I Didn't See Anything

Chen Gang gave chase after the cat. With a meow, the orange cat darted off at blinding speed, leaving Chen Gang far behind. Yet whenever Chen Gang was about to lose sight of it, the cat would stop, flicking its tail and sticking out its tongue at him. Furious and suspecting nothing amiss, Chen Gang chased it all the way into the bamboo grove on the back mountain. Before he knew it, the cat had vanished without a trace. Panting as he stared at the grove before him, exhausted and infuriated, Chen Gang was just considering whether to turn back when howling wolves echoed from deep within the bamboo, accompanied by a human voice. "A stranger's here!" "Catch him and present him to the King!" While Chen Gang stood frozen in shock and disbelief, three wild wolves burst out of the bamboo grove. Following leisurely behind the wolves was the very orange cat he had been chasing. It looked at Chen Gang and shouted, "That's him! Catch him and haul him up the mountain!" Seeing the three wolves glaring at him hungrily, and hearing the cat speak in a human tongue, the unarmed Chen Gang trembled from head to toe, utterly terrified. "M-Monster!" Chen Gang shrieked, spun around, and fled. Stumbling and tripping, he was driven uphill by the wolves. In his panic, he had no time to pick his way. The crags around him grew increasingly bizarre, and the boundless bamboo grove seemed to go on forever. Panting, he came to a halt, only to hear the cat monster's faint voice carried from afar on the chilling wind: "That fellow toils all day, so his sinews and bones will have a good chew. He'll make a delicious stew if we catch him." Hearing this, Chen Gang clamped both hands over his mouth in terror and held his breath as best he could. Only after the cat's voice faded completely did he bolt, running in the opposite direction. Yet before he had taken many steps, he came upon a clearing where monkeys, foxes, wild dogs, and wolves gathered in swarms. They held wooden cups and bowls filled with what seemed to be steaming meat and wine, which gave off rich aromas. Some stood on two legs like humans while others sat cross-legged on the ground. As they mingled, some held up wine cups while others clasped their hands in polite greetings, resembling a banquet held by mortals—yet it reeked of chilling demonic qi. Cold sweat broke out down Chen Gang's back at the sight. In the center was a bizarre figure dressed in a grey short jacket, with his back turned to Chen Gang. He cradled a cat in his hands, mouth wide open as he licked its fur with slurping noises, presenting an intensely grotesque sight. Chen Gang had seen cats in the village groom each other before. Seeing this, he could not help but wonder if this figure was some cat monster that had taken human form and thus still licked cats. His teeth chattering, Chen Gang thought to himself, *The wild cats on the back mountain have turned into spirits!* Gazing at this grotesque scene in the bamboo grove, Chen Gang's heart pounded like thunder. Mustering the greatest courage of his life, he backed away step by step. Finally, he broke into a frantic sprint. When one of his shoes came off, he did not dare look back, racing straight down the mountain. Bypassing his own home, he bolted toward Qingyang Temple, desperate to summon the Daoist priests to vanquish the demons and monsters. He dashed along the dirt road, soon arriving in the open countryside where signs of human life gradually dwindled. Halfway there, he saw Zhou Ergou standing by the roadside, ambling sluggishly toward him. Noticing Chen Gang's frantic demeanor, Ergou asked curiously, "Chen Gang, what happened? Why are you in such a panic?" Out of breath, Chen Gang stammered, "M-Monsters! A cat monster on the back mountain wants to eat me! He led three wolves chasing me all over the mountain! Said he's going to brew me into stew and eat me!!" Chu Qiguang put on a look of shock and fright. "Monsters on the back mountain? Really?" Chen Gang nodded vigorously. "And there's another cat monster as big as a person! Drinking with a pack of monsters! It was even holding a cat and licking it over and over... licking and licking..." Chen Gang kept nodding as he spoke, but as he did... his eyes suddenly locked onto the grey short jacket Zhou Ergou was wearing, and he froze. It was the exact same clothes worn by the bizarre figure licking the cat. Then he suddenly remembered: wasn't the wild cat he'd been chasing the very one Zhou Ergou was always holding? In an instant, Chen Gang felt as if he had plunged into an icy cavern. Swallowing hard, he looked up to see Zhou Ergou gazing at him with an expression of deep concern. "Are you going to the Daoist temple to find a priest? Let me go with you." Looking at the right hand Zhou Ergou extended toward him, Chen Gang instinctively took a step back, forcing an awkward smile. "I... I probably saw wrong. What Daoist priest? I'd better just go home and sleep." With that, he turned and left, but every step was filled with dread, as though a vicious beast were staring at his back, ready to pounce at any second. At last, unable to endure the pressure any longer, he whipped around, only to discover that Zhou Ergou had vanished. A cold wind swept across the dirt road, stirring up clouds of dust. Faint wolf howls drifted from the distance once more, leaving the wilderness before him unnervingly desolate and silent. *Could Zhou Ergou really be a monster?* Chen Gang pondered, then hurried on. This time, he decided to avoid the main road and take a side trail to skirt around Zhou Ergou on his way to the temple. Dense thickets lined both sides of the narrow path. From time to time, branches and leaves brushed across his body like a woman's hands stroking past. "Meow—" Hearing the meow, Chen Gang froze stiff with terror. He turned his head to look. An ordinary calico cat was staring at him with wide eyes. He breathed a slight sigh of relief, yet something about the cat still felt off. He turned around to resume walking toward the temple, only to crash right into something. Looking up, he saw Zhou Ergou staring at him blankly. "Didn't you say you were going home?" Terrified to his core, Chen Gang stammered, "I... I took a wrong turn." Chu Qiguang said coolly, "You said earlier that the cat monster you saw on the back mountain..." The next moment, a meow came from behind Chen Gang. "Did the cat look like this?" Chen Gang turned around and saw the orange cat sauntering forward step by step, looking at him with a mocking sneer, scaring him pale. "Monsters!" Chen Gang spun around to run, only to slam straight into Zhou Ergou. The other clamped a hand hard onto his shoulder, pinning him so he couldn't escape no matter how hard he struggled. "Did the person licking the cat look a lot like me?" Chen Gang looked up to see Zhou Ergou gazing at him with an eerie grin, his slightly narrowed eyes as sharp as a cat's. To make matters worse, the very cat that had been licked appeared as well, leaping straight onto Ergou's shoulder and peering at Chen Gang with curiosity. It was none other than Qiao Zhi's subordinate, the white cat Jinxiu. Behind Ergou, the silhouettes of the three wild wolves slowly emerged, baring their fangs and snarling at him. Chen Gang shook like a sieve at the sight, but held fast by Zhou Ergou, he was completely unable to move. He could only lower his head, doing his utmost to avoid Chu Qiguang's gaze as he babbled wildly, "I... I don't know anything! I was mistaken! It was just mountain monkeys raping a female cat! There are no monsters at all! I didn't see anything..." Chu Qiguang merely chuckled as he dragged him bit by bit into the woods beside the road. Following behind, Qiao Zhi licked his lips. "This guy's full of hot blood. Just as well I called Xiaohei over." Right then, footsteps and shouting from outside the woods reached their ears.