Chapter 7

Zheng Tan climbed up a tree and stood at a high spot, looking in the direction from which the human voices were coming.

Before long, Zheng Tan had a general understanding of the situation. It was similar to the soap opera plots that Aunt Jiao had been watching recently, with the only difference being that the woman did not make a big fuss.

After watching for a while, Zheng Tan became impatient and went down the tree to take a walk, leaving the parrot, which was bored out of its mind, to continue watching the real-life soap opera. At least this way, it wouldn't come to bother Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan hoped that the soap opera would "screen" all day or even continuously. This thought was quite immoral, but what was morality? Since Zheng Tan could remember, morality had always been kicked into a corner, occasionally picked up for a look, but when it didn't involve personal interests, it would stay in the corner and mold, and Zheng Tan wouldn't even glance at it.

At the base of the tree, only Dapang was lying there in a "farmer's embrace" posture, his eyes half-closed as if he was about to fall asleep. As for the Chief and Ahuang, they probably couldn't stay still and had gone to find a place to play.

In this area, the few cats often went to only a few places, so Zheng Tan didn't have to worry about not finding the two. Even if he couldn't find them for a while, calling out a couple of times would get a response, and they wouldn't run far.

Swinging his tail to tap Dapang, signaling him to follow, this guy always looked like he was sleep-deprived. At first, Zheng Tan thought it was due to overthinking, but later he found that even if Dapang didn't use his brain much, he still looked like this. However, who could imagine that such a sleepy-looking fat cat could skillfully use Morse code?

One cannot judge a person by their appearance, nor a cat.

Not far from the residential compound was a small supermarket called "Dongyuan Supermarket." Recently, the supermarket was under renovation, and some sand and gravel were piled up at the back door. Today, the workers were resting, so there was no one around the back door of the supermarket.

When Zheng Tan arrived at the back door of Dongyuan Supermarket, he saw Ahuang squatting on a pile of sand, with a solemn expression, defecating seriously. After finishing, he used his paws to cover the sand and then shook his fur, leaving as if nothing had happened.

After the surgery, Ahuang no longer urinated randomly, but his nature remained. He always liked to defecate in unexpected places.

Zheng Tan imagined that if the workers came tomorrow and dug a shovel into the sand and found a pile of cat feces, what kind of expression they would have, or if they didn't notice and directly brushed the pile onto the wall...

If Zheng Tan were the owner of the supermarket, he would definitely beat Ahuang to death.

If you continued walking from Dongyuan Supermarket, you would see a large lawn. However, Zheng Tan and the others usually didn't go there because there were often many people, both adults and children. They went there just to find trouble. Naive little kids were the natural enemies of all kinds of pets. If you caught their tails, you couldn't scratch them, and when a child made a mistake, the one who got beaten was the cat.

So, basically, when Zheng Tan and the others came over, they played in the small forest between Dongyuan Supermarket and the large lawn.

Ahuang was scratching trees, moving from one to another. The Chief was looking for food, searching for some small insects as snacks. As for Dapang, he was still curled up with his front paws, lying in the grass in a "farmer's embrace" posture, seemingly uninterested in what was happening around him.

Zheng Tan scanned the surroundings, saw no one approaching, and jumped onto a stone table in the forest, squatting down in the spot where the sun could reach, resting.

The wind carried the faint scent of osmanthus, and the noise from the lawn did not affect this small forest area. Occasionally, the sounds of the two cats pouncing and scratching could be heard.

The warm sunlight made Zheng Tan feel drowsy.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the nearby grass, sounding like a bird's call but different upon closer listening. Zheng Tan had never heard such a sound in this area.

Zheng Tan opened his eyes, and where the sound came from, Ahuang was lifting a front paw, twisting his neck left and right, seemingly deciding where to pounce.

On the other side, the Chief, hearing the sound, also ran over. The next moment, a furry ball ran out from there.

A guinea pig?

In the local dialect, it was also called a Dutch pig.

However, this one was different from the usual guinea pigs. Its fur was longer, and a tuft of white fur on its head, like a fringe, hung down, almost covering its eyes. Perhaps due to frequent exercise, this guinea pig was not as slow as the fat ones Zheng Tan had seen before, which were always kept in cages. Its running speed was much faster.

However, even if it was faster than other guinea pigs, it still couldn't escape the claws of two overly energetic cats.

The Chief and Ahuang blocked the guinea pig in the middle. Whenever the guinea pig tried to run away, they would use their paws to force it back to the original spot.

Zheng Tan thought for a moment and stopped them just as the Chief and Ahuang were about to pounce. The guinea pigs in the school were kept as pets, not white mice. You couldn't play with them or eat them as you pleased. Moreover, this breed was somewhat special. Zheng Tan had observed the guinea pig's fur, which was very clean and well-groomed. The owner must have valued it highly. No one could guarantee that eating the guinea pig would leave no trace. If the owner found out, it would definitely bring trouble. The large lawn was nearby, and this guinea pig must have come from there.

When Zheng Tan pushed Ahuang away, the guinea pig did not immediately run away. Instead, it stayed in place, looking at the cats warily, and then slowly moved closer to Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan: "..." Does it think I won't eat it?

It had to be said that animals sometimes had a very keen sixth sense.

Zheng Tan flicked his tail, preparing to move away from the guinea pig, but a figure caught his eye, a stranger!

If it were just a stranger, Zheng Tan wouldn't have been so shocked. What shocked him was that he and the other three cats hadn't noticed anyone approaching! He didn't know how long the person had been there or if they had been hiding nearby!

Zheng Tan's gaze fell on the person's hand, which was turned inward, and the person's body slightly shielded the right hand.

When their gazes met, Zheng Tan thought of the look in Uncle Jiao's eyes when he killed the white mice. But Uncle Jiao only showed that look to the white mice. This man, however, made Zheng Tan feel even more chilled. This person... had killed more than just mice!

Ahuang was just startled by the sudden appearance of the person and then focused on the furry ball hiding next to Zheng Tan, trying to pounce again, still not giving up.

Zheng Tan slapped Ahuang, didn't this idiot see the dangerous person here?!

Even while slapping Ahuang, Zheng Tan's gaze did not leave the stranger. This person felt too dangerous. They were like the white mice on the experimental table that night, unable to escape, waiting to be crushed.

Dapang was no longer lying in the grass. He sprang up, arching his back, his fur bristling, his ears flattened, and his eyes, which were usually half-closed, now glowed with a fierce light, emitting a "growl—growl—" warning sound, as if facing a great enemy. This was the first time Zheng Tan had seen Dapang like this.

Perhaps influenced by Zheng Tan and Dapang, the other two also looked at the person warily. Although they were a bit foolish and had thick nerves, Ahuang and the Chief didn't run away alone in the critical moment, showing loyalty! The Chief had actually been preparing to run away but, seeing that the other three didn't move, stiffened and stayed, his fur bristling.

What should they do?

Zheng Tan's mind raced.

Running away immediately was one of the better options and the most common, but Zheng Tan wasn't sure they could leave safely. The person's gaze was still locked on them, and any movement seemed to trigger a dangerous line. The hand that the person kept hidden made Zheng Tan feel extremely dangerous.

They stood off for about two minutes, and then the person laughed, and the atmosphere seemed to relax. The person shook their arms and raised both hands, saying, "Kitties, no need to be so nervous. I just came to find my pet."

The person pointed to the guinea pig hiding behind Zheng Tan. However, the guinea pig clearly didn't want to give the person any face and moved even closer to Zheng Tan, as if trying to avoid the person.

Zheng Tan let out a slight sigh of relief but didn't let his guard down. He felt that the person had something in their hand just now, perhaps a blade or something else, and had hidden it with a quick flip of the hand.

Who was this person? Zheng Tan wondered.

"Chestnut, come on, if you don't go back, your owner will be worried," the person called to the guinea pig hiding behind Zheng Tan.

The guinea pig didn't respond, not even showing its face or making a sound.

"Chestnut—" The person squatted down and called the furry ball a few more times.

Zheng Tan cursed inwardly, moved to the side, and exposed the furry ball behind him. He didn't want to get himself and the others into danger because of this furry ball.

Seeing that the furry ball still didn't move, Zheng Tan pushed it with his tail. Get moving, you!

Finally, the furry ball, looking very reluctant, slowly moved toward the person.

After retrieving the pet, the person didn't stay any longer and turned to leave toward the large lawn.

Only when the person was out of sight did Zheng Tan finally breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that it would be best to avoid this place in the future.

On the other side, the person, who had been treated like a great enemy by Zheng Tan and the others, didn't pay attention to the furry ball's resistance, carried it out of the forest, and looked back into the forest. He felt that the two cats just now were very special... especially the black one.

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Sorry for oversleeping and forgetting to update, embarrassed...

Thank you to 谶墨〓van, lazyorange, and AtmanX for the support and votes!

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