Chapter 37
"Xiao Li, please save us. I don't ask to return to serve the Empress again. Even if you let me wander the streets, I just want to live a good life..."
I leaned over and touched its hand: "Okay, I will definitely find a way to save you, and I will do it as quickly as possible!"
Sanhua rested its two front paws on mine, sobbing uncontrollably. "Thank you, Xiaoli. You're so kind, you're truly our hero... And as for Xiaoju, you came here for him after all. Probability suggests he's probably met with an accident, but I hope you don't give up. People always say they want to see him alive or his body dead. Go look for him again when you have time. Perhaps the God of Miracles will appreciate your good intentions."
Finding Xiaoju is a troublesome task, but I have no intention of giving up. Unfortunately, only the owner can enter the basement, and Sanhua can't provide any information, so I can only search in the dark.
I have collected useful information from my companions. I have been staying here for nearly three hours. As dawn is getting closer, I must return safely before daybreak.
"I'm leaving," I said, reluctantly, "Try to take good care of yourselves, especially you... Sanhua."
Sanhua nodded to me with tears in her eyes: "Be careful."
I fled towards the ground. From the gap that I deliberately left, I could see that the sky outside was still dark and it would probably take a long time before dawn.
I lay in the crack, looked outside for a few times, and after confirming that there was no one there, I turned back into a human and used force to open the ground above my head.
The night was getting darker and quieter. I thought it was already the second half of the night. The vast and boundless sky was still windless, but a wisp of smoke rose not far away, as soft as cotton wool, and there was light there.
It turned out that it was the moon with half of its head showing from behind the clouds.
"The moon is out." I murmured softly, and the image of Sanhua locked in the basement kept emerging in my mind.
I remember Sanhua asking me, her voice tinged with tears, that endangered species become endangered not only because of natural factors, but also because of human factors. Do humans have to hunt us recklessly until we become endangered before they protect us? Do humans have to lose something before they cherish it?
Sanhua didn't understand.
Similarly, I lowered my head and I didn’t understand either.
I closed the door, tidied up the surroundings, and made sure that the sleeping man wouldn't notice when he woke up before leaving.
The mood of the journey there and back was completely different. I wandered in the silent wilderness, my mind full of thoughts on how to rescue my companions in the basement as quickly as possible.
In addition, I was still thinking about Xiaoju. The poor guy didn’t know whether he was alive or dead. No one knew what the buyer meant by buying it and why he had to specify it.
I felt like my soul was taken away. I was walking and suddenly stopped, looking forward with unfocused eyes.
I don't really want to meet Teng Zheng in this way. I don't know if that guy is asleep or not. If he sees me looking so miserable, he will definitely take pictures of me with his mobile phone and ask me all kinds of questions. My current mood doesn't support me chatting with others. I just want to turn into an autumn leaf and drift around with the cool autumn wind.
Just be a fallen leaf for a while and walk around here casually.
I changed direction back to the hotel, turning the other way with a clear mind and no longer thinking about anything.
Unconsciously, the moon in the sky had already changed its obvious trajectory. The night seemed to have grown deeper and colder. The chill of late spring was fully displayed in this deserted night.
I was a little tired, so I let out a breath and sat down on the stone.
As luck would have it, I looked up and around, and a few hundred meters away, I saw a maple forest. Its colors were blurred by the night, and the outlines of the leaves were still visible. But since this was the season of rebirth, the maple forest must be blooming with a faint green, with the fragrance of young grass.
I was in a good mood and ran over with all my strength.
I woke up the insects on the ground, making them flee frantically as if they had seen a ghost. I also disturbed the birds perched in the trees, scaring them into chirping in dissatisfaction. But I, the evil protagonist, didn't care about all these. I was only concerned with entertaining myself and running happily around this silent maple forest.
The maple forest was too small for me to run wild in. I walked around it a few times but still felt unsatisfied, so I ran north along the road and came to a place I didn’t know but which was very peaceful.
There were endless small hills, ponds, some shrubs I couldn't name, and rare wild grasses. Curious, I ran to the foot of the hill and looked up. I followed the principle of "since I was already here, I decided to climb the hill of a few meters."
For a cat, climbing a mountain is definitely no problem for it. If you question it, it means you look down on the cat.
I squatted on the top of the mountain and looked at the layout on the opposite side in the night.
There are actually people living on the other side of the mountain.
I looked down from a high place. In this vast darkness, the land before my eyes was dotted with small houses. They looked really small, not neat, and not beautiful at all. It was like a paradise hidden in this vast land, or like a scar on the land, leaving a dark mark.
Strangely, at this late hour, several houses still had lights on, forming a regular pattern, like a net enveloping the entire village. Sporadic lights seeped out from the windows, and the shadows of people moving within the houses flickered faintly like swaying flames.
Some people are awake, some are asleep, it's so strange.
I didn't want to dwell on such trivial matters. Human life habits were always like this, and uneven sleep schedules were commonplace every day. There was no need for me to make a fuss. Besides, I came here to relax, not to observe local life and cause trouble for myself. I didn't need to delve into this situation any further.
As the full moon in the sky gradually shifted, a gray mist spread across the eastern edge. If it stayed any longer, dawn would be approaching.
I didn't stop and rushed back to the hotel as fast as I could.
Since I didn't bring my room card when I went out, I couldn't open the door directly. I had to either knock on the door to wake up the sleeping Teng Zheng, or I had to ask the hotel front desk for help and ask them to unlock the door manually.
Fortunately, Teng Zheng is not the lazy pig I imagined. He went to bed early last night and got up early today. At this moment, he was playing with his mobile phone on the bed. He got out of bed immediately when he heard the door open.
"Oh my god, you were gone when I opened my eyes. I thought someone had kidnapped you. I was so scared!"
As soon as I opened the door, Teng Zheng glared at me, his face full of resentment darker than the basement I had seen not long ago.
His fluctuating emotions didn't stir the slightest ripple in the lake of my heart. I ignored it, glancing at him calmly, piercing his hypocrisy: "Are you saying you're worried I'll get lost? Then how can you still lie in bed and watch videos?" Don't pretend, I heard everything clearly from outside the door.
The next second, Teng Zheng gave me a playful smile, showing his shameless look: "If you are a man, save face for men."
I was too lazy to continue talking to him. I had been running around all night without a rest. When I smelled the warm air, all the lazy muscles in my body suddenly came out. I just wanted to have a good sleep.
"By the way, where were you wandering around instead of sleeping?"
He followed me like a dog-skin plaster. I was lying on the bed with my eyes closed, but he was still standing by the bed motionless.
This feeling of being monitored while sleeping made me uncomfortable. My heart, which had just been relaxing in the maple forest, suddenly felt as hot as if it had been thrown into a fire and roasted, burning my whole body and making me feel unhappy.
I forced myself to open one eye, resisting the fatigue that was coming over me. Teng Zheng's smiling face happened to be stuck right between my eyes. He was like a drop of oil, igniting my whole body and adding fuel to the fire of my mood that had not yet calmed down.
I didn't indulge him. He had no intention of leaving anyway, so I simply lifted my butt and moved down a little, raised my leg, and swept it towards his knee with lightning speed and accuracy, almost making him kneel on the bed.
I playfully sat up with a somersault and stared at him with a bad look: You are blind, can't you see that I want to sleep?
He held up his phone, understood, and tilted his head, showing a harmless face to gain sympathy: "I see, it's almost dawn, what on earth were you doing last night instead of sleeping?"
I know very well how persistent Teng Zheng is. If I don't solve this problem, I won't be able to sleep under his nagging.
I lay back down listlessly, looking at the big-bellied bulb on the ceiling, but all I could think about was what I had experienced at the scrap workshop all night: I couldn't sleep, so I went out to relax.
Teng Zheng frowned: "Are you not used to the new environment?"
I kept nodding my head, imagining that it was Teng Zheng in my head. I wanted to shake him silly and then throw him onto the bed.
"Okay, stop shaking your head. Can't I just stop talking to you?" Teng Zheng raised his leg and kicked me, waking up the dissatisfied look I shot him. Then he said, "You can't order takeout here. I don't want to eat what I bought yesterday. I have to go out and see if there's any breakfast. If you have any dietary restrictions or don't want to eat anything, I can bring you a portion."
I have no appetite after a tiring night. I just want to find a quiet place to take a nap: it’s up to you.
The rustling room became completely quiet the moment the door closed, and the ears were no longer filled with noise, as if the sky had darkened again, the earth was about to fall asleep, and everything was about to stop.
I thought again about my solo adventure last night.
That dilapidated, bloody scrapyard, that ferocious, bloodthirsty black Tibetan Mastiff, that basement devoid of sunlight and emitting a foul stench, and that tranquil maple forest...
Suddenly, eyes widened in the dim room.
I lay in bed with my eyes open, my heavy breathing causing my whole body to shiver slightly, and I thought of something terrible.
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