Chapter 172

In the Mao Qu Lun Tan, many people often joke about being cats, so Zheng Tan's reply wasn't seen as anything special by other netizens, and his comment was quickly buried by a string of arguing replies. Even if someone later saw it when scrolling back, they wouldn't have much impression of that seemingly content-less remark.

Zheng Tan also didn't intend to get any attitude from others; he shut the computer and went to sleep lying on the balcony.

One day later, when Zheng Tan opened the forum again, that post had been deleted; the discussion area had many derivative posts. He glanced briefly, but had no mood to keep reading. With time still early, he prepared to go check on that black-and-white spotted cat.

Today Er Mao wasn't following him, so Zheng Tan felt much more at ease. When he passed the spot where the box was, he didn't see the black-and-white spotted cat; the boxed meal that Er Mao had left here was already finished, and the paper bowl in front of the box also contained some leftover rice given by nearby people, in which many fish bones could be seen—leftover fish bones. Because of the weather, the paper bowl had a foul smell.

After carefully looking around and confirming he didn't see the black-and-white spotted cat, Zheng Tan ran toward the narrow alley.

In the alley, the black-and-white spotted cat was nowhere to be seen on that tree, and the second-floor window of the nearby house remained tightly shut. It looked unremarkable.

Approaching the house, Zheng Tan pricked up his ears to listen; he heard no sound from inside, nor any voices. It looked just like the surrounding residential houses, and at this time of day, when those going to work or school are not home, it was especially quiet, except for the sparrows chirping.

Having found nothing, Zheng Tan prepared to jump down from the tree and leave; after taking just two steps, he suddenly turned his head to look at the sparrows hopping on the nearby wall.

Too many.

Upon careful observation, Zheng Tan realized that, at some point, the number of sparrows around here had indeed increased a lot.

Sparrows are very common in the city, especially in the areas surrounding schools with large expanses of greenery and woodlands.

Zheng Tan had walked this street for more than half a year. His knowledge of the street—well, not to say he knew it like the back of his hand, but some phenomena were still clear to him: for example, there used to be many cats around here, basically free-roaming. The result of many cats was few birds. In the past, Zheng Tan had seen several times the cats around here catching sparrows. Before, he had never seen this many sparrows in this area. Now these sparrows look quite leisurely; if he thinks back, during the time he has been out walking, he indeed hasn't seen many cats. Winter is over, and there are still plenty of active cats at night around Chu Hua Da Xue.

The residents around might also think that, just after the New Year, it's likely that cat-nappers have taken them away, since every year around the New Year, abandoning cats becomes severe.

Others may not know, but Zheng Tan himself is clear: since the time he was caught by cat traffickers, Wei Leng, Ye Hao, and Fang San Ye, etc., have all intervened; in Chu Hua Shi, although it cannot be said that there are absolutely no cat-nappers, compared to the past few years, their numbers have become much lower.

Could it really be such a coincidence that the cat traffickers have struck around here?

Zheng Tan recalled the replies he had seen while browsing the forum. The sudden drop in the number of cats around could have many explanations, but Zheng Tan didn't want it to be mere speculation. He looked up at that house, wondering why that black-and-white spotted cat kept staring at the building.

Curiosity? Or hatred?

Unable to figure out the answer, Zheng Tan decided to go look for himself.

He jumped onto the wall and took a look at the layout over there.

The side of the house faces the wall, the gate is tightly shut, and the house has a small courtyard estimated at about seven or eight square meters, with roughly two-thirds of it consisting of flower beds that are slightly raised above ground level.

The flower beds had hardly any flowers; much of the soil had been turned over, and the only undisturbed spot was the tree in the center, about two meters tall, of unknown species. However, its branches were bare, showing no sign of sprouting at this time, with no green visible, and it was unclear whether it was dead or alive.

The back door of the house was tightly shut, and the narrow courtyard had a strange smell.

Zheng Tan sniffed; he couldn't identify what it was, but it felt very unpleasant.

Jumping down from the wall, his landing spot was not on the flower bed; this flower bed always gave Zheng Tan a creepy-crawly feeling.

Although the temperature had risen and the weather was clear, with the rare sight of a deep blue sky that should give a fresh and refreshing impression, Zheng Tan, standing in the courtyard, always felt a chill.

Gusts of breeze blew over, forming a vortex in the courtyard; thin plastic scraps that had drifted from somewhere on the ground were lifted by the wind, swirled around in a circle, and then fell back down.

Some of the fur standing up on Zheng Tan's body was also stirred by the blowing wind, which was completely different from the usual leisurely, lazy feeling of basking in the sun; instead, he felt that each hair, via the nerves beneath the skin, transmitted a delicate sensation that was chilly.

A sudden soft sound from the wall startled Zheng Tan; he turned his head and saw it was the black-and-white spotted cat.

Seeing Zheng Tan here, the cat was also surprised; it hesitated on the wall before jumping down. Unlike Zheng Tan, its landing point was right on that flower bed.

Seeing the black-and-white spotted cat warily staring at him, Zheng Tan stepped back a few steps; he had no intention of fighting this cat here.

Perhaps feeling that Zheng Tan posed no threat, the flowered cat glanced at him a few times, then began sniffing around the flower bed, found a spot, and started digging with its paws.

What was buried inside?

Zheng Tan was curious, but his intuition told him that whatever was beneath the soil was certainly not a pleasant sight.

Possibly it was buried fairly deep; fortunately, the soil in this flower bed had not been compacted, so after the flowered cat dug for about five minutes, it paused, sniffed there, and then continued digging.

There was nothing around that would let Zheng Tan stand on something to see inside the flower bed; besides, no one was paying attention, so Zheng Tan rose up, supporting himself on his two hind legs.

In the flower bed, the flowered cat had dug a hole; inside that hole, Zheng Tan saw a cat's paw exposed, the rest still buried in the soil. Although some dirt clung to it, Zheng Tan could still see black lines crisscrossing across the paw, as if it had been burned.

The flowered cat was still digging; Zheng Tan didn't want to look any further. He could be certain that whatever was buried here was definitely not just one cat.

Sometimes, cats hold grudges even more than dogs.

Zheng Tan didn't know what relationship the cat buried beneath the flower bed's soil had with that flowered cat, but this grudge, the flowered cat had remembered it; otherwise it wouldn't have crouched in the tree staring for so long. At that time, Zheng Tan couldn't see the cat's gaze from the tree fixed on the house; it might have been hostility, or something else.

He no longer went to look at the flower bed side. Zheng Tan jumped onto the window at the house's back door.

The window was still closed. Inside was the kitchen. Zheng Tan stood on the windowsill, his gaze passing through the transparent glass, and he saw something placed on the floor inside, an object he was very familiar with; every time he saw this thing, he got really angry.

Damn. Cat trap!

Whenever Zheng Tan sees a cat trap, he recalls his own unpleasant experience with it.

Cat traps aren't hard to make; anyone familiar with mouse traps can build one themselves. However, seeing a cat trap suddenly appear in a clean kitchen feels somewhat out of place.

Why would a seemingly elite household have such a thing?

All this has already convinced Zheng Tan that that shabby coffee guy is definitely not a good sort!

On this side of the backyard, the windows were shut tight, with wire mesh blocking the vents; besides that, the windows on other parts of the first floor basically all had anti-theft nets, and Zheng Tan couldn't find any way to get in.

Since there was no chance on the first floor, he tried the second floor. Zheng Tan jumped onto the wall, walked along this perimeter, and finally found that on the side near the wall there was a small window open, the glass pane pulled halfway open, the other half blocked by a screen; however, the screen only keeps out insects, and it can't stop a cat.

Zheng Tan estimated the distance from the wall to that spot, tiptoed with his forepaws, and pushed off with his hind legs to jump over.

Scaling walls and windows was a skill Zheng Tan had mastered completely, so he felt fully confident about this jump. However…

The small window looked quite ordinary, but when Zheng Tan placed his paw on it, he discovered it was slippery!

If he hadn't reacted quickly by pushing off the wall a few times with his hind legs, and if his forepaw hadn't also caught the metal mesh of the screen, he really might have fallen.

Falling from the second floor wouldn't be a big deal for a cat, but the key point is that the gap between the house and the wall hides a drainage ditch below. Originally there were some stone slabs covering the ditch above, but the stone slab that should have been right above this window was not in its proper place; instead, it had been moved somewhere unknown by someone.

Having climbed onto the narrow windowsill and hooked the screen to steady himself, Zheng Tan looked down at the drainage ditch and silently cursed the person who had moved the stone slab.

Close call! He almost fell; although dropping from the second floor wouldn't be a problem for a cat, falling into the drainage ditch would likely soak him, and it's all foul water—maybe someone even urinates or spits into it.

He shifted his gaze back and looked again at this narrow windowsill.

Unlike what it appeared to be, the windowsill had an additional layer of smooth hard material laid on it, with a slight downward slope; a cat's claws gripping it would also easily slip, but fortunately Zheng Tan's claws were a bit harder and his grip stronger, giving him a chance to climb up; otherwise he would have slid down long ago.

He pulled open the screen and peered inside.

This is a bathroom; for this era it counts as a modern renovation, very clean, which made Zheng Tan wonder whether the owner had a cleanliness obsession.

Arriving beside the bathroom door, Zheng Tan listened carefully for any movement or voices from the other side, hearing none. He jumped up to work the bathroom door handle and walked out.

Knowing the landlord abused cats, Zheng Tan also had to be more careful and cautious, not be as careless as when he just jumped out the window.

The room was tidied up fairly neatly; this person's life is clearly different from that of the tattooed man before.

He didn't see any cameras or similar devices around; the living room was visible at a glance, three rooms, but unfortunately each room was locked, Zheng Tan couldn't get in at all. After walking around and finding nothing, Zheng Tan returned the way he came.

In the yard, that flower cat was no longer there; the hole dug in the flowerbed had been refilled, but after all it was just a cat, unlike Zheng Tan, and couldn't be as meticulous—many spots were just covered with a layer of soil, so the hole was still visible. Zheng Tan helped fill it level.

Returning to Chu Hua Da Xue, everything remained as before; after sending Xiao Youzi to school in the afternoon, Zheng Tan prepared to go back online and watch some short films.

"Hey, Hei Tan, I'm really glad to see you—help open the door, I forgot my keys!"

Er Mao was holding a lunch box and several bags, standing by the downstairs door; at that time he didn't see anyone else coming or going from the building, just waiting for Zheng Tan to arrive.

Since he didn't plan to go far out for a stroll, the cat tag hanging from Zheng Tan's neck wasn't hidden in a tree. He glanced contemptuously at the person who had only eaten his first meal of the day, jumped up and swiped the access card, and Zheng Tan went up the stairs ahead of Er Mao. Just past the third floor, Zheng Tan suddenly realized that Er Mao didn't even have an access card—did he have a key?

Thus, Zheng Tan, who had reached the turn between the third and fourth floors, stopped and looked in that direction.

Er Mao, standing in front of the door, put the things in his hand aside, felt his pockets, didn't pull out a key but took out an iron ring. The iron ring wasn't closed; it was another iron wire twisted into a loop. Er Mao bent that wire, bent it into a cross shape, and inserted it into the keyhole.

Zheng Tan was shocked.

Picking the lock?

Holy shit!

This guy actually has this skill! (To be continued...)

ps: (2.24)