Chapter 26 Meow Meow Woof Woof

Chapter 26: Meow Meow Woof Woof

He put his sword away and raised an eyebrow at Alice: "So, am I handsome or what?"

The young man in front of her had fiery red hair, with dimples on his cheeks when he smiled.

Look closer, and you'd see he had pierced ears.

It seemed he used to put effort into his appearance, but now he was much more modest, ditching the flashy accessories.

Alice played along and clapped, praising, "Handsome, handsome, handsome!"

"Good, then I'm going back to show off."

Alice couldn't help but laugh, raising an eyebrow and resting her chin on her hand: "You're gonna show off in front of Ling Qingjue? You're something else..."

She paused, then slapped the table and stood up: "All jokes aside, just when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, you might actually take Ling Qingjue."

"His real form is a cat, right? Shouldn't he be super alert?"

"He's a mage, dude. He only attacks from range and doesn't know how to use a blade or a sword."

Meng Shu said, "Like I do?"

He didn't either.

That sword move was something he learned as a teen just to look cool—all style, no substance.

"An adventurer needs to be buff, you know. A top-tier weapon can weigh over a thousand pounds. With your current build, you can't even lift it."

Alice pinched Meng Shu's arm, winking and smirking: "You gotta train hard."

Meng Shu had that lean, athletic build—broad shoulders, narrow waist, with a thin layer of muscle on his arms that was barely visible, just a faint outline.

He thought, "I still need to train?"

"If you suck, just practice more," Alice nodded.

"Alright, I'll go back and practice." Meng Shu agreed easily; he was always open to suggestions.

Saying goodbye to Alice, Meng Shu planned to head home first to pay back the money. As for where to crash, he hadn't figured that out yet.

Ling Qingjue probably wouldn't throw him out right away, right?

Since he didn't have any gear that fit, he stashed the wooden sword in his inventory and went home empty-handed.

As an outsider in this world, Meng Shu was pretty happy with this inventory system. Even though he could only carry fifteen items at a time, no matter the size or weight—even an aircraft carrier—it only took up one slot.

And there was this system interface that clearly showed all his quest progress, even telling the hero what to do next.

After switching classes, Meng Shu got another stat panel.

"Character: Meng Shu, Level 0"

"Attack: 10"

"Defense: 2"

"Agility: 10"

"HP: 100" (HP is health; hit zero and you're dead)

Meng Shu pulled out the wooden sword, and the panel changed.

"Attack: 11"

This wooden sword gave him +1 attack.

What a piece of crap!

Meng Shu checked his stats as he walked home. Calling it "home" wasn't right—it was Ling Qingjue's place, and he was just crashing there.

Ling Qingjue's small villa wasn't that big, about 1,400 square feet, with two floors.

The small garden had a lounge chair. On nice days, Ling Qingjue would be there soaking up the sun.

But when he stepped into the garden, the lounge chair was empty—no Ling Qingjue sunbathing.

Instead, from inside the house came a series of cat meows.

That's right, cat meows.

Meng Shu's heart skipped a beat. The meows were sharp and urgent—had something happened to Ling Qingjue?

He kicked open the front door and shouted, "Ling Qingjue!"

Ling Qingjue was standing by the small kitchen window, meowing at someone or something.

With that cold, indifferent face, he was uttering strange cat language. Meng Shu couldn't understand it, but he found it utterly adorable.

"Why are you back?" Ling Qingjue saw him, his brow furrowing as he coldly shut the window, his expression sour. "Weren't you going fishing?"

Meng Shu's attention was all on the window.

If he wasn't mistaken, standing outside the window was a black-and-white cow cat.

The sharp, frantic meows he'd heard were coming from that cow cat.

"Were you arguing with it?" Meng Shu realized he'd been mistaken.

On second thought, with Ling Qingjue's combat ability, who would dare hurt him?

Ling Qingjue turned his head away, a rare hint of grievance on his face as he lowered his voice.

"None of your business."

"Come on, tell me. I'll help you curse it back." Meng Shu saw the cow cat still scratching at the window, letting out piercing meows.

He didn't understand cat language, but he could read expressions.

That cat was definitely swearing!

Ling Qingjue turned back, impatience flickering in his eyes, a low sound escaping his throat, and then he meowed again.

The cow cat got even more worked up, frantically clawing at the window, pressing its pink nose against the glass, meowing loudly.

Meng Shu suddenly burst out laughing. Two cats arguing was nothing special, but a person arguing with a cat was hilarious.

And from the look on Ling Qingjue's face, it seemed like he lost the argument.

Ling Qingjue kept meowing.

The Cow Cat meowed back.

After a few rounds of this, Ling Qingjue got annoyed and turned his back on the cat.

Meng Shu thought it was funny. "Why don't you just use a Silence Spell to shut it up?"

"..."

Ling Qingjue lowered his brows and mumbled vaguely, "That's not really appropriate."

He seemed like he was hiding something, and awkwardly changed the subject. "Meng Shu, go upstairs and water the flowers for me."

"Water them yourself. I'm really good at arguing—if you can't win, let me take over."

Seeing Meng Shu wasn't leaving, Ling Qingjue frowned. "You don't speak cat."

"Arguing is arguing—who cares what the other person says? Just let it out until you feel better. Do you actually care about their words? It's all bullshit. Anyone who believes it is an idiot."

"It won't understand you anyway."

"You don't get it. The key to arguing is having presence." Meng Shu winked at him. "Do cats hate dogs, generally?"

Ling Qingjue was thrown off for a second. He didn't know why, but he was clearly off today—low energy, with a tired look in his eyes.

"Most cats probably do hate dogs."

Meng Shu grinned. "Then that's easy."

He shoved Ling Qingjue aside and walked up to the window. "Adults are arguing, kids stay out of it."

The Cow Cat, seeing a different person, got aggressive, baring its teeth and clawing like crazy.

Ling Qingjue just stood there, dumbfounded.

Then he saw Meng Shu open the window.

And grab the Cow Cat by the scruff of its neck.

Then, right at the Cow Cat, Meng Shu let out a bark.

"Woof woof woof woof!"

Ling Qingjue was stunned.

He couldn't understand a single word of it!

He, who knew every language, couldn't understand a single word of the dog language Meng Shu was speaking!

What kind of dog language was that even?!

The Cow Cat was clearly shocked by this human's barking. Meng Shu's presence was overwhelming, and even though the cat didn't understand a word, it felt like its ancestors had been cursed for eighteen generations.

Cow Cat: "Meow meow meow meow!"

Meng Shu: "Woof woof woof!"

Cow Cat, turning red: "Meow meow meow meow meow meow!"

Meng Shu barked even louder, using some weird dog language no one could understand. "Woof woof woof woof!"

He looked like he was about to eat the cat. The Cow Cat, almost stressed into a frenzy, bristled all over and threw every curse it knew into the fight.

But Meng Shu didn't understand a single thing.

That was the peak of arguing—all offense, no defense.

No matter what the Cow Cat said, Meng Shu just kept attacking. In the end, the Cow Cat realized it couldn't win this fight. All the carefully crafted insults it had come up with meant nothing to this guy.

And this guy was cursing it out in some weird language!

With Meng Shu's non-stop barking, the Cow Cat broke down and ran off. Before escaping the garden, it let out one last loud meow at Meng Shu.

It said—"Ling Qingjue! If you're brave enough to get a master, then come out and face me!"

Of course, Meng Shu didn't understand. After driving the cat away, he wiped his nose and chuckled. "See? That's how it's done—bark back at it!"

Ling Qingjue didn't react.

He stared in the direction the Cow Cat had fled, his face expressionless, only those emerald-like eyes filled with a strange emotion.

Meng Shu gently poked his chest. "Ling Qingjue? What's wrong?"