Chapter 177 - Let's Play Catch!
After spending about 6 to 8 hours outside, Alex, Xu Meilin, Luo Zu, and the rest of the group returned back to the camp. By that time, the next group was already prepared and ready to go.
"How was your haul?" Lu Chen met the group outside and asked, to which Alex only silently grinned. She casually touched her storage ring and from within rained down several mutated beast corpses.
Seeing this everyone from the second group was immediately fired up.
Whatever little doubt and restlessness they had about going out and hunting was wiped away clean, now replaced with eagerness and determination.
They wanted to hunt even more beasts and zombies and become stronger than the first team.
"Not bad." Lu Chen smirked and patted her.
He was glad to see them all return safely. Some of the group members had injuries but nothing too bad and nothing that couldn't be treated with the help of Coco.
"Go meet the elder and get your wounds treated. Remember you guys have to hand over some cores for treatment too." He chuckled and waved everyone goodbye.
Since he mentioned healing, Xu Meilin quickly asked. "Bro Chen, did you see Coco anywhere? I haven't seen her in a while…" Her voice was tired as she had been fighting constantly for the past few hours.
"Hmmm. No, I haven't seen, but you should not worry. I think most probably little white and Coco are roaming around somewhere." His voice faded as the group quickly moved away, rushing into the forests.
"Ah…" Xu Meilin swallowed nervously. She trusted little white, but… seeing those two together always made her feel nervous.
One was just a small house cat while the other was a ferocious bloodthirsty wolf. How could those two possibly travel in the same circles?
Coincidentally… at this exact same time… Qin Hua was walking around in circles, while Coco was looking at her in confusion wondering what she was up to.
They, too, had been hunting so far, earning almost double what Alex and the first group had raked in, but suddenly they had stopped, with Qin Hua pumping the breaks first.
For the past few minutes, she had been walking around in this particular spot while sniffing about on the ground, every bush and tree trunk.
Meow?
[Ah! Shut up, Coco.] Qin Hua growled back. [Damn it, I can smell it clearly, and yet I am not able to find it. Woof!]
A very thick dense aroma of mana wafted out from somewhere close by but as if it was made invisible by magic, she wasn't able to get to it at all.
No matter how much she tried, it still only became a dead end and this was with Coco tied to her back.
She had now almost wasted an entire hour looking for this source of mana.
Qin Hua was extremely frustrated and she would have given up on this entirely if not for the fact that the mana here was far denser even when compared to the pure mana ore veins in the underground labyrinth.
[This definitely has to be some sort of treasure! Where the hell is it? Woof!]
She almost tore apart every single leaf and root in the area that had grown rampantly, searching for this, but she wasn't able to find it.
[Is it buried somewhere? Woof!]
She transformed into a huge werewolf and in desperation started to dig holes next.
A few more minutes later…
Coco cutely slid down a mound of sand, with a gleeful look on her face. She slid down the huge mound and dropped on a patch of grass with a small thud.
However, it clearly did not hurt the small cat as she only had a look of pure joy on her face.
She picked herself back up again and ran around the other side to climb back up on the mound, only to slide down again the next second.
Meowwww!
Meeeeewwwww!
Meeeeoooeeeewwwww!
Ecstatic cries of the small cat rang loudly in the empty forest, when the person who had been working like a dog all this time, finally stopped to take a look.
Qin Hua trembled with anger. She didn't even care that the treasure wasn't found yet but the sight of the silly smile on the adorable face drove her crazy.
Who was the master and who was the pet here?
[Growl!]
She climbed onto the mound of sand and rocks, opening her mouth wide on the slide's path, revealing her sharp canines.
And Coco who was already on her next slide started to realize that something was different as she was about to enter a wolf's mouth instead of the soft grass.
Meow! Meow! Meow!
The cat's eyes widened and she panicked trying to stop her downward momentum. She could tell that her Master wouldn't hurt her… well probably…
She struggled and finally stopped her momentum on the way down in the nick of time and fell on the other side, this time with a louder thud.
Meowww.
[Oh no! You are not getting out of this that easily. Woof.]
[I am going to rest now. You go and find that treasure for me, you lazy chunky bastard. Woof!]
Qin Hua's clone was on the lookout roaming around the area, so at the moment, the cat was the only one doing the searching while the wolf laid tiredly on the side, not physically but mentally exhausted.
She had one of her eyes closed and one eye open, staring at the cat absent-mindedly. Her blue orb gazed at the feline beast which was not even bothering to act like she was doing anything.
She simply kept wandering here and there cluelessly.
[Tch. Tch. Useless. Woof.] Qin Hua pouted and closed both her eyes.
She just couldn't figure it out. She had searched the ground, the trees, even under the ground, so where could this treasure be?
She sighed and opened her eyes again to look at the cat in front of her which was now chasing small flowers falling down from the nearby trees.
Seeing this, suddenly a thought entered the wolf's brain. If it is not there on the ground and below the ground, then what about above the ground?
An evil grin appeared on Qin Hua's face and her smile spread from ear to ear. [Come here, Coco. Woof!]
Meow?
The small cat trotted towards her, all the hair on her back standing up for some reason. Something bad was going to happen?
And just as she neared her beloved master, suddenly the black paws shot forward pulling the tabby cat and the next instant Coco found herself flying in the air.
Meoooowwwww!
The cat shrieked in alarm. It waved its hand and feet but it couldn't get a grip at all. And its light fluffy body went up and down continuously!
Her eyes widened in shock wondering just what the hell was happening and when she looked down, she was even more shocked.
Bam! A black figure tossed her from one end and when she was about to fall, the black figure appeared underneath her again to catch her safely, but only to throw her back up again.
meow?
Coco had no idea what was going on and it didn't take long for the anxious look on the cat's face to disappear. She simply assumed that they were now playing a new game.
Master was most probably angry that she was playing alone and wanted to play with her together. So now they were playing catch.
Meooow.
Meooowww.
Meeeooowwww.
It once again started purring happily, enjoying the feeling of flying up and down.
Seeing this ecstatic look on the small face, Qin Hua wanted to cry. No matter what the situation was, this cat always had a good time!
[Woof! Let me not think about that and psych myself. Treasure. Treasure. Treasure. Where are you? Woof!]
And thus, one dog or rather a black blurry ball zoomed here and there on the ground, while another furball, white in color bounced around in the air.
This continued on for a few more seconds when suddenly Coco let out a loud shriek.
Meeeoooow!
Her body apparently hit something solid mid-air. [Woof! I got you.] Qin Hua quickly bounded towards the cat and caught it, both of them landing safely on the ground.
But the air around them had completely changed.
In just a second, dark storm clouds gathered in the sky, and a huge flash of lightning descended on the spot when the cat had hit something solid.
Growl!
Qin Hua quickly jumped back in alarm, tightly holding the cat in her arms, ensuring that both of them were out of harm's way.
Karaboom!
The flash of lightning descended on the ground with a vengeance and it was so mysteriously powerful that it even tore the air apart, revealing some sort of aberration.
It was like the lightning bolt had punched a hole in the air, opening up something.
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