Cat 206: Out

Chapter 206: Out

Yan Jiyun released his hold on Xiao Bai—after all, Qi Feng was still the ostensible owner of these black cats.

He quickly shifted the subject: “How did you get back so fast?”

Qi Feng climbed out of the water, noticing all the cats had retreated far from them, looking thoroughly terrified. He immediately understood.

He chuckled, “Caramel’s afraid of water. Of course, they’d all be scared too.”

Yan Jiyun followed his lead, “But we have to take the water route if we want to get out, right? They’ve got to learn to swim. We can’t carry them all the way—they’re cats and dogs, of course they can swim.”

Qi Feng wrung out his wet shirt. “I thought you ran into trouble.”

He’d heard the cats’ pitiful cries next door and thought something serious was happening, so he’d come back for a look.

Yan Jiyun tossed him his jacket: “It’s not too cold—cover up for now. What’s it like over there?”

Qi Feng ran a hand through his hair, wiping away the water on his face: “There’s a huge pool over there, with water flowing out. I dove to the bottom and spotted a pipe; I think we can get out that way, but we’d have to hold our breath for a while—it’s dangerous. Maybe we should try something else.”

Yan Jiyun gestured at the cats still cowering three meters away. “If we have to hold our breath, there’s no way they’ll make it.”

Qi Feng agreed, “Exactly, and who knows how much longer we’d have to hold it after the pool.”

Yan Jiyun stood up, pondering again the material of the wall: “Hey, if we go out the water route, does that get us outside the glass dome?”

Qi Feng saw him scrutinizing the wall and asked, “You have an idea?”

Yan Jiyun nodded, “There’s always a way. How much firepower do we have?”

Qi Feng instantly understood: “Firepower? You want to blow this up?”

Yan Jiyun nodded. “Yeah. I want to know if blowing this will breach the outside of the dome or just open another inside section.”

“That’ll work.” Qi Feng took off his damp jacket, pulled a little packet of explosives with a fuse from a pocket, and said, “This should be enough.”

“It’s enough. As long as we blast a big hole here, we should be in business.” Yan Jiyun picked up the jacket. “You’re like a treasure chest—how do you have everything? No wonder the jacket felt heavy.”

The plan was viable. The two immediately set about finding the best place for the explosives.

“When we detonate, it’ll be loud. I’ll take the cats up first. As soon as you light the fuse, get out immediately.”

If the tunnel collapsed, they’d be trapped inside.

Although this might look like just a toy-glass-dome scenario, these really were big chunks of material; if it collapsed, you might not die but you’d definitely be hurt. None of them could afford that just now.

Qi Feng nodded. “Go—get the cats out.”

After Qi Feng finished setting the fuse, Yan Jiyun clapped his hands, calling the nine cats, “Let’s move.”

Qi Feng watched all nine cats file out in a neat line up the stairs, not dragging their feet at all. Not even Caramel looked back at him. How was it that, when Yan Jiyun was around, Caramel barely paid him any attention anymore? He felt pleased, yet a little rueful. It was complicated.

But no matter how complicated, work came first. Once Yan Jiyun and the cats disappeared up the opening, Qi Feng waited a few minutes more before lighting the fuse.

Yan Jiyun herded the cats out of the tunnel.

But after waiting a long time, Qi Feng still didn’t emerge. What was holding him up? With all the supplies he carried, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Maybe he didn’t have a lighter?

Yan Jiyun lay near the opening, watching and waiting.

Just as he was about to go looking, an explosion thundered below, shaking him so hard he had to clutch the edge of the opening to stay still. The startled cats all pressed against him in fright, their tails drooping.

Why wasn’t Qi Feng up yet?

At last, he heard the sound of Qi Feng running up from below—the blast had drowned it out before. Now it could be heard.

Qi Feng finally climbed out of the hole.

Seeing he was unharmed, Yan Jiyun breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground. But the rumbling below was ongoing.

They only had one pack of explosives; there should have been only one bang—why were there two?

Yan Jiyun reached out to pull Qi Feng up. “What’s going on?”

Qi Feng said, “Probably something their side did.”

Yan Jiyun replied, “Radio—ask if they found an exit.”

Qi Feng tried to contact the others by radio, but no one answered for several minutes.

Finally, a reply came.

“Hello, Qi Feng? What’s your status over there?”

It was Qi Yunchu’s voice, but Qi Feng and Yan Jiyun exchanged a look and immediately switched off the radio.

Qi Feng said regretfully, “Guess that’s the end of the radio.”

He and the real Qi Yunchu had set up a code—this reply didn’t use it. Qi Yunchu would never make such a rookie mistake.

Yan Jiyun clicked his tongue. “Even Qi Yunchu has replicants?”

They hadn’t produced any replicants since leaving the mall. This must be a leftover from an earlier wave.

“Normal enough. Qi Yunchu’s health is lousy—he’s got more heart than strength.” Qi Feng put away the radio.

Yan Jiyun guessed, “So that blast might not have been at the floor—maybe they’re fighting.”

Qi Feng pulled his damp undershirt. “That’s entirely possible. But we don’t need to worry about them now. Let’s check out our handiwork.”

Noticing Qi Feng’s discomfort, Yan Jiyun said, “Take it off. I’ll fetch you some dry clothes from the mall. Wait here.”

Qi Feng stopped him. “No need. Let’s check below first.”

“It’ll just take a minute,” Yan Jiyun said, “Stay with the cats and don’t wander.”

After the last instance, he’d gotten sick from being caught in the rain—it had been miserable. Better to avoid another illness if possible.

With that, he was off toward the mall. He didn’t let Qi Feng go because his own night vision was far superior—a quick trip, no problem.

Qi Feng watched Yan Jiyun vanish into the darkness, worrying as he murmured, “Caramel, will your new owner be able to find us again later?”

Yan Jiyun, not far away, heard and scoffed quietly; of course he could find his way—was he being underestimated?

Yan Jiyun sneaked back to the mall. When he returned, the entrance was no longer the same one they’d used before.

This entrance led to a selection of nail salons and skincare shops. It took effort to find a clothing store—only to discover it was a bespoke suit shop. Wearing a suit now was absurd—not at all practical—so he kept looking.

No luck with clothing, but the delicious aroma of meat pies caught his attention.

Yan Jiyun twitched his nose, doing his best to resist; tempting as it was, he couldn’t eat it anyway.

In all that time, not a single menswear shop.

He slipped into a restaurant kitchen, reasoning that staff uniforms could be found. Thankfully, his instincts proved right—he grabbed a set.

From inside came the rich scent of grilled beef patties.

Replicants shouldn’t need to eat, right? Their job was to take out players.

Were there actually players, though, who cared about eating at a time like this? If that smell hadn’t attracted replicants, it would at least whet anyone’s appetite.

Damn, how could someone be flipping meat patties during a dangerous instance?

The patties sizzled on the grill, but there was no one at the stove.

Or rather, the grill cook must have stepped out to use the restroom.

He remembered that Qi Feng hadn’t eaten much; so, why not—

He found a bowl and scooped up two cooked beef patties, tossing two raw ones onto the grill as a cover.

No need to be greedy—grab and go.

Smoothly, he wrapped the bowl in the uniform and dashed off.

It wasn’t until he’d run a hundred meters that someone in the kitchen started shouting curses.

“Which shameless bastard stole my beef patties?! Argh, I’m gonna lose it!”

Yan Jiyun avoided the area, dodging any replicants, ready to bolt.

Just as he was exiting, he spotted a lingerie shop and slapped his thigh. “Almost forgot.”

He popped inside to grab underwear for Qi Feng—he knew Qi Feng’s size, and picked the right fit.

He also grabbed a bottle of water and stuffed in some snacks.

Five minutes later, he was back at the hole, handing Qi Feng the server’s uniform—a modernized Hanfu style.

“Back?”

“Told you I’d be quick—here’s your clothes.”

The Hanfu top covered the bowl of beef patties, infusing it with their aroma, but Qi Feng didn’t mind, and began to change.

Yan Jiyun passed him the underwear from his pocket as well. “Wait, and here’s this.”

Qi Feng glanced at the tag—his exact size. “…You really know me,” he muttered, flushing a bit.

He changed into the dry clothes while the smell had every cat clustering around Yan Jiyun, all trying to get at the beef patties.

For a second, it felt almost like a picnic, not a death game.

Yan Jiyun, trying to protect the food from the cats, quickly handed the bowl to Qi Feng. “Yours.”

Qi Feng took it, rescuing him. “You’re not eating?”

Yan Jiyun had eaten canned food earlier and wasn’t hungry. As much as he craved the beef patty, he knew he couldn’t have greasy food.

The nine cats promptly changed focus, now pawing and pulling at Qi Feng’s loose trouser legs.

Qi Feng: “…”

Normally, when Caramel pawed at him, he’d always cave in and share food. Here, too, his resolve was weakening.

Yan Jiyun pushed the crowd of cats away, acting ruthless. “You can’t let them eat that—they’ll get gastroenteritis. Finish it yourself.”

If the boss couldn’t eat, why should the rest expect to?

Qi Feng didn’t argue further; he was indeed hungry. He hadn’t realized how many hours it had been without food until now, when the aroma hit.

He made quick work of the patties, leaving one for Yan Jiyun, but Yan Jiyun refused it, so Qi Feng finished that, too.

With the empty bowl cast aside, the nine cats clustered around, sniffing at the lingering aroma, but, finding nothing more, drifted off.

Qi Feng eyed the black cat without a collar—currently not the “Caramel”—with some confusion. “How come the others aren’t deferring to Caramel anymore?”

Wasn’t it top cat before?

Yan Jiyun felt a twinge of panic. He scooped up Xiao Jiu, the one covering for him. “It’s probably tired, doesn’t want to put out the effort to push the others around. They all listen to us anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Let it relax a bit—after all, it’s been running back and forth with us, that’s tiring.”

Qi Feng conceded, “True. At this hour at home, it would probably be napping.”

Yan Jiyun handed him water and a snack-sized bread roll. “Here.”

All were just to fill the stomach—Qi Feng saw no reason to refuse, eating everything Yan Jiyun gave until he started to hiccup.

“You’re really not eating?” He hadn’t seen Yan Jiyun have a bite.

“I scarfed down a beef patty in the mall.” Yan Jiyun lied with a straight face.

Qi Feng believed him, and out of politeness, finished the snacks as well, nearly overeating.

No sooner had they sorted out food and clothing than the glass dome outside lit up.

They hurriedly ducked back into the tunnel, and the cats followed suit.

The lights outside were blinding—the giant’s eyes couldn’t see them now as they slipped into the sewer again.

To their surprise, the sewer was completely dry.

Using explosives on the wall had worked; ahead yawned a giant breach, all the water had drained away, and faint light shone through from outside.

At the same time, a strong smell of burning plastic hit them!

“Quick, let’s go—the fumes are toxic!”

Covering their mouths, they leapt into the dry sewer and slipped through the massive rupture blasted open.

Qi Feng, recharged by food and rest, climbed out first to survey their new surroundings.

When he lingered, Yan Jiyun patted his back. “What are you staring at? Let me see.”

Even as he spoke, Qi Feng grabbed him and hustled him behind a nearby wall, where they hunkered down.

Qi Feng shielded Yan Jiyun, whispering, “Don’t make a sound!”

Pressing close to his shoulder, Yan Jiyun looked past with him.

Before them was a giant platform, and beyond it, several giants roamed to and fro. To call it looking up wasn’t right, for even craning their necks, they couldn’t see the giants’ heads.

To the giants, they weren’t even people from a miniature nation, but ants that could be crushed at any moment.

But regardless—they had finally made it out of the glass dome toy!