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墨書 Inktalez
The missing teacher, Wang Mei, lived in another town. Unable to reach her by phone, the school decided to send a teacher familiar with her to check if she had returned home.
Ziya and everyone else stared in shock at the sudden appearance of gray-brown clouds in the sky. The gray clouds quickly swallowed the white ones, expanding into a vast expanse of gray. They obscured the bright blue sky, and within the increasingly dense gray clouds, faint flashes of lightning could be seen. Many had only witnessed such phenomena in movies, enhanced by computer graphics, yet here it was, vividly present before their eyes.
"Looks like a monster is coming," someone at the door said while puffing on a cigarette and gazing up at the sky.
"A monster? Really?" Ziya found this amusing and casually asked.
"There’s a saying in my hometown: when strange phenomena appear in the sky, it means monsters will emerge."
"Uh... is that really a saying?" Ziya pondered as he listened to the bustling discussions around him.
At that moment, the school was shrouded in darkness; every classroom had turned on their lights. It was only five o'clock, but the teachers had lost their motivation to teach due to Wang Mei's disappearance. Coupled with this bizarre natural phenomenon, anxiety filled their hearts. Some classes hurriedly sent students home, while those remaining were repeatedly warned not to wander near the school's forbidden area, Yellow Crane Tower.
Chaos erupted at the school entrance as some rushed home while others lingered, captivated by this rare natural occurrence and craning their necks to observe the dense dark clouds.
This eerie gray-brown cloud cover lingered in the sky until nightfall. Since they had not found Teacher Wang Mei, under the direction of the academic director and principal, the teachers reported her missing to the police. The sound of police sirens echoed as they arrived at the school. The remaining students were ordered into their dormitories and were not allowed to come out while officers conducted a thorough search of Yellow Crane Tower.
According to the teachers' descriptions, armed police cautiously entered the scene, alert for even the slightest noise. Inside Yellow Crane Tower, gunfire erupted suddenly. After some time, under police instruction, the school teachers entered the scene.
The sight that greeted them left them stunned. A nauseating smell of blood filled the entire floor space; dead cats lay scattered everywhere amidst pools of blood. The police on-site counted carefully and found a total of 48 wild cats. Due to long-term consumption of human organs containing drugs and undeveloped fetuses, these once docile cats had transformed into vicious carnivorous beasts.
"What is going on with all these dead cats?"
"Yes, Dead Cat, these are wild cats that either live nearby or have come in groups from far away. Their original habitat was the relocated residential area, and when the homes were demolished, people abandoned their cats and dogs.
These abandoned wild cats gradually formed groups, one by one, two by two, three by three. They communicated with each other through their cries, thriving in this place as their numbers continued to grow. The wild cats were active at night, often visiting the hospital's trash bins as their regular dining spots, while the kittens would cry out for food in the darkness.
Every night, the sharp and piercing sounds of the cats echoed back and forth. The cries of the kittens were hoarse and high-pitched, resembling the wails of infants. The teachers looked at the ground littered with Dead Cat in shock and disbelief, their hearts trembling and unsure of what to do.
As night fell, the police left, and soon after, the teachers departed from the school. The rumors of Ghost Baby seemed to be confirmed, and the onlookers quietly dispersed.
Ziya and Sun Meng returned to their dormitory. For some reason, she still felt an inexplicable unease. Was it because of those innocent cats that had died? They had once been humanity's best friends; people had loved and cherished them first. They even repaid humans' affection by catching mice, alleviating people's troubles with pests and protecting their food supplies.
Thinking of how adorable and clumsy those cats were—rubbing against people's legs and providing that warm feeling beside them—Ziya felt a heavy weight in her heart. Was this unease due to that?
The call to the police was meant to find the missing teacher but resulted in so many wild cats being killed instead. Ziya picked up a magazine but couldn't focus on it at all. She rested her arms on her neck and stared at the ceiling of the dormitory. Outside, flashes of blue lightning moved not far away; it seemed a storm was about to arrive, and the gray sky would vanish after it passed.
With the arrival of blue lightning came a deep rumble of thunder that grew louder as it approached. A rustling sound seemed to come from outside as if tree branches were scraping against the roof.
The sky was thick with clouds as a fierce wind swept through, causing branches to sway violently. The blue lightning flashed dramatically, piercing through the clouds towards Huangguoshu and Yellow Crane Tower. Thunder crashed simultaneously as lightning struck the roof of Yellow Crane Tower, sending up a plume of smoke that was instantly drenched by rain.
"It's getting windy; this wind is quite strong," Ziya murmured as she got up to close the window. Looking at Sun Meng, she thought how much like Zhu Bajie she was—always sleepy, lazy, and fond of food—her round figure making her appear quite plump… She could sleep soundly even amidst such loud thunder.
With a sudden 'crack', Ziya jumped at the sound; a thunderclap shook the window with a buzzing noise. Oh my! Ziya hurriedly dove under her blankets on the bed without taking off her shoes or changing her clothes; she lay down directly because she was terrified of thunder.
The thunder rolled in waves from outside, resembling beans hitting a concrete road with a crackling sound as heavy rain began to pour down. In an instant, there were sounds of wind, rain, thunder… No wait, there seemed to be another sound…"
Ziya hid under the covers, listening to the sound of the wind and the rain pouring down, accompanied by the crack of lightning and the rumble of thunder. Yet, there was something else mixed in... the cries of a baby... the cries of a baby?
Fear gripped Ziya. Hadn't the authorities taken care of all the wild cats? How could there still be the sound of a baby crying? The wailing was so piercing, reminiscent of mourning for a lost loved one. This heart-wrenching cry seeped into her very soul, instinctively causing her to tremble.
In her panic, she hurriedly pulled out her phone to call Zhiqing, but the booming thunder filled her with dread. She feared being electrocuted and abandoned the idea of calling Zhiqing.
Just as Ziya was about to give up on calling Zhiqing, there came a series of urgent knocks at her dormitory door. Who could be looking for someone in this storm? With a heart full of suspicion, Ziya hesitantly threw off the covers and got out of bed to open the door.
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