Clouds spat out the moon, which rose high above the building. The pitch-black sky finally had some light.
In the changing room, Jiang Xiaoyu silently took the shirt handed over by Ye Lian and put it on. The man’s frame was much taller and broader than his; the shirt hung loosely on him like a skirt. He tugged uncomfortably at the hem, rolled up the pant legs several times, then grabbed the waistband and walked out of the changing room.
“A bit big,” Ye Lian said from where he leaned against the wall, his tone carrying a hint of amusement as he watched him emerge.
He could curse freely in his cat form, but as a human, he was like a gagged gourd, sitting on the sofa with his knees hugged to his chest, not making a peep.
Ye Lian brought him a cup of hot milk. “Aunt Qing and Uncle Chen have both fed you milk before, so you shouldn’t be allergic to it.”
Jiang Xiaoyu took it and said stiffly, “Thanks.” He took a tiny sip, then touched the red rash still on his arm and asked, “So, I uncontrollably turned back into a cat because of the allergy?”
Ye Lian sat down across from him, his voice soft. “Most likely. It’s a protective mechanism of the body. The brain will involuntarily choose the best way to cope.”
Jiang Xiaoyu rubbed the side of the cup, silent for a long while before asking, “Aren’t you going to ask why I got close to you?”
Ye Lian hummed. “At first, it was to investigate Ji Wangan’s case?”
Jiang Xiaoyu nodded and set the milk cup on the nearby tea table.
Ye Lian’s eyes curved. “Then I get it.”
Jiang Xiaoyu looked up, urgency in his voice. “That’s it? You’re not mad at me?”
“Why would I be mad? That was your job.” Ye Lian’s voice was faint, even a bit cold. “Ji Wangan committed a crime and should face the full force of the law.”
Jiang Xiaoyu stared at him in a daze, then hugged his legs again, burying his face in his knees as he mumbled, “But he’s still your little brother. I thought you’d blame me for approaching you as a cat and sending him in.”
Ye Lian said, “How could I? Do I seem that unreasonable?” He laughed helplessly. “Am I the kind of person who would harbor a criminal in your eyes?”
He wouldn’t even do that for his own flesh-and-blood brother, let alone one from a different mother.
Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoyu quickly lifted his face. “I didn’t mean it that way. I know you’re a good person. You wouldn’t do that.”
Ye Lian shrugged noncommittally. Suddenly, he propped his chin on his hand and leaned to the side, his tone carrying a mix of curiosity and teasing. “I know Officer Jiang first approached me for the case. But after Ji Wangan’s case, what about then? Why did you keep approaching me?”
Heat surged to Jiang Xiaoyu’s cheeks. His gaze fixed on a corner of the cashmere carpet, as if an upside-down Heavenly Gang array had sprouted a sheep there.
He wanted to say he was afraid the Little Black Cat suddenly disappearing would make everyone sad, but he knew that was an excuse. He couldn’t say it out loud.
“I… I don’t know. It’s just comfortable being around you. I-I just want to stay by your side.” After stammering it out, he realized what he’d said. He nervously licked his lips. “No, I was just talking nonsense.”
So honest and cute it was scary. Ye Lian chuckled lightly. “Too late to take it back, Uncle heard it.”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s heart skipped a beat. His face flushed red as he retorted, “I didn’t say it! And don’t call yourself Uncle!”
“Alright, pretend you didn’t say it.” When Ye Lian smiled, his eyes curved warmly, filled with an indulgence that made Jiang Xiaoyu’s ears burn. “But I’m more than a generation older than you. If not Uncle, then what?”
Jiang Xiaoyu didn’t dare look at him, mumbling to himself with his legs hugged. “Anyway, you’re not Uncle.” It felt weird; just hearing ‘Uncle’ now made him uncomfortable all over.
“Got it, Uncle remembers.”
This old guy said it while doing it anyway. Jiang Xiaoyu looked up in frustration, only to meet the man’s gaze, softer than the moonlight outside the window.
Jiang Xiaoyu deflated instantly, like a newborn kitten clueless about the world, asking unconfidently in a small voice, “So you’re really not mad at me?”
“Of course.” How could he be mad at someone and something so interesting?
Jiang Xiaoyu hugged his knees, fingers rubbing the rolled-up pant legs as he said softly, “Thanks.”
“No need.” Ye Lian stood. “Finish the milk. Want me to send you back, or rest here?”
Jiang Xiaoyu glanced at the wall clock and realized with a start that it would be dawn in another two or three hours. He said annoyed, “Sorry, keeping you up so late without rest.”
Ye Lian ruffled his hair, thinking silently that the texture was completely different from his cat form—fine, soft, and not curly. He said, “No need to apologize or thank me. Everything I do is because I want to. It’s my own choice, got nothing to do with you.”
Feeling the warm palm on his head, Jiang Xiaoyu’s eyes stung. After a long moment, he seemed to search for words and asked, “How did you figure out I was a cat? You must’ve known before today, right?”
He thought he’d slipped up somewhere, unaware that the man had known from the very first sentence.
Ye Lian withdrew his hand. “You really want to know?”
The man’s tone was a bit evasive, leaving Jiang Xiaoyu puzzled. He looked up and rarely saw the man touch his nose embarrassedly. “If I tell you, you can’t get mad.”
“Tell me. I won’t get mad,” Jiang Xiaoyu promised, relaxing as he stared seriously at the man.
“Well… I knew from the first meeting that you were a person in cat skin.”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How? I don’t think my actions were too out of line at first!” He racked his brain recalling his behavior, unable to find any giveaway.
Ye Lian laughed helplessly. “Tell me, weren’t you afraid of me? You lay at my feet meowing away: why be afraid of you? Because you’re a murderer?”
Jiang Xiaoyu was stunned. It was like that… He thought of a possibility and said blankly, “You can understand cat speech? Are you a shapeshifter too? But no, I checked the records—your family has no registered shapeshifters… So you just understand cat speech?”
Ye Lian loosened his shirt cuff, then started unbuttoning. “I can understand cat speech, and I am a shapeshifter. As for the police records… well, maybe there’s a deeper system? One your current clearance level can’t access.” He thought to himself, not even your master can access it.
Jiang Xiaoyu half-listened to the explanation, his gaze drawn entirely to the man’s actions. He tried to stay calm, but his face was nearly dripping blood. “W-what are you unbuttoning your shirt for!”
“Hm?” Ye Lian’s eyes curved in a wicked smile. “Isn’t Officer Jiang curious what I shift into? I want to show you.”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s mind went blank, heart pounding like a drum, nearly bursting from his throat. “I don’t wanna see! It’s gotta be a cat—what’s so great about that! Definitely a white ugly cat!” Recalling the little strays’ evaluation of that pure-white odd-eyed lion cat, he stubbornly lied through his teeth. “I don’t wanna see it. It’s gotta be ugly!”
But Ye Lian didn’t stop. He undid the shirt and held it in hand. His broad shoulders, solid chest, and defined abs were fully exposed in the sultry air.
His fair skin glowed under the warm yellow light, highlighting the sculpted muscles. Jiang Xiaoyu’s gaze uncontrollably fell on Ye Lian’s bare upper body. His heart raced so fast he felt it had stopped.
Ye Lian seemed to notice his stare, a teasing smile tugging his lips. He casually tossed the shirt onto Jiang Xiaoyu’s lap and drawled, “Ready, Officer Jiang? Don’t get scared.”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s face burned. He panic-shifted his gaze. “N-no, don’t shift! I know now, that’s enough.” He jumped up hastily and bolted for the door, head down. Just as his hand touched the doorknob, he heard cloth tearing behind him—riiiip— as if something suddenly expanded, bursting the fabric constraining it.
Jiang Xiaoyu whipped his head back in shock, witnessing a jaw-dropping sight. Ye Lian was gone, replaced by a white tiger.
Enormous, over two meters long, shoulder height around one and a half meters, covered in snow-white fur with black patterns, limbs long and claws sharp. The pants that hadn’t been removed hung in tatters on the tiger’s powerful hind legs, dangling precariously.
What made Jiang Xiaoyu’s heart seize most was the pair of scorching golden eyes, blazing like the fierce sun.
He stared blankly, not realizing his legs had gone soft, sliding him down the door to sit on the floor.
The white tiger slowly and elegantly padded over, lowering its massive head to meet his eyes levelly. Man and tiger locked gazes, the air seeming to freeze.
Jiang Xiaoyu held his breath, letting the tiger’s hot breath wash over his face, hearing a low, magnetic voice from its mouth: “Officer Jiang, am I that ugly?”
The breath brushed a tingling shiver over his skin, and Jiang Xiaoyu felt his allergic skin start itching again.
The white tiger leaned closer, until its wet nose tip touched Jiang Xiaoyu’s.
Our Officer Jiang went cross-eyed, and a few seconds later, he pathetically turned into a cat and passed out.
Ye Lian was amused yet exasperated as he nudged the little cat’s body with his nose. Seeing him close his eyes and truly faint, Ye Lian said helplessly, “Where are you a little kitten? You’re clearly a little mouse—always hiding and cowering.”
He lowered his head, carefully positioning his sharp fangs before picking up the Little Black Cat in his mouth, then strolled leisurely out of the room.
—
Jiang Xiaoyu woke up the next day to bright daylight. He had slept with all his fur puffed up and sticking out in a chaotic mess, looking just like a fluffy hedgehog. He blearily opened his sleepy eyes in a daze, blinking in confusion, not yet figuring out where he was.
It wasn’t until he saw the pink ceiling and the room full of overflowing girly decorations that Jiang Xiaoyu realized he was in the “princess-style” cat house specially made for him by the old butler.
He took a moment to come around, then suddenly flipped over, puffed up like a pufferfish, and meowed furiously, “Bastard! Pretentious old bastard! Big liar! Shameless!”
He paced around in circles from anger, pressing his paws against a cat scratching board and clawing at it madly. As he clawed, he realized that more than anger, he felt at a loss and embarrassed… He started talking himself down again: “I tricked you, you tricked me—we’re even.”
Thinking this, he scratched a few more half-hearted times before calming down. He shook his round bunny tail and turned around… only to come face-to-face with a solemn dog head.
The Husky had at some point stuck its head into the cat house. Having seen Jiang Xiaoyu wildly scratching the board, it glared with its whites showing and barked seriously, “Little cat gone crazy!”
“You’re the crazy one!” Jiang Xiaoyu, both embarrassed and annoyed, swatted a paw at the dog’s face. The Husky withdrew its head in grievance and ran off into the distance, barking, “Dog Bro! Little cat bad! Hit dog!”
Jiang Xiaoyu awkwardly flexed his paws a few times and spat at himself, “Jiang Xiaoyu, are you an idiot? Why bother arguing with a dog!”
He poked his head out of the cat house and sneakily glanced around. Seeing no one around, he slunk along the wall like a thief, planning to dart home quickly. Who would’ve thought that just as he got not far from the courtyard gate, he spotted Ye Qingxu walking up the mountain with food in hand.
Spotting Jiang Xiaoyu, Ye Qingxu’s eyes reddened slightly. He forced a smile and said, “Dad… was really worried about you. Ye Lian called me saying you were here, so I brought some food over. Afraid you’d have another allergic reaction, I bought the stuff you ate before. Are you hungry? If you don’t want to see me, just take it inside to eat. I—I’ll check on the house and move out as soon as possible…” Saying this twisted his heart like a knife. He didn’t notice tears already sliding down his cheeks.
He clumsily held the food with one hand and wiped his face with the other. “I’ll leave it here. The medicine’s inside too—remember to take it. The police station called, and I asked for leave on your behalf. Rest well; your body’s not fully recovered yet.”
After saying that, he couldn’t hold back anymore and turned to leave. He’d only taken two steps when he heard a cat meow. Then, he felt a cat paw lightly tugging at his pant leg.
