Forbidden Land – CH 035

Upon arriving at his dorm, Zhang Chao quickly washed up. Lights out was almost 11 PM, and he was about to close the window before going to sleep.

As he reached the windowsill and was about to close the window, another meow came from outside. The black cat, standing on the grass, looked at him.

Zhang Chao cursed, “You beast, don’t come here to molt, or I’ll pluck your fur and skin you alive!”

The black cat didn’t seem to understand his threat. Instead, it nimbly leaped over the iron railing below the window, then jumped onto the air conditioner unit next to it. Looking at Zhang Chao, it meowed a few times in a low, peaceful voice, without a trace of aggression.

Zhang Chao hesitated, looking at the cat. The cat seemed to be waiting for his decision.

Zhang Chao then thought, “They say black cats can see evil spirits. Bai Qiu’s gaze was very strange earlier. Could she be possessed by something evil? Otherwise, why was the black cat so fierce towards her? Or did he encounter something evil, which was why he caught a viral cold?” Was the black cat meowing at something unclean?

Looking at the black cat now, its expression was very gentle, as if it wanted to come into the dorm.

Maybe he should let the black cat in. If it really stayed in the dorm, he could sleep more peacefully. No matter if someone knocked on the window in the middle of the night, cats were so sensitive they’d always meow. Even if there were ghosts or something, they said cats and dogs could see unclean things, especially black cats, which were considered nemeses of evil spirits. With it around, I could feel safe.

Thinking this, Zhang Chao opened the window and said to the black cat, “Want to come in?”

The black cat glanced at him, then leaped up, jumped through the window, onto the washbasin, then jumped down, walked around the room, and finally ran under an empty desk and hid.

“It really wants to make its home here,” Zhang Chao thought, somewhat surprised that the cat was so obedient. Feeling pleased, he took a sausage from the snack bag, unwrapped it, and held it in his hand. The black cat’s eyes lit up when it saw the sausage. It cautiously stared at Zhang Chao for a while, and seeing he meant no harm, it cautiously approached him.

Zhang Chao initially intended to feed the cat like a dog, but seeing the cat actually coming, he worried it might scratch his hand in its excitement, so he quickly threw the sausage on the ground.

The cat immediately pounced. Seemingly a stray cat on campus, it hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time and happily ate the sausage, then put on a pitiful act, meowing at Zhang Chao a few times. From then on, the cat followed Zhang Chao everywhere like a dog, begging for food.

Frustrated, Zhang Chao found a bowl to use as a food trough and a small bowl to use as a water bowl, putting some snacks and biscuits in them for the cat.

After it had eaten and drunk its fill, the cat jumped onto the sink, its paws scratching at the glass, seemingly wanting to go outside.

Zhang Chao cursed, “Damn it, is it here to freeload? I thought it was going to be my pet.” Reluctantly, he opened the window. To his surprise, the cat jumped out but didn’t leave. It simply went to the grass to urinate, then jumped back in.

Zhang Chao was secretly pleased. This cat was more obedient than a dog. Even dogs, once trained to relieve themselves in a designated spot, still did so indoors, making cleaning up a hassle. Now, this cat just jumped outside to clean up, saving him a lot of trouble.

So, he left the window a few centimeters open, allowing the black cat to go out and relieve itself whenever it wanted, then climbed back into bed and went to sleep.

The night passed uneventfully.

The next morning, despite being sick, he attended two classes. Back in his dorm, Lin Yi’ang knocked and came in to wander around. As soon as he entered, the black cat, which had been sleeping under the desk at the far end of the room, suddenly came out, arched its back, and faced him.

Upon seeing it, Lin Yi’ang exclaimed, “My god, where did this cat come from in your room?!”

Zhang Chao blocked the cat with his foot, saying, “Black cat, don’t be nervous. Although cats and dogs like to fight, this dog means no harm and won’t steal your food. Go back to sleep.”

Lin Yi’ang cursed, “Get lost! I just came to visit you, and you dare to insult me. Hey, how did this cat end up in your dorm? You don’t seem to have the heart to take in a stray cat, do you?”

Zhang Chao said, “The cat wanted to come in. Anyway, I live alone in the dorm, so having a cat is good.”

Lin Yi’ang laughed. “You can’t keep pets in the dorm. If the dorm manager finds out, you might get into trouble, and then the cat would be made into soup.”

Hearing this, the cat meowed loudly at him, pushed past Zhang Chao’s foot, and approached Lin Yi’ang.

Lin Yi’ang quickly tried to appease him, saying, “Good boy, Officer Black Cat, I was just joking. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Zhang Chao laughed, shooing the cat back with his foot, and praised, “Good cat! You truly live up to your reputation as Zhang Chao’s cat. That’s how you deal with old dog Lin. I’ll give you a name, Beibei.”

“Beibei?” Lin Yi’ang laughed. “That’s a dog name, isn’t it?”

Zhang Chao smiled at the cat. “Yes, that’s Lin Yi’ang’s nickname. You can use it for now.” He then took some food from a snack bag and called out, “Beibei, come and eat.” The black cat happily followed him.

After feeding the cat, Zhang Chao turned to Lin Yi’ang and said, “Bai Qiu came to see me yesterday.”

Lin Yi’ang seemed a little surprised and asked, “What did she want?”

Zhang Chao replied, “I was on an IV drip yesterday, so of course she just wanted to check on me.”

Lin Yi’ang asked, “How did she know you were sick?”

Zhang Chao said, “Didn’t you tell her?”

Lin Yi’ang paused, then laughed. “Oh, yes, I ran into her yesterday. I forgot. By the way, what did she say to you?”

Zhang Chao said, “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. Bai Qiu told me she also heard a woman singing opera at the School of Medicine. I think Bai Qiu must have been scared sick by that stuff at the School of Medicine.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi’ang didn’t believe it at all and yelled, “I think you’ve completely gone mad lately! All you do is talk about the School of Medicine all day long. So many people go there to attend classes and study every day, and nobody else says anything about anything there! You’re always imagining things, and you’ve even gone there several times in the middle of the night, saying you saw some white-clad female ghost! Bullshit! Can’t you be normal for once? Go to class, study, play games, and live a perfectly fine life. Look at you, always having wild thoughts, always thinking a white-clad woman is persecuting you. Are you suffering from a persecution complex? And now what’s going on? You’ve got a black cat in your dorm, all weird stuff. If people knew you were like this, wouldn’t they all think you’re insane?!”

After being thoroughly scolded by Lin Yi’ang, Zhang Chao suddenly froze, realizing that what he said wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

So many students were attending classes, studying, and playing games normally every day; only he was causing all this trouble. And he even frequently went to the School of Medicine in the middle of the night.

So many students went to the School of Medicine every day for classes, experiments, and self-study, yet only he had seen so many strange things and heard a woman’s voice.

He even kept a black cat in his dorm room now.

Anyone who noticed his recent behavior would think he’d gone mad.

Was he really going mad?

Bai Qiu, Li Weihao, and Zhu Xiaoyu, who almost became the next one—how could their stories be explained? Should he continue searching for the secrets and answers?

Zhang Chao hesitated for a moment.

Seeing him silent, Lin Yi’ang sighed, his tone softening, and said, “Alright, stop overthinking, brother. I hope you get back to normal soon.”

Zhang Chao nodded, remaining silent.