"Little Lu Ran."
Deng Yuxiang turned around and looked at the boy in the yellow raincoat below.
To her surprise, Lu Ran actually dared to face the Nightmare head-on!
He strode up the stairs, pushing Deng Yuxiang upward. "Sister, come to the rooftop with me first!"
Deng Yuxiang temporarily buried her doubts in her heart.
She remembered as well. The reason everyone had chased all the way here was because of a peculiar cry.
A cat's meow!
A month ago, when Deng Yuxiang had met Lu Ran on the rooftop, he had been looking for a cat.
Could this cat be the tabby he had been searching for?
Whether it was or not, this little fellow had been fortunate enough.
If they had not been here, this kitten would surely have been cruelly toyed with and torn limb from limb by the two Ghost Talisman Dolls.
"Sister?"
Lu Ran stopped before the battered iron-bar gate and motioned for Deng Yuxiang to lead the way.
Wei Long and Wei Hu could become human meat shields. Naturally, the Great Nightmare could too!
"Can't you hear it?"
Deng Yuxiang snorted, but she cooperated, grabbing the cold iron bars with one hand.
"The rain outside is too loud," Lu Ran said softly.
Accompanied by a creaking "squeak, squeak," the old iron-bar gate was pushed open.
Deng Yuxiang stepped onto the rooftop and warily scanned her surroundings.
Lu Ran followed close behind, charging into the torrential rain.
"It really is you!" Lu Ran was both startled and delighted as he hurried over.
"Meow!!"
The tabby cat had long since puffed up its fur, but it was drenched through, and its coat could not stand on end.
As Lu Ran drew closer step by step, terror filled its eyes. It cried out heart-wrenchingly as it kept backing toward a corner of the rooftop.
Lu Ran immediately stopped, afraid the little tabby would jump straight off the roof.
"Is it?" Deng Yuxiang came to Lu Ran's side.
"Probably." Lu Ran dropped to one knee and called softly, "Baa~"
The tabby cat froze on the spot.
Perhaps it did not remember Lu Ran, but the tabby surely remembered that special sound.
Even if it did not remember the cry itself, Divine Technique: Compassionate Sound would certainly make it react as it should.
"Baa~"
Lu Ran crooked a finger.
In the rain curtain, the little tabby was utterly bedraggled as it limped toward Lu Ran.
Against ordinary living creatures, divine techniques were simply a crushing blow from another dimension!
Compassionate Sound was clearly soft crowd control, yet it had forcibly twisted the tabby's will.
The little tabby had not yet shaken off its terror, but it still staggered over, trying to shelter Lu Ran and offer him comfort.
"Meow~"
The little tabby called softly, extending its pink tongue to lick Lu Ran's fingers.
Lu Ran rubbed its soaked little head and spoke the same words he had said when they first met:
"Are you alone too?"
The same words brought about the same scene.
The little tabby suddenly lay on its side, using one paw to bat at Lu Ran's fingers as though it wanted to pull him closer.
This time, it was Lu Ran's turn to be stunned.
"Meow~ Meow~"
The poor little tabby trembled even when it walked. It must have suffered endless hardship and torment that night.
Yet that cat paw stubbornly nudged at Lu Ran's fingers, wanting to soothe this pitiful human.
Lu Ran slowly raised his head, startled and delighted. "It really is it!"
Deng Yuxiang looked at the smile on the boy's face beneath his hood.
For a moment, she was somewhat lost in thought as well.
On this Night of the Fifteenth, such a smiling face did not seem as though it should exist.
Blood, slaughter, cries, and wails.
Those should have been the main melody of this night.
Shouldn't they?
"Mm." Deng Yuxiang nodded lightly.
After slaughtering through the entire night, her expression had been cold, but even her sharp gaze softened somewhat at that moment.
The others on the rooftop also witnessed this heartwarming scene.
Sun Zhengfang could not help shaking his head with a smile.
Since Lu Ran had joined the team, he had given everyone far too many surprises.
Lu Ran was a warrior, but he was also an examinee.
Combat strength, fighting spirit, and the like were naturally key points in the assessment.
Yet during this long night of slaughter,
he could lift a cold blade and cut down evil fiends.
He could also crouch down and comfort weak, pitiful creatures.
Sun Zhengfang was already looking forward to it!
Once he reported Lu Ran's performance tonight to the bureau in full detail, just how high would Lu Ran's scores be?
What kind of heaven-defying evaluation would Lu Ran receive?
Rain Alley City
had truly produced an extraordinary believer.
"This time, I won't let you run away." Lu Ran picked up the little tabby, pulled open his raincoat, and tucked it into his chest.
"Come with me." As he said it, Lu Ran had already made up his mind.
Little tabby,
even if you did not want to come with me, you had no choice, right?
"Baa~"
Lu Ran called softly again, stamping approval on his Cat-Nabbing Plan.
Deng Yuxiang said, "We can't take it into battle with us."
Lu Ran looked up and saw the Great Nightmare's gentle expression. Evidently, she was not trying to separate master and pet.
Sure enough, Deng Yuxiang said softly, "When we patrol later, find a household and leave the cat there for now.
Once tonight is over and everything is finished, you can come pick it up."
"Okay." Naturally, Lu Ran had no objections.
"You've never raised a cat before, have you?"
"No." Lu Ran shook his head.
Deng Yuxiang slipped one hand into Lu Ran's chest and tapped the tabby cat's nose with her fingertips. "It looks like it has suffered a lot.
Stray cats have relatively stronger survival skills, but you'd better find someone to help care for it."
"Mm." Lu Ran wholeheartedly agreed.
Leaving aside what the little tabby had gone through before meeting them, this heavy rain alone was enough to make it suffer.
"What are you waiting for?" Deng Yuxiang looked into Lu Ran's eyes. "Take advantage of the moment before the higher-ups issue another mission."
Lu Ran's heart stirred, and he immediately turned to look at the Chief Physician.
Sun Zhengfang was a good man—at least, he was good to Lu Ran.
He understood Lu Ran's look and smiled, extending a hand as green light emerged in his palm.
The vigorous life force radiating from it made Lu Ran's eyes shine. He hurried over.
"Huh?"
Lu Ran had just handed the tabby to Sun Zhengfang when a slender arm looped around him.
More precisely, Lu Ran was caught in a chokehold from behind.
Deng Yuxiang started walking, forcing Lu Ran to lean backward and retreat step by step.
The Great Nightmare's voice no longer held its earlier gentleness. "Now, let's talk about you cleaning my ears."
"No, no, no, I was joking." Lu Ran hurriedly said.
"Tell me, how did you hear it?" Deng Yuxiang loosened her grip slightly.
Lu Ran fell silent for quite a while before a sentence slipped from his mouth:
"Maybe heroes have emerged from the young since ancient times."
Deng Yuxiang said, "."
She nearly laughed in anger!
Lu Ran said quietly, "Anyway, that's what the old saying says. Only young men can do it; young women aren't allowed."
Deng Yuxiang planted one foot on the rooftop railing and looked down. "Thinking of dying for love again?"
Lu Ran said, "Huh?"
Deng Yuxiang came to her senses too. She truly had been muddled with anger.
She had meant to say "bungee jumping." She had no idea why those two words had come out instead. Oh, right!
That morning, in the car, Lu Ran had sung that lyric.
More than ten minutes later.
Outside an Auto Repair Shop.
Holding the little tabby in his arms, Lu Ran knocked on the Auto Repair Shop's window beneath his teammates' watchful gazes.
"What is it, Lu Ran?" Chang Ying looked at her classmate outside the window in surprise. "You aren't hurt, are you?"
Compared to a few hours ago, Lu Ran was now soaked through and looked utterly bedraggled.
"Can you help me out?" Lu Ran handed over the little tabby. "Take care of it.
Once the Night of the Fifteenth is over, I'll come get it."
"No problem!" Chang Ying carefully accepted the kitten and held it in her arms. "Did you just save it?"
At that moment, the tabby cat was sleeping deeply.
Chang Ying's embrace was clearly warmer, softer, and more comfortable than Lu Ran's.
In its sleep, the tabby whimpered softly, its little head rubbing around continuously.
"Sorry to trouble you. Get back inside quickly." Lu Ran smiled and nodded before turning to leave.
"Clatter, clatter~"
The sudden crisp sound made Lu Ran stop in his tracks.
He turned to look and saw Chang Ying holding the tabby in one arm while gripping a divination tube in the other, shaking it continuously.
In just two or three seconds, a spirit lot drifted out.
Both of them looked up at the same time. The illusory spirit lot floated in midair, slowly rotating.
A single large character was written on it—Supreme!
Lu Ran was pleasantly surprised. "You're not fooling me?"
Chang Ying also gazed up at the spirit lot with delight written all over her face, shaking her head again and again.
How could such a divine technique be faked?
"Lu Ran?" A call came from the distance behind him.
"Coming!" Lu Ran backed away step by step, smiling as he waved farewell to Chang Ying, then turned and left.
"Be careful!"
Chang Ying took a step forward, watching the figure in the yellow raincoat disappear into the vast night rain.
Before you continue