The Mist Anomaly and the Black Cat's Transformation

After Yuan Chengfang entered the Office, Li Feng quickly pulled out his phone and opened the Night Patrol Bureau's app.

Sure enough, the incident involving Tian Yue was right there on the announcements page.

"...Codename: Mist. Low Danger Level...

An anomalous phenomenon capable of disrupting perception. Those inside it will lose their sense of direction...

Its limited range poses little danger. Even ordinary people can escape by running, so it barely qualifies as a Low Danger Level...

...Tian Yue, a Night Patrol Officer of the Night Patrol Bureau, discovered it on Xinsu Street yesterday at 22:00 and destroyed it...

Reward: thirty points and thirty thousand yuan..."

Reading the notice, Li Feng felt utterly embarrassed.

This was a public execution of his dignity.

Fortunately, no one knew that the anomalous mist had come from him.

Otherwise, he really would have wanted to kill someone.

Over the next few days, Li Feng returned to his normal routine.

His mind fog recovered rapidly, and the bedroom he had visualized was close to becoming solid.

He vaguely sensed that his soul was now far better protected and had become more substantial, almost like his actual body.

Apart from the occasional discomfort when someone mentioned the anomalous mist, everything was wonderful.

That day, after clocking in, Li Feng hurried home as usual.

Just as he entered Greenery Avenue, he suddenly heard a series of piercing cat cries coming from an alley beside the road.

Li Feng couldn't help frowning.

"Where did that stray cat come from...?"

Its cries were so agonized, yet there seemed to be a hint of weakness in them.

Li Feng couldn't help guessing that the stray must be starving.

He hadn't intended to meddle.

But when he passed the alley entrance and heard the cries growing more anguished yet steadily weaker, he finally paused.

Fine. Let's just say I've got a kind heart!

Muttering inwardly, Li Feng turned and entered the alley.

He rounded a corner into a relatively dark, cramped passage, only to stop dead at the sight before him.

The scene was nothing like the starving kitten he had imagined crying for food.

A boy of about ten was holding a sharp wooden stick and jabbing a black cat with it, over and over.

The black cat was already covered in wounds, its entire body soaked in blood, its cries barely audible.

Yet rather than stop, the boy grew even more excited, muttering as he continued stabbing it with the stick.

"Hehehe, cats have nine lives. If I kill you once, you'll come back to life, right...?

Tomorrow, tomorrow I'm going to kill you again..."

"What are you doing?"

Unable to stomach the boy's vicious behavior, Li Feng roared.

"Ah!"

The sudden shout made the boy shudder in fright, and his stick plunged down hard, piercing the Black Cat's throat.

"Meow... urr..."

The Black Cat gave a faint whimper and glanced toward Li Feng, a glimmer of hope in its eyes. That glimmer rapidly faded until all signs of life were gone.

By then, the boy had recovered and turned to look at Li Feng behind him, a vicious gleam in his eyes.

"Who are you? I'm warning you, mind your own business."

As he spoke, the boy yanked out the bloodstained stick and pointed it at Li Feng, his face twisted with spite.

At the sight, anger surged through Li Feng.

"Fuck, whose little brat are you? Are you begging for a beating?"

As he spoke, Li Feng strode forward.

A brat like this needed to be taught a lesson.

Seeing Li Feng approach, the boy couldn't help retreating two steps. The spite vanished from his face, replaced by a touch of fear.

Even brats picked on the weak and feared the strong.

"W-what are you going to do?

I'm telling you, my grandma's right back there...

Grandma! Grandma! Someone's bullying me..."

As he spoke, the boy began bawling as though he had suffered some terrible injustice.

The next instant, a panicked voice came from farther away.

"Who? Who? Who dares bully my precious grandson?"

An old woman in her fifties or sixties came running over as she shouted.

From the way she ran and the speed she managed, she was every bit a match for someone in their thirties or forties.

At the sight of the old woman, the boy quietly dropped the stick and looked at her with tears brimming in his eyes.

Once she reached him, the old woman swept him into her arms and checked him all over.

Seeing the tears in his eyes absolutely broke her heart.

"Oh, my precious grandson! Are you hurt anywhere? What damned bastard dared bully my precious grandson?"

"Grandma, it was him! Him..."

Without hesitation, the boy pointed at Li Feng, his voice choked with sobs.

He acted as though Li Feng had done something unspeakably evil to him.

"What's wrong with you? How could you bully a child? You have no respect for the elderly or love for children! An ill-mannered thing your mother birthed but never bothered to raise..."

After hearing the boy's accusation, the old woman immediately began berating Li Feng in a shrill voice.

As he listened to her vicious words, Li Feng's expression slowly darkened.

A cold, sinister power gradually spread from Li Feng's body.

As it washed over the old woman and the boy, both of them involuntarily shuddered.

This was the Delivery Ghost's Ghostly Energy.

Although broad daylight had weakened this power to the extreme,

the old woman and the child, both ordinary people, were still affected somewhat.

For some reason, they felt the temperature plunge in the dark, cramped alley, which barely received any sunlight to begin with.

At the same time, they faintly sensed danger emanating from Li Feng.

It was as though some evil ghost or savage beast stood before them.

Despite themselves, a trace of fear crept into their eyes as they looked at Li Feng.

"Y-young man, surely you ought to be reasonable? How can you bully a child...?"

Without her even noticing, the old woman's shrill, venomous voice gradually softened, and she even began appealing to reason.

"I bullied him?

Why don't you ask your precious grandson what he did?

How can someone so young be this violent? He was torturing a cat here..."

The old woman glanced at the dead Black Cat beside the path and said dismissively,

"It's just a stray cat.

Besides, my precious grandson is still a child.

You're an adult. Why are you making a fuss over a child?"

Seeing the old woman's dismissive attitude and the boy's defiant expression, with malice flashing in his eyes,

Li Feng knew that trying to reason with these two was utterly pointless.

He turned to leave. He couldn't actually beat up an old woman and a child, could he?

Seeing his reaction, the old woman's eyes flashed with triumph, while the vicious gleam in the boy's eyes intensified.

What none of them noticed was that, amid the sinister Ghostly Energy surrounding them, the dead Black Cat suddenly twitched.

Wisps of Ghostly Energy began seeping into the Black Cat's body, and an illusory, translucent figure slowly emerged.

Li Feng, who had already turned away, sensed the sudden fluctuation of Ghostly Energy beside the path behind him. His steps briefly faltered, then he continued forward as though nothing had happened.

As the saying went, fortune and misfortune did not come uninvited; people brought them upon themselves.

If they had caused this trouble, they could bear the consequences.

Li Feng sneered and turned out of the dark, cramped alley.

Watching him leave, the old woman's eyes flashed with satisfaction.

She knew it. As long as an old woman like her had no shame, no one could do anything to her.

The boy in her arms watched Li Feng's retreating figure. Alongside the triumph in his eyes, his malice was practically spilling over.

"Come on, my precious grandson. Grandma will make you something tasty..."

"Yes, yes, yes! I want something tasty! I want something tasty..."

"Meow... rr!"

Just as the two were chatting happily, they suddenly heard a cat cry beside them.

The unexpected sound made them stiffen, every hair on their bodies standing on end.

Why was there a cat crying here? Hadn't that cat died?

This... another cat must have come along.

Filthy little beast...

They turned their heads stiffly toward the sound, toward the spot where the stray cat had just died.

A somewhat illusory Black Cat floated above the Black Cat corpse, wisps of black energy curling around it as it stared ferociously at them.

"Meow... rr!"

When they looked its way, the illusory Black Cat let out another vicious cry.

"Ah! A ghost!"

In an instant, grandmother and grandson let out piercing shrieks, turned, and ran deeper into the alley.

But the boy was still young, and his grandmother soon left him behind.

Meanwhile, the illusory Black Cat was already bounding toward him with elegant yet swift feline steps.

"Grandma, save me!"

Hearing her grandson's plea, the old woman suddenly remembered that he was still behind her.

She stopped and turned to grab him.

At the sight, the boy's eyes lit up.

He hurried forward two steps and seized the old woman's hand, letting her pull him along.

But how could their ordinary human speed compare with the Black Cat's?

In a mere instant, the Black Cat caught up behind them. A sinister chill swept up their spines, sending terror prickling across their bodies.

The boy glanced back and spotted the Black Cat right behind him. His face instantly filled with horror.

Looking at the grandmother pulling him along, a vicious gleam flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly gave her a hard shove.

Caught completely off guard, the old woman fell to the ground and stared at the boy in disbelief.

"Grandma, you love me the most. I'm sure you'd be willing to die for me..."

The boy shouted as he ran on without looking back.

Watching his retreating figure, the old woman was stunned. She had never imagined that the precious grandson she had always cherished would hurt her.

But soon, acceptance and resolve appeared in her grief-stricken eyes.

Yes, with a Vengeful Ghost pursuing them, neither would escape if they kept running together.

Now she would sacrifice herself to buy her grandson time to escape.

Wait, that young man...

As though remembering something, the old woman abruptly looked in the direction Li Feng had gone.

"Young man! Young man! Help! I was wrong before! I know I was wrong! Come save me! Please, come save me..."

Shouting at the top of her lungs, the old woman turned and lunged at the charging spectral Black Cat.

Li Feng stepped out. He looked at the old woman, whose eyes lit up with delighted surprise, and at the boy who had abandoned her and was fleeing into the distance. He simply stood there and sneered.

Seeing this, the delighted surprise quickly faded from the old woman's eyes, replaced by despair, then venom.

"May you die a horrible death!"

The instant her words fell, the spectral Black Cat passed straight through her chest.

The old woman felt a chill in her chest and looked down in despair.

Yet when she looked, bewilderment spread across her face.

The Black Cat had passed through her chest without harming her at all.

In disbelief, she rubbed her eyes hard, then felt her chest. Once she confirmed that nothing was wrong, wild joy instantly flooded her heart.

But she hadn't forgotten the grandson who had abandoned her and fled.

She first looked up at Li Feng with bitter hatred, then turned toward the direction her grandson had run.

The Black Cat had already caught up behind the boy, and the next instant, it pounced onto him.

"Meow... rr!"

In a flash, the spectral Black Cat leaped straight through the boy.

The boy felt a chill wash through his body, then saw a Black Cat emerge from his chest.

"Ah! I'm dead! I'm dead..."

Staring at the spectral Black Cat, the boy screamed in terror and despair, clawing wildly at his chest.

"My precious... grandson..."

Hearing the boy's terrified screams, the old woman immediately hurried to him and crouched down to examine his body.

"Grandma, Grandma, I'm going to die, I'm going to die...

Why didn't you stop it..."

Tears filled the boy's eyes as he looked at his grandmother, who held him in her arms. First, he burst into aggrieved sobs, then his eyes turned vicious as he demanded an answer.

"Oh, my precious grandson, it's all right, it's all right. That filthy, wretched thing can't hurt us...

Once we get out into the sunlight, we can kill that filthy thing..."

Although her precious grandson had abandoned her, the old woman still couldn't help comforting him when she saw him sobbing his heart out.

As he listened to his grandmother's reassurances, the boy gradually calmed down and realized that he hadn't been hurt.

His courage returned in an instant, and his gaze held far less fear as he looked at the spectral Black Cat.

"Meow!"

With another shrill cry, the spectral Black Cat hurled itself at the boy and the old woman again.

"Aah!"

Even though they knew the Black Cat didn't seem able to hurt them, neither could help crying out in fright.

The next instant, the Black Cat passed straight through both their chests in succession and appeared behind them.

Sure enough, they were still unharmed.

This time, both of them relaxed completely. As the Black Cat kept charging at them, they even had the presence of mind to wave it away.

The little boy in particular kept making faces, teasing the Black Cat as it rushed at him, and even thrust his chest out to meet it.

"Hehe, you can't kill me, you can't kill me...

Come on, come on...

Nyah, nyah, nyah..."

He loved seeing how desperately the Black Cat wanted to kill him, yet could do nothing about it.

Standing in the distance, Li Feng watched the boy and the old woman tease the Black Cat, utterly dumbfounded.

It wasn't the Black Cat's inability to hurt the boy and the old woman directly that surprised him, but the way the two of them were behaving.

That was a Vengeful Ghost, after all!

Even if it couldn't inflict physical injuries, how could having Ghostly Energy pass through their bodies possibly leave them unscathed?