Chapter 265: Sinister Intentions
"Go." Xie Ning led Wang Zongxuan through the small iron gate in the backyard, raising her hand and firing with precision.
As a Spiritual Ability User, Xie Ning barely needed to aim; one shot was enough to take down a Zombie Cat.
The so-called basement was actually just a very ordinary cellar.
A wooden plank lay on top of it. Seven or eight Zombie Cats were squatting nearby. Upon seeing people barge into the small courtyard, they immediately started meowing excitedly.
One of them, a small orange-furred cat, was the first to pounce at Xie Ning and Wang Zongxuan.
Xie Ning fired a silent shot.
But the kitten actually twisted and flipped in mid-air, suddenly darting toward Zhuang Lei and Xu Yu, who were standing off to the side.
"Ah!" In a panic, all Xu Yu could do was desperately throw a powerless Water Ball.
The Water Ball burst in the air. Although it doused the kitten, the little orange cat was completely unharmed. It charged bravely through the stream of water, lunging straight for her face.
Xie Ning expressionlessly fired several more shots.
However, the cat was incredibly agile. It actually managed to dodge three shots from the Spiritual Ability User, twisting its body to leap onto the compound wall and scrambling up in a flash.
’Is it that smart? It even knows to dodge the strong and flee quickly?’
Xie Ning narrowed her eyes. "Zong Xuan."
"Got it!" Wang Zongxuan raised his hand, releasing several metal arrows.
The arrows whistled through the air as they flew toward the kitten with immense power.
"Strange. This is a mutated cat," Xie Ning said, then vaulted onto the wall after it. Countless Metal Spikes shot out from her palm, suddenly blocking the kitten’s escape route.
Xu Bailiang attacked a Zombie Cat with fire, but his first strike missed.
Cres frowned. "You’re aiming in the wrong direction. Listen to me. Fifty centimeters forward, release your superpower."
Without a second word, Xu Bailiang immediately threw out several Fireballs. The moment they landed, they accurately struck three small Zombie Cats as expected.
The kittens rolled and shrieked in the flames.
Once the flames died down, Su Xiyue and Zhu Nanxing quickly ran over, squatting down to dig out the Crystal Cores.
The two children dug through the heads of the seven or eight Zombie Cats and found two Crystal Cores the size of rice grains.
Meanwhile, the small orange cat was forced off the wall by Xie Ning. It stared at the corpses of the Zombie Cats on the ground and meowed furiously.
Li Dawei swung his fire axe. He chopped down twice, but the little mutated cat dodged both times, leaving him exasperated.
"Hmph." Xie Ning sneered. With a flip of her hand, the Metal Spikes formed a bear trap that shot menacingly toward the kitten’s head.
"MEOW!" The mutated cat’s body suddenly grew several feet taller.
"Showing your true form, are you?" Xie Ning scoffed. The metal chains pulling the bear trap also expanded rapidly to match.
Her Gold Ability moved as she willed; making it bigger or smaller was merely a matter of a thought.
Seeing the bear trap expand yet continue to descend upon its neck, the mutated cat let out a furious roar, slammed its paws on the ground, and leaped up to pounce on Xie Ning.
This was a sign of its fury.
It was as if it were accusing Xie Ning of not knowing when to back off.
’It didn’t even want to fight her anymore. Why couldn’t she just let it escape? Why was she pursuing it so relentlessly?’
’Since this human is so tactless, then I’ll just have to destroy her.’
Xie Ning sneered. "What, done pretending? Guess what will happen if I beat you half to death. Will your master show himself then?"
Master?
Xie Ning’s words stunned everyone present.
’What does she mean? Is she saying this mutated orange cat is being controlled by someone??’
SWISH! The bear trap flew over the large orange cat’s head, its sharp blades shearing off a patch of fur from its crown.
A flash of human-like fear appeared in the large orange cat’s eyes.
’She’s toying with me!’
’Master was right. I’m no match for this person in my current state.’
’This Superpower User is so strong!’
’I should have listened to Master earlier and just run for it, no matter what.’
’Now I’m caught between a rock and a hard place, trapped in a dilemma.’
Not a hint of emotion could be seen in Xie Ning’s cold eyes.
She had seen too many things like this—people controlling mutated beasts to harm others. It no longer stirred any feelings of sadness or regret in her.
’When you encounter something like this, you just kill it. No need for pointless talk.’
"Hmph." Xie Ning sneered, and with a flip of her hand, hundreds of Golden Needles rose into the air.
The onlookers’ jaws all dropped, their faces showing even more shock than when they had seen the mutated cat.
’Go!’
With a wave of her hand, Xie Ning sent a hundred Golden Needles flying, all swarming toward the mutated cat opposite her.
"Stop!!" A sharp, extremely childish cry rang out.
But it was too late.
There was no way the orange cat’s large yet nimble body could completely dodge a hundred-some Golden Needles.
Once pierced by even one Golden Needle, the Gold Element Energy would run rampant inside it, violently ravaging its body.
The orange cat’s movements slowed, and in the next moment, even more Golden Needles, moving with incredible speed, would strike it.
More than half of the hundred-some Golden Needles were guaranteed to pierce the orange cat.
"Ah!" After a scream, everyone turned to look.
They saw a small, twelve or thirteen-year-old girl rush over with a black dog the size of a calf and throw herself down in front of the blood-soaked orange cat.
The orange cat no longer had the strength to maintain its transformation and had shrunk back to its normal size, lying in a pool of its own blood.
"Da Ju," the girl sobbed, carefully picking up the orange cat and nuzzling her face against its blood-matted fur.
"Why did you do this?" The girl turned her head, her face full of accusation as she glared at the expressionless Xie Ning.
Song Youxuan was quite surprised and subconsciously tightened her grip on her daughter’s hand. "Yueyue, is she...?"
Su Xiyue was also surprised. "Lin Yiyi."
She never would have imagined that the master controlling the mutated cat from behind the scenes was actually her deskmate, Lin Yiyi.
As if she hadn’t noticed Su Xiyue at all, Lin Yiyi fixed a terrified gaze on Xie Ning. "Big sister, you-you’re already so strong. W-Why did you have to bully my Da Ju?"
Xie Ning couldn’t be bothered to watch her act. A smile touched her lips as she said directly, "Tell the person behind you to come out."
"Wh-What are you talking about?" Lin Yiyi’s heart trembled, and she subconsciously hugged the bloody orange cat in her arms tighter.
The large black dog lay at her feet, growling and baring its teeth at Xie Ning.
"Cut the crap." With a flick of her wrist, a sharp Metal Knife appeared in Xie Ning’s hand. "I’ll give you ten seconds. Tell them to come out. Otherwise, you will die."
"Wh-Where? There’s no one here! Big sister, why are you being like this? You’re so scary."
Xie Ning raised her hand and slapped the girl across the face, successfully silencing her shrill cries.
She grabbed the girl’s throat with one hand, the cool Metal Knife scraping back and forth against her slender, pale neck. She smiled. "You have three seconds left. Three... two..."
"AHHH, Yan Zhong, you bastard, get out here now!"
Not far away, the wooden plank was thrown aside, and four shirtless men climbed out of the basement.
Zhuang Lei and Xu Yu’s faces were filled with astonishment. "Captain Yan? You..."
His brain couldn’t keep up. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Xie Ning held the knife to the little girl’s neck, gently stroking it back and forth. Her smile was pleasant. "Where is the Space Ability User? Come out."