Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 279 - Chapter 279 Chapter 272 Night Raid

Chapter 279: Chapter 272 Night Raid Chapter 279: Chapter 272 Night Raid Because Zheng Tan had long since blacklisted this guy in his mind, and since he had encountered him, Zheng Tan wasn’t about to let him go so easily, especially not on such a night which was suitable for doling out a beating.

When Zheng Tan approached, the man was making a phone call next to a public telephone booth by the roadside. Unlike when Zheng Tan saw him in Hengwu Square, he now had changed into a different outfit, wearing ordinary jeans, neither non-mainstream nor overly fashionable, and a similarly ordinary hoodie. While on the phone, his voice was subdued, as if he was discussing something shady. He would intermittently scan his surroundings, pausing if someone walked by, and would resume the call only after the passerby had left. Fortunately, at this time there were few people on this path, and the occasional person zooming by on an electric scooter didn’t cause much interruption to his conversation.

Zheng Tan stood atop a nearby wall, where the streetlight couldn’t reach, and due to his fur color, he was hardly noticeable. Besides, at this time, no one would specifically pay attention to something perched on a roadside wall.

After listening carefully for a while, Zheng Tan surmised that the man was probably striking some deal to accomplish a task, but the specifics were unknown. He couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the phone, and moreover, the man didn’t speak for long before hanging up.

Something was off.

This made Zheng Tan, who had planned on sneaking up and landing a stealthy kick, change his mind. He decided to see exactly what mischief the kid was up to.

After ending the call, the man lingered by the public telephone booth, glanced at his sports watch on his wrist, then headed toward the road junction. His stride carried a hint of irritation and nervousness, as if he was troubled by something.

Zheng Tan followed him along the wall, watching as the man walked out of the junction, purchased two cans of beer from a store that was about to close, and then returned to the roadside to lean against the wall and drink. He stationed himself between two streetlights, his figure somewhat blurred by their overlapping glow.

Drinking could bolster courage; for some, it could even have a calming effect.

Zheng Tan watched the man finish both cans of beer, then lean against the wall with his hands in his pockets, occasionally bumping his back against the wall. The force wasn’t strong, but it seemed like a way for him to relieve the irritation in his heart.

The back-bumping man paid attention only to whether anyone was approaching the junctions, perhaps preoccupied with his own thoughts, he didn’t notice the gaze from the nearby wall that was fixated on him. Anxious and with a craving to inhale “that stuff,” he was now regretful, as the police’s recent thorough search and questioning had made him tentative. So, the usual stash wasn’t on him. After checking his pockets, all he found was half a pack of cigarettes, which he lit one after another, leaning against the wall.

He smoked aggressively, his concentration on his thoughts so intense that he nearly choked.

He took several deep breaths and swung his fists as if to psych himself up.

Fortune favors the bold! Remembering the rewards promised by the other party, the timidity in his heart dissipated somewhat. With this one job, cars and beauties, he’d be set.

Zheng Tan watched the man seem to make up his mind, no longer leaning against the wall to smoke. He checked the time on his wristwatch, forcefully tossed the last half of his cigarette on the ground, pulled the hood over his head, and walked toward the junction with a slight hunch in his back, hands still in his pockets.

Seeing this, Zheng Tan knew the man was up to no good, and quickly followed after him.

The man was very familiar with the area, knowledgeable about the entwining alleyways. As Zheng Tan was contemplating what the man intended to do, he noticed the man quicken his pace, heading swiftly toward a specific location. At the junction, after a wait of about three or four minutes, a man about 1.7 meters tall, slightly overweight, wearing metal-framed glasses, and carrying a briefcase walked by. He appeared to be an ordinary office worker.

As soon as the kid saw the passerby, he dashed over, a flash of cold light glinted in his hand as he lunged at the man with a knife.

Zheng Tan, perched on the wall, was stunned. He hadn’t expected that this boy, who was only two years older than Jiao Yuan and his friends at most, would have the guts to commit such an act!

Originally, he thought the kid was just planning to rob some unfortunate soul, extort or blackmail them, but clearly, Zheng Tan had underestimated him. This was definitely an attempt to directly end a life.

The attacked man reacted too, sensing something was amiss as the attacker approached. He ducked instinctively, but still suffered a wound to his flank. Had it been any other time, he might have had a greater chance to dodge and even successfully counterattack, but after being pulled to drink heavily for several nights, his responsiveness had greatly diminished. After being stabbed and then harshly bumped by his assailant, which caused his head to hit the wall, he felt dazed. He could tell his assailant was inexperienced, indecisive, apparently dealing with cowardice and inner conflict. Yet after the first stab, that conflict and hesitation vanished, and the second thrust was much more determined.

Seeing the situation, the attacked man immediately thought the worst. Just as he resigned himself to a bad end, the knife-wielder seemed to be kicked forcefully, stumbling off to the side.

This brief moment allowed the attacked individual to seize the chance to fight back. Even in his compromised state, he had experience and a calm approach to confrontations.

The knife-wielding kid, after being kicked, realized that there was someone else nearby. Given the situation, he saw no chance for himself and ran off with the knife.

Satisfied that his attacker had left, the wounded man stood still, leaning against the wall, warily surveying his surroundings. After checking and finding no one nearby, and seeing that the knife-wielder had fled, he composed himself.

Who had just helped him?

Although their line of work brought in money fast, it also came with its risks. Being attacked wasn’t a one-off occurrence, and injuries were pretty common. However, he had thought that the job he took on this time was fairly simple. He didn’t expect that the deeper he looked into it, the more things seemed off. He had discussed a price increase with the client today, but now it seemed the raise was still too cheap.

Zheng Tan hid on the balcony of a small building not far away, watching the man clutch his side while taking out a phone from his pocket.

“Hello, Liu Ba, it’s Jing Gui here. Are you in Chuhua City? Yes, I’ve run into some trouble over here. If you’re free, could you help me out?” the man said.

So this guy was “Jing Gui”? Zheng Tan was surprised. Wasn’t this person investigating something for Yang Bo? How could he get stabbed here? Remembering Yang Bo’s expression after that last call at “Triumph,” Zheng Tan guessed that something must have gone wrong, complicating things even more; just one look at Jing Gui’s current state made it clear.

“I can guess who’s behind it, but I’ve also got to drag that bastard who did this into the light.” Jing Gui glanced at his bloodied hand on his side and cursed, “Damn it!”

After hanging up the phone, Jing Gui walked in the direction from which his attacker had fled, seeing so many forks in the road, and now wounded by a knife, he didn’t have the energy to continue the chase and quickly left the area.

At the time, Jing Gui hadn’t seen the attacker clearly–plus, the streetlights hadn’t provided much light. The attacker wore a hood, his face was obscured in shadow, indistinct, recognizable only as a young person, but Jing Gui couldn’t pinpoint the age exactly. He could only speculate further based on the rough build and the strong smell of alcohol and cigarettes on the person, but even that had its limits.

Although Asians don’t show age as clearly as Westerners, and there are noticeable differences between middle school students at home and abroad, that’s generally the case, and there are exceptions. That kid Zheng Tan listed on his blacklist was an exception; although he was technically a junior high student, he had been advised to drop out. He looked somewhat young, but no one would doubt if someone said he was eighteen or nineteen. Jing Gui found it hard to imagine that his attacker could be a junior high “kid.”

Zheng Tan saw that Jing Gui was relatively calm, probably not fatally wounded, nor severely hurt. After Jing Gui left, Zheng Tan headed in the direction the boy had taken off.

There were several forks ahead, and although Jing Gui might not know which way his attacker had left, Zheng Tan could. Jing Gui might not smell the lingering scents in the air, but Zheng Tan did so with ease.

Following the scent trail, Zheng Tan stopped at a corner to sniff carefully before continuing on.

There was a garbage heap where all sorts of foul odors were mixed, but Zheng Tan still discerned a fresh scent of blood.

Though Jing Gui’s injury was not severe, he had bled, and the knife had blood on it.

When Zheng Tan got there, he saw a hooded sweatshirt thrown in the trash heap. Aside from the sweatshirt, Zheng Tan found the blood-stained foldable knife and the watch the kid had worn, which had a trace of blood on the strap. Probably the kid threw the watch away as well, finding it bothersome.

Looking around and seeing no one, Zheng Tan wrapped the knife and watch in the sweatshirt and hid it in a shed piled with miscellaneous items, an extension of an old residential building. It seemed like no one had gone in there for a long time, and for now, it was unlikely anyone would find it.

Zheng Tan didn’t know how long it would take Jing Gui to trace the attacker’s identity, so he hid the evidence first. Garbage trucks passed by daily; if left in the garbage heap, the evidence would be gone by morning.

Since he had rummaged through the garbage heap, Zheng Tan could still smell garbage on him when he went home and felt a sticky, unidentified liquid clinging to his limbs. Fearing Jiao Ma’s nagging–she had just mentioned a neighbor’s cat that liked to mess with garbage bins and warned Zheng Tan not to imitate it–he made sure not to return like this.

Passing by the community, Zheng Tan rinsed off briefly using the outdoor faucet, the cool water and the night breeze making him shiver. He hurried home to take a hot shower; otherwise, he might catch a cold.

Over the next few days, Zheng Tan visited “Triumph” several times. He noticed that Yang Bo almost spent every evening there drinking sullenly, sometimes with company, sometimes alone. Zheng Tan shamelessly squeezed in once, and Yang Bo didn’t say anything, even treating Zheng Tan as the most suitable listener, ranting to him about his father and certain others.

Once, while Yang Bo was in the restroom, Zheng Tan went through his phone contacts and memorized Jing Gui’s number.

People like Jing Gui tended to change their phone numbers frequently–for them, every job meant a new number, just like “Liu Ba,” who didn’t stick to a phone, but communicated through email instead.

Meanwhile, Jing Gui was talking with Liu Ba, whom he had managed to pull in for a discussion about helping out. His phone vibrated. When he checked it, the smile on his face faded.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Ba asked.

Jing Gui passed the phone over, “Take a look.”

Liu Ba took the phone, and instead of looking at the message content first, his eyes were drawn to the number with four sixes, his smile deepening, “I’ll take this job.” (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (NovelFire.net) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)