Chapter 69: Now that the adventure has come, stay as a guest...
Chang Xile opened her eyes to find it was already light. She was carried to a sofa bed and laid down, covered snugly with a blanket. She rubbed her eyes and looked up to find a lion cat lying beside her.
Eh…is this Anping? Ever since she'd learned Anping was Sui Sui, Chang Xile had rarely seen him in this form. Curiously, she reached out and stroked the snow-white fur on his head. The lion cat immediately opened its lake-blue eyes in alertness.
The moment their eyes met, Chang Xile clearly felt its pupils dilate.
The next second, the lion cat turned around, jumped off the sofa and ran into the room. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared from Chang Xile's sight.
"Anping?" Chang Xile called out his name, but the next room remained silent. She sat up from the sofa bed, put on her shoes, and went over to check.
By the time Chang Xile opened the door, Anping had returned to his slender, white-haired self. He sat by the French window, his arms folded around his knees. He instinctively tilted his head to glance when he heard the door open, but as soon as he met Chang Xile's gaze, he looked away as if struck by lightning.
"What's wrong with you, Anping?" Chang Xile walked over slowly and sat down next to him.
He didn't say anything for a moment, so Chang Xile bent down and looked up at his eyes.
It was now difficult for Anping to ignore her. He lowered his head and met her bright, round eyes. When you were stared at so intently by a pair of eyes like that, it was like being captivated by a spell, and you couldn't bear to look away.
He asked in a low voice: "Did you just...see everything?"
"What?" Chang Xile was stunned for a moment before she suddenly realized that Anping didn't want her to see his true self. Suddenly, the answers to many of her previous questions came to her.
When they were on Changle Mountain, Yang Guisi once said, "It's frightening that the friends and family I spend every day with are not human." Anping seemed to be deeply affected at the time. Was he worried that Chang Xile would be afraid of him too?
Chang Xile considered herself a timid person, and she was so scared that she got goosebumps when she saw Weasel asking her for a title like a weasel.
But she didn't feel the same way about Anping. The moment she knew Anping was a cat, all she could feel was "So that's it."
She sighed softly, straightened up, and cupped Anping's face in her hands, so that they looked at each other. Then, Chang Xile told him word by word, "Whether you're a human or a cat, you're still Anping. To me, you're the same."
"So you don't have to hide from me, okay?" Chang Xile said to him seriously.
Anping stared at her, seemingly still undeterred by these words. Chang Xile saw him open his mouth and murmur softly, "But I don't want to remind you..."
Chang Xile didn't hear clearly, so he moved closer to him and asked, "What?"
Anping calmed down, smiled at her, and said, "It's okay, I understand. How was your time last night? Did everything go well?"
Anping listened patiently as Chang Xile described to him the magnificent scenery and touching stories he encountered last night with gestures and excitement, and silently completed the unfinished sentence in his heart.
[I don't want to keep reminding you how different we are]
After learning about Chang Xile's plan, Yang Guisi still felt it was risky.
"Besides, even if you want to be a bait, how can you guarantee that you will meet Chen Moxin?" Yang Guisi asked.
"Of course, ask the school's intelligence ambassador." Chang Xile smiled mysteriously, took out his mobile phone and showed her a long list of recordings.
Yang Guisi clicked on one of them at random, and heard only a series of "meow meow meow" sounds.
Because Yamashiro University is located near mountains and enjoys a pleasant climate, you can find a wide variety of small animals everywhere on campus—squirrels, birds, cats, dogs, and more. Cats are the most numerous, and faculty and students alike enjoy feeding them. There's even a cat cafe in the snack street where stray cats can stay and get food.
In the past two years, a news anchor specializing in campus visits has filmed at Yamashiro University. They stumbled upon a large group of adorable and affectionate cats on campus, jokingly describing it as a "cat meeting." The resulting videos went viral, attracting numerous visitors. As a result, Yamashiro University has been hailed as a "best place for small animals" and a place where "people and nature coexist in harmony."
Just like Yang Shu had asked Duobao about Chang Xile’s address before, it was also very simple for Chang Xile to find out where Chen Moxin was - as long as he stepped into Shancheng University.
Chang Xile once again sat on the stone bench by the library's side door. A lion cat lay on her lap, letting her stroke its soft fur with her hands.
She was chatting seriously with the lion cat, and the cat would occasionally raise its head and meow in response to her.
In a corner not far away stood the person they were waiting for.
Chen Moxin silently stared at the cat on Chang Xile's legs - the cat had ears with wide bases and round tips, eyes like sapphires, a fluffy tail, and the hair on its neck could cover the back of its feet when it sat up.
"Linqing Lion Cat?" he muttered to himself with interest. Because lion cats are so proud and disdainful of human masters, they were once found only in the imperial palace. As early as the 20th century, there were only about 3,000 left in Country C. Their numbers have plummeted in recent years, and few have ever seen such a purebred lion cat.
But Chen Moxin knew that he had seen such a beautiful cat when he was very young.
He smiled slightly and thought: I have never caught a cat of this breed to play with before. Will its screams be more beautiful than those of other cats?
Chang Xile felt that the time was about right, so she loosened her grip and the lion cat in her arms jumped off her knees and walked into the woods.
After a long while, Chang Xile finally heard Anping's voice: "Let's go."
She felt inexplicably heavy-hearted, so she stood up and walked towards the big river west of the school.
When she reached the fence, the river before her was as turbulent and impassable as ever. Chang Xile took out the yellow talisman she had drawn in advance, on which the words "condense qi" were written in flowing cinnabar.
Chang Xile held the talisman and waved it in the air. The yellow talisman did not get blown away by the wind, but fell squarely on the river in front of Chang Xile, and the talisman was fixed on the top of the river.
She tilted her head to take another look. The road was now deserted. Chang Xile didn't hesitate any longer. She placed her hands on the pole, climbed up, and sat on the outside of the railing.
After sitting firmly, Chang Xile looked down. The river was turbulent and if anyone fell in, they would be carried away and disappear in an instant.
"You have to believe...you have to believe in yourself." Chang Xile murmured to herself, she gritted her teeth and jumped down.
If someone were to pass by at this moment, they would surely be horrified, because there was a girl walking in the turbulent water, as if she were walking on flat ground, her eyes firmly fixed on the front, and the water splashing from her feet did not even wet a corner of her clothes.
There was a wall of air between Chang Xile's shoes and the water surface. This was the "simplest" method Yang Guisi had taught her: gather the surrounding air together to form a dense wall, and people could walk through it.
However, the person making the talisman must have complete faith in the existence of this transparent wall. Once their mind wavers, the wall will disappear.
Chang Xile kept her gaze fixed on the river because if she looked down, she would lose her composure. As she hurried along, she kept repeating to herself, "This is flat ground, this is flat ground, this is flat ground, this is flat ground..."
She tried to find the spot where she had found Duobao, but there was no one there. There were even traces of grass marks and cigarette butts scattered on the ground from where Duobao had been abused.
Haven't they arrived yet?
Chang Xile really didn't know how Chen Moxin got to the other side of the river in such a short time. She waited patiently on the side. After a while, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist from behind and pulled her back.
As if anticipating that Chang Xile might cry for help, he covered her mouth in advance and whispered, "It's me."
Chang Xile blinked before she stopped struggling. She turned around and met An Ping's gaze. Under the moonlight, his figure was somewhat transparent, but it was definitely An Ping.
He whispered to Chang Xile, "We've changed places. Follow me."
The two people walked along the path. As the woods continued to recede, a small wooden house appeared in front of Chang Xile, and faint sounds came from inside.
"Damn, is this cat dumb? It doesn't make a sound." Someone stood up angrily, and a hard stone fell to the ground with a thud.
Chang Xile saw a scene through the crack in the door that made her blood boil.
In the courtyard, there was a quaint little wooden house behind Chen Moxin. Many decorations were hung on the walls, the most eye-catching of which was a huge, finely carved fox head.
He went into the house to look for something, and the lion cat lying on the ground was covered in blood. Although she had anticipated what would happen, Chang Xile's heart was still filled with endless anger. She subconsciously wanted to rush in to stop it, but Anping behind her grabbed her arm.
He whispered, "Don't forget our plan."
Then, as if he understood Chang Xile's concerns, he comforted her, "That's not the real me, it's just a clone."
When they were discussing the plan, Anping told Chang Xile that he could transform into a lion cat. He pulled out a strand of white hair, blew on it, and as the hair fell to the ground, it turned into a lion cat.
Chang Xile was amazed. She bent down and gently stroked the lion cat's back. The kitten accepted the touch without any temper. But after a while, she noticed something was wrong: "It seems... it seems a little too well-behaved."
She had seen on the Internet that some of those particularly well-behaved little animals might have intellectual problems.
"Because my spiritual consciousness is not attached to it, it is just an empty shell." Anping also squatted down to explain.
…
Chen Moxin in the yard had already taken out the whip. Chang Xile took out the equipment to record the tragic scene in front of her. She preserved every move of Chen Moxin, including his hateful face and every evil word he uttered.
"I have a lot of experience. I don't believe I can't pry open a cat's mouth. Just wait and see."
"Is this cat stupid? It didn't say a word even after being beaten like this. Tsk, it's not as interesting as the ones I killed before."
Even though Chang Xile knew it was just a strand of An Ping's hair transformed, she seemed to be able to see through it all the kittens that Chen Moxin had tortured. When the recorded evidence was sufficient, Chang Xile, unable to bear it any longer, decided to push the door open and go in.
But at this time, Anping held her hand again to stop Chang Xile.
Chang Xile looked at Anping, puzzled by his change of heart. They had previously agreed to make Chen Moxin pay, or at least document his harm to Chang Xile. This would allow the police to investigate and perhaps uncover Chen Moxin's past crimes, including but not limited to the Love Loan scheme. After confronting Chen Moxin's hideous face that night in the apartment, Chang Xile refused to believe that his only crime was to harm cats.
Besides, Chang Xile had the Soul Hook, so she had more than enough ability to protect herself against an ordinary person like Chen Moxin. If she could use today's evidence to put him behind bars once and for all, the risk would be well worth it.
"No, those words he just said weren't directed at the cat on the ground... Let's go first." An Ping frowned, his sixth sense making him keenly aware of the threat lurking somewhere. He decisively wanted to take Chang Xile away from here.
However, the next second, a voice completely different from Chen Moxin's came from the door: "Since you two are here, why not stay and be our guests?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
