Chapter 15
As soon as she woke up, she realized that Jiang Chengyi might have seen the whole process of her taking action.
But she didn't bring it up first, waiting for the other party to come to her.
In retrospect, Jiang Chengyi's initiative to wash the cat was a way to get the others out of the way—after all, how could such a smart person forget things?
Jiang Chengyi spoke very slowly, as if he was carefully choosing his words.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that you could subdue four adult men all by yourself, and that while you were attacking one of them, the others..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Yu Miaomiao understood the unspoken meaning behind it.
If it were just one person fighting four, that could be explained by superhuman strength. But the others falling to the ground without any restraint, as if bound by an invisible force, unable to break free no matter how hard they struggled, is beyond human explanation.
Yu Miaomiao sat down on the stool, her expression showing no panic, nor did she try to cover it up with an excuse.
"So, you're planning to tell everyone?"
Jiang Cheng shook his head, his gaze calm. "I have no such intention."
Yu Miaomiao had already anticipated his answer.
After observing him for a while, she roughly figured out his personality; he was exceptionally cautious.
Occasionally, seemingly casual conversations with crew members are actually to gather the information they need, and they never reveal any personal information.
Aunt He and Xu Lan's reactions confirmed her judgment.
Xu Lan never mentioned this matter from beginning to end, which was certainly a sign that she was happy to see it happen. Another implied message was that Xu Lan didn't think there was anything suspicious about the matter. She certainly didn't think that Yu Miaomiao alone could have made four people suffer so badly, but subconsciously assumed that Jiang Chengyi and Yu Miaomiao had done it together—the two were accomplices.
Aunt He even said it outright.
Jiang Chengyi tacitly agreed to this on both occasions.
This shows that he had no intention of telling anyone. Yu Miaomiao's question was just to lead to the next question.
"So what are your plans?"
Yu Miaomiao made it clear directly.
Some people say that she and Jiang Chengyi are very similar in personality, both being cold and aloof, but she scoffs at this claim.
When necessary, Jiang Chengyi would skillfully use the art of language to achieve her goals, but she was neither capable of being tactful nor subtle.
"I want to know, how did you do that, or rather... what are you?"
Jiang Cheng stared intently at Yu Miaomiao, his gaze sharp as a knife, trying to cut through her facade and reveal her true self.
Yu Miaomiao flatly refused, "Absolutely impossible."
According to Article 43 of the Yokai Secrecy Law, if ordinary humans learn about yokai information through unofficial channels and do not want to drink the forgetfulness potion, they must sign a Yokai Information Confidentiality Commitment Letter, and at least one yokai must simultaneously sign a Confidentiality Joint Liability Letter, which imposes very heavy restrictions.
She wouldn't do that.
He added, "Don't try to find out about this online; you won't get any results."
The Public Opinion Department monitors major online platforms 24/7. They can just give Jiang Cheng a bottle of forgetfulness potion and he'll forget everything he's had these past few days.
When he was flatly rejected, Jiang Cheng suddenly looked thoughtful.
"Is it that you don't want to say it, or that you can't say it? What's holding you and me back, even the internet?"
"You're so certain, which means it's powerful—powerful 'spell'? No, spells can't affect the network. Is it a group, or regulations?"
"Stop guessing."
Yu Miaomiao interrupted the other person, maintaining her composure on the surface, but she was slightly surprised inside.
"I can only tell you that something is binding me, and if you want to know the truth, both you and I will have to pay a price."
Jiang Chengyi was a smart man. He might not believe Yu Miaomiao's words, but he didn't press the matter further.
As for Yu Miaomiao, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Being too smart isn't a good thing either.
After they finished speaking, they fell silent in tacit agreement.
The afternoon sun was just right, and the temperature on the mountain was neither too hot nor too cold, perfect for sunbathing.
As cats, Yu Miaomiao and San Tiao both chose to sit still in the sun, and Jiang Chengyi did not leave either.
After sunbathing for a while and their fur gradually dried, the three dogs moved to a spot next to Yu Miaomiao where the sun wasn't so intense.
She noticed that the blood-red color of the three eyes had not faded, and there were many bloodshot wounds on the body. After thinking for a moment, she went into the kitchen, picked up the three special tin bowls, filled them with some cooled boiled water, crushed a grain of moon dew, and let the fine powder dissolve in the water.
After doing all this, she went outside and placed the basin of water in front of San Tiao.
San Tiao sniffed the air, then lowered his head and drank heavily.
Yu Miaomiao watched the old cat's body and saw the spiritual energy spreading through the water, slowly repairing its wounds, before she felt relieved.
Jiang Chengyi produced a bottle of iodine and cotton swabs from somewhere and carefully applied them to San Tiao's wounds.
He worked quickly and efficiently, disinfecting the wound and then taking out an erythromycin ointment.
"You have so many things on you."
Yu Miaomiao couldn't help but say.
“I often pick up stray cats, so I always carry these things with me.”
While applying the medicine, Jiang Cheng asked, unusually, "But what about you? Why did you go to save San Tiao?"
"In my opinion, you are not a meddlesome person."
Yu Miaomiao hadn't thought about this question, nor did she want to explore it. "I'll do what I want to do. What reason do I need for something like this?"
Jiang Cheng looked at her, shook his head, and smiled faintly.
"Cats, dogs, or other pets are mostly weak. Because they are weak, they are passive, and their survival depends entirely on others."
Jiang Chengyi's tone was extremely calm.
"It's wonderful to be pampered and raised by a good owner, but being abandoned and becoming a stray cat is also something that can be decided by a human's single thought."
"As for the abuse disguised as jokes, it is commonplace. Because of their weakness, they have to accept it and don't even have the right to protest."
Yu Miaomiao's ears were ringing, and she couldn't hear a single word Jiang Chengyi said after that.
She squeezed her palms tightly, and the feeling of suffocation returned; she even experienced auditory hallucinations.
The sounds in those memories did not fade with the passage of time; instead, they became clearer, ringing in my ears like thunder.
[Hey, why can't you transform yet? Are you a monster?]
[He's just a half-demon, a complete waste.]
Let us help you train to swim; maybe it'll help you transform faster!
[Why did you faint? You need to hold your breath! You're so useless. Oh, I forgot cats can't swim.]
Look, it's glaring at me and trying to grab me! It's so funny.
Hahahaha
In a daze, she was back in the cold pool water. A hand was gripping her neck and pressing her to the bottom of the pool. She struggled and resisted, but to no avail.
She took a deep breath with all her might, but what she inhaled was not air, but fishy-smelling water, and a burning pain spread from her chest to her whole body.
The three of them noticed the cub's unusual behavior, moved closer to her and rubbed against her, while looking at Jiang Chengyi and making warning purring noises.
So, are you pitying them?
Yu Miaomiao's voice trembled slightly.
"Because they were pitiful, you did so many charity events and helped adopt so many stray cats."
"Let me think about what netizens call you... Oh right, God of Stray Cats."
"The God of stray cats had mercy on all cats, so He saved them from the clutches of evil humans. How great."
Her tone was mocking, but her eyes were so cold, as if covered by a layer of solid ice, vacant and looking into nowhere.
Jiang Chengyi shook his head slightly, "I don't have any penchant for saving all living beings."
"Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs. Since we are all straw dogs, what right do I have to pity them?"
"Pity is an insult to them."
As if finally surfacing, Yu Miaomiao gasped for breath and sneered, "You're comparing yourself to a straw dog, but don't drag me into it."
The tone was still sarcastic, but the sharp hostility was gone.
Jiang Chengyi did not respond to her words. "If I had to give a reason, perhaps it's to atone for my sins."
Yu Miaomiao didn't say anything more and listened.
"When I was about eleven years old, I found a litter of cats in the green belt of my neighborhood."
"It's an orange tabby kitten, less than a week old, with its eyes still closed. I waited for three hours but didn't see the mother cat, so I took them home."
"My mother doesn't allow me to do anything unrelated to studying, so I sent them to live with the aunt next door."
"It was about two weeks before my 12th birthday. She promised that if I did well on my final exams, she would grant me one of my birthday wishes."
"Later, I got the highest score in the whole school in the final exam. I expressed my wish to adopt them. If she didn't agree, it would be good to find them a good adopter."
"But she tore my test paper to shreds, screamed and rushed to my neighbor's house, slapped her twice, then threw the kitten that had just opened its eyes off the 18th floor, and scolded me for being a plaything and having no sense of shame."
"Later I found out that it was because my father's illegitimate son scored one point higher than me, which is why she broke down."
"I didn't pick up another cat until I graduated from high school."
Jiang Cheng spoke in a cold tone, as if he were telling someone else's story, with only the broken aluminum tube revealing a hint of emotion.
What he didn't say was that the litter of kittens landed precisely on the sidewalk, where they were smashed into a bloody mess on the cobblestones.
He went downstairs in the early morning to collect the remains, but the bloodstains could not be easily washed away. For the next two months, every day when he passed that road, he could see that dark bloodstain.
He said, "Sometimes I wonder if, if I hadn't taken them in, they might have met other people, been adopted, and grown up healthy."
"Instead of only having a life of twenty days."
Yu Miaomiao was stunned: "Why...why are you telling me all this?"
Jiang Chengyi gave her a deep look, but didn't answer. He broke the cotton swab in half, threw it precisely into the trash can, and got up to leave.
-
The filming went smoothly for the next few days, and Yu Miaomiao never saw the four people from the props team again.
After filming for the sixth day, Yu Miaomiao walked out of the villa and shivered from the cold.
A light rain started falling outside sometime earlier, and the temperature halfway up the mountain, which was already low, now felt rather chilly.
The next day, the rain intensified, pelting the ground and splashing up mud.
The director was actually pleased: "It saved us money on the water truck." He moved the rain scene to the first scene.
However, the group had only been in the rain for a few minutes when the torrential downpour forced them to retreat indoors.
Yu Miaomiao, wrapped in her only thin coat, sneezed and felt somewhat grateful for Li Zhi's advice.
The assistant director rushed down the stairs. He had gone to the top floor to find a signal to make a phone call, but when he came back, he looked serious: "Brother Zhang, stop filming!"
"Red alert for mudslides! This is a high-risk area!"
The director was reluctant to cut the last few scenes, but Xu Lan, seeing the rain getting heavier outside, gave the order: "Go down the mountain immediately."
The crew sprang into action immediately, everyone hurriedly packing their belongings, leaving unimportant things behind to move later. They finished packing in just two hours.
The convoy was ready to go. Xu Lan gave the order and was about to start the car when Jiang Chengyi got out of the car wearing a windbreaker.
"Yu Miaomiao hasn't arrived yet."
Rain streamed down his face, and his expression was stern.
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