Absolute Destiny Game
Chapter 141 - 19 The Story of Uncle Cat

Chapter 141: Chapter 19 The Story of Uncle Cat

Granny Li’s story indeed had issues, and the clues to the truth must be around here.

Xiao Jie walked into a thatched cottage, his gaze slowly sweeping over the dilapidated interior, and quickly noticed something suspicious.

Although this decrepit thatched cottage was modest, the cupboard was still filled with quite a few bowls, plates, cups, and saucers.

The people in the fishing village were poor, and bowls and plates were valuable household items to them; if they had moved, how could they possibly leave behind so many?

If this game were one of those poorly made junk games, it wouldn’t matter, but given the game’s meticulous attention to detail, this point was bound to be a significant oversight.

Xiao Jie continued his search for clues without overlooking any corner.

Oh? What’s this!

Embedded in the wall before him was a flying knife, with most of it buried in the mud-brick wall, leaving only the handle exposed.

There must have been a fight here.

Xiao Jie kept searching and found a wicker box. Opening it, he found several old garments and a dozen copper coins.

That’s it; he could confirm that these villagers didn’t leave on their own, and it was very likely that they were silenced through murder.

Was it done by the merfolk, or—by Granny Li? And why would Granny Li want to kill these villagers?

"Master, I found a cat," Luobo’s voice came from outside, and Xiao Jie hurried out.

"Lead the way quickly."

Soon, Xiao Jie followed Luobo to the edge of the village, where, on an upturned fishing boat, a cat was lazily basking in the sun.

It was a grey tabby cat, reminding Xiao Jie of the one on Huqiu Mountain, but this one looked rather thin and very old.

Upon seeing Xiao Jie, the old cat didn’t run away—probably the effect of Beast Affinity—instead, it lazily licked its fur.

"Hello there, little one," Xiao Jie said warmly.

"Little one? Hmph, if we’re counting by a cat’s age, I’m much older than you; you should be calling me Cat Mister," it retorted.

Xiao Jie’s eyes brightened. An old cat, that’s good; it might know something about what happened fifteen years ago.

"So Cat Mister, can you tell me about what happened in this village? Specifically, the events from fifteen years ago."

"Meow, you’re quite inconsiderate. You want to ask me questions but haven’t offered me anything."

Great, another mission to accept.

Yet Xiao Jie also had patience. This quest line was bound to be one leading to another, "What would you like, Cat Mister?"

"I want some fresh fish. Ever since this village was abandoned, I’ve rarely had any. That dead old hag salted all the fish—too salty, impossible to eat."

This really wasn’t a problem at all. Having killed so many merfolk in the morning, Xiao Jie had picked up several fresh fish species.

Opening his backpack, Xiao Jie used the skill to feed beasts, tossing a fish to the old cat, who immediately lit up.

It took its time eating the fish.

After it finished, the old cat couldn’t help but sigh.

"Ah, it’s been so long since I’ve had such fresh fish." Its tone was eerily similar to Granny Li’s when she had been drinking.

"Now, can you tell me what exactly happened back then?"

"Of course, but let’s be clear, I didn’t see much. Fifteen years ago, Fenghe Village was thriving, and there were more fish than we could eat. I scrounged and drank each day, feasting on fresh fish at will, living the good life. But then, that night, everything changed..."

The old cat’s voice was filled with the weight of years as its mind wandered back in time.

Boom! The sound of thunder woke the old cat from its sleep, and it startled awake underneath the overturned fishing boat, savoring the fishy smell it loved.

However, it was somewhat dissatisfied with the wet ground.

It looked like rain was coming; the night was pitch black, and after the thunder faded, there was an eerie silence, the calm before the storm seemed to be brewing something in the dark of night.

Suddenly, a sharp scream shattered the night’s silence.

"Demons, demons!"

It was a woman’s voice; she sounded quite old, yet very unfamiliar.

The old cat—then a kitten—curiously poked its head out, only to be hit by a raindrop and quickly withdrew.

It started to rain—

Before long, the din of voices rose above the sound of rain.

The entire fishing village seemed to awaken, and the kitten heard people in the village discussing something. There were also cries and pleas of that older woman.

Unsure, it heard some words amidst the noise.

"Good heavens, it’s true."

"A real demon?"

"I told you there’s something off about that woman, who in the world looks so bewitchingly beautiful."

"Kill her! Kill her!"

"What about Li He?"

"If he dares to stop us, kill him as well. Sleeping with a demon for so long, I don’t think he’s any good either."

The kitten didn’t quite understand what these humans were doing but instinctively smelled danger.

A shout arose, and the crowd surged toward the largest thatched cottage.

Men’s angry roars, women’s pleas, the cries of infants...

The kitten didn’t know what was going on inside, but the tranquility of the fishing village was undeniably shattered.

It huddled under the fishing boat, trembling fiercely.

All of a sudden, all the noise stopped, as though something had happened.

Then it heard a harsh and venomous voice.

"You—all must die!"

Then, in an instant, the villagers’ screams of agony began to echo incessantly.

People rushed out of their thatched houses, some fleeing, others retreating back to their homes, but soon the sound followed them.

"You—all of you must die!"

It was not until half an hour later that the fishing village returned to silence, and only then did the kitten crawl out from under the fishing boat.

It saw bodies everywhere, blood mingling with the rainwater and flowing into the lake, forming crimson streams...

"And that’s what happened. Since then, there haven’t been any other people in the fishing village, just Granny Li and the baby, with no more fish to eat."

The old cat’s tale confirmed many of Xiao Jie’s suspicions, though there were still some details he needed to clarify.

"What about those bodies?"

"They were all buried in a big pit south of the village."

Xiao Jie’s eyes lit up, "Take me there, quickly."

In five minutes, the man and the cat arrived at a large pit behind the village. Xiao Jie used the Earth Turning Skill, and soon unburied several bodies from the pit. However, due to the passage of time, they had decomposed to skeletons.

He wasn’t sure if the Corpse Language Skill would still work for communication.

If he could use the Corpse Language Skill to ask questions, he was certain he could piece together the whole story.

Unfortunately, his comprehension wasn’t high enough to learn the Corpse Language Skill yet, but that wasn’t a big problem. He planned to check the auction house later to see if he could get an item that would increase his comprehension. Once he learned the Corpse Language Skill, he could communicate with these corpses and clarify the details. Then the truth of the matter would surely come to light.

As he was thinking, a private message from I Want to Be Immortal arrived.

I Want to Be Immortal: Feng, the merfolk are surfacing again!

Hidden Moon Following Wind: I’m on my way.

With that, Xiao Jie hurriedly mounted his horse and rushed towards the lake.

Riding a horse was fast indeed. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the lakeside. Sure enough, groups of merfolk were climbing onto the shore.

Xiao Jie dismounted while starting to shoot arrows, but after firing only a few, he switched to his melee weapons. The arrows he had shot in the morning, only a third were recovered, so he thought it best to conserve what he had.

Inner Strength special effect activated—Gale Saber Technique initiated!

Xiao Jie swung his dual blades and charged into the fray.

Slash slash slash, it only took a few strikes to stack the Gale Force to its maximum. It had to be said, the Gale Saber Technique was extremely effective for clearing out the little monsters, with a 30% attack speed bonus making Xiao Jie’s attacks flow like clouds and water.

Especially against these slow-moving merfolk that were coming ashore, it was like chopping vegetables.

Helical Slash! The dual blades spun in a Helical Slash, and as a merfolk covered in blood fell, Xiao Jie prepared to chop at the next one. However, the merfolk suddenly opened its mouth wide and sprayed a jet of black water at Xiao Jie.

Hawk Roll!

Xiao Jie quickly dodged the sneak attack, then noticed the name of the monster—Merfolk Spitter: Level 14, Life Value 280. It was a new type of monster.

And they were numerous, mixed in among the Merfolk Pearl Seekers, constantly spitting black water at them both.

This black water was a type of area attack, and Xiao Jie didn’t dare to test its power, so he had to keep retreating.

Shit, this thing is disgusting.

"Feng, I’m coming!" Suddenly, a flying pot swooshed past, toppling the Merfolk Spitter, a move from I Want to Be Immortal using the Barbaric Throw for a throwing playstyle.

Barbaric Throw didn’t deal high damage, but it had a knockdown effect. As long as the thrown object was heavy enough, it would knock the enemy down. Xiao Jie took the chance to rush in with a One Cut, Two Pieces followed by a Helical Slash, sorting it out easily.

I Want to Be Immortal had gathered a whole collection of iron pots, big stones, and logs, throwing them continually at the Fishman Spitters.

It turned out to be surprisingly effective for crowd control.

Beyond the ability to spit black water, the Merfolk Spitters weren’t much different from the Merfolk Pearl Seekers.

Once the Merfolk Spitters were taken care of, the remaining Pearl Seekers were nothing but Experience Points on the chopping board.

The two were in perfect sync, taking down wave after wave of merfolk.

They continued the intermittent fight until five o’clock, when a flash of white light signaled their successive leveling up.

Ha ha ha, that’s the way! So refreshing!

Having leveled up in one day, compared to others, this was incredibly fast.

Thanks to these merfolk coming ashore, if they could keep spawning, it wouldn’t take half a month to reach level 20.

Unfortunately, these attribute points couldn’t be added carelessly. Xiao Jie had already accumulated 10 Free Attribute Points and was saving them up, planning to invest them all into Spiritual when the opportunity arose.

The reason for not adding them immediately was to be cautious. If he encountered any dangers where he needed to improve his basic attributes, those 10 Free Attribute Points might save his life.

I Want to Be Immortal was in the same position, having accumulated 10 attribute points but unable to do anything but watch, waiting to have 20 to add to Spiritual all at once.

The two went to Granny Li to collect their reward, and this time, the two together received a total of 12,000 copper, which was exactly 12 taels of silver, with each person getting six taels.

In other words, the two had killed a total of 120 merfolk in one afternoon.

Granny Li gave out the money without a second thought but then inquired: "Today the merfolk have suffered a heavy blow, and they probably won’t appear again. But come tomorrow, I fear they might return. Will you two be able to help again tomorrow?"

"Of course, Granny, rest assured. Just as the saying goes, ’When we see injustice on the road, we draw our swords to assist.’ These mountain spirits and water monsters are so audacious, we naturally cannot stand idly by."

"That’s right. These merfolk are unlucky to encounter us. We’ll definitely come back tomorrow."

"Very good, I knew I hadn’t misjudged. You returnees are truly exceptional," Granny Li beamed with joy.

"Then we’ll take our leave for today."

Granny Li advised, "Though the thatched hut is simple, it can shelter you from the wind and rain. Why not stay here?"

Xiao Jie replied, "It won’t be possible. The merfolk are many and mighty. Today was manageable, but tomorrow they may be even more aggressive. We need to return to town to replenish our arrow talismans and repair our equipment. Then we can be fully prepared for the next battle."

His words weren’t an excuse. In the morning there were only Merfolk Pearl Seekers, by the afternoon, a new type—the Merfolk Spitter—had appeared. Following this trend, the invading merfolk might grow stronger in the coming days. Preparations were essential.

Moreover, he still needed to find a way to learn the Corpse Language Skill.

Listening to this, Granny Li had nothing further to say. The two mounted their horses and galloped back in the direction they came from.

Luckily, they returned to the town before dark.