Cat 141: Into the Bag
by CristaeChapter 141: Into the Bag
It isn’t easy to find someone in such a vast campus, especially if that person is deliberately hiding.
Yan Jiyun, in his human form, found it inconvenient to search for information and had just missed the chance to follow Teacher Qu when he rushed out. By now, any lingering traces of his scent in the air might have vanished.
He returned to the dormitory building and ran in the direction Teacher Qu had just fled.
If Yang Pingping’s death had anything to do with Teacher Qu, there would have been no reason for him to return to Yang Pingping’s dorm room after the latter’s death to look for the recorder.
What, after all, had Yang Pingping managed to record that forced Teacher Qu to risk being recognized in order to retrieve it? As a teacher, there was no need for him to sneak around; he could enter the dormitory with a simple fabricated identity—it wasn’t even the girls’ dormitory.
He continued to run along the path Teacher Qu had taken and discovered that it ended right at the school’s back gate.
He tried to leave through the back gate but was blocked by an invisible wall.
Since he couldn’t get out, it was likely that Teacher Qu hadn’t left the school either—he just couldn’t find him.
Could Teacher Qu have changed his appearance?
Which role, exactly, was he playing at the school?
Considering it was broad daylight, there was no way he could be some kind of ghost or monster—that much was certain. He should still be human.
Realizing this, Yan Jiyun felt much more at ease. If the person who’d been holding him was some kind of creature, he would have sincerely wanted to pass out.
Since tracking him by scent was no longer possible, he’d have to return to gathering information—in particular, looking up the current Mingya High School staff roster again.
Some things never change. If there’s a school anniversary, there must also be an anniversary brochure. He could take another look around the senior teachers’ office, though as it was daytime now, he was much too conspicuous. He decided to switch his target to the principal’s or the director of the Student Affairs Office instead.
When Lan Mo had been moving things earlier, Yan Jiyun had overheard the athletic students’ nickname for the director of Student Affairs—Yang Bighead. If a teacher had a nickname, he must have some role in the story.
The director’s office was easy to find—on the first floor of the administration building.
Yang Bighead was lounging in a comfortable chair, sipping a cup of strong tea in which tea leaves floated, humming an off-key old song, “Sweet As Honey.” His eyes were closed, looking as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Yan Jiyun slipped into the open office while Yang Bighead’s eyes were still shut.
On the low file cabinet behind him sat a stack of brochures—the very thing Yan Jiyun needed.
He lowered his body and crawled under Yang Bighead’s desk and chair, leaping onto the cabinet behind the teacher’s chair. He swiftly opened the anniversary brochures, but just as he reached the table of contents, Yang Bighead’s chair suddenly shifted.
To avoid detection, Yan Jiyun had to leap back to the floor and hide beneath the desk. Yang Bighead began to spin his chair around and around, never settling in one direction.
Yan Jiyun rolled his eyes inwardly—did Yang Bighead have ADHD or something? Why couldn’t he sit still for a moment?
He stayed crouched beneath the desk, praying that Yang Bighead would quickly find something to do. Perhaps his sincerity paid off because moments later, someone knocked on the door outside.
A deep male voice sounded: “Director Yang, the principal asks you to come over; there’s something he wants to discuss.”
Yan Jiyun recognized this voice all too well: it was Teacher Qu from Copy B.
Yang Bighead’s tone turned obsequious as he rose from his chair. “Ah, Teacher Qu! Did Principal mention what the matter is?”
Teacher Qu’s voice was perfectly calm, betraying no emotion. “I’m not sure, but it should be something good.”
Yang Bighead straightened his suit. “All right, I’ll go right away.”
Teacher Qu said, “Director Yang, may I use your computer for a moment?”
Yang Bighead smiled amiably. “Of course, of course.”
There were no real secrets on the office computer, and Teacher Qu was someone the principal trusted—there was nothing off-limits.
And so, Yang Bighead was successfully dispatched.
Teacher Qu sat in Yang Bighead’s chair and began working on the computer. The only sounds in the quiet office were the clicking of the mouse.
Yan Jiyun listened to the footsteps grow fainter as Yang Bighead left. His dress shoes were so loud that even from here, Yan Jiyun could hear him going upstairs, excitement in every step. Sucking up to superiors, it seemed, was a talent in demand anywhere, displayed all the more shamelessly in this game.
Teacher Qu stood and walked towards the door; Yan Jiyun thought he was about to leave but watched as he instead closed the office door.
He didn’t return to the computer but began quietly searching through the file cabinet for documents.
Yan Jiyun remained crouched under the desk, debating whether to reveal himself. But now that Teacher Qu had shown up willingly, there was no need to rush.
What was Teacher Qu looking for?
What did rummaging through Yang Bighead’s office have to do with the main quest?
While Yan Jiyun considered this, Teacher Qu had already overturned the file cabinet, then turned to search the drawers in the office. He deftly unlocked them and sifted through their documents.
When he pushed the middle drawer closed, he found himself face-to-face with a black cat crouched under the desk, staring up at him.
Ordinarily, from this angle—and with the cat so black—he might not have noticed it at all, but those gleaning eyes were too bright, almost as if they could speak.
Teacher Qu held his breath. “Guoba?”
He heard a low, somewhat aggrieved meow from the cat before him.
Yan Jiyun deliberately acted meek. He needed Teacher Qu now; whether to return to Copy A or remain in Copy B, Teacher Qu was an essential NPC. That required being a little unscrupulous.
Fortunately, Teacher Qu hadn’t forgotten him after coming over from the other side.
Yan Jiyun leaped onto Yang Bighead’s desk and sprawled out.
A faint smile appeared on Teacher Qu’s usually stern face. “Didn’t think you’d actually follow me here.”
Clearly, he hadn’t found what he was seeking in Yang Bighead’s office. Scooping up the cat, leaving grime-marked paw prints on a blank sheet of paper, he carried him away.
Yan Jiyun was deeply curious about the role Teacher Qu actually played at the school.
Still, now that he’d found Teacher Qu, he was somewhat reassured. Next, he’d try to bounce between Copy A and Copy B, and after that, he would find Qi Feng.
Copy B’s deaths were bizarre, while Copy A’s were abrupt—determined by the system’s minor scenarios and the whims of the teachers.
What he could confirm for now was that his own teammates were in Copy A, while Qi Feng’s were in Copy B. The two of them, separated across the instances, had to cooperate—completing both quests alone was unrealistic.
Of course, for now, he only knew of himself and Qi Feng as having jumped between the two instances. They needed each other.
After Teacher Qu led Yan Jiyun out of Director Yang’s office, he headed directly towards another building behind the teaching block.
In Copy A, this building corresponded to the science block. Here, too, it was called the science block, but Teacher Qu brought Yan Jiyun to the first floor, to a large, open classroom with no resemblance to a laboratory. It was an art studio, with easels set out and a fresh apple on the lectern. By the window stood two statues: Venus and David.
Painting and music were not Yan Jiyun’s forte, but that didn’t stop Teacher Qu from exposing him to some artistic atmosphere. Perhaps when he left this instance, his temperament would be noticeably elevated?
He finally understood why, compared to other teachers, Teacher Qu had such freedom; he taught the art examination class, which differed from the regular classes. He didn’t need to continuously assign and mark papers.
No wonder Teacher Qu’s expression was less varied than his counterpart in Copy A. As an art teacher, technical skill was enough; instruct the exam students, and the job was done.
When Teacher Qu came into the room carrying Yan Jiyun, a student sitting and painting looked up and immediately noticed the black cat in his arms.
The classroom was quiet, with students lost in their work; Yan Jiyun made no noise to disturb them.
Teacher Qu set Yan Jiyun on the lectern. “Today, let’s all try painting a black cat. Let’s see who can capture its true spirit.”
Yan Jiyun flicked his tail over the art supplies. So Teacher Qu had brought him here to model.
The students took it easy.
One joked, “Teacher, I’m just going to paint the background black, put the cat in the middle, and call my work ‘Have You Seen My Cat?’ Already got the title.”
The class burst into laughter. The idea was brilliant.
Yan Jiyun: “……” He’d remember this student!
Teacher Qu scratched the cat’s chin, a rare softness melting the lines of his face. “That’s not a bad idea.”
Other students, heads lowered in thought, started searching for inspiration in Yan Jiyun’s features.
Teacher Qu gave them their assignment before officially starting the lesson.
Yan Jiyun, of course, had no intention of sitting still for their sketches. He jumped off the lectern, wandered among the desks, and finally settled on an unoccupied table to bask in the sunlight coming through the windows.
The day, previously gloomy, had suddenly turned sunny. He needed the rays to warm up his fur and replenish calcium.
He yawned greatly.
With the main quests 1 and 2 unmoved after a whole day, he felt sleepier than ever.
It wasn’t as though he was slacking off—he just hadn’t found the proper way to do the quest.
He kept pondering a question.
Each instance had a theme: the first reflected parent-child relationships, a microcosm of society; the second dealt with anti-drug issues, honoring those who shed blood and sweat behind the scenes; the third, humanity’s greed; the fourth, animal protection and familial bonds.
So what did this instance aim to express?
Family, friendship, love—or human nature itself?
Turning his head, Yan Jiyun spotted a beautiful long-haired girl in the back gazing at Teacher Qu, her eyes full of undisguised reverence and longing.
Copy A’s Teacher Qu was gentle but slightly morbid, preferring obedient students; while Copy B’s version was a little cold, his voice during lessons monotone but logically precise and clear—even a layman like Yan Jiyun could understand. Perhaps he was simply talented.
He looked around the classroom but saw no other players.
His claws began to itch. He scratched the desktop, just about to rest his chin on his forepaws when he noticed a line of words beneath his paw.
[I’ve liked you for so long. Your name has become the secret I dare not utter. As long as I don’t say it aloud, no one will ever know.]
[When will you turn back and look at me, just once?]
[I know I have no chance anymore.]
A story of a girl’s secret crush on a boy?
There were a few more empty desks.
Yan Jiyun, as if discovering a new game, started leaping from desk to desk while Teacher Qu lectured up front.
On every empty tabletop, he found heartfelt, soul-baring confessions.
Not satisfied, he boldly leapt onto the occupied desks as well, pawing through students’ desks.
Chosen students, as if being honored by the emperor himself, moved their art supplies aside to clear a space for him.
Yan Jiyun: “……”
In truth, he only wanted to see if any desks had more such messages, and sure enough, they did.
After briefly pausing on a student’s desk, he leaped to another.
That student seemed a bit afraid of cats, leaning away in his chair, but since there was little on his desk, Yan Jiyun could still glance at the confession written there.
He then jumped down, no longer disturbing the others.
If he pushed his luck any further, Teacher Qu might well kick him out.
Obediently, he returned to his sun-drenched spot on the desk.
Here, too, Jiang Shiwen was a deceased student, with her time of death predating the start of this instance.
The first round of information:
- Yang Pingping had a girlfriend;
- He fought with the top student before he died;
- Jiang Shiwen was the top student’s girlfriend; her cause of death in this copy was hanging herself in the dorm.
Second round of information:
- After Yang Pingping fell into the lake, Cheng Su left for a while, her clothes still wet when she returned;
- The reason behind Jiang Shiwen’s suicide: her family, noticing her plummeting grades due to a romantic relationship, forbade her from dating. She argued fiercely with them and felt the pressure of both study and family. Yet, her boyfriend hadn’t broken up with her. The true cause of her death was still under investigation, as was the state of her friendships. From what Yan Jiyun had learned in Copy A, Cheng Su and Jiang Shiwen were likely close friends and shared some secret;
- Someone pushed Cheng Su from the auditorium, but she survived;
- Han Ruibai’s computer didn’t match his persona—it might not have been his to begin with, or perhaps he’d come into unexpected fortune to buy a new one. He’d received five love letters, all from someone named “The One Who Wants to Be a Mermaid”;
- The recorder taken by Teacher Qu.
As for their relationships:
Han Ruibai, Yang Pingping, Cheng Su, and two others were connected—they seemed bound by a hidden event involving only them, which put all their lives at risk. This was the main quest, its details yet to be revealed.
All clues pointed faintly towards Jiang Shiwen’s suicide.
Yet, another character remained opaque.
He remembered Shi Yan saying Jiang Shiwen’s boyfriend—the top student—was Chen Chaofei from Class 1. Strangely, if Jiang Shiwen was bullied by Yang Pingping, why hadn’t Chen Chaofei intervened?
If Jiang Shiwen’s grades were inferior, the pressure must have not only come from her own parents but likely also from her boyfriend’s parents.
No, something was off.
They needed to filter out useless information.
Which details were irrelevant? Let him think.
If Cheng Su and Yang Pingping played with the spirit board in the middle of the night, their relationship must have been decent. Cheng Su and Jiang Shiwen were likely friends as well. Schoolmates formed tight circles—especially boys with their so-called “brotherhood.” Why would Yang Pingping bully Jiang Shiwen?
Han Ruibai’s group was covering up a truth—something only the five of them knew.
Jiang Shiwen’s death wasn’t simply about romance, though love could have played a part.
If this were an ordinary revenge story, the main suspect would surely be the top student.
But he was hot-tempered, not the type to plot in advance, making him an unlikely mastermind.
The real truth would need further probing.
But he had a guess.
Their shared wish must have been: for the incident not to be exposed, for none of them to die.
In Teacher Qu’s class, Yan Jiyun behaved quite well.
After lecturing for half the period, Teacher Qu let the students spend the rest drawing the cat.
Yan Jiyun, of course, wouldn’t linger as a model. Teacher Qu took him to the office next door.
There was more than one art teacher for the exam class; the spacious office was empty but for a chilly breeze drifting through an open window.
As Teacher Qu picked him up, Yan Jiyun pretended to dislike being held, kicking at the pocket of his jacket with his hind legs—no recorder inside.
Where had Teacher Qu stashed it?
With no one else present, Teacher Qu set Yan Jiyun on the floor, instructing him not to run around.
Yan Jiyun obediently prowled about, rummaging in every nook of Teacher Qu’s office, but couldn’t see the recorder anywhere.
It was too obvious a place; he wouldn’t have left it somewhere so exposed.
His gaze happened to fall on a bag beneath a seat in the corner. There was a black jacket inside.
Wasn’t that the jacket Teacher Qu had worn into the boys’ dormitory? Could the recorder be inside?
While Teacher Qu was preoccupied with a painting, Yan Jiyun crept his paw into the bag to fish about in the jacket’s pockets.
One try—no luck. Another—and there it was!
But how could he get it out?
His paw couldn’t possibly grasp a recorder with just one claw.
He was so absorbed in the task, he failed to notice his own weight: he knocked the bag over. His head slipped inside, and with his hind legs sticking out, he was left stuck, half his body buried in the bag.
Hearing the noise, Teacher Qu looked down to see the cat struggling inside, wide-eyed and adorable in its clumsy panic.
The usually-cool Teacher Qu burst into laughter, brightening the quiet office.
Yan Jiyun felt deeply mortified; thank heavens he was only a cat, or he’d want to launch himself to Mars.
Teacher Qu pulled him out of the bag, scolding sternly, “Guoba, don’t mess with the bag.”
Yan Jiyun pretended not to understand, eyeing the jacket regretfully—he’d almost managed to get that recorder!
【Be Human】 Live Stream Chat:
“Hahahahaha! The kitten is still adorable—even with no brains, how did it manage to get itself stuck in the bag? And Teacher Qu is so gentle!”
“Probably forgot its own size after shrinking. It had just reached in, trying to grab the recorder from the jacket, right?”
“So what’s on that recorder? Even if the instances are jumbled, the content shouldn’t have changed, right? Anyone know? Let’s discuss the plot!”
“The recorder’s a key prop. Finding it should push the plot forward, but obviously the kitten hasn’t got it—Teacher Qu won’t let him touch it unless he turns back into a human.”
“If he did, he couldn’t even get into the office. Teacher Qu isn’t as easy-going as he seems—he’s only gentle to the cat, not to people.”
“Hey, whoever said just now that Teacher Qu wouldn’t let the kitten touch the recorder—he’s just taken it out himself—”
Indeed, after extracting Yan Jiyun from the bag, Teacher Qu pulled out the jacket, took the casually stashed recorder from its pocket, and placed it on the desk.
Yan Jiyun leaped onto the desk, pushing the recorder aside, and deliberately pressed the power button with his paw.
Now that the device was on, Teacher Qu had no excuse not to play its contents.
Without a second thought, Teacher Qu selected a recording and pressed play right in front of Yan Jiyun.
The recorder first emitted a heavy thump, as if something being dropped to the floor.
Next came a voice—a young one, likely a high school student.
Boy A: “We’re just going to leave her here?”
Boy B: “No one comes to the music building anyway. She’ll wake up tomorrow morning and head back to the dorm.”
Boy A: “Is this really okay? She did help us.”
Boy C’s cold voice: “But she betrayed me. Just teaching her a lesson.”
Boy A: “But she’s your girlfriend. Isn’t this too much? Anyway, I don’t think she—”
Boy C: “Chen Chaofei, do you want to die?”
Suddenly, whoever was holding the recorder stepped on a dry branch, making a sound that drew the three students’ attention.
“Who’s there!”
The owner of the recorder turned and fled—the pursuers didn’t catch up. The recording ended.
Yan Jiyun was stunned. Chen Chaofei—wasn’t that the top student who argued with Yang Pingping?
Who was “she,” mentioned in the recording?
Besides Chen Chaofei, who were the other three boys?
What exactly had happened that night?
Yan Jiyun’s hair stood on end as he looked up to see Teacher Qu’s expression dark as a thundercloud.
【Congratulations, player, on completing Main Quest 1. Point rewards will be granted when the game concludes.】
【Congratulations, player, on triggering Main Quest 2: Teacher Qu’s Fury.】
【Quest Details: Please assist Teacher Qu in uncovering the truth behind the contents of the recorder.】
Just as the system message popped up, thunder rumbled outside the classroom.
Boom!
Yan Jiyun shrank in fear, his tail nearly brushing the floor.