Over the next two days, the animals being boarded at the hospital were collected one after another.
Even the Chinese tabby whose owner had paid for one week of boarding and then vanished without a trace finally saw its owner return.
The owner firmly insisted, “Work was too busy recently. I was away on a business trip and got delayed, which is why I didn’t have time to collect my cat.”
Annie gave him a smile that did not reach her eyes and said nothing.
The man, however, reacted as though he had been caught doing something wrong. After paying the outstanding boarding fees, he hurriedly fled.
“Too busy with work? Away on a business trip? What a load of nonsense!” Annie sneered. “He’s talking as though he wasn’t the one who couldn’t wait to hang up whenever we called him.”
“There’s nothing people won’t do,” Gao Xuan said, shaking her head repeatedly. “Are there really so few owners who claim they’re boarding their pets, only to disappear forever?”
“They’re just dumping a troublesome burden on the pet hospital and expecting us to find someone willing to take in their abandoned animal.”
“Fortunately, we kept the cat. If we had actually found it a good home, that man might have come back demanding an explanation and accusing us of losing his pet.”
“Hard to say,” Annie muttered.
As the boarded animals were collected one after another, the hospital suddenly became much emptier.
Gao Xuan simply unclipped Cola’s lead and allowed him to wander freely.
However, even after being released, Cola continued lying lazily on the floor, pretending to be a stuffed toy.
Annie caught sight of him from the corner of her eye and sighed.
“Cola is already quite old. No wonder he doesn’t like moving. The energetic ones are all puppies.”
At that moment, scratching suddenly sounded from outside the door.
Gao Xuan and Annie exchanged a look before walking over together.
When they opened the door, they saw a tabby cat sitting outside with a plump sparrow in its mouth.
It looked rather familiar.
The moment it saw Gao Xuan, its eyes lit up. It immediately dropped the sparrow and ran over to rub itself against her trouser legs.
Annie’s eyes widened.
Wasn’t this the tabby that had stayed in the hospital before being taken home?
Why had it appeared outside their shop?
Gao Xuan picked the cat up and carefully examined it. Only after confirming that it was uninjured did she breathe a sigh of relief.
“Meow.”
The tabby let out a melodious cry, attempting to act spoiled so that Gao Xuan would allow it to live with her.
However…
Annie lowered her voice and spoke rapidly.
“We can’t keep it at the shop! No matter what happened, its owner is still one of our customers.”
“The cat ran back here by itself, but if the owner comes looking for it, we won’t be able to explain.”
“And if she demands that we return the cat, we’ll have neither the right nor the reason to refuse.”
Gao Xuan stroked the cat’s fur while thinking.
After a moment, she raised her head, her gaze sharp.
“Didn’t you think you didn’t have enough pets at home? Why don’t you take it?”
Annie froze and instinctively objected, “Cats can’t fight. Raising dogs is safer!”
“Not necessarily,” Gao Xuan replied seriously. “Some cats can catch mice, while some dogs are frightened the moment they see one. It depends on how you train them.”
Then she pointed at the sparrow.
“Look. Isn’t this cat quite capable? It can hunt and should have no trouble feeding itself.”
Annie was considerably tempted.
If the cat could provide for itself, all she would need to offer was a place to stay. It would not be much trouble.
Besides, animals that had suffered abuse usually became either extremely timid or extremely fierce.
If the tabby could be vicious towards enemies and gentle with its own family, that would be perfect.
Gao Xuan’s expression became solemn.
“It knows we saved it and deliberately brought prey back to us. Clearly, this cat knows how to repay kindness. Are you really sure you don’t want it?”
“What else can I do besides take it in? I don’t want to see it bullied until its entire body is covered in wounds again.”
Annie made her declaration with righteous determination before reaching out to carry the cat away.
“Meow! Meow!”
The tabby clung to Gao Xuan and refused to leave.
“Be good.”
Gao Xuan gently persuaded it.
“I can’t adopt you. Go home with her. Annie will be a good owner.”
The tabby looked slightly disappointed. It desperately wanted to act shamelessly and pretend it did not understand.
Gao Xuan remained unmoved and patiently explained the advantages and disadvantages.
After a long while, the tabby realised that pretending to be helpless would not work. It could only settle for its second choice and follow the other woman.
However, after thinking carefully, the person beside Gao Xuan was actually quite good too.
During its hospital stay, she had frequently slipped it snacks and even given it small toys.
As Annie held the cat in her arms, she muttered, “Why do I feel like I’m merely the backup choice?”
“How could that be? You’re a mighty tycoon!” Gao Xuan replied solemnly.
“Hmph.”
Annie gave a cool, arrogant snort, yet the hand stroking the tabby was exceptionally gentle.
**
The young man who had been chased and pecked by a magpie before ending up in hospital was named Wang Wei.
At first, he had been quite content during his hospital stay.
However, before long, he sensed a hint of danger.
Someone had injured their back when their pet suddenly gained weight and pounced on them.
Someone else had tried to catch a sparrow, only to have their head pecked full of bloody lumps.
Another person had been even more unfortunate. They happened to pass by while a group of stray cats were fighting, became an innocent casualty, and were sent to hospital.
Wang Wei keenly realised that something was wrong.
Therefore, on his third day in hospital, he secretly telephoned his parents, who lived in the suburbs.
“Don’t go outside unless you absolutely have to. Things may become chaotic soon.”
“If you have time, go to supermarkets and shopping centres and buy more food to store at home.”
“Me?”
After hesitating briefly, Wang Wei gritted his teeth and spoke in a relaxed tone.
“Business is slow at the company recently, so there isn’t much work. I’ll take some leave and come home to see you in a few days.”
“Don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Well, I adopted a cat. Would it be all right if I brought it home with me?”
“I know Mum is afraid of cats. I promise that once I return, I’ll keep it locked in my room and absolutely won’t let it out.”
“It’s only because there’ll be no one to look after it while I’m away. I’m worried it’ll starve.”
After considerable coaxing and persuasion, they finally reached an agreement.
Once he hung up, Wang Wei released a long breath and felt much more relaxed.
After thinking for a moment, he called his friend.
“Hello, Dahua. How’s my domestic cat?”
“As long as it’s fine, that’s good. We’re brothers, so of course I trust you. I just don’t know whether you’ll trust me…”
“I’m telling you, a lot of strange things have been happening lately.”
Wang Wei recounted everything he had witnessed in the hospital before saying seriously, “I think something may happen soon, so I wanted to warn you. You can decide for yourself what to do.”
“I’m not staying in hospital.”
“I haven’t recovered completely, but there aren’t enough beds anymore. The corridors are packed with people, and it’s noisy all day. It isn’t suitable for recuperation.”
“I’m planning to go home.”
“I’ll be discharged this afternoon, then come and collect the cat. All right, see you later.”
After ending the call, Wang Wei telephoned several close relatives and friends, warning them to be cautious.
**
Recently, incidents of animals injuring people had occurred frequently.
As a proportion of the population, the number of affected residents was not especially high.
However, in absolute numbers, there were quite a lot.
Some people did not take the incidents seriously. They assumed they were ordinary accidents and forgot about them as soon as their injuries healed.
Others paid attention. They carefully told their relatives and friends everything they had experienced and warned them to remain cautious.
As a result, supermarkets, shopping centres, large stores, and convenience shops were filled with people frantically buying food and daily necessities.
Panic was an emotion that spread extremely easily.
When some people saw others grabbing supplies, they joined in without asking what was happening.
Others had initially remained calm and composed. However, after witnessing shelves being swept completely bare, they soon began panicking as well.
Everyone grabbed whatever food they saw, terrified that they would be unable to buy it later.
Gradually, long queues formed inside supermarkets.
Many people felt deeply uneasy and had no idea what was happening.
They only knew that the goods in their hands had been extremely difficult to obtain and absolutely had to be taken home and stored.
**
Elsewhere, Annie spent every day using her tablet to browse pet forums.
She discovered that the situation had not calmed down. Instead, it was becoming increasingly serious.
More and more owners posted online asking for help and describing their pets’ unusual behaviour.
Some were not too alarming. The animals merely ate an extraordinary amount or had grown beyond the normal size limits of their breed.
However, others were clearly very wrong.
For example, rural households often raised chicks and ducklings.
One day, a porcupine entered a village. The villagers were alarmed and had just begun discussing how to deal with it when they discovered that the porcupine had already collapsed.
A flock of chicks and ducklings surrounded it, each wearing a more vicious expression than the last.
The villagers refused to believe that the chicks and ducklings had defeated the porcupine, yet they could not find any other reasonable explanation.
Another post described a household hamster that had grown an entire size larger and was nearly as big as a kitten!
Its original cage could no longer contain it, and the owner was so worried that their hair was practically turning white.
Then there was a husky.
Normally, accusing a husky of demolishing a home might be slightly exaggerated.
This time, however, it had genuinely demolished the house.
It had knocked down an entire wall!
The unfortunate owners frantically posted on the forum, hoping that an expert might offer assistance.
However, no one could think of a solution.
Everyone was equally confused.
Worse still, countless posts were deleted after being labelled fictional stories.
The victims could obtain help from neither heaven nor earth and were almost driven insane with anxiety.
“They keep assuming everyone is writing jokes. Can’t people have even the most basic trust in one another?” Annie believed that most of the forum posts described real incidents.
However, other people did not share her opinion, so the posts were deleted almost immediately.
Gao Xuan laughed.
“You’re talking as though you believed me.”
Previously, no matter how many hints Gao Xuan had given, Annie had refused to believe her.
Only after witnessing something strange personally had she changed her attitude.
Annie’s face reddened with embarrassment, and she had no choice but to admit, “According to common sense, these things truly shouldn’t be possible.”
“Exactly.”
Gao Xuan shrugged.
“Everyone else is still behaving according to ‘common sense.’”
Annie wanted to respond, but ultimately swallowed her words.
She understood better than anyone that changing other people’s minds was extraordinarily difficult. Therefore, she had no intention of wasting her effort.
She opened several major forums on her tablet.
All kinds of unsuitable posts disappeared at astonishing speed and were soon deleted completely.
Anyone who arrived slightly later would have no idea what had previously happened on the forums.
“If no one is allowed to say anything, what will happen to those who know nothing?” Annie could not help worrying.
As she spoke, a new post appeared.
The original poster was filled with righteous anger and had compiled all the deleted content into a single thread.
At the end of the post, he wrote:
“I have personally experienced something similar. What right does the moderator have to delete these posts?”
“I’ve explained countless times that we aren’t deliberately creating public panic. We genuinely encountered strange incidents and want to warn everyone!”
Many people replied in support.
However, three minutes later, the new post was deleted as well.
The original poster and everyone who had replied were permanently muted and could no longer speak.
At the same time, numerous media outlets published reports denying the rumours.
“Recently, terrorists have released newly developed animal breeds in various locations to deliberately create chaos. The relevant departments are actively taking action. We ask everyone to remain calm and wait patiently.”
“These new animal breeds possess extraordinary strength and are highly aggressive. Residents should take defensive precautions when travelling to avoid accidents. If suspicious creatures are discovered, please contact the police immediately.”
“Anyone who takes advantage of the situation to spread rumours online or deliberately incite panic will bear corresponding legal responsibility.”
“Several notices are attached below. Resident Li XX, aged twenty-five, previously spread false information on an online forum and has now been arrested…”
After reading this, Annie’s face turned ashen.
She silently warned herself, “It’s difficult to be a good person. A well-intentioned warning can accidentally become the spreading of rumours, and you might even be arrested.”
In her opinion, the situation resembled ordinary animals suddenly mutating far more than terrorists releasing newly developed species.
That would explain why there were so many animals, so many different breeds, and so many victims.
However, the media had already reached its conclusion.
If someone argued against it, who knew whether they would be accused of spreading rumours and stirring up trouble?
Annie felt both furious and anxious, yet there was nothing she could do.
Gao Xuan lowered her eyes.
That was precisely why she said nothing and did nothing.
During an apocalypse, nothing was more important than protecting oneself.
—
**Author’s Note:**
I’ve tried my best to avoid it, but the content I want to write still seems slightly sensitive. -_-||
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