Chapter 224: Chapter 220: The Bound Person Chapter 224: Chapter 220: The Bound Person Zheng Tan followed the two people from not too far away, moved his ears, turned his head to look back, and noticed that Black Gold was following behind but did not immediately catch up; instead, he kept some distance.

Cats have the advantage in terms of size and agility, so maintaining some distance was better to avoid being detected by the two people ahead. As long as he followed Zheng Tan, Black Gold wouldn’t lose track of him.

The two individuals also glanced around while talking but didn’t notice anything unusual, which made them feel much more at ease.

However, these two didn’t realize that sometimes, the followers weren’t just people but could also be animals. Maybe they thought that, in the cold winter daylight, there wouldn’t be any dangerous animals around?

Regardless, Zheng Tan’s tracking was quite successful, and he followed the two men to a two-story tiled house near the foot of the mountain. From the outside, it looked roughly built and was not aesthetically appealing.

There were other people inside the house. When those two arrived, they knocked on the door, which was opened from the inside.

After getting closer, Zheng Tan hid and observed the situation for a while. He discovered cameras in two corners under the eaves and walked around the house to memorize their positions. As for whether there were other more hidden surveillance devices, Zheng Tan did not know. The house, judging by its exterior, didn’t look special or valuable—who would have thought that such a shabby house would have cameras installed?

Zheng Tan looked behind and saw Black Gold still hiding at a distance, not rashly moving forward.

The house had good sound insulation, and Zheng Tan, standing outside, couldn’t hear what the people inside were saying. At best, he could only hear some muffled sounds without being able to understand anything clearly. Hence, Zheng Tan decided to go over and check out the situation; he had a feeling that there might be something to discover here.

After taking a few steps, Zheng Tan looked back and saw that Black Gold seemed about to stand up and continue following. He quickly raised a paw toward the hiding place of Black Gold with the palm facing that way. He initially wanted to wave a hand to signal him to stop, but Zheng Tan suddenly realized that cats and people were different—would Black Gold understand?

Black Gold, preparing to rise, saw Zheng Tan’s gesture and tilted his head in confusion. A few seconds later, he lay down again, still watching in Zheng Tan’s direction.

Seeing that Black Gold lay down again, Zheng Tan breathed a sigh of relief. He now finally appreciated the benefits of operating with another smart animal; he didn’t need to make too many gestures to explain—after all, language barrier aside, comprehending the intent was all that mattered.

After walking a few more steps, Zheng Tan quickly glanced back and, not seeing Black Gold following, chose an angle where the cameras couldn’t capture him to proceed.

The external walls of the house were not heavily plastered, nor were they covered with tiles or similar materials. Zheng Tan had climbed this type of surface before, so this was not a challenge for him now. He agilely scaled the wall. There were three spots to avoid the cameras, and Zheng Tan chose this particular spot because it was adjacent to the mountain and faced the mountain wall. Precisely for that reason, this side was not closely watched—the cameras installed at the corners could only monitor the distance and not see right below them.

The main reason, actually, was that there was a broken iron-barred window on this side. Perhaps those people didn’t think this window was important, or figured the iron bars were sufficient and didn’t bother to replace the broken glass but instead used a piece of cardboard torn from a box to cover it, which at least served to block the wind.

Zheng Tan pushed the cardboard covering the broken window and entered through the gap.

The room was full of boxed goods. Zheng Tan looked at the text and images printed on the cardboard boxes— “XX Brand Sandwich Candy,” “XX Brand Milk Tea,” all from the same brand, a name Zheng Tan had never heard before, likely not a legitimate manufacturer, probably counterfeit goods. The logo was strikingly similar to a famous food brand, just missing one stroke.

What amused Zheng Tan even more was that there was even a “no inspection required” logo printed on them.

However, if it were just counterfeit goods, there was no need for such elaborate arrangements. Senior Hetao wouldn’t take risks for this.

All the boxes were sealed with tape except for a few near the door that were not fully sealed. Zheng Tan jumped on them and saw from the packaging that they were of poor quality.

The room’s door was also locked, which Zheng Tan couldn’t open, since it was locked with an iron lock from the outside. Unless someone came to open the door, Zheng Tan wouldn’t be able to exit through it.

After surveying the room, Zheng Tan noticed an opening in the corner of the suspended ceiling. He jumped on some boxes stacked quite high, leaving only about seventy to eighty centimeters from the ceiling. Standing on top, he could closely observe the gap.

Zheng Tan saw that theedges of the gap had bite marks, probably gnawed by rats. However, the gap was only big enough for rats to enter; Zheng Tan couldn’t fit through.

The ceiling was made of wooden boards, using a cheaper type of wood. Over the years, some boards had developed visible gaps between them. Through these gaps, many dark stains were visible. At that moment, the wind outside was strong, and Zheng Tan could feel the air laced with a musty smell blowing through those gaps.

Zheng Tan stood on the edge of the stacked boxes, lightly jumped up, and hooked onto the gap. The wood board made a slight creaking sound. This noise wasn’t much, just audible inside the room. Besides, when the wind outside was strong, the ceiling also made sounds, so the small noise caused by Zheng Tan wouldn’t attract anyone’s attention.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep