Chapter 115: Covering Each Other

Night had fallen. Inside the Kennel, Aofeng perked up his ears, listening carefully to the sounds around him. Then he stood upright and skillfully fiddled with the latch on the door.

The other two just lifted their eyelids, rolled over, and went back to sleep. They were long used to Aofeng’s habit of sneaking out. He always came back before dawn anyway.

Once out of the police station, Aofeng headed to the wall where he had spoken with Da Ju earlier that day, waiting for Da Ju to arrive. Their destination was Da Ju’s territory.

It was an old residential complex, built more than ten years ago. The facilities were quite dated, and the tallest buildings were only six stories high. The buildings were spaced far apart, which allowed for decent greenery. Right next to the complex was a park, easily accessible through the east gate. Because of this, stray cats and dogs often came and went freely.

Most of the residents were elderly and didn’t mind the strays. Sometimes, when they had leftover food, they would pack it neatly in plastic containers and leave it near the trash bins for the animals to enjoy.

For stray animals, nutrition wasn’t their top concern. Filling their stomachs was. So these leftovers were incredibly valuable. Eating them was far better than digging through rotting garbage. Over time, the trash bins became contested territory among the strays. With its natural bulk and formidable strength, Da Ju had claimed this prime spot and risen to become the ruler of the area.

To Da Ju, the humans in this complex and the animals lived in harmony. It couldn’t understand how something so cruel could suddenly happen.

Aofeng didn’t wait long before Da Ju came running over, panting heavily. Once Da Ju had caught his breath, Aofeng motioned for him to lead the way.

The complex was called Fu’an Community and wasn’t far from where they were. In less than ten minutes, they arrived at the south gate. There was an iron gate there, open during the day and locked at night. Regular people couldn’t get in, but for animals like them, slipping through was easy. Even with Aofeng’s large frame, he could still squeeze in under the gate without trouble.

Aofeng asked Da Ju to take him to where the victims had been found. The first location was near a trash bin close to the south gate. The cat had been stuffed into a black plastic bag and was discovered accidentally when another cat was rummaging for food. Its body was stiff, its head nearly crushed, and its fur was soaked. It wasn’t clear if it had been submerged in water.

Aofeng sighed. Just hearing the description made his stomach turn. He couldn’t imagine what the cats who found the body must have felt, or what that poor cat had gone through in its final moments.

They moved on to the second site, then the third… and finally arrived at the park beside the complex, where the last cat had been killed and discarded.

It was a bamboo grove, filled with towering stalks and dense leaves that blocked out the sky. Even during the day, it was hard to see inside, let alone at night. Normally, people didn’t come here.

But for small animals, places with few humans were safer. Over time, this grove had become a haven for them. That was, until two days ago, when something was found here. Since then, no animals had dared to return.

At the earlier locations, Aofeng had found almost no clues. Too much time had passed, and the areas were frequented by people. Any evidence that might have existed had likely been destroyed.

But the bamboo grove was different. When the last cat was discovered, there had been very few other cats around. As for people, aside from the killer, there probably hadn’t been anyone else. Plus, because the grove was so shaded, the soil inside was damp. Aofeng figured the culprit’s footprints might still be there.

With that in mind, he lowered his head and began searching. Sure enough, his efforts paid off. In one spot, he found a clear, intact footprint.

By his estimation, the print was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight centimeters long, which would translate to roughly a size 44 shoe¹. That size was typically worn by men, and a man with size 44 feet was likely around 1.75 meters tall.

But when Aofeng asked Da Ju about it, Da Ju just looked confused. What did “1.75 meters” mean? In Da Ju’s world, there were no such precise measurements. Aofeng felt a bit deflated. He had forgotten that ordinary animals weren’t like him.

Aofeng glanced around, then walked over to a small tree just outside the bamboo grove and said, “One point seven five meters is about as tall as this tree.”

Da Ju looked at Aofeng, then at the tree, and quickly nodded. Now he understood. To truly grasp how tall 1.75 meters was, Da Ju even climbed the tree and measured it with his own paws.

Aofeng took another walk around the area and regretfully found that there didn’t seem to be any surveillance cameras directly facing these spots. But even if there were, it wouldn’t help much. Most of the residents’ trash was thrown out in black plastic bags. Was he supposed to interrogate every single person who’d ever taken out the trash? Besides, he couldn’t access the surveillance footage anyway.

Aofeng asked Da Ju to call over all the nearby cats, and if there were any stray dogs, they could come too. After understanding, Da Ju ran off. About ten minutes later, over twenty cats and three dogs had gathered in the clearing in front of the bamboo grove.

The twenty-some cats sat in front of Aofeng, some slender, some plump, all shapes and sizes, and of many different breeds, including a few rare ones. Most of these cats had been abandoned and forced into a life of wandering. Of course, there were also some who had been born strays. The three dogs were small in size and seemed to have friendly temperaments, otherwise they wouldn’t have come to a cat meeting.

Aofeng resisted the urge to reach out a paw toward the little Xiao Lihua² sitting closest to him. He cleared his throat seriously and said, “You’ve probably all heard by now. There’s a demon in this neighborhood who takes pleasure in torturing and killing cats in brutal ways. To prevent this from happening again, I hope everyone can think back and try to recall if you’ve seen that person. If we can catch him early, it’ll serve as a warning to everyone not to fall for his tricks.”

The cats and dogs below looked completely bewildered. None of them had ever seen anyone catching cats. The ones that had gone missing had simply vanished without a trace, and no one had heard any screams or cries.

Aofeng frowned. Not a single one had seen anything? That meant this scumbag wasn’t choosing his victims at random. He must have observed the cats’ habits beforehand and targeted those that liked to roam alone.

“Starting today, none of you are allowed to go out alone at night. Always move in groups of three, and don’t stray too far from each other. Try to keep the groups close together too. If anything suspicious happens, shout loudly right away. Nearby groups should rush over as soon as they hear it…” To prevent another tragedy, Aofeng laid out a plan to maximize the cats’ safety.

Reality hit Aofeng hard once again. After he finished speaking, the cats and dogs looked at him with the same confused expressions. What he’d just said was a bit complicated, and they hadn’t really understood.

With no other choice, Aofeng went down and helped divide them into groups of three cats each. Then he explained clearly what it meant to raise an alarm and what it meant to provide support. At the same time, he warned them not to trust anyone easily, even if they came holding food. Scam awareness needed to be spread to every single cat and dog!

The cats listened intently, their expressions serious. They had seen what had happened to their companions. If it could be avoided, that would be the best outcome.

By the time everything was done, it was already late at night. Aofeng said goodbye to Da Ju and started heading home. As he left the neighborhood, he looked back once, hoping everything would be alright tonight. If the only way to catch that scumbag was to let another cat suffer such inhuman cruelty, then he would rather take his time investigating.

Translator’s Notes