Chapter 46: A Cat Is Watching You

The tattooed man felt he must have offended someone.

Since that day when he returned home, seeing the toy cat smeared with ketchup on the bed, the red pattern on the wooden wardrobe resembling some animal's footprint, and the deep scratches on the wardrobe, the tattooed man began to wonder who he had offended.

There are too many suspects, after all, these venue watchers are sure to offend people. Especially with the recent conflicts between several factions, all are worth suspecting. But who would do this cannot be determined quickly. After all, their methods would be more direct and bloody, not just using ketchup.

The people around?

The tattooed man shook his head; he had lived here for several years, the people around were all soft-tempered, the few hotheads he had called people to beat up and intimidate, after which they no longer dared to oppose him.

However, it's not absolutely impossible.

Who exactly is it?

The tattooed man couldn't figure it out; he stabbed the ketchup-smeared toy cat with a knife until it was torn apart and threw it into the trash heap; as for the marks on the wooden wardrobe, after wiping them, he covered the scratched area with several layers of newspaper, sealing it tightly.

Besides that, the tattooed man also changed his door lock, feeling sure someone had obtained his house key or used some means to pick the lock.

The next day, the tattooed man was still the same when returning home; preparing to unlock the door, he held a steel bar in his other hand, fearing someone might be inside. However, before he could insert the key into the lock, his foot felt something under it.

There was no light outside the door, and at this time other residents were already asleep, the surroundings pitch black; only the beam from the flashlight clamped in his armpit illuminated the lock. Earlier he had only been looking at the lock, completely failing to notice anything on the ground by the doorway.

The tattooed man had a bad premonition.

He tossed the key into his pocket and shone the flashlight downward.

At the doorway lay a fluffy toy cat doll, smaller than yesterday's, its fur should have been white, but it bore some red marks, especially around the cat's mouth.

The tattooed man's hand trembled, but having watched the venue for so long, he wasn't necessarily timid.

So he opened the door and went inside.

Inside the house was exactly as it had been before he left; the wooden wardrobe showed no scratches, and the surrounding floor had no suspicious marks.

The tattooed man felt much more relieved; it seemed changing the lock was still useful.

Actually, Zheng Tan had also entered the house this time, but after seeing the lock changed he didn't leave anything inside, nor did he create any tricks in the house; if the tattooed man panicked and sealed the broken window, what then?

So Zheng Tan now, after dealing with the cat doll, brings it over and places it at the tattooed man's doorstep.

After wandering around the house, the tattooed man grew bolder; he picked up the toy cat by the walkway door, looked it over, sniffed it, then stuck out his tongue to lick it—it tasted of ketchup.

"Pfft!" the tattooed man curled his lip, thinking someone was definitely playing a prank.

On the third day, when the tattooed man returned home, he first shone his flashlight on the ground at the doorway; sure enough, there was a toy cat doll just like yesterday's, but with much more red smeared on it.

With yesterday's experience, the tattooed man was no longer afraid; he didn't open the door, walked over and picked up the toy cat from the ground. But as he held it, goosebumps suddenly erupted all over his body.

Something's off!

This sticky feeling…

The tattooed man, moving somewhat stiffly, brought the toy cat doll close to his nose and sniffed.

Bloody smell!!

Instantly the tattooed man felt as if his hand were scalded, and he flung the toy cat away.

The lingering bloody odor in his nostrils stirred the tattooed man to recall the cruel, blood-soaked scene he had witnessed at the club.

After taking a few deep breaths, the tattooed man shone his flashlight back at his own door lock, his hand pausing as he reached for the key.

On the lock there was a long red stain and claw marks, like the trajectory of a cat scratching downward from the lock, except this trajectory was blood-colored.

This time Zheng Tan didn't use ketchup; while strolling around the Life Science Institute during the day, he saw some students in the basic lab collecting rabbit blood samples, placing them in individual plastic tubes, to which sodium heparin solution had been added. Sodium heparin has anticoagulant properties; Zheng Tan often came here to wander, so he had heard of it before.

So Zheng Tan, taking advantage when those students left, "took" three tubes. He did it in three separate trips, each time only able to carry one tube, and had to avoid being noticed; the corridor outside the lab had cameras, so Zheng Tan always went via the windows. Carrying several tubes at once would make his movement inconvenient.

When he smeared the blood from the plastic tubes onto the toy cat, Zheng Tan got blood on his palm, so he simply added a bit more blood and smeared it onto the tattooed man's door lock. After finishing, Zheng Tan went to the small restaurant's kitchen sink where vegetables were washed, cleaned his paws with dish soap, since there were few vegetables left to wash and nobody around the sink.

The fourth day was similar; moreover, with the recent warming weather, some cats that had been cooped up at home and not taken away came out again, starting to call late at night. There weren't many cats, and most were not from this alley; they just came over to play, probably not expecting that after the New Year this area basically had no cats left.

The tattooed man, who had recently become sensitive to the word "cat", would, upon seeing cats running around at night when returning home, pick up things to throw at them to drive them away; going to sleep he was restless and began having continuous nightmares.

During the day, when the tattooed man went out, his eyes were filled with red bloodshot lines.

Residents around the old residential area also recently noticed something off about the tattooed man; he used to walk with his nostrils upturned and swaggering, but lately when he looks at people he always seems strangely suspicious, muttering to himself; if you ask him, he'll respond with a hostile glare, as if he's about to strike you any moment.

Thus, recently the people in the lanes of the old residential area, upon seeing the tattooed man, would take a detour to avoid him, never meeting him face to face; this person surely has a mental problem and might do something unpredictable.

On the fifth day, Zheng Tan did not bring a toy cat, only a small bag wrapped in several layers.

This time Zheng Tan did not hold the small bag in his mouth; instead he put a wide rubber band around his neck, tied the bag to it, and tried jogging a few steps—it didn't fall off.

Although wearing it was a bit uncomfortable, Zheng Tan really didn't want to hold it in his mouth; he was also wary of this thing, and even if bagged, he still felt uneasy, so it's better not to touch his mouth. Zheng Tan's manual dexterity isn't strong, so he could only think of this simple carrying method.

The bag contained several not-large, mushroom-like things. These items Zheng Tan obtained from Old Man Lan's small flower garden; the flower shed where they are grown strictly controls temperature, humidity, etc., so normally the shed's door is kept tightly shut, but since Zheng Tan often passes by, he also knows that each week there is a day when Old Lan samples the soil in the shed for pH, elemental ratios, etc., and only after completing all sampling does he uniformly close the shed's door.

And Zheng Tan entered precisely when Old Lan went to sample other flower sheds.

Discovering what was inside was also something Zheng Tan learned by chance when he once came to play and overheard Old Lan instructing students, realizing that certain special flower sheds housed these plants.

The mushroom-like thing Zheng Tan obtained is not native to China; it was introduced, Old Lan got some from a friend. Since this plant is symbiotic, Old Lan also deliberately planted some other tree species in the shed, but due to the shed's size, large trees cannot be grown. Later Old Lan found that no matter how he adjusted temperature and growing conditions, these introduced varieties always grew poorly, remaining small and stunted, though they still possess toxicity.

It contains a hallucinogenic neurotoxin; ingesting it causes hallucinations, making one feel as if surrounding objects are magnified—what Old Lan and the students call "visual magnification hallucination syndrome." Though fatal cases are rare, these few are non-lethal.

The onset occurs within thirty minutes to two hours after ingestion, during which the patient exhibits obvious dizziness, vomiting, hallucinations, etc.

At that time Zheng Tan was lying on the shed roof, listening to Old Lan's explanation and thinking the thing was amazing; when he decided to teach the tattooed man a lesson, Zheng Tan recalled the several toxic plants in Old Lan's sheds marked with warning signs, including belladonna, which have great medical use but can also kill if misused.

However, Zheng Tan ultimately chose this one; Old Lan said it was called something like an "umbrella." Whatever, as long as he knows its effect.

At 7:30 p. m., Zheng Tan came to the tattooed man's house with the bag.

The tattooed man leaves for his workplace between 8:30 and 9:00 p. m.; beforehand he takes a shower, cooks a bowl of instant noodles, drinks a cup of tea, then departs. This is his daily routine.

After Zheng Tan arrived and waited outside for a while, he heard the sound of the tattooed man taking out a bucket of instant noodles from the kitchen.

The tattooed man poured the hot water from the adjacent electric thermos into it, then took out the leftover half-bag of braised meat he had brought back from the club yesterday, added a few pieces to the noodle bowl, and stirred.

After the noodles had soaked, the tattooed man went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Zheng Tan entered through the broken window, carefully dumped the few small "mushrooms" from the bag into the noodles, and stirred with a fork.

The noodles are spicy; the red oil coats the braised meat and the "mushrooms," and after soaking a bit longer it becomes hard to notice the "mushrooms"' abnormality.

Zheng Tan put the fork and such back where they belonged, rolled up the bag containing the "mushrooms" and slipped it back onto the rubber band. Hearing movement from the toilet, Zheng Tan leapt out the broken window and crouched on the outer wall, watching the tattooed man's bedroom.

In the darkness, one cannot see outside from inside the house; thus, when the tattooed man brought the noodles back to his bedroom to eat, he also failed to notice that outside his window a cat was watching him.

The tattooed man ate absentmindedly, not knowing whether he would see the same scene as the past few days when he came back tomorrow morning, so he didn't notice the something different in the instant noodles besides the braised meat.

After watching the tattooed man finish eating, Zheng Tan left this place and went to the tattooed man's inevitable route—the urination spot.

Behind the blocked wall were residents' piled-up miscellaneous items, inside which hid several bottles of beer that Zheng Tan had "taken" from that small restaurant. Fortunately the small restaurant wasn't far from here, otherwise Zheng Tan wouldn't have bothered with glass-bottled beer.

Zheng Tan reached here by holding the beer bottles with both hands and walking on his two legs step by step. Fortunately he moved only at night, when no one saw him, otherwise he'd likely be taken for a monster. Who sees a cat holding a beer bottle and walking on two legs like a person?

No one would have thought the beer thief would be a cat, after all an ordinary cat doesn't have the strength to move an unopened bottle of beer.

He lined up the hidden beer bottles one by one on the edge of the wall that blocked the road, then Zheng Tan crouched behind the wall, stood on the miscellaneous items, exposing only his head, and looked toward the fork. The rubber band and bag around his neck had already been thrown away; now he was ready for the final step.

After a while, Zheng Tan saw that familiar figure. The tattooed man seemed drunk, walking unsteadily.

It seemed the effect had already begun.

The tattooed man staggered over, muttering something in his mouth that Zheng Tan couldn't hear and didn't care about; he just stared at the staggering figure approaching.

The tattooed man came to the familiar wall, where there was still the familiar urine smell; not knowing what he was thinking, he hehehed, then unzipped his pants and began to urinate. While urinating, he suddenly held onto the wall and vomited with a "wah".

He hadn't even finished urinating yet—truly vomiting and defecating at the same time.

Zheng Tan tugged his ears; this smell was truly foul.

The tattooed man's consciousness was already blurring; the surroundings were dark and he could see nothing. He leaned against the wall for a moment, rested, and prepared to leave, his pants still unfastened, presumably having forgotten.

After just two steps, a sudden "bang" sounded beside his foot, piercingly loud in the quiet night, startling the tattooed man; his leg went weak and he collapsed to the ground.

At the same time, shards from the exploding beer bottles scattered; although the tattooed man wore relatively thick clothing, his hands were exposed and now bore several cuts from the fragments. With his pants still unfastened, the base of his thighs were also pierced by shards, nearly severing that part.

The tattooed man's reactions became much slower; he felt everything around him had become utterly alien, as if he had arrived at a strange, despair-inducing place, surrounded by towering copper walls and iron barriers.

Where is the way out?!

Where can he flee to?!

"Aoo—"

The abrupt howl was especially chilling in this environment, and the tattooed man, looking around with fear, felt that beyond the "copper walls and iron barriers" lurked a ferocious beast watching him, while he himself felt utterly insignificant.

Meanwhile, a resident returned on a small electric scooter at the intersection; the dim headlights' afterglow slightly illuminated this area for a second or two.

And in those two seconds, as the tattooed man looked around with blurry vision, he saw a pair of glowing eyes on the "copper walls and iron barriers," emitting a faint light that stood out against the dark background; the hallucination made him feel those eyes were as huge as searchlights.

"Aoo—"

Upon hearing the howl again, the tattooed man shuddered all over, sweat and blood from his scratches covering his forehead.

Bang!

Another explosive sound. The beer bottle shattered right beside the tattooed man's foot.

The tattooed man felt as if something had scratched his hands, face, and legs—sharp, burning pain—but his limbs wouldn't obey, and he couldn't react.

The tattooed man lay on the ground, curling up with his head in his arms, trembling all over.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

……

Explosive sounds came one after another, striking his eardrums and stimulating his nerves.

In his already confused consciousness, certain emotions suddenly turned sharp.

It must be that monster!

Yes! Absolutely the monster with eyes like two huge searchlights!

Each time the explosive sound rang, the tattooed man felt it was the monster's footsteps drawing near, and only then would he be hurt, as if the next moment he would be torn to shreds and ground into pulp.

"Meow—meow—meow—"

After Zheng Tan threw away the beer bottles, while he was looking at the person curled up and trembling on the ground, he suddenly heard a cat's meow. This sound…

The tattooed man on the ground heard the cat's meow and suddenly recalled the toy cat he had recently placed at his own doorstep, and also the few kittens that had fallen to their deaths earlier.

Was it because of those cats that this big monster had come after him?

Cats, blood, cries, and other related or unrelated frightening things all surfaced in his mind; the burning pain in parts of his body intensified, making him want to shout aloud, but he could only utter grunts, as if a pair of large feet were stepping on him, too oppressive to release.

The human brain is a wondrous thing; you always think you've forgotten something, only to recall that forgotten bit in an unguarded moment, or, stimulated by environmental factors, to piece together those faded fragments bit by bit, slowly and clearly replaying them in the mind.

And once you remember something at this point, trying to forget it again is not as easy as the first time; it may take months or years, or, if severe, the rest of your life will form a conditioned reflex. Whenever similar environmental conditions and familiar factors appear around you, the brain uncontrollably retrieves those images you've tried to bury deep in memory, dragging up the things you never want to recall from the depths of memory; those scenes you cannot avoid will rage like a storm until you reinforce the memory once more.

Perhaps, after the toxins in the tattooed man's body are metabolized and the hallucinations fade, hearing cat meows and bottle explosions again will make him tremble and recall how he felt at this time.

Zheng Tan glanced at the person still curled up and twitching there, jumped down from the wall, and left.

He reeked of alcohol; before heading home, he should air out a bit.

Thinking this, Zheng Tan walked along the wall toward the outside of the alley; after just a few steps, he saw a cat crouched on the outer wall of the fork.

It was that big white cat.

Zheng Tan didn't know why it had come here at this moment—whether it was a coincidence or something else.

"Meow—"

The big white cat meowed at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan paused, lifted his chin, slowly swayed his tail, and slipped away.

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