Chapter 2469: What Does It Have to Do with the Cats
That was the situation, but for now, it didn't have much to do with Xu Huo. His focus was still on the instance, so he rested for another half day. The next morning, he took a sightseeing car to Mao Guo Town.
Mao Guo Town had already become a moderately famous tourist destination. Besides the dedicated tour route, there were tourist buses departing from other cities heading to Mao Guo Town. Xu Huo boarded one nearby.
At least half of the passengers in the same vehicle were players. Xu Huo and the Painting Woman sat in the only two empty seats. The player next to them couldn't hide his annoyance the moment he saw them, instinctively shifting his body away.
"What a coincidence," Xu Huo greeted him.
The other player looked confused. "You must have the wrong person."
"No mistake." Xu Huo pointed at the prop shoes on his feet. "Quite a fateful encounter, Bubble Bean."
Indeed, on this tourist flying bus heading to Mao Guo Town, the three who had parted ways on the Dimension Train just the day before had run into each other again.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The man refused to admit it, turning his head away and pretending to look out the window at the scenery.
The Painting Woman sat between the two. When she heard Xu Huo call out the name Bubble Bean, her eyes lit up, and she immediately pulled out a stamp fruit from her pocket.
"I'm warning you, don't mess around!" Bubble Bean could no longer keep up the act, glaring sharply at Xu Huo and the Painting Woman. "This isn't some small place!"
Xu Huo pressed down the Painting Woman's hand and smiled at Bubble Bean. "Since we're so fated to meet, why not team up?"
Bubble Bean had suffered a major loss last time—there was no way he wanted to travel with them. He said directly, "I'm getting off midway."
"Don't let personal grudges get in the way of clearing the instance," Xu Huo said, glancing at him. "Besides, I think we got along pretty well in the last instance."
Yeah, right. He had been suppressed and beaten almost the entire time—how could that be considered pleasant? Bubble Bean's face was so dark it looked like it could drip water, but turning hostile was clearly unwise. Even though this wasn't a closed instance, the gap in strength was obvious, and he didn't want to be chased and beaten while trying to clear the instance.
Forcing a smile, Bubble Bean relaxed his tone a little. "Maybe, maybe we're not even in the same instance."
"The Journey of the Cat Whisker Fruit," Xu Huo said without hiding it from the other passengers, directly stating the instance he was heading to.
Bubble Bean was convinced. "I didn't expect it to really be the same instance."
The Painting Woman patted him on the shoulder and extended her communicator, which read: "Your last face was better looking."
Bubble Bean pretended not to see it. "Going to the instance today—do you have any leads?"
"Not yet," Xu Huo said. "We'll have to see the place first."
Both of them were rushing to the instance. The first thing they did upon arriving in Zone 001 was rest. Information about the tourist route and Mao Guo Town could be found on the Message Collection Terminal, but to truly understand the instance, they had to go to Mao Guo Town first. Everything else could wait.
"Are you two also going to the Cat Whisker Fruit Journey instance?" A young female player from the back seat chimed in, smiling. "Since this instance doesn't have a player limit, why don't we form a team?"
"Just from the name, you can tell that the Journey of the Cat Whisker Fruit is probably an instance with a lot of scattered information. More people means higher efficiency."
"What do you think?" Xu Huo asked for Bubble Bean's opinion.
Bubble Bean gave him a strange look, then said to the female player, "Sure, let's team up."
"He agreed." Xu Huo extended goodwill to the female player. "What should we call you?"
"Just call me Ling Ling." The female player also asked for their names. Once the three got acquainted, she shared her thoughts on the instance. Based on the instance name and the guides on Under Dimension, it seemed there were many angles to clear this instance. That meant the difficulty varied, and it probably wouldn't restrict the number of players.
"Everyone doesn't have to fight tooth and nail over one clearing method. With plenty of time, this instance should be relatively easy."
Bubble Bean nodded. "I think so too. If it doesn't work, we can try a simpler method first."
After all, the tourist route wasn't that long, and the instance had no time limit. Running it a few times wouldn't be a problem.
Xu Huo nodded in agreement. "Do you know what a Cat Whisker Fruit looks like?"
Ling Ling immediately took one out, though it was already a craft item. It looked a bit different from the original Cat Whisker Fruit—the whisker-like fruit tendrils had been trimmed down to just a few, painted with colors, and given drawn-on eyes, making it look quite realistic.
"It looks pretty cute," Ling Ling said, stroking the cat whiskers. "And it's made very carefully. To put in this much effort, it's more than just dedication. The people of Mao Guo Town must really like cats."
"So what if they like cats?" the Painting Woman interjected.
"People who like small animals and pour their love into them are usually more patient," Ling Ling said. "Once we get there and see how the cats in Mao Guo Town live, we'll know the overall atmosphere of the town."
"If the whole town is laid-back and easygoing, we might be able to complete the instance task very easily."
Xu Huo and Bubble Bean understood her point. If Mao Guo Town had a leisurely lifestyle and contented people, then the chances of the town producing a tricky instance were low. The locals might even proactively help players clear the instance, which would be ideal.
"Why would it be easy to clear?" the Painting Woman didn't understand and asked again. "Will the cats help you?"
Ling Ling glanced at her with slight surprise, unsure if she was genuinely asking or deliberately provoking. She replied, "If the locals in the instance location voluntarily provide clues, it saves us a lot of trouble."
"What does that have to do with the cats?" the Painting Woman still found it strange.
Ling Ling's smile faltered for a moment. "I already said, people who like small animals are more patient and compassionate..."
The Painting Woman waved her hand, cutting her off. "Liking cats doesn't mean liking people. Maybe they only like cats, not people."
Ling Ling felt she had comprehension issues. "I'm analyzing from a normal human psychology perspective. The general direction won't be wrong."
The Painting Woman wanted to say more, but Bubble Bean interjected, "We'll know once we get there. What's there to argue about?"
The Painting Woman glanced at him, then turned to Xu Huo.
Xu Huo nodded. "What they said makes sense, and they have experience."
The Painting Woman pouted and went back to playing her game.
Not long after, the vehicle arrived at Mao Guo Town. True to its reputation, they could see the mountain next to Mao Guo Town from far away. With the players' enhanced vision, the mountain looked like it was packed with fist-sized cat heads, dense and crowded. The fruits were covered in long whiskers, and honestly, it was a bit ugly.
"Gave me goosebumps," Ling Ling said, rubbing her arms. "I hate seeing piles of things."
"What about White Notes?" the Painting Woman asked, delivering a soul-searching question.