Black Cat and Black Umbrella

"These cats have such enormous appetites. If no one else comes, they really won't have anything left to eat."

"Aunt" spoke in a sobbing voice, as though her heart ached terribly for the dozen or so cats she kept in her apartment.

"I didn't bring any food, just some bread a friend gave me." There had been no "feed the cats" task in the story Su Bai knew, and they couldn't leave Happiness Residential Complex to buy cat food. Yet the bread Ning Yan had just given them had unexpectedly come in handy.

"That's all right. They eat anything. Once the food at home runs out, they go elsewhere to forage." His "aunt's" voice remained ragged. "But perhaps there are fewer good people outside now. These children come back starving every time. Sometimes they even gnaw on my hands. I don't know how much longer they can hold out."

Su Bai didn't know what to say. Since he had long suspected that this "aunt" wasn't human, he had never expected the stray cats she kept to be Regular, either. For that very reason, something about her words kept striking him as wrong.

Hopefully, I won't become "food" delivered to their door.

"Look at me. Xiao Bai hardly ever comes to visit, and all I do is say things that spoil the mood." Though she spoke strangely, the "aunt" in the rocking chair clearly hadn't recovered her memories. She was still playing the role of his "aunt" with great dedication.

"Xiao Bai, bring the bread over here. I'll share it among them." The figure in the rocking chair raised an arm and slowly beckoned to Su Bai.

Still standing outside the door, Su Bai began communicating with the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle inside him after hearing his "aunt's" invitation.

"Don't worry."

"We've always been here."

"Stay alive..."

As Su Bai's own power accumulated, his use and control of the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle remained nowhere near the level of his previous life, but he could already faintly hear some of their voices. In fact, most of the puzzle pieces were still beyond his current ability to call upon, but he could sense their presence.

To Su Bai, the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle meant more than power. They were memories and proof of those ten years in his previous life. They were his family.

Reassured by the puzzle pieces' companionship, Su Bai entered Room 402 with the bread Ning Yan had made. Since he hadn't closed the door, he could just barely examine his "aunt's" apartment by the light from the corridor.

Beyond the living room full of cats, he could see a semi-open kitchen and a door leading to the bedroom.

Though his "aunt" had adopted plenty of stray cats, she clearly hadn't taken very good care of them. The sounds of cats came from the kitchen and bedroom as well, with all sorts of meows ringing out from time to time. Various strange odors permeated the entire apartment.

Su Bai approached his "aunt" step by step. While standing at the door, he had been able to see what she wore, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't make out her face. He had assumed it was because of the lighting and distance, but once he drew closer, he discovered that the "person" in the rocking chair truly had no face.

Apart from the clothes pieced together from rags, his "aunt's" face and body consisted entirely of masses of writhing black shadow.

Su Bai stopped breathing for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. Though the writhing shadows were visually jarring, they seemed reasonable enough when he thought about it. The Nightmare World was full of bizarre-looking supernatural beings, and Happiness Residential Complex could only muddle the memories of humans and supernatural beings, not alter their appearances. An "aunt" made of writhing black shadows wasn't all that strange.

Su Bai cautiously offered his "aunt" the paper bag of bread. His expression remained blank as two tentacles formed from writhing black shadows extended from the ragged patchwork clothes and took the bag.

"The bread smells wonderful. I think they'll love it." The ragged voice came from within the shadows.

"Xiao Bai, how thoughtful of you." The shadow's voice was fractured, and her tentacles slowly crushed the bread Ning Yan had made through the paper bag. "There's a pot of tea on the table beside you. It's about the only nice thing I have left at home. Why not have a cup before you go?"

Before entering Room 402, even Su Bai hadn't known how long he would have to stay at his "aunt's" home. He hadn't expected the writhing "aunt" in the rocking chair to start actively seeing him off before he could even invent an excuse to leave.

Su Bai took two steps back, then glanced at the nearby table. A rather haphazard-looking calico cat lay listlessly on it, and a glass teapot did indeed stand beside it. Though his "aunt" had called it tea, the water in the glass teapot was completely clear, with a tiny lime inside. It didn't look like tea, but it did resemble ordinary lime water.

Still, Su Bai wasn't about to let his guard down enough to drink water in the home of a mass of writhing black shadows. He simply put on a friendly smile with practiced ease and spoke to his "aunt" in a slightly apologetic tone. "Aunt, now that I've visited you, I can rest easy. I have a six-hour bus ride home this time, so I really can't risk even a sip of water."

His "aunt" fell silent for a moment. Even the constantly writhing shadows stopped moving, as though she were digesting all the information in what Su Bai had just said.

"Oh, I see..."

Just as his "aunt" was about to say more, a little furry creature climbed onto Su Bai's shoe without him noticing when. Even with his current lack of strength, it was strange for a small animal to approach him so silently.

By the light from the corridor, Su Bai looked down at his foot and discovered that the creature clinging to him was a black cat with golden eyes and exceptionally soft fur.

"Meow."

Though Su Bai had heard plenty of cats meowing since he arrived, this little black kitten's cry seemed more... coquettish, like a little girl pestering someone for sweets.

"Hm? I don't think I've seen that cat before." It was his writhing "aunt" in the rocking chair who spoke. Beyond the ragged quality of her voice, Su Bai could also hear a bubbling, gurgling sound, as though the black shadows in the rocking chair might turn into a puddle of black water at any moment.

While his "aunt" spoke, the little black cat caught Su Bai's trouser leg in its weak teeth, seemingly trying to pull him outside. But it couldn't keep its grip, and its overexertion sent it tumbling into a ball on the floor with a thump.

"Meow." The little black cat sounded rather pitiful.

"I'll take care of it. Since you have somewhere to be, I won't keep you. I'll treat you to tea next time." The writhing black shadow in the rocking chair extended a tentacle and waved to Su Bai. "Go on. With them keeping me company, I won't get bored. These little ones are actually all very sweet. They've just been too hungry lately. If you stay here too long, they'll lose their tempers."

"Then take care of yourself, Aunt."

"Don't worry. I'm doing just fine."

Naturally, Su Bai couldn't possibly have any affection for this "aunt." He had only come here to play his part in this role-playing game.

But honestly, Su Bai could even sense some of this "aunt's" affection for her "nephew" in the writhing shadow's voice. Even her current eagerness to send him away might have stemmed from those fabricated feelings.

"Meow!"

Under the fixed stares of the dozen or so cats' gleaming eyes, Su Bai left Room 402. But the strange little black cat ran out right behind him, trying hard to bite his trouser cuff and drag him back into Room 402.

Strangely enough, when Su Bai had been inside, the little creature had tried to pull him out. Now that he was outside, it wanted him to return to Room 402.

Watching the little creature keep trying, only to tumble into a ball with a thump again and again, Su Bai sighed. He had little resistance to cute animals. Crouching down, he looked into the little black cat's beautiful golden eyes. "Do you want me to help you with something?"

"Meow!" The little black cat approached Su Bai and happily nuzzled his palm. "Meow-"

"I can't understand what you're saying, but you probably want to tell me about something ordinary human eyes can't see." Su Bai scratched the kitten's neck. "As it happens, I have an eye that can see things ordinary people can't."

"Meow!"

"Black Umbrella, help me." Su Bai scooped up the soft little kitten, closed his eyes, and called to Black Umbrella within the Vengeful Ghost Puzzle. "Lend me your eyes and your power."

"Those humans earlier really had no taste. Your skin may have turned a little darker, but if we ignore those glasses of yours, Master, isn't a dark-skinned beauty just as delectable?" Black Umbrella's somewhat sultry male voice rang out. By "those humans earlier," he was probably referring to Ning Yan, Fang Xiujie, and the others.

"Cut the nonsense, and don't call me Master." Su Bai admitted that Black Umbrella's abilities were very useful. It was just that his personality was a little... unusual among the puzzle pieces.

"Understood." Black Umbrella reined in his tone. "Black Umbrella's power is yours to command."

As soon as Black Umbrella finished speaking, Su Bai opened his eyes.

In Su Bai's vision, the brightly lit fourth-floor corridor turned dim and yellow in the blink of an eye. The grimy walls were covered in filth, along with... countless bloody marks left by animals' sharp claws.