Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 374: Guardian Angel

At first, He Juan only registered a small lump of snow in the middle of the street and it was not until he took a second look did the terrifying realization finally dawned on him. His heart abruptly sank to the pit of his stomach and icy numbness crawled down his spine. His first step felt shaky, almost uneven as he exhaled,

"Kitty..."

"I almost missed it at first," the man who led him here said. Yet right now, to He Juan’s ears, his voice sounded distant and distorted as if he was hearing it underwater. "But then when I inspected it carefully, I realized that it had a... bullet wound on its body. I thought it could be a clue— Boss?"

He Juan staggered past him to where the small lump of snow was, then in front of everyone’s shocked eyes, he crashed down to his knees.

"Kitty..." His hands were trembling as he took the freezing cat into his arms, ignoring the snow, dirt and blood that stained his white shirt. This was clearly not the first time he had held Kitty, yet He Juan had never known that her body could feel cold. So cold as if the snowy ground had sucked away all the lingering temperature on her body. So cold that he almost forgot how warm she had once been.

He gently brushed the snow away from her body and a breath was punctured out of his lungs when he detected the extremely faint pulse of her heartbeat.

She was alive... Kitty was still alive!

Alas, as soon as the joy surged up, it was immediately dampened by dread when He Juan found the exact location of the bullet wound. It was close, so close to her vitals. She could have been saved if they had found her sooner, but now that five hours had already passed...

The orange tabby cat cracked open her eyelids and a light flickered in the depth of her murky eyes as soon as she saw the person cradling her close. "...eow..." her voice was soft, so soft that it was barely audible.

"Sshh..." He Juan choked out as he stroked his knuckles over Kitty’s wet fur like he always did. His throat constricted with every breath he took. "It’s okay, sweetheart. Does it hurt? You must have been afraid, huh..."

Kitty meowed again, this time louder. She struggled to lift her head and move her paws, almost as if... she wanted to show He Juan something. "What are you..." He Juan raised his head and he instantly stilled when he saw the little red thing on the ground. Too taken aback by Kitty’s miserable state, he had not noticed the item laying close to the cat’s body. It was a sight that couldn’t be more familiar to him.

Mu Yuze’s safety amulet. The one he had always worn on his body since his birthday.

"Me...ow..." As though she had achieved what she wanted to do, Kitty let her eyelids fall and let out one last sigh before going completely limp, with her head resting on the crook of He Juan’s arm.

He Juan’s pupils shook. "...Kitty?"

But there was no longer a sound coming out of the cat’s mouth. From now on, the Kitty who would greet He Juan every time he returned home, who would cry out to him sweetly, who would act coy and rub her fur all over his trousers, who would approach him with all her sweetness and kindness when others fled at the sight of him – was no more.

He Juan’s vision blurred and a droplet of crystalline tear fell onto the cat’s motionless body as he resumed his motion of stroking her fur. "Are you waiting for me, sweetheart?" he asked softly, pain filling his eyes. "Have you been waiting for me all this time... in such freezing weather... just to show me this?"

He Juan’s broad shoulders trembled violently as he slowly buried his face into Kitty’s wet belly, taking in the chill, the deathly stillness and the scent of blood on her body. "Sorry..." he whispered, his tears flowing out and seeping into the fur. "I’m sorry for being late... sorry..."

"Boss..." Chen Youzhi called out in a quiet voice, not knowing how to interrupt the somber moment. He Juan did not raise his head, but he still continued to speak for he knew that the man was listening. "A house nearby has just been broken into a few days ago, and the owner decided to install a CCTV yesterday. It’s very new, so those people couldn’t have known about this."

For three long seconds, there was utter silence.

Just as Chen Youzhi was going to step aside for a bit, He Juan finally lifted his head and rose to his feet, still cradling the cat’s lifeless body in his arms. He did not look any different than usual save for the tinge of red on the corner of his eyes.

"Go get it," he ordered, his voice cold.

Chen Youzhi nodded and turned away.

As it turned out, the Goddess of Luck still decided to bestow a little mercy upon them this time. With a little money, Chen Youzhi was able to obtain the CCTV footage from the house owner. The camera was aimed at the front door, with the street in front of it included. No matter how skillful and how thorough those people’s preparation was, they surely couldn’t have seen this coming!

"Boss!" Chen Youzhi rushed to show the laptop to He Juan.

They watched as two motorcycles passed by one after another soon after He Juan hung up on the call with Mu Yuze. On the first motorcycle were two men, while the second one was a man carrying a huge sack behind his back. There was no doubt on what – or who – was inside the sack.

Not even five minutes later, Kitty appeared on the corner of the footage, dragging her limp and wounded body, leaving little specks of blood on the pristine white ground, all the while biting a familiar amulet in her mouth...

He Juan turned his gaze away and his voice was almost gentle as he said, "Locate those motorcycles. We will hunt them down tonight. Also, take Jia Molei with us and ask him to bring his first aid kit."

But Chen Youzhi only felt chills running down his spine when he looked at He Juan like this. He slammed the laptop close and straightened up, "Yes, sir!"

He Juan tilted his head up to stare at the mournfully beautiful dusk, a light sigh escaping his lips. He then looked down at the cat in his arms, the presence of Mu Yuze’s amulet burning inside his pocket.

If Kitty had not chased after those people with the amulet, who knew how much time they would have wasted? How long would they have spent to track Mu Yuze down? By then, what would have become of Mu Yuze?

He recalled that he had bought that amulet for Mu Yuze hoping that it would save him at a time of need, and it seemed like... it had really worked...

He brought his lips closer to the cat and dropped a kiss on her cold forehead. "Sleep well, my guardian angel..."