The Unlucky Black Cat

chapter 26

This morning, Jiang Sheng woke up earlier than He Wen.

Today was the seventh day since it met the young man, just as it had estimated in its subconscious. At this moment, the black mist entwining around the young man's neck had completely dissipated.

On the other hand, the mist within Jiang Sheng had become increasingly murky and dark.

It seemed it was time to leave...

Silently watching He Wen, who was still asleep, the black cat blinked its golden eyes.

Without the mutual interference of the two resentful auras, staying by the young man's side would bring him misfortune.

Jiang Sheng was well aware of this.

Thus, it understood that it must leave.

The black cat was never one to be sentimental, especially since its time with He Wen had been very brief.

Therefore, at this moment, there should be no burden in leaving.

"Tick, tick, tick." The sound of the second hand moving in the alarm clock echoed softly.

On the windowsill, the black cat, which had already pushed open the window, turned back for one last look.

In the dimly lit room lay a young man with messy hair. His complexion was still slightly pale and haggard, but compared to a week ago, he looked much better.

At this moment, he was facing the direction of the black cat, his eyes closed, showing a faint smile, perhaps dreaming of something interesting.

Anyway, gazing at He Wen's smile, Jiang Sheng wagged its tail and thought for a while before finally deciding against leaving without saying goodbye.

However, it was not one to give formal farewells.

So the black cat simply jumped onto the desk, used its paws to turn on the computer, and rather clumsily created a document.

It had to be admitted that operating devices with a cat's body was not easy.

Of course, the main reason for the difficulty was that computers were designed for humans.

Fortunately, Jiang Sheng's limbs were flexible enough, and what it needed to say wasn't much.

Thus, after a short while, the black cat left an electronic document behind, silently jumped out the window, and departed from the small room where it had briefly stayed.

When He Wen woke up, the room had returned to its former silence, even more silent than before.

There was no purring from the black cat, no hum from the fan, and no music playing.

The curtains were half-drawn, letting in a few weak rays of sunlight. A gentle breeze brushed past, playing with He Wen's bangs.

"Little guy?"

Slowly sitting up from the bed, the young man held his cheek, calling out as if he hadn't fully woken up.

Unfortunately, there was no response.

The only change in the room was the open text document on the computer screen.

It contained a few lines of text.

The message roughly read:

Good morning. I'm sorry, but I didn't know your name until I left.

But whether you believe it or not, I've taken away your misfortune.

Originally, you might have died early, so I came near.

Now, I've done what I needed to do. From now on, please live well.

Don't be sad about this farewell. If I have free time, I'll come visit you.

Just remember to keep your distance when I do, because I might still bring misfortune.

By the way, if you don't want to see me, simply close all doors and windows when I visit. If I knock and get no answer, I'll leave.

Also, note: the middle-aged man we met on the street is not normal.

If he finds you again, be careful.

...

At the end of the document, the name written was Jiang Sheng, followed by a small bracket with the words "black cat."

Sitting in front of the computer, the young man was dazed for a long time after reading the text. It wasn't until he rubbed his eyes and confirmed he wasn't dreaming that he suddenly laughed bitterly, then slumped onto the desk, burying his face in his arms.

"Was I supposed to die?"

He Wen murmured to himself, harboring little doubt in his heart.

No one knew why, perhaps it would remain buried deep within him.

Time passed silently, another thirty minutes went by. Around 8:45 AM, the young man suddenly slapped his face and sat up straight.

He held the mouse, started a new chapter in his novel, and after some thought, gave it a title.

The title was "The Unlucky Black Cat."

The young man's idea was simple.

If there really was a cat that could take away people's misfortunes, then at least people should remember its name.

...

"So."

At the same time, downstairs in He Wen's apartment building, a girl dressed like a student was following a middle-aged man.

She was chewing gum, her hands in her pockets, and was looking at the building thoughtfully."This is the place you mentioned. It doesn't look particularly special."

Hearing the girl's comment, Kashiwa, who was only there to accompany her, couldn't help but frown. "I think you should understand that spirit energy is hard to observe with the naked eye."

"True." The girl shrugged nonchalantly, unconcerned about Kashiwa's worries.

"However, just because you can't see it doesn't mean I can't."

"Can you see spirits directly?"

Upon hearing this, Kashiwa's frown deepened. The reason wasn't because of the girl, but because he thought of a possibility.

"Of course, due to our bloodline, my family has always had strong spiritual senses."

As she spoke, she retracted her wandering gaze and looked at Kashiwa seriously. "So I can confirm that there are no spirits here."

Just as expected.

Gripping his palm tightly, Kashiwa realized that his information might be wrong.

Two days ago, he had thoroughly checked the garden in Kantō District and found that the spirit energy reactions there were closely related to the anomalies in this apartment.

So he subconsciously assumed that this was the source of the evil spirit.

Unexpectedly, such a powerful evil spirit was not the actual entity.

Or perhaps, the root of the evil spirit was actually that black cat.

The two spirit entities might just be an illusion, and now, that cat might have already left!

But how could that be possible? How could the root be a living entity?

As he pondered, Kashiwa suddenly tensed and grabbed the girl's wrist, running into the apartment.

"Follow me!"

"Hey, hey, don't pull me! Ow, will you die if you run slower?"

The sound of the delinquent girl struggling echoed down the path.

...

"Ding dong."

By the time the doorbell rang at He Wen's house,

Kashiwa and the delinquent girl were already standing in front of this rental unit.

After waiting for a while and finding no one answering the door, the delinquent girl whispered to Kashiwa, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"I reviewed the personal files of the relevant individuals," Kashiwa demonstrated the professionalism expected of a detective in critical moments.

"If the person living here is still alive, they must be an important clue."