Chapter 45: Trap

‘You’re overacting way too much!’ Zhang Cheng thought to himself.

Last time, he’d already been tricked by this girl, but this time he absolutely wouldn’t make the same mistake!

Zhang Cheng raised his two-handed greatsword to strike at the girl, but Zhang Yu stopped him.

Zhang Cheng turned his head in confusion and noticed a message floating by in his friends chat window, so he pretended to be furious and smashed his greatsword hard into the ground, the force so great it left a small pit at the alley entrance.

The girl in the alley trembled at the sight, her mouth opening slightly as she whimpered and began to cry.

With a cold snort, Zhang Cheng ignored the greatsword stuck in the ground and walked to the alley entrance, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, putting on a look of disgruntled resignation as if he had no choice but to submit.

Zhang Yu ignored his performance, slowly approaching the cat-eared girl, holding the illumination spell in her hands and speaking gently, “Little sister, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”

Because the light was getting closer, the girl’s eyes grew uncomfortable, squinting more and more until she had to shield her eyes with her hand, still making whimpering sounds.

Zhang Yu gently comforted the girl, but it had little effect—the cat-eared girl said nothing, only continued to cry softly.

At this moment, Zhang Cheng noticed something odd. Why was her reaction different from last time? She wasn’t mute before, and when she was in danger she used to scream loudly. Why wasn’t she saying a word now?

Seeing the nickname floating above the girl’s head, Zhang Cheng relaxed. That nickname couldn’t be fake, could it? I’ll see what tricks you have up your sleeve this time.

Zhang Yu continued patiently comforting the girl. After two or three minutes, the girl gradually calmed down, rubbed her eyes, pointed at her mouth and waved her hand, signaling to Zhang Yu that she couldn’t speak.

Zhang Yu was stunned and looked back at Zhang Cheng. Zhang Cheng was also dumbfounded—did she really have to act so convincingly? We just met yesterday and you were talking fine. Do you really think you can fool me just because I’m here?

“If you don’t talk, I’ll cut you down!” Zhang Cheng put on a fierce look, threatening harshly.

The cat-eared girl was clearly startled, crouching down and hugging her head as her eyes reddened again. Zhang Yu glared at Zhang Cheng and resumed comforting the girl.

At this point, Zhang Yu was inwardly complaining too—this girl just wouldn’t play by the rules. Normally, after a bit of comforting, wouldn’t she trust me and pour her heart out?

Now she really wasn’t saying a word, stubbornly acting as a mute girl, not even giving her a chance to get information.

It was her own fault for playing the saint just now. Should she just strike now and finish her off? Zhang Yu struggled internally, considering whether to use an attack spell, but still kept up the gentle act, softly soothing the girl.

‘These cat ears feel so nice, just like petting a real cat in the real world!’ Zhang Yu thought, stroking the cat ears, making it even harder to bring herself to attack.

If you beat up such a cute kitty, you’d feel guilty for sure.

Qi Wen heard a commotion of footsteps approaching from the distance, and together with Zhang Cheng peeked out from the alley entrance towards the sound. They saw a girl with the nickname “Spicy Rabbit Head” leading a squad of guards their way.

“It’s them! They’re trafficking and killing children!” the girl panted, pointing at Qi Wen and Zhang Cheng peeking out, speaking in broken sentences.

The guards, faces grim, surrounded the alley. Seeing the yellow LV40+ font above the guards’ heads, the three of them obediently let themselves be subdued, which also forced the cat-eared girl hiding deeper in the alley to show herself.

The three looked at the girl at the alley entrance, then at the one at the alley’s end, and were shocked to find that the two looked exactly alike, both with the same nickname above their heads.

The girl at the entrance, seeing the cat-eared girl inside unharmed, was instantly alarmed and put on a worried expression.

As expected, the guard captain carefully examined the girl in the alley and found no external injuries. Noticing she couldn’t speak, he signaled for her to open her mouth.

The girl hesitated but agreed, carefully opening her mouth. An ugly, long-healed scar lay where her tongue should have been, making the three watching feel a pang of sympathy.

The guard captain nodded, confirming the scar was not recent, and finding that aside from crying, the girl was otherwise in good condition. He sneered at the cat-eared girl at the entrance, “Spreading rumors and causing trouble. Take her away too!”

On the way to the jail, the three were surprised to see the mute girl’s appearance rapidly change. She transformed from a cute catgirl into an ordinary human girl, her leather armor turning into a thin dress. Yet none of the soldiers seemed surprised, as if the girl had never changed at all.

The four were thrown into jail together, while the girl was taken away by the guards, presumably to be sent home.

After the guards left, Zhang Cheng and the others got up and found the real cat-eared girl had already curled up in a corner.

Zhang Cheng gave the thief girl a creepy smile.

“Miss Spicy Rabbit Head, I’d like to have a word with you,” Zhang Cheng threatened. “Don’t think logging off will get you out of this. I’m in S City, working at the Eternal Games Company headquarters. It’s very easy for me to find your address.”

Zhang Cheng was actually bluffing. Even though his dad was an executive, for a huge company with strict procedures, his words were worthless—he couldn’t command anyone. His dad had the power, but he’d never risk his reputation over something so trivial.

But the inexperienced girl in front of him was clearly intimidated by Zhang Cheng’s threat, looking at him with pitiful eyes. Seeing her still-young face, Zhang Cheng suddenly felt guilty, as if he were bullying a child, and coughed to steady his resolve.

“Speak. From the beginning. Why did you push me?” Zhang Cheng leaned against the wall, bending down, cracking his knuckles menacingly as he questioned her.

The other two turned around, looking at Zhang Cheng with complicated expressions.

Zhang Yu looked at him as if she were staring at a criminal, her face full of anguish—what had her little brother learned these past two years? Why was he acting like a bully!

Qi Wen also looked shocked. Did his brother-in-law really get mixed up in something bad? This didn’t look like an act at all!

Zhang Cheng felt a little embarrassed under their stares. Wasn’t it just that he used to love watching those rough “Young and Dangerous” movies from the late last century? At that age, he’d picked up a few moves, and back in middle school, the girls actually liked it. Of course, once he matured in high school, he stopped acting like that.

Luckily, the cat-eared girl was already so scared she didn’t dare look up. If she saw Zhang Cheng’s flushed face, all his intimidation would have gone to waste.

“I’m sorry… I was tempted at the time and wanted to take all the boss’s loot for myself…” the girl confessed honestly, explaining her thoughts and repenting as she spoke.

Knowing that after his death, the girl had grabbed some coins and items, Zhang Cheng suddenly understood. No wonder that group chased them down—it was really the cat-eared girl who was the culprit, and he was just collateral damage.

Back then, he’d only wanted to clear up the misunderstanding about them being a couple, but thinking back, to the others it probably just looked like he was lying and pretending.

Having figured things out, Zhang Cheng pressed on, “Then what’s the deal with the NPC girl after that?”

Seeing the girl hesitating, Zhang Cheng glared and raised his fist, shouting, “Speak!”

The girl’s mouth twitched as if she were about to cry, but under Zhang Cheng’s unrelenting stare, she finally gave in and sobbed, “That was an item I got from the boss called the Disguise Hairpin. Whoever wears it turns into the previous wearer, copying only their appearance and clothes. If it’s a player, it also copies nickname and title.

“It lasts for one hour, has a twelve-hour cooldown, can’t be removed early, and works on both NPCs and players, but NPCs can see through the disguise.

“I happened to run into you on the street, saw you waiting for someone, and tricked an NPC girl into the alley, knocked her out, and used the hairpin on her to make her look like me.

“After luring you over, I woke her up, escaped over the alley roof, and went to call the guards nearby. According to my plan, you’d definitely kill the one disguised as me, but I didn’t expect you all not to kill her.”

After finishing, the cat-eared girl stood up and glared fiercely at Zhang Yu. It was this woman who ruined her perfect plan!

Zhang Yu hadn’t expected her blunder to actually save the day. Ignoring the girl’s glare, she puffed out her chest and smiled smugly at the others.

Qi Wen noticed something off and asked, “Wait, your story doesn’t add up! How could you be sure we’d still be here when you brought the guards?”

The other two realized as well. Right, by the time she brought the guards, they could have killed the girl and run off. How would the guards have caught them?

The cat-eared girl froze, realizing her lie had been exposed. Her crying act vanished, replaced by a calm, indifferent expression.

Her sudden change of face left the three speechless. Zhang Cheng began to doubt whether his threats had been effective—maybe she’d just been playing him again?

Seeing the three closing in on her again, a trace of panic flashed in the cat-eared girl’s eyes. She crouched back down, hugging her head in the corner.

This scene felt oddly familiar to Zhang Yu. Wasn’t it just like less than an hour ago, when the NPC disguised as the cat-eared girl did the exact same thing?

Her hands itched. She really wanted to pet the cat again! Zhang Yu thought for a moment, then stepped forward and reached out. Yes, still the same familiar feel. At least the part about the hairpin was true!

The cat-eared girl seemed frightened by Zhang Yu’s touch, freezing in the corner but not resisting.

Zhang Yu thought her reaction was strange but didn’t dwell on it. In jail, players couldn’t use weapons or armor anyway—they just had to wait out their sentence.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied to you, wuwuwu…” Suddenly, the girl broke down in tears, leaving the three at a loss. But what shocked them even more was her next words.

“Wuwu… Mom…” The girl threw herself into Zhang Yu’s arms, sobbing incoherently.

The three of them were completely stunned. Zhang Yu was even more flustered and angry. I just started dating! I’m not even married yet! I don’t have a child, ahhh!!!