"The Mortal Chapter Of Qing Zhuan" - Chapter 13

The Cat’s Passing

“My dear little lady, you can’t blame us, can you? It’s your own fault for being so friendly!” Zhao Fangshuo said, holding her chin and sounding self-righteous.

She was tied up, a strip of cloth leaving a bright red mark on her mouth. Beneath her messy hair, her swollen eyes were red from crying, and her face was bruised and purple from being slapped. She curled up, afraid of more suffering.

Qin Shaojie said to Luan Qingfeng, “Leaving this woman here is a disaster. We might as well just kill her now. I haven’t seen the patrols around here lately.”

Luan Qingfeng thought for a moment. “But we can’t let her die here. Is there a good place nearby to dump a body?”

Qin Shaojie smiled wickedly. “Of course. I’ve found the perfect spot! No one will ever find it!”

“Huh? Where?” Luan Qingfeng leaned in and asked.

He led Luan Qingfeng to a place not far north of the fishing shack. Luan Qingfeng almost stumbled and fell into the bottom of the dam.

Qin Shaojie said nervously, “Be careful, Ah Feng!”

Luan Qingfeng laughed. “This is truly the best place to kill someone and dump the body! Haha, Brother, how did you find it?”

“Oh, don’t even ask. The other day when you were going into the village to scout, I was worried, so I went out too. I was looking for you but got lost and stumbled upon this place. I was so scared then, and I almost fell in!” Qin Shaojie joked about himself.

Luan Qingfeng picked a bouquet of colorful wildflowers and brought them back. He went up to the widow, who was doing some work, and snatched her up.

He handed her the bouquet. “Sister-in-law, after learning about your life story these past few days, I feel very sad. Since your brother passed away so many years ago, I’m sure you miss him a lot, right?”

The widow sobbed, her eyes vacant as she stared at him. He motioned to her. “Don’t be afraid, sister-in-law. Soon, I will use this to honor you and help you on your journey to the underworld. It’ll be full of flowers. Hahahaha…”

Qin Shaojie was on the side, sharpening his knife and smiling sinisterly. “It has to be Ah Feng. He even has to give a pre-murder psychological talk! Hahahaha…”

Luan Qingfeng then ran his finger along the blade’s edge. “Mmm, not bad. This knife needs to be sharpened by you, Brother.”

He then walked to the helpless woman, gently resting her head on his shoulder to comfort her. “Sister-in-law, don’t be afraid, it won’t hurt. Be a good girl and go, go be with your brother…”

As a pool of bl00d spread on the ground, the widow went to the other world. Sun Youwei and Zhao Fangshuo followed Luan Qingfeng to the broken dam and threw her body down.

Three days passed, and the village was as peaceful as ever. Nothing happened. Just as everyone was starting to relax, something unexpected occurred.

“Hey, I haven’t seen her in days! I wonder where she’s off to,” the convenience store owner muttered.

My dad was at the store buying sugar and overheard this. When he came home, he said to us, “Something’s wrong!”

My mom quickly asked, “Did someone die again?”

“I don’t know if anyone’s dead, but someone is missing!” My dad took a drink of water.

Old Gao rubbed his head, thinking. “Could it be those guys again?”

I was holding Mimi, listening to their conversation, and thought to myself, The police just let their guard down, and something happened. Those guys must still be hiding somewhere in the village.

Officer He called my dad to find out more. My dad replied, “Yes, yes, the village widow, Chen Lan, is missing. The convenience store owner was the first to notice something was off because Chen Lan hadn’t come to her place to play mahjong for two days. She usually goes every day, but she was nowhere to be seen for two days straight. So the owner went to her house to look for her and found her door was locked. She asked our neighbor, Aunt Liu. Aunt Liu said she saw Chen Lan walking toward the west side of the village with a basket two days ago, all dressed up. She must have been going to hook up with a man!”

My mom nudged my dad with her elbow. “Why are you saying that?!” On the other end of the phone, we heard, “Ahem, okay, Mr. Li. So Chen Lan has been missing for two days.”

Later, the store owner went back and spread the word. Everyone in the village knew.

My dad brought it up again at dinner. “Hey, do you think she’s still alive? Aunt Liu shouldn’t have said that, hahaha, it’s so funny! But seriously, this Chen widow is so unlucky!”

My mom took a sip of her corn porridge. “Who knows? I heard from Aunt Six that Chen Lan’s second brother came looking for her today. When he couldn’t find her, he went to the village chief. I wonder what’s going on now!”

Old Gao and I were playing with our cat’s tail. Old Gao asked me, “Dayuanzi, do you think that Chen widow was killed?”

“Who knows? But it’s hard to say. They still haven’t caught those suspects. Who knows where they’re hiding or if they’ll do something bad! I just hope Officer He and the police solve the case soon, or the whole village will feel full of fear!” With that, I continued to comb the cat’s fur.

Old Gao picked up Mimi. “I wonder what my parents are doing at home? I kind of miss them!”

I patted his shoulder to comfort him. “You call them every day, don’t you? Besides, we can’t send you back now. What if a suspect jumps out on the way? Even our teacher called and told us not to leave our homes unless it’s necessary.”

Old Gao pouted. “I know, but I can’t help missing them! Mimi, what should I do?! Mimi! I wish I could be a cat too! Carefree and not having to worry about so many things.”

Mimi flipped over, escaped Old Gao’s hands, and jumped onto the bed to continue sleeping.

Just then, with a great roar from the sky, it started to rain heavily. It rained for a whole day. I watched the water in the yard flow out of the channels my dad had dug.

My mom sighed. “It’s raining so hard! It hasn’t rained like this in years!”

A day and a night of thunder, lightning, and heavy rain caused a flood. The river became a torrent, and the water level rose so high it almost breached the dam. Even the old, abandoned reservoir was full.

The next morning, the sky was still drizzling. Everyone opened their doors and started scooping water out. Some tended to their plants, and some went to the fields in groups. Everyone came out.

This was the first time so many people had come out since the murders. We looked at each other and talked about the losses in our homes.

Old Gao and I found Wenwen, and we all went to check the damage to the dam.

When we arrived at the river, the once small river was now a raging torrent of yellow water. The surface was covered with filthy yellow and white foam, uprooted tree trunks, and all kinds of debris.

Wenwen looked at the water and said, “Yuanzi, this rain was no joke! I don’t think it’s rained this hard in years!”

Old Gao agreed. “Yeah, I think so too!”

I looked up at the sky, which was still raining, and thought, I wonder what this year’s harvest will be like?

Old Gao and Wenwen also sighed. I saw Mimi rubbing against my leg, so I picked him up. “Let’s go home, it’s a little cold!”

Just as we were about to leave, we saw a crowd of people rushing to the south.

Being naturally curious, the three of us didn’t want to miss out, so we followed the crowd.

But we didn’t expect to be greeted by a horrible smell. I buried my nose in Mimi’s fur, and Mimi turned his face and buried it in my chest.

We slowly got closer and saw a bloated face floating in the water. The store owner suddenly screamed, “Chen Lan! This… this is Chen Lan! Look at the scar on her wrist! It’s Chen Lan! Oh my god! This… this is too scary! Call the police! Go get Officer He!”

Soon after, the village chief rushed over with Officer He, accompanied by police officers and forensic doctors from the city bureau.

We were all moved away as the officers set up a long cordon. Officer He picked up a megaphone. “Villagers, don’t panic. Go home for now. Don’t go out these next few days. If you find anything unusual, please contact us immediately.”

Old Gao and I were about to go home when Mimi suddenly broke free from my arms and started running west. I quickly chased after him. Wenwen saw and followed. We followed Mimi, getting farther and farther away from the crowd.

Wenwen asked me, “Yuanzi, do you smell something?”

I sniffed hard. “It smells like someone is stewing fish?”

Wenwen said, “No wonder Mimi is running. The smell must be nearby, or Mimi wouldn’t be running so fast. Remember when we grilled fish before? Mimi would always follow the older students like this!”

I sniffed again. The smell was definitely getting closer, but we were getting farther away from the crowd.

Finally, I caught Mimi and held him tightly in my arms. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a sinister voice from behind us. “Two more kids looking for a death wish!”

We turned around and saw four men in tattered clothes standing behind us. I held Mimi and backed away, my heart pounding.

Wenwen ran in front of me to protect us. “You guys! You’re the murderers, aren’t you? You still haven’t run away! Did you kill Chen Lan?!”

Sun Youwei smiled wickedly. “You’re a good guess, kid! It was us. So what? But you can’t blame us. Why did that woman have to seek death?!”

Luan Qingfeng said to Qin Shaojie, “Brother! This kid is smart! We can’t let him live!”

Qin Shaojie’s eyes were malicious. He had a pale face, high cheekbones, and a scar above his brow. He stared at us. “They’re just two little kids. Just kill them!”

The one next to him, Zhao Fangshuo, who was holding a grilled fish, was short and round, but his voice was high-pitched. “Boss, this girl is pretty. We can get a good price for her! As for the boy, just kill him!”

Luan Qingfeng licked his lips with a lecherous grin. “Brothers, don’t you want to taste this soft, peachy girl? This is a premium! Look at her! Tsk, tsk, tsk! Those long, straight legs, so fair and smooth, and her… ah, it makes me want to take a bite! Ah! That little face, that appearance, it makes you want to cherish her. This is a rare beauty! We can’t let this premium one go today, Brother!”

Wenwen stood in front of me and yelled, “You bunch of murderers and thugs! You’re dreaming!”

Mimi, in my arms, seemed to sense the hostility and started hissing at them, letting out a low, menacing growl. His eyes were fixed on their faces, his tail became thick, and the fur on his back stood up. He was ready to fight at any moment!

We slowly backed away. Mimi, watching the murderers getting closer, seized the opportunity and leaped from my arms.

He went straight for the boss’s face and scratched him. He then jumped onto Sun Youwei’s face and then onto Luan Qingfeng’s head, biting him. The three of them couldn’t open their eyes.

Wenwen took the opportunity to grab a wooden stick and swung it at them, but Wenwen was shorter than them and was kicked back by Qin Shaojie.

I quickly grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and threw it at their faces. Even though the sand was wet, it still hurt.

They were about to chase after me, but Mimi scratched and bit their ankles, making them jump up and down in pain. Wenwen threw his phone to me. “Quick, call the first number in the contacts! That’s Officer He’s!”

Then he picked up the stick and lunged at their stomachs, and used a willow branch to whip them.

Mimi was kicked by them, but even with bl00d at the corner of his mouth, he continued to bite and scratch.

I quickly dialed the number and yelled, “Officer He, help! We’re at the old reservoir, and the four murderers are fighting with Wenwen. Hurry up and come!”

Before I could finish, Qin Shaojie kicked me down. Mimi then let out a rough scream and jumped onto his back, scratching and biting. It hurt him so much he thrashed around, trying to shake him off.

Wenwen used the wooden stick to knock the fat guy down, then used sand to blind the skinny guy, but Luan Qingfeng punched him in the face and then kicked him hard in the stomach.

But he got up again, biting Luan Qingfeng’s leg. In pain, Luan Qingfeng kicked Wenwen’s face again, and Wenwen was sent flying, bl00d dripping from his mouth!

Mimi was also thrown off by Qin Shaojie and then choked by him. He was squatting there, choking Mimi. Mimi’s four legs were flailing. I quickly and quietly picked up a brick and threw it at the boss’s head, making him bleed.

He roared and threw Mimi to the ground. He turned around, pinned me down, and choked me with his hand.

Mimi, limping, jumped onto his back again and continued to scratch and bite.

Wenwen quickly grabbed the brick and hit him on the head several times. I started to feel something red splashing on my face. My vision became blurry, my breathing became heavy, and I slowly closed my eyes.

Wenwen kicked him hard, and he fell to the ground, clutching his head and groaning.

Wenwen quickly ran over and held me in his arms, calling my name. “Yuanzi, wake up, don’t sleep, Yuanzi, Yuanzi! Don’t sleep!”

At that moment, the three men, limping, picked up bricks and sticks and walked toward us. Mimi, growling, dragged his limp leg and leaped again, scratching and biting their faces.

They were so pained they threw Mimi to the ground and picked up a brick to smash him. Wenwen screamed, “No, you beasts!”

Wenwen ran over and kicked them in the face! But Mimi was still on the ground, covered in bl00d from the brick.

Mimi lay flat on the ground, his eyes rolled back. Bl00d continuously came from his mouth, and his four paws were covered in bl00d.

I finally caught my breath and lay there, gasping, slowly crawling to Mimi’s side.

Looking at the bloodstains at the corner of Mimi’s mouth and the white fur stained with bl00d, I burst into tears.

Wenwen looked at the fallen Qin Shaojie and sighed in relief. The other three were blinded by the cat’s scratches. Sun Youwei was half-kneeling on the ground, and Zhao Fangshuo was rolling around, covering his eyes!

Luan Qingfeng was also wiping the bl00d from his eyes. Wenwen wiped the bl00d from his mouth and came to help me up.

“Mimi… wuwu, these bastards…” I sobbed, gently stroking the cat’s back. “Mimi, hold on, don’t leave me…”

Wenwen comforted me. “Yuanzi, don’t be afraid. I’m here!”

I looked at his bruised and swollen face, and his white T-shirt stained with bl00d. I cried and asked, “Why aren’t they here yet?! What should we do? I’m so scared, Wenwen! Wuwuwu…”

Wenwen forced a smile. “Don’t, don’t be afraid, Yuanzi, I’m here. No one will hurt you! Don’t be afraid!”

He picked up the stick, limped to them, and hit them hard, once, twice, three times!

Then he walked to Luan Qingfeng and said, “It was you who verbally insulted my Yuanzi, wasn’t it?!”

He then broke the wooden stick in half, took the pointed end, and plunged it into Luan Qingfeng’s foot. The murderer screamed in pain, and Wenwen punched him in the face! One punch, two punches, three punches…

The other two were so scared they curled up. The bruised Zhao Fangshuo muttered, “Brother Three is having a bad day!”

Sun Youwei quickly said, “Don’t talk! Just lie there and pretend to be dead. This kid is too tough! He smashed the boss to death! Brother Three is unrecognizable. We shouldn’t talk. My eyes are so scratched by that damn cat I can’t see! Hiss… it hurts so much!”

Finally, Wenwen stopped hitting him when he could no longer make a sound.

Wenwen staggered and fell to the ground, his palms scraped raw. But he looked at his bleeding hand, walked to Zhao Fangshuo, smeared some bl00d on his face, and whispered, “I’m warning you, if you don’t want to die a horrible death, you’d better confess to all the evil things you’ve done! Or I’ll break one of your arms first!”

The two of them trembled in fear. Wenwen limped back to me, knelt in front of me, wiped the bl00d from his hand onto his T-shirt, touched my face, and smiled. “Yuanzi, don’t be afraid. I’m here. No one will hurt you!”

I nodded, unable to speak through my sobs. He turned on the phone’s recording and began the interrogation.

He was afraid the fat guy would play tricks, so he used the pointed stick that had just been used on Luan Qingfeng to poke him in the stomach. He screamed in pain, and his high-pitched scream guided the village chief and Officer He to us.

Officer He heard the sound and said, “Good grief, Village Chief, you led us the wrong way! Hurry, this way!”

My dad heard and cursed. “Why are you leading the way?! Hurry up! If anything happens to my daughter, I’ll fight you!”

Wenwen’s dad also yelled, “Village Chief! You’re so confused! Why are you leading us when you don’t know the way?! If anything happens to my son, I’m not done with you!”

The poor village chief kept apologizing. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault!”

Wenwen continued the interrogation. “Did you guys kill Wang Da, who took you in and gave you food?”

The fat guy nodded. “Yes, it was us. Not me! I was just the lookout! I didn’t kill anyone!”

Wenwen frowned and said fiercely, “You didn’t kill anyone?! Then did you have anything to do with Wang Da’s wife? And did you kill Chen Lan?”

The fat guy nodded. “I… I defiled… them both, but I was the last one! They killed Wang Da and the widow!”

I sat there, listening to him confess, and felt a wave of nausea. How could people be so cruel?!

I asked, “Wang Da saved your lives! But you repaid his kindness with enmity, killing him to cover your tracks! What was your intention?! He had no grudge against you, just a chance meeting, and he saved you from a dangerous situation. But you took his life! Why?! Answer me! You even kept his wife alive! You didn’t kill her! It wasn’t because you had a conscience, was it? You were just afraid of tipping people off! Because at that time, Wang Da’s wife was already screaming, and the commotion you made while killing Wang Da wasn’t small either! So you were afraid of being reported to the police and running into them on the way, so you chose to hide, hoping everyone would think you had fled! But you had no food or water here, so you went into the village to get information. And you just happened to run into that unlucky Chen Lan. You lured her here to bring you food. But Chen Lan didn’t know that she was walking into the arms of death. But you also didn’t expect that Chen Lan’s disappearance would be noticed, and that this sudden heavy rain would cause a flood, and that your bodies would be washed out by the water. And you wanted to go out again to get more information, but you didn’t expect that your grilled fish would attract us! You didn’t expect this cat to be so clever as to hurt you so badly, and you didn’t expect this young boy to beat you up! You animals! You should go to hell! To pay for the sins you have committed!” As I spoke, tears streamed down my face.

Just then, Officer He and the others arrived. My mom saw me covered in bl00d and my messy hair, and she saw Wenwen, covered in wounds. She ran over and hugged me. “You silly child, why do you always put yourself in such danger?! Do you know how worried your mom is about you?! You silly child! If something happened to you, what would your dad and I do?!”

Wenwen’s dad ran over to him, his eyes red. “Good boy! Does it hurt? Did you take down all of them?”

Wenwen smiled. “Dad, they confessed! I’m fine! I just scared Yuanzi!”

Wenwen’s dad then hugged him. “My son is strong and brave. He fought four people. Good boy!”

My dad also walked over to Wenwen, his attitude completely different from before. “Wenwen! You protected my daughter today! I’ll personally treat your wounds when we get back! Good boy! You’ve got guts! Better than your dad!”

Officer He walked over to Wenwen, patting his head. “Good job, kid! You’re a natural for criminal investigation! Do you want to be a police officer someday? You did a great job today! You deserve an award!”

He then turned to me and gave me a thumbs-up. “Good job, little girl. You were calm in a crisis. You’re a natural too!”

Old Gao rushed over and asked, “Are you hurt anywhere? I’m sorry, Dayuanzi! It’s all my fault! I was just watching the show! I’m sorry!”

Wenwen put his arm around his shoulder. “Brother, it’s not your fault. We weren’t thinking much at the time. We just wanted to get Mimi back. Oh, right, where’s Mimi? Where did Mimi go?”

I also started looking for Mimi, but I couldn’t find him. I thought that if it weren’t for Mimi, we would probably be ghosts underground right now! But where could Mimi have gone?

The criminals were finally caught! The villagers were relieved and free to go out. Everyone gathered at night to celebrate and honor Wenwen and me.

Every household hung up their lights again. The store’s big lantern and colored lights were restored to their former glory.

The village was once again brightly lit! The village chief and his people rebuilt the small river after the flood, and the waterway returned to its original course.

The night sky was once again full of stars, with a bright moon hanging above! The smell of wine, meat, and flowers filled the air; men, women, and children laughed; everyone was immersed in the joy of surviving a disaster.

Then we heard Uncle Yin say in the crowd, “It’s all thanks to these two young heroes. Otherwise, we don’t know how many more people would have died! Let’s raise a glass to these two young heroes!”

Everyone agreed, laughing and praising our deeds. Little did they know that the three of us had been looking for Mimi all afternoon.

My mom and dad called us, but we were not in the mood to answer.

My heart was filled with guilt. Mimi was seriously injured. If he wasn’t treated, he would surely die.

But we didn’t know that we were so close to Mimi. He was lying quietly in a patch of cattails, and we had passed him by.

(Narrator) The silvery moonlight gently fell on the cattails. A light breeze blew. Mimi looked at the shimmering water in the distance and smelled the fragrance of the flowers and grass. He remembered when his owner loved to bring him here to play.

Every time they came here to fish, they would light a bonfire. The scent of the crispy grilled fish would spread far and wide, and he would happily chew on the delicious fish. He remembered sleeping in his owner’s arms. He remembered every little bit of his life. The scene in front of him slowly blurred, and his body grew cold. But the one thing he knew was that his life was for his owner.

When he first opened his eyes and looked at the world, the first thing he saw was his owner. And before he left, he came to their favorite place to quietly wait for death. He may not have known if there was a next life. He only knew that in the end, he had protected the owner he loved the most…

The lake was silent, and the surroundings were quiet. Even the cicadas seemed to be in mourning. I sat by the window, looking out, and thought, “Mimi, where are you?”

My tears couldn’t be held back. Old Gao saw my back and coughed lightly. “Dayuanzi, let’s go look by the river early tomorrow. Maybe Mimi is waiting for us there. Eat something! Auntie and Uncle brought back some food. It’s all your favorite! Look, there’s fried pork, sweet and sour pork, and some sweet red bean paste! And grilled fish…”

Old Gao fell silent as he spoke. He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, tears silently falling, because grilled fish was Mimi’s favorite.

The two of us looked at the delicious food in front of us but had no appetite.

Early the next morning, I pulled Old Gao to the river. We saw Wenwen kneeling motionless in the cattails.

We quickly ran over and saw Mimi, covered in bl00d, lying peacefully in the cattails. I stumbled and knelt beside Mimi, bursting into tears.

Wenwen and Old Gao also covered their mouths and cried. Mimi was covered in bl00d, and bl00d was coming from his mouth. His stomach was caved in, but his paws were soft because his bones had been crushed, and his spine was broken.

I cried and held Mimi in my arms. “Mimi, I’m here. I’m here. I’m late! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Mimi, I’m sorry! Wuwuwu…”

Wenwen clenched his fists and bit his jaw. Old Gao was crying his heart out.

To others, Mimi was just a cat, but to us, he was our best friend since childhood. He had been with us for more than ten years, and now he had died to save me. My heart ached as if it were being twisted.

I held Mimi’s cold body, touching his head and face for the last time, and hugging him for the last time. The tears in my eyes were like a breaking dam.

Wenwen clenched his fists, his eyes red. “Yuanzi, I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect you, and I couldn’t protect Mimi… I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

I wiped away my tears and said, “Wenwen, it’s not your fault! Good and evil can’t coexist in this world. Mimi also helped the people get rid of evil! I believe God will give him a great reward! Mimi is a hero…”

We buried him in that field of purple flowers. Under the gentle breeze, the flowers swayed. I looked at Mimi’s grave, and my eyes blurred. I saw the nimble cat running toward me from the field of flowers. When I reached out, I stumbled to the ground, grabbing a handful of air!

Wenwen and Old Gao looked at me in a panic. Old Gao quickly helped me up. “Dayuanzi, are you okay? I know this is a big blow to you, but you have to move forward. We can’t always live in the past or be sad! If we do, Mimi will have died for nothing! You have to live well, whether it’s for Mimi or for your family or for yourself! You have to live and see the scenery he never got to see, walk the paths he never got to walk, and experience everything in this world he never got to! Only then will Mimi not have died for nothing!”

Looking into the distance, I saw weeping willows and flowing water. I heard the wind whispering in my ear, and I understood the mission and meaning of being alive.