Unknown Number

Duan Qi had just lost his Bluetooth earphones. He clearly remembered putting it on the chair, but when he came back from the bathroom, it was gone.

He rummaged through the entire room but he still couldn’t find it.

Duan Qi wasn’t so well off. The set of earphones costing more than 300 yuan was already considered a luxury item for him. He didn’t have more money to buy another one.

He suddenly remembered that his mother had once told him about a certain way to find lost objects. She said that if he put some food suitable for cats in the living room and called for the Cat Spirit, then a cat would appear to find the missing items for him.

Of course, Duan Qi had never tried this method before, but he decided this time he would give it a try.

Duan Qi set up two bowls in the living room and threw a bunch of dried meat, dried fish and shredded squid into them. Without long, the two bowls were filled to the brim with food.

He called out, “Cat Spirit, oh Cat Spirit, quickly manifest your spirit…”

Soon enough, a nimble black cat appeared with a light flutter. It jumped down from the windowsill and ran straight towards Duan Qi’s room, ignoring the two full bowls of food.

Duan Qi chased it into the room, “I’ve already looked in there, but I couldn’t find it,” he said to spirit.

The black cat ignored him. It jumped to the bay window and took out a box containing the Bluetooth earphones from the corner.

Duan Qi couldn’t help but wonder, “How come it’s on the bay window? I’ve checked it before, but it wasn’t there.”

The black cat put the box at Duan Qi’s feet and strutted to the living room with its tail swaying. It quickly realized that it couldn’t take the food with it, so it called for Duan Qi with a “Meow”.

Duan Qi understood what it meant and held the two bowls of food in his hands. “Should I bring them home for you?”

The black cat gave a satisfied meow.

Duan Qi laughed. Letting the black cat take the lead, he followed it back to its home.

He was familiar with the road at first, but later it became more and more remote. The black cat turned its head and meowed at him. Dua Qi somehow understood its meaning. It was telling him to lower his head and not peek.

Duan Qi chuckled and whispered, “Is this some sort of secret base?”

The black cat didn’t respond, so he also kept quiet. He bowed his head obediently and didn’t look around.

As he was walking, there was a sudden loud noise in his ears. Duan Qi wanted to look up, but the black cat immediately noticed. It meowed a warning at him, and so Duan Qi could only continue walking with his head down. He didn’t dare to try to challenge the authority of this black cat.

After a while, Duan Qi saw a pair of bare feet appear in his field of vision. With their pale and white complexion, you could clearly see the blood vessels under their skin.

The black cat rubbed on the person’s leg and called to Duan Qi. Duan Qi knew that it was asking him to put down the two bowls of food. He glanced at a table nearby and put the food on top of it.

The black cat meowed at him and told him to go. Duan Qi was about to leave, but he couldn’t resist turning his head back. He looked up at the person the black cat was rubbing against. It was a very young and handsome boy. His hair and eyes were a deep and dark shade of black, but his skin was too fair, giving off a cold and gloomy air around him. He seemed to pay close attention to Duan Qi and kept looking at him. With that, the two pairs of eyes suddenly met.

“Meow meow!” The black cat cried bitterly. Duan Qi knew that it was angry, so he quickly lowered his head and muttered an apology, “Sorry, I’m sorry.”

He didn’t dare to look any more and turned to leave, but right at this moment, his wrist was seized by the boy. Duan Qi looked up at him in surprise. The boy’s grasp was unexpectedly strong.

The black cat cried once more, and the boy loosened his grip.

Duan Qi turned and walked away. After getting some distance, he couldn’t help but look back. He saw numerous black shadows behind him. The place where the boy stood just now was replaced by a huge black cat.

Duan Qi didn’t take this occurrence to heart. He found his Bluetooth earphones thanks to the Cat Spirit, he was more grateful than anything.

– 

That night, Duan Qi felt quite uncomfortable while he was sleeping. On edge and uneasy, he went to the windows and looked out, but he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He closed the curtains, and walked back to his bed. He closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

A sudden shrill cat’s cry could be heard from outside the windows. It was a bit loud. Duan Qi was a light sleeper so normally he would definitely wake up with a start, but for some reason, tonight was different. He slept very soundly instead.

The window’s glass trembled slightly, and a pair of golden cat eyes appeared behind it. Through the gaps of the curtains, they stared deeply at the delicate and beautiful boy on the bed.

– 

It happened two more times.

After a few days, Duan Qi couldn’t find his projector, so he repeated his old trick and brought some food. He wanted to summon the Cat Spirit again to help him find it.

But right at this moment, his mother called him, “Hey, what are you doing right now?”

“Looking for something. You know, Mom, the way you taught me worked like a charm. A cat really came to help me find something!” Duan Qi exclaimed.

His mother wondered, “What? A cat? Did you get a cat?”

“No, didn’t you say before that if I couldn’t find something, I could take some food as offerings and call for a Cat Spirit? Later, a little cat will come to help me find whatever it is I was looking for.”

His mother was speechless. “What on earth are you talking about? Do you have a fever? When did I tell you this? Oi, don’t give me this, if I come home and see that you have a cat, I might actually kill you.”

“….” Duan Qi didn’t know what to say.

“No, why don’t you remember? You told me about it, and I really did see a cat coming to find something for me.” He added.

With a sigh, his mother said, “Alright, alright. Remember to finish your homework. School is going to start soon. Don’t do anything weird, okay?” 

Duan Qi was a bit dejected as he hung up the call, but he didn’t think much of it. He set down the offerings and called for the Cat Spirit. After a while, a familiar black cat jumped in from the window, skillfully entered the room, and dragged out a projector from under the bed.

Even though it had happened before, Duan Qi still exclaimed in surprise. He wanted to tell his mother, but thinking of what she said just now, he was afraid she wouldn’t believe him. Next time he must definitely film the scene!

There were many offerings this time, but the black cat didn’t seem hungry. It just took a small piece of dried fish and left through the window.

For the third time, Duan Qi turned on his phone camera, aimed it at the living room, and deliberately lost a charging cable. He then repeated the same trick to summon the Cat Spirit.

The black cat came, but this time it was noticeably slower.

Duan Qi took a picture of the black cat as it came in through the window, and recorded a video of it as it took out his charger from under the sofa. He excitedly exported the files, sent them to his mother, and wrote, “Mom, look, I didn’t lie to you. See? It’s the method you taught me. There really are Cat Spirits in this world!”

Seeing that the black cat was rubbing against his feet while meowing, after typing out the message, Duan Qi put down his phone, and took a look at the large bowl of offerings. 

Duan Qi understood what it meant. “You can’t carry it? I’ll take it back for you.”

Like the first time, he picked up the bowl of food and followed the black cat out.

He bowed his head and saw only the cat’s swaying tail. They went to the same place as last time.

As before, it was still noisy with the sound resembling an ensemble of gongs and drums. The sounds were slightly muffled and couldn;t be heard clearly, as if they were being played from far away..

The black cat stopped and meowed at him. Duan Qi attentively listened as if he understood, but he really didn’t.

The black cat meowed again, and Duan Qi finally understood. He raised his hand and put the bowl on his head. It fit perfectly.

He rubbed his finger slightly and found that the bowl had become uneven and there were many things hanging down from it. He lifted it to his hand and saw that it was pure white pearls.

As the sound of gongs and drums drew near, a handsome young man in a red wedding suit came riding on a tall horse. He was quite tall, with his incredibly dark eyes, he stared down at Duan Qi. It was as if he was staring right into his soul, and would soon drown his entire being in the depths of his eyes.

Innumerable black shadows followed, one after another, embracing Duan Qi and sitting him down on the red sedan chair.

Duan Qi raised his eyes and looked around. He didn’t know when, but the T-shirt and shorts he was wearing already turned into a red wedding dress.

– 

His mother replied, “What Cat Spirit? I’ve never said such a thing. Did you read something stupid online?”

“Wait for me, I’ll be right back. Don’t let me find you raising a cat at home. If you dare raise one, I’m kicking you out. Don’t bother pleading to your father, it’s useless!”

“Duan Qi! Open the door for me! Hey, you’re hiding from me, aren’t you?

“Duan Qi??”

“Duan Qi, where are you? It’s so late, are you still fooling around?”

“Duan Qi??!”

“Qiqi, it doesn’t matter if you want to raise a cat. I’ll let you keep it. Don’t scare your mother like this, will you?”

“Qiqi, mother was wrong. She shouldn’t have thrown the black cat from upstairs and led it to its death before. Come back. This time if you want to keep a cat, I’ll let you, okay?”

“Qiqi, mother called the police. If you can come back by yourself, come back quickly. Otherwise, it’ll turn into a big mess and mother won’t give you a good look!”

“Qiqi,,, Mom is begging you, please come back. This time you can raise as many cats as you want…”

…

–

At the entrance of the community, a myriad of missing person’s notices were posted everywhere. The security guard tore up a piece and chatted with his colleague, “This child has been missing for so long, and yet they still haven’t found him.”

The colleague said, “Yeah, it’s really strange. The surveillance camera clearly saw him go out by himself, but he suddenly disappeared when he reached a certain point. Weird, isn’t it?”

“A kidnapping, maybe?”

“It’s possible, but ah, I think he just ran away from home. Look at him, his mother once threw a black cat out from the 16th floor window. It died a gruesome death, its blood splattered everywhere. He wanted to raise it, but his mother did this cruel thing instead. He probably felt rebellious and wanted to run away.”

“This high-end community really doesn’t let you keep cats. Most of them are so dirty, I don’t know how many residents have complained about the strays roaming around here.”

“If he did run away from home, please let him come back quickly. That woman is growing crazier as the days pass by. Can she stop posting these missing posters everywhere? I complained about one last time, and she already posted it back”

The two chatted as they walked away.

A black cat passed by quietly with a flower in its mouth. Seeing the missing person’s notice on the wall, it paused for a while, but soon turned away and left.