Failed Communication

The night gave it black fur, leaving me no way to find it.

Jiang Xiao Mao crouched on a wooden bench along the lakeside corridor, her melancholy gaze surveying the pitch-black night as she silently recited this little line of poetry she had adapted herself.

But she was a cat now. Even if poetic inspiration struck, she would not actually recite it aloud—cats meowing late at night could easily attract certain unclean things that loved the darkness, especially in a place where wizards gathered.

As a member of the Zhongshan Jiang Family's Direct Lineage, she possessed at least that much common sense.

Though she could not meow, that did not stop her from pricking up her ears and catching every unusual sound beneath the night sky. Compared with summer, the campus was much quieter in winter—the gurgling from the water was probably two merfolk fooling around on the lakebed; the soft, mournful sobbing from the woods was likely a symphony played by the night wind and branches; and the crisp clopping footsteps and hushed voices from the distant corridor probably belonged to the School Labor Committee staff responsible for night patrols.

At the mention of patrol officers' voices, the Little White Cat's ears twitched, and an unusual gleam appeared in her eyes—speak of the devil. Not long ago, she had been muttering someone's name in her heart, and now she heard his voice.

For some reason, although she felt delighted, she was also inexplicably irritated.

Irritated or not, if two wizards helped her, perhaps she could find that Big Black Cat very quickly!

The kitten tilted her head, poking half her face past a corridor pillar as she peered deeper into the walkway.

Before long, two familiar figures gradually came into view: the young scholarship student walking in front with