The unfinished building wasn't just a building. There were also underground businesses. The developer had planned to build a community, and the unfinished building was only the first building. It was obviously a model of ambition over strength. These underground merchants had only built a prototype before they stopped, but they formed natural obstacles that limited one's field of vision and made it impossible for one to see far.
The dim street lights had limited illumination, so it wasn't helpful for observation.
From time to time, cars passed by quickly on the road, including many long-distance trucks. The red taillights created long shadows as they rumbled across the ground, giving people a sense of security.
Just as Famous had said, the smell of human and animal excrement was everywhere. Even if Zhang Zian didn't have a dog's nose, he would still be able to smell it. People passing by couldn't find a toilet, so they randomly found an empty room with walls but no roof to relieve themselves. Cats, dogs, and other animals were everywhere, so the smell was even worse.
"Galaxy, watch your step. Don't step on poop," Zhang Zian reminded.
"Meow!" Galaxy nimbly bypassed the garbage on the ground and turned its head to peep at this strange place.
"Zian, are you sure that the Holy Cat statue appeared here?" Old Time Tea's eyes were as bright as copper lamps. It looked through the darkness and was unhappy to see feces and urine everywhere.
"I heard so." Zhang Zian's tone was also uncertain. He turned the flashlight to illuminate the ground in front of him, but at the same time, he was careful not to shine directly into Old Time Tea's eyes.
"The Holy Cat statue is an evil object for people to worship. How could it be associated with feces and urine?" Old Time Tea shook its head. It didn't think it was credible.
"I heard that the Holy Cat statue appeared in the building, not outside. Maybe there wasn't so much feces and urine after entering the building." Zhang Zian covered his nose with his hand. Fortunately, the night wind was still blowing, and the temperature was not high. If it was a hot summer day, he would have to wear a gas mask.
People who peed and defecated here were just doing it for convenience. They wouldn't deliberately enter the building, so he had this guess.
"That's good." Old Time Tea's body shook, and its claws tapped on the wall. Its body turned in the air, and it lightly jumped onto the beam of one of the underground businesses, looking into the distance.
"Huh? Strange! "It sensed something strange.
Zhang Zian looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"
He wasn't as good as Old Time Tea. He couldn't even climb up a tree, so he didn't want to embarrass himself by climbing up the wall.
Old Time Tea's eyes were like torches, staring straight at the dark unfinished building. "I seem to have seen a flash of light on the fifth floor, but I'm not sure if it was a reflection."
"The fifth floor? Then let's go and take a look." Zhang Zian said in his heart. Fortunately, it wasn't the thirtieth floor. Otherwise, climbing up there would be fatal consequences! Besides, the higher they went, the more dangerous it would be. Many places were not completed, and the open balconies did not even have railings. It would not be worth it if they slipped.
After bypassing a row of ground floor merchants, they arrived at the bottom of the unfinished building.
The sound of the cars on the road became much quieter.
Under the moonlight, there were pits and ditches everywhere on the ground. The pits and ditches were filled with stinking stagnant water. Around them were piles of solidified cement, broken red bricks, and ankle-high sand. There was almost no place to stand.
If this unfinished building was completed, it would be quite grand. It was not a common residential building, but more like a high-end condominium. There were two entrances, and they were dark like the mouths of a giant beast that was about to devour people.
The damp and cold wind blew out from the entrances, making people's skin feel cold.
"I say, this building is not haunted, right?" Famous sniffed suspiciously.
Zhang Zian asked, "Are you afraid of ghosts?"
"I really want to see ghosts. I've smelled all kinds of smells, but I've never smelled the smell of ghosts." Famous was very depressed. It came out to breathe fresh air, but it had inhaled a stomach full of smells. It would have been better to stay in the shop and breathe in the smell of cosmetics … In comparison, the smell of ghosts was probably better than the smell of feces.
"Unfortunately, there are 80% no ghosts in this world, and there won't be any ghosts in this building." As they were about to enter the building, Zhang Zian turned on the flashlight and lowered the light. He only illuminated a small area in front of him, because he did not want to alert the enemy.
Nearby, cats were meowing one after another. In the distance, fist-high weeds lit up pairs of light spots from time to time, and then they were extinguished. Those were the eyes of stray cats and other small animals, and maybe even foxes. The rustling sound of the weeds was endless. It took enough courage to come here alone at night.
"Haha, Zhang Zian is right. There are no ghosts in the world, it's just people worrying about them. The light I saw on the fifth floor was more like the light of a fire. To be precise, it was the light of a lighter. If there is a ghost that carries a lighter with them, I would like to broaden my horizons. "Old Time Tea laughed.
Galaxy looked up, its silver-gray eyes blinking a few times. "Meow! Zian, let's go in."
Zhang Zian wanted to stay outside and observe the surrounding situation. Even if he was not afraid of ghosts, he still felt depressed walking into this unfinished building.
However, after hearing what Galaxy said, he shined the flashlight at the stairs. "Okay, then let's go in. Everyone, keep your eyes open and pay attention to any abnormalities."
Being with Famous and Old Time Tea, their vision, hearing, and smell were thousands of times better than his. If there was an abnormality, they would definitely be the first to notice it.
Entering the stairs, the cold and wet feeling was even more obvious. The concentrated flashlight illuminated countless flying dust particles.
Occasionally, muddy water dripped down from above. Logically speaking, the water supply of this building should have been cut off long ago. There should be no water in the pipes. This could be accumulated rainwater.
After taking a few steps, he saw Old Time Tea suddenly turn around and look back vigilantly. Then, Famous did the same.
He subconsciously turned around as well, and the beam of the flashlight swept behind him. Then, a gray shadow passed through the flashlight's trajectory and fell to the ground like a sandbag, almost hitting the place where they had just been standing.
A falling object?
Zhang Zian's first thought was a falling object. After all, this was an unfinished building. The balconies on the upper floors were not sealed. Many construction materials and tools were not packed. The workers who were owed wages had left in a hurry. Maybe the wind had blown something down.
His hand holding the flashlight was sweating. Even a ghost was not as scary as a falling object. It fell silently at a high speed, and the people below were hit before they could react.
If they had stayed outside just now, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Maybe with Old Time Tea and Famous's skills, they could have dodged it in time, but he definitely could not. It was likely that he would have been hit.
However, when his flashlight locked on to the fallen object, they couldn't help but gasp. It wasn't the construction waste that they had expected, but a gray, furry animal that had fallen.
Zhang Zian, Old Time Tea, and Famous exchanged glances and carefully approached it.
In case there were other falling objects, they did not leave the stairs and stopped at the closest place they could go.
The flashlight was locked on to the animal. It did not move.
In fact, Zhang Zian could already recognize it without getting too close. It was a gray cat. It could also be blue or black. The flashlight covered the true color of its fur.
It was bleeding from all seven orifices, and it was no longer breathing.
Generally speaking, due to its strong balance, cats would not fall to their death from buildings that were not too high. Of course, it was not good for cats to jump too high. After all, cats could not fly.
So, this cat had foolishly fallen from a high place?
The answer was no.
Zhang Zian saw that several parts of its fur had been burned by fire. It was black, and there were small burnt residue on the ground.
If it had been winter, it might have been burned by the fire. But now it was spring. Even Old Time Tea did not always turn on the electric blanket, let alone this young cat.
Being hit by a cat's body, although it would not be as fatal as being hit by construction waste, it might still be unable to take care of itself.
Famous lowered its voice and said, "There is a burning smell."
The burning smell had not dissipated, which meant that the cat had just been burned by fire. Considering the flash of fire that Old Time Tea had just seen, the conclusion was self-evident.
In addition, there were several abrasions and bruises on its body, but it was not sure if they were caused by the fall.
Old Time Tea's whiskers trembled slightly. It was suppressing the shock and anger in its heart with great determination. "Zian, did someone do this on purpose?"
Intentional had two meanings. One was that someone had deliberately hurt the cat, and the other was that someone had deliberately used the cat to hit them from a high place.
There was no doubt that the cat could not hurt itself, but there was doubt about the latter. It was not illegal to hurt a cat, but if someone had deliberately hurt a human … it would be much more serious.
Famous sniffed around the corridor and seemed to have found something.
"There is a human smell. It's quite fresh," it said.
Suddenly, Old Time Tea and Famous looked up at a certain position on the ceiling at almost the same time. Their ears also pricked up, focusing in that direction like a radar.
"There are footsteps!" Old Time Tea said. "There is more than one person. They are running!"
"Go!" Zhang Zian made a decisive decision without hesitation.
He guessed that maybe the flashlight shining on the cat's body had alerted the people upstairs, or maybe the empty building had transmitted Zhang Zian's voice particularly far away, making the other party feel guilty and want to escape.
Before he finished speaking, Famous had already jumped out.
The elevator entrance was a dark hole, so they could not count on an elevator. They rushed into the fire escape one after another and rushed up the stairs.
When it came to going upstairs, Famous's long legs gave it an advantage. It could jump at least half a step with its legs, so it was far ahead.
Although Old Time Tea and Xinghai were agile, their legs were short, so they fell behind.
Zhang Zian's legs were also quite long, but his eyesight was not as good as cats and dogs. The flickering flashlight made it difficult for him to see the stairs in front of him.
They were not familiar with the terrain, and the construction waste piled up in the corridor caused a lot of trouble. They had to always be careful of exposed sharp steel bars and choking lime, and they had to be vigilant of unknown dangers in the dark. They were not fast going upstairs.
Not long after, they rushed up to the fifth floor one after another.
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