"I'm going right now. Daughter, you must hold on, don't scratch!" Jiang Mu said anxiously.
She especially watched Jiang Wen scratch her back until it bled, yet she kept scratching.
If she continued scratching like this, her back would be a mess.
Jiang Mu arrived at Zhao Yan's shop. She paused at the entrance. The door was open, but the lights were off.
She had just seen the lights on, knowing someone was home. Without going in immediately, she called out, "My apologies to Wu Tongxue's friend. I didn't mean to scold you. My daughter's illness made me very anxious, so I spoke a bit hastily. I'm here to apologize."
"I don't know how my daughter offended you. It must be her fault."
Jiang Mu's words were incredibly sincere, as if she were about to kneel.
"Sister Zhao, shall we go down?" Wu Jiaxin asked softly.
Zhao Yan had intended to stay upstairs and observe Jiang Mu's behavior.
She had expected Jiang Mu to rush over and scold her. Instead, she had come to apologize.
However, she shouldn't be apologizing to her. She should be apologizing to the cats who were tormented to death.
"Alright, let's go down," Zhao Yan said softly. As she walked down, she took out her phone and opened an app.
Then she descended the stairs and turned on the lights.
Jiang Mu first looked back at Jiang Wen. Jiang Wen, still scratching her back, said, "Mom, it's her!"
"My dear, I'm truly sorry. My daughter has offended you and made you unhappy. I apologize on her behalf. Please don't take it to heart." Jiang Mu hurried over, smiling apologetically.
As she spoke, she took out several thousand yuan from her backpack and tried to hand it to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan didn't take it. Instead, she looked coldly at Jiang Wen, "At this point, haven't you told your mother the truth yet?"
"Auntie, she has no enmity with me, so you don't need to do this. I won't take your money."
"Oh dear, Wenwen, what's wrong? Are you trying to kill your mother with worry?" Jiang Mu came closer, saying urgently.
Jiang Wen, enduring the pain in her back, said with a tearful voice, "Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't just kill stray cats; I filmed videos of myself torturing and abusing them, then sold them to others. I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong!"
"Tell me the process. I want to hear what exactly you did, how you tortured them, how you filmed the videos, and who you sold them to," Zhao Yan said.
Jiang Wen, enduring the pain in her back, said, "For the first cat, I used a hammer. I first hit its tail, then cut it off with scissors, and slowly peeled its skin..."
"For the second cat, I used glue to stick its paws to a metal plate. I placed the metal plate in the sun, and the plate became very, very hot from the sunlight..."
"The third..."
Jiang Wen spoke for a full twenty-four times, describing twenty-four cats.
Wu Jiaxin was so enraged that her body trembled.
She was a demon!
"Sister, I was wrong. I'll never dare to do it again. Please, quickly drive them away and stop bothering me." Jiang Wen then cried and begged for mercy.
When Jiang Mu heard this, she laughed, "I thought it was such a big deal, I thought my daughter had killed someone. I didn't expect she only killed twenty-something cats."
"How about this, student? Tell me how much those cats cost. Just consider it as me buying all those cats, wouldn't that be enough?!"
What did she mean it wasn't a big deal?
What did she mean, "only killed twenty-something cats"?
Truly, birds of a feather flock together. What kind of upbringing could a daughter have with such values?
Zhao Yan felt a wave of nausea and couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
There was nothing to discuss with such a person.
Seeing Zhao Yan come down with a cold expression, Jiang Wen became even more panicked. She quickly said, "Didn't you want me to apologize at school tomorrow? I promise."
"As long as you can heal my injuries, I will definitely apologize tomorrow. If my condition worsens, I won't even be able to get out of bed tomorrow."
Zhao Yan thought for a moment and revealed a cold smile. She felt there was a better way and beckoned, "Then come here."
Jiang Wen quickly had her mother push her to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan took a talisman from her backpack, chanted a few words, and then stuck it on.
She placed it on Jiang Wen's back. Within seconds, Jiang Wen put down her hands, excited, "It doesn't itch anymore! Mom, my back doesn't itch!"
Jiang Mu clasped her hands together, "Thank heavens."
"Mom, let's go home quickly," Jiang Wen said, quickly getting up and heading towards the car.
She opened the car door and got in, her eyes filled with hatred as she looked at Zhao Yan.
After watching them leave, Wu Jiaxin said with annoyance, "Sister Zhao, you helped her, and she left without even saying thank you."
Zhao Yan rubbed her forehead, "No, I didn't unbind her."
"But then her back doesn't itch anymore?" Wu Jiaxin asked.
Zhao Yan said, "I saw that the cats were too crowded on her back, and many cats didn't have space to stand. So, I used a Spirit Expanding Talisman to collect the souls of the cats onto the talisman, and then I stuck it on her back."
"This way, her back has space for all the cats to stand, and on a sunny day, the cats can also stand on her back."
"Did you really think I would help her out of kindness? People like her don't have good hearts."
The Spirit Expanding Talisman absorbed the cats' souls, which would help them nourish their spirits. During the process of nourishing their spirits, they wouldn't move around randomly, which is why Jiang Wen didn't feel the scratching.
Once their spirits were nourished, it wouldn't just be scratching.
Now, Jiang Wen was carrying the souls of more than twenty cats on her back.
"What will happen to her then?" Wu Jiaxin asked.
Zhao Yan yawned and said, "That depends on how strong the cats' hatred is for her."
Glancing at the time, Zhao Yan said to Wu Jiaxin, "Alright, let's go back to sleep."
Closing the door, Zhao Yan went upstairs. Thinking of something, she called out towards the window, "I'm going to sleep. Don't make any more noise."
Wu Jiaxin looked curiously in the direction Zhao Yan was addressing. There was nothing there.
Moonlight streamed through the window. By the window, a man and a woman were constantly accusing each other.
The man blamed the woman for not checking the gas, while the woman blamed the man for sleeping like a log.
Because of Zhao Yan's words, their voices became quieter murmurs.
At 7:20, Zhao Yan opened her eyes. She reached under her pillow, turned on her phone, and found a "2" symbol on her Moments feed.
Clicking on it, she saw that Lin Xihang and Wu Jiaxin had liked her post.
Her post was about her penta-kill in a bronze-tier game.
Looking beside her bed, Wu Jiaxin was already awake.
"Sister Zhao, come down quickly and eat beef noodle soup!"
While looking, Wu Jiaxin's voice came from downstairs.
"Coming!" Zhao Yan quickly put on her clothes and got out of bed.
Looking at the six bowls of lamb noodle soup on the table, Zhao Yan smiled and said, "It smells so good. How much is it? I'll pay you."
"You've treated me to lamb noodle soup so many times. This time, let me treat you," Wu Jiaxin waved her hand.
Zhao Yan said, "I'll treat you to milk tea later."
While eating the beef noodle soup, Wu Jiaxin said, "Sister Zhao, are you going to school later?"
"Yes," Zhao Yan nodded.
Wu Jiaxin asked, "Sister Zhao, do you think Jiang Wen will really apologize?"
Zhao Yan didn't answer. Instead, she asked, "What do you think?"
Wu Jiaxin thought for a moment, "I think she will. After all, she's been tormented so badly, she'll definitely say it."
Zhao Yan reached out and pinched Wu Jiaxin's cheek, "Xin Xin, you're so naive."
"Won't she?" Wu Jiaxin asked.
Zhao Yan stretched lazily and said, "We'll know later."