Qiantang is an ancient city.

This means there are countless secrets hidden in her.

Among these secrets, a secret passage from inside the city to outside the city is just one of them.

There is no way to tell when the secret tunnel was built or by whom. It is only said that it is now in the hands of a group of smugglers. They are willing to share it. As long as they give enough money, they do not care about people or goods.

When He Wumei came out of the city, she immediately paid her the money for leaving the city.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

It was a young man who lured her out of the city.

He made an angry look, and instead of confiscating the money, he stuffed a heavy money bag back.

"Sister, don't worry too much. This money is for the brothers and sisters in the courtyard. Just accept it and help my brother make two new clothes for them and add some meat to the dishes."

"If you have a heart, just go back and take a look. I can't accept this money."

He Wumei shook her head and declined:

"You are now old enough to start a family. I heard someone say that there is a girl in Zhongmiaofang who has fallen in love with you, but her parents are afraid that you won't even be able to come up with the betrothal gift, so they won't let go. You can run the boat during the day and work for others at night.

Delivering goods, you only earn this amount of money after all your hard work, how can you give it to us?"

"Don't worry, the sister in the hospital has her own solution."

The two of them kept tugging at each other until the young man's companion called out impatiently, and the young man reluctantly gave up, not forgetting to give careful instructions when leaving.

"Sister, you were late before, so I was worried for a long time, for fear that you would bump into the shadowless thief. Next time you go out at night, be sure to call me, and I will come to protect you."

He Wumei nodded with a smile and waved goodbye.

It wasn't until the young man disappeared that He Wumei's bright smile slowly turned into a sad face.

money.

Who doesn't want that?

But the young people she watched grew up. They left the orphanage and went out on their own. Finally, they had some hope in life. How could they drag people by their feet and drag them into the quagmire?

She patted her face to cheer herself up, then turned around and stepped into the messy city.

Yes.

Beyond the walls is the city.

It's just that there aren't as many exquisite buildings, as many blue bricks and white tiles, and as many stone bridges and winding alleys as there are inside the wall.

Most of them have thatched roofs and mud walls.

These houses, or shacks, are dense and messy, forming a world that is completely different from the city.

Its name is Fuguifang.

Although it has a name, it is not recorded in official government documents. It is actually a spontaneous settlement of refugees, dock workers and other poor and humble people.

Just the opposite of the name "rich".

It is poor, shabby, dilapidated, filthy and chaotic. It is the home of He Wumei - the location of the Salesian Hospital.

Home is right in front of you, no matter where you go, your steps will be light.

Even more impatient than He Wumei was Tan Qiu'er.

The fat cat had been sleeping all the way, but now it became energetic, jumped out with a whoosh, jumped up to the roof and disappeared.

"Charcoal balls?!"

He Wumei called out urgently.

Not because of fear, but because of worry.

As we all know, when the child is young, it belongs to dogs, and when it is ugly, it belongs to cats.

Estimating the time, it's time for the cats to move around.

The wild cats in Qiantang are almost overrun.

There is a rumor that there are three evils in Qiantang, also known as the three thieves. The first is the invisible thief, which is a ghost; the second is the long-haired thief, which is a wild cat. As for the third, everyone knows it, but no one talks about it.

Tan Qiu'er is fat and lazy, and is afraid of being bullied by wild cats outside.

He Wumei called softly and walked out along the street with a lantern.

Never noticed.

Outside the city, it is not as foggy day and night as in the city. When you look up, you can see the relatively clear night sky.

The moonlight is bright.

But in the corners, in the ditches, in the blind alleys on the streets, these narrow and remote

The corner is actually a bit darker than the city.

It was as if the cold moonlight in the sky only illuminated a small area in the middle of the market, only illuminating the lonely He Wumei, and only illuminated her long shadow.

"Charcoal balls?"

Behind the scenes, the darkness under the eaves was about to stir.

"Where are you?"

A group of ghostly figures that were barely humanoid struggled out of the darkness under the eaves silently, holding a handkerchief in their hands.

"Come back soon."

The ghost shadow quietly hung down from the top of He Wumei's head, and her arms were like shadows reflected in the air, stretching, stretching again, and pulling into a long and weird jointed limb.

He Wumei's shadow is about to be touched before his eyes.

Suddenly.

Two meteors shot from the roof and hit the ghost's long claws.

The ghost claw retracted in pain, and the flying star fell to the ground silently, revealing its shape.

The round head and the shiny black fur are charcoal balls!

As soon as he landed, he leaned down again, jumped up, bit the back of the ghost's neck in one bite, and tore it off from the eaves.

In a hurry, the ghost stretched its neck like a noodle, turned around and bit the black cat.

The cat had already jumped away nimbly, swung its tail like a whip, and slapped the ghost on the face, making his head spin like a conch.

Pounce, bite, cut.

The charcoal ball was like a pitch-black little tiger, biting together with the sneaky tiger in the moonlight.

Ghosts are formless and substanceless, and cats fall to the ground silently.

This battle between cats and ghosts was going on so quietly and fiercely that the protagonist of their fight, He Wumei, was not aware from the beginning to the end.

Until her figure disappeared on the street corner, the winner of the contest was decided.

The cat sat in the middle of the street, its paws pressed against the handkerchief, its green eyes shining dimly in the night.

The ghost shrank on the street corner, with claw marks all over its body. It was obvious that it had been punched by a cat.

The two fought for a while.

The ghost finally lost its energy and could no longer maintain its shape. It melted into a puddle of "mud" and sank into the dark ditch on the street.

And leaving with him are other sneaky things hidden in every dark corner.

In an instant.

The whole street became a little brighter, and a figure standing in a sheltered place at the end of the street was highlighted...

The charcoal ball arches its body, which means it is unhappy.

But the figure on the opposite side ignored its warning and continued to approach step by step.

The visitor did not make any threatening move, but instead raised his hands to show no harm, walked closer, pulled off his hat, and revealed short hair.

"Little kitten."

Li Changan tried his best to make his eyebrows gentle.

"Do you still remember me?"

"Meow~"

Cat replied.

No.

That's not the answer to the stupidly smiling ghost in front of me.

Meow~meow~meow~

Cats meow from the rooftops on both sides of the street.

White, yellow, black, gray, five-colored, striped...cats appeared one after another, or lazily left alone, or chased and disappeared.
To be continued...