Chapter 22: The Contempt of a Cat
“Where the hell did those crows come from? They scratched my face so badly I’m almost disfigured! Damn it, it hurts like crazy!”
Late at night, three men walked along a quiet path, their faces smeared with ointment as they cursed nonstop.
Although this villa district was newly built, few residents had moved in, so they didn’t bother lowering their voices.
That made it convenient for the police hiding in the dark to eavesdrop.
“Damn bad luck! That cursed black cat and those cursed crows! Do you think this is some kind of omen? Maybe we should pack up and run after we get back!” The bald man in the middle suddenly recalled the superstition about crows bringing misfortune.
The other two were about to retort, but thinking about what had happened that day, they swallowed their words.
The money had already been transferred anyway. There was no point keeping the man alive. Better kill him and bury him in the garden as fertilizer.
At that thought, they quickened their pace.
When they reached the villa and stepped inside, the unnatural stillness made the bald man’s heart jolt.
“Wait! Something feels off! My right eyelid keeps twitching!” There was that saying—left eye for fortune, right eye for disaster. They had already had one stroke of bad luck today. Why was it still twitching?
His heart pounded violently, as if warning him. In a panic, he turned to leave, but his companions grabbed him.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t want to kill him and plan to leave us here?” They clenched his arms tightly, refusing to let him go.
The captain, observing from a distance, silently exhaled in relief. If they had turned around and left, the plan would have fallen apart.
Fortunately, they went inside.
Perhaps sensing the bald man’s unease, the three headed straight for the farthest room after entering.
But when they burst through the door together, what they saw first was not the man tied to the chair—
It was a tabby cat crouched by the window, tail flicking lazily.
At some point, the curtains had been drawn open. Moonlight streamed in, illuminating the tabby’s eerie green eyes.
“A cat? How did another cat get in? Didn’t we lock the doors before leaving?” The bald man was so jittery that any small anomaly made him shout.
The others also felt something was wrong—but the most urgent task was to finish off the last victim.
“Forget it. Kill him first, then toss the body upstairs into the garden too!” They lunged toward the man in the chair.
The next second, they felt an overwhelming force yank their collars from behind. Two of them were thrown backward simultaneously, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
The bald man stared at the sudden figure in terror, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.
Before he could shout, the young man turned his face toward him. Backlit, only a pair of cold, clear eyes were visible.
Before losing consciousness, the bald man’s final thought was absurd—was this young man the black cat transformed into human form?
Why else would the human and the cat share the same gaze?
Cold. Indifferent. Predatory.
Hearing the noise, the officer upstairs rushed down and helped Lin Jiangye restrain the two suspects.
At the same time, the rest of the Major Crimes team stormed in.
Looking at the two handcuffed suspects and the one already knocked out, they suddenly felt unnecessary.
Wasn’t Captain Shang exaggerating when he said Lin Jiangye was good at fighting? Apparently not—he had subdued them this quickly.
“Why are you standing there? Where’s the ambulance?” Lin Jiangye snapped.
Although he had stopped the bleeding, the victim still needed urgent hospital care.
Fortunately, the captain had already called an ambulance when he spotted the three men returning.
Within minutes, the siren echoed through the night.
After sending the only surviving victim to the hospital, the team turned their attention back to the villa.
“Alright, leave the rest to us,” the captain said. Collecting evidence was their responsibility. Consultant Lin had already done more than enough.
“Wait. The German Shepherd said there’s a body in the back garden.”
After the arrests, the Shepherd had reported smelling death there.
“In the back garden. The smell is strange,” it said, rubbing its nose.
The black cat, who had been watching the ambulance leave, walked in and confirmed, “That’s where I smelled it too.”
With both animals confirming, the location was clear.
Lin Jiangye carried the two cats and led the group to the neglected back garden. Even he could sense a faint unpleasant odor.
The Shepherd barked and moved to a specific spot, sniffed, then lay down—exactly how a trained police dog signals something suspicious.
Everyone’s faces stiffened. They hadn’t forgotten about the missing villa owner.
After digging together, they uncovered the owner’s corpse.
The sight made several officers turn away, swallowing back nausea.
The forensic doctor frowned deeply at the heavily decomposed body. After carefully lifting it out and conducting a preliminary examination, he reported:
“The body was likely treated with some chemical before being buried, accelerating decomposition. However, based on the fly eggs present, death occurred at least two days ago. I’ll need to conduct a detailed autopsy to confirm.”
“As for cause of death—petechial hemorrhages in the eyes, bulging eyeballs—I suspect asphyxiation.”
Asphyxiation.
The team immediately thought of the body upstairs, also smothered.
The suspects had deliberately damaged the corpse. With neighboring villas unoccupied, by the time the stench drew attention, they would have long fled.
The forensic findings aligned with financial records—the last bank transfer occurred two days ago. It was suspected the suspects had tortured the owner, forced him to reveal banking credentials, drained his funds, and then killed him.
But many questions remained. How had they entered the villa? Were the transferred funds sent to the suspects’ own accounts? Who was the third victim?
All required further investigation.
Lin Jiangye’s part was done for now. He returned to his car with the animals.
Once inside, the black cat made a request.
“Human, can you take me to see him later?”
Though the man had been rescued, the cat still worried.
“After he’s better. I just want to see him once.”
It rubbed against Lin Jiangye’s hand, even licking his wrist.
For a stray leader, this was a rare display of humility.
Lin Jiangye gently stroked its head. The fur was coarse and slightly dirty.
“Alright. But before that, you’re going to the vet. No need to trade fish. I was planning to visit him anyway.”
He was curious what kind of person could inspire such loyalty from a stray cat.
He must be a very good person.
At the mention of the veterinary hospital, the black cat’s already dark face drooped further. It wanted to refuse—but remembering the “exchange,” it held back.
“But… if I don’t go back, my underlings will starve…”
It scratched nervously at the car seat, intrigued by the unfamiliar texture and clawed at it again.
Lin Jiangye tilted his head. “Where’s your territory? I can help feed them for a few days.”
After feeding flocks of crows and packs of stray dogs, adding a group of cats didn’t seem excessive.
Although… he was beginning to wonder whether he needed to hire help for this growing responsibility.
