Animal Detective

Outside the entrance to Jin’an Temple.

Zou Cong had set out early, so Team Two wasn’t in a hurry to leave either.

After being inside for over half an hour, Zou Cong emerged.

Judging by his expression from afar, he seemed to have found some spiritual comfort.

He was also cradling a rather large red wooden box.

Gu Dawei sneered, "For someone like him, praying for anything is useless."

Shen Xin nodded in deep agreement.

Zou Cong drove off, looking like he was heading to work.

Next up was surveillance by Team One.

Shen Xin had already sensed there was something unusual about this case, so he went back to the hotel to catch up on sleep with peace of mind.

As for what the task force planned to do, Shen Xin didn’t care. He’d just do whatever they told him to do later.

But shortly after two in the afternoon, Shen Xin was woken up by Zhang Songhao.

He beat around the bush, explaining to Shen Xin what they were going to do next.

Shen Xin cut him off. "To put it simply, you just want to keep scaring him, right?"

Zhang Songhao nodded quickly, saying that was exactly what he meant.

After a moment of hesitation, Shen Xin asked, "Won’t this cause problems?"

He felt it wasn’t exactly by the book.

Besides, information obtained this way couldn’t be used as evidence, could it?

Zhang Songhao seemed to have come to terms with it. "It’s fine. It’s the task force’s decision anyway."

Shen Xin understood. The blame wouldn’t fall on him.

But they still had to discuss the specific plan of action.

And Guan Wenkang, the young man, had quite a few ideas.

"Based on my experience binging hundreds of horror films from home and abroad, the scariest thing is always the atmosphere."

Guan Wenkang spoke with confidence, "Just scaring him outright is useless. For example, hiding in a corner and suddenly jumping out to startle him—that won’t work."

"You have to give him hints, just like in the movies. The curtains move, a sudden gust of wind blows, or he hears some rustling in the middle of the night."

"Let him think, let his own imagination run wild. That’s what’s truly terrifying."

Shen Xin nodded repeatedly. That was exactly right.

Ketchup and all that stuff isn’t scary at all. It’s the terrifying atmosphere that gets you.

Looking at the all-black Sheriff, an idea sparked in Shen Xin’s mind.

Sheriff was a black cat, after all.

And in traditional beliefs, some people consider black cats to be symbols of bad luck.

"Qin Zhi, I have an idea."

Shen Xin looked up at Qin Chunyi.

...

Zou Cong was supposed to get off work at 5:30 p.m.

But the exact time was uncertain. For instance, today was Friday, the last workday of the week.

A meeting ran long, and then he handled some work in his office, so it wasn’t until almost eight o’clock at night that he was ready to leave.

It seemed he wasn’t too eager to go home either.

Carrying the protective Buddha statue he’d acquired, Zou Cong took the elevator to the underground garage.

In Songpu, where every inch of land is precious, the underground garage was relatively cramped.

It was 8:00 p.m., and there weren’t many cars left in the garage.

As Zou Cong walked, carrying his things, the only sound was his own footsteps.

There was a dedicated parking area for senior executives. As he approached, Zou Cong noticed that the lights in this section were out.

Further in, the adjacent section was dark as well.

’Must be a malfunction.’

Only one section was out, and the adjacent area was still lit, so it was just a bit dim. Zou Cong didn’t think much of it.

Amid the sound of his leather shoes scuffing against the epoxy floor, Zou Cong suddenly stopped dead.

In the dim light, his Maybach was parked against the wall.

But on the roof of the car, Zou Cong saw something.

A dark shape, not very large, with two faint points of light aimed at him.

After what happened last night, Zou Cong was already on edge.

He instinctively recalled the dark shape he had seen in the window’s reflection the previous night.

"Who’s there!"

Zou Cong shouted instinctively, but there was no response from the surroundings, only the quiet hum of the underground garage’s ventilation fans.

At that moment, he focused his eyes and suddenly saw clearly. It wasn’t some unknown thing, but... a cat?

A solid black cat, at that.

It was just sitting there on the roof of his car, watching him from a dozen or so meters away.

Zou Cong let out a long breath. ’And here I was thinking it was something else.’

Just then, a shrill car alarm blared from behind him.

The sound made Zou Cong jump, and he whipped his head around.

It seemed a car alarm in the distance had been triggered; its lights were flashing as it wailed.

Startled, Zou Cong cursed under his breath and turned his gaze back.

He froze again.

Zou Cong suddenly realized the cat was gone.

He looked all around, but there was no sign of the black cat.

It was as if... it had never been there at all.

Zou Cong instinctively stepped forward and searched the area briefly, but found nothing.

’The cat probably got scared and ran off when the alarm went off.’

Zou Cong took a deep breath, got into his car, and prepared to leave.

But just as he was about to start the engine, the scene from last night uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

In the reflection of the glass, that dark, shadowy shape...

Zou Cong gritted his teeth, glanced around again, and only when he saw that all was calm did he start the car and drive away.

But with these distracting thoughts, Zou Cong instinctively became more cautious.

He scanned the garage’s potential blind spots and kept darting his eyes to the rearview mirror.

There was nothing.

As he reached the garage exit gate, Zou Cong subconsciously slowed down.

Just then, his gaze swept over the rearview mirror, and he slammed on the brakes.

Zou Cong quickly turned his head.

There was nothing behind him. Everything was normal.

Zou Cong gripped the steering wheel, his eyes trembling slightly.

He had only caught a fleeting glimpse as his eyes passed over the rearview mirror, but he’d seen a dark shape run past behind him.

It looked like a cat.

The gate was already open. Zou Cong’s eyes flickered, and he quickly tried to reassure himself.

’I must be overthinking things.’

’It’s just a cat.’