Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 422 - Chapter 422 403

Chapter 422: 403 Chapter 422: 403 After Pei Jie had finished confessing and crying, he now felt hopeful and was not as scared.

Wiping his face with his sleeve, Pei Jie began to ask, “Heitan, do you have a bugging device or a communicator on you?”

This was clearly a child who had watched too much television, his imagination influenced by it.

Accustomed to talking to Qi, the monkey at home, Pei Jie continued to speak directly when he saw Zheng Tan.

Those who have kept animals are aware that many animals are not as dim-witted as people imagine. Having been in contact with humans for a long time, they could still understand some words. This was how Pei Jie saw it; he always thought many animals could understand human speech, like his own Qi, and now this Black Cat in front of him.

While Pei Jie was talking, Zheng Tan’s ears twitched, and he swiftly dashed to hide behind a wooden box in the corner.

Seeing this, Pei Jie stopped talking, knowing someone must be coming from outside. His mind racing, he turned towards the little panda scratching its facial fur in the cage next to him and stretched out his hand to pat it.

The curtain of the tent was abruptly lifted. If it hadn’t been for Zheng Tan hearing the slight noise, Pei Jie, with his hearing, wouldn’t have noticed someone approaching, so the visitor’s actions were relatively sudden.

The person lifted the curtain and glanced inside the tent, which wasn’t very large. Utilizing the light shining in from the lifted curtain, he could see the entire inside of the tent at a glance. There were no hiding places for people here, so after the person looked around and his gaze rested on Pei Jie for a few seconds without detecting anything unusual, his guard was considerably lowered.

He had come over to check out some noise he heard, not expecting to see the boy teasing the little panda. Well, a child being quiet in this situation was surprising enough, but had he been too obedient and cooperative, they might have become suspicious, maintaining their wariness.

Now, Pei Jie seemed somewhat irritated as he tapped the cage beside him, probably venting his anger.

Pei Jie’s behavior was intended to divert the newcomer’s attention away from Zheng Tan but he hadn’t expected that his actions would actually lower the visitor’s guard.

The visitor glanced at Pei Jie a few times and said “Calm down,” before letting the curtain fall and leaving. This time, he did not make any effort to step quietly, and Pei Jie could hear the sound of his footsteps as he walked away.

Pei Jie breathed a sigh of relief; so did Zheng Tan. Probably the only one who got scared was the little panda in the cage beside Pei Jie.

The sudden movement from Pei Jie had startled the little panda who was scratching its face, causing it to fall backwards. Now it was staring at Pei Jie, no longer scratching its fur.

Zheng Tan wondered if the little panda had been frightened into stupidity, as it seemed even more dazed.

Once the man had left, Zheng Tan came out from behind the corner box.

Pei Jie had limited understanding of these people and did not even know how many of them there were, which was less than what Zheng Tan had found out.

Zheng Tan had appeared here for two reasons: to check on Pei Jie’s condition and state of mind, ensuring the boy was safe; and to provide Pei Jie some hope and motivation to continue enduring. After all, he was just a child, and there was a limit to his psychological resilience.

Now that Pei Jie’s mood had improved, Zheng Tan did not plan to stay there any longer. He still wanted to go out and scout around.

“Oh, Heitan, sorry. When that person brought me here, they also took your box,” Pei Jie said before Zheng Tan left.

The box?

Zheng Tan paused in his steps.

The only box Pei Jie could have been referring to was the treasure box that Hou Junyi had given to Zheng Tan.

Why would the person who took Pei Jie also take Zheng Tan’s box? Could it have been just a coincidence?

Zheng Tan didn’t know.

Since hearing about Pei Jie’s situation yesterday, no one else had paid attention to Zheng Tan’s box. Ermao and the others wouldn’t have thought about what was inside the box. It was briefly mentioned during their discussion, but since they did not find the box, compared to Pei Jie’s situation, the box was a minor issue. Later, their focus shifted, and they didn’t pay much attention to the fact that the box had not been found.

Now, it appeared that the box had been brought over by the person who took Pei Jie.

Silently leaving the tent, Zheng Tan listened to the noises from the tent area.

Those six people were still there, probably discussing something. The atmosphere was tense, and one of them, quite hot-tempered, was yelling as if agitated by something.

The person who had gone to the tent earlier had spoken clearly for Pei Jie’s benefit, thus not using a strong dialect accent. But now, these six gathered together were speaking with dialect accents. Two of them spoke slightly better, but as they sped up, Zheng Tan still couldn’t clearly understand what they were saying.

Zheng Tan took advantage of their discussion to circle around from behind the tent.

Three tents, six people gathered in one of them. Zheng Tan definitely couldn’t enter the occupied tent, but he could explore the other two.

Last time he was here, there were only two tents, so the newly added one might be related to the person who captured Pei Jie, and the treasure box was most likely inside this new tent.

While those people were arguing fiercely, Zheng Tan seized the chance to sneak into the newly erected tent.

Luckily, Zheng Tan’s guess was right; the box was inside. He spotted it as soon as he entered.

However, the box had several visible scratches, like those made by sharp metal, especially around the combination lock, which also bore some impact marks. Clearly, the person who brought the box had tried to open it, but Zheng Tan had not expected the treasure box to be so durable.

In fact, when they captured Pei Jie, they noticed the box he carried. These people were somewhat discerning and recognized at a glance that the material of the box was extraordinary, so they thought it might contain something valuable and just took it. The box was somewhat heavy for a child, but for these people, the weight was negligible. Yet, they didn’t anticipate that, despite hacking and smashing, they wouldn’t be able to open it. They had planned to try other methods but got sidetracked by some issues. Now they didn’t have time to open the box. This delay gave Zheng Tan an opportunity.

Listening to the noises outside and confirming that the six people were still in that tent, Zheng Tan quickly dialed the combination and opened the box.

Zheng Tan had studied the contents of the box when he was free. It had several compartments that, when pulled open, fanned out in a gradient. The top layers contained small tools like a compass, band-aids, a whistle, and within one compartment, there was a palm-sized flat medicine box filled with various medicines.

There was a lot inside the box, most of which Zheng Tan couldn’t use, but during his last trip with the Jiao family to send Jiao Yuan to Beijing, Hou Junyi had told him about various supplies and methods of use inside the treasure box. Zheng Tan didn’t remember everything, but he vividly recalled the contents of the container in the very bottom layer.

At the bottom, Zheng Tan took out the box inside and opened it to look.

Inside was a metal object resembling an automatic pencil next to which lay a slender cylindrical case which, to an uninformed observer, might seem like a container for pencil leads.

Both ends of the cylinder could be opened, and it contained some granular objects.

This “automatic pencil” actually functioned as a launcher, while the contents of the cylinder were specialized bullets. According to Hou Junyi, the pointed “bullets” were anesthetic bullets, and the flat-topped ones were electric shock bullets, the latter being more than twice the size of the former, and thus fewer in quantity.

Zheng Tan counted them–five anesthetic bullets, two electric shock bullets.

The person who had taken the box would never have guessed that what seemed likely to be a container for valuables would instead become a powerful tool for Zheng Tan. Originally planning to make a fortune afterwards, it turned out to be a reckless act.

Zheng Tan looked at the “pen” and “pencil leads” in his hand, wondering about the effects of this pen and the two types of “bullets.”

This gadget was made by Hou Junyi’s grandfather. It had been three years since Hou Junyi gave the box, and that summer, when Zheng Tan met Hou Junyi at Fang Mengmeng’s home in Beijing, Hou Junyi mentioned that the boy now had a new treasure box with fully upgraded tools, and this special automatic pencil had already undergone several improvements. The one in Zheng Tan’s treasure box was quite primitive.

Compared to the equipment now in Hou Junyi’s hands, Zheng Tan’s was definitely outdated, but to Zheng Tan, it was already a good emergency tool, providing him some protection.

Given that these were items safe enough for Hou Junyi, they definitely weren’t too dangerous or uncontrollable, so the effects of these two types of “bullets” were definitely limited and not lethal, making them suitable for defense and some emergency situations.

The box contained too many items, including some very interesting gadgets, but unfortunately, Zheng Tan couldn’t possibly take everything. The box itself was too conspicuous, making it impractical for Zheng Tan to simply carry it out safely. Therefore, he could only take a few items.

Setting the “pen” and “pencil leads” aside, Zheng Tan closed and locked the box, then took the “pen” and “pencil leads” and looked for an opportunity to leave.

A normal person could handle these two items with one hand, but Zheng Tan needed both hands. Since his hands were occupied, he had to make do with walking on his two legs.

Zheng Tan wanted to test the “pen” first to get a feel for it and, to avoid making noise and alerting anyone, he moved a bit farther away.

Feeling the distance was sufficient, Zheng Tan climbed a tree, which was relatively safer.

After fumbling for a while, Zheng Tan twisted open the front third of the “pen,” loaded a pointed bullet, and screwed the pen back together.

He looked around.

On the tree in front of him, a bird with bluish-gray feathers was chirping. Zheng Tan aimed the pen at the unfortunate bird.

Without a sight, he had to rely on feeling. It was Zheng Tan’s first attempt, and he wasn’t very confident, but fortunately, the bird was about the same size as the magpies on campus and was quite close.

Zheng Tan held the “pen” with one hand and pressed the button at the end of the pen with the other.

With a light click of the button, the bird fell from the branch and landed in the bushes below, without even a chirp. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to NovelFire.net to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.NovelFire.net to continue reading.)

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