Chapter 368

After returning to the courtyard, Zheng Tan didn't see Xiao Youzi on the lawn below; he went upstairs home and found Xiao Youzi was on the phone with someone.

It turned out many people knew about the double stars accompanying the moon; the newspaper had mentioned it a few days earlier, but most people didn't pay attention, while some kept following it, especially Jiao Yuan and his gang.

The call just now was from Jiao Yuan, telling Xiao Youzi to go down to the courtyard to look, because of the angle it couldn't be seen from the balcony at home. Hearing Xiao Youzi say she had already seen it, Jiao Yuan didn't say more; his few friends over there were taking photos and estimating the approximate distances between the three celestial bodies and their trajectories for the rest of tonight, to see if they matched what the newspaper said.

Afterwards Xiao Youzi received several more messages from others, but she didn't mention what had just happened downstairs, which relieved Zheng Tan. When the phone rang, Zheng Tan reacted quickly, and besides, it was dark among the bushes, so he was sure Xiao Youzi hadn't seen his silhouette; he only worried she might overthink.

Now seeing Xiao Youzi, everything was still as usual, and Zheng Tan felt relieved.

After calming down, Zheng Tan again recalled the feeling he had just had in the old tile-house area, as if someone nearby was watching him. But he had been in a hurry, and besides he hadn't seen or smelled anything unfamiliar, so he didn't linger there.

Zheng Tan didn't think he was being paranoid; even if he were, he wanted to go back and check again, but… he glanced at the clock on the wall—it was already late, and Jiao Ba had come home, so going out now would likely not be approved by the Jiao family.

Forget it, I'll go check tomorrow. If someone really is there, after this long they'd probably have left; going now might not catch anyone.

Although he couldn't go out, Zheng Tan still reviewed tonight's events from the beginning. His evening activity was just a spur-of-the-moment idea; originally he only wanted to go out for a stroll to walk around and digest his food, and only after seeing the double stars accompanying the moon did he go get his phone, not even having time to put on his vest.

As he thought, when he recalled the phone ringtone, Zheng Tan's whiskers twitched, and he drifted back further in memory. He remembered: since he started using this phone, incoming call ringtones have basically been on silent, with only occasional vibration settings, and he had never turned on the ringtone. Moreover, the ringtone that sounded today was unfamiliar to him.

The phone had been tampered with.

This was Zheng Tan's first guess.

He had previously put the phone in a small tree hole in a woods; only the phone and its outer wrapping bag could fit inside. Zheng Tan himself couldn't squeeze into the hole—it was too small—so he merely hid the phone there.

What was it like when he first hid it?

After being away from Chu Hua Shi for so long, Zheng Tan couldn't remember; the bag holding the phone still looked the same, even the knots on the bag were the kind he usually tied.

Of course, this is only what it looks like.

When Zheng Tan went there to get the phone, he didn't smell anyone else, but that doesn't prove nobody came. He had been away for a season, during which windy and rainy weather occurred frequently; thus any scent would have mostly dissipated, especially if the other party deliberately lowered their presence and took precautions. If they discovered the spot soon after Zheng Tan left Chu Hua Shi, any scent would indeed be hard to persist.

But who exactly was it?

Several suspects flashed through Zheng Tan's mind, and the person he suspected most was Liuba.

Of course, it's just suspicion; we'll talk about it after I go to the old tile-house area tomorrow.

The next morning, after Jiao Ma and Xiao Youzi left, Zheng Tan went out with Jiao Ba. They went to the staff canteen for breakfast; then Jiao Ba went to the courtyard, and Zheng Tan headed straight for the old tile-house area.

At this time, students were memorizing vocabulary in the old tile-house area; it was quiet, nobody disturbed anyone, and it wasn't noisy, sometimes there were morning club activities.

Zheng Tan walked along the route he had taken yesterday when he came to hide the phone, and at the same time carefully searched the vicinity, sniffing, to see if he could find anything.

He found nothing.

He ran to the tile house where he had hidden the phone and looked inside; there was no smell indicating others had come. There was a mouse odor, and on the old, dust-covered tabletop there was a fresh mouse dropping—probably because Zheng Tan hadn't been here in a while, some small mice had gotten in. Zheng Tan didn't care about those.

After leaving the tile house, Zheng Tan jumped onto a stone bench and glanced around; many places could hide someone, so he couldn't be sure.

Just as Zheng Tan was pondering, a gust of wind blew, carrying the scent of students' breakfast.

Zheng Tan looked over; not far away, a student held a meat patty bought from the canteen in one hand and exam materials in the other, sitting on the edge of a flowerbed, eating while reading.

He checked the wind direction, then recalled yesterday's wind direction; when he came here last night he had also seen leaves being blown away, and from the direction of the fallen leaves and the buildings here he inferred the wind direction.

I've heard that clever predators approach their prey from downwind so the prey can hardly smell them; does this principle apply to stalkers?

Last night's downwind side was……

Zheng Tan looked to one side, then walked over, observing along the way places where a person could easily hide given their build, then went over to carefully identify the scent; a cat's nose is still effective.

Behind a shrubbery nearly two meters high, there was a smell of smoke, which Zheng Tan recognized; besides that, there was also a human scent, albeit faint, but if Zheng Tan remembered correctly, this should be……

Zheng Tan abruptly turned to look behind him.

More than fifty meters away from Zheng Tan, Liuba held a roll wrapped in a plastic bag printed with the school cafeteria's name, nibbling at it as he walked toward this spot, his gaze fixed on Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan knew he wasn't smart; compared in IQ, eight out of ten people he knew could outshine him, let alone Er Mao and Liuba.

Actually, since deciding before the earthquake to seek Liuba's help, Zheng Tan had thought he might be discovered because of it; people like Liuba are too sharp, making exposure likely, but at the same time Liuba was the most suitable person then to spread the news; having made that choice, Zheng Tan had no regrets, and couldn't regret it.

After the earthquake, their brief contact made Zheng Tan aware of something, but thereafter nothing happened, so he harbored a lucky mindset that it was fine as long as he wasn't discovered.

Now it seems that such a lucky mindset is not acceptable.

The one hiding here yesterday was Liuba; Zheng Tan now dares to affirm that, if the other party really decided to find him, they still have means to do so. Liuba's special occupation gives him more experience, tools, and channels in this regard.

It's just unknown how much Liuba actually knows.

While Zheng Tan pondered how to deal with the situation later, Liuba finished the roll, tossed the plastic bag into the trash can, and continued walking this way. His speed wasn't fast, still maintaining his previous pace, but Zheng Tan sensed that Liuba's mind was also unsettled.

Whoever knows such a thing would probably not calm down either; his heart feels as if it's been trampled over and over by alpacas.

As Liuba walked in, Zheng Tan noticed that Liuba's eyes still had bloodshot veins, making him look like he hadn't slept all night.

That guy was hiding here last night; could he have been so shocked as to stay awake all night? Zheng Tan wondered.

Zheng Tan's guess was close to the truth. Liuba had indeed been here blowing in the cold wind, thinking hard all night; when he finally came to, the sky was already whitening, he still felt no sleepiness, went to the student canteen washroom to splash his face, bought a breakfast ticket, and kept coming here to stake out—and sure enough, he ran into Zheng Tan.

Liuba never imagined the owner of that mysterious phone number would be a cat; he had suspected many people, including Professor Jiao, but piece by piece the evidence showed it really was this cat doing it themselves. Others knew nothing about it.

Liuba stopped two meters in front of Zheng Tan; the person and the cat faced each other like that, each wondering what the other would do now.

Zheng Tan thought: if this guy knows too much, should I kick him and run, or calmly talk with Liuba? Feigning ignorance or playing dumb would surely be useless against Liuba, since he could find this place and even tamper with the phone—how could there be no evidence?

Can't speak? No problem, there's Morse code; I've used it before.

But if Liuba intended to use this to threaten me or to make this matter public, putting my situation in difficulty, I would immediately go look for help—Jiao Ba, Er Mao, Wei Leng, Fang San seem fairly reliable. Indeed, knowing many people means there's still a fallback.

Liuba saw the black cat in front of him staring at him, making no other move, hesitating how to speak; the cat's expression was not good.

"Immortal? Monster?" Liuba asked.

Monster, your grandpa!

Seeing Zheng Tan's gaze turn even more dangerous, Liuba hastily raised both hands to show he meant no harm: "Don't get agitated, let's talk properly. But… should we change places first?"

Liuba speaking to Zheng Tan here would, to nearby others, look like he was talking to himself; they wouldn't think Zheng Tan had a problem, but would consider Liuba a bit neurotic.

Zheng Tan could sense Liuba had no ill intent, but still, taking precautions and preparing is necessary. Zheng Tan wouldn't follow Liuba; to find a place to talk, it's safer to choose his own spot.

Zheng Tan had long known this area by heart; he knew which spots were quiet and which were empty at this time.

After Zheng Tan lifted his foot and walked away, Liuba followed, the person and cat keeping a distance of about two to three meters, which seemed to be their caution distance, both sides on guard.

Bringing Liuba to a small path not far from the old tile-house area, where there were a few wooden chairs; Zheng Tan jumped onto one of them and then looked at Liuba.

Liuba sat on another chair across the small path, looked around—there really was no one else, so speaking didn't require fear of eavesdropping.

After confirming there was no one else around, Liuba fumbled in his pockets, turning them inside out, and said to Zheng Tan: "I swear, I brought no weapons, no spy equipment; our conversation will be known only to the two…… of us."

Originally Liuba intended to say "two people," but he suddenly realized he was facing a cat, promptly changed his wording, feeling a bit awkward; however, Liuba had experienced much and was adaptable, quickly adjusting his mindset.

"Let me reintroduce myself: I am Gao Xing, with the 'Gao' of joy and the 'Xing' of joy."

Zheng Tan: "……" In that case, was the surname he used when feigning his identity earlier genuine?

While speaking, Liuba picked up a thin twig that had fallen beside the wooden chair, and with it drew his name on the bare, grassless ground nearby.

"The character 'Gao' was written normally, but when writing the character 'Xing' he did not follow the proper stroke order; instead he first wrote an upright 'six,' then added an inverted 'eight' on top of it. (To be continued…)