Pick The Lock?

Many people on this forum took on the point of view of an animal when they posted or commented, so Zheng Tan's words did not cause any surprise. It was quickly lost in the sea of comments. People who read the post wouldn't remember this comment that had very little content.

Zheng Tan didn't want to elicit a reaction. He turned off the computer and went to take a nap on the balcony.

When he went on that forum again a day later, the post was deleted. There were several posts relating to the incident but he didn't want to read them anymore. He decided to visit the black and white cat since he had some time.

Without Er Mao tagging along, he was in a much better mood than yesterday. He passed by the cardboard box where the cat lived but didn't see it. The boxed lunch Er Mao placed there was empty. The bowl in front of the box contained some leftovers. There were a lot of fish bones probing out. The food was mostly made up of fish bones and smelled rotten.

He looked around but still saw no sign of the black and white cat, so he went to the alley where he first saw it.

He didn't see the cat on the tree either. The window on the second floor was closed. There was nothing special about the area.

He moved closer to the apartment. His ears were perked up, listening for sounds inside. He didn't hear anything. The apartment appeared to be empty. Most apartments were empty at this hour, people were either at school or at work. He only heard the sound of birds chirping merrily.

Too many birds.

He realized there were too many birds in this area.

Sparrows were common in the city, especially in areas with trees.

Zheng Tan had been taking strolls in this area for more than half a year now. He knew the place well. He remembered many cats in the area, which resulted in very few birds. He even saw cats chasing sparrows a few times. Now that he thought about it, there didn't seem to be as many cats in the area anymore. Winter was over, the cats near Chuhua University were all out and about.

People who lived in the area probably chalked it up to cat thieves who caught cats and sold them to restaurants. It was a common occurrence during the new year. However, Zheng Tan knew that after he was caught, Wei Ling, Ye Hao, and Fang Shaokang all took measures to prevent such a thing from happening again. He knew the city wasn't free of cat thieves, but it wasn't as much of a problem anymore.

It couldn't be that those cat thieves now only worked this area.

Zheng Tan considered the comments he read in that post. A great many things could have happened to the cats that had disappeared. He hoped it wasn't what he was thinking. He looked up at the window on the second floor. Why was the black and white cat staring at that house?

Was it out of curiosity, or was it out of hatred?

Zheng Tan decided to look for an answer.

He jumped onto a fence and surveyed the area.

The house had a small yard which was mostly occupied by a flowerbed. There weren't any flowers in the flowerbed. The dirt showed signs of digging. A tree stood in the middle of the flower bed. The tree didn't have any leaves. Zheng Tan wondered if it was still alive.

The back door of the yard was locked. There was a weird smell in the air.

Zheng Tan couldn't tell what the smell was, but he had a bad feeling.

He jumped off the fence but avoided the flowerbed. There was something about the flowerbed that made Zheng Tan sick.

The temperature had risen and the sky was clear. It was a beautiful day, but Zheng Tan felt a chill in the yard.

Wind blew a plastic bag into the yard and it danced in circles.

Zheng Tan's fur stood on end. He couldn't feel the warmth of the sun and shuddered.

He heard a small noise on the fence. He looked up only to see the black and white cat.

The cat was surprised to see Zheng Tan here. It hesitated for a moment before jumping off the fence. Unlike Zheng Tan, it chose to jump into the flowerbed.

The black and white cat eyed Zheng Tan cautiously. Zheng Tan backed up a few steps. He didn't want to start a fight.

It deemed Zheng Tan non-threatening and started to sniff around. It found a spot and started digging.

What was hidden in the dirt?

Zheng Tan was curious, but his instinct told him it wasn't anything good.

The cat dug for five minutes, then started sniffing again before digging once more.

Zheng Tan stood up on his hind legs to look at the hole. No one was around so he was safe.

Zheng Tan saw a cat paw in the hole. The rest of the cat was still buried. Zheng Tan could see marks on that paw. Marks that could only be caused by burning.

The black and white cat was still digging but Zheng Tan didn't want to look anymore. He was sure the flower bed had the body of more than one cat.

Cats were vengeful animals.

He didn't know how this black and white cat was related to the cats buried but he knew it had targeted the man he saw in this house. He didn't see the look in its eyes when it stared up into the window from the tree. The look could have been of hatred or something else.

He jumped onto a window sill. The window was closed but he could see inside. On the kitchen floor lay an object that made Zheng Tan's temper rise.

F*ck. It was a cat trap.

It reminded him of his time in the hands of the cat traffickers.

Cat traps were easy to make but it was very odd seeing one in a clean, well-kept kitchen.

What kind of elite owned cat traps?!

He was now sure the coffee-pouring person was indeed a bastard.

Most of the windows on the first floor were either shut or had protective wires. Zheng Tan couldn't get inside the house.

He jumped onto the fence and looked for an opening on the second floor. He found a window near the fence that had screens. Screens might be able to stop bugs, but it couldn't stop a cat.

He took a leap. He was used to breaking into houses, but the window sill was slippery.

He almost slipped but managed to hook his claws on the window screen.

He kicked the wall with his hind legs and pulled himself to safety.

A two-story fall was not a big deal for a cat. However, there was a gutter between the wall and the fence. It used to be covered by a stone plank, but someone had moved the plank. Zheng Tan cursed whoever did it.

Whew! That was close. If he fell, he would have landed in the gutter and gotten wet and smelly. He checked the window sill on which he was standing. It was made of a smooth hard material and sloped downwards. Most cats would have slipped off even if they used their claws. Thankfully his claws were harder than most cats and he was stronger, or else he would have fallen as well.

He pushed open the window screen and looked inside.

He saw the room was a washroom. It was modern and very clean. He suspected the owner of the house had germophobia.

He came to the bathroom door and listened for movement outside. He opened the bathroom door when he was sure the house was empty.

He was very careful now that he knew the owner of the house tortured cats. He wanted to avoid running into traps like the window sill. The house was very clean. The man he had seen was obviously different than the man with the tattoos.

He didn't see any cameras around. The living room was linked to three rooms. Sadly the doors were all locked and he couldn't get in. He didn't find anything inside the house and left the way he came in.

The black and white cat was gone. It had tried to cover up the hole it dug but the hole was still visible. A cat was still just a cat, so Zheng Tan helped it cover its tracks.

He got back to Chuhua University. He dropped Youzi off at school and planned to watch a movie on the internet that afternoon.

"Hey, Charcoal. So great to see you. I forgot my keys, help me open the door.

Er Mao had a boxed lunch and several plastic bags in his hands and was standing outside the building door. He was waiting for people to come in and out of the building but so far Zheng Tan was the only one that showed up.

His security entrance swipe was on his neck. He looked at Er Mao, who had probably just woke up and was eating his first meal of the day, and rolled his eyes. He walked up the stairs. When he passed the third floor he suddenly thought if Er Mao forgot his security door key, did he have his house key?

He stopped on the landing between the third and fourth floor and looked behind him.

Er Mao put down the stuff in his hands and reached into his pockets. He pulled out a wire and poked it into the lock hole.

Zheng Tan was shocked.

Was he picking the lock?

F*ck!