Just as the two men turned around, dragging the cage, Li Yuheng subtly pressed his front paw down on the ground.
The latch popped open.
The yellow dog was frantically ramming against the cage door when, unexpectedly, the cage door suddenly opened, and it rolled out and fell to the ground.
The two men turned around at the sound and stared in astonishment at the empty cage and the yellow dog rolling on the ground.
"What happened? Is the lock broken?"
"I made sure it was locked!"
The yellow dog reacted quickly, scrambling to its feet, baring its teeth and growling at the two of them before turning and darting into a nearby pile of debris, disappearing from sight.
"Damn it! They got away!"
"This lock is terrible! We'll have to ask logistics to replace it later!"
The two men grumbled as they inspected the cage.
Shu Bai stared at the two men who left cursing, then slowly turned her cat-like eyes to Li Yuheng.
"You did this?"
Li Yuheng didn't answer, but instead squinted his dog-like eyes and looked Shu Bai up and down:
"Speaking of which, aren't you a cat demon? How come you've fallen so low that you can't even transform into human form? And you're completely clueless about minor spells?"
He leaned forward, his nose almost touching Shu Bai's ear:
"Could it be... that he's too young and his demonic power hasn't awakened yet?"
Shu Bai slapped his dog face with one paw: "None of your business."
"Tsk, looks like I guessed right." Li Yuheng shook his head smugly. "No wonder he's so weak, he's even afraid of a sterilization operation."
"It's you who's afraid. Not me."
"Fine, fine, if you say you're not afraid, then you're not afraid." Li Yuheng said dismissively.
Shu Bai stared intently at him, a low growl escaping her throat.
Li Yuheng continued to poke at his sore spot without caring at all: "Speaking of which, how old are you? Are you fifty years old? You're still a baby in the demon realm, aren't you?"
"Shut up."
"A hundred years old? That's only been a short time since you were weaned."
Shu Bai suddenly pounced on him, scratching his nose with a claw: "I'll show you what you're capable of saying!"
Li Yuheng nimbly jumped back to dodge: "They're getting anxious! Looks like I was right, they're just a kitten who hasn't been weaned yet!"
"I'm still better than you!" Shu Bai gritted his teeth. "You stupid, pretentious dog!"
"What am I pretending for?" Li Yuheng said matter-of-factly. "I am the genuine Crown Prince."
"Then show me your transformation!" Shu Bai sneered. "Besides a few tricks, what other skills do you have?"
Li Yuheng choked for a moment.
He can't freely use much power in the human world right now, after all, he ran away from here.
But that didn't stop him from continuing to be stubborn: "I'm just being low-key! Unlike some cats, who don't even have the luxury of being low-key."
Shu Bai was too lazy to argue with him anymore and turned to leave.
"Hey," Li Yuheng called out to him, "Let's get down to business. What are you going to do about those uniformed guys who come every day?"
"What can we do?" Shu Bai asked without turning his head. "We'll hide from them as soon as we see them."
"How long are you going to hide?" Li Yuheng caught up with him. "Didn't you hear what they said? The complaint letters are piling up. It's obvious that someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes."
Shu Bai stopped and looked at him coldly: "So? You have a better idea?"
Li Yuheng grinned, revealing a malicious smile:
"Of course they do. Don't they like to smear others? Don't they like to use others to do their dirty work? Then let's see whose knife is faster."
"...What do you plan to do?"
Li Yuheng turned to Shu Bai and said, "Don't you also know those sparrows that like to perch on telephone poles? Tell them to keep an eye on them."
"Also, tell all the cats and dogs that can still communicate to be more alert lately. If a stranger approaches with a phone or other object, immediately move away or try to break their device."
Shu Bai immediately understood what he meant.
“Okay.” Shu Bai nodded. “I’ll go and inform the cats in the east and north. You’re in charge of the dogs.”
"I don't need you to remind me."
Li Yuheng had already started mentally planning which street gang leaders he should talk to.
“Furthermore,” Shu Bai added, “it’s not enough to just hide and cause trouble. We need to let those in uniforms see for themselves who’s really causing trouble.”
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow: "What do you want to do?"
"They complained that we attacked children, right? Then let them see what really happened to those 'attacked' children."
They exchanged a glance, both seeing the same ruthlessness and decisiveness in each other's eyes.
Li Yuheng turned around and ran in the opposite direction from Shu Bai. He needed to contact the dog packs on the main roads as soon as possible.
Shu Bai then lightly leaped onto the top of the wall, and her figure disappeared in a few leaps among the high and low roof ridges.
…
In the following days, the atmosphere on the streets became increasingly tense.
The frequency of arrest teams has increased significantly, and staff in various uniforms also patrol frequently.
The volunteers tried to intervene multiple times, carrying notebooks filled with detailed records of each cat and dog's temperament, health status, and sterilization status.
"This calico cat has been spayed/neutered for three years. It has a very gentle personality and never gets close to people..."
"We call this yellow dog Big Yellow. Although it looks fierce, it only barks at people who abuse animals..."
But their explanations were always deflected by official rhetoric:
“We have our own workflow.”
"There are too many complaints; they must be handled in a unified manner."
"We understand your good intentions, but please cooperate with our work."
…
That afternoon, the arrest team reappeared in the area where Li Yuheng and Shu Baichang were active.
Two team members, armed with levers, are attempting to corner a panicked tortoiseshell cat.
"Here! Block it!"
Just as the lasso was about to fall, several familiar volunteers rushed over again.
"Please wait a moment!" The young man in the lead stopped the arresting team members, panting. "This cat is very docile. We had it checked before, and it has always been on our feeding list!"
The arresting officers frowned and stopped, but didn't put down the lasso: "Meek? We received complaints that the stray cats and dogs in this area are aggressive and affect the safety of residents. We are just following the regulations."
“It really won’t attack people unprovoked!” another volunteer quickly explained. “We can vouch for that! And we’ve been doing TNR (trap-neuter-release), and their aggression is greatly reduced after neutering…”
“Guarantees are useless,” the team member interrupted impatiently. “We only look at complaint records and instructions from superiors. With so many complaints now, we have to clean them up.”
"But……"
"There are no 'buts'," the team member said firmly. "Please cooperate with our work and do not obstruct official business. If you continue to obstruct us, we will have no choice but to report you all as well."
The volunteers tried to argue, but the capture team bypassed them and continued their pursuit of the tortoiseshell cat.
Li Yuheng, perched on a distant wall, took in the entire scene. "These people, I can't even tell the good from the bad."
Shu Bai landed silently beside him: "They only believe what they want to believe."
Just as the lasso was about to touch the tortoiseshell cat, the metal buckle at the top of the lasso suddenly loosened, and the entire lasso drooped limply.
"What's going on? Why is this equipment always malfunctioning!" The dog catcher was furious as he checked the equipment.
Taking advantage of the moment, the tortoiseshell cat darted into the nearby sewer grate.
Similar scenes continued to unfold in the days that followed.
Either the lasso breaks inexplicably, or the cage lock malfunctions at a critical moment.
Occasionally, stray cats and dogs are surrounded, but they always manage to find a way to escape at the last minute.
What troubles the staff even more is that some of the complaints they receive about attacks on stray animals are either completely fabricated or the evidence at the scene is obviously faked.
On one occasion, a staff member witnessed a man furtively trying to lure a lone little girl closer to a quiet stray cat with food.
He was muttering to himself, "Quick, scratch her," while another person next to him held up his phone to take a picture.
The staff stopped and questioned the man on the spot. Although he denied it, the seed of suspicion had already been planted.
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