Zheng Tan climbed up the tree, standing at a high point to look in the direction where the voices were coming from.
It didn't take long for Zheng Tan to get the gist of it; it was similar to a prime-time drama Jiao Ma had watched recently, with the only difference being that the woman wasn't crying and making a scene.
After watching for a while, Zheng Tan grew impatient, climbed down the tree to take a walk, leaving that bored parrot on the tree to continue watching the real-life prime-time drama—at least this way it wouldn't bother Zheng Tan, who hoped the drama over there would "air" all day or even continuously. This kind of thought might sound unethical, but what was morality really? That thing had been kicked to the corner ever since Zheng Tan could remember, picked up only occasionally to be looked at, and as long as it didn't involve personal interests, it would just stay in the corner gathering mold without Zheng Tan taking a second glance.
Under the tree, only Da Pang was lying there in a pose like a "peasant with hands on hips," squinting his eyes as if he was about to fall asleep. As for the sheriff and Ah Huang, they probably couldn't stay idle and went somewhere to play.
There were only a few places in the surrounding area that the cats frequented, so Zheng Tan didn't need to worry about not finding those two. Even if he couldn't find them momentarily, a couple of calls and they would respond, not wandering far off.
Tapping Da Pang with his tail, Zheng Tan signaled for him to follow. This guy always looked like he was sleep-deprived. Initially, Zheng Tan thought it was due to overusing his brain, but later found out that even without using his brain much, Da Pang would still look the same. But then, who would have imagined that such a sleepy-looking fat cat could deftly use Morse code?
Don't judge a book by its cover, and the same goes for cats.
Not far from the family courtyard, there was a small supermarket called "East Garden Supermarket," which had been under renovation recently. Some sand and gravel were piled up at the back door, and today, as the workers were resting, there weren't many people around the back entrance of the supermarket.
When Zheng Tan arrived at the back door of East Garden Supermarket, he just saw Ah Huang squatting on a pile of sand, his eyes solemn, dutifully taking a dump. After finishing, he used his paws to cover the sand over it, then shook his fur and left as if nothing had happened.
After Ah Huang's surgery, he stopped urinating everywhere, but his nature remained; he always liked to poop in unexpected places.
Zheng Tan imagined if the workers came the next day and dug into a pile of cat poop with their shovel—what expressions would they have? Or maybe the workers wouldn't notice and just plaster that pile straight onto a wall...
If Zheng Tan were the owner of the supermarket, he would definitely beat the crap out of that dumb Ah Huang.
Walking past East Garden Supermarket, you would see a large lawn. However, Zheng Tan and his friends usually wouldn't go there because the lawn was often crowded with lots of people, both adults and children. Going there was purely uncomfortable; clueless kids were the natural enemies of all kinds of pets. You couldn't scratch them if they grabbed your tail, and if the kids did something wrong and got scolded, it was the cats who bore the brunt.
So generally, if Zheng Tan and the others came over, they would just play in the small grove between East Garden Supermarket and the lawn.
Ah Huang was scratching trees, moving from one to another, while the sheriff was looking for food, hunting for some small insects to snack on. As for Da Pang, he curled his front paws inward, assuming the pose of a "peasant with hands on hips," lying on the side of the grass, seemingly uninterested in everything happening around him.
Zheng Tan scanned the surroundings, didn't find anyone approaching, and jumped onto a stone table in the thicket, squatting down to rest in a spot where the sunshine reached.
The scent of osmanthus faintly carried on the wind, and the clamor from the lawn didn't impact this small cluster of trees, with occasional rustling and claw-sharpening sounds made by the two cats.
The warm sunshine made Zheng Tan feel drowsy.
Suddenly, a strange noise came from the grass nearby. It sounded like a bird, but on careful listening, it was different from bird calls. Zheng Tan had been in this area for so long and had never heard such a noise before.
Zheng Tan opened his eyes, and where the sound came from, Ah Huang was lifting a front leg, twisting his neck from side to side, seemingly weighing where to strike.
The sheriff, hearing the noise, also ran towards it, and the next moment, a furry ball darted out from there.
A guinea pig?
In the local dialect, it was also called a cavy.
However, this cavy was a bit different from the usual ones. Its fur was rather long, and a tuft of white hair on its head fell forward like bangs, almost covering its eyes. Perhaps due to regular exercise, it wasn't as slow as the fat cavies Zheng Tan had seen before that were always kept in cages. It was much faster.
Yet, even though it was relatively fast compared to other cavies, it still couldn't escape the clutches of two cats with excess energy.
The sheriff and Ah Huang cornered the cavy in the middle. Whenever the cavy tried to run away, they used their paws to force it back into place.
After some thought, Zheng Tan still intervened when the sheriff and Ah Huang were about to strike. The cavies on campus were kept as pets. They weren't lab mice; you couldn't just play with them any way you wanted, nor eat them however you desired. Moreover, this breed was a bit special. Zheng Tan had observed the cavy's fur, which was very clean and appeared to be well-groomed, indicating that the owner cared a lot about it. No one could ensure that eating this cavy wouldn't leave a trace, and if its owner came looking, it would definitely cause trouble. The lawn was nearby, so the cavy must have come from there.
When Zheng Tan swatted Ah Huang away, the cavy didn't immediately take the chance to escape. Instead, it stayed put, warily watching the cats, and then, as if making up its mind, it slowly moved and inched closer to Zheng Tan.
Zheng Tan: "..." Does it really think I won't eat it?
It must be said, animals sometimes have a very keen sixth sense.
Zheng Tan flicked his tail, planning to keep some distance from the cavy when a figure caught his eye out of the corner of his vision, a stranger's figure!
If it were just a stranger, Zheng Tan wouldn't have been so shocked; what astonished him was that he and the other three cats hadn't noticed someone approaching?! He even wondered how long the person had been there and if he had been hiding nearby?!
Zheng Tan's gaze landed on the person's hand, which was turned inward, slightly concealing his right hand with his body.
As his eyes met the stranger's, Zheng Tan thought of Mr. Jiao's expression when he was killing the mice that night, but Mr. Jiao only had that look when dealing with mice. The man before Zheng Tan, however, gave him a deeper chill... This person... had certainly killed more than just mere mice!
Ah Huang was initially startled by the sudden appearance of the stranger, then turned his attention back to the furball hiding beside Zheng Tan, raising his paw to give it a try, apparently still not giving up.
Zheng Tan slapped Ah Huang away. Was this idiot blind to the dangerous person here?!
Even as he was slapping Ah Huang, Zheng Tan never took his eyes off the stranger. The person gave him an extreme sense of danger, like they were the mice on the experimental table that night, helpless to escape and waiting for their necks to be snapped.
Da Pang was no longer lying in the bushes. He sprang up, arching his back, his fur bristled, ears pulled back, and his usually sleepy eyes showed a fierce glint, emitting a "woo-woo" warning growl as if facing a formidable enemy. This was the first time Zheng Tan had ever seen Da Pang like this.
Perhaps influenced by Zheng Tan and Da Pang, the other two cats were also warily watching the stranger. Although a bit slow and thick-skinned, Ah Huang and the sheriff didn't run away on their own when it mattered—they were loyal! In fact, the sheriff was originally planning to escape, but upon seeing the other three cats staying put, he too stiffened and stayed with his fur bristled.
What to do?
Zheng Tan's mind raced.
Running away immediately was one of the better options and the most commonly used, but Zheng Tan wasn't sure they could leave safely. The stranger's gaze was still fixed on them as if any movement would pull at that thread of crisis. The stranger's hand, which he had kept out of sight, felt extremely dangerous to Zheng Tan.
The standoff lasted for about two minutes before the man laughed, lifting the tense atmosphere substantially. He shook his arms and raised his hands, saying, "No need to be so tense, little cats, I'm just here to look for a pet."
As he spoke, the man pointed to the cavy hiding behind Zheng Tan. However, the cavy clearly wasn't ready to give the man any respect, cuddling even closer to Zheng Tan, as if avoiding him.
Zheng Tan let out a slight sigh of relief but remained cautious. He felt the stranger had been holding something in his hand earlier, perhaps a blade or something else, which he had hidden away in a flick of his wrist.
Who was this person? Zheng Tan wondered.
"Li Zi, come here quick, or your owner is going to worry," the man called out to the cavy hiding behind Zheng Tan.
The cavy didn't respond, not even showing its face, let alone answering.
"Li Zi—" The man bent down and called the furball a few more times.
Cursing inwardly, Zheng Tan shifted to the side to expose the furball hidden behind him. He didn't want this furball to put them all in danger.
Seeing that the furball still didn't move, Zheng Tan nudged it a few times with his tail. Come on, just go!
Finally, the furball that Zheng Tan nudged seemed reluctant as it slowly moved toward the man.
After retrieving his pet, the man didn't stay any longer and turned to leave toward the large lawn.
It was only after the man's figure disappeared from sight that Zheng Tan completely relaxed, thinking it would be best to avoid this area in the future.
On the other hand, the man they had treated like a significant threat didn't care about the resisting noises from the furball in his hand. After walking out of the woods and looking back, he thought those two cats were very special... especially the black one.