The System Mistook Me for a Cat

Chapter 23

After the live stream ended that day, another 200 internal testing codes were distributed to local high-level fans with badges. Some people immediately started downloading the APP and, after trying it out, realized: "Has the APP been upgraded?"

The interface looked different from what they initially saw.

The APP's logo was a cute cartoon version of a tortoiseshell cat, which the fan knew must be Three-Five-Five. After clicking into it, they first entered the registration interface. Upon completing registration and enabling location services, they could see "Nearby Cats," "Cat Registry," and "My Profile."

Clicking on "Nearby Cats" allowed them to refresh or view a map display. Once displayed, they could see stray cats within a hundred meters of their current location. Looking at the cat heads lighting up on the map, the fan felt as if they were living among the cats as neighbors.

Switching to "Cat Registry" seemed to show all registered cats. They could be sorted by latest entry, street, or name, and there was also a

While the humans were still naively adding food to the cats' bowls, the temple master received a phone call and his expression suddenly turned serious.

The temple master spoke with the assistant director for a few moments, and Chu Tingwu finally learned what had happened:

"A tourist has gone missing in the mountains."

-

The missing female college student's surname was You. She had entered the mountains alone on foot and hadn't visited the Taoist temple. She had been missing for over fourteen hours. The last time she was caught on camera was last night at the foot of the mountain—she seemed about to leave, but apparently heard something and went back into the mountains. She hadn't appeared on camera since.

Her roommate discovered the problem and reported it to the police. Although it hadn't been 24 hours yet, because the location of her disappearance was in the scenic mountain forest area and there had been no contact with her, the police immediately sent people up the mountain.

"I know her," Chu Tingwu said confidently upon seeing the photo.

You Zhenzhen had always been on her friends list. The last time they messaged was the last time, seemingly maintaining this kind of cool, distant relationship. Chu Tingwu sent You Zhenzhen a message, but predictably received no response.

The system told her: "Her phone is turned off, probably because the battery died."

Being stranded in the mountains for fourteen hours, it was normal for the battery to die. If it was just a dead battery and getting lost, that would be fine. What the police were worried about was clearly another possibility.

It was still only noon. Upon learning of the missing person, the Taoist temple was to cooperate with the police in the search. After some thought, Director Xin said, "Why don't we send a few people to help with the search?"

"You're not familiar with the mountain paths, so it's better not to get involved," the temple master politely declined. "It's best not to enter the mountains today. Let's wait until the person is found before deciding anything else."

It seemed their filming plans for the day would have to be put on hold.

Chu Tingwu went to listen in and learned that the film crew needed to apply in advance to enter the mountains. Director Xin felt that aerial shots alone weren't enough and wanted some footage from deep in the mountains, preferably capturing some wildlife. But it seemed that wouldn't be possible today—going in now would just cause trouble for the police.

She noticed Chu Tingwu lowering her head, lost in thought, and suddenly had an idea: "Little Chu, you won't go into the mountains on your own, will you?"

Chu Tingwu: "?"

Director Xin: "That's good. We'll do a headcount. You stay by my side. Everyone, don't wander off for now."

If it was a malicious incident, who knows what might be in the mountains.

She didn't know why, but instinctively felt that Chu Tingwu might run into the mountains to search for the person... Was this prejudice against minors?

Perhaps because of this thought, Director Xin kept her gaze on Chu Tingwu while everyone was resting.

Most people from the Taoist temple had gone out. The film crew was resting in the entrance courtyard, accompanied only by the young Taoist priest who guarded the donation box. He kept glancing outside, and upon seeing a black shadow, said, "Sparrow, where did you run off to just now?"

"Sparrow" was the black and white sheriff cat.

The sheriff cat meowed and licked its lips before going to drink water. The young Taoist priest stood on tiptoe and suddenly froze—

Behind the sheriff cat, another cat jumped over the threshold and leaped in.

The young Taoist priest: "Eh—"

Before he could finish speaking, yet another cat followed, entering through the door.

Then came a third, a fourth... In the end, a total of fourteen cats appeared in the courtyard.

The film crew staff immediately stood up, telling everyone to secure their valuables—most people aren't particularly afraid of stray cats because stray cats tend to avoid humans, but fourteen stray cats could potentially gang up to attack humans.

Someone's mind suddenly flashed to a phrase: "Re-revolt against human tyranny, the Earth belongs to cats?"

At this moment, Chu Tingwu let out a long "meow," and the stray cats seemed to have found their target, quickly gathering around her. Then, they watched as the young actress took out cat treats and canned food, and began to open them to feed the cats.

"Good grief..." a crew member muttered, "How did these cats know to come to her for food?"

The young Taoist priest sighed, "I'll go see if there are any leftovers."

Why did so many stray cats suddenly appear?

Only Director Xin seemed lost in thought, watching Chu Tingwu pat each cat on the head, "meowing" back and forth as if chatting. The cats responded in kind, some extending their paws for her to see, or coming closer for her to "sniff". But Director Xin didn't know that Chu Tingwu wasn't sniffing the cats, but rather smelling for You Zhenzhen's scent.

—Sure enough, You Zhenzhen had come to Zhangshan Mountain to photograph cats last night.

There was an upload record on her personal app account, with the last upload time at 10 PM last night, just before she went missing. Because she had brought cat food, several of the stray cats had specifically rubbed against her to beg for food, leaving her scent on their fur as they brushed against her legs.

Chu Tingwu distinguished You Zhenzhen's scent, confirming she hadn't been to the Taoist temple, then exchanged a few words with the stray cats, patting each on the head.

"I'll leave it to you then," she said.

Fourteen cats leapt into action, and finally the temple's "sheriff cat" came over, bumping its forehead against Chu Tingwu's before darting out of the temple.

"Swallow!" the young Taoist apprentice who had just brought leftover food shouted angrily, "Where are you off to now?"

The sheriff cat swished its tail, let out a gentle "meow", and in the next second, its form was hidden behind the doorframe, out of sight.

Chu Tingwu realized Director Xin was watching her. She turned and winked:

People may not be allowed to leave, but there's no rule saying cats can't go into the mountains, right?

-

You Zhenzhen was shivering, clutching her camera.

The good news was that she hadn't been kidnapped. The bad news was that she had fallen down a slope, twisted her ankle, and now couldn't even crawl. Her phone was dead, and the only thing with power left was her camera—how was she supposed to contact the outside world with just a camera?

You Zhenzhen's mind went blank.

She was cold, hungry, filthy, and felt like crying from frustration, but she knew tears wouldn't help.

Night fell and day broke. During the night, she pressed the camera screen to light it up every few minutes, using the glow to give herself a glimmer of hope. She endured until noon, but now the camera's battery was almost gone too.

She hadn't returned all night, hadn't replied to messages. Would her roommates come looking for her? Or would they not even notice she was missing, since she sometimes stayed out overnight anyway?

It's too easy to let your mind wander when you're stranded alone, and You Zhenzhen knew that while she appeared carefree on the surface, she was actually a very sensitive person, even with some people-pleasing tendencies—when someone read her message but didn't reply, or didn't message her at all, she would worry that something she said had annoyed them.

She knew it wasn't right to think that way, but she couldn't help it.

After her parents' divorce, she had followed her mother to a new family. Her stepfather's family all praised her for being lively, cheerful, and considerate, but only You Zhenzhen herself knew that she was subconsciously trying to meet everyone's expectations, using her bubbly personality to gain others' attention.

No, no, no, don't think about that. Just count cats instead.

...Though it was chasing a cat that had gotten her into this predicament in the first place.

To get more cat photos and surpass the second-place photographer, and to have an excuse to chat with Chu Tingwu, she had lingered at the foot of Zhangshan Mountain until 10 PM last night... She had heard from locals that there was a lion cat with heterochromia, and when You Zhenzhen realized she hadn't photographed it, she continued circling the area.

Then she heard a cat meow from the woods behind her.

The cat seemed not far away, and You Zhenzhen instinctively chased after it. Her phone still had 16% battery, but she didn't realize how quickly using the flashlight drained the power.

The cat seemed to lure her into the forest, and when her phone screen suddenly went dark, You Zhenzhen's foot slipped. She instinctively protected her camera but lost her balance, sliding down the gentle slope all the way to the bottom... and with extremely bad luck, twisting her ankle.

"Before I die, at least let me see what kind of cat that was..."

She knew her situation was no one's fault but her own, so she could only try to find humor in her misery. But listening to the wind rustling through the leaves, she still felt a lump in her throat.

The sun was warm, scorching hot, the air fresh, birds singing... The world was full of vibrant life, but she felt as if she had been forgotten.

Would anyone really come looking for her?

Counting cats! Better to count cats!

One cat... two cats... three, let's pretend they're all ragdoll cats... She stared at the leaves in front of her, fighting the thirst, imagining the veins on the leaves were a ragdoll's nose tip.

At the foot of the mountain, the guesthouse owner who had spoken with You Zhenzhen last night walked out with the police, pointing to a path not far away: "I think she went that way...?"

The inquiring police officer looked up and saw a cat perched on a garbage bin, licking its paw.

As they approached, they heard two meows, and the stray cat suddenly jumped down from the bin and ran into the woods.

The police officer: "Hm?"

-

Zhangshan Mountain only had a few trails for tourists to climb, and the cat ignored the huge "Do Not Enter" sign nearby, leaping over the chain and running into the forest.

The cat's soft paw pads stepped on the soil, leaping over dead wood. In the forest, the cat's meows weren't loud, but cats could hear some lower pitched voices. They were far apart, yet seemed to whisper in each other's ears.

"...Is it there?"

"...A bit further meow."

"This bug is interesting."

"Stop playing meow!"

"I'll bring the bug for you to play with."

"Okay meow QvQ"

Two cats that had encountered the police entering the mountain glanced at the unfamiliar humans from afar, then turned away uninterested, scratching a tree trunk twice before continuing deeper into the forest.

The police officers just marveled at the sight, but didn't choose to follow.

A police drone was circling high above, but its camera overlooked these small animals. So they didn't notice that the cats were setting out from different directions yet seemingly heading towards the same destination, leaving faint traces in the camera footage, just a few tiny paw prints in the soil.

You Zhenzhen turned on her camera again, and in that moment of illumination, she noticed the battery was almost dead.

It wouldn't last much longer... Should she try to crawl up?

Her ankle was badly swollen, and she had gone numb to the pain, only uncertain if this would leave lasting damage... like a permanent limp or something?

Maybe, when the battery finally dies, she should start crawling up?

"Meow—"

Suddenly she heard a sharp cat cry.

You Zhenzhen instinctively looked up. Though it was just a cat, her eyes lit up, she—

"What the hell!"

"Why is it a crow!?"

How could it be a crow meowing like a cat?

She sat back down, trying to stay calm:

"I've been counting cats for so long, I've gone crazy. Now I'm hearing things."

No, she wasn't hearing things, it really was a crow meowing!

The crow even flew down, landing not far from You Zhenzhen, almost making her tears burst out: Crows are scavengers, but surely it wasn't following her this early?

The crow turned its little eyes, tilting its head to stare at her from just out of reach, seeming curious, yet with somewhat of a mischievous air upon closer inspection.

"Meow-wow—"

The crow called out again.

Suddenly, it flapped its wings and took off. You Zhenzhen instinctively looked up, her gaze following the crow's movement. Then, she heard another cat meow.

The bushes rustled, and at the top of the slope she had slid down, a cat's head appeared.

Then a second, a third, a fourth...

Sunlight fell on the cats' heads as those arriving later nudged those in front further down. The crow circled in the air before cautiously landing, this time at the bottom of the slope with You Zhenzhen, both staring up at the cats above.

She instinctively picked up her camera, raising it to her eye. Her hands were surprisingly steady as she captured the standoff between the crow and the group of cats in the frame.

Then, in the instant she pressed the shutter, she saw the last cat appear in the frame.

It was a long-haired calico, its whole body smoky gray except for a yellow spot on its nose. It arrived last, but the cats in front made way for it. It looked down at You Zhenzhen and softly meowed.

You Zhenzhen: "Three-Five-Five..."

At that moment, the camera battery died completely, but You Zhenzhen could feel her eyes growing moist.

Three-Five-Five... Three-Five-Five had arrived. Clearly, it was just a cat, but for some inexplicable reason, You Zhenzhen believed that if it was indeed Three-Five-Five, it would surely know she was in trouble, would certainly understand what she was saying, and would definitely be able to call for help to rescue her!

Three-Five-Five moved. It suddenly leaped down from above, its feline silhouette momentarily blocking out the light. In the next second, You Zhenzhen heard a "caw!"

Three-Five-Five landed beside her, sweeping its tail across her wrist.

In Three-Five-Five's mouth was a still-flapping crow, which alternated between "meow-ow" and "caw-caw" sounds.

You Zhenzhen nearly burst into tears.

She actually did cry out—

You Zhenzhen: "Woof QAQ!!!"

Three-Five-Five: "...?"