"I won't risk the life of 'Soul Eater' by assuming that your captain is a reasonable and kind person." Qicheng's attitude was firm.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade his good brother, Leiting had no choice but to take a step back. Anyway, he had already conveyed the message to the captain, and there was no need for him to have a bad relationship with Qicheng.
"Since you insist, we can refrain from notifying our captain for now and find that cat together with you. However, if it shows even the slightest tendency to attack people, I won't hesitate any longer. Is that okay?"
"I can agree to that..." Qicheng didn't hesitate much and agreed when he saw that Leiting had made a concession.
"No! Leiting! You're covering it up!" Liu Wang's voice, still with a hint of a tremor, came from behind.
"It's okay. I trust him." Leiting walked up to Liu Wang, speaking while helping him up. At the same time, he blinked furiously, hoping that the other party would understand his hint.
Seeing Leiting's frantically blinking eyelids, Liu Wang was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted and continued to shout, "You trust him! I don't! You can't put the entire Shanglu City in danger just for the so-called brotherhood..."
It has to be said that Liu Wang's acting skills were excellent. Even though he knew that Leiting had already informed the captain, in order not to expose the situation, he still tried his best to accuse Leiting and Qicheng.
As for the subsequent development, in a very traditional way, Leiting used various words to successfully make Liu Wang willing to take a step back as well. And in order not to arouse Qicheng's suspicion, Leiting also used all his skills and engaged in a fierce acting battle with Liu Wang for a full five minutes. Only when both of them thought it was about right did the latter finally be "reluctantly persuaded."
This dedicated performance successfully prevented Qicheng from becoming suspicious, allowing the three of them to talk about the current important matter in a relatively peaceful manner.
"So, Qicheng, why on earth did you ask me to help you find the cat? Just because it's not in the park anymore?" Leiting asked the question that the other party hadn't answered before.
"That's just one of the reasons." Qicheng said, "The main thing is that when I came to look for it last night, I couldn't find it. I searched the entire park but couldn't find it. However, this morning, when I came to look for it again, I found the only human with the soul category of 'rat' that I've encountered in the park. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence and didn't think much of it. But the next second, I saw the 'Soul Eater' sneaking behind that human 'rat'. Oh, by the way, 'Soul Eater' is the name I gave that cat. I know the name is hasty and abstract, but I'm used to calling it that, and it's also used to it, so I won't change it.
"Back to the main point. After I found the 'Soul Eater', it also noticed me, and at the same time, that 'rat' left. At that time, I didn't realize that the 'Soul Eater' was following that 'rat'. I wanted to go over and touch it, but it just ran away and didn't even give me a proper look. I'm used to it. After all, I'm not really a 'human', but a 'cat'. It gets close to me just because we're 'of the same kind'. Sometimes when it's in a good mood, it lets me touch it. When it's in a bad mood, it runs away as soon as it sees me. So at that time, I just thought it was in a bad mood today and didn't think much of it, so I went back.
"When I got home, I always felt that something was wrong. After thinking for a long time, I remembered that when I saw the 'Soul Eater', it was following the 'rat'. Although the possibility is very low, it's not impossible. So I immediately ran back to the park and went to its nest..."
"Then you found that the cat wasn't there, and you couldn't find it anywhere else, so you started to suspect that the cat went to catch the 'rat'?" Leiting finished the rest for Qicheng. "That's right. That's why I was so urgent on the phone. Your name is Liu Wang, right? Aren't you good at finding pets? Then hurry up and find it! The sooner the better." Qicheng almost commanded in an ordering tone.
"I haven't settled the score with you yet! How dare you order me? You clearly said before that that cat won't attack humans on its own. Then what's the reason for saying that it went to find the 'rat'? No, I still have to report to the captain!" Liu Wang jumped up and questioned.
"At least it hasn't hurt anyone on its own yet! And that's just my guess! Maybe the truth is not like that..." Qicheng also continued to argue. Just as it seemed they were about to start arguing again, at the last moment, Leiting stepped in and persuaded them to stop.
After a series of bickering, half an hour had passed since the three of them met today, and they finally started looking for the cat.
The three of them came to another tree-lined path on the east side of the park. This path, because it is close to the fitness area and the square, compared to the path on the west side which is rarely visited during the day, this path has passers-by from time to time both day and night.
When they came to the exit of this path leading to the square, among the bushes behind the small fence at the intersection, there were two small wooden pet houses, each covered with some old clothes.
"This is the nest where 'Soul Eater' stays the most. It spends more time here than in all the other nests in the park combined." Qicheng pointed to one of the small houses and said.
"By the way, what about the cat living in the other small house?" Leiting asked curiously. He rarely passed by here because the aunts dancing square dance in the nearby square were too noisy.
"There is no other cat." Qicheng replied, "Or rather, there used to be other cats, but they were all driven away by 'Soul Eater'. Currently, almost two-thirds of the park is 'Soul Eater's territory. Other cats don't dare to come here at all and have all shrunk to the remaining one-third of the place."
"It's so fierce..." Leiting murmured softly, then looked at Liu Wang and said, "Liu Wang, it's your turn."
"I know." Liu Wang squatted down halfway and put his hand on one of the pet houses. In an instant, the "historical images" of the past three days flooded into his mind and automatically formed a three-day-long video projection playing in reverse.
Fast-forwarding the progress bar, Liu Wang quickly found the figure of the "Soul Eater" in the video projection.
After seeing the face of this superpowered cat, even though he was prepared for it because of Qicheng's description, when he saw it with his own eyes, he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.