Chapter 184: 184 Chapter 184: 184 Zheng Tan stayed up in the tree, the cat below as well as another in the distance with a somewhat familiar voice were calling out, as if summoning their comrades. Zheng Tan wanted to howl too, but he knew that if he let out a loud howl, it was likely that the East District courtyard would erupt in chaos. So he refrained. He didn’t want to stir up trouble over there, where troublemakers were aplenty—if provoked, there would be no peace that night.

Rustling sounds were already spreading around him, and Zheng Tan glanced down to see that roughly four more cats had arrived, judging by how these cats ran, they didn’t seem to be injured, so it was possible that they were not from the group that had been there a few days before. The Cat Tamer they hadn’t yet encountered likely had more than just two or three cats under his command.

It might not be the same group as last time, but Zheng Tan still held a grudge against them.

One against five?

No, Zheng Tan still chose to pick them off one by one.

These cats were trained, and even a grown human couldn’t avoid a few scratches from them; they were not like the “softened” Leopard Cat. Cat claws don’t see where they’re going, and Zheng Tan didn’t want to get scratched. The process wasn’t important, as long as the result was the same.

Zheng Tan chose as his first target the largest one, which was also the one that had chased him and started roaring at him, the one that felt the most dangerous to Zheng Tan. As for the other four, let them continue to scurry behind.

After summoning its comrades, the cat seemed to grow fiercer, climbing up the tree towards Zheng Tan, baring its teeth at him and emitting a threatening low growl, which felt very oppressive both psychologically and in terms of momentum in this originally quiet forest.

However, Zheng Tan wasn’t a real cat, and a cat is not a monkey; fighting on trees was quite limiting, and relatively speaking, Zheng Tan had much more of an advantage. Obviously, this cat wasn’t accustomed to Zheng Tan’s method of moving through the trees, and although it didn’t hesitate like the others when jumping, it lacked experience. Its landing points weren’t so precise. Taking advantage of this, Zheng Tan waited for the right moment to kick, and without surprise, he sent the cat tumbling down.

There were plenty of branches below, and the cat caught one to cushion its fall before landing in the grass. To have such a reaction after taking a kick from Zheng Tan was quite remarkable. Before it had a chance to steady itself upon landing, Zheng Tan had already descended from the tree, swiping at it with his claws.

And then, he scratched off a clump of fur.

That’s why with cats that have a thick coat of long hair, it’s like they’re wearing a piece of soft armor, always able to reduce the impact of an opponent’s attack considerably. For this reason, Zheng Tan could not attack this cat directly like he did the short-haired Leopard Cat.

If claws couldn’t resolve the issue effectively, then he’d just have to deal with it physically.

Even though he didn’t use his full strength, in order to prevent revealing some of his own secrets, Zheng Tan still held back somewhat. Even so, two slaps and a kick were a significant hit to the cat that had just fallen from the tree.

Zheng Tan noticed that the cat’s leg seemed to be injured, either sprained or broken. Usually, with such injuries, one shouldn’t move around carelessly, especially in the case of a fracture. However, this fellow still looked ferocious, with its mouth wide open growling, ears flattened back, and fur bristled, making its body appear more imposing. Unfortunately for it, these tactics had no effect on Zheng Tan, but they were not to be underestimated. When Zheng Tan had gone to hit it, if he hadn’t dodged quickly, he would have been scratched, as evident by the piece of bark torn off from the tree trunk beside them.

After swatting away a cat that pounced from the side, Zheng Tan was about to give the long-haired cat in front of him a couple more slaps to shut it up when suddenly his ears twitched. He retreated to beside a thick tree, ready to dash up it if the situation turned sour.

When Zheng Tan saw the three figures that burst forth, he felt somewhat relieved. It was indeed Ah Wu’s three cats. At that moment, he also remembered that the distant roar sounded very much like the one from the white-bodied, black-tailed cat known as Gui Yuan.

A cat leaped down from a tree behind Zheng Tan and lunged towards him. Just as he was about to turn and strike a slap, a figure darted out of the bushes with an agility that belied its size and pounced, pinning the cat behind Zheng Tan to the ground. The pinned cat let out a shrill scream of “Waa wuuu—”.

Big Fatty always seemed lazy and amiable, but when he got ferocious, his fighting ability was definitely stronger than the sheriff’s, something Zheng Tan had always known. But he didn’t expect Big Fatty to show up here at this time. The old lady had surely instructed him not to wander off, and if she discovered Big Fatty had gone out, who knows how worried she’d become. After this incident ended, Big Fatty might well be punished to squat near the instant noodles.

That Big Fatty came here was probably because he heard Gui Yuan’s roar, but the fact he came anyway touched Zheng Tan greatly. It was evident that Big Fatty wasn’t in the same camp as Gui Yuan’s trio. The three cats coordinated too well together, and Big Fatty showed no intention of joining in. Most likely, he came to help Zheng Tan.

Truly a brother cat! So loyal!

Although Ah Wu was not nearby, the coordination among Gui Yuan’s trio of cats was evident. This sort of thing was not their first rodeo, much like pickpocket cats mastering the basic skills of stealing wallets. Gui Yuan calmy picked the best moments to act, Lianzi lacked powerful attacks but compensated with agility, and the long-haired cat Babao was resistant to scratches. This guy had a temperament somewhat like the sheriff, the more he fought, the fiercer he got. With the other two by his side, he didn’t act too recklessly.

Seeing this scene, Zheng Tan could only say that these were cats trained by Ah Wu, and they were much more disciplined than the sheriff’s bunch during their usual scuffles.

When cats engage in a PK, they do more than just run around; they also emit growls or other sounds. Zheng Tan didn’t rely on this approach, so it remained quite quiet here, but when more cats arrived and the factions faced off, the usually quiet little woods became lively.

This place was not too far from the East District courtyard. During the day, it was unlikely that the courtyard would notice the commotion in these woods, but now it was night, and this area was very quiet. Add to that, the uneven yowls of the cats fighting, and probably Babao had gotten too excited during the fight and let out a roar that spurred the others to start howling, plus the one cat that Zheng Tan had knocked down and hadn’t been able to get up and move. The courtyard heard the sporadic calls.

In the East District courtyard, Ermao was taking a bath when suddenly he heard his cat Heimi howling loudly. Without even drying off, he dashed out naked. After all, nobody else was home, so there was no need to worry about being seen.

Ermao came out to find Heimi standing on the balcony railing, yelling in one direction. Frightened, he quickly ran to the balcony and hugged Heimi back inside. Luckily, at this time of night no one was paying attention here, or they would definitely have spotted a naked man.

While Heimi was yelling, the Sheriff and Ah Huang were both scratching and calling at the door in their homes, but unfortunately, they were being closely watched and weren’t allowed out.

Suddenly, the East District courtyard became noisy again with cats meowing and a few dogs, who seemed happy only when the courtyard was in chaos, barking their heads off.

Every time there was trouble in the courtyard like this, it was either thieves or cat traders, so when the commotion started, Gatekeeper Uncle notified the university security department.

Jiao Ma and Big Fatty’s mother-in-law were the most anxious. No amount of persuasion by the neighbors could calm them, and without waiting for security to arrive, they took their flashlights and went out to look for their cats. Ermao put Heimi in a pet bag, lifted the bag, and went out the door with Jiao Ma, while Qu Xiangyang, who lived across from the Jiao family, once again took care of the children.

Beyond all this, the fourth floor of Building B was not quiet either.

“Let me out! Let me out——” General tapped the wire mesh with his toes.

“You’re blind at night!” Professor Qin, who had just been woken up by the noise, retorted angrily.

Generally speaking, the vision of most birds deteriorates at night, and they tend not to call much. If they go out they can easily get lost. Parrots are the same; they would settle in quietly at night. That’s why many parrots like to burrow into people’s quilts. General had also done so before, but after he pooped in the quilt once, Professor Qin had thrown him out to sleep in the cage.

General was somewhat an unusual parrot who sometimes stayed up all night in high spirits, and although he didn’t screech loudly, he would hum little tunes to amuse himself. Since he didn’t disturb anyone, his owner, Professor Qin, let him be.

After hearing Professor Qin’s scolding, General paused for a moment, then continued tapping the wire mesh, even louder than before, and shouted in a tone reminiscent of an opera performance, “Let~ me~ out~~”
“Go to sleep!”

Meanwhile, things were looking up for Zheng Tan.

Even though Zheng Tan could take care of those few cats by himself, having helpers meant he could free up some time to look for that Cat Tamer sooner.

Another reason Zheng Tan chose this little forest was that the terrain and layout around it made it easier for him to look for the Cat Tamer behind all this.

At that moment, the Cat Tamer was hiding behind a statue, observing through night vision goggles. He had been having a hard time lately, with the police watching closely, and another Cat Tamer Ah Wu waiting in the wings. It was only after hearing that Ah Wu was not allowed near Chuhua University that he decided to make his move here, not expecting to fail like this.

Last time he hadn’t deployed “Boss,” and had taken heavy losses. This time, determined to get revenge, he switched to a group of healthier cats, led by “Boss,” but what he didn’t expect was that, in a university, there were so many fierce fighting cats!

Shouldn’t the cats in a campus setting be tamer?

However, the reality was that the four cats he had trained last time could only claim a tragic victory over those two cats. Now, starting off with “Boss” getting taken down, the rest of the cats that followed weren’t exactly mild characters either. Furthermore, the three cats belonging to Ah Wu had appeared here!

The Cat Tamer’s mind was racing with thoughts, but before he could figure out what was happening, he realized that the cat who had easily taken down his hard-trained “Boss” was actually running straight toward him!

Holy shit!

The Cat Tamer didn’t care about the cats in the forest anymore, he turned and ran. The cats in the forest were too busy being pinned down to help him. And, having trained cats for years, he was certainly able to discern which cats were easy to tangle with and which weren’t. Confronted with this cat, it was best to run first.

As Zheng Tan chased after the Cat Tamer, Ermao, following Heimi’s reactions, led the old lady and Jiao Ma towards the small forest.

Upon hearing his name called by the old lady, Da Pang ferociously bit the cat it was pinning down once more, then ran out of the forest and leapt into the old lady’s arms.

The old lady’s hands trembled as she asked Ermao to help shine the flashlight and check her own cat’s condition. Da Pang’s mouth was still sticking with cat fur that clearly wasn’t his own. The poor lighting made it hard to spot minor injuries, but no major wounds were visible, which considerably eased the old lady’s mind.

Jiao Ma continued to call for her cat, and if not for Ermao holding her back, she probably would have gone into the forest herself. The sounds of cats meowing inside the forest were downright eerie. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep