Zheng Qing did not let the Little Paper Crane stay in his pocket for long.
After his Saturday night elective class ended, he immediately returned to the dormitory, transformed into a black cat, and had the Little Paper Crane lead him to his Shadow Cat.
He had turned into a cat partly because moving around the school in human form was inconvenient for him now, and partly because he had not figured out how to communicate with that cat—he simply felt that becoming a cat might ease the awkwardness when they met.
The paper crane fluttered beneath the moonlight, light as a butterfly as it weaved between walls and shrubs.
But the farther the black cat ran after it, the more something felt wrong—because he knew the route the paper crane was taking very well. It led toward the Cat Fruit Tree.
His suspicion became certainty when the paper crane stopped beneath the Cat Fruit Tree.
The black cat clearly saw another black cat, almost identical to himself, sprawled atop his "throne" in the Cat Fruit Tree. Its front paws were folded together as it tipped up its head and luxuriated in the moonlight.
The black cat could have guessed with the tip of his tail that it was the Shadow Cat.
What vexed him even more was that a lovely little female cat lay on either side of the Shadow Cat. A Persian Cat was on the left, a Ragdoll Cat on the right, while more cats stood in neat lines with gems, herbs, spirit fruits, and all kinds of gifts in their mouths, respectfully presenting tribute below the throne.
The black cat, who prided himself on light taxes and modest levies, was nearly furious enough to twist his nose crooked.
Oh, so all the tribute he had not