Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Li Que and his students got out of the car at the entrance to Jixiang Alley.
The bright, clear weather was enough to lift anyone’s spirits. Li Que looked around and saw that his students were excited too. Even Lin Xiaoyu seemed much more lively than usual.
Clearly, being cooped up inside the special school every day had left the children feeling stifled.
“Sir, what are we doing here?”
Meng Mo peered deep into Jixiang Alley as though he had spotted something fun.
“An old woman named Zhang Mingcui lives here. She’s over eighty and has no children. She has a very hard life. We’re going to make dumplings with her today and keep her company over a meal.”
Carrying dumpling wrappers and other ingredients, Li Que led the students into the alley.
The children were delighted, especially Nian Youyu, whose eyes lit up at any mention of food.
At the third courtyard in Jixiang Alley, Li Que knocked on the rusty iron gate. A moment later, a faint shuffling sounded from within. The gate opened, and an aged face poked out.
“Who are you?”
The old woman was hunched, her face covered in wrinkles, and she leaned on a walking stick.
Li Que glanced at the information he’d received from the community office and smiled. “Are you Grandma Zhang? I’m a teacher from Mingjiang No. 7 Special School. I brought my students to visit you today.”
Zhang Mingcui looked past him at the children, and a kindly smile immediately reached the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, I see. Thank you all so much. Please, come in.”
Li Que led the students inside, only to be greeted by an unpleasant moldy smell in the courtyard.
Fastidious Bai Lu knitted her brows. Her first instinct was to lose her temper, but she glanced at Li Que and didn’t dare make a scene. Instead, she turned away, found a cleaner spot, and took out her mirror to admire herself.
Meng Mo’s eyes, meanwhile, lit up as though he’d entered an amusement park.
Li Que chatted with Grandma Zhang for a while and took the opportunity to learn more about her circumstances.
They were much as the community office had described. Zhang Mingcui was eighty-nine years old and still in reasonably good health. She had never married, had no children to keep her company, and raised a cat at home.
According to the community workers, she often sat outside a kindergarten for an entire day, staring forlornly at the children. It was a pitiful sight.
That was why they had taken the initiative to recommend her to Li Que, hoping he could bring his students over and add a little joy to the old woman’s life.
As they talked, Grandma Zhang kept looking Meng Mo and the other children over, unconcealed affection in her eyes. She certainly seemed fond of them.
“Sir, when do we get to eat the dumplings?”
Nian Youyu had finished his bag of chips and was now staring eagerly at Li Que.
Li Que felt a headache coming on. These students didn’t even know how to show concern for an elderly person.
He was their teacher. The least he could do was set a good example.
Drawing a deep breath, Li Que said, “Xiaoyu, help Grandma Zhang roll out the wrappers. Nian Youyu, you’re in charge of chopping the filling. Meng Mo, go get a broom. You’ll clean the courtyard with me.”
As for Bai Lu, Li Que glanced at her and decided to leave her be. Her aversion to dirt was so severe that he worried forcing the issue might trigger a meltdown and only make matters worse.
“Come along, Xiaoyu. Grandma will teach you how to roll out the wrappers!”
Grandma Zhang was delighted. She got up, took Lin Xiaoyu by the hand, and led her toward the kitchen. Nian Youyu, already hungry, followed them inside.
Li Que took Meng Mo with him and began cleaning the courtyard.
…
At that same moment, outside Jixiang Alley…
A cat padded soundlessly down the dark alley.
Its gray coat was filthy and stained in many places with dark-red blood. Anyone could tell it was the Stray Cat, but its pupils glowed a brilliant red.
When it reached the gate of the third courtyard, the cat eerily turned its head. A remarkably human glimmer of mockery flashed through its feline eyes.
It sprang forward and leaped over the wall in a single bound.
At the same time, three figures hurried after it.
The one in the lead was a shapely woman dressed in tactical gear.
It was none other than Leng Qingyan of the Anomaly Suppression Bureau.
“The anomalous aura here is intense. This must be that anomalous entity’s lair. Dashan, Erhe-move. We’re going after it!”
Leng Qingyan spoke calmly. The three moved swiftly and soon reached the gate, ready to force their way inside-
But at that very moment…
A bone-chilling cold surged in from every direction, and a deathly gray light descended. In an instant, the sunshine and wind vanished. Even the sounds of traffic beyond the alley disappeared.
It was as though the three had entered an entirely different realm.
“Something’s wrong!”
Dashan’s expression changed. “Is this… an anomaly domain?”
Erhe was equally shocked. “Impossible. The Stray Cat is only a B-minus-class anomaly! How could it possess an anomaly domain?”
Anomaly domains were exceedingly dangerous. Within its own domain, an anomalous entity was nearly omnipotent. Even an anomaly wielder would have little hope of surviving.
Ordinarily, only A-class anomalous entities had any chance of manifesting an anomaly domain.
When had an anomalous entity of that level appeared in the city? How had they failed to detect it all this time?
“It isn’t a true A-class. It’s B-plus!”
Leng Qingyan’s voice was grim. She lowered her head and sniffed the air, then abruptly stiffened. “This is… the Cat-Faced Crone’s presence!”
The Cat-Faced Crone!
At the name, Dashan and Erhe grew even more alarmed.
The Cat-Faced Crone had terrorized the city several years ago, preying exclusively on children.
According to the reports, once she had successfully abducted a child, she would reveal her true feline face and order the child to call her Mommy.
If the child started crying in fright, she would eat them.
The Cat-Faced Crone had been classified as B-class at the time. Leng Qingyan had tracked her for a while, but she had eventually vanished.
“The Stray Cat and the Cat-Faced Crone have joined forces,” Leng Qingyan rapidly concluded. “Over the years, the Stray Cat has frequently hunted infants. It must have brought all the resentment it absorbed back to the Cat-Faced Crone.”
“That’s why the Cat-Faced Crone has continued to grow. By now, she’s infinitely close to A-minus-class!”
Erhe’s expression turned grim. “What should we do? We ought to hold position. Once the director realizes what’s happened, he’ll come to reinforce us.”
The Cat-Faced Crone was infinitely close to A-minus-class and had already formed the rudiments of an anomaly domain. Paired with the B-class Stray Cat, she was far beyond what the three of them could handle.
Leng Qingyan hesitated. Erhe was right. Fortifying their position and waiting for reinforcements was the best course of action.
“Sir, there’s a cat here! I caught it!”
Just then, an excited voice rang out from inside the courtyard.
Leng Qingyan’s face changed instantly.
There was a child inside?
“Wait here. I’m going in to save them!”
She no longer hesitated. Her expression tight with alarm, Leng Qingyan charged into the courtyard.
…
At the same time, inside the kitchen…
Nian Youyu was chopping the meat filling while Lin Xiaoyu obediently sat nearby, folding dumplings.
Grandma Zhang, who was over eighty years old, suddenly rose on tiptoe. She crept to the kitchen door, shut it, and locked it tight.
In that instant, her once kindly face twisted into something vicious and sharp.
“You shouldn’t have closed the door.”
Without even turning her head, Lin Xiaoyu said calmly, “Sir can’t see us now… He’ll be angry.”
But Grandma Zhang merely smiled. Her face had become hideous and unnatural. She walked up behind Xiaoyu and stroked the girl’s hair with a gnarled hand like ancient bark.
“Xiaoyu, be a good girl. Look at me… and call me Mommy.”
She spoke between harsh, bestial breaths.
Lin Xiaoyu calmly raised her head.
At that moment, a damp drizzle began to fall inside the kitchen.
“Aaargh-!”
The old woman’s piercing scream rang out.
…