Chapter 157
Translator’s Notes: Bet you guys never saw THIS coming&h.e.l.lip; except those who subscribed to Patreon and had early access or super early access to our private stash.
EDIT: Oh wait woops d.a.m.n I guess my brain hasn’t fully recovered yet: Thank you once again as always to R.V. for sponsoring THIS chapter! There goes my holiday next week though *cries*.
SRH Chapter 157: The Two Scourges: Dance Night ‘Wolf King’ VS Cyborg Cat [Part 1]
Unlike the dispirited person they had seen during the day at that stone house, the current Rikulab looked like he had changed into a bright new husk. His hair had been put in order, and although it wasn’t exactly tidy, there was a trace of wildness amidst his unkempt appearance. The tip of a few shoots of hair looked a bit mysterious under the lighting, and an infinite amount of confidence and vigor gushed out of him to the point where it was almost visible. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in ‘Dance Night’ had been pushed by Rikulab – the ‘Wolf King’ – to a new height.
As he strode and swayed his arms according to the music’s beat with wildness and unruliness, he felt just like a dangerous and lively wolf king striding across a gra.s.sland, ignorant to all of the heated gazes cast over by the many dancers around him.
When a tall, round platform slowly rose from the center from the dance floor, Rikulab instantly discharged an aggressive air that scattered his restlessness from before. He appeared extraordinarily dazzling on this stage that belonged to him alone.
Beneath the round platform, the people on the dance floor screamed, shouted and yelled as if they had gone mad. In the next moment, their cries were all buried by a new blast of music. He tossed down his jacket, and his s.h.i.+rt appeared disheveled as he danced. The top three b.u.t.tons of his s.h.i.+rts had vanished before anyone realised it, and the open collar manifested masculine charm.
His dancing postures and movements were the only things that were fully visible. His eyes forever carried within them unexplored mysteries. His body twisting, his movements pandering and suggestive, and his moves were full of cla.s.s despite seeming casual beneath the dazzling lights. Beneath his feet, beneath the round platform were fans who had been stirred up by music and alcohol to the point of insanity.
The women beneath the round platform screamed and shouted, well rounded bodies tossing seductive flying kisses from hot red lips. Their twisting waists, alluring curves, and s.e.xy bodies swayed nimbly like a succubi. They all wore intoxicating smiles as dancing hair strands swept across other male dancers along with their moving bodies. But they did not care if the people beside them had been aroused by the hair cutting across their skin and stimulating their nerves. This was because their eyes never strayed from the man who had not looked anyone directly in the eyes on the tall platform.
The women could only feel a kind of vague impulse abruptly invading into their bodies. Rather than infatuated following, it was more like the product of fully unleashed hormones and atmosphere dyed hearts. In an instant, it put a lid on one’s reason and gave free rein for emotions go wild.
The hormones in this place were full to bursting.
Inside the private room slightly far away from the dance floor, Udoze was subconsciously swaying along with the music. Tang Qiuqiu was going to use the big headphones she was wearing to block off all of the noises from outside, but when her eyes swept across the tall platform that wasn’t there before, her eyes instantly turned round.
"I&h.e.l.lip; is that uncle drunkard?"
Cillin gave her an affirmative glance.
"Why does it feel like he has worn a completely different skin after just a few hours? He does look handsome after tidying himself though. From this we can see just how important personal hygiene is!" Tang Qiuqiu commented with a straight face.
However, as Tang Qiuqiu watched on, she too felt an inclination to succ.u.mb into this pretty and flirtatious world. Her hands was still holding the big headphones Cillin had found for her, but she did not look like she was going to wear them..
This place was a dye pool. It would dye every newcomer just off the boat.
Hmm?
Cillin turned his head and looked at the gray cat that was crouched by the transparent window, currently watching and twisting its body along with the beat. He felt a little astonished.
This cat even knows how to dance?
As if wanting to prove Cillin’s thoughts, the gray cat felt very dissatisfied with the atmosphere inside this small private room and turned around to speak to Cillin, "I’m going out to have some fun!" once said, it scuttled right out of the door and vanished.
"Where is it going to have fun?" Tang Qiuqiu asked. She looked at the dance floor that looked like they were filled with dancing demons and confirmed that she did not like this place. However, she had to admit that there was a driving force behind this atmosphere.
Just when Cillin and Tang Qiuqiu made guesses as to where the gray cat went to steal some food, Cillin suddenly detected something and looked towards the tall platform. A gray figure had scuttled up the pole that was so smooth it was reflective and onto the platform. It even slipped in mid climb.
Cillin: "&h.e.l.lip;"
Take it easy, sir cat!
For the longest time, Rikulab had always felt that he was born to fit the life in this place. He did not need too much alcohol, and he did not need too much supportive drugs. He was satisfied as long as he could step into this deafening venue and onto the platform that belonged to him and him alone!
He seemed to have turned numb, drunk, and muddleheaded. He was simply moving according to his wishes and shedding sweat wantonly. He seemed yearning to boil up the blood that had already cooled through this method.
This was his heaven where he had no need for words or speeches. Right now at this moment, no one would care about his background or his past. He needed to vent, to go crazy. He did not mind the strangers clinging and kissing beneath him, nor did he mind the the fervent gazes of the followers imitating him slavishly. He only wanted to make himself happy. It was a very simple wish.
Rikulab seemed incapable of tiring, and like a ferocious beast who had just awakened and struggled out of its cage; he sucked in fresh air madly and enjoyed his freedom with greed, unwilling to ever turn back.
Suddenly, Rikulab noticed something peculiar just like a king whose domain had just been invaded. His eyes immediately turned sharp, but when he noticed that the fellow who was twisting its body along with the beat and sharing his platform was a rather average-looking cat, the sharpness in his eyes was gradually withdrawn. He glanced once at the gray cat with a kind of interest, and the gray cat’s fur exploded when it saw that Rikulab was looking at it with the eyes of a man looking at a foolish animal.
Unlike before where it would use force to solve situations that made its fur stand, the gray cat stared without any show of weakness right back at Rikulab with obvious provocation. There were even some scorn and disdain in its eyes.
Yoho*, this cat is interesting!
*I don’t think I ever explained this properly, but it has the same context as ‘Oh’ in English.
A dance battle?
Alright, since you want it I’ll take you for a spin!
Rikulab raised a hand and snapped his finger once; his action changing the music indoors. The style of the music was extremely dazzling with clear, bright beats and an emphasis on intensity. The sweeping lights were changed, and the scene on the tall, round platform was displayed on the biggest projected screen in the venue.
The man and the cat battled each other through dancing without the slightest show of weakness at all.
Although it was a cat, the people who saw the gray cat actually thought that it was even more extraordinary than a human. The eyes, the trembling ears, the curving movements that could not be imitated by man; the teasing tail, the rhythmic footsteps that brought about a different kind of cadence; and finally the gaze that was cold and indifferent, but also both lazy and infinitely proud that it would look down upon everything and anything, knocked on the onlookers’ hearts beneath the tall, round platform bit by bit as the music beat and the gray cat danced.
Cillin put a hand to his forehead and rubbed the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows. He sighed amidst Tang Qiuqiu’s
A music full of cadence and rhythm, skillful and nimble dancing bodies that were contracting and relaxing along to the rhythm, and inimitable dance steps and freedom to sway to one’s desires. The unique pair of dancers had drawn every attention in the entire ‘Dance Night’ to themselves.
The atmosphere on the scene soared along with their dances, and no one was dancing on the dance floor any longer. They were all looking at the tall platform and projection and erupting in claps and howls that were so loud it seemed capable of flipping the auditorium’s rooftop. The whistles, the screams, and the fiery atmosphere challenged every new limit it reached, and pushed the atmosphere in the entire ‘Dance Night’ over a peak again and again.
Escalate, escalate, and escalate some more.
Right now, Rikulab was no longer immersed in a proud and aloof dance with himself. In this circular domain, he could feel a contending power and a unique charm that was not inferior to any other dancer’s. Who could’ve possibly imagined before that a cat could display the glamour of dancing?
The man was like a king who led the crowd, occasionally tossing indifferent, lazy and composed glances beneath the platform. But somehow, his eyes contained a deadly charm that kept them chasing after him blindly, almost wanting to prostrate themselves in wors.h.i.+p.
The cat’s flowing rhythm contained a trace of inseparable love. Intimacy and alienation that were like a paradox that battered at the crowd’s reason with unsurmountable intensity!
Translator’s Notes: I feel like I never get enough sleep lately. =.="
SRH Chapter 157: The Two Scourges: Dance Night ‘Wolf King’ VS Cyborg Cat [Part 2]
Cillin suddenly frowned. The brilliant performance by the one man and the one cat on the tall, round platform was slowly but surely forming a hypnotic effect. He turned around and saw that Tang Qiuqiu’s breathing rhythm was already starting to show signs of abnormality. He took over the headphones in Tang Qiuqiu’s hand and put them on her head.
After the headphone was put on, Tang Qiuqiu slowly came back to herself. She was both baffled and puzzled. Her memories seemed to be slightly out of order just like those hungover people mentioned in books.
"What happened, brother Cillin?" Tang Qiuqiu asked. While saying this, she could feel that her breathing was still a little rough. She even thought: Was there something wrong with the noodles here?
Cillin shook his head and pointed at the one man and one cat on top of the tall, round platform, "You were too engrossed watching them and fell into a trance. Just listen to some soothing music and it’ll be alright."
This was the first time Tang Qiuqiu had come to such a place, so her resistance was definitely incomparable to those old foxes.
"Oh." Although Tang Qiuqiu did not quite understand why something like this had happened just from watching a performance, when she glanced at Udoze at the side and saw that his breathing was growing more and more irregular, she resolutely played the music in the player.
On the inside Tang Qiuqiu thought: This place really is too scary!! Although she was no longer as repulsed as when she had first arrived at this place, there was still some trepidation in her heart. As Udoze had said earlier, this place was for adults only, wasn’t it?
The people outside and beneath the tall platform had no idea about the distorted strangeness in this place. They continued to cheer pa.s.sionately.
On the dance floor, the people’s gazes were now stuck as they imitated the man and cat’s movements until their heartbeats were almost beating on the same wavelength. The segmented cadence and the changes caused by every beat were tightly held by the two dancers above the tall, round platform, so when the strong beats of the tune landed on unexpected segments of the cadence, the man and cat’s movements became unusually stimulating and exciting.
Although they were obviously dancing as they pleased, there was a complexity within their simplicity, and strength coupled with gentleness within their movements. Their next move could never be fathomed or predicted. The people were unable to catch up to their rhythm, even as they chased closely and unconsciously after it.
The people who were concentrating their attention on the moving duo on top of the tall platform slowly felt as if they could not catch their breaths. At first they thought it was just a misperception. After all they had fun in ‘Dance Night’ for many years. What kind of madness had they not seen before? They had not experienced the same symptoms back then either, had they?
But as time pa.s.sed minute after minute, there as finally someone who could not catch his breath and fell to the ground, fainting. Then there was a second person, a third person, a fourth person&h.e.l.lip;
These people felt as if the flow speed of their blood had increased, and yet the blood flow was severed when it turned around a certain corner. Hence, the circulation of bodily fluids became disorderly and uncontrollable. Since the people were unable to control their emotions as they wished to soothe this circ.u.mstance, they were slowly dragged into darkness by a pair of invisible, psychedelic hands.
In the past, there had been dancers who fainted from overly intense beats or excessive excitement because their heart and lung functions were unable to keep up. There was a group of security guards in ‘Dance Night’ who specifically paid attention to the state of affairs indoors. If there was a scuffle they would discreetly appear, but if a fainted person was discovered then immediate action was demanded.
Blackouts could not be treated casually since one one knew exactly what kind of factor had caused the person to faint. The security guards were physically much stronger than the onlookers of weaker const.i.tution on the dance floor though. At the very least, none of the security guards had experienced a blackout when the onlookers on the dance floor began to faint one after another. At most, they felt that their breaths were a little unsteady, but it was a natural reaction to such an atmosphere. No one would think deeper into it.
Of course, it was exactly because there were blackouts in the venue that the security guards were forced to look away from the two performers on stage. This ultimately prevented them from suffering the same fate as the onlookers inside the venue.
On stage, the two dancers continued to dance as if they had forgotten themselves, looking like they would not stop until the victor was decided at the very end.
Off stage, one fainted onlooker after another were being carried out of the venue. When the managers finally took notice of the situation, they discovered that one third of the people in the venue had vanished before they realised it. Judging from the irregular ear and breathing rhythm of the remaining people, they could not hold on for much longer either.
But they couldn’t interrupt the two dancers either. This was a situation that no one had ever run into in perhaps a millennium, or even ten millenniums. At the very least, they had not seen any such reports in official publications.
Is this a business opportunity?
This is the scoop of a lifetime!
There were foreign businessmen and managers of reputable electronic publications at the back of this night club. Therefore, with almost no discussions at all both sides had sent down the same order by chance to send the fainted people to the first aid room and keep the dance floor going as it was.
Every camera was pointed at the man and cat on top of the tall, round platform. The duo paid no heed to the people who were collapsing one after another beneath the platform because of them, or rather they never cared about the people below in the first place. They continued to dance to their heart’s content and were unaware if the people below were collapsing.
Time arrived at midnight before anyone realised it. It then continued to tick away.
There were now less than half of the people still standing on the dance floor.
Another hour pa.s.sed.
There was now only one quarter of the people still standing on the dance floor.
When blurry light was slowly starting to emerge from the horizon, there was only one tenth of the original number left on the dance floor. These people were indeed of extraordinary const.i.tution, or they could not have held on until this point.
Rikulab had never enjoyed dancing to the full as much as today. So the sigh of regrets he experienced when standing on this stage in the past was due to the lack of an opponent.
However, Rikulab seemed to have slowly forgotten the fact that his opponent was a cat. It was true that this was an extraordinary cat, but still, it was a cat.
The music was starting to lose its charm. Without needing to communicate with words and as if their hearts were linked, the man and cat both decided to end this contest.
Thus, just when Rikulab was preparing to take a perfect curtain call, a rueful event happened and made Rikulab wish that he could spit out a mouthful of blood – there seriously was a f.u.c.king cat beyond a man*!
*The literal translation of the original Chinese idiom is: mountain beyond mountain, man beyond man. It warns that there is always someone better out there, and in this case, it was a cat.
A meow that gathered every emotion and agitated the nerves to the extreme ‘killed’ the remaining one tenth of the people on the dance floor instantaneously!
Cillin looked at the people who had fainted on the dance floor and felt great pity for them. Look at them; because they hadn’t fainted earlier they were now ‘instakilled’ by this meow instead. Hence, their conditions were a lot worse than the people who fainted earlier. Perhaps they would not even remember this night when they finally woke up. Perhaps they would even suffer from sequelae in the future. Every time they heard a cat meow their bodies would reflexively twitch to it. Of course, the twitching would be over after several years, but who could tell exactly how many years that might be?
Udoze had been chopped down by Cillin with his palm and fainted a long time ago. He could at least save his brain nerves from some poisoning.
Before they left, Cillin looked at the man and cat playing at curtain call performance on the tall, round platform and curled his lips – these two scourges!
There were many people who were fated to be at a loss tonight.
When Cillin dragged Udoze and led Tang Qiuqiu back to their accommodation, the lights at the first floor was still lit up. The lights at the front yard were lit up as well. Mrs. Vento hadn’t slept and was sewing dolls inside the house on her chair and was waiting for them.
Although they had informed Mrs. Vento earlier that they would be having fun outside tonight, they hadn’t thought Mrs. Vento would sit here and wait for the entire time.
Udoze was a very lucky man. He had a great mother, and a great mother was something that many people would never have.
When she saw Cillin and the others had returned, Mrs. Vento put down the work in her hands and wore a gentle smile on her face, "You’re back." while speaking, she stood up and got ready to take over Udoze.
Cillin shook his head while smiling and pointed at Udoze on his shoulder, "He was too excited and drank some alcohol today, so he’s pretty heavy. Allow me."
Mrs. Vento led Cillin to Udoze’s room and brought out the soup that could relieve the effects of intoxication to Cillin and Tang Qiuqiu (T/N: Why TQQ?? She didn’t drink&h.e.l.lip; did she??) she had prepared a long time ago. Then, she prepared hot water and told Cillin and Tang Qiuqiu to wash themselves and rest. She would tend to Udoze.
Cillin did not object after seeing Mrs. Vento’s determination. After thanking her, he went up the second floor with Tang Qiuqiu.
He hadn’t gone upstairs for long before the gray cat returned c.o.c.kily from outside. It held its head high and generally looked like someone who was full on the success of its first battle. Adding that to Tang Qiuqiu’s praise, right now the gray cat’s tail was about to soar into the sky.
"Hmph hmph, there were some people who tried to follow I, but I have taken care of them directly!" the gray cat rubbed its whiskers and wore a look that said: see how great I am?
"You ate them?" Cillin asked. This guy might be a cat, but it was fully capable of eating humans.
The gray cat shook its whiskers disdainfully, "No way. I just slapped them out of consciousness."
Cillin fell silent. The fate of the people who were slapped out of consciousness by this cat would be worse than those who were instakilled by its meow. He wondered if those people could even remember such a cat after they woke up.
After a moment’s thought, Cillin asked again, "What about the footage and records in ‘Dance Night’?"
"I destroyed them all of course!" there were some things that the gray cat could take care on its own now without relying on Cillin’s instructions.
"Good job." Cillin gave it a rare praise.
"I know~" the gray cat seemed to have thought of something, because its face suddenly turned serious even as it eyes shone brightly, "Cillin, I have an idea."
&h.e.l.lip;
When he returned home, Rikulab was still somewhat absentminded. Earlier, he had wandered around the city of desires and danced about in both satisfaction and loneliness. Now that his excitement had cooled, he was feeling something like desolation after prosperity.
Rikulab tossed himself on the bed and felt depressed. His body should be very tired after such a long period of dancing, and yet the nerves in his brain kept stimulating him and preventing him from sleep.
Keeping his eyes open, he felt like a severe case of insomnia. Suddenly, a little bit of despair crept over him.
Rikulab felt just like a fruit who had been forgotten on the ground. No one paid attention to it, and it slowly fell into darkness and rotted to the core.
Just when would this fruit core re-enter a new land, sink its roots and grow once more?
What Rikulab did not expect was that rebirth would arrive far quicker than he had imagined.