Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 17 Mountain Cat
Looking at the white fog in front of him, Ran Qing felt a little scared.

The words that Sixth Aunt said before she left made him very uneasy.

How could those mountain monkeys hide in the fog?

And Aunt Liu also said that things from the mountains would take advantage of the heavy fog to come into the city?

Something in the mountains...what is it?
Ran Qing swallowed and didn't dare to think about it.

He held the dog leash handed to him by Aunt Liu and looked down at the old dog at his feet.

The sickly local dog had messy and dirty fur.

Like Aunt Liu with dead eyes, this old dog also lay sickly and weakly on the ground, in a very bad mental state.

If he saw it at a dog market, Ran Qing would think it was a sick dog.

But now, he needs the protection of this sick old dog...

Ran Qing was a little skeptical: "Is it really reliable..."

After returning to the house and putting on his school uniform, Ran Qing quickly walked out of the cement bungalow of his sixth aunt's house, holding a few books he had brought last night.

Now that Sixth Aunt has left, Ran Qing doesn't dare to stay in the house any longer.

The red ropes hanging from the ceiling and the large vat filled with cold incense ash were all intimidating.

When passing through the empty main room, the feeling of being stared at by many pairs of eyes was extremely strong. Staying in this room for one more minute was torture.

Ran Qing locked the door and quickly left with the sick old dog.

The old city was shrouded in heavy fog, with extremely low visibility, and objects more than three meters away could not be seen clearly.

Ran Qing followed the same route he took last night and walked towards the outside of this old shantytown.

It was still early in the morning, and the fog was silent. The winding and narrow path in the fog was also a bit complicated. Fortunately, Ran Qing had a good memory, and the uphill stairs in the shantytown with sewage flowing in them would not let him get lost.

After walking for a while with the old dog, Ran Qing vaguely felt that something was following him.

A very obvious feeling of being watched always accompanies him.

This made Ran Qing slightly frightened.

Mountain monkey?
Or something else...

When passing the corner, Ran Qing glanced behind him calmly out of the corner of his eye.

But the fog was so thick that I couldn't see anything in the white fog behind me.

This thick fog became the best disguise for those evil monsters.

When passing by the wall where the three wild ghosts were lying last night, Ran Qing found that the three wild ghosts on the wall were gone, and instead, there was a fat black cat with shiny black fur.

This black cat has a fat body, long and pointed ears, and its head looks very small against its fat body. Its body proportions are extremely weird and ugly.

When Ran Qing saw it, it was lying on the wall, chewing something hard, making a crisp crunching sound.

The moment he saw the black cat, Ran Qing was stunned - isn't this the mountain cat in the forest?
Ran to the city?
Adults should be wary of this kind of predator in the mountains. Legend has it that in winter, mountain cats will run into the village and snatch children.

The bobcat in front of him was even more ferocious and fatter than the bobcats Ran Qing had seen in his memory.

It lay there eating, but on its dark fur there were many tiny spots wriggling, like eyeballs, which was uncomfortable.

Sensing Ran Qing approaching, the ferocious mountain cat suddenly raised its head and looked straight at him with its stern eyes.

Ran Qing's eyes met the fierce gaze of the mountain cat. In an instant, Ran Qing's heart skipped a beat, and a chill spread throughout his body.

The black cat on the wall was actually gnawing on half of a human face!

And the half of the human face that was eaten was still wriggling and struggling!

This horrifying and weird scene made Ran Qing's hair stand on end.

But the old dog he was holding suddenly started barking wildly.

The sickly old dog suddenly arched its back and barked ferociously. The shrill barking echoed in the alley, causing Ran Qing's eardrums to hurt.

At this moment, the person he was holding in his hand did not look like a sick old dog, but rather a ferocious man-eating monster.

The rope exerted a huge pulling force, and the old dog almost broke free from Ran Qing's hand.

The strange black cat on the wall let out a strange, cold laugh.

It stared straight at Ran Qing, licked the blood from the corner of its mouth, and finally ran away with the half of the still wriggling dead face in its mouth.

In a flash, the ferocious and strange mountain cat disappeared in the white fog.

Ran Qing just felt his scalp tingling.

The half dead face that was taken away by the mountain cat looked vaguely familiar, like one of the three wild ghosts lying on the wall last night.

Now it's been eaten by a mountain cat...

This mountain cat is definitely the thing that came from the mountains that Aunt Liu mentioned!

Ran Qing, holding the sick old dog, walked out of the cement stairs of the shantytown with somewhat stiff steps, and finally returned to the busy street outside.

In the early morning mist, vehicles with their hazard lights on drove on Zhongshan Street, the busiest main road in Yuezhao City.

Although it was still early, there were already scattered figures of students in the fog.

Ran Qing returned to the crowd and finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling an inexplicable sense of security.

Humans have been social creatures since ancient times.

Looking back at the gloomy alley behind him, Ran Qing frowned.

Aunt Liu was right. The fog allowed many things from the mountains to enter the city.

He had seen mountain cats when he was a child. The adults in the village had killed one, but that mountain cat was definitely not as ugly and weird as the one he had just encountered.

Ran Qing didn't dare to stay any longer, for fear that the mountain cat would rush out of the fog.

He held the dog in his hand and walked forward with the bustling students on Zhongshan Street, walking quickly towards his school.

As the school got closer, more and more students came into Ran Qing's sight.

Although the fog still obscured everything, the scattered and messy footsteps in the fog, the breathing of the students as they walked, the faintly visible school uniforms... these familiar things made Ran Qing feel at ease.

When he safely arrived at the gate of No. 3 Middle School with the old dog, Ran Qing let go of the dog leash according to Aunt Liu's instructions.

Then the sickly old dog turned and ran off into the fog without looking back.

Ran Qing turned and walked towards the school gate.

Studying, going to school... Returning to the familiar campus environment, Ran Qing felt as if he was back home and felt more at ease.

Especially on the slope leading to the school gate, students in the uniforms of No. 3 Middle School were everywhere. The large crowd seemed to warm the air.

Ran Qing rubbed his shriveled stomach and suddenly felt hungry.

Once everyone was safe, hunger came over him, and Ran Qing then remembered that he had not had breakfast yet.

Fortunately, it’s still early, so I should have time to go back to the school gate to buy some glutinous rice.

Thinking this, Ran Qing turned around and walked out of the school gate to buy breakfast at the stall at the school gate.

The stall owner was doing good business, and Ran Qing was standing in line behind several people. At this moment, a cold hand suddenly reached out from behind and patted his shoulder.

"Ran Qing! Do you want to buy glutinous rice?"

The girl's voice rang in his ears, and Ran Qing's heart suddenly shuddered, and he actually felt a little chill.

He turned his head and saw Ouyang Xue, a girl from the same class, standing beside him, looking at him curiously.

(End of this chapter)