"Alright, I'll head back now," Song Jixing nodded and then turned into a small alley nearby. She unblocked her previously suppressed five senses, avoiding the few people still on the streets of the old town.
Around half past one, the residents patrolling the streets had gone home to sleep, yet the streets were still extremely lively.
Apart from the cats' intermittent meowing, Song Jixing could also hear people talking.
"So annoying! When will this end?"
"Stop complaining. Cat meows attract wealth! Didn't you see how many customers we had today? Without these cats, we may not have earned as much money... When the cats in our yard die, I'll go to the countryside and get some more."
"Hey! You came all this way just to watch TV and sleep in the room? Why don't we go out for a stroll? I brought my camera!"
"I don't dare!...I'm scared!"
"What's there to be scared of? I think it's just the cats being in heat collectively! What's there to be afraid of?"
That's what they said, but by 2 am, there wasn't a single person on the streets.
At half past two, the cats' meowing grew even shriller. Among these ordinary meows, Song Jixing suddenly heard an unusual sound and hurried over.
In front of an isolated small courtyard, the owner of this household was sound asleep in bed.
By the wall in the yard, next to a water tub, there was a cat locked in an iron cage.
It was a round-headed ginger cat. Its ginger fur was standing on end as it paced around the cage restlessly, meowing shrilly.
Song Jixing floated over the wall lightly and looked at the small black figure struggling in front of the cage.
It seemed to be gnawing at the iron lock hanging on the cage, making cricking sounds.
As she had expected, it was a mouse.
The small black mouse gnawed vigorously, completely oblivious to the additional person behind it.
Perhaps due to Song Jixing's arrival, the cat was not as scared. Its meows were not as high-pitched as before. It just kept meowing as it paced around, staring at Song Jixing.
After gnawing for a while, the mouse realized the cat had stopped meowing. It taunted the caged cat arrogantly, "Meow! Go on, meow! Why'd you stop? Even if you meow yourself hoarse today, no one will come to save you!"
Hearing the mouse speak, the cat shrank back in fear, fur standing on end once more. It could only keep meowing at Song Jixing, crying for help with each meow.
The yard was dark without any lights or shadows.
The mouse seemed to sense something amiss and squeaked twice as it turned around.
An enormous black shadow stood behind it!
Over a hundred times its size!
The moment it sensed danger, the mouse dashed out like lightning, squeezing through the door gap and desperately escaping towards the street.
Seeing the danger gone, the caged cat relaxed its fur and let out a few meows. It lay on the ground exposing its belly to Song Jixing, letting out an ingratiating meow as if to express its gratitude.
Song Jixing ignored it completely and leapt over the enclosing wall to chase after the mouse.
In a flash, the mouse had run two streets away. But Song Jixing was faster, stepping on the enclosing walls like a feather floating lightly over them, sweeping towards the town entrance like a gust of wind.
The mouse had reached the entrance arch of the town, about to run further out.
Song Jixing plucked a small black hairpin from her hair and flung it, nailing the mouse's tail firmly to the ground.
The town entrance was illuminated with lights and security cameras so Song Jixing stood in the shadows without approaching.
With its tail nailed down, the mouse let out a shriek but with mortal danger upon it, biting off its own tail to escape took priority!
Another hairpin flew from Song Jixing, knocking out the mouse's teeth!
Another shriek rang out!
But it wasn't conspicuous amidst the sorrowful cats' meows.
The mouse wept hysterically, "If you want to kill me then do it properly! Why smash my teeth? I grew them with such difficulty and you just knocked them out like that! How will I eat in future? I can't live like this!"
It screamed loudly.
Song Jixing asked coldly, "Why did you kill so many cats?"
"What's that got to do with you?" The mouse retorted stubbornly.
Another hair clip whizzed past its fur, embedding itself in the soil beside it.
The mouse immediately fell silent, "I was wronged! Sis! I didn't deliberately bully cats. It was those cats always bullying me! They killed my siblings so I was just getting even by killing some cats. That's not going overboard right?"
Cats catch mice, then the mice get strong and kill the cats in revenge - that seemed to be the story.
However, "The dead cats were all docile in nature. They grew up eating cat food and don't eat mice or catch them. So how could they have killed your siblings?"
Before coming, Song Jixing had Shen Feixian help investigate.
The few cats that died wretchedly previously were all fat cats often fed by tourists. Each was obese and lacked hunting capabilities. Catching mice was already difficult for them, let alone running a few steps. It was unlikely they would catch mice.
On the other hand, the mouse before her killed cats intentionally and tossed the bodies in crowded places arrogantly...
Song Jixing stated her inferences from what she had observed. This mouse had many external injuries that should be from fighting with cats.
The town's cats were raised on food given by tourists since young, or kept as pets. At worst, they'd just roll over to show their belly but wouldn't bother giving a mouse a glance.
Let alone a mouse that could talk and had sharp teeth - they'd be too busy running away!
Hearing Song Jixing's words, the mouse didn't bother denying but immediately mimicked a human voice and started bawling, "Since you already know everything, why say so much more to me? Humans all like cats so you must be here to avenge those cats!"
"I'm here...just kill me!"
Two drops of filthy tears rolled out of its tiny bean-sized eyes, sliding noiselessly down its fur into the soil below.
"Cats bully mice...humans also bully mice...it's hopeless for mice..." The mouse wept sorrowfully.
Song Jixing raised her head to glance at the asphalt road in the distance but said nothing as she remained hidden in the darkness.
After crying for a while without any reaction from Song Jixing, the mouse thought she had left. It hurriedly pulled at its tail, preparing to sever it and escape.
Just as the mouse struggled to tear off its tail, a sudden dark shadow abruptly charged over accompanied by the roar of an engine being switched off.
"Ahhhhh!" A shriek rang out.
"Oh no, did we hit someone?"
