Chapter 33: The Black Cat and the Black Umbrella

Chapter 33: The Black Cat and the Black Umbrella

"These cats have such enormous appetites. If no one comes soon, they truly won't find anything to eat."

The "aunt" spoke in a choked voice, her tone filled with profound distress for the dozen or so cats she kept in her apartment.

"I didn't bring any food, just some bread a friend gave me." The story Su Bai knew contained no "feed the cats" task, and leaving "Happy Community" to buy cat food was out of the question. Yet, the bread Ning Yan had given them earlier proved unexpectedly useful now.

"It's fine, they eat anything. Once the food at home runs out, they'll forage on their own." The "aunt's" voice remained fractured. "But good people seem scarcer outside now. These little ones come back starving every time, sometimes even gnawing on my hands. I don’t know how much longer we can endure."

Su Bai found himself at a loss for words. Having long suspected the "aunt's" non-human identity, he never imagined the stray cats she kept would be ordinary. This suspicion made him feel that there was something inherently unsettling about her words.

He hoped he wouldn't become the "food" delivered to her doorstep.

"Look at me, Xiao Bai rarely visits his aunt, and yet I keep saying such depressing things." Despite her peculiar manner of speaking, the "aunt" in the rocking chair clearly hadn't recovered her memories and remained deeply immersed in her role.

"Xiao Bai, bring the bread over here. I’ll share it with them." The figure in the rocking chair raised an arm, slowly beckoning to Su Bai.

Still standing outside the door, Su Bai began communicating with the Evil Ghost Puzzle within him after hearing the "aunt's" invitation.

"Don’t worry."

"We’re always here."

"Live well…"

As Su Bai’s own power accumulated, his ability to use and control the Evil Ghost Puzzle, though far from his past life's mastery, had grown enough for him to faintly discern their voices. While most of the puzzle pieces remained beyond his current reach, Su Bai could still sense their presence.

To Su Bai, the Evil Ghost Puzzle represented more than just power—it was the memory and proof of his ten years in his past life, his family.

Feeling the puzzle’s companionship, Su Bai entered Room 402 with the bread Ning Yan had made. Since the door was ajar, he could just barely glimpse the "aunt’s" room by the light from the hallway.

Beyond the cat-filled living room, he could also see a semi-open kitchen and a door leading to the bedroom.

Though this "aunt" had taken in many stray cats, she clearly hadn’t cared for them well. From the kitchen and bedroom, various cat noises could be heard, along with different meows from time to time. The entire room was also permeated by a medley of strange odors.

Su Bai stepped closer to the "aunt." From the doorway, he could see what she was wearing but couldn’t make out her face. He initially attributed this to the light and distance, but as he drew nearer, he realized the "person" in the rocking chair truly had no face.

Aside from the ragged, patchwork clothes, the "aunt’s" face and body were shifting masses of shadow.

Su Bai’s breath hitched for a few seconds before he slowly exhaled. Though the writhing shadows were visually startling, upon closer thought, it seemed somewhat reasonable. The Nightmare World was already filled with all sorts of bizarre and strange-looking anomalies. Furthermore, "Happy Community" could only confuse the memories of humans and anomalies, not alter their appearances, so the existence of an "aunt" made of writhing shadows was not surprising.

With careful caution, Su Bai handed the bread in its paper bag to the "aunt," watching expressionlessly as two writhing shadowy tentacles emerged from the patched rags and took the bag.

"Such fragrant bread. I think they’ll like it." The fragmented voice emanated from within the shadows.

"Xiao Bai is so thoughtful." The shadow’s voice was broken as the tentacles slowly and methodically broke up the bread Ning Yan had made through the paper bag. "There’s a pot of tea on the table nearby, the last good thing in my house. How about having a cup before you leave?"

Before entering Room 402, Su Bai hadn't known how long he would have to stay in this "aunt’s" home. But before he could even concoct an excuse to leave, the writhing "aunt" in the rocking chair was already actively seeing him out.

Su Bai took two steps back and glanced at the nearby table. A messy-coated calico cat lay listlessly on the table, next to a glass teapot. Although the "aunt" called it tea, the liquid in the glass teapot was completely transparent, with a small lime wedge inside. It didn’t look like tea, but it did resemble normal lemon water.

However, Su Bai wasn’t careless enough to drink water in the home of a writhing shadow. He simply put on a practiced, disarming smile and said to the "aunt" in an apologetic tone, "Aunt, I feel relieved now that I’ve visited you. I have to take a six-hour bus ride back, so I really can't risk drinking anything."

The "aunt" fell silent for a moment, and even the previously writhing shadows stopped moving, as if processing all the information Su Bai had just revealed.

"So that’s how it is…"

Just as the "aunt" was about to say more, a small, furry creature somehow climbed onto Su Bai’s shoe. Even though Su Bai’s current power was limited, it was still strange for a small animal to approach him so silently.

Using the light from the hallway, Su Bai looked down at his foot and saw a black cat with golden eyes clinging to him, its fur incredibly soft.

"Meow."

Although Su Bai had heard many cat meows from earlier until now, this little black cat’s meow seemed more… playfully needy, like a little girl pestering you for candy.

"Huh? I don’t think I’ve seen this cat before." The speaker was the writhing "aunt" in the rocking chair. Aside from her fragmented voice, Su Bai also detected a gurgling sound like bubbling water in her voice, as if the shadow on the rocking chair might dissolve into a puddle of black water at any moment.

As the "aunt" spoke, the little black cat feebly nibbled Su Bai’s pant leg, as if trying to pull him outside. But in the end, unable to get a good grip, it rolled into a ball from the excessive force and tumbled to the ground with a soft thump.

"Meow." The little black cat’s cry sounded pitiful.

"I’ll look after it. Since you have things to do, I won’t keep you. I’ll treat you to tea next time you visit." The writhing shadow on the rocking chair extended a tentacle and waved at Su Bai. "Go on. With them keeping me company, I won’t be bored. These little ones are actually quite adorable—they’re just too hungry lately. If you stay too long, they might act out."

"Then take care of yourself, Aunt."

"Don’t worry, Aunt is doing just fine."

Naturally, Su Bai couldn’t have any real feelings for this "aunt." He was only here to play along in this role-playing game.

But honestly, from the words of that writhing shadow, Su Bai could even sense some of this "aunt’s" feelings for her "nephew." Even now, her urgency to send him away might be due to this artificially created affection.

"Meow!"

Under the intense gaze of the dozen or so cats’ gleaming eyes, Su Bai left Room 402. But that strange little black cat followed closely behind, persistently tugging at Su Bai’s pant leg, trying to drag him back into Room 402.

Oddly enough, when Su Bai was inside, the little thing had tried to pull him out. Now that Su Bai was outside, it wanted him to go back into Room 402.

Watching the little creature keep trying but tumbling into a furry ball each time, Su Bai—who had little resistance to adorable creatures—sighed and crouched down, looking into the little black cat’s beautiful golden eyes. "Do you want me to help you with something?"

"Meow!" The little black cat approached Su Bai, happily rubbing against his palm. "Meow—"

"I can’t understand what you’re saying, but you probably want to tell me about something ordinary people can’t see." Su Bai scratched the little cat’s neck. "It’s a coincidence—I have an eye that can see things ordinary people can’t."

"Meow!"

"Black Umbrella, help me." Su Bai directly picked up the soft, small cat, closed his eyes, and called upon the Black Umbrella from the Evil Ghost Puzzle. "Lend me your eyes and power."

"Those humans earlier really had no taste. Though your skin has darkened a bit, if we ignore those glasses of yours, Master, a tanned beauty is just as appealing, isn’t she?" The Black Umbrella’s somewhat suggestive male voice came through. "Those humans earlier" likely referred to Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie.

"Don’t talk nonsense, and don’t call me Master." Su Bai admitted the Black Umbrella’s abilities were useful—it was just that its personality was somewhat… unique among the puzzle pieces.

"Understood." The Black Umbrella became more serious. "The power of the Black Umbrella is at your disposal."

As soon as the Black Umbrella finished speaking, Su Bai opened his eyes.

In Su Bai’s vision, the originally bright fourth-floor hallway instantly turned into a scene of dim, yellowish light. The dirty walls were covered in filth, and… countless claw marks stained with blood left by sharp animal claws.