CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44 I WANT TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION

Wen Yan put the noodles on to cook, washed a few leaves of baby cabbage, added soy sauce to the bowl along with a small piece of pork lard, and casually asked Sparrow Cat.

"You just keep hiding stuff, huh? Don’t say a word, right? What are you gonna say anyway? Didn’t you want to run away? Why are you still here?"

"I don’t mean to hide anything. Whatever you ask, I’ll answer." Sparrow Cat blinked, trying to act all innocent.

It wanted to run away several times last night, but in the end, it didn’t.

It thought about it for a long time, and finally figured it out.

The things Wen Yan said—maybe some of it’s fake, but the part about powers is probably real, and Mo Zhicheng’s codename in the Scorching Sun Department is likely real, too.

Which means, Mo Zhicheng’s dad wasn’t in cahoots with him from the start, but got brainwashed by Mo Zhicheng.

Given its experience surviving in human society, with how ruthless Mo Zhicheng is—he’ll even screw over his own dad—what makes it think he wouldn’t turn on it too?

By comparison, better to stick with Wen Yan.

Wen Yan’s not only with the Virtue City Funeral House, he also counts as a Scorching Sun Department guy, and look, even though he’s pretty ruthless, he still went out of his way to get a mat for it to sleep on—couldn’t be all that bad.

Back when it was young, it used to wander the streets, too. Someone who gives you a mat, something to eat, doesn’t lock you up or send you off to be dissected—at the very least, that can’t be a truly bad person.

It remembered, back then, the old man who picked it up would also cook a bowl of plain noodles in the morning, share some with it, and when it didn’t eat, he’d add a few bits of pork crackling.

That noodle soup with pork lard smelled so fresh and tasty, and that was its first time as a kid ever getting a full meal.

Sparrow Cat sat there dazed beside him, while Wen Yan finished cooking the noodles, carried the whole pot out, grabbed a little box from the fridge, and topped his noodles with some chopped up pork crackling.

Seeing Sparrow Cat’s eager, wide-eyed stare, Wen Yan snorted, scooped up a small bowl, and dished out some noodles for Sparrow Cat, with a piece of baby cabbage and a bit of broth.

"Eat up."

Sparrow Cat craned its neck, staring blankly at Wen Yan.

"You weirdo—I don’t even know if you’re a cat or a bird—you’re not a picky eater, are you?"

Saying that, Wen Yan added two more pieces of pork crackling to the little bowl.

Sparrow Cat still didn’t speak, kept craning its head and staring at Wen Yan; back then the old man who took it in had said something pretty similar, too.

It didn’t say anything, just bowed its head and started gobbling. Its tongue flicked out, snagged a noodle, and with a ’slurp’, sucked it in all at once—now that was efficient.

Wen Yan saw that and said nothing either, just buried his head and wolfed down his noodles.

The only sound at breakfast was loud noodle-slurping. After they finished eating, Wen Yan flopped onto his little sofa to rest. Today was a proper day off, but honestly, he was almost not used to it.

Sparrow Cat, full from breakfast, also stayed quiet, licking its wings to smooth out the feathers—which also counted as washing its face.

In the silence, Sparrow Cat couldn’t hold back anymore. It muttered to itself under its breath, like talking to itself.

"Every time I went to see Mo Zhicheng before, I’d hitch a ride in his car. I’ve seen the guy he brainwashed—a henchman of his—whenever they have to talk in person, it’s always in his car, too."

"The Scorching Sun Department already checked his car’s security footage. All the legit passengers with bookings were checked—nothing came up."

"What I mean is, I can feel it—whenever he’s driving for a rideshare, whether it’s his tone or posture, he just seems a lot more relaxed than usual. I think he loves driving rideshares, he finds it the safest, most comfortable place. If he leaves Virtue City, odds are he’s taking a rideshare out, and definitely not an illegal cab—one time he talked to me about illegal cab drivers and it was clear he really hates them."

When Sparrow Cat finished, it craned its head at Wen Yan and asked carefully,

"Does this info count as meritorious service?"

Wen Yan looked Sparrow Cat up and down with a click of his tongue.

"What is it you want?"

"I want to be a henchman."

"Huh?" Wen Yan was pretty surprised. That blunt?

"A lot of stray demons—the ones who badmouth the Scorching Sun Department every day—they all did something shady themselves at some point. If they were totally clean, when the chance comes up, they’d stuff their eggs inside if they could."

"Huh?!" Wen Yan was taken aback. "You’re a cat—doesn’t that sound inappropriate?"

"I’m not a cat, I’m just a sparrow. Ah—wait, that’s not what I mean, that’s something I heard from an old dog I met. He used to work for the Scorching Sun Department, seen a lot. He retired and has a great life now."

"Hang on."

Wen Yan went upstairs and called Feng Yao.

"Hey, is now a good time to talk?"

"Go ahead, the line’s already encrypted."

"I ran into a Sparrow Cat. It’s probably been brainwashed by Mo Zhicheng too, was helping him keep tabs on me, but I caught it last night.

It spilled some information, and so far I think it’s being honest.

It says Mo Zhicheng probably went to Duanzhou, targeting the biggest chemical plant there.

And it also said Mo Zhicheng’s really into rideshare apps, hates illegal cab drivers, so he most likely left Virtue City in a legitimate rideshare."

If it’s right, Mo Zhicheng didn’t keep hiding in Virtue City, but left at that time.

For that time period—riders who booked rideshares out of Virtue City toward Duanzhou—you guys should already have that list, right?"

"We do. Everyone who left Virtue City during that period that could be found is on record, and it’s already been checked again over the past couple days—we found nothing special.

If what it says is mostly trustworthy—honestly, that day I couldn’t get reinforcements because all the local Wei State forces had been called over to Duanzhou.

That Duanzhou chemical plant was swarming with paranormal activity; the force there fought hard for hours just to get things under control.

Even now it’s still tying up a ton of manpower, and honestly there might still be a Category Two Domain in there."

"Category Two?"

"The hospital wing we encountered before was Category Three—completely blended into the real world. Category Two is built on top of a real place, but inside, the space is totally cut off from real reality. That chemical plant most likely has an entrance to a Category Two Domain."

"So what about Category One?"

"Category One—I’ve never been in one. All I know is, it’s a fully independent space, totally different from reality. In ancient records, Category One Domains have a name you’d recognize."

"What is it?"

"Dongtian."

Wen Yan mulled it over—this whole thing was getting bigger and bigger.

The stuff at the Virtue City Funeral House was all small time, but having Mo Zhicheng personally causing trouble here made it clear this was the more important business.

He had Sparrow Cat keep watch—there might be more to come.

"So, what should I do with Sparrow Cat? You taking it?"

"What do you think of this little demon?" Feng Yao didn’t answer whether she’d take it, but asked a question first.

"I think it’s really hoping for a full-time position."

"Then don’t bring it over. The Scorching Sun Department in Nanwu County still isn’t fully cleaned out—there are plenty of ordinary people, and who knows how many more have been brainwashed. You can offer it any terms you like. If it helps us catch Mo Zhicheng, and after review, if it’s never harmed anyone, I promise it a full-time spot."

"That works. One more thing—the building behind me, did you already know what was up with it?"

"I honestly don’t. The Scorching Sun Department’s checked it multiple times. Records just say sometimes harmless little ghosts show up, but their threat level doesn’t even count as Category One, and after they leave, they fade away pretty quick."

"Are there any quiet places left in this world?" Wen Yan sighed.

"It’s not that these things are happening more—it’s just that you’re finally starting to notice them."