Infinite Nightmares

In the trashed room, Zhang Wenda, having finally come to terms with reality, had no idea what to do.

He realized the person he had always wanted to fight was, in fact, himself. He didn’t know when, but he had become the very person he despised the most.

If he were to become a parent, he would just repeat the same outcome.

He wanted to break free, but he truly had no idea how.

A nearly physical despair weighed on his chest. Trembling, he instinctively went to his bed, bent over, and crawled underneath.

He crawled past the childish scribbles on the wall until he reached the very back.

He curled his body into the corner under the bed, hugging his arms in an attempt to comfort himself.

However, the sharp sickle sliced easily into his flesh. It brought him no comfort, only more self-inflicted torment.

---

"Yeah! We’re free! We’re finally free!" Song Jianguo exclaimed, arriving at her treehouse in high spirits while holding two cats.

She was truly ecstatic. Even though the wound on her arm still throbbed with pain, nothing could ruin her good mood.

She lifted a kitten and planted a big kiss on its soft belly. Grinning from ear to ear, she said, "This is amazing! We held on for so long, and we’re finally in the clear!"

She scrambled to her feet and announced to all the cats watching her, "From now on, we’re all free! We never have to work again! We can rest as long as we want! We can wake up whenever we want! Long live freedom!"

As if in response, a chorus of meows filled the treehouse.

Her bare feet padded on the floor, and with a loud laugh, she leaped into a pile of black cats, joyfully hugging and roughhousing with them.

Half an hour later, once her excitement had subsided a bit, Song Jianguo began to consider a serious problem. ’This won’t do. The collar is still around my neck. What if he changes his mind?’

Song Jianguo, who had been lying spread-eagled in a cat bed, flipped up into a cross-legged sitting position. She looked seriously at the crowd of cats before her and said, "We have to leave this place, and the sooner the better. Right?"

"MEOW MEOW MEOW~"

"A home? Is a home more important than freedom? Worst case, we just find another place and build a new one."

"MEOW MEOW!"

"Exactly! We’ll find a place with more rats and sparrows. We’ve already picked this area clean. And that just gets me mad all over again! I worked so hard, and he still complained that I wasn’t earning enough."

Song Jianguo cursed Zhang Wenda a few more times with a look of disgust, then waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever. Let’s not talk about that jinx. Pack your things. We’re leaving now."

"MEOW~!"

"Where are we going? Anywhere. As long as it’s not here."

At Song Jianguo’s command, the cats immediately began to pack.

They didn’t have much to begin with, so in less than a minute, they were ready to set off.

After all the other cats had left, a single kitten remained, standing alone.

Song Jianguo, holding a jar of fireflies, waved to it. "Come on, Coal Ball. What are you waiting for?"

"MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW~!"

"What do I care about him? It doesn’t matter to me if he lives or dies. If I could actually beat him, I’d go back and finish the job." Song Jianguo crouched beside Coal Ball, picked him up, and headed out.

"There, there. Don’t let him buy you off with a single fish dinner. We can earn our own money now. We’ll make money and buy our own fish." At the thought of that feast, Song Jianguo couldn’t help but gulp.

She led her clowder of cats along the power lines, humming a tune as she went. The kittens swayed their heads left and right to her song, occasionally letting out a meow to accompany her.

Coal Ball, however, was not among them. Song Jianguo stroked his head. "Who’s your best friend? Me or him?"

"See? In your heart, I’m way more important. Alright, alright, don’t worry so much. Haozi is tough as nails; he won’t die."

"MEOW~"

Hearing that meow, Song Jianguo stopped in her tracks on the power line. ’That’s right. That blockhead asked me to give Haozi a message. He said Haozi was rejected by Bureau 507. How could I forget that?’

’Whatever. It’s just one sentence. It’s not that important, so it’s fine if I don’t tell him.’ The moment she had that thought, she saw Coal Ball nuzzling against her chest, meowing softly with big, pleading eyes.

"Alright, alright! I’ll go, okay? I’m helpless against you." Song Jianguo gently booped Coal Ball’s little pink nose with her finger and turned back toward Zhang Wenda’s house.

「Twenty minutes later.」

Song Jianguo stood on a utility pole, shouting toward the distant apartment building, "Haozi! That blockhead said you’re total garbage! They don’t want you!"

After yelling her message, she waved a hand at her cats. "Let’s bounce."

"Meow~" Coal Ball gave her another pathetic look.

"Ugh." With a heavy sigh, Song Jianguo reluctantly headed for the building’s stairwell.

When she got to Zhang Wenda’s apartment, Song Jianguo was about to speak but stopped short, startled by the bodies and blood covering the floor.

Then, plugging one ear, she said to Coal Ball, "Awesome. That stinking Haozi is dead. We don’t have to deliver the message anymore. Let’s go."

"He isn’t dead. He just left."

A voice called out from inside the room. Only then did Song Jianguo notice a very tall, very large, purple rabbit standing there.

Song Jianguo despised this cheapskate. Back when they were eating in the Internet World, he had only paid for Haozi, not for her or her cats.

"Is that right? He’s not dead? What a shame." Song Jianguo’s face fell, and she began to slowly back away.

"You’re his friend. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?" the rabbit asked her.

"I have no idea. And let me correct you—we’re enemies." Song Jianguo turned to leave, but she’d barely taken two steps before the rabbit blocked her path.

"I smelled his blood. Someone attacked him. The situation is dire, and I’m afraid he’s in danger."

"Then why aren’t you out looking for him? What are you stopping me for?" Song Jianguo thought he was being ridiculous.

"Will you help me find him? He won’t make it out of this on his own."

"No way. What’s it got to do with me? Hasn’t he bullied me enough already? Why on earth should I help him?" Song Jianguo crossed her arms over her chest.

"He’ll really die if he’s left like this."

"Tch. I don’t care if he lives or dies." Song Jianguo glanced down, and her eyes landed on one of the cats in her clowder. "Fine, fine," she said, annoyed. "Since you saved Blackie, I’ll help you this one time."

Hearing this, the rabbit’s furry face visibly relaxed. "Thank you."

As his enormous paw passed over her arm, the wound on it vanished. "So, based on what you know about him, where do you think he’d go?"

"How should I know? It’s not like we’re close." After saying that, she suddenly had another thought. She looked down at the large group of black cats and asked, "Do you guys know where he went?"

The black cats tilted their heads in thought, then began to merge, clustering together to form a large black dog. The dog made of cats sniffed around the room, then pressed its large nose to the floor and began to track a scent, sniffing intently as it moved forward.