But it did not stop, stepping firmly into the Karmic Retribution Array.
A ring of soft white light lit up from the array.
It was as if an invisible pair of hands was gently cradling it.
Seeing this, the other civet cats finally began to follow one after another.
Some young ones hid behind the adult civet cats, while the injured ones were propped up and supported by their companions.
Some were still afraid of the array, but after looking back at the iron cages, they gritted their teeth and stepped inside.
Zhu Lingxi watched them, standing quietly to the side.
Only after the last living civet cat entered the array did she walk over to the Soul-Condensing Array.
She bowed solemnly to the animal souls that were gradually stabilizing.
“Everyone.”
“What I promised you last night, I shall do today.”
“If you are willing, please enter this array to settle your grievances.”
A tiny ball of soul light drifted out first.
It was a young kitten.
Its soul form was just a tiny translucent speck, but where its left eye should have been was a blurry, empty socket.
It circled around Zhu Lingxi, gently rubbing against the hem of her skirt.
Zhu Lingxi could not feel the touch.
But she knew it was responding to her.
“Go on,” Zhu Lingxi said softly.
The kitten's soul flew into the retribution array.
Right after came a black dog.
A bird with broken wings.
A soggy orange cat that had drowned in water.
A mother cat with a ruptured belly who was still protecting her kittens.
One by one, they entered the array.
Every time a soul descended into the array, a paw print on the left side of the scale lit up.
The white light grew brighter and brighter.
Meanwhile, the human hand wrapped in black mist on the right side sank down bit by bit.
It was as if it were being weighed down by an increasing amount of invisible weight.
Cen Yao looked at the array and nodded to Pei Tinglan.
“Start the broadcast.”
Pei Tinglan looked up.
The controlled staff members had already fixed over a dozen phones at different angles.
Some were aimed at the densely packed iron cages in the breeding area, while others were pointed at the stun batons, iron hooks, capture nets, and force-feeders that had not yet been cleaned up.
Others controlled drones, letting them slowly rise into the air.
The cameras looked down from above.
The entire Cat Cafe was illuminated by the morning light, leaving nothing hidden.
Pei Tinglan controlled one of the staff members to enter the password for the plantation's official account.
The Cat Cafe's account had quite a few followers.
Usually, it would post promotional videos about “free-roaming civet cats,” “natural civet coffee,” and “intimate interactions with small animals.”
As soon as the live stream started, many local residents flooded in.
【Huh? Why did the Cat Cafe suddenly start a live stream?】
【Isn't it closed for maintenance today?】
【I've been here before. The environment was quite nice, and the cats were really cute.】
【What's the title of the live stream? “Please See Them”? What does that mean?】
【Why are the staff members all standing still? Is this some new event?】
【Why is the camera pointing at the ground? What is that pattern drawn on the floor?】
【Wait, why are all those civet cats inside?】
【There also seem to be... shadows of cats?】
At first, the bullet chat was filled with confusion.
Some thought it was a marketing campaign, while others thought it was a new gimmick prepared by the plantation to gain traction.
However, some had already sensed that something was wrong.
Because the civet cats in the frame were far too thin.
They did not have the glossy, fluffy fur shown in the promotional videos.
Many of them were covered in injuries.
Some were missing chunks of their ears, some had cloudy eyes, and some had legs bent at unnatural angles.
And when the camera swept over the breeding area, the rows of iron cages were fully exposed.
The cages were so narrow that even a single adult civet cat would find it difficult to turn around.
The ground was covered in blackened excrement, dirt floated in the water bowls, and there was still wet blood next to the feeding troughs.
The bullet chat paused for two seconds.
Then, someone sent the first questioning message.
【Why are these cats... so thin?】
【Didn't they say they were free-roaming?】
【I remember the promotion said each one has its own activity area.】
【What's going on with these cages?】
【What is that black thing in the cage? Is it a stun baton?】
【No way, isn't civet coffee made by letting civet cats eat coffee cherries naturally and then excrete them naturally?】
【Why would they use stun batons?】
Right at that moment, the Karmic Retribution Array lit up completely.
The paw print on the left end of the scale emitted a soft yet blinding white light.
In the next second.
The sunlight in midair suddenly seemed to be refracted by something, and the air began to warp.
A scene slowly unfolded above the array.
It was an old residential neighborhood.
Faded walls, corridors piled high with clutter, and several stray cats crouching near the trash cans.
In the image, a tall, thin youth squatted on the ground.
He wore a school uniform, his face still very youthful.
But his gaze was terrifyingly cold.
An orange cat was tied by its hind legs with a thin rope, dragged along the ground by him.
The orange cat struggled desperately, its claws leaving streaks of blood on the concrete ground.
Yet the boy only smiled.
He dragged the orange cat into the corridor and shut the door.
From behind the door came the agonizing screeches of a cat. The cries lasted for a very long time, transitioning from sharp and piercing to weak and faint.
Eventually, they disappeared entirely.
The scene shifted to a few hours later.
The youth walked out carrying a black plastic bag.
Blood dripped from the bottom of the bag.
He tossed it casually into the trash can, pulled out a tissue, and wiped his hands.
The bullet chat went completely blank for an instant.
A few seconds later, the screen exploded with comments.
【...Is this staged?】
【Please, tell me this is fake.】
【Who is that boy?】
【The orange cat's hind legs must have been dragged until they broke, right? I see blood all over the ground.】
【What did he do to the cat after taking it into the corridor?】
【Stop showing this, I can't take it anymore.】
【How could anyone do something like this to a cat?】
【This is a crime! This is absolutely a crime!】
【Call the police! Is anyone in the live stream calling the police?!】
But the scene did not stop. It was still the same neighborhood.
Only some time had passed.
The youth held a sharp metal skewer in his hand.
A frail little black cat was trapped inside a cardboard box.
Its eyes were already injured. It huddled desperately in the corner, letting out hoarse cries.
The youth squatted in front of the cardboard box, looking as if he were conducting an interesting experiment.
He poked the metal skewer into the cardboard box. The little black cat struggled, trying to escape.
But all four sides of the box had been nailed shut by him beforehand.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
...
Until those faint cries gradually ceased.
On the edge of the frame, another boy stood there.
His face was pale, but he did not stop it.
He even took the phone and recorded the video for the youth.
“Film it clearly,” the youth in the video said.
“I need to send this to the group chat this time.”
In the live stream, the bullet chat began to grow chaotic.
【Scum!】
【Who is the one holding the phone?!】
【They're still students, how could they do something like this?】
【I saw it, the little black cat's eye...】
【Stop talking, I'm going to throw up.】
【Call the police! Hurry and call the police!】
【I've already taken screenshots!】
【Is this that pet disappearance case from the Coffee Community from back then? I think I heard my mom talk about it!】
【I remember too! Back then, a lot of cats and dogs went missing in the neighborhood. Didn't they say they caught the person later?】
【So what if they caught him? He was a minor back then. In the end, he was only given a few days of counseling.】
【So... this person went on to open the Cat Cafe later?】
【No way, it can't be that much of a coincidence.】
When the third scene appeared, those “no way” comments vanished completely.
The youth in the video had grown up.
Wearing a clean, expensive shirt, he stood in front of a plantation that had not yet been fully built.
Someone beside him asked him.
“Manager, how should we handle this batch of civet cats?”
The man looked down, staring at the cowering animals inside the iron cages.
His face had matured significantly.
But those eyes were identical to those of the youth who had squatted in the corridor, smiling as he dragged the orange cat.
“Starve them for two days first,” he said in a calm tone.
“Only when they're starving will they be willing to eat the coffee cherries.”
“What if some of them refuse to eat?”
“Pry their mouths open and force-feed them directly.”
The man smiled.
“If that still doesn't work, shock them.”
At that moment, everyone in the bullet chat saw his face clearly.
The manager of the Cat Cafe.
And the youth who had tortured and killed cats and dogs in the Coffee Community.
Rate on N.U.
