The next day, White Day, 10:00.
Bai Tang arrived punctually at the Goat Tavern, the meeting place she had agreed upon with the demon hunter Theresa.
To her surprise, just as Theresa had said before they parted, there was no need to worry about the tavern falling into ruin after the Barrel Butcher’s death. In just one day, a new bizarre creature had already taken over and become the tavern’s new owner. The place had been fully renovated and cleaned, and was now open for business again.
[Name: Derek]
[Race: Cursed Puppet]
[Level: 20 (Fierce Ghost level)]
[Alignment: Evil Neutral]
[Introduction: To them, flesh is filthy and impure. Only pure souls are noble. Whether the threads connecting them to their bodies are a curse that binds their freedom or a blessing upon their originally perfect fate, no one can say. Thanks to a certain human girl and demon hunter working together to kill the Barrel Butcher ‘Walter,’ he became the new owner of the Goat Tavern half a day ago.]
“You’re the new owner of the Goat Tavern?”
After reading the information provided by the Eye of Breaking Delusions, Bai Tang looked at the slender bizarre creature standing behind the counter and asked with a frown.
“Yes. How may I be of service to you, respected Miss Bai Tang?”
This was Bai Tang’s first time encountering a member of the puppet race. The other party gave her an indescribable sense of strangeness.
His skin was a light woody brown. He wore a magician’s hat, white silk gloves, and a crisp new black tailcoat. Every movement and gesture of the Cursed Puppet carried a gentlemanly elegance.
He was perfect, flawless, as if countless invisible threads were controlling him like a marionette.
The only thing that ruined the overall aesthetic were the black curse runes crawling across his skin like winding chains.
“Mm… Give me three cups of strawberry juice. How many Ghost Coins?”
Upon hearing her request, the Cursed Puppet acted as if he had received the highest order and began executing it with meticulous care.
Without any unnecessary movements, he cleanly and efficiently served three cups of freshly squeezed strawberry juice.
“I am able to have the honor of running this tavern and serving everyone on Undead Street all thanks to Miss Bai Tang. Therefore, these three cups of juice will not cost a single Ghost Coin.”
“I only hope that Miss Bai Tang will visit the tavern often in the future.”
When someone went out of their way to be this polite, it was hard to refuse. Bai Tang actually felt a little embarrassed.
“Alright then. I won’t stand on ceremony.”
Carrying the tray with three glasses of strawberry juice, Bai Tang looked around the tavern. To her surprise, everyone inside was desperately avoiding eye contact with her. Their heads were lowered as low as possible, and some had even crawled under the tables.
Bai Tang frowned speechlessly. Did she really look that terrifying?
After thinking for a moment, she decided to find a seat in the corner and wait slowly for Theresa and the others.
“Hello…”
“I’m sorry, Miss Bai Tang! I didn’t mean to take your seat! I really didn’t know you wanted to sit here… P-Please give me one minute… No! Thirty seconds! I’ll get lost right away!”
One of the bizarre creatures noticed Bai Tang walking toward his table and reacted as if he had seen the Grim Reaper waving at him. His soul nearly left his body. He grabbed his drink and tried to flee, only to trip and fall because his legs gave out, leaving a bruise on his face.
“I’m getting lost right now! I’m getting lost right now!”
Looking at the seat that had been vacated just for her, Bai Tang’s eyes went blank.
Why does everyone avoid me like the plague?!
Did something happen on Undead Street while I was recovering at the store yesterday?!
The girl angrily sipped her strawberry juice and made up her mind. Once she had some free time, she would definitely grab some unlucky fool and interrogate them properly to find out exactly what kind of rumors were being spread about her on Undead Street lately.
“You all better hope I don’t catch you!”
The moment she finished speaking, the entire tavern sucked in a collective breath. The eavesdropping bizarre creatures all trembled in fear.
Another poor bastard is about to suffer!
Time passed slowly. The tiny bubbles on the surface of the strawberry juice popped one by one. It didn’t take long before two familiar figures appeared at the tavern entrance.
Bai Tang raised her hand and gestured for them to come over.
“Here. Strawberry juice for you two.”
The two girls sat down on either side of the round table.
“You’re treating us?”
“T-Thank you meow.”
Bai Tang shot Theresa a speechless glance. “Drink it. I’m not charging you Ghost Coins.”
After dealing with the demon hunter, she finally had time to focus on the human girl she had rescued yesterday. Bai Tang didn’t know much about her situation.
All she knew was that her name was Jiang Yetong, she was of mixed Chinese and French descent, had grown up in Shanghai, and had just started university before falling into this bizarre world. She was roughly the same age as Bai Tang.
“Why are you wearing a hat?”
The girl was wrapped in what looked like Theresa’s gray hooded cloak, with the hood pulled so low that her entire head was hidden inside. She looked like she was trying to avoid being seen. Based on Bai Tang’s experience surviving in this hell world, the more someone tried to hide like this, the more likely they were to attract danger.
If Theresa hadn’t been with her, she probably would have already been targeted and eaten by some malicious bizarre creature on the way here.
“I… my ears meow…”
Theresa let out a helpless sigh and directly pulled down the girl’s hood without another word. A pair of fluffy cat ears popped out with a soft duang.
“And a tail too.”
Theresa reached under the cloak and pulled out a fluffy cat tail.
Bai Tang’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
What the hell? Yesterday this girl had been a pure-blooded human from Earth, and today she had turned into a fluffy catgirl with cat ears and a tail?
Was it because of the cat’s soul inside her?
Yesterday when the girl spoke with “meow” sounds, Bai Tang had thought it was just her original speech habit.
“Yesterday… Yesterday I buried Coffee. After sleeping for a while, I woke up like this…”
“Then how are you supposed to go back like this? Won’t you get caught and dissected for research if people see you?!” Bai Tang bit down on her straw and took a sip of strawberry juice, her brows tightly furrowed as she fell into deep thought, trying to come up with a solution.
Jiang Yetong froze for a moment. She pressed her lips together, feeling a wave of guilt.
Yesterday she had been so scared of Bai Tang’s tentacles that she hid behind Theresa. But today, when her own body had changed, her first thought was worry for Bai Tang’s safety—worrying that she would be rejected by society and treated like a monster to be captured and researched.
Now that she herself had become a catgirl who could no longer be called human, she finally understood that fear of not being accepted. Thinking about it from Bai Tang’s perspective, Senior Bai Tang must have felt terrible yesterday too.
The girl took a deep breath and gathered her courage.
“Um, Senior Bai Tang… Yesterday, I’m really sorry. And thank you so much for coming to save me!”
Under Bai Tang’s slightly confused gaze, Jiang Yetong suddenly stood up. She clenched her fists, pressed her lips tightly together, and bowed deeply.
“Thank you so, so much!”