Chapter 62 Too Painful to Recall

Chapter 62: Unbearable Memories

Xiao Guai’s legs gave out, and he collapsed on the spot.

He stubbornly stretched out a paw, but the moment it touched the two bodies, they crumbled to dust, scattered by the wind.

“Meow—!”

He didn’t understand what had happened, and suddenly began to run wildly, sprinting down the ruined streets. “Teacher! Sister! Xiao Hua! San San!”

He called out name after name, but no cat answered him.

Meng Shu could feel the terror in his heart. He couldn’t comprehend everything before him. Before they left, everything had been fine—Mom and Dad had said they’d make dried fish for dinner.

Where was home? Where was the town? Where was Cat Paradise?

Xiao Guai ran like mad, passing every building, calling for every cat he knew.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Still nothing.

The whole town had been destroyed in the explosion.

Embers mingled with ashes, debris swirling in the air, and the once-thriving Cat Paradise was now rubble, with no trace of what it used to be.

Xiao Guai’s mind went blank. In a daze, he wandered to the site of the Cat Academy—now collapsed—where his sister had been learning Transformation Magic.

He saw the bodies of many cats.

“…Sister?” Xiao Guai murmured, holding onto a foolish hope, calling out again and again, “Sister? Are you there? Sister…?”

Another gust of wind blew.

Meng Shu had already sensed the magical fluctuations. He panicked and tried to take control of the body to get away, but Xiao Guai’s level was too low; he couldn’t feel such a terrifying wave at all, and stood there stupidly waiting to die.

Run, you stupid cat!

Something’s coming!

Meng Shu was frantic, but Xiao Guai was unaware of his existence, frozen like a statue, not moving a muscle.

“Cat #2!” A gentle female voice rang out first, and out of nowhere, a slender figure appeared among the ruins.

It was a young woman with black hair and green eyes. She scooped Xiao Guai into her arms in one swift motion. “Let’s go!”

Xiao Guai huddled in her arms, and the tears he’d held back for so long finally spilled over. “Chief… our home…”

“…”

His tears splashed onto the woman’s arm, each sob piercing like a wailing ghost. “Mom, Dad, Sister, and all my friends are gone…”

The woman didn’t speak. She simply carried him a little ways away and gently set him down.

Seeing the chief about to leave again, Xiao Guai immediately ran after her. “Chief, Chief, don’t leave me! I… will my parents come back?”

“…I’m sorry.” The chief lowered her head. Her face was also injured, and her usually bright eyes were now dim and lifeless. “I can’t.”

“Why?” Xiao Guai felt as if struck by lightning. He had thought that as long as the chief was there, everything could be fixed.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, “Don’t you all know magic? Bring my parents back to life! You’re the chief, why aren’t you taking responsibility? And—and Lord Hero! Wasn’t he always by your side? He’s a mage, he can definitely bring us back…”

The woman fell even more silent.

Her silence was a death sentence, plain and simple.

“Why…”

Xiao Guai didn’t get it.

He was only a two-year-old cat.

Ever since he was born, the town had thrived under the protection of the chief and Lord Hero.

His mother often said, “Lord Hero and the chief will protect us.”

He had always looked up to them.

But now, the chief said there was no way; she couldn’t do it.

Xiao Guai didn’t know how to bring back the Cat Paradise that lived in his memories.

All of the chief’s exposed skin was burned, revealing raw, red flesh. Her beautiful face was also badly scarred. Her voice was filled with sorrow. “Number Two… Lord Hero just sacrificed himself… He gave his life to protect me.”

She paused, choked with tears. “He can be resurrected, but what about us? We’re just animals—we aren’t protected by the laws. Cat Paradise has been destroyed. I… how can I bring everyone back…”

So Lord Hero had sacrificed himself too.

Xiao Guai looked down at his own paws and finally asked the question: “Who did it?”

The chief buried her head, weeping, but didn’t answer his question.

Xiao Guai asked again: “Who did it?”

He didn’t need the chief’s answer; he soon found out.

In that devastating explosion, the only cats who survived were him, the town chief, and the Young Master.

The Young Master had sparkling emerald eyes and talent beyond ordinary cats. He was regarded as a benchmark by countless members of the Cat Clan. Every cat parent would tell their children, “Look at our Young Master! He transformed into human form when he was three!”

And they would always add, “The Young Master will lead our Cat Clan to glory!”

The first major event that the Young Master, who carried the hopes of the entire clan, undertook was to launch an attack on his own people.

He truly was a genius, just as the clan cats said.

He was a genius, so no cat could stop him.

The Cat Paradise, located on a small island in the western part of the continent, vanished overnight.

Even the legendary top-tier mage, Lord Hero, who was skilled in defense magic, couldn’t withstand his attack.

Xiao Guai watched as the Young Master emerged from the ruins.

The Young Master had already transformed into human form—a boy of about seven or eight.

His cold eyes slowly shifted and finally rested on Xiao Guai.

The chief’s face was filled with grief, but she refused to look at him any longer. Crystal tears rolled down her cheeks.

Xiao Guai grabbed the leader's clothes and screamed hysterically: "It was the Young Master who destroyed our home! Kill him! Kill him!"

But it forgot one thing.

The leader was the Young Master's mother.

Because she loved the Young Master, she chose to cover for him.

From beginning to end, the Young Master just stood aside.

A black aura still surrounded him, his face expressionless, his eyes hollow.

"Why did you do this?" Xiao Guai had once admired the Young Master too. The Young Master was just a year older than it, but had already learned to transform and could teach others magic lessons.

The Young Master had also taught it, but it was too lazy to pay attention.

Xiao Guai refused to give up. It kept asking, "Why did you do this?"

The Young Master looked at it as if it were something lifeless.

No answer came.

It suddenly passed out without warning.

Meng Shu was linked to it through the five senses. When it passed out, he lost all sight.

The world plunged into complete darkness.

Could Ling Qingjue really have done something like that?

He annihilated the entire clan, so he fled all the way to Moon Bay. Fearful of being linked to his past, he went into hiding.

No...

How could Ling Qingjue do such a thing?

Meng Shu couldn't find an answer. He simply didn't believe it, for no apparent reason.

"Special scene ends"

"You are about to return to your own body"

"The next story sequence is about to begin."

"Warning: Proceed carefully with the next plot. If you fail, your affection with Ling Qingjue will drop to zero, and the romance route with him will be permanently locked."