1018 Climbing Trees (2/2)

”Of course, but kittens like this do not dare to jump directly.” Zhang Zian put the yellow and white kitten on the ground. When he was carrying the ladder, he dropped a can of cat food in his pocket, opened it, and pushed it in front of him.

The yellow and white kitten wanted to run, but when it smelled the smell of fish in the can, it couldn't help but come over and sniff it. It plunged its face into the canned food and hurriedly ate it.

”But how did you know that?” Vladimir asked.

He smiled and said, ”I run a pet shop. That's common knowledge. I've seen many cats do this. They climb up and are trapped. They won't come down by themselves if there's no mother cat to teach them.”

This yellow and white kitten had probably been separated from its mother very early on. Its mother did not teach it the necessary skills to climb the tree, so it could only slowly learn things. When it grew up, it would directly jump down like Vladimir had wanted to.

If a human were to climb up high, they would know that they should climb down the same way––with their heads facing up and their legs down. Cats, however, were not used to retreating. Even when they came down from high places, they always wanted to go down with their heads facing down and their legs on top. Their paws determined that they could only have their heads facing up and their legs facing down, and from there they could move their buttocks down slowly. Otherwise, their claws could not hook the tree bark.

When the yellow and white kitten wanted to climb down the tree, it found that its claws could not hook onto the tree, and so it continuously slid downwards. It did not dare to jump, so it was just stuck in the tree.

Zhang Zian gazed into the distance and recalled, ”When I was a child, my parents told me a story. It was said that long ago, cats were the most powerful animals in the forest. Even tigers, which are much larger than cats, worshiped cats as teachers and learned from them the skills of foraging, fighting, and surviving. The cat was rigorous in learning and teaching, and the tiger was very serious in learning. He learned almost all the skills of the cat, but tigers had bad intentions. After learning their skills, they dominated the forest and even wanted to eat the cat. But the cat was already on guard. It didn't teach the tiger how to climb the tree on purpose. When the tiger came to eat it, it climbed to a very high tree and made the tiger stare at the trunk under the tree. Later, people made up an allegorical saying based on the story that cats taught tigers: 'Always hold back a trick when teaching others.'”

The story had spread very far, and many different versions had appeared, but the main story was similar.

Vladimir listened very seriously and was very interested.

Zhang Zian smiled and said, ”When I heard this story, I thought it was unbelievable. What's so difficult about climbing a tree? Why did they need cats to teach them? If a cat can go up, why can't a big tiger go up? But in fact, it really needs to be taught. Otherwise, it may be trapped after going up. Even the tiger, that is the king of beasts, is the same. After all, the tiger is also a cat. The person who compiles this story is not just making it up. He had observed life carefully.”

Vladimir suddenly realized something. ”It's an interesting story. Later, when I encounter cats trapped at high altitudes, I can show them how to climb down. I don't have to specially go and find you to carry the ladder over.”

”Master! Store Manager, we've finished clearing up. We're going to go home! The shop is not locked.” The store employees had finished their work and found that Zhang Zian had yet to return. They walked out of the shop and saw him standing under a tree a distance away.

”All right. Be careful on the way back.” Zhang Zian also waved his hand in response.

The shop employees left in groups, and like usual, they first sent Lu Yiyun back to her rented house, and the other three returned to the school dormitories.

Vladimir turned to look in the distance and said to Zhang Zian, ”It's still early. You go back first. I have something to do. Just leave the window cracked as usual.”

”Well, you should also be careful. Don't put yourself in a bad situation. If you are confronted with something you cannot deal with, you can come back and ask us for help.” Zhang Zian was still worried about whether it would encounter the Holy Cat statue alone at night. Even though it was confident, the Holy Cat statue was not easy to deal with, after all.

It smiled. ”Don't worry. Death does not belong to the Meow-Meow Doctrine Believer.” After saying that, it turned around and walked off with fast and light steps.

”Right, there's one more thing.” Zhang Zian raised his voice slightly, and said towards its silhouette, ”Vladimir, if you want to do anything, just go for it! Even if you make any mistakes, we will try our best to help you make up for it!”

Vladimir stopped for a while and did not turn back. It just raised a front paw to show that it understood.

”Also, if possible, try to come back earlier,” Zhang Zian added.

That time, it did not have any reaction and did not stop. It ran towards the darkness in a straight line.

He did not know when, but Old Time Tea had appeared next to Zhang Zian and looked at Vladimir's back, holding its beard. Its eyes narrowed. It said slowly, ”It is true that a generation of new cats will replace old ones. I can only save a few cats, even if I put my all into it. With Famous' help, we can save thousands of cats at most, while Vladimir can save tens of millions of cats… In this era, there is no need for warriors anymore.”

Zhang Zian smiled and said, ”Grandpa Tea, you're too humble. This earth no longer needs warriors, but the warrior spirit will continue on forever, as long as you have a warrior in your heart. Everyone is a warrior.”

Old Time Tea nodded happily, leisurely charmed.

Vladimir suddenly stopped before running out of his vision. It turned around in the shadows of the evening and its voice floated from far away. ”I think you're wrong. There's no God on this earth at all! Even if a God appears in front of me, I'll let him taste my Meow Meow Doctrine Iron Fist!”