Exotic Cat House (4)
The exotic cats in the cat house include Devon, Siamese, and Maine Coon cats, and Yan Qing can find almost any breed she can name, and there are even a few hairless cats. The variety of breeds surprised her.
What's even stranger is that something is wrong with the cat house, which is obvious to anyone with eyes, but it doesn't affect its popularity in Beijing at all.
Yan Qing should have thought of this sooner.
In a place where the happiness level of ordinary people is only 20%, it is simply wishful thinking to expect people to have love and care for small animals.
They're just meant to be amused; being obedient and pretty is enough. Nobody cares what they're like when they can't see.
Moreover, most people who come here are just following the trend, and few genuinely love cats.
Yan Qing initially only thought about making the cats popular in the city, but she didn't consider whether this was the right time. Now it seems that the kittens have brought her the expected benefits, but she has put the cats in danger.
Although Yan Qing cannot be entirely blamed for this, a deep sense of self-reproach continued to burn brighter in her heart.
The several hours felt like centuries due to the anxiety. As soon as it got dark, Yan Qing couldn't wait any longer. She took Fang Bi out of the house, and the two of them observed the exotic cat pavilion across the street from the cat supplies shop.
Darkness slowly enveloped the city, candlelight flickered, the sounds of people on the streets faded, and only the sound of the wind could be heard. Yan Qing was anxious and intended to take action immediately, but Fang Bi stopped her.
She shook her head at Yan Qing, "It's still early, it's safer to wait a bit."
Yan Qing knew that it would be safer to act late at night, but she had already waited all afternoon, and the worry of several hours was enough to exhaust her composure. A stick of incense had burned out, and all the servants of the exotic cat manor had left, and the door was locked. Although there was still a possibility of something unexpected happening, she couldn't worry about that anymore.
Fangbi was merely making a suggestion; carrying out orders was her duty. So she led Yan Qing into the exotic cat house.
The two still had the same disguises they had worn that morning, only they had changed into more casual clothes.
The place they had seen not long ago was shrouded in darkness. Yan Qing took out a tinderbox, and the flame flickered, making the surroundings slightly clearer. The two of them moved quietly, searching the entire exotic cat enclosure, but found no trace of the cats.
This puzzled the two of them. So many kittens hadn't been transported out, yet they were nowhere to be found here. This was truly strange.
"There's probably a hidden room. Let's split up and search." After whispering this to Fangbi, Yan Qing went downstairs and searched carefully in the hall, while Fangbi stayed upstairs.
After about half an hour, beads of sweat appeared on Yan Qing's forehead, and they still hadn't found anything.
Enraged, Yan Qing kicked the counter beside her hard, making a dull thud.
Suddenly, Fangbi grabbed her arm. Yan Qing thought she was reminding her not to make too much noise, so she sighed and pulled her hand back, intending to regroup and search again.
But Fangbi pulled her down to squat down and pointed to the counter, saying, "The marks on the floor."
"Could it be that I used too much force?" Yan Qing frowned, carefully examining the mottled scratches on the ground. They were normal marks left by moving a heavy object. "Is there something wrong with it?"
Yan Qing looked at it carefully again and touched the mark with her hand.
"No!" Yan Qing realized and said, "These marks are too heavy; they don't look like they were made from just one or two rubbing sessions."
After speaking, he looked at Fangbi and met her approving gaze.
After discussing it, the two began to move the counter.
But it was unusually heavy, as if it was intentionally designed to prevent anyone from moving it, which explains why most of the servants in the exotic cat pavilion were burly men.
It took a lot of effort to move the counter. Yan Qing's palm was left with a deep red mark. Fang Bi was okay, but she was also a little out of breath.
Fortunately, their efforts were not in vain. The floor under the counter was indeed different from the one next to it. Yan Qing tapped it and found that it was hollow underneath.
The two pried open the wooden plank, revealing a hole about the width of a person.
Yan Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief and was about to go down when Fang Bi stopped him again.
"The situation down there is unknown. Bring more people and come back another day."
That's a good point, but Yan Qing still insisted, "You stay here and watch over things. I'll go down and check it out. I'll come back up if things don't look good."
"No......"
Fang Bi was interrupted by Yan Qing before she could finish speaking, "Just do as I say."
Leaving Fangbi here would make it easier for Yan Qing to use her cheat code. She patted Fangbi and climbed down the ladder, not giving Fangbi a chance to stop her again.
Fangbi was worried about the dangers below, and Yan Qing was aware of that too, but having come this far, she was determined to go down and investigate. Only by uncovering the secrets of the exotic cat aquarium could she find a foolproof way to rescue the cats.
Furthermore, Yan Qing had carefully observed that there were 15 servants in the exotic cat pavilion, and they had all left one after another by evening. This meant that if there was no one guarding the basement to begin with, then there would be no one down there now.
Let's take a gamble!
As her feet touched the ground, Yan Qing didn't immediately light a tinderbox to illuminate her surroundings. She heard a cat meowing. Without making any other movements, Yan Qing quietly tried to pinpoint the source of the sound, then slowly moved closer until the meowing was right next to her.
After confirming that there was no light in the basement, Yan Qing felt relieved enough to light a flame. The first thing that caught her eye was a dozen or so iron cages scattered along the wall, each containing three to five kittens. She estimated that there were thirty or forty cats in total.
Upon seeing the light, they all surprisingly huddled together, shrinking inwards and huddling even closer, as if seeking comfort from their companions.
Even without Cat One's detection, it was clear the kittens were terrified. But upon seeing strangers, the dozens of kittens only let out a few weak meows before falling silent, their differently colored eyes fixed warily on Yan Qing.
[Cat #1, exchange for communication skills, plus cat food and water, placed in each cage.]
[Cat No. 1 received! Successful delivery.]
Cat food and water appeared in each cage, and soon they were empty. Yan Qing then had Cat No. 1 continue to provide them.
[Mimi, can you hear me?]
【who! 】
[I want to eat more, I want to eat more—]
I want to drink water...
In an instant, Yan Qing received many responses, but she could only go to each one to find out the situation.
She walked to the cage containing the kittens she had seen in the private room earlier that day, reached in with both hands, and gently stroked them.
They seemed to remember Yan Qing; they hesitated for a moment but still took the initiative to rub against her.
[Why are you all locked up here?]
Seeing them like this, Yan Qing's eyes welled up with tears, and her hands trembled slightly.
[Some bad guys have captured us and aren't giving us any food!]
A little Devon cat clung to Yan Qing's hand, refusing to eat its food, and said very proactively.
[So what about today's performances?]
The villains threatened not to give him food or water unless he did this, so Da Da bit one of them and lost his teeth.
Yan Qing's eyes widened as she understood what it meant. The people at the exotic cat aquarium were using hunger to force the cats to perform tricks. One of the kittens, named Da Da, resisted and bit them, resulting in its teeth being pulled out.
[Is the big boss still here? Which little cat is it?]
[Here I am, with black and white hair, and not curly fur.]
It's a cow cat. Yan Qing patted Little Devon's head and went to look for Big Da's figure.
It was in the cage in the far corner, the only cat there, curled up in a ball, untouched by the cat food and water in front of it. Yan Qing quickly went over and reached out to pet it.
Da Da was very alert. When Yan Qing reached out, it quickly extended its claws and slapped at her. However, the expected wound did not appear. Only a red mark was left on the back of Yan Qing's hand.
[Don't be afraid, Master, I'm here to save you. Would you like to eat something and drink some water first?]
Yan Qing didn't touch it again, but squatted down in front of the cage and talked to it.
Upon hearing her words, Da Da revealed his eyes, which had been hidden, but his bright eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist. After glancing at Yan Qing a few times, he lowered them again, and his claws also retracted.
Only then did Yan Qing see the large paws clearly. They only had soft pads on them, and the nails were nowhere to be seen. No wonder, no wonder they didn't scratch her. The tears that Yan Qing had been holding back finally burst forth at this moment.
[Does the basic medical care for Cat One include repairing claws and teeth?]
[Reporting to the host, the problem can be fixed!]
Yan Qing wiped away her tears and smiled.
[Quick! Fix the big paws and teeth, and the other kittens' paws; fix everything you can.]
[Cat No. 1 received! Successful delivery.]
As the mechanical sound faded, the large object in front of him reacted.
[Teeth! And claws!]
[Yes, you have paws and teeth again. Now eat something!]
Yan Qing got some cat treats from Cat Number One, hoping that Da Da would eat something first, as it was excessively thin.
A glint seemed to flash in its large eyes for a moment. It slowly moved forward, as if scrutinizing whether Yan Qing was trustworthy. Only after confirming that Yan Qing would not harm it did it begin to lick the cat treat in her hand.
You are not a bad guy.
Yan Qing smiled and touched it without resistance, feeling the warmth travel from her palm to her heart.
I'll take you out!
After twenty minutes, the cats' sounds returned to meowing in Yan Qing's mind. Seeing that they had calmed down, Yan Qing began to observe her surroundings.
The basement wasn't very big, and the cat cage took up most of the space. Strangely, there was a spot next to the cat cage covered with the same red carpet as in the private room, but the only difference was that it only had messy paw prints on it.
Yan Qing walked over, watching her step carefully, avoiding stepping on it, and instead exploring the area where it was.
Suddenly, a series of footsteps reached Yan Qing's ears. They didn't come from above, but rather from inside the wall. They grew louder and closer.
【Cat No. 1, put away your cat food and water!】
Yan Qing extinguished the fire. It was too late to climb upstairs now, so she crouched behind the cat cage to hide her figure and turned her head to stare at the wall.
The sound of stones rubbing together rang out, and cracks appeared in the tightly sealed stone wall, growing larger and larger until the stone door was completely opened.
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