Who Did You Kidnap, Jiang Xia?

They took out a slightly worn business card, as if it had been weathered by wind and sun, and carefully placed it on the coffee table.

"Our daughter, Eri, got married a few days ago and was planning to go on her honeymoon, so she asked us to stop by her house when we had time and look after her cat. There are automatic feeders and water dispensers, so it only needs attention every few days.

"But when we went over today, her suitcase was still in the bedroom, wide open, and she hadn't even packed her things into it—yet she hasn't contacted us in days. We thought she was just engrossed in her trip, but now... something must have happened to her!

"After seeing the state of the house, we called the police and planned to ask the neighbors if they had seen anything. But when we reached the door, we suddenly found a dusty box beside the courtyard gate. It was dark brown, almost black, and looked just like a coffin! When we got close, there was even a rotten stench coming from inside..."

The officers froze, their expressions gradually turning grave.

By convention, a coffin-like box probably contained severed limbs or other body parts meant to intimidate the victims... Th-this was a major case!

...But what did it have to do with Jiang Xia?

With a hint of curiosity, they stared at the business card and pricked up their ears to hear what came next.

Jiang Xia, meanwhile, fell silent for a moment. Those details sounded somewhat familiar...

The couple paused briefly, as if suppressing their terror.

After a while, they continued, "We opened the box and found the corpse of a cat that had been dead for days—the very cat our daughter kept. There was also