20demayo Chapter 486 Victory in the first battle
Chapter 486 Victory in the first battle
Jiang Xiaoqi handed over the cat food cans, hair clips, and cat food in her hands to the Hairball System so that it could feed its meritorious subordinates in a timely manner.
After being enlightened, the kittens took on their first task: to find the whereabouts of sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal powder in the capital.
The capital city is extremely vast, encompassing five areas: east, west, south, north, and center, which can be perfectly allocated to the five cats.
In the dry winter, finding these items is actually far more important than solving the case as quickly as possible.
Human life is at stake; it all depends on whether the kittens will stand up for them.
When the five kittens left the Jiang family's house, their bellies were all round and plump.
The cats also started communicating with more frequent feline language, instead of just meowing.
"Boss, when do we start looking?"
The fluffball system could communicate normally with them before they were upgraded to intelligence, and now it's even smoother.
"We can start tonight. The sooner we finish the task, the sooner we can get the reward."
Cat food and canned food like today's are unlimited after completing the task!
"Unlimited! Really unlimited?"
"Of course it's true, my host is loaded!"
"Alright, boss, let's start the operation tonight. Anyway, we're night stalkers, and our visibility is actually limited during the day, plus it's too noisy."
"Okay, Xiao Hei will go to the east, Xiao Ju to the west, Xiao Bai to the south, and the two Xiao Sanhua sisters will be responsible for going to the north and the city."
After receiving their orders, the five kittens darted out of the Jiang family's house like little ghosts, their paws landing silently, adding to their ethereal and graceful appearance.
Xiao Hei moved nimbly through the streets and alleys to the east, its eyes gleaming in the darkness, occasionally pausing on a rooftop or treetop.
Little Orange hopped around on the rooftops of the shops to the west, its nose twitching as it sniffed out the distinctive scents.
Xiao Bai searched along the southern bank of the river, venturing into abandoned warehouses and shacks along the riverbank to investigate.
The little calico sisters searched carefully in the north and the city. They worked together seamlessly, one exploring on the ground and the other looking out from a high place.
With a bright moon and few stars, a few small shadows would not attract anyone's attention.
Even the night watchman would think it was just wild cats frolicking or foraging.
While the kittens were busy searching, an oil lamp flickered in an inconspicuous old courtyard in the capital.
Several large wolfhounds were chained up in the yard, and the smell of decay seemed deliberately pervasive.
This is the area that Xiao Hei is responsible for searching. When it came to the vicinity of this yard, its little ears twitched.
Sniffing to confirm his location, he then leaped onto the wall of the old courtyard.
Thorns were scattered on the wall, as if someone had done it on purpose, otherwise they wouldn't have been so evenly distributed.
Little Black was bold yet careful. He cautiously navigated the thorny path and was about to jump into the yard when he noticed several pairs of oily green eyes below.
Five large wolfhounds—Xiao Hei's slender little body wouldn't even be enough to fill a few of their teeth.
Xiao Hei felt a pang of anxiety, but didn't seem flustered. He silently memorized the location of the old courtyard, then nimbly turned and jumped off the wall.
Return to the Jiang residence as quickly as possible. This is not the time for a little cat like it to act recklessly. It cannot delay its master's important business!
Like a human, Xiao Hei thought and weighed the pros and cons before giving up his decision to investigate alone.
He is no longer the same "it" he once was; an animal with intelligence can no longer be simply defined as an animal.
Xiao Hei was very fast, and returned to the Jiang residence in less than half an hour. Based on his memory, he quickly found the location of the Maoqiu System and Jiang Xiaoqi.
It was panting heavily, meowing anxiously, and patting the window frame with its paws.
Jiang Xiaoqi did not sleep, nor did he enter the study space. Since becoming an official, the time he spent in the study space had changed from a whole night to two hours.
Jiang Xiaoqi opened the window, and Xiao Hei immediately jumped in, gesturing anxiously, momentarily forgetting that he could "speak".
"Little Black, don't rush, don't rush. You can't just gesture. Use your mouth. My host can understand you."
The fluffy system reminded him from the side, and Xiao Hei's paw paused, his expression becoming somewhat embarrassed.
This was the first time Jiang Xiaoqi had ever seen this expression on a cat's face, except, of course, for the "fake cat" Fur Ball System.
Xiao Hei finally realized what was happening and described the old courtyard to them.
Jiang Xiaoqi and the Maoqiu system immediately realized that this courtyard might be hiding what they were looking for.
"Five large wolfhounds... does a dilapidated, rotten yard need five large wolfhounds to guard it?"
This is already very strange. Xiao Hei said that under the cover of the rotten smell, there was a very obvious stench, which should be sulfur.
Of the ingredients in black powder, only sulfur has the most pronounced smell, and it is sulfur that needs to be masked.
"Yes, the smell was pungent, and although the smell of decay was also unpleasant, we were used to scavenging for food in the swill buckets."
Beneath this rotten smell lies a pungent stench that we used to only detect at the end of the year.
The fluffy system also realized, "Then that's right, fireworks and firecrackers also contain those kinds of things, but the proportions are different."
Xiao Hei and his gang are out and about every day; they must have smelled it. "Host, when do we go to the place Xiao Hei mentioned?"
"We should go in and take a look, but we need to deal with those dogs first."
"Host, there is rat poison for sale in the store."
"Bad idea!"
Jiang Xiaoqi led them into the small kitchen in the courtyard, where there was a kitchen helper on night duty.
"Young master, are you hungry? There are meat buns and three-delicacy buns on the stove."
Upon hearing that there were steamed buns, the furball system's eyes lit up.
"Okay, Lao Chen, give me a plate of meat buns and a plate of three-delicacy buns."
"Alright, young master, eating only steamed buns is too dry. Let me make you some cucumber and egg soup."
"No need, it's too late to bother. I'll just have some steamed buns and some tea."
Jiang Xiaoqi didn't need any servants to deliver the food; she simply carried the two plates of steamed buns back to her room herself.
"Host, are you hungry? Perfect timing, the system is hungry too."
Jiang Xiaoqi didn't know how a system that could replenish its energy by basking in the sun could have the nerve to say it was hungry, but she still stuffed a three-delicacy bun into the fur ball system's mouth.
"Do you want Little Black?"
Xiao Hei shook his head.
He still thinks cat food tastes better; it's the most delicious food he's ever tasted in his life.
Jiang Xiaoqi seemed to have read his mind and immediately opened a can of cat food.
The little guy used up a lot of energy going out and coming back, and his belly has already flattened back down.
All the cats ate happily, but Jiang Xiaoqi stuffed sleeping pills into all the meat buns and put them into an oilcloth bag.
The fluffy system immediately realized that its host was going to drug the big wolfhound. Hmm, well, that seems a bit more humane than the rat poison he mentioned.