There's a chat group for pets in my neighborhood.

Let's rewind three hours.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Brother Tanuki asked his underlings while eating the protection money he had recently collected, peering through the gaps in the bushes at the red brick factory not far away.

"Absolutely true! The brothers followed him for two whole days, without alerting him at all." The henchman said, "This guy is very cautious. He didn't come directly to this place, but circled around it several times to make sure there were no problems before approaching."

"Most importantly, we found traces of protection money; it must have stolen the cat food here!"

"Well done." Brother Tanuki nodded in satisfaction, picked out the freeze-dried food from the protection money, and handed it to his underling: "Here's your reward. Wait over there for now."

"What do we say now? Go in and arrest them?" After confirming the location of the stray orange cat, Tanuki slowly licked his paws and turned his gaze to the sheriff beside him.

"Let's go in and take a look."

It still maintains its usual aloof demeanor.

Under the moonlight, the two cats stealthily entered the abandoned red brick factory, searching for the orange cat.

Inside the red brick factory, weeds grew rampant, and the broken bricks scattered on the ground cast menacing shadows under the moonlight.

The sheriff and Tanuki, one after the other, moved silently through the ruins of the brick kiln.

Although Tanuki may seem irritable on ordinary days, when it comes to stealth and infiltration, its top-tier hunting instincts, unique to felines, are on full display.

Before long, the two cats stopped in front of a huge concrete pipe.

In the pale moonlight, the orange cat was curled up on the outermost side of the cement pipe, its chin resting on its dirty front paws, its eyes closed as it continued to pant.

It looks even worse than it did a few days ago.

These days, in order to evade the search by Brother Tanuki's henchmen, it has to travel long distances across the city. This high-intensity running has almost exhausted all its strength, and its body is trembling slightly when it rests.

Now that we've found it, there's no need to hide it anymore.

Tanuki was the first to step out, its soft paws crunching on the dry branches as if deliberately announcing its arrival.

The orange cat was extremely alert. Even though it was resting, it opened its eyes immediately. When it saw the cat in front of it, its vertical pupils were filled with disbelief.

"How did you manage to catch up with us?!"

"If you didn't put on a show, why would you obediently bring us here?" The sheriff's oppressive voice rang out as he coldly stared at the orange cat. "Tell me honestly, where did you hide all the protection money you paid from Tiancheng Community? Hand it over."

"Why are you all so persistent!" The orange cat struggled to its feet, no longer having any desire to run away, but instead adopting a fighting stance.

"You're fucking tough. I hope you'll still be this tough when you're about to die."

After all these days of commotion, Tanuki couldn't hold back any longer. A fierce glint flashed in its eyes, the muscles in its hind legs tensed instantly, and it let out a low growl, charging out like an arrow released from a bow.

The sheriff didn't stop them; instead, he looked around with great interest.

The orange cat didn't back down either. Its fur stood on end in a flash, and it let out a shrill and threatening screech as it pounced on the raccoon.

The exhausted orange cat met the battle-hardened tanuki, and the fight was over in an instant.

The raccoon pressed its right paw firmly against the orange cat's nape, pinning it to the rough brick floor.

"Hand over the protection money you hid, and I might just break your legs and spare your life," Tanuki hissed at the orange cat.

"Dream on!" Who would have thought that the orange cat would not only not give in, but would also spit on Tanuki's face. Fortunately, the latter reacted quickly and dodged it by pulling his head away.

"You fucking want to die? I'll grant your wish." Tanuki had never been treated like this before. He extended his claws, ready to give it a good thrashing, but the sheriff stopped him.

"etc."

"What is it now?" Tanuki said irritably.

"Let's go in and take a look," the sheriff said, pointing into the cement pipe.

Unexpectedly, these words caused the orange cat at his feet to immediately begin to fight back fiercely, but Tanuki was too strong, with a body full of muscles, and could not be moved at all.

"The thing is probably hidden inside. After all, its first reaction upon seeing us wasn't to run away, which proves that there's something more important here that made it stay."

"What's so important to a stray cat? It's the protection money it steals, of course." The sheriff took the lead and walked straight into the depths of the concrete pipe.

Upon hearing this, Brother Tanuki suddenly understood.

"Behave yourself, let's go!" Tanuki grabbed the orange cat by the scruff of its neck and dragged it into the damp and musty cement pipe.

The further you go in, the dimmer the light becomes.

The sheriff sniffed, keenly noticing that besides the smell of protection money, there was also a faint, almost imperceptible, pungent smell of blood in the air.

When the sheriff and Tanuki reached the deepest corner of the concrete pipe, the sight that greeted them left them both stunned.

In a corner covered with a thick layer of hay and rags, lay a dachshund on the verge of death.

Its hind leg had a very deep laceration, with the flesh turned inside out. Although there were traces of the cat's tongue repeatedly licking and cleaning the wound, blood was still seeping out.

The dachshund was so thin it was skin and bones. Hearing the noise, it struggled to lift its heavy eyelids and let out an extremely weak whimper.

Next to the dachshund was a few empty cans of cat food, the same kind that Lu Fang had placed in Tiancheng Community.

"Why is there a dog?" Tanuki was taken aback and released his paw from the orange cat, somewhat confused. He had expected to see piles of protection money, but he never expected to see a seriously injured dog lying there.

The orange cat seemed to have lost all its strength, staggering to the dachshund's side and gently rubbing its head against the dog's chin.

The dachshund stuck out its tongue and licked the wound on the orange cat's face.

"Kill me or torture me, it's all up to you!"

The orange cat looked at the two cats in front of it, straightened its body, and raised its head.

"You stole so much protection money and didn't eat a single bite, just to feed it?" Tanuki asked incredulously.

"We're friends," the orange cat said hoarsely. "I'm a stray cat too. I had no other choice. I couldn't just watch it die. It was the only thing I could do."

"Why not try to seek help from humans?" the sheriff asked in a low voice.

"Humans? Is there anything good about them?" The orange cat turned around, revealing its scarred back. "These were all done by humans. If we hand Charlie over to those guys, it'll only die faster."

"I have nothing to explain. Anyway, I've done what I've done. Don't drag Charlie into this. I know the rules of the underworld. Go ahead and do it."

Just as the two sides were at a stalemate, Charlie, who was sobbing softly, stared intently at the sheriff in front of him, muttering to himself, and then his eyes lit up with a strange light of surprise.

"You're the sheriff! You're the sheriff of Tiancheng Residential Area, aren't you!"

"Ares sent me to find you!"