By the time I had moved the first suitcase into the house and returned, I was sweating profusely. The argument between the taxi driver and the traffic police had ended, though the outcome was unclear, the car had left, and my other suitcase was still there. I cursed my misjudgment for wasting precious energy. The cat’s corpse still lay in the road center, seemingly stiff, and from the dust on it, it might have been run over by other speeding vehicles. There were quite a few people on both sides of the road, and at the intersection, a newsstand owner was still peering around, but all expressions towards the cat’s body were of indifference. No wonder someone said that people in modern society are becoming more and more heartless. A life had disappeared just like that, and no one even frowned, perhaps except for me. Sighing, I picked up the second suitcase, greeted the guard, and started back.
A few steps out, a black shadow swiftly flashed past my feet into the garden, followed by the rustling of grass, then vanished. I looked around, nothing seemed unusual, yet something felt off. I was puzzled, unsure what it was, and just as I was about to continue walking, I realized something must have changed. I turned back abruptly, and everything seemed normal, but in the clean center of the road, only a glaring pool of blood remained — the cat, the black cat’s corpse was gone. A chill ran up from where the shadow had brushed past me. I looked around; passersby seemed oblivious, and the newsstand owner was still looking around, but my bewildered expression caught some curious glances. The guard should have been there all along. I quickly called out to him, “Sir, did you see where the dead cat went? Was it taken care of by someone?” “Huh?” The guard clearly didn’t understand what I was talking about. “Dead cat?” At that moment, I had a strange feeling, as if everyone was in on a prank against me. This terrifying thought only flashed through my mind, yet it made me break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, I knew I hadn’t encountered anything supernatural because there was clear evidence — the bloodstain was still there. I was certain I saw a cat get run over and killed. The question was, where did the body go?
