Chapter 32: The Cat Cries at Midnight (6)

  "Oh no! Hiking is too tiring!"

  "What strong wind!"

  "I'm wearing too little, it's a bit cold!"

  "Hurry up and get it done, let's go back quickly!"

  The students were grumbling about this field trip, as autumn had arrived and the weather had turned cool. The outdoors was no longer as vibrant as it was in early spring, with flowers blooming everywhere. Now, the mountains and fields were already showing signs of decline, and the constant cold wind made it even more unbearable, so it's no wonder that complaints filled the air.

  "Huh? Where's Mao Tuan?" Yu SiSi leaned against the tree to rest for a while, and suddenly realized that Mao Tuan was nowhere to be seen. The sisters in the dormitory all came out to practice, and no one dared to leave Mao Tuan alone in the dormitory. Anyway, Mao Tuan was small in size and easy to carry around, and with the cute little Mao Tuan, the time for outdoor practice could also pass relatively quickly.

  "Just now was digging grass roots, nothing, Mao Tuan is smart and knows to come back." Lin Qingqing, the eldest in the dormitory, comforted and said, but her hands did not stop working, thinking about finishing early and going back early, blowing less cold wind.

  "This is the wilderness, won't Miao Tuan get lost?" Yu Si Si was a typical cat lover. In her dormitory, she cared about Miao Tuan the most, either giving Miao Tuan a bath or combing its hair, taking care of it like a child. Now that Miao Tuan was gone, she was naturally the most anxious.

  Su Qi didn't care about Mao Tuan, after all, he was a demon clan and such a big person wouldn't get lost. "Sisi, don't worry, Boss is right, Mao Tuan is so clever that he will definitely come back by himself."

  "What if it gets lost?" Yu Sisi was still worried and looked around, while others were busy with the outdoor practice project, trying to get back early. No one wanted to stay on the mountain in the cold wind. However, Mao Tuan was indeed recognized by everyone as clever, except for Yu Sisi, who was certain that Mao Tuan would not get lost, so no one paid much attention to Mao Tuan's affairs.

  At the moment when Yu SiSi was anxiously searching, she suddenly saw a black shadow moving in the grass, "Mao Tuan?" Yu SiSi tried calling out, and upon hearing the call, the black shadow slowly moved twice, revealing its fluffy little tail. As soon as Yu SiSi saw it, she was overjoyed - that fluffy little tail was definitely Mao Tuan's! Yu SiSi quickly ran over to pick up Mao Tuan from the grass, and this little rascal had gotten into a mess again and needed another bath.

  Unexpectedly, Mao Tuan sensed that Yu Si was approaching and immediately ran away. "Mao Tuan!" Yu Si worried that Mao Tuan would get lost and chased after him without hesitation. Mao Tuan seemed to be teasing Yu Si, keeping a distance from her that was neither too far nor too close. Occasionally, when Yu Si got tired of chasing and stopped to rest, Mao Tuan would stick out its little tail and wave it back and forth, as if beckoning Yu Si to come and chase him again.

  "Just you wait, I'll get you!" After chasing for a while, Yu Si also realized that Mao Tuan was teasing her. The idea of catching up to Mao Tuan became even stronger, and she thought to herself, "Once I catch him, I'll have to give him a good scolding to feel relieved."

  A cat and a person chased each other for a long time, until Yisi suddenly realized that the wild grass was getting taller and denser, making it very difficult to move forward. When she looked up, she had no idea where she was. Turning her head back, the dense branches of the wild grass had completely blocked her view, leaving only the occasional broken blades of grass as proof of the direction she came from; otherwise, she would have lost her way entirely.

  "Meow! Meow!" Yu Sisi anxiously called out, looking around for any sign of Meow's whereabouts. But Meow seemed to have grown tired of the chasing game and had vanished into thin air.

  Yu Sisi was also getting scared. She had never been to this place before, and all around her were tall wild grasses that reached up to her shoulders. What if a snake or something bit her? She would be done for!

  Moreover, she had been out for a while now, and her dormitory sisters must be worried about her. Yu Sisi thought to herself, taking out her phone to call them and let them know she was safe. But when she opened her phone, there was no signal!

  Yu Sisi became even more uneasy. It was already three thirty, and the sky would start to darken at four o'clock. Once it got dark, it would be even harder to find her way back.

  And then Yu Sisi suddenly remembered the strange cat meows that had been appearing on the mountain behind the school every night for the past few days, as well as what the senior had said about the school being built on a graveyard...

  These thoughts made Yu Sisi's mind flood with all sorts of ghost stories and images. Her chaotic thinking only made her more frightened, and she didn't even bother to look for Meow anymore. She immediately turned around to head back.

  Just then, a tree branch fell from who-knows-where and landed on top of Yu Sisi, who instinctively raised her hands to protect her head and dodged to the side.

  "Ah——ouch——oh no——” Yu Sisi clutched her arm, wincing in pain as she took deep breaths. Just now, when she had jumped to the side to avoid hitting her head on a tree trunk, she had forgotten that all around were dry branches and weeds. Her foot had slipped and she had fallen into the underbrush, getting scratched by several dry branches on her hand, but fortunately the wounds were shallow and only bled a little, not serious at all. Her arm was also scratched by some branches from the falling tree trunk, but fortunately her clothes were thick enough that it was just a minor scrape.

  "What bad luck, where did this huge tree trunk come from." Yu SiSi looked at the tree trunk in front of her, which was as thick as her thigh and had countless branches as thick as fingers. "I have to hurry back and deal with my wound, or it'll get infected!" Yu SiSi gritted her teeth and endured the pain as she struggled to get up and stumbled back.

  "Qi Ruo, have you seen Si Si?" Lin Qingqing suddenly realized that Yu Si Si was nowhere to be found after she finished her tasks and hastily asked Su Qi Ruo.

  "No." Su Qi Ruo was also busy with outdoor tasks and didn't notice Yu Si Si at all, "I'll call her phone to check." Su Qi Ruo took out his mobile phone to call Yu Si Si, but the voice on the other end of the line said that she was not in the service area.

  Su Qi suddenly tensed up, "Didn't SiSi just say she was looking for Mao Tuan? She should still be around here, let's split up and search."

  "Meow meow——" The ball of fur poked at Su Qi Ruo's pant leg, calling out to her in a flattering tone.

  Su Qi's eyes widened as she stared at the ball of fur, her heart suddenly filled with unease. "Mao Tuan is back, where did she go?" Although Lu Ke and Xi Ruiwen both said that ghosts wouldn't appear during the day, what if they did? What would happen then?

  Everyone was in a hurry when they suddenly saw a figure climbing up the mountain from below, "Sisi!" Lin Qingqing excitedly rushed over, but as soon as she saw Sisi's appearance, her voice immediately changed to concern, "Sisi what happened! What did you do?!"

  "Older sister!" Yu SiSi, upon seeing Lin QingQing, suddenly felt the urge to cry and sobbed out her grievances, "I went to chase after a ball of fur, but accidentally fell and scraped myself."

  The sisters in the dormitory saw that Si's clothes were also torn and her hands were bleeding, so they didn't bother to comfort her and pulled her straight to the school hospital.

  A low, mournful hum echoed through the quiet rear hill of the school, neither like the wind nor like the calls of wild animals or insects. It was as if it were the sighs of the earth awakening, carrying with it an endless and profound heaviness, yet also a hint of inexplicable joy.