Amidst the decay and ruin, Ao Bai slowly opened his eyes. It felt like it was raining—his eyes were wet.
But as consciousness returned, a wave of pain washed over him, and he remembered: he had been caught by that vile human again.
His name was Ao Bai, and he hadn't always been a stray. He once had a gentle owner and lived in a spacious, clean little courtyard. Every day, after eating and drinking his fill, he would go out to scare the little birds, charm the neighborhood kids, and a few meows were all it took for someone to reach out and give him a good petting.
But one day, a human opened a can of fragrant food. He only drew near for a sniff, but the strange scent displeased him.
Spurned by the cat, the man stood up and muttered a curse. "Damn animal. Can't even be tamed with expensive food. You're a waste of space..."
Back then, Ao Bai didn't understand the malice in human words. He just kept meowing and turned to leave.
He simply hated the stench that clung to this human—a nauseating odor as repulsive as cheap canned cat food.
Before Ao Bai could saunter away, the man grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and slammed him to the ground, knocking him out cold.
An immense wave of pain stole all his strength. When he next opened his eyes, he was in a room that looked like a garbage dump.
After countless rounds of torture and resistance, and after his leg was broken, Ao Bai finally found an opportunity to escape.
He didn't look for his original owner, nor did he leave the old district. Instead, he watched the man every night. The man began to hunt birds, plucking the poor little creatures and eating them, before moving on to luring other strays. To keep everyone else from falling into the same trap, Ao Bai stood guard in the old district.
Like a rat shunning the light, he hid in the darkness, lurking in the reeking sewers day after day.
Ao Bai had thought his life would remain this dull and meaningless, but he still held his post.
But then, a strange woman suddenly appeared in the Urban Village. Rumor had it she kept two giant pythons at home, yet they all lived in harmony. They said she could communicate with animals, that she helped many of her little companions solve their problems, and would occasionally have a burst of generosity, tossing food to animals that needed to get through the winter.
At first, Ao Bai wanted to test her. The strange woman simply watched from a distance—one person and one cat, locked in a silent standoff.
In the end, Ao Bai spoke first. "Woman, I'm here to rob you. Leave the food and get out of here. Otherwise, I'll cover every spot you sweep clean with fresh garbage every single day."
The woman was strange. She just smiled, a bit foolishly, and obediently put down a strange assortment of food.
Expired snacks and bread, rotting fruit, stinking fish and shrimp she'd picked up from who knows where... aside from a can of cat food she would open for him at a set time, there was never any decent food.
Ao Bai would occasionally get angry, baring his claws as he demanded, "Don't you know pets are supposed to eat cat food?"
The woman who only ever smiled foolishly couldn't manage a smile this time. Her lips twitched, and all she could offer was a sigh.
Later, Ao Bai managed to find out that this woman was apparently very poor—the kind of poor where you couldn't afford to eat. She was a wanderer, just like him. He was a stray cat, and she was a homeless person.
Because of this shared status, Ao Bai no longer turned his nose up at the food he "robbed" from her. He'd leave the stinking fish and shrimp for the rats, the cookie crumbs for the birds, and the rotting fruit for the dumb dogs who weren't picky. As for the best of it—the leftover bread and rice—he naturally kept that for himself.
After a long stretch of this uneventful life, Ao Bai gradually let his guard down. But then, the man suddenly started showing up in the old district again, carrying cans of food.
Ao Bai was instantly on high alert, frantically warning all the other animals not to go near the man and not to eat any food he left behind.
At first, the man had no luck and grew suspicious. He started leaving the cans and then hiding in the shadows to watch. Eventually, he spotted Ao Bai.
By the time Ao Bai realized what was happening, a huge fishing net dropped over him like a trap, entangling him completely.
'Maybe this is just my fate.' Back in this filthy, putrid room, Ao Bai had lost even the will to struggle.
'I'm just an ordinary stray cat. Who would even notice if I disappeared!'
*
Meanwhile, Qiao An sat before Mu Zimo, desperately explaining the situation.
"Ao Bai isn't like other strays. He's a guardian in the old district! He wouldn't just leave. Even if he were to die, he would die there!"
Mu Zimo didn't understand the bond Qiao An felt, but he did believe that the world wasn't full of so many coincidences.
"I understand your reasoning, but we need a complete chain of evidence before we can make an arrest. Still, I'll arrange for my people to canvass the old district. If we find any suspects that fit the bill, we'll follow up."
Qiao An sighed softly. She knew there was no evidence to pinpoint a suspect.
Initially, none of this was her business. Qiao An had only discreetly shared a few clues because Mu Zimo had been generous enough to treat her to a meal.
But now Ao Bai was missing. She couldn't wait any longer.
In human eyes, Ao Bai was just a lame, filthy stray with a fierce personality—the most unlovable kind of cat.
But the little guy who held his head high every day, guarding her cleaning tools while waiting for food, was just a simple-hearted cat who liked to act tough. She had never asked his name. Every time she went out to work at night, she knew a pair of eyes was following her in the darkness.
The truth was, the stray cat was protecting her in his own way. Qiao An never spoke of it, and neither would Ao Bai. It was an unspoken understanding between the two of them.
After briefly reporting everything to Mu Zimo, Qiao An left the police station, dejected. This time, she didn't even bring up the matter of a free meal.
Mu Zimo observed her departure and immediately arranged for officers to canvass the old district, hoping to identify a suspect.
Back in her familiar neighborhood, Qiao An rushed home. She tore off her work clothes and changed into a tracksuit, adding a face mask, a baseball cap, and a pair of headphones to disguise herself.
Little Bai and Little Qing poked their heads out from under the covers. They were about to ask what was going on when they saw Qiao An rush out the door again.
The clueless Little Qing didn't notice anything was wrong and was about to go back to sleep, but Little Bai smacked him sharply on the head with his tail.
"Something's happened. Let's go check it out. Maybe Big Sis needs our help."
Freeloading every day just wasn't right. Little Qing might be shameless enough to do it, but Little Bai wasn't. He deftly slid the window open just a crack and slithered out.
The blast of cold air finally woke Little Qing up, who reluctantly followed. It was almost hibernation season, and he really didn't want to leave the warm bed.
'Sigh... it's not easy being a snake!'