Unknowingly, it was almost midnight. Staring at the screen, my head felt a bit swollen, and my fingers were tingling, so I stopped, drew the curtains, and looked out. Only a few streetlights were on, and nothing was visible. I stretched, made myself a cup of coffee, and was about to surf the internet when suddenly, I heard a cat meowing outside. I focused, listened carefully; indeed, there was a somewhat sharp meow, intermittent, almost like a cry of pain, yet too loud to sound injured. I’ve heard cats in heat make eerie, baby-like cries, or cats fighting with desperate screeches, but never this kind of meow. I quickly looked outside, but the light was too dim to see clearly. I turned off the desk lamp to see a bit better. In the dim light, I vaguely saw a black shadow curled up in the grass, making strange noises. Judging by the size and the sound, it was certainly a cat, with its eyes occasionally glowing faintly. It was curled up in the grass, making me unsure if it was the same cat I saw in the afternoon, but it seemed to be a black cat. Subconsciously, I felt that the cat run over by a truck had somehow come back to life and was now in the Zhidan Garden neighborhood, but whether this was that undead cat was hard to conclude, as it’s normal for a neighborhood to have a couple of stray cats of the same color. My journalist’s curiosity drove me to check it out.
The moment I opened the door, the black cat darted out with a “swoosh.” Despite knowing in my prime that humans can’t outrun cats, I couldn’t help but chase after it. I saw it run towards the construction site, so I followed. When I reached the site, the cat was nowhere to be seen. The vast construction site was eerily quiet, and I stood alone in the middle of the empty road. Although I’m not usually scared, I felt uncomfortable and decided to go back to sleep.
Just as I turned back, a cool breeze blew, which should have been refreshing in this hot weather, but it felt chilling to me. I uneasily scanned the area again and was startled to see a solitary white figure near the construction site. My heart leapt into my throat, but fortunately, my curiosity momentarily overshadowed some of my fear, and I bravely stepped forward. The pale figure slowly turned around, revealing herself as a long-haired woman. However, calling her a “woman” might be premature at this point, so I stopped, not daring to approach further. For a moment, I stood there, the atmosphere around me genuinely terrifying in the dim, scattered light. I thought to myself, regardless of whether she’s human or ghost, I should leave before she approaches.
Luckily, the woman had heard my footsteps and turned to look at me. With the light from the surrounding buildings and the faint glow of the street lamps, I could make out her features well enough to confirm she was a beauty with a somewhat classical charm, which lessened my fear considerably.
