The basement wasn't very high, so Shen Xiao skipped the ladder and jumped straight down.
The room was cramped, roughly twenty square meters with a three-meter ceiling.
Inside, there was nothing but a writing desk and a cat bed.
His flashlight cut through the dark, illuminating a grey-and-white cat in the corner.
Its fur stood on end as it glared at him.
The blinking dot on his Hint Card had vanished, this was the culprit.
"Scared? Where's all that bravado from earlier?" Shen Xiao sneered.
The basement had only one entrance and a single air vent.
The cat tried to bolt for the vent, but Shen Xiao was faster.
He snatched the cat by the scruff of its neck.
Feeling cornered, the cat tried to scratch his hand, but before it could move, a small electric shock paralyzed it.
After several failed attempts to resist, and being repeatedly zapped, the cat finally gave up, hanging limply in Shen Xiao's grip.
"Come on down, the rest of you," Shen Xiao called out.
Lu Qingyue, Lu Zihao, and Su Qiao descended the ladder one by one, their flashlights converging on the cat in Shen Xiao's hand.
It had grey-and-white fur and an average build, though it looked a bit plump. Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"This is the one. I felt a fluctuation of spiritual energy from it when it attacked earlier, it's definitely awakened. Those two ghosts were its summons. Remember the neighbor's story about a grey cat stealing food? This is likely our thief," Shen Xiao explained.
"Confess!" Shen Xiao created a small lightning ball in his palm and brought it close to the cat's face.
The cat, it turned out, had no pride left.
After being zapped a dozen times, its arrogance had evaporated.
It pressed its front paws together as if begging for mercy.
"Stop zapping meong! Stop zapping meong! I'll talk! I'll talk meong!"
Lu Qingyue and the others stared in shock.
This cat could speak!
"Put me down first, you're squeezing my neck too hard, meong," the cat complained.
Shen Xiao tossed it back onto its bed.
"Don't try anything funny. Remember, I can turn you into a roasted cat at any moment."
The cat swallowed hard, staring at the lightning ball in Shen Xiao's hand.
It finally confessed.
"This is my master's house. I pretended to be a ghost to scare you away because I don't want anyone else living here, meong. I thought you'd leave after a few days, but since you stayed, I was forced to act, meong."
"Got any proof this is your master's house?" Shen Xiao asked.
"There's a photo in the desk drawer. Can you get it for me, meong?"
Lu Zihao moved quickly to open the drawer.
Inside was indeed a photo of a newlywed couple, the cat held by the woman in the photo looked exactly like the one before them, only slightly thinner back then.
Lao Jiang explained that its masters had disappeared into a spatial crack during a vacation.
It had awakened at that time and made its way back here.
It learned human speech by eavesdropping on the neighbors every day.
"Six months ago, a group of people came. They said this house still had ten years of mortgage debt, and since no one was paying, the bank seized it. I didn't want strangers in this house, so I scared off everyone who came, meong," it shared sadly.
Everything aligned with Shen Xiao's investigation.
However, what truly piqued Shen Xiao's interest was the cat's ability.
"What is your actual ability?" Shen Xiao threatened.
The cat shuddered, and two figures materialized behind it, the male and female ghosts they had encountered earlier.
"My ability is to summon my two masters and control them, meong. I named them Ah Gui, the male, and Ah Piao, the female.
Ah Gui's body is physical and can be touched.
Ah Piao is a spirit, she can't be touched and can't attack, meong. But if they hold hands, they can swap abilities for one minute..."
Shen Xiao nodded.
No wonder his attacks passed through the female ghost, she was a pure spirit.
This ability was actually incredibly potent for reconnaissance.
The cat had only recently awakened and hadn't cultivated yet, which was why it was still weak.
If trained, it could become an extraordinary assistant.
"So, what's your plan? Stay like this forever? Banks don't care about a cat's feelings. If we leave, others will come. Do you want to live in fear forever?" Shen Xiao asked.
Seeing the cat's hesitant expression, Shen Xiao added, "Do you want this house to stay yours? So that no one dares to enter again? If so, I can help you."
Ding!
[Gained Lao Jiang's favorability, Fate Ticket +10.]
'Meong? Is that really okay, meong?'
Shen Xiao's eyes lit up.
Ten lottery tickets for a single action?
This meant the cat had an S-Rank Talent!
This one cat was worth ten Lu Zihaos!
I've truly found a treasure... Shen Xiao thought excitedly.
If petting a cat every day can give me this many tickets, I'm definitely taking it home!
Its mean.... I have a pet ticket factory-!