Chapter 54: The Enthusiastic Hospitality of the Plateau Musicians

Caw!

The Scratcher Bird appeared, its eyes landing on the Dazzling Bird, which was about the same size as itself, and immediately its spirits soared. Before, I couldn’t beat the Grimclaw Wyvern—now I can’t even take you down?

Seeing the Scratcher Bird brimming with fighting spirit, Su Yi let it do as it pleased. “That’s the attitude! Scratcher Bird, go up there and give it a couple of slaps—teach it a lesson it won’t forget!”

Caw!

With a loud cry, the Scratcher Bird puffed out its chest, swung its sharp claws, and launched into a frenzied flurry of scratching.

Not to be outdone, the Dazzling Bird also lashed out with its claws.

In an instant, both their attacks landed on each other, but with the Scratcher Bird’s technique behind its blows, its strikes were even more effective.

Smack!

Su Yi patted his forehead. The two bird wyverns were clawing and swiping at each other like two quarreling housewives.

“Forget it, I’d better take command. Scratcher Bird, use Stone Smash!” Su Yi sighed.

The Scratcher Bird quickly picked up a rock formed of condensed energy and hurled it at the Dazzling Bird.

The Dazzling Bird, clever as it was, didn’t try to take the blow head-on, but dodged nimbly aside. The Scratcher Bird swung again, and the Dazzling Bird dodged again.

The two bird wyverns leapt left and right as if in some wild dance.

Su Yi couldn’t help but chuckle.

“All right, playtime’s over! Scratcher Bird, throw it!” Su Yi shouted.

Caw!

Just as the Dazzling Bird dodged again, the Scratcher Bird, following orders, suddenly hurled the stone. The Dazzling Bird had no time to react and was struck squarely on the head.

“Waa!” The Dazzling Bird staggered, shook its aching head, and without a word turned tail and fled.

“That’s it? Running away so fast? Where’s all that battlefield reporter courage you usually show?” Su Yi exclaimed.

He watched as the Dazzling Bird scampered off, using its claws to scramble up vines and rocks, vanishing in a flash among the cliffs and reefs.

Su Yi wasn’t in a hurry to give chase—the guiding insects had already memorized the Dazzling Bird’s scent.

He walked over to the musician tribe’s cat and asked, “How are you? Badly hurt?”

“Meow, thank you, meow.” The cat stood up, glanced at its newly awakened companion, and thanked Su Yi.

“By the way, why are you all out here in the middle of the night?” Su Yi asked.

Surprisingly, the cat—who had faced a monster ten times its size without flinching—now seemed a little uneasy. “There’s been a terrifying creature in the plateau lately, meow! We don’t dare hunt at all during the day, meow!”

“A terrifying creature?”

“Yes! It glows red, with fangs and claws—it’s terrifying, meow! Several of our companions have been injured, meow!” The cat waved its paws about, flustered.

“Glowing red? Fangs and claws?” Su Yi rubbed his chin, unable to guess what sort of monster this could be.

“Grrr…” His bear apprentice came over, followed by a group of grateful musician cats surrounding both it and Dewgrass.

“Your friend is out of danger now. Take these medicines for your other companions,” Su Yi said, handing over more medicine to the brave, adorable cat.

“Thank you so much, meow. My name is Coral. What’s yours?” the lynx named Coral said gratefully.

“My name’s Su Yi,” he replied with a smile.

“Su Yi, you’re amazing, meow—taming such a big monster like the Dazzling Bird!” Coral said with awe.

Just one Dazzling Bird had caused them endless trouble, yet this tall human had managed to command such a creature, and in just a couple of moves had sent it packing.

Seeing the genuine admiration in the cat’s eyes, Su Yi replied humbly, “It’s nothing, really.”

Unexpectedly, Coral beamed. “Su Yi, meow, I’d like to invite you to our tribe, meow—you’re our savior!”

Faced with the pure-hearted and kind Coral, Su Yi couldn’t refuse. He was also curious what the Detel tribe was like.

In the game, due to limitations in presentation, there were usually only three cats in Detel’s tribe, never giving a real sense of a community.

...

Following Coral, Su Yi squeezed through a narrow crevice and emerged onto a path along the edge of a cliff, a bottomless abyss yawning to the side.

After a few dozen paces, the view suddenly opened up.

Inside the space before him, a waterfall tumbled down in torrents, gathering into a pool. Lanternfish darted away at the sight of newcomers, while fish swam leisurely in the water. Brilliant coral rocks lined the scene, and snowy-white shells were piled along the bank.

Climbing with the cats up the rocky ledges and platforms, they passed another small waterfall. Su Yi dashed through the curtain of water after them, and on the other side, a new world awaited.

On countless interconnected, undulating plateaus, the Detel musician cats had built huts from fur, coral, and even stone, living in this secluded, utopian place.

“Everyone, meow! We have a guest!” Coral called out. Instantly, all the cats gathered around with curiosity, staring at Su Yi in wonder.

“Meow! This friend named Su Yi helped us drive off the Dazzling Bird, meow! And gave us medicine, meow!” Coral held up the big bag of supplies Su Yi had given.

“Meow!” Immediately, a dozen injured cats ran over, happily collecting medicine from Coral’s paws.

For a moment, Su Yi was surrounded by enthusiastic cats. On the edge, a few began to play instruments in delight—if you’d told Su Yi it was New Year’s, he’d have believed it.

These cats seemed eternally kind and trustworthy.

“Let’s start a feast, meow!” Coral, apparently their leader, called out, and all the cats responded with cheers.

They brought out meat and fish from their stores, roasting them around the campfire and offering them to Su Yi.

However, after several days of poor hunting due to the mysterious monster, the feast was not especially plentiful.

Yet even so, they did everything they could to express their gratitude.

“A feast should be truly festive!” Su Yi said, taking out tonight’s haul of barnacle abalone, various meats, and fruit he’d gathered, piling it up in abundance.

“Meow! We can’t possibly accept so much from you, meow!” Coral said in distress.

In the tribe, food was precious, and Su Yi had given so much at once—Coral worried he’d be left with nothing.

“It’s all right,” said Su Yi with a smile.

At worst, he’d just make another trip to the Ancient Forest.

“Meow!” Coral meowed, and soon a crowd of cats surrounded Su Yi, bringing out all sorts of instruments and launching into a grand ensemble.

...

It was a joyous banquet for all, and though the cooking methods were primitive, the food still had its own unique flavor.

“Meow, this is an instrument we crafted especially—we hope you’ll accept it, meow,” Coral said, handing Dewgrass an instrument shaped like a horn.

“Thank you, meow!” Dewgrass took it, delighted.

“I’ll teach you how to play. This is what we do best, meow! It can help your companions in all sorts of ways, meow!” Coral said to Dewgrass.

Watching Coral teach Dewgrass to play, Su Yi asked with interest, “Is this a Rallying Instrument?”

In the game, if you became friends with the Plateau Musicians, they would give your Palico a piece of equipment called the Rallying Instrument.

During hunts, the Palico would play it to grant the hunter various buffs—from increased attack and defense to status resistance and even antidotes and damage reduction.