Not a word that left Zhao Yao"s mouth a.s.suaged the misery his sister felt. She left the park with a solemn frown firmly in place.
"S**t, I might have made things worse," he lamented, covering his face with his hands.
While he wallowed in self-pity and blame, he picked up the sound of excited paw-steps approaching.
Roly Poly, Matcha, and Dust Ball were charging towards their owner enthusiastically. Between them, they were holding onto a struggling Dragon Li cat with their mouths.
After a horrific week in the extradimensional belly, Zhao Yao had finally let him back into the world. The fat cat was happy to rid himself of the tumor that was Lion Head, whom was still patiently antic.i.p.ating his return.
Zhao Yao had tasked the supercats to locate the cat king in their district whenever he trained Zhao Xue. He had to abandon the cat colony in Jiangmen University after all, so he sought to take down the king in his own neighbourhood instead.
Tonight, it seemed that the three musker-cats had succeeded.
Roly Poly, Matcha, and Dust Ball dumped the cat on the ground. His limbs were haphazardly bound together. He rolled around the ground helplessly, mewling.
The Dragon Li cat looked fairly young. Zhao Yao suspected that he was barely a year old. Hurt and fear were written plainly on his small face.
"Let me go!"
"Please don"t eat me! I"ve never groomed myself. I smell really bad!"
"Oh, Mama, how I wish you were here."
He made a sorry sight.
Zhao Yao pursed his lips as he turned to Matcha.
"This guy"s the cat king in our district?" he questioned.
Matcha nodded. "Yes, that"s him. He"s the only supercat in the neighborhood besides us. We beat him up a little before bringing him here."
At the mention of this, the little cat let out a sob.
"Why did you guys beat me?" he cried, "I was sleeping when you ganged up on me! And hurt me! You are mean."
"What?" Zhao Yao narrowed his eyes at the three supercats.
Matcha and Roly Poly spoke simultaneously.
"It wasn"t me, it was Roly Poly."
"It wasn"t me, it was Matcha."
Zhao Yao pursed his lips.
"Alright, just go home, all of you," he waved them off.
The trio immediately sprung towards their home. Matcha turned back when he was a safe distance away.
"Don"t forget the red packets!"
"Yes, yes. I"ll send them in a moment."
The three cats cheered in unison, then ran away.
"Remember to wipe your feet first! And you can only play games after you"ve eaten," Zhao Yao called after them.
"Yes, we know!" Matcha yelled back.
Zhao Yao shook his head at their disappearing figures. Then, he bent down and lifted the little cat into his arms. He carefully loosened him from the web of ropes that kept his limbs bound tightly together.
He scratched the back of the cat"s head as a form of comfort.
"Alright, alright. Everything"s fine now. No one"s going to eat you. Speaking of, do you want a bite?"
After he posed this question, he held out a small sausage in front of the cat.
His kind gestures stopped the cat"s pitiful wails, but he still glanced at Zhao Yao warily. He looked at the sausage and instinctively licked his lips, but did not dare to eat it.
Zhao Yao knew that many strays were naturally skeptical of people, so he was patient with the little one. He continued ma.s.saging the top of his head while releasing Celestial Beats, which made it easier for the cat to relax.
Half an hour later, amid the noise of a growling stomach, the cat took a tentative lick of the sausage. Having made sure that it tasted okay, he took one ma.s.sive bite after another. He was practically inhaling the sausage, as if afraid that it would disappear at any time.
"There"s no need to rush. Make sure you chew your food so you don"t choke," Zhao Yao said soothingly, still stroking the young cat.
Once he was finished, he b.u.mped his head against Zhao Yao"s chest affectionately.
"You"re this district"s cat king, aren"t you? What"s your superpower?" he asked.
The Dragon Li no longer had any reservations around Zhao Yao.
"My power is amazing!" he exclaimed.
The cat"s voice sounded like a young boy"s. It was high-pitched and bright.
He leaped from Zhao Yao"s arms and landed gracefully on the ground. He then raised his b.u.t.t and shook his body so hard that it looked like he would explode.
"Nnnn...nnn..," he growled with exertion.
"Wow? Is he concentrating all his energy for his power?" Zhao Yao wondered, "Did Matcha manage to capture him because he needed to take time to unleash his power?"
As his mind whirred with all kinds of possibilities, the cat stopped vibrating as quickly as and when he started. There was a gentle flopping sound that followed. The cat moved away from his original spot, a smug grin on his face.
On the ground was a pile of brownish yellow stuff that emitted a faint odor.
Zhao Yao stared at it wordlessly.
"That"s s**t. That"s just s**t, isn"t it?"
The cat looked up at him brightly, a sparkle in its eyes.
"Yes! That"s my power!" he grinned.
Zhao Yao scratched the bottom of his chin.
"Well, I believe p.o.o.ping is a natural course of action we can all do. How is it a superpower?" he said matter-of-factly.
"My p.o.o.p isn"t normal! It"s poisonous!" the cat replied confidently.
Zhao Yao took another look at the pile of s**t, which was beginning to smell downright foul. He had no qualms that the cat was telling the truth. It smelt poisonous.
"Okay, but who"s going to eat your p.o.o.p? What"s the point of it being toxic if no one will put it in their mouths?" Zhao Yao questioned.
Having verified that this cat was in no way a threat, he started to discuss the Cat King Compet.i.tion with him.
Useless as his power might be, it turned out that the Dragon Li knew a lot about the contest.
"I hate fighting, so I"ve never intended to take part," he said in his boyish voice.
"Hey, you shouldn"t give up that chance. Remember that fat ginger cat? He can take your place. But you"ll have to let us know when the compet.i.tion begins," Zhao Yao suggested.
"Oh yeah, you don"t know where I live."
Zhao Yao led the cat to his front door, made sure that he could recognize his house, then fed him a meal.
The stray had never tasted cat food before, much less premium quality ones, so he wolfed it down in minutes, relis.h.i.+ng every mouthful.
Zhao Yao continued to pat him as he planted his face in the food dish.
"With that special power of yours, perhaps I should call you Yellow Mud. Yellow Mud, feel free to come back if you need food. Just go through that flap there."
"And remember to let us know when you receive your invite to the compet.i.tion."
"Okay, I got it," Yellow Mud responded through bites of food.
After he bade goodbye to the little cat, Zhao Yao stretched his back with a yawn. He was exhausted.
"I"ll sleep right after a shower."
He grabbed his pajamas and walked into the bathroom, where Baiquan was was.h.i.+ng his hands.
"Hey, do you need the bathroom? If not, I"m gonna shower," he said, pulling his top off.
"I"m good, Boss. You go ahead."
Zhao Yao nodded. He heard the tap faucet turn off.
"Help me close the door when you leave."
"Okay."
The moment Zhao Yao had stripped off all his clothes, he heard a succession of sounds.
It started with a gentle thud that sounded behind him. There was a swish as a piece of soap slid towards him and slowly skidded to a stop between his feet.
The door was slammed shut.
The next thing he heard was Baiquan"s voice, which was unsettlingly close.
"Boss, can you pick up the soap for me?"
Zhao Yao froze.