Chapter 110

Zheng Tan, who had originally been preparing to kick that old man twice more, after seeing the spreading fire, no longer cared about him, kicked the knife the old man was holding to the side, then ran to the baby's bedside, looking at the Xiao Pihai inside.

Xiao Pihai had already woken up, looking like he was about to cry, but upon seeing Zheng Tan, the face that was about to cry relaxed again, and he even went ka ka ka laughing.

What a laugh!

Zheng Tan also had no time for anything else, the fire was spreading, the scorching heat in the air growing stronger; if he stayed any longer, breathing would become difficult, and the harm to Xiao Pihai would be great. Zheng Tan quickly lifted Xiao Pihai up, then started running on his two legs, stepping over the old man blocking the doorway, and ran downstairs holding Xiao Pihai.

The old man lying on the ground covered his head and moved a bit, preparing to get up, when suddenly he felt a black shadow jump past above him.

Because his head had been hit, when he fell his back of the head also bumped against the stool on the ground, leaving him a bit dizzy and his vision not very clear; the old man couldn't make out anything from that black shadow just now, but the... above that black shadow was very familiar.

Yes! It's the big cargo!

Someone stole the big cargo!

The old man's mind is not very clear now, his vision is blurry, and his sense of distance is weak; even if he became a little clearer, he wouldn't associate that little black shadow just now with a person.

The surrounding fire grew larger, and the old man also dully realized he couldn't stay here long; he held onto the doorframe and stood up, but after a few breaths, he felt his mind getting more and more muddled.

This narrow small room's doors and windows are about the same as other rooms. The only special thing is that thick curtains cover the windows, and sound-absorbing cotton is stuck on the walls and door, in order to prevent conversations inside from leaking out, or any baby's cries from leaking out.

Perhaps some could be heard outside the door, but once outside this small building, as long as outsiders couldn't hear it, that was fine. The requirements weren't high, so they kept the original not-so-good wooden door, which is also why Zheng Tan could kick it open easily, of course. There's also a coincidence that Zheng Tan didn't anticipate.

Anyway. Zheng Tan now just wanted to quickly carry Xiao Pihai out and be done with it, but when he reached the first-floor stairwell, he stopped his steps. He almost forgot that there were still some onlookers outside the building's main door, and he couldn't just walk out holding Xiao Pihai like that.

Zheng Tan put Xiao Pihai on the first-floor floor. Seeing Xiao Pihai still looking at him, drooling from laughter, a real one. He raised his hand and poked him, hoping to make Xiao Pihai cry, as long as he cried. Surely outsiders would come in then?

Unfortunately, Xiao Pihai laughed even happier.

Zheng Tan: "……"

No choice, Zheng Tan walked behind Xiao Pihai and pushed him outward.

Xiao Pihai thought Zheng Tan was playing with him, so he lay prone on the ground being pushed forward, his sleeves getting dirty from rubbing, he didn't even know.

"Hey, is that a kid inside?" a resident said, looking inside.

"Looks like it, he's crawling outward."

The first floor was somewhat dark; looking from the bright area into the dark, many details couldn't be seen clearly, but Zheng Tan could clearly see from inside the reactions of those people outside.

Xiao Pihai had been happily playing, but suddenly he noticed the pushing force was gone; looking back, there was nothing; looking ahead, a crowd of strangers.

"Wah——"

Finally seeing Xiao Pihai start to cry, Zheng Tan breathed a sigh of relief. Someone had already come in from outside, standing at the second-floor stairwell watching Xiao Pihai being carried away, after which Zheng Tan also flipped out from the storage room he had entered through.

Climbing up had been relatively easy, but climbing down was a bit harder; fortunately, there weren't many people behind the small building, so Zheng Tan slid down bit by bit from the second-floor window and jumped to the ground.

When he walked up to the small building, many people had already seen the burning curtains on the second floor, smelled the scorched smell from the fire, some were reporting the alarm, some were rescuing. Zheng Tan saw the old man being dragged out, apparently still breathing, just having fainted.

Just then, police cars came driving one after another.

"Huh? We just called the police, and they're already here?" some residents wondered curiously.

Zheng Tan looked behind those police cars and saw Jiao Ba's car as well, instantly feeling much more relieved; this way Xiao Pihai wouldn't need to look for the police, he could just be taken away by Jiao Ba.

After the fire was extinguished, Jiao Ba had already found Xiao Pihai, who was being held by residents and wailing at the top of his lungs.

Xiao Pihai's father also drove over, hugged him, and father and son cried together.

Jiao Ba called other elderly relatives to report safety, then glanced at the spot on Xiao Pihai's back that looked like a cat claw print, then walked to the side and looked around the surrounding grass and bushes, calling out softly.

"Hei Tan? Come out quickly, I know you're around."

Hearing Jiao Ba's shout, Zheng Tan poked his head out from behind a tree.

Seeing that black cat head, Jiao Ba, who had just been about to smile and call his own cat over, had his facial expression turn somewhat weird.

Over there, Xiao Pihai's father saw the old man being dragged out by residents, his emotions somewhat agitated; if not for a few police officers holding him back, he would have probably just gone over and kicked him. Many residents were watching the developments over there, and didn't pay attention to Jiao Ba's side.

A leading police officer walked over here and chatted with Jiao Ba for a few sentences.

"We're sure it's him; upstairs we also found several mobile phones, which suffered varying degrees of damage due to the fire, but the needed information is still on them. We'll investigate further based on those call records and phone numbers, though those people usually don't use their real names, and as soon as they sense something off they swap phones and numbers, even changing their code names, so we can't yet conclude how much we'll be able to uncover."

"Mm, thanks for your hard work." Jiao Ba paused, then asked, "Have you found the cause of the fire?"

"There's a suspicion: the old man liked drinking high-proof baijiu, not sure where he got the bulk liquor, which might also contain some industrial alcohol; the old man also loved smoking, and with the recent clear, dry weather, otherwise it wouldn't have ignited so easily. That room you haven't seen—it's full of flammable stuff, and there's also some low-quality sound-absorbing cotton. Not to mention the fire, the burning produced a lot of toxic gases, which the old man inhaled quite a bit. However, the old man could be considered lucky. A few days ago a dance hall also caught fire for some reasons; some of the things burning there also produced hydrogen cyanide. If that had happened here today, the old man would surely have died."

Hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Jiao Ba knows this very well.

"How is the old man now?" Jiao Ba asked. Knowing it wasn't his own cat that started the fire, Jiao Ba felt much more at ease.

"He was dragged out in time, saving his life, but he won't last long; given the crimes he's committed, the law won't let him off either."

Having just entered October, the weather had been fine. Many people were still wearing short sleeves. Running back and forth, the police officer who had been talking with Jiao Ba had sweat all over his forehead; at this moment a police officer came over to find him, and he briefly explained a couple of things to Jiao Ba before leaving.

Zheng Tan listened in the bushes to that police officer and Jiao Ba's conversation. He knew they had been investigating the tricycle driver. At the hospital they had arrested him together with that big woman. At the same time, they also found a somewhat simple-minded baby girl in the tricycle driver's vehicle, which the driver intended to dump somewhere later.

Jiao Ba withdrew his attention. Over there they were either investigating the human traffickers, or just circling around Xiao Pihai.

"Hei Tan, go wait in the car first." Saying this, Jiao Ba walked toward the parking spot, glancing at his own cat as he went, the corner of his eye twitching.

Opening the car door, Jiao Ba let Zheng Tan get in, estimating they'd have to wait a while before leaving. There were also some snacks in the car, so he let Zheng Tan eat them first.

Zheng Tan didn't bother with anything else; after getting in the car he just scooped up the food, tore it open and ate it, with some dirt still stuck on his paw pads, which he also trod all over the car seat; Jiao Ba saw this and didn't say anything.

Lifting Zheng Tan up to have a look, Jiao Ba found no wounds on his cat's body; his walking and running were quite normal, his appetite... still very good!

"Hei Tan... you've worked hard!" Jiao Ba finally managed to get out these words.

This matter indeed deserves thanks to his own cat; otherwise they wouldn't have investigated the passenger tricycle direction. Jiao Ba glanced at his own cat twice, sighed, closed the car door, and walked toward the small building.

Zheng Tan didn't care about what was happening over there, and he thought that since Jiao Ba could notice some of the things he did, he would surely help cover up some traces; those implausible signs could be blamed on Jiao Ba's nonsense. Anyway, he wasn't worried—Xiao Pihai had been rescued, and he might as well fill his own stomach first.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zheng Tan didn't do anything extra; he lounged at the car window and looked at the crowd over there, the surrounding residents gathering more and more, for there are always plenty of people who love to watch a spectacle.

He yawned, then lay on the back seat with his eyes closed, resting. He hadn't slept much since last night until now, and now he felt a bit fatigued.

After an unknown amount of time, Zheng Tan heard the car door open, opened his eyes, saw Jiao Ba come in, and glanced out the window again. Besides the two police cars still parked there, the other several vehicles were getting ready to leave.

They didn't go back first; Jiao Ba, Xiao Pihai's father, and a few others first went to the hospital, which was where Xiao Pihai's mother was.

"I'll go into the hospital first; are you staying in the car?" Jiao Ba asked after parking the car.

Zheng Tan flicked his ears, his tail tip swaying twice, indicating he had no intention of getting up.

"All right." After closing the car door, Jiao Ba and the others walked toward the hospital.

Knowing their own child was safe, the adults and elderly all wept with joy.

Those things had nothing to do with Zheng Tan; he just wanted to hurry back, take a good shower, then catch up on sleep.

When they went to the hospital, several people went together, but when they came out, only Jiao Ba was there; the people inside were overly enthusiastic, and Xiao Pihai's father even pulled Jiao Ba aside to thank him properly, while Jiao Ba made an excuse that he had something to do and left first.

When they returned home, Jiao Ma was waiting at the door; the two kids, upon hearing the commotion, rushed out. They had been told on the phone that their cat was safe, so they had been waiting in the living room, unable to even focus on the TV.

"Hei Tan!"

Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi both ran out.

However, when Zheng Tan got out of the car, Jiao Ma and the two kids' expressions were a bit strange. Earlier Zheng Tan had thought Jiao Ba's expression was off but hadn't thought of other explanations, only assuming his own situation was somewhat bizarre; but now, even if he couldn't figure it out, Zheng Tan knew something was abnormal.

Xiao Youzi raised her hand, pointing at Zheng Tan, and exclaimed, "Hei Tan, your whiskers..."

Whiskers?

Earlier, in that small building, Zheng Tan had focused all his attention on how to get Xiao Pihai out of the burning room and how to let people discover Xiao Pihai without implicating himself, so he hadn't noticed anything else.

Originally heading home on foot, Zheng Tan turned around, jumped into the car, climbed into the driver's seat, and stretched his neck to look at the rearview mirror.

Then, the alpaca in his heart started to run again.

Holy shit! My whiskers! (To be continued...)

PS: 【The following word count does not count toward the v chapter.】

Still owe two chapters, keep it in mind.

Thanks to Qing Shan Yan Yu, Ming Zhi Jian Ke for the big reward!

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