Plague Doctor

Strange rustling, dried leaves, shadows fluttered inside Enchanted Woods. Between the foliage, shiny eyes blinked for seconds before they disappeared. Footfalls suddenly appeared. They belonged to a team of 6 individuals. They were adorned in full black outfit and a turban that covered the protuberance on their head. They had strange facial features, among them a large mouth. They looked around cautiously. They were supposed to meet up with a Zoog in the forest, to discuss something important.

Without warning, shadows darted out from the trees. The black merchants were overwhelmed, and things were chaotic. Cats hissed and growled. The claws swiped the merchants’ faces, mouths, and bodies. The skin tore and blood splattered. The black merchants groaned in pain. They wanted to pull out their scabbards and use their spells but were interrupted by the cats every time. During the struggle, one of the merchants managed to pull out his whistle. It was used to inform their partners that they had been ambushed by the cats! The others quickly hurried over to help.

The MP unit hidden inside the forest finally had the chance to see the Ulthar cats in action. Several hours ago, the 3 parties met up inside the temple. The Elder Zoog said confidently that he was not privy to the evil Zoog’s plan. They were about to send their largest eaters to Earth, that was such a huge benefit, why would they ruin that?

The tavern boss verified that. The evil zoog said in his drunken stupor that this was all his plan, it had nothing to do with the Zoog. The evil Zoog who had awakened by then, refused to admit anything but he had overestimated himself. One gaze from the Eye of Abyss and he revealed everything. The Evil Zoog would be permanently locked up at the Ulthar temple and tasked to handle all the menial work. The Great Atal would lecture him daily to help him turn over a new leaf.

With regards to the Black Merchants, the cats were already quite annoyed by these people who would sneakily appear around Ulthar to commit illegal business. The leopard cat realized this was the perfect chance to use their own plan against them. After some discussion, they decided to help the humans settle this problem and hence it led to this moment.

A tabby cat used its large stomach to slam into the merchant’s head. Another cat used its tail to swipe at a different merchant and flung him into the air. The cats leaped about like they were playing. Infused by supernatural energy, the darting shadows swept through the hapless group of black merchants like a tornado. The battle, if it could be called that, lasted for only a while with a full victory for the cats. The cats won at all the locations. The commotion soon died down. In this battle, the cats threw about 100 plus black merchants to god knows where. The merchants docked at the river instantly raised their sails and retreated once they noticed the problem. After this lesson, the black merchants would stay away for some time. The cats were not afraid of revenge, there was a reason why Ulthar could be peaceful for so long.

However, the Elder Zoog, evil zoog, Lucky and the other Zoogs who were invited to witness this battle finally got the message. The Evil Zoog obediently returned to the temple to complete his daily task. He changed his name to Kind Zoog and he said seriously. “Evil Zoog, Dark Zoog, that was a mistake because I was too young! From today onwards, I will change, Dreamlands will only have Kind Zoog from now on.”

“My dear friends.” The Elder Zoog told the leopard cat. “Catnips alone will be too boring, right? We will provide additional chicken thighs on all big holidays!” No matter what the leopard cat said, the Elder Zoog insisted on the offering. In the future, every holiday to celebrate Bastet, the Zoogs would offer a luxurious gift. Even though the gift was less than the yearly tribute they had to give in the past, the intention was the thing that was important. Due to Elder Zoog’s insistence, the leopard cat accepted it. As Wu Siyu would say, o well.

Following the original schedule, the MP team was about to return the next dusk. The channel was still stable. The leopard cat suspected that it would collapse after the team passed through with the Zoog army. If there was a chance, the black cat wanted to travel to Earth to look around but this time, it and the other cats walked the 12 to the channel and bid them farewell. Lucky led the 10000 fat Zoogs. They stood far away from the cats and mumbled to themselves.

“This is it, thank you for everything.” Gu Jun told the black cat. “Thank you for everything.” Actually, the cats, including the black cat, were not interested in him. They were unwilling to part with Wu Siyu and they trailed behind her. For some reason, she was the best at giving belly rubs. She knew the correct amount of force to use every time. This time the PM team completed their mission without problem. Their mental pillars were untested. However, Feng Peiqian’s third pillar was shaken several times…

Before they left, Yu Chi asked the Great Atal again and again about the ‘wishing pond’. Atal repeated that it was just a normal decoration. The cat symbol was a common symbol used at Ulthar to show respect to the cats. In any case, Yu Chi still returned to the fountain to copy the symbol down. When Feng Peiqian heard Captain Yu asked, “Why would Peiqian be struck by that inspiration? Would that bring any danger to her?”, her heart was touched. Captain Yu still cared about her… in his own way…

At that moment Yu Chi, Feng Peiqian, Bell Grant and the rest followed behind Gu Jun and Wu Siyu. They stepped on the loose soil and walked into the glowing tunnel. They left Dreamlands and returned home.

“Let’s go!” Lucky slapped his thigh. Carried by his underlings, they followed beside the PM Team. There were about 10000 Fat Zoogs behind him. They were like a large wave surging through the tunnel into the human world.

Back at the forest, the Elder Zoog wiped away his silent tears, finally these big eaters were gone… When the last fat zoog disappeared into the tunnel, the Zoogs inside the enchanted wood cheered. Finally they would have leftovers that night!