Chapter 146 How Can There Be Cats in a Place Like This?
An unknown presence with Spirit Energy Fluctuation suddenly appeared, causing Lu Xianbei’s eyes to burn painfully.
The surroundings abruptly darkened, and the Profound Abyssal Aura enveloped the entire attic. The air became infused with a cold, slimy essence, and the light in the Ice Coffin flickered, as if it were imprisoned within a meter radius, unable to reach further.
Could there really be an Urban Legend hidden in the attic?!
But why didn’t his eyes and the initial spring breeze spell react before coming up here?
Lu Xianbei thought, swallowing hard, focusing his spirit. He gripped his ancestral kitchen kn*fe in one hand and raised his poker pistol with the other, staring in the direction that caused the most discomfort to his eyes.
Faint sobbing sounds intermittently drifted into his ears, coalescing in the farthest corner from the Ice Coffin, gathering an incredibly deep darkness.
Although he couldn’t make out what was hidden beyond that darkness, he could vaguely sense an unknown creature wriggling and stretching its body.
Lu Xianbei stared in that direction, his throat gently moving. The fear brought by darkness and the unknown made him dare not breathe, preparing for a battle at any moment.
In the next moment, the wriggling thing hidden in the darkness suddenly stopped, and a pair of ghostly glowing eyes slowly opened in the shadows.
Seeing those eyes at knee height, Lu Xianbei paused for a second.
What is that? Is it very small, or is it crouching on the ground?
As Lu Xianbei pondered and was about to pull the trigger of his poker pistol, the pain in his eyes suddenly began to ease. After a few breaths, it returned to normal.
“Meow—!”
Accompanied by a strange cat’s cry that sounded like a child’s sob, the shadow covering the entire attic receded like a tide.
The cold light shining from the Ice Coffin illuminated the area again, and a cat slowly emerged from the corner, stopping about two meters away from Lu Xianbei, sitting upright.
It was a Tortoiseshell Cat, its fur a messy mix, covered in dirt, with its hair matted on its bony body.
On that skeletal body were many signs of injury, and its head looked warped and deformed as if it had been struck by something heavy.
It looked like a survivor of a violent ab*se incident; though tragic and pitiful, its appearance was genuinely a bit scary… Lu Xianbei thought as he looked at the strange cat.
Soon, he noticed something even more unusual.
The Tortoiseshell Cat sat at the boundary of light and dark, with the cold light from the Ice Coffin casting at least three or more shadows behind it.
Those shadows stacked together as if many cats were huddling together, their outlines blurry and chaotic.
It tilted its head, gazing at Lu Xianbei for a long time, and its clear eyes flickered with an unusual light. That expression alternated between frowning and a gentle eye tremble, making Lu Xianbei inexplicably fearful, his heart feeling prickly.
That gaze, filled with high intelligence, was definitely not something a wild cat could exhibit.
It felt like what was crouching opposite him was not a Tortoiseshell Cat but a cunning and malicious serial killer.
No doubt, he had seen a similar gaze before on Mr. Rabbit.
Could it be an alien? Isn’t there an Urban Legend that speaks of “extraterrestrials”? Jiang Li seemed to have mentioned something about an Urban Legend involving face-hugging creatures. Lu Xianbei thought.
“……”
This man and cat faced off in the dark and eerie attic.
After a moment, Lu Xianbei could no longer restrain himself and asked expressionlessly, “Are you an Urban Legend? Did you create these… uh… things here?”
As soon as Lu Xianbei finished speaking, the anthropomorphic expression in the Tortoiseshell Cat’s eyes quickly faded, becoming innocent and naive again. It tilted its head and made a look as if to say, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about!” followed by a soft meow.
“Meow—!”
Lu Xianbei, “……” Is it foolish, or does it think I’m foolish? How could there be a cat in a place like this?
He couldn’t care less about that. Even though this cat didn’t make his eyes feel uncomfortable, its appearance in such a strange place, along with its odd behavior, convinced him that it was hiding something.
Thinking of this, a fierce glint flashed in Lu Xianbei’s eyes as he aimed the poker pistol at the Tortoiseshell Cat and, without hesitation, quickly pulled the trigger.
“Whoosh—!”
Accompanied by a soft sound, the talisman shot from the poker pistol, tracing a straight line through the air and hitting the Tortoiseshell Cat’s body squarely.
“Meow—!”
No explosion occurred, no green light burst forth. The Tortoiseshell Cat yelped in pain and fell to the ground, looking back at Lu Xianbei with a perplexed and innocent expression.
It was as if it were just an ordinary stray cat, not understanding why a human would want to hurt it.
Lu Xianbei, “……”
Is this acting realistic, or is it really not an Urban Legend? I™ almost believed it.
For a moment, Lu Xianbei felt a bit confused, but he quickly shook off his doubts, keeping his eyes on the front with vigilance, silently taking off his backpack, emptying its contents, and walking toward the wounded Tortoiseshell Cat, which seemingly had no intention of escaping.
No matter if you are an Urban Legend or not, I’m still taking you to the Siye Society!
This isn’t about looking at its pathetic and easily bullied appearance, but rather being cautious. Hm, it’s better to be cautious. Lu Xianbei thought.
Seemingly sensing the malice emanating from Lu Xianbei, the previously collapsed Tortoiseshell Cat suddenly sprang to its feet, arching its back, its fur bristling, and let out a series of threatening low growls.
Lu Xianbei acted as if he hadn’t seen the Tortoiseshell Cat’s reaction. He stepped forward, raising the empty backpack to cover it.
“Meow—!”
Cats are incredibly fast. Even though Lu Xianbei’s physical condition far exceeded that of an average person, his reaction speed was still slightly slower than that of a cat.
The moment he brought the backpack down, the Tortoiseshell Cat shrank low and dashed out a considerable distance like a gust of wind, sweeping away its previous sickly appearance.
After halting, the Tortoiseshell Cat’s figure vanished into the darkness, and an emotion not possessed by animals surfaced in its eyes, filled with complex feelings of resentment and a hint of mockery.
“Mocking me… just you wait!” Lu Xianbei mumbled, readjusting his stance and locking his gaze on the Tortoiseshell Cat, preparing to attack again.
At that moment, a sound of a rolling shutter being lifted came from the shop downstairs.
Someone came in? Could it be this cat’s accomplices? Lu Xianbei froze for a moment, followed by a wave of loud voices rising from below.
……
In the shop downstairs.
The vendor from whom Lu Xianbei had just bought meat led a uniformed police officer to open the rolling shutter, standing at the entrance of the shop.
Sensing the strange smell in the air and seeing the arrangements resembling a mourning hall, both of them changed their expressions, frowning, and instinctively covered their mouths and noses with one hand.
“You said a thief sneaked into this shop? Where is he?”
Moreover, look at this place; it looks like a ghost scene. What could a thief possibly steal? Ghost money for the dead? The police officer mused irritably.
What a strange punk… The vendor scratched the back of his head in confusion. “Really, officer, I’m not lying! I saw that person sneak into Old Wu’s shop, but…”
The vendor had seen Lu Xianbei sneaking into the frozen food store with his own eyes.
This wasn’t out of revenge; it was just that Lu Xianbei had taken the freshest ribs, reducing his earnings by one-fifth, which made him somewhat unhappy and inevitably made him look at Lu Xianbei a couple more times.
Then he witnessed Lu Xianbei’s stealthy actions and, as a concerned citizen, immediately reported it to the police.
“Wait, who is this Old Wu you mentioned?” The police officer caught the important information in the vendor’s words and pressed on.
“Old Wu’s name is Wu Mingfa, the owner of this shop.”
“Then where is he?” The police officer frowned.
The vendor glanced at the mourning hall, where only half of a black-and-white photo remained, and weakly replied, “A few months ago, he… died, they said it was from a strange disease…”
Realizing that something was off, he felt a sudden chill from an anonymous cold gust, and his body shivered.
He hadn’t considered the fact that the shop’s owner had recently passed when he saw Lu Xianbei sneak into the frozen food store. He just thought it was a chance to vent some frustration and hurried to the nearby police station to find the police.
But who would have thought that upon entering the shop, instead of catching Lu Xianbei “in the act,” they would encounter such an eerie scene?
Noticing the vendor’s expression, the police officer’s face turned pale, and he fell silent. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became delicate, as if in some corner of the room, an invisible figure was watching them, creating an eerie silence.
The police officer shot a look at the terrified vendor, thinking, what’s wrong with this owner? It’s fine to report false alarms, as it’s received several times a day, but can we not make these ghostly jokes?
“Officer, should we just leave?”
“Okay, you hurry and come back to write a report on the false alarm.”
“Ah?” The vendor was taken aback.
The police officer patted his shoulder. “What do you mean, ‘ah’? You think reporting a false alarm doesn’t require a lecture?”
“Ah this…” The vendor hesitated, feeling somewhat unwilling, but he glanced inside the store and softly called out, “I know you’re in there, so stop hiding!”
What kind of nonsense is this? The police officer darted a glance at the half photo on the mourning hall, his lips twitching as he urgently nudged the vendor.
“Hurry, stop messing around!”
It’s really frightening…
“Alright, let’s go now, let’s…” Before the vendor could finish his sentence, a dull thud suddenly came from the ceiling. “Bang!” It sounded like something heavy had been pushed over.
Attracted by the noise, both of them immediately noticed the pitch-black hole leading up to the attic.
In an instant, the vendor and the police officer’s expressions changed drastically. The police officer stepped forward, standing protectively in front of the vendor, drawing his police baton and growled, “Who’s there? Come out!”
“………”
“Did you hear? Come out immediately and surrender, or I will…”
Before the police officer could finish his sentence, a human head suddenly dropped from the hole in the ceiling, seemingly floating there.
Looking at that face as cold as a corpse paired with bloodshot eyes, it resembled a malevolent spirit crawling out of the darkness. The police officer’s words choked off, while the vendor’s legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, pointing at the head and exclaiming.
“Ghost, there’s a ghost!”
Seeing the vendor so terrified, Lu Xianbei, “……”
“What’s all the yelling about? Where’s the ghost during the day?” The police officer snapped.
“Exactly.” Lu Xianbei agreed expressionlessly.
The police officer glanced at Lu Xianbei, irritated, and said, “And you, what are you doing in someone else’s shop? Hurry up and come down. You’re going with me.”
Lu Xianbei, “……”
