The black cat had wanted to press for a few more answers when, without warning, a shout came from not far behind it: "Who's there?!"
It looked toward the sound and saw a faint green light swaying beyond the pitch-black woods. Along with that light, a slight magical ripple spread in all directions, like a spring breeze brushing across its face.
It was the Ghost-killing Wind Lantern of the nighttime Patrol Team.
With a single glance, the black cat identified the source of that pale green glow. It then realized that the subtle magical fluctuations must have come from a patrol member using Detection Magic. The wizards on night patrol had probably noticed some minor disturbance deep in the woods and were making a quick inspection.
It turned back, intending to reassure the masked man as someone with experience, only to discover in surprise that the person who had been standing before it had vanished without a trace.
At that moment, besides the two parchment certificates beneath its paws, there was now a long, narrow white slip of paper. Its cat eyes flickered as, by the dim moonlight filtering through gaps in the branches, it clearly made out the scrawled line on the paper—
"Same place, eleven thirty at night on the Jiaxu day of the Guiyou month."
The Jiaxu day of the Guiyou month was September 26th, the eighth day of the eighth lunar month—in other words, this Saturday. As for "same place," the black cat raised its head and looked around at the lush trees, all of which appeared much the same. Still uneasy, it lifted a hind leg and left a trail of damp marks beside the tree hollow where the Ear Brothers had disappeared, reinforcing its memory.
Normal cats did not use such a strange posture.