Chapter 60: The Monastery Scenario

Xie De's newly acquired house was located in a county town in the southwest. Its economic development was a bit better than the previous town, divided into old and new districts. The house was by the river in the old district. It wasn't very populated, the landscaping was nice, and the pace of life was relatively slow.

The climate here was subtropical monsoon: hot summers, mild winters, and cool springs and autumns.

As the saying goes, night rain in Mount Bashan swells the autumn pools [1]. As soon as Xie De arrived, he experienced a fierce summer night storm. It made the willow trees by the river dance wildly, washing away the accumulated dust and exhaustion of the past days. A city permeated with a faint mist was tinted by the breaking dawn.

A black cat jumped out of a truck, lazily yawned, and amidst the surprised gazes and gasps of the crowd, boarded a public bus and plopped right onto a seat.

The bus driver turned his head and took a look.

"Yo, where is this passenger heading?"

Some passengers on the bus, finding it novel, took out their phones to record it, while others craned their necks to look. A few young girls went up and surrounded the black cat, giggling and petting it. The cat went completely limp, letting them pet it as they pleased, curled up on the seat without moving.

"Driver, do you recognize it? Is it someone's pet? It even knows how to take the bus."

"It's so well-behaved."

"Driver, it's not afraid of people. Just give it a ride."

"Alright. I'm about to start driving."

The bus went for a few stops. People getting off would come and give it a pet, this was truly a very intelligent cat. The driver was even thinking that if the cat stayed on the bus until the end of the line, he would take it home and raise it himself. Unfortunately, when the bus reached Lingxi Road, the black cat jumped off with its head held high, disappearing from sight in a few moments.

It sniffed east and west, then found the right moment to follow a young man, who was looking down at his phone, into a residential compound, and then into the elevator.

The young man only noticed the small animal following him after he pressed the floor button. The black cat was staring at him unblinking with big, round eyes.

"Eh, you, which floor are you going to?"

Qiu Qiong had a sudden lapse in judgment and actually helped it press the buttons floor by floor, letting it out to take a look. If it wasn't on the right floor, the cat would come back in itself.

Finally, upon pressing the 16th floor, the black cat's mood visibly lifted. It meowed anxiously and rushed over to scratch at a door.

Qiu Qiong also went over to help it knock. Shortly after, the door opened.

"Um... excuse me... is this your cat?" Qiu Qiong's voice got quieter and quieter, his eyes flitting in a panic before staring straight at the ground.

What a critical hit right out of the gate.

The person who opened the door was a man with long silver hair. He was very tall, with a great figure, wearing only tight-fitting loungewear. Qiu Qiong only reached his chest. With one glance, he saw well-toned pectoral muscles slightly heaving with his breath. It was incredibly sexy. With just that one look, without even seeing the man's face clearly, Qiu Qiong lowered his head more and more, staring straight at the ground, his face burning red.

The black cat let out a "meow" and rubbed against Xie De's calf pitifully.

"...It's my cat, thank you."

Even his voice sounded nice. Qiu Qiong felt like he couldn't stay there any longer, dropped a quick "you're welcome," turned around, and ran off.

Leaving Xie De and the black cat staring at each other. The black cat let out a string of complaints at him.

Xie De closed the door, pinched the back of the cat's neck, and lifted it to eye level.

"How did you find your way here?"

The black cat couldn't speak and just looked at him innocently.

"You wouldn't happen to be a little cat demon, would you?"

"Meow."

Xie De shifted his gaze downwards, "And a male one at that."

"Meow!"

Let's pause on this side for a moment. On the other side, Qiu Qiong went home in a daze. His home was right above Xie De's. Because his mind was full of pectoral muscles, he almost bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, kid!" Mother Qiu gave him a punch and scolded, "You're always spaced out all day, I don't even know what you're doing! Where's the spinach I told you to buy?"

"They were out of spinach," Qiu Qiong said sheepishly.

"Then you just come back empty-handed, couldn't you buy something else?"

"Like what?"

Mother Qiu gave him a look reserved for the mentally challenged.

"Get out, get out, you annoy me just looking at you."

Qiu Qiong quickly said, "Hey, Mom! I wanted to ask, do you know if anyone moved in downstairs?"

"Yes, 1602. A parking spot in the underground garage was even specifically gifted with it. It sold a few days ago. You're the only one who doesn't know what you're thinking about all day, locked in your own world, never going out to see things."

"...Mom, please stop talking."

Qiu Qiong ran into his room and took out his phone to check the homeowners' group chat. Because this building had river-view apartments and was relatively secluded, plus it sold for a high price, there weren't many residents. The group chat only had a sparse 60 or so households. He found the information for the owner of 1602 downstairs.

It was a very simple default avatar, with nothing on it. A flash of regret passed through his eyes; he had thought there might be gym photos posted.

However, the homeowner group chat was quite lively right now. Everyone was @-ing the owner of 1601. Qiu Qiong remembered that 1601 was right opposite 1602, and a family of three lived there.

1501: "What's going on upstairs? Why do you start watching horror movies as soon as night falls? Screaming every day, aren't you annoying?"

1605: "Exactly, and how long has it been since you threw out the trash left in the hallway? Are you sick in the head?"

1406: "I've wanted to say this for a long time, do you even know how to take care of a child? That kid of yours looks so sallow and emaciated, it breaks my heart to see."

…

Despite being attacked by the group, the owner of 1601 didn't step forward to say anything. It was extremely quiet.

This silence made Xie De feel a bit eerie. He, of course, also saw the messages in the homeowner group chat. The black cat had just finished eating a can of meat and was lying in the bathtub, enjoying Xie De's grooming services.

Gibberish scrolled through the chat history.

"Strange, this isn't the first time they've scolded 1601 like this, but why isn't 1601 sending any messages? They used to post, but they lost contact about a month ago."

While brushing the cat's fur, Xie De let his imagination run wild.

"Do you think a family of doppelgängers might be living opposite us? And replaced the real family."

"You have quite a rich imagination."

"Thanks to you."

They chatted and changed the subject.

"Gibberish, if this black cat could find its way here, the laboratory won't find us too, right? Also, what exactly is this guy?"

The black cat curled its ears and meowed again.

Professional biological translator Gibberish came online.

"Oh, as you thought, it is a little cat demon. It followed your scent here. The laboratory shouldn't be able to find us. After all, the scenario system has completely shielded this place."

Gibberish analyzed curiously, "This is my first time seeing a demon. In legends, demons can talk and transform into humans. I'm guessing this one we have is in a state of half-awakened sentience. It follows you simply because you have abundant yang energy, and it feels very comfortable staying beside you."

"Hah, alright then."

Suddenly, the sound of a bell ringing came from afar. The sound of a choir echoed from a small church built long ago. Sorrowful and lingering.

Gibberish paused and looked towards the distance.

"730? What's wrong with you?"

730 was staring at a certain spot on the ground. It glanced at Gibberish and tossed it a piece of information.

"The name of the next scenario is called The Monastery."

!

Gibberish spoke, pleasantly surprised.

"Eh?! Thank you! Why are you telling me this, are you...? That thing I know about, what was it called again?" It was so flustered it wasn't making sense.

"Please don't misunderstand. This is merely my sincerity towards our future cooperation."

"Ah, right, okay.”

——

[1] night rain in Mount Bashan swells the autumn pools — a classic, evocative line from "Night Rain Sent North" (Ye Yu Ji Bei) by the renowned Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin. It is a poignant expression of longing, homesickness, and uncertain reunion. In it, the poet writes to a loved one—often interpreted as his wife or an overlord—wondering when he will finally return home. He asks them to imagine the current moment: he is stuck far away, listening to the relentless autumn rain filling up the ponds at night, and yearns for the day they can sit by a western window together, lighting candles and recalling this very night.