Chapter 5

Xiao Qu, standing at the door, of course, also saw those few cockroaches. At the moment he saw the cockroaches, he was actually imagining a grand scene of a black cat pouncing on them. Unfortunately, the black cat in front of him just calmly glanced at them, then jumped onto a relatively clean chair, lay down, and closed its eyes to rest, not even glancing at the still warm taro ribs and sweet and sour pork on the nearby dining table.

Comrade Xiao Qu suddenly felt a choking sensation. He looked again at Zheng Tan, who was lying on the chair with his eyes closed, showing no intention of moving. Then he looked at the food on the table without a tablecloth. After some thought, he decided not to do anything, turned off the living room light, and walked into the bedroom.

After sitting down, Xiao Qu opened a community forum and found the post he had made a few days ago. He replied to a comment: "Nonsense, the rats in my house don't eat cockroaches, and the cat I brought in didn't even pay attention to them!"

Ever since he discovered that there were rats in his house and that his mousetraps were ineffective, the first thing Xiao Qu thought of was to seek help online. Buying mousetraps and sticky traps were all suggestions from netizens. Below the post, one netizen summarized the reason for the rats' intelligence: "Animals that have experienced 'SARS' have greatly improved intelligence and survival skills. Those without such intelligence and survival skills were captured and killed by humans during the 'SARS' incident."

So, after the mousetraps and sticky traps proved ineffective, and without buying rat poison, the most common suggestion was to get a cat. This led to Xiao Qu borrowing a cat from the Jiao family.

Among the netizens supporting the idea of borrowing a cat, one who boasted about their pet cat commented, "Cats and rats are also natural enemies of cockroaches; they will hunt them too." Xiao Qu was now debating this theory.

"Watch and see, it won't even bother with the cockroaches, let alone catch rats. Even if it wanted to, it might not be able to," the netizen finally said.

"We'll see about that!" Comrade Xiao Qu typed furiously, as if he wanted to punch the other person through the screen.

While Xiao Qu was arguing on the forum, Zheng Tan opened his eyes, bent his paw, and silently looked at the sharp claws between his fingers.

For the first test of catching rats, he was not nervous at all. On the contrary, Zheng Tan felt a bit excited, though he couldn't explain why.

The same thing happened last night when he killed several white rats. He didn't feel disgusted at all; instead, he felt an inexplicable excitement, a bloodlust that he usually didn't have. Perhaps it was because he hadn't paid much attention before, and last night's events were like a trigger that ignited the bloodlust within him.

However, this should be due to the animal's natural instincts.

Cats are animals that will hunt even when they are full. Hunting is almost their nature, even the most gentle house cats have this instinct.

As a documentary that Jiao Yuan and others watched recently said, "In every well-fed cat lying lazily by the fireplace, there is a tiger ready to pounce."

Taking a deep breath, Zheng Tan relaxed his paw, closed his eyes, and lay there quietly, but his ears were alert, moving occasionally due to some sounds. However, since these sounds were not caused by rats, Zheng Tan remained still.

Time passed slowly, and the night grew deeper. Zheng Tan didn't detect any rat activity, but he could sense the presence of rats nearby, indicating that they had been out recently. Zheng Tan wasn't in a hurry and waited quietly in the dark, cluttered living room.

With the light from the bedroom, Zheng Tan could see the entire living room clearly.

Most of the people in the East District residential complex were asleep, and the surroundings were no longer noisy. The Jiao family was definitely resting at this time. On this side, apart from the sound of Xiao Qu typing and muttering, there was no other noise.

Hmm?

Zheng Tan's ears twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes. In the dark, his pupils dilated even more due to his emotions.

He silently jumped off the chair, crouched low, and moved quickly. Under the cover of darkness, Zheng Tan stopped beside a pile of magazines. His ambush technique was learned from "Chief."

Xiao Qu, who had just finished a game in the bedroom, took off his headphones and stretched his sore neck. Turning his head, he saw Zheng Tan quietly jump off the chair.

Is something happening?!

Xiao Qu quickly got up from his computer chair, took out a digital camera from the drawer, paused, put it down, and found a DV in the cabinet. After turning it on, he tiptoed to the door. Suddenly, his phone rang, startling him. He quickly answered it, speaking in a low voice.

Zheng Tan waited in the darkness. The rat came out from the study and didn't head to the kitchen. Clearly, it was familiar with the environment and the owner's habits. Xiao Qu rarely cooked, usually ordering takeout or eating at the cafeteria. The food was either in the bedroom or the living room. Now, the rat was moving along the wall, stopping occasionally to check for danger.

This rat was about the same size as the white rats Zheng Tan killed last night, but its alertness was far superior to that of the lab rats.

As it approached the bedroom door, the rat's attention was more focused on the person inside making a phone call.

Just as the rat neared the door, Zheng Tan moved.

A short, intense burst of speed, like an arrow, straight for the prey!

The rat only realized there was a hidden hunter when Zheng Tan pounced. The distance back to the study was too far, and if it turned to run, it would be caught in a few steps. So, the rat's strategy was to rush into the bedroom. Xiao Qu's bedroom was a bit better than the living room but was still messy. For rats and cockroaches, there were many hiding spots. Once it entered the bedroom, Zheng Tan would have a hard time catching it.

But it didn't have the chance.

A black paw with sharp claws stepped on its tail. Before it could react, another paw pressed down on its neck.

Snap!

The sound was so slight that humans couldn't hear it.

The rat instantly collapsed, not even twitching.

The entire process was so quick that the rat didn't even have time to squeak.

Xiao Qu, who had just reached the door, saw a black shadow flash by. Looking down, he saw a black cat with a motionless rat under its paw.

"Damn!"

Xiao Qu almost threw his phone and DV.

Looking at the cat, then the rat, and then the useless DV in his hand.

"Damn!" Xiao Qu cursed again.

Is it over already?

Shouldn't it chase the rat around the house first, play with it, and then eat it when it's almost dead?

Damn, I didn't even finish my call, and it's over here?

What kind of clean and efficient technique is this?!

This... This is absolutely cool and awesome!

Whoever says a cat that doesn't catch cockroaches can't catch rats, I'll argue with them!

"Hey, Qu Qu, what's wrong with you?" The person on the other end of the phone sensed something was off.

"Hey, you old man!" Xiao Qu hung up, turned on the living room light to see more clearly.

Xiao Qu took the chopsticks from the unfinished food box and poked the rat.

No movement.

Really dead?

Feeling the chopsticks weren't suitable, he threw them away and ran to the kitchen to get the tongs he had never used since moving in. He shook the rat to confirm it was dead, then took photos from all angles with the digital camera. He quickly returned to the computer, stopped playing games, and hurriedly posted the photos on the forum, vividly describing what had just happened. However, many people in the replies didn't believe him.

A seasoned cat owner posted several photos. In the photos, some rats were bitten all over, and others were left with only incomplete limbs and tails, with their bodies missing.

Xiao Qu turned to look at the black cat in the living room, which was stretching but not looking at its prey. He continued to argue with the people on the forum, and his phone rang again. He held the phone between his shoulder and ear while typing quickly.

Zheng Tan walked around the room, didn't detect any other rat scent, and decided not to wait any longer.

Just as he was about to go back to the chair to rest, Zheng Tan's ears twitched, and he heard someone singing downstairs.

Walking out of the room, Zheng Tan went to the balcony, filtering out the sound of Xiao Qu's phone call and typing, and listened carefully. This time, he heard clearly.

"Last night's... last night's stars... have fallen... disappeared in the distant galaxy..."

Zheng Tan: "..."

The deliberately lowered but unmistakable voice, the tremolo to express emotion, and the old song that was even older than Zheng Tan...

Damn, the damn bird downstairs is singing old songs again in the middle of the night!