Chapter 220

Zheng Tan felt that lately he must be feeling listless and inactive, and just climbing a flight of stairs made him feel tired. After alternating leg strength to jump up the stairs, the muscles in his legs still ached a bit; he guessed he had exerted too much force just now, pulling hard, but fortunately he didn't cramp, otherwise he would have rolled down the stairs.

Without time to rest, Zheng Tan ran to the door where Xiao Jiu was locked, examined the keyhole, then looked at the key; fortunately, it looked like the only one that fit that keyhole, so he didn't have to try several keys, saving him considerable effort.

He picked out that key, clamped it with one paw, and after just jumping up the stairs, the cat's hind legs exerted force again, leaping up; the paw without the key hooked the door handle. The key was more complicated than the Jiao Family's wooden door key, and Zheng Tan inserted it several times before it went in.

Inside the room.

Xiao Jiu lay on the metal-frame bed in the room, staring at the light coming in through the window, dazed.

The window was barred with a security net, and the window was sealed shut, making it impossible to open; even if she shouted for help here, people outside the building might not hear her, and instead would summon those outside the door. Having seen many people in the village, Xiao Jiu could sense the dangerous aura about them, so she had behaved obediently all along the way.

When she first arrived, these people drew a tube of blood from her arm, as if sending it to the buyer for 'inspection'. Over the past few days, whenever they came in they brought food, fearing she would grow thin from hunger; sometimes Xiao Jiu felt like a pig being fattened up to be sold for a good price.

Although she had only attended first grade of elementary school and knew little from textbooks, she was far less naive than the other children in the village.

Her hearing was actually somewhat better than that of many village children, perhaps because she often went out to find food. So even behind a door she could faintly hear some of what those people said. She actually didn't understand things like blood types; she only knew she was being sold because of this.

Every time she woke up, Xiao Jiu would think of that drafty, four-sided home in the village.

The sisters were estranged and indifferent, and the parents' differing attitudes toward their children, plus her own personality, caused a buildup of contradiction; even so, even though she was often beaten black and blue, even though the home had no proper bed for her to sleep on, Xiao Jiu would still return home. Blood kinship is a strange thing.

But this incident has intensified the conflict, and Xiao Jiu's previous hopes and expectations have vanished completely.

An old woman in the village once told her that a person needs faith to get through hard times. Xiao Jiu didn't think so before. Now, locked in this ten-something-square-meter room, she wishes she had faith. But what exactly is faith? The concept of this term remains vague to her.

Xiao Jiu looked around, and her gaze fell on the bag of sugar on the table.

This was a request she made after being locked up here; seeing that she was somewhat cooperative, or perhaps as a carrot-and-stick tactic, one of them went out and bought a bag of sugar and tossed it to her. However, Xiao Jiu felt this sugar wasn't as tasty as the milk candy she had eaten a few days earlier, and looking at the production date on the bag, it was over a year old. Surely it was the 'cheap goods' that the village girl who often paraded around in pretty dresses used to mention.

Xiao Jiu counted on her fingers, calculating her wishes. If she could get out, she would work hard to earn money to buy candy; if she could get out, when the time came she would earn big money and buy a house of her own; well, keeping a cat wouldn't be bad either. If she could get out…… she would never go back home.

Just as she was wondering what other wishes she had, Xiao Jiu heard the door lock click, and thinking those people had come, she didn't get up.

After the door lock clicked, there was no further sound. However, Xiao Jiu didn't pay it any mind.

After a while, the door lock began to sound again—this time the sound of a key turning in the lock.

Creak——

The faint sound of the door opening was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

Xiao Jiu frowned, turned her head toward the doorway, ready to see what these people were up to now.

The doorway…… was empty.

Sensing something, she lowered her gaze.

A black cat.

Xiao Jiu: "!!!"

Her first reaction upon seeing the black cat at the doorway was to rub her eyes, her face full of disbelief.

She never expected to see this cat at such a moment.

How could it be here?

What about those people?

Why does it have a key?

How did it open the door?

However, Zheng Tan didn't wait for Xiao Jiu to think too much; after seeing her in the room and noting she seemed fine, he ran out, took two steps, then turned back to look at Xiao Jiu, gesturing for her to leave quickly.

There was no time to think much, nor to bother pulling the key from the door; Xiao Jiu quickly followed after him. All she wanted was to leave this place immediately, and for some inexplicable reason she felt that following this cat would guarantee her safety—she never even considered the possibility that this black cat before her might be in league with those people.

Zheng Tan went downstairs, and when he reached the stairwell he glanced warily around, his ears twitching; the one called "Sickle" was still inside taking a bath, though he should finish soon, while Snake Head and another person hadn't returned, and there was no sound of anyone else on the first floor.

Seeing the black cat ahead moving cautiously, Xiao Jiu followed behind, stepping lightly downstairs. Back in the village she sometimes went to eavesdrop at wall corners for fun, and she was still wearing the cloth shoes she had worn there, so moving quietly and swiftly posed no difficulty for her.

Having checked this floor, Zheng Tan realized the only way out was through the main gate.

The main door was a thick anti-theft door, and when Xiao Jiu opened it it made a "kakaka" sound.

Upon hearing that sound, Zheng Tan darted out quickly; Xiao Jiu also swiftly closed the door and ran after Zheng Tan out.

While "Sickle" was still bathing, he heard the commotion at the main door and shouted a couple of sentences, thinking Snake Head or another person had returned; but after waiting a few seconds with no outside noise, he suddenly felt a bad premonition, opened the door to look outside, and shouted again—still no answer.

Without bothering to dry off, Sickle ran while glancing at several rooms, pulling on his clothes as he went upstairs to check. He found the door to the room where Xiao Jiu had been locked open, and his own key still inserted in the lock.

Over there, Zheng Tan and Xiao Jiu, having just stepped out the door, hadn't gone far before they ran into Snake Head, who was returning with his purchases.

Really unlucky!

Zheng Tan cursed in his heart.

Snake Head didn't notice Zheng Tan; his entire focus was on Xiao Jiu. The moment he saw her, he knew something had gone wrong with Sickle's side, he flung the large bag of stuff he was carrying to the ground, and immediately gave chase.

Before, Zheng Tan had planned to take Xiao Jiu toward Chu Hua Da Xue; returning to his own turf would have given him backup, but now he could only lead Xiao Jiu in another direction. However, going this way, where could they run to hide? Perhaps they'd have to take a detour back to Chu Hua Da Xue, but they'd likely be caught before getting there—better to find a place to hide.

No matter what. Let's run first and talk later.

On the road they encountered some passersby, but Xiao Jiu didn't call out for help. She didn't know if shouting would do any good, or whether anyone would come to assist; moreover, she feared attracting even more enemies.

Just grab a random passerby?

She didn't know whether those passersby might later collude with those people; she was now in an unfamiliar environment, full of wariness toward her surroundings, and basically didn't trust any strangers around her. Besides, the cat ahead hadn't stopped—she just needed to keep close behind it.

Zheng Tan decided to first take Xiao Jiu onto the main street; once there were more people around, whether Xiao Jiu called for help or they found a suitable place to hide, their chances of success would be high.

Xiao Jiu, being still young, couldn't match Snake Head's stamina; Snake Head was already quickly closing the distance. If it hadn't been for a person pushing a fruit cart who happened to pass by just then and block Snake Head a bit, Snake Head would probably have caught Xiao Jiu by now. But if that happened, Zheng Tan would surely leap up without hesitation and kick at Snake Head.

Zheng Tan eased his pace, waiting for Xiao Jiu running behind; if he pulled too far ahead, and she got caught by Snake Head, it would be hard to respond quickly.

Looking back, Zheng Tan saw that Sickle was also chasing up behind Snake Head. Although Sickle isn't always as cautious as Snake Head, his movements are certainly swift enough.

While reducing his speed to let Xiao Jiu catch up behind him, Zheng Tan also kept an eye on the surroundings, scouting for places that could serve as hiding spots.

After passing a narrow alley entrance, Zheng Tan suddenly made an abrupt stop, quickly retreated, glanced into the alley, and then ran inside.

It's that blind old man!

Just now it was only a brief glance, and from a distance, Zheng Tan had merely suspected; now looking, it really is him.

Zheng Tan really wanted to let out a loud howl right now.

Blind guy, I really fucking love you to death!!

Zheng Tan knew Master Kun's residence was still some distance away, and besides, when he used to follow Master Kun, the old man had never come this way; but no matter what, seeing this old man gave Zheng Tan confidence he could escape the predicament.

Ye Hao and them have said that this blind old man actually has people following him, though usually nobody notices, and moreover, the people who follow and protect this old man are all experts; those whom both Ye Hao and Wei Leng call experts are certainly extraordinary, dealing with Snake Head and the "Sickle" should be more than enough, right?

For Xiao Jiu, at a time like this he should run toward a crowded place; there's a shopping mall ahead with lots of people, so running inside to find a hiding spot would do, but the black cat ahead went into that alley instead. Still, although puzzled, Xiao Jiu followed Zheng Tan and ran in.

For Master Kun, so far today has not been a pleasant day.

This afternoon, near Tianqiao someone was arguing and even threatening suicide, with one person shouting that he would jump from the overpass, drawing a crowd of onlookers and seriously affecting Master Kun's mood while playing the erhu. So the old man simply packed up and left. On a whim, he wandered around the vicinity for a bit, then took a shortcut back.

The area is much quieter, but there are too many crisscrossing narrow lanes; some lanes, if a taxi drives in, people can't pass and must wait for the taxi to leave before continuing, while other lanes are too narrow for taxis to enter at all, so normally you hardly see any vehicles around here.

Even though there are many lanes, the ground still has steps in places; people with a poor sense of direction will still feel dizzy here, but for Master Kun it's not difficult at all—he also comes this way several times a month.

As he was walking, Master Kun's ear twitched, he stopped his steps, and turned around.

In the instant after he turned, Zheng Tan shot over to Master Kun's leg.

Luck is a mischievous fellow; sometimes it can toy with you to death, making you want to commit suicide, but sometimes it really can give you considerable help, making you want to kneel and thank the heavens. Of course, this is also a relative matter—for some people it's the latter, for others it's the former. (To be continued…)

ps: (4.9)