Chapter 53: Escaping the Devil's Den

Zheng Tan was wakened by a violent jolt, trampling, and cat cries.

The drug's effects hadn't fully worn off; when he first opened his eyes, Zheng Tan felt dazed, not knowing where he was.

Beneath him wasn't the Jiao Family's soft sofa; all around were unfamiliar scents, the air filled with panicked, agitated factors. Human shouts and cat cries mingled, giving Zheng Tan a headache.

Bang!

One by one, cages holding cats were placed on the rack.

Zheng Tan was stepped on a few times by the other cats in the same cage.

This time he really woke up.

He opened his eyes and looked around; it was a small room filled with a foul stench and a hint of blood. Zheng Tan could see some iron cages on the opposite rack, plus a few makeshift cat cages made of nailed wooden boards and bamboo.

He twitched his ears and also heard dogs barking next door; the dogs barked fiercer than the cats.

He sighed; his body still felt a bit weak, but he could stand and move a little.

The other cats in the same cage were all sturdy; a few were purebred, with cleaner fur that even shone, and several wore collars and pet tags. They belonged to the better-selling stock.

Regarding Zheng Tan's awakening, the other cats in the cage didn't pay him any mind; house cats, especially those kept for a few years and having gained some spirituality, seemed to already sense what awaited them.

Outside this room was a restaurant; the whole street was full of such eateries.

But even if they had some spirituality, they were still inferior to humans; knowing danger, they couldn't devise a rescue, only cry out, perhaps clinging to a slim hope that their owners might hear.

Zheng Tan glanced over; the vast majority of cats in these cages weren't strays, even if their fur was a bit dirty and they lacked collars or tags, but the gaze of strays differed from that of house cats, which he could tell.

Looking at the cages again, the good part was that the locks weren't complicated—not the small brass locks needing a key. After all, there were many cages; if each needed a big iron lock or small brass lock, it would be too troublesome. The locks on the bamboo or wooden cages were also peg-type.

A few cats stretched out their paws to tug at the lock's spot, but being not very smart, and not every cat being like Da Pang who'd had special training, even more tugging couldn't open the cage—this wasn't like pushing open a home window. Moreover, moving these pegs required some strength; they were jammed tight, beyond what an ordinary cat could shift.

For Zheng Tan, this wasn't much effort, but he couldn't guess when those dealers outside would come in. Logically, having just been counted, they wouldn't come to look for a while, but he still needed to be careful—his life was at stake.

There were no cameras installed here either; thinking about it, in this dump, who would waste money on cameras?

Zheng Tan pricked up his ears, focused his listening; footsteps came and went at the door, along with voices. He found them somewhat familiar; he'd heard this sound in his dazed, unconscious state.

When the footsteps faded, Zheng Tan squeezed past the cat that had been crowding the cage door, waving its claws. That cat had a bad temper, bared its teeth at Zheng Tan; after he slapped it, the cat, though unwilling, obediently moved aside.

Zheng Tan came to the cage door, looked at the iron peg as thick as a person's pinky; he needed to turn at an angle to pull it out.

He extended his arm outside the cage; when his paw touched that iron peg, he bent his wrist, hooked his claw onto the peg's moving lever, turned the lever ninety degrees upward, then pulled left.

Because Zheng Tan had just slapped the cat blocking the cage door, the other cats inside kept a little distance from him; thus, after moving the peg aside, he pushed the cage open, slipped out, and before the other cats could crowd in, he closed the cage again.

It wasn't that Zheng Tan didn't want to save them; he needed first to observe the surroundings. Releasing these fellows might startle the snakes and ruin his escape chance.

Seeing Zheng Tan emerge, the cats in the cage started a new round of crying. A few also stretched their paws to hook the iron peg, but it was all in vain.

Taking a deep breath, Zheng Tan looked around, ran to the door, jumped up and fiddled with the lock—it was locked. Clearly, trying to exit through the door wasn't likely.

Besides the door, the small room also had a casement window with a wooden frame, some cracks, severe peeling paint, making its original color indiscernible. The window was shut tight, its peg inserted; it looked as if it hadn't been opened in a while, dust filled the gaps, the window's peg was rusty, and a layer of grime coated the glass—only the middle part still let him glimpse outside.

Zheng Tan walked over from the rack and leaned against the window to peek.

Outside the window was a narrow concrete road; the buildings on this side and those on the road side faced away from each other, only the rear doors of the houses opened onto this road. Several large trash bins sat on the road, already piled full with garbage; although many were bagged, one could still see bits of discarded organs and such poking out of the bags, with many flies buzzing above.

Even with mental preparation, actually seeing it made Zheng Tan shudder involuntarily.

If he never woke up, or lingered a few hours or days, would he also end up like that? Dismembered, or flayed and deboned?

But now wasn't the time for lament; even if he had many doubts about his capture, he had to suppress them and focus all his energy on escaping.

Zheng Tan worked the window's peg; it hadn't been opened in ages, plus the rust made resistance high, and his strength hadn't returned, so it took considerable effort to open the window.

It seemed to be around two or three in the afternoon, the sky overcast as if rain were coming, and no one was on the concrete road.

Zheng Tan climbed out the window; he had initially meant to push the window shut to avoid anyone noticing something amiss, but after thinking, he left it open, planning to return later to avoid trouble.

Next to the cat house was the dog house; fortunately, this room's window was open for ventilation. After all, dogs aren't as good at jumping as cats; even if released from their cages, they couldn't climb out the window.

Inside there was no one, only a bunch of dog cages with the dogs yelping and the sound of them tearing at each other.

Zheng Tan had just swung the window open to look inside when a large dog lifted its head toward the window and spotted him.

"Woof woof woof woof woof!"

"What the hell are you barking for!" Zheng Tan flicked his ears.

Dogs differed from cats; some cages held several dogs packed together, while larger, fiercer dogs occupied a cage alone.

From small Pomeranians and Pekingese up to larger native dogs and black-backed breeds, they were all present.

Trying to open the dog cages would be somewhat difficult.

It wasn't the lock's fault; the cages here were basically peg-type, some with clasps, none hard to open.

A few low cages were crammed with several native dogs; the narrow bodies prevented them from even standing, they hardly barked, and their spirits were poor, but Zheng Tan didn't dare open them rashly—who knew if those dogs would bite him once out?

Moreover, there were those that barked excitedly; just looking at their eyes, one could see they longed to lunge and bite.

What to do?

Zheng Tan glanced around; his gaze finally settled on a thin iron rod on a rack. The rod's front end was sharpened, still bearing bloodstains. Nearby lay some rope and thin iron wire, etc.

Zheng Tan slipped into the house; the dogs all around made him tense, many exuding a killing aura, growling low in their throats, seemingly thinking how to bite him.

Zheng Tan dragged out the thin iron rod, tied the thin iron wire around it, forming a loop. Then he gripped the rod with both hands and walked upright on his legs. Though somewhat difficult, slow movement sufficed.

On the upper shelf lay some sticks and such for striking, all bloody; Zheng Tan stepped onto them one by one, the pungent smell of blood nearly making him vomit. Standing on the shelf, even if he opened the cages, those dogs couldn't reach him—they couldn't jump that high.

Zheng Tan extended the thin iron rod downward until it reached the cage's peg, tied to q play play."

The youngster said some things, true and false; as for how much money the final haul brought in, he didn't utter a word—speaking would mean having to kick up some tribute.

Gan Shu snorted twice, didn't take the youngster's words seriously, paused, then said: "Tomorrow I'm going out for a run, pulling a job—interested?"

"Where to?" the youngster asked.

Gan Shu pointed westward.

The youngster remained silent. Although he'd caught dogs and cats, sometimes took odd jobs via intermediaries, even beaten people, but… poaching, he'd never actually done.

After finishing a cigarette, the youngster tossed the butt to the ground and ground it out with his toe.

"All right! This time I'll go with Gan Shu to broaden my horizons!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an assistant came running out of the shop, blood still on his arm.

The dog escaped! The cat also escaped!!

While running a food stall in their shop and also handling wholesale, someone wanted to buy a dog just then, so the assistant led them to see it. Before they even reached the warehouse, they heard someone say whose cat had escaped, and he secretly felt pleased, but upon reaching the door he heard the dog barking oddly and felt uneasy. As soon as he opened the door, a big dog lunged at him; if he hadn't reacted fast, his arm would likely be incapacitated.

The youngster's heart skipped when he heard the assistant's words, and he rushed over to see what was going on. After two steps he turned back to look at Gan Shu, and before he could say anything, he saw Gan Shu dragging a dog‑beating implement from his old man's cart.

Come on, I'm itching to get involved—let me help you lot. These beasts just won't behave. Gan Shu spoke casually, but his words betrayed a frenzied, cruel killing intent.

Zheng Tan had no idea what was going on at the stall; he just kept running. But earlier, opening the cage had taken too much effort, and the drug's effects hadn't fully worn off, when suddenly a wave of fatigue and faintness washed over him.

Misfortunes never come singly.

Behind them, people on motorcycles and in cars were gathering up the escaped cats and dogs along the way; not only that stall, but others on the street also joined the effort.

The dog's anguished cries and the thudding of clubs assaulted Zheng Tan's eardrums.

Zheng Tan just wanted to get off this street, this den of demons, but his legs wouldn't obey and his heartbeat was irregular; before he could lie down, he almost crawled to a corner.

Though he was already out of the street, hearing the footsteps approaching, Zheng Tan cursed heaven in vain, caught his breath, regained a bit of strength, and decided to hide in the garbage pile at the corner, even though he was reluctant—his life was at stake.

Just as he was about to climb up and dive into the garbage heap, a white figure appeared at the corner.

Several young people wove nets, carried sacks, and wielded iron clubs as they chased down the escaped cats and dogs along the street; since no one on this street kept pets, they would grab any cat or dog they saw, or simply beat them with a club—whether alive or dead didn't matter.

As they passed the corner, several young people saw a large white bear crouched not far from the garbage heap. Although they would seize any dog on sight, they dared not touch this one—it was a familiar face, a pet of a wealthy family's child living nearby, not from their street.

After seeing the bear baring its teeth at them, the animal, which had always been unfriendly toward people on this street, caused the youngsters to hurry away.

Not long after they left, a seventeen‑ or eighteen‑year‑old girl rode past on a folding bicycle and waved, calling out, "Yu Jian, let's go!"

Woof!

The white bear let out a sound, glanced at Zheng Tan trapped inside, and trotted after him.

The numbness was only temporary; after resting a while, Zheng Tan's legs began to regain feeling. It could be the drug's effect or a side effect of the medicine, but now he definitely feels much better.

After thinking, Zheng Tan watched the white bear run off and followed it. He was tired and needed a place to rest. People who keep dogs probably wouldn't eat dog meat, and surely they wouldn't eat cat meat either. Anyway, it's definitely safer than the people around here, so as long as he isn't discovered by the owners, he'll be fine.

"————————————————————————————————————" No names.

Someone said they were going to abuse the master; as for that, I don't want to explain further—those Star‑level Hunters who followed me should know my style.

I'm sorry I couldn't release an extra chapter on Thanksgiving; although I've been updating regularly, each chapter is four to five thousand words, and as a part‑time writer it's exhausting—I hope you can understand.

Thanks to Ou Fei Mo Si, You Cao Yi Ren, Lan Ya Xiao Qi, Yan Shan Bai Shui, lovesick poor scholar, turn around, it's you, Lian Dong Feng Sheng, Wei Xie, Qinfenglong, Hei Mao Tu Fei, aofish, Na Zi Yi Ge Ni Er, niexi, Shui Bo Li Shuo, Tao Xi Qing Di Yuan, Song Ya, Yue Leng Qing, Mu Tian Xi Di, ethereal melancholy, Book Friend 131016204015977, Liu Yan, lazyorange, Xing Di Shi Tian, Heartbroken Little Sword, Le Zi Xiao, Misty Dawn's cat tip, tea fragrance, book fragrance, red sleeve adds fragrance, longing for the moon, cold and clear (2), tear warrior, one rod ventures to the ends of the earth evaluation ticket, and thanks to everyone who voted for recommendation.