"As soon as you mentioned a group of cats, I remembered! Just a few weeks ago, people kept throwing cat corpses into that western part of the forest. Even the police came to investigate several times but couldn't find any clues!"
Sitting on the tree stump, the middle-aged man's face showed obvious anger. "Especially last week, cat corpses were thrown there almost every day. The number was so large it was like someone had caught all the cats in the entire forest!"
"They all say it's the vengeful spirits of those who died in this forest seeking revenge, but since when do vengeful spirits seek revenge on cats?"
"If you ask me, there's definitely some cat-abusing bastard in the nearby towns! Damn things... they better not let me catch them!"
Getting more and more indignant, the middle-aged man suddenly stood up and walked quickly in one direction, huffing with anger.
"Come on! I'll take you to see!"
Looking at the middle-aged man who was clearly worked up, Evans turned his head, gave a look to the two people behind him, and followed first.
Perhaps because he was very angry, the uncle walked very quickly. Before long, he had brought Evans to a dim forest area where the light wasn't very good.
"Is this it?"
"Yes! Right around here! There haven't been any these past two days, but last week there were some almost every day!" Pointing at several shorter trees around them, the uncle's face was red with anger. "Those beasts are so arrogant... they throw cat corpses here in broad daylight without any attempt to hide it, clearly not afraid of people discovering them!"
"Not to mention how cruel it is, one time when I was night jogging past here, I saw several cats hanged from ropes. That scene nearly scared me to death!"
It was as if he had finally found someone he could confide in, and he began pouring out his grievances.
"Because of that incident, I moved my jogging time from evening to noon! If I weren't afraid of encountering that disgusting scene again, who would want to exercise under the blazing sun?"
"After half a month, my face has gotten several shades darker!"
"You're absolutely right, uncle! Look, what's this?"
Feeling he couldn't get any more useful information, Evans drew his wand from his waist and waved it in front of the uncle. A white light appeared at the wand tip.
The uncle, who had been filled with righteous indignation, suddenly went blank-eyed. After a few seconds, he scratched his head in confusion and looked around.
"How did I get here? Wasn't I jogging on the eastern side of the forest?"
"Strange!"
Looking at everything around him, the uncle suddenly shivered. While muttering to himself, he quickly turned and ran home.
This damn forest really was haunted!
Having used a Confundus Charm to get rid of the uncle, Evans turned around to look at his two teammates, who had been beside him the whole time.
"That should be all the intelligence we can get. I suggest we explore the surrounding area first."
"What does this intelligence have to do with the Cait Sith we're looking for?" Sothea asked curiously.
Evans explained. "Cait Siths are kings among cats. To them, all cats are their subjects. Such large-scale slaughter would definitely attract their attention."
"Moreover, I suspect this is exactly what those people intended."
"You think poachers want to use this to capture that Cait Sith?" Newt's eyes showed some anger. "Very likely! Those damn poachers would never let such a rare magical creature go!"
Evans nodded. "Senior, where did you get your intelligence about the Cait Sith?"
Newt pondered for a moment. "I heard it from a friend, but he also heard this news at a tavern. It's quite possible it's already spread widely."
"That makes things difficult." Evans rubbed his chin.
If it was news that had already spread, they couldn't pinpoint who knew about it.
Without further discussion, the three split up to explore the forest area in three directions. Half an hour later, they regrouped at their original location, with Evans speaking first.
"The Thestral eyes didn't see any remnants of spellcasting or similar arrays, but we can't rule out whether it was done by wizards... maybe because a week has already passed."
"The plants here are all stupid. When I ask them things, they don't respond at all. No useful clues!" Sothea said.
Newt beside them hesitated for a while before speaking softly.
"I suggest we set up an ambush around here. If those poachers really want to lure out the Cait Sith, they definitely won't give up halfway."
"Unless they've already succeeded."
After pondering for a moment, Evans nodded.
"Let's go with that plan for now."
"Meow!"
A shrill, miserable cry rang out in the room. A moment later, accompanied by a snapping sound, no more cat cries came from the room.
Carefully showing half its head by the window and looking at the scene inside the room, the black cat's emerald eyes were filled with hatred.
In the room, cat corpses were carelessly scattered on the ground. Some faced the window, their lifeless eyes containing the last trace of attachment to life before death. Beside their bodies, several human wizards were laughing wildly. They seemed to be using these cats' lives to research some kind of magic, and from their appearance, they seemed to have achieved some results.
But those cats were all its subjects!
They were subjects it had searched for bit by bit in that forest, gathered over several weeks!
But in a single night, they had all been captured by these dark wizards. If not for a few of them discovering something was wrong beforehand and risking capture to send it out of the encirclement, even it would have been caught by those humans!
As kings among cats, they possessed the talent to command cat colonies and the ability to hide their forms from both Muggles and wizards. But neither of these abilities could deal with what was happening before their eyes.
To achieve that so-called result, these humans seemed to want to kill even more of its subjects. Knowing this, it couldn't help but grip the window frame tightly, anger making its entire body tremble. But aside from anger, it could do nothing.
The entrance to this house was protected by warning charms... any approach would trigger an alert. Besides that, the cages holding its subjects were all bound with thick chains that it couldn't break open with its strength alone.
Moreover, there were simply too many dark wizards in this house. It couldn't deal with even a single adult wizard, let alone so many.
It could do nothing but watch these subjects become tools for those humans to practice magic.
"Meow..."
Letting out a tiny, dejected cry, the black cat's paws drooped powerlessly. It was so heartbroken it could barely breathe, but no matter how much it thought, it couldn't find a way to break the deadlock.
The gap in strength was like an insurmountable chasm that no amount of effort could cross.
But just then, a pair of hands suddenly reached under its arms and lifted it up while it wasn't paying attention. A boy's voice reached its ears.
"So this is where you are?"