The "thoughts" flowing into Yu Sheng's mind were chaotic and fragmented, nowhere near complete intelligence. They were more like a series of consecutive instinctive keywords. Clearly, these "thoughts" came from the cats before him—possibly one cat, or perhaps the collective reaction of the entire group.
Yu Sheng's expression froze, and he abruptly looked up.
Huli had already been watching nervously from beside him, afraid something might happen while Yu Sheng interacted with the "cat." She hurriedly asked, "Are you all right, benefactor?"
As she spoke, she had already tucked both tails beneath her arms, looking ready to unleash a machine-gun barrage from Fox Carrot at the slightest disagreement.
"There are invaders," Yu Sheng said as he stood, pressing down on Huli's tail. "They're in the alley—the cats are hiding from them."
Little Red Riding Hood instinctively turned her gaze toward the path outside. Nothing suspicious could be seen in the mist-shrouded alley, but she immediately controlled the wolves to scatter around the Old Bookstore and began checking every shadow and crevice.
At the same time, she quickly asked, "What kind of invaders?"
"The cats can't explain clearly. They only have the simplest 'instincts,' not even enough to count as consciousness." Yu Sheng frowned. He saw the pile of cats in the corner swiftly contract into a mass of dense shadow, with most of their eyes closing. Only a few eyes radiating a pale glow remained open, nervously peering outside. "Switching to King probably wouldn't make communication any clearer."
Little Red Riding Hood looked puzzled. "When did you start understanding what these 'cats' in Dark Alley mean?"
Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then uncertainly rubbed his chin. "...I suspect I somehow furred these cats without realizing it..."
Little Red Riding Hood: "...?"
While they were speaking, Yu Sheng had already