People had suspected that the thief in the courtyard was part of a gang before. Although Zheng Tan was not very good at analyzing criminal cases, he knew that to commit theft in a residential building, it was very likely to involve inside help. However, when the police were called in, they couldn't figure out why, and the case ended unresolved. So, during that period, the homeowners who rented out their properties were forced to come back and explain to the other residents in the family area, even signing agreements to ensure the tenants trusted them enough.
Zheng Tan heard a "clang," the sound of the building's access system.
These two people had access cards and were familiar enough with the residents of this building; their target was unlikely to be those retired employees.
In fact, many of the retired teachers living here were quite poor. Even if they were wealthy, they would buy a big bag of plain buns when they visited the school canteen, returning home to cook some simple congee and dishes rather than luxurious meals.
Besides, if their target were the homes of these retired educators, why wait until now?
So, ruling out these old residents, the relatively new ones were on the fifth floor. Oddly enough, why today, and why did the incident happen with Jiao Ma, with Mr. Jiao not at home, leaving only two children who were still in elementary school with neither much threat nor ability to resist?
After one of them entered the building, Zheng Tan estimated the timing and moved from the balcony to the front door.
Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, it was 2:10 AM. Generally, at this hour, people would be in a deep sleep.
If Jiao family wasn't the target, Zheng Tan would not make a move for the moment as to not wake the two kids who had just managed to fall asleep. As for the others, honestly, Zheng Tan didn't really care, as human nature is biased; it's none of his business if someone else's home gets robbed, and these people are only stealing, not murdering. Of course, he would only act when the culprits were about to leave, to avoid making a scene at his doorstep unless absolutely necessary.
However, things did not go as expected.
After reaching the fifth floor, the person paused, seeming to confirm that the residents there had settled for the night, then headed towards Jiao family's apartment. Soon, the door lock made a soft noise.
Listening to the slight footsteps outside, Zheng Tan's ears twitched, and his claws extended from his palms.
The person on the other side of the door wouldn't expect that just a meter away from this door, a black cat was crouching in the dark entrance, with its bent legs, hunched body, and a casually flicking tail tip now motionlessly poised to strike.
After a soft "click," the door slowly opened.
A stranger's scent...
The person at the door carefully pushed it open, but just as it opened slightly and his foot hadn't yet entered, he suddenly felt a severe pain on his face, from the left eyebrow to the right corner of his mouth, immediately marking his face with several bloody scratches, each quickly starting to bleed.
Before this person could react to the sudden pain, a strong force hit his chest, causing him to stumble back two steps and then fall to the floor. The corridor lights were all turned off, and a small flashlight in his hand dropped because of the impact.
The person panicked, thinking he had been discovered and that the prior information was false; obviously, there were more than just two children in this apartment!
As he screamed in agony because of the pain on his face, he scrambled to his feet and ran down the stairs, but the light from the flashlight was not enough to see the stairs clearly, blood was already flowing into his eyes, further blurring his vision, and the pain stimulated his brain nerves making him trip and roll down at the stair corner, before hurriedly scrambling up and running downwards again.
Zheng Tan closed the door of his house and followed. Since they had come all the way to his door, Zheng Tan was not content to let them get away without dealing with them once and for all.
The person must have been familiar with the stairs of the residential building; otherwise, blinded and hurt, he wouldn't be able to run so fast.
When they reached the first floor, there was a person lying at the access control, a woman. The owner of Da Pang, an old lady nearly in her seventies, was standing there with an electric baton, with Da Pang crouching at her feet.
Da Pang's warning was not for Zheng Tan but for the old lady. The old lady was very sensitive to the sound of this wooden chime, so she had converted the wind chime into this wooden style. Don't be fooled by her age; she was not sloppy in her actions, otherwise, the young woman wouldn't have ended up unconscious here without making a sound.
This young woman's accomplice, at the time, showed no intention of helping his fellow, immediately rushing out. The old lady had already caught one and did not hold back the man; after all, she was elderly and couldn't compete with a vigorous young man physically.
So, the old lady roared powerfully, "Catch the thief!"
Then, inside the courtyard, all the dogs started barking, mixed with a few familiar cat cries that Zheng Tan recognized.
Zheng Tan chased after them, and although the man was injured on his face and one eye was blinded by the blood, his escape speed remained fast.
Behind Zheng Tan, a white figure also rushed towards this side. Although not as fast as Zheng Tan, it was indeed following Zheng Tan's pursuit route towards the direction the man fled.
The escaping man was fast, but Zheng Tan was not slow, as all his prior training hadn't been a waste of time. While running, Zheng Tan also pondered the timing of his strike. Just as the man passed the flowerbed at the corner, Zheng Tan accelerated, leaping up from behind to give the man a shove.
The man hadn't expected that a blow would come from behind immediately afterward. Losing his balance and limping, he fell onto the flowerbed, his head resting on the cement edge of the flowerbed.
For a moment, the man was somewhat dazed and lay there without managing to get up. Not long after, as he gradually regained his senses, a white figure rushed towards him and bit at his lower leg, drawing blood at once.
"Ah—"
Another scream followed, different from the one earlier in front of the Jiao family's house. After the panic of being discovered, chased, and the escape, the intense pain in his leg ignited a desire to vent the fear within him; thus, the scream was particularly loud, eerily so in the night.
The man struggled to free his foot and even kicked.
Zhuangzhuang, who had been kicked and rolled several times, quickly scrambled up and charged again, even more fiercely this time, biting at the same blood mark he had previously made while emitting a low "mmh mmh" growl.
Watching from the nearby bushes, Zheng Tan admired the performance of the Bull Terrier, not yet four months old, thinking to himself: Zhuangzhuang, you're damn good!
Although he looked a bit unusual, one had to admit, Bull Terriers were truly fighting dogs! Just from that bite alone, Zheng Tan felt pain in his leg, let alone the man who had been bitten twice, his calf bloody and mangled.
Zheng Tan hid in the bushes because he had noticed that the old lady's cry had nearly brought people there, and at that moment, he did not want to reveal himself. The scratches on the man's face were enough; the rest of the credit could go to Zhuangzhuang, since no one had seen him arrive either.
Looking towards Building B, Zheng Tan saw the lights in the Jiao family's house turn on. Every apartment that was occupied had its lights on. The noise of people shouting and dogs and cats mingling would surely wake even those asleep.
Zheng Tan didn't bother with the people there anymore and hurried towards the Jiao family's place; the two children must have been scared.
When Zheng Tan reached the front door of the house, the door was still as tightly shut as when he had left, but the living room light was on. Zheng Tan could also hear Jiao Yuan speaking softly to Gu Youzi inside the living room.
Zheng Tan called out twice, gently scratching the door with his paw; the door immediately opened, with Jiao Yuan holding a rolling pin and Gu Youzi standing behind him.
Zheng Tan: "..."
Who taught these kids that trouble means grabbing a rolling pin? Last time it was Xiong Xiong, and this time Jiao Yuan had the same reaction.
Upon seeing Zheng Tan at the door, the two children's tense emotions relaxed slightly. At that moment, Qu Xiangyang came out in his SpongeBob pajamas, his face full of confusion.
Because of this incident, many people in the courtyard didn't sleep until dawn. The two perpetrators were caught, and those who had been robbed last time were insistent on an immediate interrogation to track down the culprits; they were not easily fooled. Clearly, based on the interrogation of the two individuals, the situation wasn't as simple as people had imagined. To have such knowledge of the courtyard's residents was not something ordinary students could accomplish.
Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi followed Qu Xiangyang downstairs to find out what was happening, especially since there were still bloodstains in the fifth-floor corridor, leaving everyone feeling uneasy until they knew more.
Upon hearing that the Jiao family was the target this time, Aunt Ling, who had come out chasing her cat, immediately slapped the culprits twice. As for the young woman who was captured, the men in the courtyard held back from striking her, and the young woman, with tears in her eyes, looked quite pitiable and was quite pretty, speaking softly and seeming docile, making it hard for anyone to believe she was a thief under normal circumstances.
After being slapped twice, the young woman cried even harder, but she looked somewhat pitiful, which unfortunately didn't affect Aunt Ling, who gave her two more slaps, and would have kicked her too if others hadn't held her back.
Zheng Tan followed Jiao Yuan and the others downstairs, not joining the crowd gathered there. With Aunt Ling and Qu Xiangyang looking after the two kids, there wouldn't be any trouble.
Zheng Tan was watching Zhuangzhuang, who was sitting beside Old Yan. Old Yan's face was beaming like blooming chrysanthemums as he praised the dog while wiping blood from its mouth.
"Zhuangzhuang, you did really well; tomorrow, no, as soon as it's light today, I'll buy you a big bone to properly reward you!"
Zhuangzhuang barked twice in response, whether he understood or not, his tail wagged wildly.
Ever since Zhuangzhuang had been brought to the courtyard, he had slept in the corridor of Old Yan's building, which had experienced a theft, so everyone thought it wise to have Zhuangzhuang watch over the building. As soon as the old lady had shouted, someone came out to check, and that was when he had charged out.
Last night, Aunt Ling and the others hadn't informed Mr. Jiao, who was staying in the hospital. Only after daybreak did Mr. Jiao find out about the courtyard's ordeal; he specially allowed Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi to skip school, having called their teacher to ask for leave, with the children rarely getting out led by Qu Xiangyang to the hospital.
Since Qu Xiangyang had a car, Zheng Tan didn't need to ride in a backpack on the bus. However, coming out of the hospital's parking lot, he still couldn't avoid being carried in a backpack.
As Zheng Tan peeked out through the gap in the zipper of the backpack, he saw Xiao Zhuo, who had come for a hospital check-up.