Chapter 127

Zheng Tan didn't want to bother with those boring people, but to say he didn't care at all in his heart was impossible; however, this wasn't a place to cause trouble, the occasion was wrong, and the people who came today were likely many prominent figures of Chu Hua Shi. It wasn't that Zheng Tan said he was very afraid; mainly, given his current status, it was better to endure a little emotion, otherwise causing trouble for Fang Third Master aside, the Jiao Family side probably wouldn't fare well either.

Forget it; when the time comes I'll go ask Fang Third Master for something to compensate for this little vexation.

Zheng Tan is not the type to suffer a loss without grabbing some benefit.

While thinking, Zheng Tan walked forward. He hadn't taken a few steps when another luxury car drove over, elongated, quite imposing, with several cars following behind. The people around no longer paid attention to Zheng Tan; they all looked over there.

Zheng Tan merely glanced over there out of curiosity and happened to see an old acquaintance step out of the car.

I never expected Ye Hao to come here.

After Ye Hao stepped out of the car, he didn't leave immediately but instead helped an elderly person inside out.

The old man had white-flecked hair, wore a Tang suit, leaned on a cane, looked in good spirits, and Zheng Tan felt this old man could walk steadily even without a cane.

Twitching his ears, Zheng Tan heard some people around speaking softly, their words tinged with a bit of excitement.

Tang Seventh Master?

After taking another look at that old man, Zheng Tan thought of Jueye—the thigh that guy clung to seemed to be this old man. Not bad; this thigh could make Jueye much more stable. Even if Ye Hao was initially reluctant, as long as the old man nodded, Ye Hao would have no choice.

Just as Zheng Tan thought of Jueye, he saw that guy step out of the car, a cat tag hanging from his neck, of unknown material; he guessed it wasn't merely an ID tag, similar to the access card Zheng Tan usually wore, possibly serving other functions as well.

However, even if Jueye didn't wear such decorative cat tags, his appearance alone would earn him plenty of points; at least the people around wouldn't look at him with the eyes reserved for inferior goods.

Jueye also had the air of a domineering old man—head held high, chest puffed out, walking with a catlike stride.

"Holy shit, is that Tang Seventh Master? He was a big shot back in the day!"

"What kind of animal is that beside Tang Seventh Master? A cat?"

"Where did Tang Seventh Master get this wild beast? I don't think I've ever seen one like it before."

"Someone who came earlier also brought a big cat, though it was slightly smaller… hiss. I don't know why I feel this cat's… eyes… make my heart feel chilly."

"Me too! Could this be what they call killing intent?"

"No wonder it's Tang Seventh Master's cat—no pampered pet cat vibe, truly damn cool!"

……

Zheng Tan listened to those people's chatter. He flicked his ears, turned his head back, and continued walking.

When Jueye stepped out, he saw Zheng Tan, flicked his tail twice, glanced at Tang Seventh Master and Ye Hao, then stayed obediently to the side.

"Whose cat is that?" Tang Seventh Master asked Ye Hao, turning his head. He too was eyeing that black cat; it's no wonder he's curious—seeing a cat that looks quite ordinary yet accompanied by a bodyguard in such a setting feels strange.

Although many think Tong Qing is just an ordinary driver, Tang Seventh Master, being an old hand in the underworld, has a keen eye; he may not be good at judging cats, but he's still accurate at reading people.

Ye Hao's expression turned odd; he leaned close to Tang Seventh Master's ear and whispered two sentences.

Tang Seventh Master's eyes flashed with an unusual light; he looked again at the black cat walking forward steadily without turning its head, and said, "So that's it."

Just as he was about to call out to stop the black cat ahead, Tang Seventh Master heard someone shouting his name; upon looking, it was an old friend, so he temporarily set aside the Zheng Tan matter, began chatting with another newcomer who had just arrived, his steps slow and leisurely, growing ever farther from the black cat ahead.

After Zheng Tan and Tong Qing were brought to the destination by the person in charge of guiding here, he took a quick glance. The greenery here was quite good; there were some long tables on the lawn, laid out with various foods. The people here were mainly a few children and some young people, while the main figures were presumably conversing indoors.

Here, as Fang Shaokang had said, there were many "fellows"—cats and dogs, all of them prized breeds, for example the one wearing a diamond-studded cat tag and attended by a dedicated person, a leopard cat, and the Himalayan… held in the arms of that sexy mature woman…

Compared to them, Zheng Tan felt he was indeed hopelessly unsophisticated.

Besides cats, there were also some famous dogs; a few large dogs were brought by people, standing some distance away but constantly eyeing this side with a tiger's gaze; they were likely trained, not barking nonstop, yet judging by their demeanor, they would come over to bite the cats here given the chance.

Roaming about here was a puppy; though still young, its size was already considerable—at least bigger than Zheng Tan—just like the Saint Bernard Hua Jiangjiang when he first arrived at Dongqu Dayuan; it would surely grow into a big brute. Unlike the Saint Bernard, this little guy's temperament is far from gentle; a large cat lounged on a chair nearby, teasing it. The puppy jumped repeatedly but couldn't get up, only able to let out two barks before gnawing the chair leg.

Zheng Tan glanced at the big cat lounging on the chair; its pattern resembled a leopard's, but its large ears differed from those of leopards and leopard cats, instead resembling the serval seen on TV. However, is it legal to keep a serval in a big city of this country? Or perhaps this is a serval hybrid with other cats?

The latter possibility is more likely.

That big cat had a leather collar, a rope harness unlike that of an ordinary house cat, more like the kind used for walking dogs.

While Zheng Tan was walking the cat downstairs, not far away in that villa, Fang Shaokang was chatting with several people inside. Zhao Le was also there; however, in terms of seniority, she belonged to the younger generation, spending most of her time just listening without speaking up.

These people gathered together didn't discuss any trade secrets; what they talked about most was their own pets.

"Old Liu, wasn't it rumored you'd gotten a metal-wrapped gold pup a while back? I see you've brought over a red mastiff today," said Fang Third Master to one of them.

"I gave away that metal-wrapped gold pup, and I found myself a big lion-headed red mastiff," Old Liu replied, "It's still too small now; not very imposing."

"I've heard many people nowadays use Qinglong dogs to deceive others; Old Liu, you'd better pay more attention," said a man in his forties.

"Hey, am I the sort who can be easily fooled?!" Old Liu glared.

"By the way, Wang Bin, what kind of dog does your second uncle keep?" Fang Shaokang turned to ask a young man in his twenties.

"It's a Xiaosi dog; my father's comrade-in-arms gave the pup, inconvenient to keep, so he passed it to my second uncle. Now my second uncle sometimes brings the dog along when training troops," answered the young man named Wang Bin with a laugh.

"Oh. There really are people raising Xiaosi dogs these days," Old Liu chuckled. He offered no comment.

"I've looked at several photos; that dog is always filthy. Does your second uncle make it roll around in the wild with his troops every day?" Fang Shaokang asked, recalling those photos, puzzled.

Wang Bin shook his head. "My second uncle says. Raising it is for 'guard duty' and 'hunting.' Being covered in dirt is normal—it shows it's been working all along, not slacking off."

"Xiasi dogs aren't all capable of hunting. Even if the parents are excellent hunting dogs, it's rare for a litter to produce two pups that can be taken out for hunting." Old Liu sighed; he had raised them himself years ago, but it ended in disappointment.

"Hey, I say, why do you keep talking about dogs? Let's talk about cats." The somewhat overweight middle-aged man who had been sitting aside smoking pressed his cigarette butt into the ashtray and said.

"We guys still prefer dogs; what's good about keeping cats? They're dainty, have bad tempers, and aren't loyal enough," Old Liu grunted.

"Big cats aren't bad; once on a business trip, I went to a dog-fighting arena where they bet on dogs. That day I got lucky and watched a great show—a vicious cat beat a pit bull to death. How's that, surprising?"

"What's the point of saying all that? Even if that big cat is fierce, can you openly keep it or what?" Old Liu shot him down.

Although one could certainly keep it with some tricks, one shouldn't go overboard; when it's time to stay low-key, stay low-key.

"So I've settled for second best, come over here, let me show you!" The plump middle-aged man called a few people to the balcony, pointed to the big cat lounging on a chair below the long table, teasing a dog leisurely, and said proudly, "How about that? Pretty enough? Mighty enough? Old Liu, look at your little dog being teased—where's the majesty of your lion-headed mastiff now?"

Old Liu's expression wasn't great; he snorted again, "You wait till my lion-headed mastiff grows up, then try again?"

"That also won't work on my cat; my cat isn't stupid, it's agile—who let the dog not jump high nor climb trees?" The plump man's voice sounded a bit airy, obviously feeling very pleased now. He and Old Liu had some friction from earlier projects; he wouldn't miss a chance to take a jab.

Old Liu wore a dark face, but then suddenly thought of something and said, "Your cat is indeed bigger than an ordinary cat, but I'll say this: in terms of fighting ability, in our Chu Hua Shi, your cat can at best rank third."

"Third?" The plump man's tone wasn't good; he clearly disliked that ranking. Though his cat couldn't compare to those big cats seen in the dog-fighting arena, in Chu Hua Shi, among pet cats, conservatively speaking, shouldn't it be first or second? And yet third?!

"I've seen Nie Shijiu's big cat; yours definitely can't beat his. I also heard that Nie Shijiu's big cat suffered a crushing defeat against Tang Seventh Master's cat. Although I haven't seen Tang Seventh Master's big cat myself, I'd say for first place it's definitely Tang Seventh Master's, Nie Shijiu's comes second, and as for yours… heh."

Fang Shaokang stood aside, lit a cigarette, smiled faintly as he listened to their chatter; after seeing the scene below, his smoking motion paused, but then resumed naturally, ignoring Zhao Le's glance from the side.

Zhao Le had originally just been preparing to look at the so-called big cat, but at first sight she saw the black cat nonchalantly swaying, and before her smile could rise, she saw the big cat lying there teasing the dog jump onto the long table, stare in the direction of the black cat, and quietly approach over there. Zhao Le's heart tightened instantly, she wanted Fang Shaokang to step in to stop it, after all, here, her speaking up would definitely not be as effective as Fang Shaokang's.

The fat middle-aged man who was about to have a heated argument with Old Liu also stopped talking; he saw his own big cat preparing to 'hunt'. He knew his big cat too well—one move and he knew what it intended—and at this moment its behavior was obviously meant to give the 'prey' a lesson, a harsh lesson. As for the 'prey' it had its eye on, even if it didn't die or become crippled, injuries like torn tendons and bones, bleeding, and loss of flesh were surely unavoidable.

"Take a look, let you broaden your horizons!" the fat middle-aged man said, his voice brimming with uncontainable excitement. He had long wanted to find a chance to let his big cat show off its might, and he hadn't expected that someone would just walk right up to him. As for that black cat, it looked nothing special; he didn't know which idiot owned it, and even if it got bitten to death, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Some people below were also waiting to watch the show; a few glanced toward their boss, saw that the boss had no special instructions, and just let them be.

Tong Qing had already sensed something off about the people around him, he slightly turned his head, and in his peripheral vision noticed the big cat on the long table quietly approaching; he frowned, glanced at the black cat walking ahead of him, wondered whether he should warn it, but this was his first time encountering such a situation—with people it would be fine, but with cats he couldn't decide, unsure whether this was just how cats interact or a threatening attack.

"Forget it, let's see how things go first; if it really is a threatening attack, I can step in to rescue later." After Tong Qing thought it over, he paid attention to the movements of the big cat and the black cat ahead.

During the big cat's rapid approach, the people around heard no sound; it leapt over the bowls and plates that the kids had dragged to the table's edge, dodged a ping‑pong ball thrown by a child, alternating between fast and slow, and each time it paused it watched the prey's situation, ready to hide or pounce at any moment.

The fat middle-aged man standing on the balcony wore a confident smile; he believed that the big cat, which had serval blood, also inherited the serval's ambush ability and high hunting success rate, and with his own deliberate training so far, dealing with such a house cat was extremely simple.

Amid the anticipation of many, the big cat finally moved, leaping down from the long table and lunging at Zheng Tan, who was not far from the table.

Zheng Tan indeed hadn't noticed the big cat at first; he was looking at the surrounding scenery, but soon he sensed something was off and twitched his ears. The big cat's steps were very light, hard to distinguish amid people's chatter and dogs' barking, but Zheng Tan could hear the people's gossip and knew he was being targeted.

Holy shit!

Before Zheng Tan could turn around, the big cat had already lunged at him.

Zheng Tan's reaction was also quick; now his senses were much sharper, his sense of danger stronger. Perhaps others could only see a big cat preparing to ambush an ordinary house cat—cats, after all, scuffling is normal, a little fuss and it's over, no big deal. But Zheng Tan could feel the danger here; the other side obviously wasn't intending to play the so‑called friendly 'game' between cats, but a genuine ambush! An ambush with lethal force!

He dodged to the side, and as he leapt away Zheng Tan swung a slap at the big cat.

Zheng Tan's mood had already been a little gloomy, and feeling the malice from the big cat, he didn't hold back much strength and swiped with a paw.

Bang! Clap-clap—

The big cat had just jumped down from the long table, but was whipped back up, and it knocked over many bowls, plates, flower arrangements, and cups on the table.

Fang Shaokang, standing on the villa balcony watching this side, blew a smoke ring and said leisurely, 'Ah, I'm fourth.'

Zhao Le: '......' (To be continued...)

ps: Thanks everyone for your votes and tips; meanwhile I'll explain here—my previous leave was due to being busy with work, I haven't had a break, and even if I start updating now it'll probably be late, so everyone should rest early at night, especially those kids who have exams.