I want to run, I want to vent, I want to tear things apart.
His vision blurred, and the bag snatcher was right in front of him. He made no attempt to control his strength, jumping up and landing on the man's back with all four paws!
"Aaaaaah!" The bag snatcher felt as if Mount Tai had crushed him; a sharp pain shot through his spine, and he fell face-first into the mud. The pink floral bag flew from his hand, and his calf throbbed with pain. He screamed, "Bite me! Something's biting me!"
This scene stunned nearby pedestrians. First, someone shouted in panic that a pet had hurt someone, and then everyone, like a receding tide, cleared the stage for the key figures.
As Wen Zheng and Xiao Qian caught up, the onlookers finally understood—it turned out that the big black cat was catching bad guys!
"Black Cat Detective!" a chubby little boy, nestled in his mother's arms, exclaimed excitedly. "Mommy, I just saw Black Cat Detective at the museum!"
The mother, beaming, recorded a video on her phone with one hand, watching as the large black cat slowly strolled up to the young man holding the leash. Its proud posture seemed to say: fragile humans are easily defeated.
The mother watched the video again, added a title like "Black Cat Detective" to it with satisfaction, and posted it on Weibo.
…………
***
"Let's talk about your Z-big boss who relies on cat marketing."
Deng Puyue read the post title, clicking her tongue in amazement: "My dear Zheng, you've changed. Is it true that the owner of the lost cat sent you three large boxes of cat treats and even offered himself to you?"
"The snacks are real, the rest are fake."
"Tsk tsk tsk!"
On Friday night, Wen Zheng and Deng Puyue were about to start their duo queue match, which they had arranged with Shan Yu Yu Lai. They entered the game early.
There was no live stream going on at the moment. Deng Puyue was sitting on an advertising board, with her legs crossed, holding a tablet prop that displayed a webpage.
"And look at this one, 'Z: I never set flags.' Hahahaha—"
Deng Puyue laughed like a firework, hiccuping as she said, "I only went to the baking class for a week, and Dahei made headlines for you for another week. The two of you, one human and one cat, are back at the top of the list. The storm is brewing, and I'm afraid you'll be furious."
"Don't say it to his face." Wen Zheng didn't seem angry. If it were about marketing himself, he would have exploded long ago, but he didn't get angry at all when netizens mocked him for relying on cats.
After thinking for a moment, he added, "No matter what his attitude is, I owe him a favor. I won't agree to do it again after this duo queue."
"Wow, great!" Deng Puyue exclaimed excitedly, "If you keep duo-queuing with him, I'll be so jealous..."
With twenty minutes left until the agreed time, Wen Zheng heard a notification that his friend had come online. He opened the menu and was surprised to find that it was the King.
After that day, the king logged on when he was offline and accepted his friend request, but they never met, and Wen Zheng never interacted with him again.
"Who? The beauty?" Deng Puyue exclaimed excitedly, "Quickly call the beauty to line up with us! Today, with Shanyu and you together, there's no more talk of luck or relying on passersby!"
"..." Wen Zheng calmly closed the menu.
"Zheng-ge! My dear Zheng-ge! Don't act impulsively, maybe he's thinking of you too!"
“No,” Wen Zheng said coldly.
After some back and forth, Shan Yu Yu Lai went online and asked Wen Zheng to team up with him. After being approved and exchanging greetings, Wen Zheng asked to join a random queue.
Just then, a new application to join the team popped up.
From [大王0719].
"Zheng-ge, Zheng-ge?" Deng Puyue nudged him. "What are you doing, lining up?"
Wen Zheng snapped out of his daze, pursed his lips, and clicked "accept".
Before the other two could react, the game started randomly, a flash of blue light appeared, and the four of them were teleported into a new instance!
Author's Note: The next dungeon will be a battlefield of carnage!
(Many of you have asked me when Shan Yu will be offline. The truth will be revealed after this dungeon ends, and I'll settle things in the next one. Volume 1 complete. With the outline in hand, I'm invincible! Don't worry, thanks for your support!)
(Starting tomorrow, updates will be around 3 PM, approximately 6000 words per day. Thank you again! I love you all!)
Chapter 28
Huge jacaranda trees line both sides of the road, covering the narrow two-lane road with fallen purple petals. The sun shines warmly, the breeze is gentle, and the scene is peaceful and serene.
Unfortunately, apart from Wen Zheng, the other three were all bewildered to varying degrees and had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery.
Deng Puyue: "Holy crap!? Prince... Prince!"
Your Majesty: "What's going on??"
A storm is brewing: "...Hello?"
The king looked around and angrily exclaimed, "What is he doing here?!" He pointed at Shan Yu.
Shan Yu was taken aback: "Me?"
"Prince, you know him?" Deng Puyue was surprised: "I thought you didn't watch the live stream!"
Shan Yu: "Ah, you're that..."
"Don't call me! Don't look at me! Don't touch me!"
After a moment of chaos, the three of them turned to look at Wen Zheng.
Wen Zheng: "...Stop fooling around, introduce yourselves, we're live streaming." He turned to Shan Yu: "The King is with us today, I can see him in my live stream, and you can too, it's fair."
The king, who was regarded as a lucky resource, looked bewildered and depressed.
Shan Yu was slightly embarrassed, knowing that he had disappointed Wen Zheng by not clarifying the attacks from his fans last time. So he tried to make amends, saying, "I never felt it was unfair, but thank you for inviting me, Your Majesty. Let's cheer each other on today, Your Majesty?"
The King: "...Heh."
Bullet comments:
-A battlefield of carnage.
-The Shura Field Hehehehehe
What a chaotic scene! What complicated interpersonal relationships!
-Although I've been arguing with Shanyu fans for a week, I suddenly feel a sense of excitement right now.
-Why is Z doing duo-queuing with such a scheming bitch like Shan Yu?
Please control the comments section. Stop the insults, or we won't be able to watch the live stream anymore.
Let me sort out the relationships between the characters! Xiaoyu: Z's best buddy, his little darling, his long-time little accessory, and his lucky star.
Shan Yu: We've met in person and had dinner together; the atmosphere was generally harmonious. He showed a different kind of interest in Z during our first meeting. Given the fierce rivalry between their fanbases, they're still playing duo queue together, so their relationship is probably quite good.
Wang Mingzhu: A newbie beauty, personally named by Z (a popular streamer), rumored to have had a brief, unknown encounter with Z during a survival game. A pro who trended on social media for her face-pinching skills, she's so beautiful she can be capricious, infuriating Z to the point of issuing a death warrant, which Z later contradicted himself on. It's speculated that this is probably because she's genuinely beautiful.
-Adding to the previous points: Xiaoyu was jealous of Shanyu and told her live stream that Z had promised to queue with Shanyu only once; Shanyu wanted to join their group and told her live stream before forming the team that she admired Z and wanted to queue with him all the time; Mingzhu didn't have a live stream, but she was furious with Shanyu and hated him to the core.
-……
-…………
I'll call my grandma and ask her to go online and watch the show.
-Wonderful
Poor Xiaoyu, I support Xiaoyu! How could he abandon his wife who had shared his hardships?! Go and give a reward.
- Xiaoyu is so pitiful! Look at him, he's practically clinging to Wang Mingzhu, probably trying to steal her away from the top dog.
-Wait, what's up ahead, is that brain?
-……
Wen Zheng closed his eyes and turned off the live comments, preferring to ignore them.
The narrow passageway is lined with detached villas, but the distance between the buildings is not large. Overall, it looks like a residential area for ordinary wealthy people.
The four of them walked along the road covered with purple flowers in an awkward atmosphere.
When Wen Zheng was queuing for the dungeon, he didn't expect the King to react so strongly. The other party was unfamiliar with the game and the live stream, so how could he know Shan Yu? And why was he so hostile towards Shan Yu?
As he walked along, he pondered, and suddenly an untimely and chilling thought popped into his head.
Surely he can't actually be my fan?
Think about it, since he has the equipment to play holographic games, even if the circumstances were special before, he's now free. Surfing the internet and using Weibo is perfectly normal for him.
What did Shan Yu do last week? Right, because his ranking was lowered by himself, his fans were unhappy and had a fight with his own fans on the website, a fight, a fight, a fight.
According to Deng Puyue, the fans of both sides are currently irreconcilable and hostile to each other's idols.
Wen Zheng had never been interested in these things, nor did he think he needed to be associated with his fans, but seeing the king's strong reaction suddenly made him deeply puzzled.
The King's personality doesn't seem like the type to be a fan of streamers, does it?
"Ah." Deng Puyue suddenly stopped: "It seems we're back again?"
"What?" Wen Zheng snapped out of his daze and spun around. "Is this the starting point?"
Deng Puyue: "I think so. I saw that the curtains in that window were purple, and there was a blue sheet hanging outside on the balcony. I also saw that sheet when I came in... I guess."
Wen Zheng took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all his chaotic thoughts: "Your Majesty, Shan Yu, did you see that?"
The king's beautiful face fell into a long, drawn-out expression: "I didn't notice."
Shan Yu smiled indulgently, looking like she had a good temper and didn't want to argue with him: "I didn't pay attention when I came in either, why don't we go through it again?"
This time, all four of them calmed down and, after going around in circles, they were indeed in a maze, just as Deng Puyue had said.
Whether you walk forwards or backwards, you will return to where you started.
Wen Zheng opened the game menu and confirmed the name of the dungeon: [Love of the Purple Bamboo].
That's incredible.
"Does the jacaranda flower have a symbolic meaning?" Wen Zheng asked.
Deng Puyue shook her head, and Shan Yu said, "If I remember correctly, there are many interpretations, such as desperate love or love at first sight."
Desperate love? Love at first sight?
None of these can serve as clues for them to enter the main scene.
No matter how beautiful the scene, it becomes terrifying once you're lost in a maze. The endless rows of jacaranda trees along the roadside stretched as far as the eye could see. Wen Zheng turned his gaze away and looked at the nearest villa.
“The main scene must be somewhere we can see it. None of the other balconies have blue-purple markers, only this one does.” He walked towards the villa he had seen at the beginning, which was blocked by a black iron fence. He reached out and pushed, but the fence didn’t budge.