The black cat's paw touched the screen, and the two red dots on the IP map were almost overlapping: my apartment and Building 7 next door.
A cold wind swept shredded paper past my feet, and the creaking sound of a rattling security window came from the distance.
I knelt down and said to the black cat:
"Lead the way, let's find the truth."
It understood and turned, scampering up the fire escape, its paws making crisp pattering sounds on the metal steps.
I followed it up to the rooftop and saw over a dozen stray cats blocking the ventilation pipe opening with their bodies. The fattest orange cat was lying on the exhaust fan, its fur flying in the airflow.
Looking down, the black cat bit my trouser leg and dragged me towards the water tank.
As soon as I squatted down, I heard the sound of an iron door being pushed open.
"The supplies list must have a problem."
It was Lin Yan's voice: "She bought thirty packs of hand warmers again this morning."
A male voice, responding to her, had the characteristic distortion of electronic equipment: "Keep watching her. Remember, prioritize gaining access to 'Mirage.'"
I held my breath, peeking through the gap in the water tank to see Lin Yan standing at the edge of the rooftop.
She was holding my physical copy of 'Phoenix Ascends the Nine Provinces,' taking out a memo I had written to her last week for her shopping list from between the pages!
After they left, the black cat led me to the southeast corner of the rooftop.
It dug away a pile of broken bricks with its paws, revealing half a bag of cat food and a few bottles of mineral water hidden underneath.
My god! I thought, could the animals have already started hoarding supplies?
"You also sense something, don't you?"
I reached out to stroke the black cat's head. My fingertips had just touched the scar at the base of its ear when, instantly, the world spun around me—
In a white laboratory, Older brother, wearing goggles, recorded data. In a row of cages, cats had the same notch cut from their left ears. The black cat suddenly stretched a paw from its cage and batted Older brother's hand.
As the illusion faded, the black cat was pressing its paw pad against the vein on my wrist, its green eyes reflecting my now deathly pale face.
After nightfall, I hid in my quilt, repeatedly reviewing the data Old Zhang had sent. As drowsiness washed over me, a familiar scent of sandalwood filled the air.
"Xiǎo Dié."
Xiao Jin's voice emerged from the darkness: "You're too slow."
The Imperial Advisor's Mansion in the dream was covered in cracks, and Xiao Jin's robes were torn by data streams. He raised his hand and conjured a light screen displaying Lin Yan's WeChat chat records:
【23:05】Target believes the prophecy
【23:07】Prepare to cast the net, action tomorrow night
The last message included a photo—a map of my warehouse location, with half a cover of 'Phoenix Ascends the Nine Provinces' showing in the corner.
"They don't want the supplies."
Xiao Jin's fingertip passed through my temple, a chilling touch reaching straight to my brain.
"They want to find your Older brother's 'Mirage' system through you."
The sound of breaking glass from outside the window startled me awake. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw the black cat's fur standing on end as it leaped onto the bed, staring intently in the direction of the fire escape.
The black cat's pupils narrowed into slits in the darkness as footsteps on the fire escape grew louder.
I grabbed my backpack and the cat, stepping barefoot over the scattered glass shards, and squeezed into the hidden compartment behind the wardrobe. This was the 'assassin's hideout' I had designed while writing my novel, where I'd go to get a feel for it when I had writer's block. I never expected to actually use it.
"Xinxin?"
Lin Yan's voice came from the living room: "I brought supper!"
I held my breath and heard the crisp sound of a plastic bowl being placed on the coffee table, followed by the gulping sound of liquid being poured into a cup.
She never remembered that I liked hot milk.
"Found you."
The wardrobe door was suddenly pulled open, and Lin Yan's smiling face appeared pale and greenish in the backlight of her phone.
"Why are you hiding here?"
"My dad needs a vehicle-mounted oxygen concentrator," I interrupted directly. "Do you know where to buy one?"
She blurted out: "Brother Zhang in the black market in the north of the city still has some goods that haven't been seized."
The words stopped abruptly.
That item wasn't on the 'Extreme Cold Supplies List' at all.
"Meow!"
The black cat darted out from my arms, its tail knocking over the milk cup on the coffee table. The glass shattered on the floor, and the milky white liquid flowed into the floor cracks, from which strange blue foam then surged.
Lin Yan reached out to grab me, revealing spiderweb-like blue patterns through the gaps in her manicured nails: "You listen to me! We just wanted to help you."
I pushed open the emergency window and jumped into the rain, the black cat right behind me.
Behind me, Lin Yan's scream followed: "Stop her! She has the cat!"
I jammed the warehouse's rolling shutter door with a screwdriver, and the black cat hissed at the gap.
In the moonlight, new etchings formed the pattern of a 'Tracking Talisman' from 'Phoenix Ascends the Nine Provinces,' a spell I designed for Xiao Jin to find the heroine.
My phone suddenly vibrated, startling me so much I almost threw it away. I looked down and saw a video email from Old Zhang:
A man wearing a mask in the video was adjusting an instrument. When he rolled up his sleeves, a Y-shaped scar was revealed on his inner wrist. Older brother had the same shaped scar from his brain tumor surgery.
"Miss Jiang."
He looked up, and after the camera shook violently, it pointed towards a volcano erupting outside the window: "See you in Iceland."
The video froze. The black cat's paw pressed on the screen, perfectly covering the man's eyes.
I replayed the three-second clip repeatedly—the way he adjusted the instrument, the scar on his inner wrist, even the chipped button on his white coat, all identical to Older brother's. But his voice had clearly been altered, and the corner of his forehead exposed above the mask lacked Older brother's signature scar.
"Who are you, really?"
I muttered to myself. An emergency radio in the warehouse crackled to life, and amidst the static, an urgent news report was broadcast:
"Multiple pet hospitals in Harbin are overflowing; pets are exhibiting symptoms of respiratory failure and skin blue spots... Citizens are advised to avoid close contact with animals recently..."
Animals? I couldn't help but glance at the black cat.
The black cat's ears twitched. Suddenly, it jumped onto a shelf and snatched a roll of bandages. It was then that I noticed a wound on its hind leg, and the blood seeping out had an abnormal blue tint.
"You've been infected too?"
I frantically searched for alcohol pads, but the black cat pawed open the 'Extreme Cold Supplies List' and precisely pointed to item 18:
【Doxycycline Hydrochloride Tablets (Veterinary Broad-Spectrum Antibiotic)】
How could it possibly know?
A lightning flash outside illuminated dense news clippings on the warehouse wall, all abnormal weather reports I had collected over the past few days.
As thunder boomed, the lights in the entire city went out simultaneously.
The television, powered by backup generators, flickered to life with glaring red text on a white background:
【National State of Emergency Announcement】
【Martial Law Implemented Immediately】
The black cat darted into a pile of cardboard boxes in the corner and returned, carrying Xiao Jin's Jade Pendant. Deep tooth marks were embedded in the jade.
The Jade Pendant fell into my palm, and all electronic devices in the vicinity emitted a piercing shriek.
I covered my ears.
Lightning struck again, and Xiao Jin's figure materialized amidst the flashing lights and shadows.
His robes were torn to shreds by the data streams, but his voice was clearer than ever: "Now, do you believe this is the end of the world?"
Xiao Jin's voice still echoed in my ears when the entire city suddenly fell into dead silence.
The power went out.