DSMC Chapter 144.2

Meanwhile, Qi Feng brought Yan Jiyun back to the music building. What interested him most was still the NPC Teacher Qu.

Yan Jiyun honestly wanted to slack off and wait for Qi Feng to finish the main storyline. But he felt it would be a waste not to make use of the information he possessed.

Qi Feng was clearly trying to investigate clues related to Teacher Qu. Since he’d already been taken care of by Teacher Qu before, leading Qi Feng to Teacher Qu’s residence shouldn’t be a problem.

Yan Jiyun crawled out of the backpack and jumped to the ground.

Qi Feng was startled, thinking he was about to run off somewhere. But Yan Jiyun glanced back at him, clearly signaling for him to follow.

Qi Feng understood immediately. He quickly followed after him without the slightest suspicion that his cat was simply running around.

Actually, he knew Caramel wasn’t that kind of cat. It was different from most cats — that is, it was far too intelligent to be an ordinary cat.

Yan Jiyun led Qi Feng to the teachers’ apartment building where Teacher Qu lived. Since he couldn’t reveal that he understood room numbers, he simply guided Qi Feng up the stairs. 

One man and one cat quickly climbed to the correct floor and stopped in front of Teacher Qu’s apartment. At this hour, all the teachers were working. So, the empty apartment building was the perfect opportunity to search for information.

Yan Jiyun scratched at the door.

Qi Feng understood immediately that he wanted to go inside. But he also knew Caramel wouldn’t want to enter someone else’s home for no reason. There had to be something inside he wanted.

Without hesitation, Qi Feng pulled out a piece of wire and picked the lock.

The moment the door opened, Yan Jiyun darted inside.

Qi Feng followed behind him, quietly closing the door before trailing him deeper into the apartment. Soon they arrived in front of the refrigerator.

Qi Feng’s first thought was immediate. “Hungry?”

Of course Yan Jiyun hadn’t come here looking for food. But as an animal, food was deeply tied to his existence.

And it also happened to be the perfect excuse for bringing Qi Feng here to search Teacher Qu’s apartment.

Qi Feng opened the refrigerator. On the top shelf sat an entire row of cat food cans.

“…”

Yan Jiyun only remembered that Teacher Qu had stored beef in the fridge. He hadn’t expected there to be cat food too.

Qi Feng picked up a salmon-flavored can, then he sighed at Caramel. No wonder Teacher Qu had refused to let go when he saw Caramel earlier. The cat must have lived here before. Otherwise, how could he have found food so quickly?

Yan Jiyun wasn’t really hungry, as he’d already eaten lunch. But the moment he saw the canned food, he found himself craving it. It had been ages since he’d eaten meat-flavored cat food!

He watched as Qi Feng held the can but made no move to open it. Growing anxious, he pawed at Qi Feng’s school uniform pants.

“Meow?”

Translation: ‘I want it. Hurry up and open it.’

Communication between Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun was surprisingly smooth. “Wait. Let me check the expiration date and ingredients first.”

After confirming there was nothing Yan Jiyun couldn’t eat, Qi Feng walked to the sink and turned the hot water all the way up.

He warmed the can before opening it, then emptied the contents onto a plate.

While Yan Jiyun happily ate his canned food, Qi Feng quietly stuffed every remaining can from the refrigerator into his backpack.

Opportunities like this didn’t come around twice. He needed to stockpile as much food as possible for Caramel.

[Anyone Seen My Cat?] livestream channel: 

“My dear Gege, what are you doing? You’re a instance-clearing machine, not a cat-raising machine! Why are you wasting time checking ingredient labels instead of searching for clues? And stop stuffing canned food into your backpack!”

“No. This isn’t the Feng-ge I’ve followed for three years! Are you planning to throw cat food cans at NPCs or something? Must be a new strategy. Definitely a new strategy.”

“Hahahaha! I’m seeing a completely different Feng-ge. That black cat really is the cat he raised, isn’t it?”

“Obviously. He already said so when he argued with Qu-laoshi earlier.”

“Is Feng-ge going to lose his passion for gaming because of a cat? The reason I’ve stayed in this livestream all these years is because I was inspired by his relentless dedication to clearing instances. Please don’t let a cat drag him down.”

“You people are weird. Feng-ge’s been single for years. What’s wrong with raising a cat?”

“Jiejie above is right, but somehow it still feels strange. This cat has added a weirdly adorable charm to Feng-ge’s stream.”

“It’s just a cat. It’ll only stay in the game for a few days. It definitely won’t occupy Feng-ge’s time and attention.”

“But this cat isn’t an ordinary cat—”

“Doesn’t matter. Anyway, Feng-ge has started searching Qu-laoshi’s apartment for clues.”

Most of Qi Feng’s viewers looked down on low-level player streams and never bothered watching them. As a result, they had no idea that, besides being a cat, Yan Jiyun was also a newcomer player who had only recently entered the game.

Meanwhile, the viewers who had come over from Yan Jiyun’s stream had an unspoken agreement not to mention that he was a player. Of course, even if they did mention it, the messages were immediately buried beneath the flood of comments from Qi Feng’s viewers and disappeared pitifully from sight.

The displaced viewers returned to Yan Jiyun’s stream.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel: 

“Everyone, whatever you do, don’t go to the Level 5 streamer’s chat and reveal Kitty Baby’s identity! Let them figure it out themselves!”

“I agree! Scare them when they finally realize it. They actually dared look down on our darling kitty-cat, and they completely ignored the fact that Kitty Baby was the one who led the Level 5 streamer to Qu-laoshi’s apartment. Hmph! Without our baby, how would that streamer have found Qu-laoshi’s apartment so quickly? So annoying!”

“Don’t get influenced by the viewers over there. Kitty Baby and the Level 5 streamer actually have a really good relationship.”

Yan Jiyun knew nothing about the drama unfolding between the two livestreams. He was thoroughly enjoying his canned food. After finishing it, he licked his lips and went looking for Qi Feng in Qu-laoshi’s bedroom.

The moment he entered, he saw that Qi Feng had already opened Teacher Qu’s safe and was holding a sheet of music score.

Qi Feng said to the approaching Yan Jiyun, “Caramel, this is the sheet music composed by the student who died during the training camp. Right now, all we need to do is find, among those twenty NPCs, who knew about this piece. Or figure out who was close to that student. That person is likely the one responsible for his death.”

Yan Jiyun stood up with his paws braced against Qi Feng’s arm and glanced at the score in his hand.

The title of the piece was “Mermaid”.

That was strange. Why would he have composed a piece called “Mermaid”? What connection did it have to the current [Mermaid] instance?

He looked over the [Mermaid] instance’s main mission again.

Ah, that’s right.

The objective was to find the [Mermaid] with the most beautiful singing voice, protect the Mermaid’s voice, and send the [Mermaid] to the National Competition. But the storyline they were currently following involved uncovering the mastermind behind the events of two years ago.

That meant the [Mermaid] was likely among the names that appeared on both the new roster and the old roster. While investigating the culprit behind the incident, they also had to identify this person first. Otherwise, the Mermaid could end up being mistakenly killed by the avenger.

The score “Mermaid” pointed toward the avenger lurking behind the scenes. But it might also point toward the [Mermaid] of the instance.

Naturally, Qi Feng had already thought of everything Yan Jiyun had.

The roster Qi Feng had found earlier came from another teacher’s desk. He had never seen the newer roster.

When Yan Jiyun searched the office, he had seen two lists. One of them had been the roster of his own arts-exam class. It seemed he hadn’t been meticulous enough. He had nearly overlooked the most valuable clue.

At the time, he’d assumed the roster containing player names had no significance. Perhaps he simply hadn’t immersed himself deeply enough in his role. 

Yan Jiyun immediately ran back to Teacher Qu’s study, with Qi Feng following after him. Unfortunately, after a full night had passed, the roster that had been sitting on the desk was gone.

What kind of crappy game made clues disappear? Now the information he wanted to convey to Qi Feng was stuck right there. Fortunately, his memory was pretty good. He had memorized all twenty-something names on the roster.

As for the students in the class, once the players were excluded, the remaining people had to be NPCs. He remembered what all the players looked like. After eliminating them, only the NPCs remained.

Among those whose names overlapped with the training roster from two years ago, there were only Han Ruibai and three other NPCs.

Yang Pingping should have been part of the arts-exam class too, just not in Yan Jiyun’s own class.

But Yang Pingping was already dead.

He could start by investigating the remaining NPCs in the class.

Finding another copy of “Mermaid” score at Teacher Qu’s apartment was already an important gain. More importantly, Qi Feng had obtained a sizable stash of cat food.

There was enough to last him two full days!

At last, he no longer needed to risk eating food from the school cafeteria. For the sake of this precious food supply alone, he needed to stick closely to Qi Feng. Staying alive was the top priority.

Qi Feng simply assumed Yan Jiyun was marking territory throughout the apartment. It never occurred to him that the cat had actually been searching for the roster. He conducted another thorough search of the study but failed to uncover any significant clues. He wanted to continue examining Teacher Qu’s apartment in greater detail.

But at that moment, Yan Jiyun heard a familiar sound downstairs.

Leather shoes.

Teacher Qu was heading toward the apartment building!

The clicking footsteps had already reached the first-floor tiles. Then he heard the elevator arrive.

Yan Jiyun dashed into the living room and frantically scratched at the door.

‘Go! Go! Go! Go!’

Qi Feng understood immediately. The cat wanted to leave. After all, this wasn’t their home. They were technically trespassing.

If an NPC caught them, it wouldn’t be something they could explain away with a few words.

Without hesitation, Qi Feng opened the door for Yan Jiyun. Yan Jiyun shot into the hallway.

Teacher Qu was about to emerge from the elevator.

Qi Feng quietly pulled the apartment door shut behind him and slipped into the stairwell immediately afterward.

The instant Qi Feng disappeared into the staircase, a long leg clad in dress pants and polished leather shoes stepped out of the elevator.

Then the sound of footsteps echoed through the deathly silent corridor.

Teacher Qu walked with measured precision, each step perfectly even, as though he’d carefully calculated the distance.

He headed directly toward the apartment. But just when Yan Jiyun expected him to unlock the door and go inside, his hand suddenly stopped.

He didn’t immediately turn the doorknob. Instead, he seemed to hesitate.

Qi Feng took a deep breath.

Quickly, he pulled Yan Jiyun into his arms and pressed his back against the wall, shielding the cat from view.

Yan Jiyun stayed perfectly still in Qi Feng’s embrace.

At this angle, Teacher Qu shouldn’t be able to see them.

They were simply too close.

If Qi Feng moved now, even the sound of his shoes scraping the floor might alert Teacher Qu. He couldn’t assume an NPC would have poor hearing.

Yan Jiyun’s own heart was pounding wildly.

This was far more thrilling than sneaking around Teacher Qu’s apartment by himself. Fortunately, Qi Feng hadn’t hesitated. He had trusted him immediately.

Listening to Qi Feng’s heartbeat beneath his ear, Yan Jiyun found himself strangely reassured despite the danger.

This time, he wasn’t searching for clues alone.

After hearing the apartment door close, Qi Feng immediately carried Yan Jiyun away from the building at top speed. While escaping, he even took the time to praise him. “Caramel, you’re the best cat in the world.”

Yan Jiyun proudly lifted his chin. ‘Obviously!