Chapter 85: The Cat from Hell (Part 1)

There are still people coming and going for a walk in the courtyard now; the time should be around eight o'clock.

It's still early; we can go out for a walk for an hour or two.

In summer everyone's activity time tends to be later, and besides, it's still summer vacation.

Tonight the warden is probably locked up at home, so the only one who can accompany Peanut Candy out is Zheng Tan. Anyway, there's nothing else to do, so Zheng Tan follows Peanut Candy outside.

At the side gate there are still students coming and going, but they don't pay attention to the two cats; there are many cats around the school, seeing cats is ordinary.

Anyway, this is a small street, still a residential area with private houses, supervision is lax, and they've set up student businesses. Those small vendors setting up stalls outside are doing good business now, with bulbs hanging from their stalls, making this little street much brighter.

As we walked past, the air was filled with the vendors' and students' conversations, plus the sizzling sounds of frying and so on.

Zheng Tan smelled the rich food aroma, turned his head to look at Peanut Candy; this guy, aside from occasionally lifting his head to sniff the air, seemed unaffected by these smells.

Continuing forward, after leaving the stall area, it suddenly felt much quieter; moreover, since this is a private residential area of ordinary folks, nobody would spend money to install streetlights, relying only on light leaking from private buildings to see the road, so after ten o'clock many people here gradually go to sleep, and far fewer people walk around.

It's only eight now, the surroundings are still bright, at least for Zheng Tan and Peanut Candy. Occasionally we encounter a pet dog squatting outside; if it's on a leash, Zheng Tan and Peanut Candy don't really run, maintaining their original walking pace, completely calm. If an unleashed dog comes after them, they jump onto the nearby courtyard wall, letting the dog bark below; anyway, the barking won't last long before someone comes to call the dog.

No matter the situation, they never run around recklessly; in this regard Zheng Tan has to admit that Peanut Candy's intelligence is indeed higher than many cats'. I just don't know whether this is taught by Li Yuanba or innate.

Arriving at the place where Peanut Candy had brought Zheng Tan and the warden a couple days ago, before any challenge was shouted, Zheng Tan heard a "woo—woo—" sound.

Following the sound, Zheng Tan saw a cat standing on a short stone pillar, the one whose fur pattern resembles the warden's. It was now arching its back and looking this way, emitting a warning "woo-woo" from its mouth. Soon, the long-haired cat Zheng Tan had seen before also came running over, its fur standing up in places.

Besides these two cats, Zheng Tan also heard movement from other cats around. However, it's obvious that the hostility shown by the other few cats is not as strong as that of these two in front.

Peanut Candy must have sparred with these two cats before; otherwise they wouldn't be so wary upon seeing Peanut Candy, looking as if they wanted to rush forward yet hesitated. Still, neither backed down.

These two cats appear to be among the more prominent cats in this area; otherwise other cats wouldn't dare approach. And although Peanut Candy's size is similar to Zheng Tan's, it's only seven or eight months old, still somewhat immature compared to those stray cats raised for several years.

So, regardless of how many fighting skills Peanut Candy has, when it came over to fight these two cats itself, even if it wasn't badly hurt, it definitely didn't win.

Zheng Tan was thinking that when Peanut Candy had already rushed over, leaping toward the stone pillar and swiftly swiping a paw at the cat perched above.

Peanut Candy didn't intend to grab the opponent with that paw; it merely forced the cat down from the stone pillar.

After a few moves, they stalled in a standoff, arching their backs and emitting low "woo-woo" sounds, swishing their tails widely, then exchanged more blows—scratching, biting, kicking—followed by a chase.

That's how cats fight; the battlefield may be fairly broad.

Actually, fighting them makes Zheng Tan feel a bit embarrassed, as if he's bullying kids. But to give Peanut Candy backup, Zheng Tan just puts on a show—any deterrent effect is enough; there's no need to beat the cat into a pulp. These cats, surviving a few years safely is no easy feat.

So Zheng Tan merely subdued the long-haired cat on first contact, preventing it from interfering with the two's battlefield, and then did nothing else. This scene felt somewhat familiar; Zheng Tan recalled when he was first captured, during a robbery in Nan Cheng, that noble Persian cat.

Ignoring the long-haired cat pinned to the ground and still yowling, Zheng Tan watched Peanut Candy fight the big black cat; seeing that, Peanut Candy won't lose—last time it was one-on-two and didn't fare well, this time it probably vented all its frustration.

Around, a few cats hid in corners watching the spectacle, but none came closer; some had the intention to approach but after two steps squatted down, apparently wanting to observe the situation further.

Occasionally someone passes by here; due to the lighting they don't notice Zheng Tan standing aside, only hearing the cat Zheng Tan is pressing down constantly yowling; after a couple of curses they walk away immediately. After all, when a cat stops its cute meowing, its cries sound somewhat grim, especially at night.

Just thinking about the poor security around here, passersby hurry along.

Zheng Tan looked at the cat pinned to the ground, struggling uselessly and still yowling, thinking, "What's the point? It won't hurt you anyway; although I'm holding you down, it's better than scratching you a few times."

When Zheng Tan noticed that Peanut Candy and the big black cat were fighting and drifting farther apart, he released the cat he was pressing down and followed after them.

The long-haired cat, once released, quickly left and didn't follow that side; presumably it went home seeking comfort.

The surroundings are still relatively quiet; Zheng Tan can distinguish the two cats' fighting sounds from the ambient noise, and from occasional sharp cries he can tell Peanut Candy is doing well—the yowls belong to the other cat—so he isn't too worried, and his pace isn't hurried.

Anyway, those two cats are fighting, and I'm not planning to intervene; having come to back up Peanut Candy, the goal's already achieved—the long-haired cat has gone home—so let Peanut Candy have a good fight. Male cats, after all, need to fight a few times. Speaking of which, Peanut Candy is playing away this time.

Walking along, Zheng Tan still had the mind to glance at the surrounding environment and buildings. He hasn't been here before; heard it's rather mixed, and each time he came he didn't go too deep, so the places he's walked through now are fairly unfamiliar to him.

Private residences gradually dwindled to just a few buildings; moving forward, only a wall surrounded by the side remained, inside which should be the abandoned construction project people spoke of. Earlier I'd only heard vaguely about it, but now it looks like the project is quite large, covering a broad area.

Not much foot traffic. Everywhere is weeds. The ground is pitted and uneven, giving a somewhat desolate feeling. However, according to Zheng Tan's guess, this area shouldn't remain perpetually desolate. After all, it's around a university; the location isn't bad. Besides, it's not the suburbs, still far from the Third Ring Road.

While pondering, Zheng Tan was startled by a terribly mournful cat cry. The sound was very sudden. Moreover, it didn't finish; it cut off abruptly.

This shouldn't be a cat-fight cry, should it?

Zheng Tan had a bad feeling; although the wail wasn't from Peanut Candy but from the other cat, if that cat encountered mortal danger, Peanut Candy probably did too.

I hope things aren't that terrible.

Zheng Tan quickly rushed toward the direction from which the wail had come; although his running speed was fast, his footsteps were light, and while running he also paid attention to the surrounding movements. When he'd come over earlier he hadn't thought there'd be anything worth guarding against, but now it seems he'd been careless. There's no threat from cats or dogs, but human danger always exists; even though most people are civilized, since being captured Zheng Tan knows there are still many people who can bludgeon a dog or cat to death without blinking.

Zheng Tan didn't jump over the wall; he didn't know what lay beyond it, nor whether there were places to hide or take cover. Running forward a distance, he could see the wall's gate: two metal doors locked with a thick chain, the paint peeled off in patches, looking mottled, the rust on the chain telling people this place has long been unmanaged.

Zheng Tan pricked up his ears to listen around; there was no sound of any moving creature. He lowered his body and peered through the gap under the iron door into the interior of the wall.

There were no other lighting facilities around; only the crescent moon in the sky could let one vaguely see the situation inside.

For Zheng Tan, the view was still relatively clear.

A hundred meters away stood an unfinished building; the ground between the wall and that building was rather desolate, overgrown with weeds, with several piles of construction debris dumped there; besides that, it gave a feeling of gloom and emptiness.

That building resembled a crouching monster, its maw wide open awaiting intruders.

A gust of wind blew, coming straight at him.

Zheng Tan smelled a bloody odor in the wind.

It was cat's.

When he was first captured, Zheng Tan had smelled cat blood before; it's different from human blood.

Zheng Tan felt somewhat anxious inside, cautiously heading toward the direction the bloody smell came from.

After walking a distance, going around a pile of construction waste, near the building Zheng Tan saw the cat lying on the ground—the very cat that had been fighting Peanut Candy ten minutes ago, vigorous and lively—now it lay still, blood trickling from its head, its original features somewhat obscured, its death scene gruesome; obviously it had been beaten by a person, not just once, with great force.

The instrument that reduced it to this state was a construction pry bar over seventy centimeters long, thrown not far away.

The pry bar still bore a human scent, matching Zheng Tan's expectation.

Zheng Tan felt a chill in his heart. There's no time for grief now; he urgently wants to know where Peanut Candy is and how it's doing.

However, after cautiously circling the area, Zheng Tan didn't see Peanut Candy's figure; at least, that's also a bit of good news.

Is it inside the building, or has it already run out?

The spot where that cat lies is close to the building, and it's not ruled out that Peanut Candy fled into the building. If it had already escaped, given Peanut Candy's intelligence, it should have called out a few times to let itself be known, right?

In that case, it's quite likely that the brat went into the building, probably hiding quietly in some corner.

After thinking, Zheng Tan decided to go inside and have a look; after all, Peanut Candy is something he's watched grow up, he accompanied it out, and now he must bring it back. (To be continued…)

ps: Bowing, thanks to the wealthy alliance Wangcai for another generous reward that got it a red recommendation!