Chapter 155: Lian Sha’s Plan and the Lordly Cat
Tan Yong’s face changed drastically as he clenched the letter tightly in his fist.
Qu Jingwen noticed his unusual reaction and asked, “Boss, what does it say?”
Tan Yong slammed his fist on the table, his face twisted with rage. “What’s the relationship between Shi Zijin and Su Tao?”
Qu Jingwen was baffled. “Do they even have one?”
One was a major general, known as the “heart” of Dongyang. The other was a money-driven figure from the distant Panliu Mountain.
They didn’t seem remotely connected.
Tan Yong tossed the crumpled letter onto the table.
Qu Jingwen unfolded it, and her expression immediately darkened. Her heart twisted with resentment.
“This Su Tao… Gu Mingchi betrayed us for her, and now Dongyang’s Shi Zijin is openly protecting her? Why?!”
Tan Yong’s face was shadowed with gloom. “She was the one who provoked us first. Now everyone acts like I’m the troublemaker, like I’m the one picking fights.”
Qu Jingwen was furious. “Boss, what do we do now? Shi Zijin isn’t someone we can mess with…”
Tan Yong clenched his fists in silence, his face turning uglier by the second.
Lian Sha, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly spoke up, her eyes flashing with calculation. “What exactly is Shi Zijin’s ability?”
She had only been in the south for half a year. Before that, she was in the northern base, looking for a wealthy backer. Since joining Tan Yong, he had kept a tight leash on her, leaving her with little chance to gather information.
As a result, she knew very little about the famous figures of the southern bases.
In Lian Sha’s impression, Shi Zijin was nothing more than an official soldier, stronger than an average ability user, but someone she had never even met.
Tan Yong shook his head. “Not sure. It’s always been a mystery, but rumors say he possesses more than one ability. If that weren’t the case, why would we need to fear him?”
Lian Sha’s beautiful eyes widened—this was the first time she had heard of someone with multiple abilities.
That made him more powerful than any of her previous benefactors.
He was clearly the best candidate to be her next backer.
So, she flashed a charming smile and said, “Brother Yong, why don’t you let me try? Someone as powerful as him—what a waste to have him as an enemy. But if he were one of us…”
Of course, she didn’t mean a word of it.
If she could truly get control over Shi Zijin, she wouldn’t bother coming back to Old Station at all.
She’d live a luxurious life with her new backer—after all, a major general of Dongyang had high status and benefits. And maybe, she could even get him to help find her lost energy core… That would be perfect.
But Tan Yong rejected her immediately. “No. I’m not weak enough to need a woman to save me.”
Though he had to admit, it was a feasible plan. If Shi Zijin really became one of them, then Panliu Mountain would be theirs for the taking.
But his male pride would never allow him to rely on a woman to get things done.
Lian Sha rolled her eyes inwardly but kept her voice sweet.
“I just feel bad for you. I hate seeing you so upset, and I want to help share your burden. Brother Yong~ Give me a chance, let me help you~”
She leaned in closer, pressing against him.
Tan Yong felt his rationality slipping away—and ended up nodding in agreement.
Qu Jingwen frowned, raising her voice. “Boss, don’t forget we’ve already gathered people to attack Panliu Mountain. What are we going to do with them now?”
But Tan Yong was already drowning in Lian Sha’s sweet words.
“We’ll wait until Sha Sha succeeds before launching the attack. If we move now, Shi Zijin will definitely come after us… Sha Sha, I’ll have someone send you to Dongyang tomorrow…”
*
Su Tao returned to Panliu Mountain, completely exhausted. Seeing this, no one mentioned work, urging her to go rest at Taoyang instead.
She was indeed dead tired. Carrying Black Sesame in her arms and holding Xuedao’s leash, she headed straight for her home.
After nearly three days of no proper sleep, she passed out the moment she closed her eyes.
When she finally woke up, it was already midday the next day.
She had slept for sixteen or seventeen hours straight.
And she wouldn’t have woken up naturally—it was Black Sesame scratching the door that woke her.
The scratching was so aggressive that White Sesame was startled, burrowing into Su Tao’s blanket while meowing in distress, as if tattling.
Su Tao sat up, sighing deeply at the sight of Black Sesame desperately trying to hook the door handle.
This time, she had no intention of letting him out.
Seeing her unmoving, Black Sesame anxiously scratched at the door again before leaping onto the windowsill to claw at the window. He was so frantic that he looked like he was about to cry.
Su Tao tried to calm him down with a can of cat food and some treats, but it was useless. The little traitor didn’t even give them a sniff—he just meowed at her and kept clawing at the door and window.
In the end, White Sesame got to enjoy the fresh can of food and treats instead.
Su Tao gave in, sighing as she warned Black Sesame, “I’ll let you out, but you cannot jump over the wall. If you do, you’re grounded for a month.”
She had no idea if he understood, but he meowed twice at her.
The moment she opened the door, he shot out like a little cannonball.
Su Tao opened the window and looked down, worry filling her gaze.
She couldn’t help but recall what Shi Zijin had told her—
A small home couldn’t contain him. Taoyang wasn’t his true place of belonging. What he longed for the most was vastness and freedom.
After a quick wash and a light meal, her phone rang.
It was Shi Zijin.
“Did you sleep well?”
Su Tao replied, “Best sleep I’ve had in days.”
“Good. We’ve captured Xiong Tai. My men will deliver him to Panliu Mountain soon.”
“Alright. When will you be back?”
“Three to five days, I think. Can’t say for sure. I didn’t expect the sample Shen Wencheng mentioned to be a living, evolved ability user. And this guy thought Shen Wencheng and his team were all dead, so he sold their research data.”
“We’re tracking him down now.”
Su Tao was stunned. “…That’s rough. Take care of that first.”
After hanging up, Su Tao immediately headed toward Panliu Mountain.
Ma Dapao spotted her and rushed over.
“Boss, your complexion finally looks normal again! Yesterday, you looked so drained. Come with me—Xiong Tai is locked up in the restroom.”
Just as she reached the door, she heard desperate screams from inside.
“AHH! Lord Cat! Spare me! AHH! Stop scratching, stop scratching! I was wrong! I won’t do it again—AHHHH!”
Ma Dapao was startled and quickly called Lao Zhu and Lao Qi over to check.
The moment they opened the door, they saw Xiong Tai covered in bloody scratches.
On top of the stall divider sat a fierce-looking black cat, hissing.
Su Tao scoffed, “Black Sesame!”
The moment the cat heard her voice, it immediately stopped hissing and dropped its aggressive stance.
With an effortless leap, it jumped down from the two-meter-high partition and rubbed against Su Tao’s legs affectionately.
Su Tao picked him up and, sure enough, saw fresh blood on his sharp claws.
She sighed in exasperation. “Your grudge-holding skills are off the charts. You’re getting your nails trimmed tonight.”
Black Sesame seemed to understand because he immediately retracted his claws into his paw pads. His ears flattened against his head like he had just received a death sentence.
At that moment, Xiong Tai—his face covered in blood and his body tightly bound—was dragged out.
Seeing Black Sesame, he started trembling and shouting for help.
If he weren’t tied up, he might’ve even dropped to his knees.
