After walking out of the grocery store, Lei Ting and Liu Wang each carried two big bags. Just two steps out, they suddenly felt that something was wrong.
They looked down and suddenly understood. They quickly ran back to the grocery store and asked the store owner to keep an eye on the bags for them.
As a big customer of the grocery store, there was no reason for the store owner to refuse such a simple request. He agreed without hesitation.
Relieved of the burden and having eaten to about half full, the two of them felt that their strength had returned. Moreover, the grocery store owner had said that the man named Wang Yue, that is, the "rat", lived nearby.
Knowing that this arduous journey was coming to an end, Lei Ting and Liu Wang became a little excited. Just as they were about to set off, Liu Wang seemed to remember something. He said "Wait a moment" to the other two and ran back to the grocery store. Oh no, to be more accurate, he ran to the front of the grocery store.
At this time, the grocery store owner was still drinking tea. Seeing Liu Wang "visit the grocery store for the third time", he was just about to ask, but Liu Wang forcefully replied, "I seem to have dropped a small thing and came to look for it." After saying that, without waiting for the boss's consent, he squatted halfway down and started looking close to the ground.
Seeing this scene, Lei Ting immediately understood Liu Wang's purpose. Qicheng, who had observed all the way and, although not knowing the specific ability, had roughly guessed, also understood.
Liu Wang touched the cement ground in front of the grocery store, and a stream of images flooded into his mind.
In this image, that Taiji cat had indeed been here, which also proved that what the grocery store owner said was true.
After getting the confirmation, Liu Wang was about to leave. Suddenly, the Taiji cat in the image walked straight into the grocery store.
"?" Liu Wang was puzzled. The grocery store owner hadn't said that the cat had entered his store; he had only said that it had passed by the store.
Realizing that something was amiss, Liu Wang also took the opportunity to sneak into the grocery store. While muttering "Where is it?" he squatted down and looked under the shelves.
The image was updated. In the image, after the Taiji cat entered the grocery store, the store owner noticed it. At that time, the store owner was the only one in the store, sitting on that small wooden chair, reading the newspaper and drinking tea.
After the Taiji cat entered the grocery store, the store owner put down the newspaper. After seeing who had come, he seemed to be stunned for a moment, then stood up with a swish and took two steps back with an obviously frightened expression.
Seeing the other party retreat, the Taiji cat slowly approached the boss. Soon, the store owner was pressed against the white wall with nowhere else to retreat. The Taiji cat also got close to him and raised its cat paw, with sharp claws extending out.
Then, the Taiji cat maintained that posture, and the store owner also maintained a defensive posture with his back against the white wall and his hands covering his face. This went on for almost a minute.
"Meow!" The Taiji cat retracted its claws, turned around, and walked out. During this time, it also turned back and let out a threatening meow, then darted out and disappeared.
The store owner didn't slowly lower his arms until the Taiji cat disappeared. He covered his chest with a lingering fear and panted heavily.
The real image made Liu Wang fall into a long period of thinking. But on the surface, he said, "I can't find it. Forget it. It's not something valuable anyway." At the same time, he stood up and walked out of the grocery store.
"Let's talk somewhere else." Liu Wang whispered after walking up to Lei Ting and Qicheng.
Seeing this situation, the two immediately understood that Liu Wang had made a new discovery. So they didn't say anything and left silently.
After walking more than a hundred meters and confirming several times that the grocery store owner wasn't following them, Liu Wang carefully told Lei Ting and Qicheng what he had just seen.
After hearing this, the two also fell into a long period of thinking, but they couldn't figure out anything, and they could only confirm one thing.
That is, the grocery store owner knew something. He was so scared when he saw the Taiji cat. Either he was an extreme cat-phobic person, or he knew that the cat was not simple. And if it was the former, he didn't need to hide it and could just tell the truth. It couldn't be that he didn't say it just to save face. So the latter possibility was very high. The Taiji cat's attitude towards him also indirectly proved this. "Qicheng, did you check the soul category of the grocery store owner?" Lei Ting asked Qicheng.
"I checked. It's 'cat', just like most people. It's not 'dog', let alone 'rat'." Qicheng replied.
"That's it. The grocery store owner is definitely not an ordinary person. Even if he hasn't awakened his superpower, he must be an insider related to the supernatural." Lei Ting concluded.
"So what's the plan next?" Liu Wang asked.
"The primary goal is still to find 'Soul Eater'. Although that store owner may already know that we are not ordinary people, our goal is to take away 'Soul Eater', and he knows this. Since he is afraid of 'Soul Eater', it's all benefits for him if we take it away. He has no reason to stop us, and he may even assist us." Qicheng gave his opinion.
"I think Qicheng is right. The grocery store owner really has no reason to hinder us." Lei Ting echoed.
Liu Wang had been hesitant at first, but seeing that Lei Ting supported Qicheng and thinking that the captain was following them from behind, he stopped纠结and also expressed his agreement to look for the cat first.
The "Past Shadows" ability was activated, and the three of them continued to closely follow in the footsteps of Wang Yue from a few hours ago.
At this moment, inside the grocery store, the store owner sat on that small wooden chair, absent-minded.
"Those three young men probably have already guessed..." the store owner said and took a sip of the already cold tea in the cup.
"Boss, a bottle of mineral water." Suddenly, a voice came from the door.
"Okay. Which brand of mineral water do you want?" The store owner stood up to serve.
"Nongfu Spring is fine." said the man who was tall, had stubble, and looked a bit slovenly.
On the other hand, after another ten minutes of walking, the three of them finally arrived in front of a seven-story residential building.
This residential building was obviously quite old. Not only had a lot of the building's exterior peeled off, revealing the high walls made of sand and stones inside, but also various black and green patches covered the whole building. Only under the glow of the setting sun could this ugly appearance be briefly concealed.
They walked into the building. Smelling the faint smell of lime and dust in the air, the three of them stepped into the elevator that looked almost like an antique from the outside.
The "Past Shadows" ability was activated, and Liu Wang quickly found out which floor Wang Yue's home was on.
Pressing the silver button that had obvious signs of wear and tear from the passage of time, the elevator shook as it ascended, giving the three of them a feeling that it might fall at any moment, scaring them quite a bit.
The elevator reached the sixth floor, where Wang Yue's home was located. The three of them couldn't wait to jump out of the elevator.
After touching around on the sixth floor a few more times, Liu Wang successfully found Wang Yue's door.
Standing in front of the door, Lei Ting was pushed to the front by Liu Wang, indicating that he should knock on the door.
They needed to confirm whether the "rat" was safe.
"All right, I'll do it." Lei Ting said and raised his hand to knock on the door.