mingchen received the warning and rushed back to the dormitory from the fog, intending to kill the servant and silence him. Upon returning, he coincidentally witnessed the kitten killing someone.
While Yu Tong was still contemplating, Yun Mingchen, who had been hiding behind a tree, suddenly made a move.
He carried the kitten in one hand, sword in the other, and swiftly walked to Su Feng’s corpse.
Half a minute later, two other members of the Student Union rushed out of the fog anxiously.
Hearing their footsteps, Yun Mingchen immediately turned around and looked at them warily.
Seeing the disheveled Student Union members, he was the first to express concern, “Did you also encounter monsters?”
The two students were momentarily stunned, but quickly ran to Yun Mingchen’s side, as if they had found a savior.
Yun Mingchen swiftly examined their injuries and handed them a bottle of healing potion.
Without waiting for them to speak, he looked sadly at Su Feng’s corpse. “When I arrived, I saw this. I couldn’t recognize who it was, but the blood was still warm, indicating the attack happened not long ago.”
Su Feng had been thoroughly devoured by monsters, leaving only a few bones and tattered clothing.
One of the students crouched down, carefully examining. “It’s not the Student Union’s standard fabric. It looks somewhat like the fabric used by the Sword Cultivation Facility.”
Yu Tong, nestled in Yun Mingchen’s arms, watched as the antagonist furrowed his brows and murmured in confusion, “Sword Cultivation… How could students from the Sword Cultivation Facility be here?”
The Student Union members shook their heads, sympathetically sighing as they poked Su Feng’s bones.
After a moment of silence, Yun Mingchen spoke again, his voice choked with emotion, “I was so close. If I had come a little earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have died.”
Seeing him welling up with tears, the two members turned to comfort him.
“President, don’t blame yourself too much.”
“That’s right. President, the monsters are very dangerous. Look, there were several monsters here. Even if you had arrived earlier, you wouldn’t have been able to help him much. Don’t blame yourself, everything will be okay.”
Yu Tong watched the whole scene and couldn’t help but flick his tail.
The antagonist could cry so beautifully, even his tears looked picturesque.
Admirable, want to learn.
The swaying cat tail caught the attention of the Student Union members.
One of the female members looked at Yu Tong curiously and asked, “President, where did you get this cat?”
As she spoke, Yu Tong suddenly felt a surge of joy in his heart. It was the emotion transmitted to him by the “Heart-to-Heart” prop.
Watching Yun Mingchen pretending to cry while feeling unprecedentedly amused inside, Yu Tong couldn’t help but sigh.
The antagonist not being in an entertainment industry novel really was a waste.
Kitty is foreshadowing a future entertainment industry arc hahahah
Haha I hope so
I was thinking the same thing!
Thank you for the chapters! ❤
Thanks for the chapter… this one was a little complicated with this kind of twisted plot
I’m too small brain to think of theories and plots so I’ll just cheer for Yu Tong. 🫠