After Turning Into a Kitten, I Was Adopted by My Father-Figure Childhood Friend - Chapter 16

The night was deep and the clouds were heavy. In the villa district, streetlights dimly illuminated the gravel paths, casting distorted and eerie shadows. Two silhouettes, one following the other, nimbly leaped through the shifting light and shadows, plunging together into the deeper darkness.

Song Xingyu had never realized such a place existed. Tucked in the corner between two villas and a perimeter wall was a rare pile of cardboard boxes and material crates. The searing glow of the city was blocked by the towering walls; even the estate’s security lights stopped short of this spot.

He could not help but look ahead with hesitation. Light and shadow sliced the ground into sharp, contrasting lines. Xiao Bai crossed this boundary and dissolved into the darkness, leaving only a hurried call, “Hurry up, meow!”

“Coming,” Song Xingyu replied.

Without a second thought, Song Xingyu followed. As his two little white paws stepped into the dark, a sudden, inexplicable sense of crisis crashed into his senses. His tail went stiff, and his ears twitched rapidly in every direction.

In that exact instant, a shadow dropped from above like the wind. With eerie footwork that seemed to cut through the night, it lunged toward the naive kitten.

The kitten twisted its body and rolled on the spot, turning into a fluffy ball that tumbled into the corner before springing up at lightning speed to pounce forward. As they brushed past each other, three silver flashes struck the wall. The shadow spun around instantly, pounced behind Song Xingyu, and opened its mouth to bite.

Song Xingyu collapsed to the ground, his face pale with shock as he flailed his paws and screamed in terror, “Lu Jingchuan! Lu Jingchuan! Ah! Your father is going to die! You bastard!”

No, no, no!

“Lu Xiaochuan, save me! To the rescue!”

In the moment of crisis, Song Xingyu meowed loudly, his eyes squeezed shut as his four paws scratched and scraped wildly at the ground. It was not until four sharp fangs firmly clamped onto the scruff of his neck that he instantly surrendered. Losing all his bravado, he shut his mouth and let out a tiny, pathetic whimpering sound.

“Shut up, little guy,” a deep, heavy, and dangerous voice commanded, issuing a succinct threat.

The sharp fangs moved away from the kitten’s pitiful neck, and the heavy weight pressing down on his body vanished along with them.

A fluffy black cat trotted over to the little calico. Xiao Bai lowered his head and gave the kitten an affectionate, pitying lick. “Xiao Mi, are you okay?”

Now that the death threat had lifted, the little calico gave a violent shudder as if he had just returned from the dead. His amber cat eyes, pure as gems, instantly brimmed with tears that began to fall drop by drop.

Song Xingyu, who had never suffered like this in his life, wiped his tears while angrily giving Xiao Bai a hard shove. He shouted his accusation in a fit of rage, “Get away! You bastard! I treated you to cat sticks because I trusted you so much! How could you do this to me? How could you be so mean?”

Song Xingyu sobbed out his accusations, blowing heart-brokenly on his little tail where some fur had been scratched off. His tears matted the fur on both cheeks, and even his snowy-white whiskers trembled with wet droplets as he gasped for breath.

He curled into a ball, looking like a tiny, fluffy rice ball, unable to lift his head for a long time. He ignored the pointed-ear shadows gathering around him, crossly turning his back and pointing his round bottom at them.

Then, someone licked his back.

Song Xingyu’s fur exploded instantly. His tear-soaked tail tip puffed up into a fuzzy club. Forgetting even how to walk, he spun around with a look of pure horror, his small head and pointed ears recoiling backward in total rejection.

He spiraled further into a breakdown, meowing his loud protest, “You guys are being hooligans!”

The large cats looked at each other. A beautiful tortoiseshell cat stepped forward, leaning down to nuzzle the kitten affectionately. “Baby, do not cry anymore.”

Baby?

The little calico stumbled, his head spinning as he looked up in confusion. Who was she calling baby?

Of the seven cats present, six were huddled around the little calico. Only the culprit remained at a distance, lightly jumping onto a crate. Its gaze was disdainful and impatient, its two long ear-tufts swaying in the breeze. Standing in the darkness, only its cat eyes glowed with a ghostly light, revealing an increasingly stern and resolute face. “Stop crying,” it said.

Under the accusatory glares of the family members, the Maine Coon pondered for a long while before forcing a smile, its mouth parting to reveal four gleaming, sharp fangs. In the dark, it wore a forced, half-smile. Its deep voice sounded strained as it said, “Sorry. Stop crying.”

I will cry if I want to!

Song the Cat turned to glare at him. However, that single look instantly punctured his bravado. He wiped his tears, arched his back, and timidly turned his body away, a few bright crystalline droplets falling to the ground.

“I am going to tell Lu Xiaochuan that you guys bullied me,” he grumbled under his breath, his voice filled with extreme resentment.

He would make Lu Xiaochuan get revenge for him! He did not want to live here anymore! He wanted to move! These bad cats were all liars and bastards! Thinking of the terror of being bitten by the neck, Song the Cat could not help but shudder. His entire fluffy form trembled in the wind as he shrank into a ball, crying piteously.

The group of cats looked left and right; none of them had ever seen such a display. Xiao Bai could not help but lick the kitten’s head out of pity, his voice sounding guilty. “Xiao Mi, I did not do it on purpose, and the Boss did not mean it either. Everyone who joins the Cat Gang has to get beaten up by the Boss first. I did too.”

“It is true! It is true!” the others chimed in.

“Yes, meow!”

“The Boss is super scary, meow!”

Once Xiao Bai started, the surrounding cats followed suit, nodding their heads while voicing their own grievances.

“Beautiful kitten, we are all one family now. Family members are not meant for blaming each other. Just forgive the Boss this once,” Blueberry, a British Shorthair gentleman, said as he crouched low on the ground to comfort the kitten eye-to-eye.

Given an out, the Maine Coon immediately walked over and pressed a paw against the kitten’s forehead. “Cats are family,” he stated.

“We are family, meow!” the others echoed.

The third-in-command, a sleek Tabby cat who had retired from the streets, was as dashing as a bolt of lightning. It briskly patted the kitten’s head with a paw, speaking as carefree as a spring breeze. “Some other day, I will help you hit him back.”

The fourth was a golden domestic cat with a limp. He was the Tabby’s subordinate. When the Tabby retired, he had scouted out the owner first. Once he was sure the owner was kind-hearted, he brought Number Four into the fold. It followed closely behind the Tabby, sounding like an honest man who did not have many words. “Me too,” it added.

Number Five was Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai had not expected the kitten to be such a coward and was licking his fur incessantly out of guilt. Number Six was Blueberry, and Number Seven was the beautiful mixed-color tortoiseshell. The two fluffy cats flanked the kitten, swaying their heads and meowing as they nuzzled him.

“Forgive the family.”

“Do not be mad at the Boss.”

Number Two, a tuxedo cat, came wobbling over. After staring at the little calico for a long time, it suddenly swiped a paw at the Maine Coon. The Maine Coon was furious, but this senile old cat was surprisingly agile. It scrambled up to a high spot in three bounds, looking down at the group with a dazed expression.

Song Xingyu, who had still been shedding tears, was now being patted on the head by paw after paw. Surrounded by fluffy cats meowing and nuzzling him, his head began to spin. His temper came quickly, but it left just as fast.

He was an expert at taking an inch when given a mile. Seizing the moment, he said meanly, “I will forgive you all if you let me be the Boss!”

The Maine Coon narrowed its eyes. “Hmm?”

A large breed like a Maine Coon has long limbs. When it stands up, it is built like a semi-truck, all muscle beneath that long fur.

Song the Cat immediately tucked his tail between his legs. “I did not say anything.” He grumbled softly, his words cowardly but his eyes stubborn and filled with defiance. He muttered unhappily, “You bastards! You are overbearing jerks and bad cats! I am going back! I am not playing with you anymore!”

Song Xingyu had lost a lot of face tonight and did not want to stay here at all. He stood up, but several cats immediately grabbed onto his four legs.

The handsome Maine Coon blocked his path, stating slowly, “You cannot. We ate your cat sticks. We have already accepted your initiation gift.”

The Cat Gang had rules that were both strict and loose. A new family member would be suppressed by the Boss’s might to establish authority, and then food would be shared to show care for the members. Xiao Bai had presented the cat sticks from Song Xingyu as prey to the gang. Everyone had nothing but praise for such high-quality goods; there was no way they would let a cat leave after eating his food!

Song Xingyu lowered his head, his pointed ears drooping as he said sullenly, “That was my charity to you!”

“Charity?” The tortoiseshell cat tilted its head blankly, asking the cats around it, “What is charity?”

Song Xingyu, standing right next to her, was speechless. “It means I did not want it anymore and threw it to you.”

The Tabby cat shot him a look. “Cats do not understand ‘not wanting it.’ Cats only know that you shared your food with us.”

“You are a good cat,” the lame golden cat added.

Blueberry said leisurely, “No cat would ever throw away the best things.”

Between the cats’ various comments, they not only refused to let Song Xingyu quit the gang but actually moved him with their simple, pure logic. Song Xingyu was always one to be persuaded by kindness but never by force. If they played rough, he might be scared, but he would never be convinced. Now that they were being soft, he felt like he was melting into warm water, grumbling with only his mouth remaining stubborn. “Fine, then let me hit him back.”

Song Xingyu pointed a paw, and the Maine Coon instantly stood up, looking alert.

The Tabby cat laughed. “That is easy! Family, let us go!”

A swarm of cats immediately rushed toward the isolated Maine Coon Boss, meowing and yowling. Song Xingyu squeezed in during the chaos. Positioned by the Tabby cat, he raised his paw and delivered a smack right to the Maine Coon’s butt.

In the face of the Maine Coon’s horrified expression, he gave a small laugh. He finally felt satisfied! With his tail held high in triumph, his previous gloom vanished. He ran back home happily, his footsteps practically bouncing to a beat.

“Meow meow meow!” Song the Cat hummed a tune, cheerfully meowing all the way home. He hopped over the garden wall, wound through the gaps in the fence to reach a high point, and leaped onto the second-floor balcony.

Just as he turned around after closing the window, the world suddenly lit up. Is it dawn already?

Song the Cat looked up in confusion, only to lock eyes with a pair of deep, dark eyes. Lu Jingchuan tapped his arm with an unreadable expression, his gaze full of scrutiny. “Youyou, where have you been?”

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