Chapter 184: Take the Blame

Chapter 184: Taking the Fall

Jia Zhao was also surprised; he thought Meng Shu would have been blown to pieces.

'How the hell did you survive? Didn't you die with your cat?'

Meng Shu shot him a look. What else can you expect from a fox? 'Are you that eager for me to die?'

'How could that be?' Jia Zhao chuckled and hastily changed the subject. 'The third floor is open. Let's go to the third floor.'

Meng Shu wasn't in a hurry. 'The second floor has been breached. Logically speaking, Cat Island should have appeared. I plan to go to Cat Island first.'

Hearing this, Xu Linzhou's eyes lit up. 'Cat Island! The legendary Cat Island that vanished long ago!'

'Exactly,' Meng Shu nodded. 'Cat told me before that his parents used his power to hide Cat Island. He said that once he became the Demon King, Cat Island would naturally appear. Now that both the Space and Time floors of the Demon King's Tower have been breached, Cat Island should manifest.'

Xu Linzhou was bursting with excitement. 'If Cat Island really appears, I want to get a cat too!'

Jia Zhao sneered. 'The cats on Cat Island are all stuck-up. You think you can just adopt one like that?'

Xu Linzhou elbowed him.

'Shut up.'

Jia Zhao deflected the elbow and turned to Meng Shu. 'What are you going to Cat Island for?'

'I haven't met Cat's folks yet, and he kept going on about the adoption paperwork. I'll just take care of it while I'm there.'

'Cat Island is far from here. It'd take you ages to go back and forth. Why not clear the tower first? And doesn't Ling Qingjue have Space Magic? Once you rescue him, you can ask him to take you there. That'll save time.'

Cat Island was a scar on Ling Qingjue's heart.

Meng Shu wanted to hit Cat Island before Ling Qingjue got out and apologize for him.

But then he thought, if he went behind Ling Qingjue's back to meet his folks, Ling Qingjue would chew him out again for messing up the ritual.

So he shelved the idea. 'Let's attack the tower first.'

Meng Shu summoned the system. 'Teleport me to the third floor.'

System: 'That'll be a hundred yuan.'

Even though he knew it was just money going from his left pocket to his right, Meng Shu still winced. 'Doesn't anyone complain about us charging an entrance fee like this?'

Jia Zhao paid up without a second thought. 'If they're unhappy, they can suck it up. Where would they even report it? As if there's no reward for clearing the Demon King's Tower. Your cat got blown to smithereens. What's a few hundred bucks from them?'

Meng Shu smiled, then sighed wistfully. 'This isn't even enough to buy a favorability gift for Ling Qingjue.'

'If you're not in a rush to get married, just get him to change the favorability gift. It's just a little bit of paperwork. You just gotta wait a few months.'

'I'm in a huge rush,' Meng Shu said.

They had already hooked up when the laws were broken, and they were hooked—a single look could spark a fire between them. If he rescued Ling Qingjue but could only stare at each other because of the favorability requirement, Ling Qingjue would end up doing something stupid.

Besides, Meng Shu himself was impatient; he couldn't stand a single day's delay.

Jia Zhao eyed him meaningfully and drawled. 'That eager, huh? What exactly are you gonna do?'

Meng Shu jabbed him hard with the Cat Sword's hilt.

Xu Linzhou wanted to follow to the third floor, but the system stopped him.

'Only max-level adventurers can enter the third floor of the Demon King's Tower.'

Seeing that there was a level restriction, he immediately freaked out. 'What sort of Demon King's Tower is this, with level restrictions? As if I'm dying to be here!'

Jia Zhao cracked up, then explained when he had calmed down. 'The third floor is harder, and there's no resurrection buff. This is for your safety.'

Xu Linzhou pulled a long face. 'Who do you think you're looking down on! I don't care anyway. This dump of a tower is cramped and shabby, and they dared to charge me. I'm never coming back!'

Meng Shu ruffled his hair like coaxing a child. 'I'll send you a gift when I finish clearing the tower. You've worked hard today. Go home and rest.'

Xu Linzhou, being sheltered and naive, was easily coaxed.

Meng Shu coaxed him home with just a few words.

Once Xu Linzhou was gone, Jia Zhao considered carefully. 'Where's your favorability with him at?'

'About sixty,' Meng Shu said. 'He likes those shells, flowers, and grasses. After a stroll on the beach, I picked up a bunch.'

Jia Zhao paused thoughtfully. 'Doesn't he like you? And you're still grinding favorability with him?'

'You call that liking?' Meng Shu chuckled and then turned serious. 'I know what I'm doing.'

The two of them entered the third floor together.

The second floor had been breached too quickly, so by now quite a few people had gathered on the third floor.

As soon as Meng Shu touched down, Zhang Lin grabbed him by the arm, a desperate plea on his face. 'Meng Shu, just tell them you killed the boss!'

'What's going on?' Meng Shu asked, bewildered.

Before Zhang Lin could answer, a pack of people rushed at them like wolves and surrounded them.

'Captain Zhang, when did you become so strong? What's the secret? Share it with us!'

'I saw it! With one move from you, the Boss didn't even move! You can control time!'

The crowd chattered all at once. Zhang Lin couldn't bear it anymore. 'I swear it wasn't me. The entire Knights' Order couldn't beat it.'

He shoved Meng Shu forward. 'This is one of our nation's Round Table Knights, max-level adventurer Meng Shu. It was he who killed the Boss.'

'Him? Who's that?'

The crowd looked Meng Shu up and down. His armor was shabby, his cloak patched up, and he held a plain sword.

He looked like nothing more than a scrub adventurer.

They turned back to Zhang Lin, their tone reproachful. 'If you don't want to share, then don't. But why are you using him to fool us?'

'No, I really don't know!' Zhang Lin couldn't get the words out. 'If I knew how to kill the Demon King, I would've said it long ago!'

Meng Shu rubbed his nose and played dumb. 'I don't get it. What Demon King? No way I could beat that.'

Zhang Lin's eyes widened. 'Meng Shu! That's so shady! You were the one who charged in—'

Meng Shu didn't want attention. He just wanted to retire in Moon Bay. He waved his hand. 'I don't get it, I don't get it. What are you talking about? Me, worthy of beating the Demon King?'

As he waved, he squeezed out of the crowd. 'Captain, don't be so stingy. Share it with everyone!'

'Right, Captain Zhang, how can you keep it to yourself?'

'Come on, tell us the secret!'

Zhang Lin was submerged by the crowd. He stretched out his hand and called desperately, 'Meng Shu! Come back!'