Shang mengalihkan pikirannya dari hal-hal lain dan segera kembali ke rimba. Mervin mengawasinya dari kejauhan sebelum akhirnya mengikuti di belakangnya dengan perlahan.
Begitu Shang tiba di pohon pertama, dia langsung melompat ke dahan dengan gesit. Dia melompat dari satu dahan ke dahan lain dengan mudah dan terampil.
Selama berada di atas pohon, Shang terus mengamati tanah di bawahnya. Sesekali dia melirik ke pohon berikutnya yang akan dia tuju untuk memastikan tempat pendaratannya.
Shang tak sadar bahwa Mervin sebenarnya sengaja mempersulit tugasnya. Hama Kucing hanya aktif di malam hari. Sekarang sudah pagi, matahari pun sudah bersinar terang. Artinya, Hama Kucing sedang bersembunyi di dalam sarang mereka yang sulit ditemukan jika tak tahu kebiasaan mereka.
Melihat Shang yang begitu teliti dan metodis mencari Hama Kucing, Mervin menghela napas. Ia tadinya ingin memberinya pelajaran. Shang bersikap destruktif dengan tak sedikit pun berusaha bersikap sopan. Mervin ingin memperkeruh keadaannya sedikit sebagai bentuk konsekuensi dari sikap Shang. Hukum sebab akibat.
Shang ingin mempersulit hidupnya? Baiklah, Mervin akan menuruti keinginannya.
Namun, Mervin meremehkan Shang. Shang sudah tinggal di hutan belantara selama lebih dari setengah tahun. Dia terpaksa mempelajari kebiasaan binatang-binatang di sekitarnya. Bagaimana tidak? Jika tak jeli, bisa-bisa Hama Kucing menerkamnya dari sarang tanpa dia sadari.
Memang, Hama Kucing hanya berburu di malam hari. Tapi kalau ada mangsa yang lewat tepat di depan rumahnya, mana mungkin dia menolak hidangan yang sudah di depan mata.
Setelah beberapa menit melompat dari pohon ke pohon, Shang melihat bercak darah kering di tanah. Hama Kucing berburu setiap malam karena mereka butuh banyak makanan untuk berkembang biak. Hama Kucing memang terkenal dengan kemampuan reproduksinya yang luar biasa cepat.
Saat berburu di malam hari, mereka membawa mangsanya ke liang untuk dimakan sepanjang hari. Metabolisme Hama Kucing sangat cepat dan sistem pencernaannya sangat efisien.
Tapi, mereka tetap punya batas. Mereka sering memburu mangsa yang cukup besar, jadi mereka harus memakannya sedikit demi sedikit selama setengah hari.
Setelah mengikuti jejak darah selama sekitar satu menit, Shang menemukan area dengan bekas cakaran dan beberapa bercak darah kering. Dia melongok ke bawah pohon dan melihat lubang kecil tapi lebar. Bentuknya seperti celah kotak surat yang diperbesar.
Hama Kucing memang bisa memipihkan tubuhnya sehingga bisa melewati celah sempit sambil tetap bergerak cepat.
Setelah menemukan lubang itu, Shang memeriksa pohon dari semua sisi. Ternyata, ada celah lain di sisi satunya. Shang tak langsung memanjat ke atas pohon karena getaran langkahnya bisa dirasakan Hama Kucing.
Sebaliknya, dari pohon lain, Shang bersiap.
SREET!
Shang melemparkan pedangnya ke arah salah satu celah. Pedangnya menghantam tanah di depan lubang dan bergetar. Shang pun mengalihkan pandangan ke celah satunya, bersiap.
DUAR!
Tiba-tiba, terdengar keributan dari celah satunya. Shang menoleh dengan heran. Hama Kucing ternyata melompat keluar dari celah pertama dan menyerang ruang di atas pedangnya. Di luar dugaannya.
Namun, Shang cepat beradaptasi. Dengan sekuat tenaga, dia mendorong tubuhnya dari pohon dan melesat bagai anak panah ke arah Hama Kucing. Pohon itu berderit menahan dorongan kaki Shang. Dengan kecepatan luar biasa, Shang menghantam Hama Kucing.
DUAR!
Tendangan Shang tepat mengenai tulang punggung Hama Kucing di dekat dadanya hingga patah. Hama Kucing itu rubuh. Shang lalu mematahkan lehernya. Tubuhnya yang jauh lebih kuat membuatnya mudah membunuh Hama Kucing dari posisi seperti itu.
Tugas selesai.
"Bagus," puji Mervin yang tiba-tiba muncul di samping Shang. "Kamu bisa kembali ke akademi duluan. Aku akan segera menyusul."
Shang menatap bangkai di bawahnya. "Bagaimana dengan bangkainya?" tanyanya.
"Bisa kamu simpan atau jual ke akademi," jawab Mervin. "Kalau kamu simpan, bisa kamu jual untuk dapat emas. Kalau kamu jual ke akademi, kamu dapat poin kontribusi."
SREET!
Sebuah benda muncul di tangan Mervin. Itu adalah kain hitam besar.
"Ini Kantung Binatang. Sesuai namanya, ini untuk mengangkut binatang. Kamu kan nggak mungkin menyeret bangkai berdarah-darah di jalanan kota. Nanti seluruh kota bau darah dan jeroan. Makanya, kamu harus membawanya di dalam Kantung Binatang. Harganya murah dan cuma bisa dipakai sekali," jelas Mervin. "Itu untukmu."
Shang mengangguk. "Makasih," ucapnya dengan nada tak fokus sambil meraih Kantung Binatang itu dan membungkuskannya ke bangkai Hama Kucing.
Shang tak memikirkan ucapannya, tapi Mervin memperhatikannya.
'Menarik,' pikir Mervin. 'Tadi dia kesulitan mengucapkan terima kasih, sekarang malah mudah sekali.'
"Sama-sama," sahut Mervin. "Ayo lanjut. Aku masih ada urusan."
Namun, Shang tak bergeming. Dia menatap liang Hama Kucing itu. "Kamu yang urus anak-anaknya?"
Mervin mengerutkan kening. "Itu bukan urusanmu. Tugasmu sudah selesai."
Shang menatap Mervin dengan ekspresi datar. "Kamu pikir aku nggak tega lihat bayi-bayi dibunuh?"
Kening Mervin makin berkerut. "Bukan soal tega atau nggak," katanya. "Ini soal pantas atau nggak. Meskipun kamu kuat, kamu nggak seharusnya melakukan itu. Kamu murid baru, bahkan belum dewasa. Membunuh musuh berbahaya itu beda dengan membunuh makhluk yang nggak berbahaya dan nggak mengancammu."
Mendengar ucapan Mervin, Shang teringat malam ketika dia membunuh para pengemis itu. Shang jarang mengingat malam itu karena selalu membuatnya merasa tidak nyaman.
Mervin menyadari mata Shang yang tiba-tiba kosong sejenak saat mendengar ucapannya. Dia pun langsung paham maksudnya.
'Dia sudah pernah melakukan hal seperti itu,' pikir Mervin tanpa mengubah ekspresinya. 'Itu menjelaskan banyak hal.'
"Pergi," perintah Mervin.
Shang melirik liang itu sekali lagi. Sejak tadi, saat melihat Hama Kucing melompat keluar dari lubang yang salah, Shang sudah curiga ada anak-anaknya di dalam sarang. Hanya itu penjelasan yang masuk akal. Hama Kucing di Hutan Liar pasti sudah terbiasa dengan manusia. Manusia adalah bahaya terbesar di sini. Nggak ada Hama Kucing waras yang mau menyerang manusia bersenjata yang tiba-tiba muncul di depan sarangnya.
Kecuali dia punya sesuatu yang harus dilindungi.
Akhirnya, Shang menarik napas dalam, memanggul Kantung Binatang di bahunya, dan pergi.
Entah kenapa, berat rasanya baginya untuk pergi begitu saja.
Setelah Shang pergi, Mervin menatap liang Hama Kucing itu dengan mata menyipit. Sebuah botol hijau muncul di tangannya, lalu dia menuangkan isinya ke dalam lubang. Setelah memastikan tak ada yang lolos dari liang itu, dia meninggalkan hutan dan menyusul Shang.
Pekerjaan selesai.
When Shang heard what he had to do, his mind quickly changed directions.
He put his earlier thoughts to the back of his mind as his old instincts from the wilderness returned.
Without saying anything, Shang shot towards the Wild Forest. Mervin watched him from afar and slowly followed him from a distance.
As soon as Shang reached the first tree, he jumped to one of the branches in near-perfect silence. Then, he simply jumped from branch to branch with practiced ease.
Shang looked at the ground of the forest for the entire time while always quickly checking the tree he would jump to next.
Shang hadn't even realized that Mervin had essentially made it harder for Shang than necessary.
Pest Cats were only active at night. Right now, it was morning, and the sun was already shining down from above. This meant that the Pest Cats were hiding inside their nests, which were nearly impossible to find for someone that didn't know about the Pest Cats' habits.
When Mervin saw the methodical method at which Shang was searching for the Pest Cats, he sighed.
He wanted to teach Shang a lesson. Shang had acted in a self-destructive way by not at least pretending to be polite, and Mervin wanted to make it a bit harder for Shang as a lesson.
Action and consequence.
Shang wanted to make his life harder? Sure, Mervin would comply and make it a bit harder.
However, Mervin had underestimated Shang.
Shang had been living in the wilderness for over half a year, and he had been forced to learn the habits of the beasts around him. After all, if he didn't, a Pest Cat might have jumped out at him from its nest if he didn't notice it prior to that.
Pest Cats might only be active and hunt at night, but if some prey decided to directly stroll right past its home, it wouldn't decline the meal.
After a couple of minutes of jumping from tree to tree, Shang noticed some dried drops of blood on the ground.
Pest Cats hunted every single night because they needed a lot of food to produce offspring. Pest Cats were famous for their astounding ability to reproduce quickly.
When Pest Cats hunted at night, they carried their prey to their burrow to consume it over the day. The Pest Cats had an impressively fast metabolism, and their stomachs were very efficient in digesting food.
However, there was still only so much Pest Cats could eat at once, and they often hunted rather big prey.
Because of that, they had to eat their prey over half a day, one stomach-load at a time.
After around a minute of following the trail, Shang found an area with light scratch marks and some dried blood here and there.
Shang looked over, and he saw a small but wide hole below a tree. The hole looked like an enlarged version of a mailbox's slit, thin and wide.
Due to their form, Pest Cats could make themselves very small while still being able to move very quickly.
When Shang found the small hole, he looked at the tree from all sides. Sure enough, there was another slit on its other side.
Shang didn't climb onto the tree above the two slits since the Pest Cat would be able to feel the vibrations.
Then, from the other tree, Shang readied himself.
SHING!
Shang threw his sword towards the entrance of one of the slits. His sword hit the ground in front of the slit and vibrated.
Shang looked at the other slit and readied himself.
BANG!
Suddenly, Shang heard a commotion from the other slit, and he looked over with some surprise.
The Pest Cat had jumped out of the first slit and had attacked the space above the sword, which was something Shang had not expected.
However, Shang quickly adapted and shot toward the Pest Cat by pushing himself off the tree with all his power.
The tree creaked under the power of Shang's legs, and Shang shot with incredible speed right at the Pest Cat.
The Pest Cat was still confused about why there was no enemy in front of it, but it was already too late.
BANG!
Shang's kick hit the Pest Cat's spine near its chest, easily breaking it.
The Pest Cat collapsed, and Shang also broke its neck. His body was more powerful, which made it rather easy for him to kill it from such a position.
The task had been completed.
"Well done," Mervin said as he silently appeared beside Shang. "You can go back to the academy. I'll quickly catch up with you."
Shang looked at the corpse below him. "What about the corpse?" he asked.
"You can keep it or sell it to the academy," Mervin said. "By keeping it, you can sell it for gold. By selling it to the academy, you can get some contribution points."
SHING!
Something appeared in Mervin's hands.
It was a large, black blanket.
"That's a Beast Sack. As its name implies, it's something to transport beasts. You can't just drag a bloody corpse through the streets of the cities since that would make the entire city stink of blood and guts. That's why you have to carry it inside a Beast Sack. They're inexpensive, and they're meant to be used only one time," Mervin explained. "You can have that one."
Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said absentmindedly as he grabbed the Beast Sack and put it around the corpse of the Pest Cat.
Shang didn't think of his actions, but Mervin noticed it.
'Interesting,' Mervin thought. 'Earlier, he had issues with thanking me, but now, he does it easily.'
"No problem," Mervin said. "Get on with it. I still have something to do."
However, Shang didn't go, and he looked at the burrow of the Pest Cat. "Are you going to deal with the offspring?"
Mervin frowned. "That's not something you have to be concerned over. You've done your task, and that's that."
Shang looked at Mervin with a neutral expression. "Do you think I can't deal with the image of several babies being killed?"
Mervin's frown deepened. "It's not about being able to deal with it or not," he said. "It's about if you should or not. Even if you can deal with it, you shouldn't have to. You are a new student, and you aren't even an adult. Killing a dangerous enemy is different from killing something that is no danger and hasn't threatened you."
As Shang heard Mervin's words, he got reminded of the night he had killed the several beggars.
Shang rarely thought of the night since thinking about it always made him uncomfortable.
Mervin noticed that Shang's eyes became absentminded for a second when he said that, and Mervin quickly realized what that meant.
'He has already done something like that before,' Mervin thought without changing his expression. 'That explains quite a lot.'
"Go," Mervin ordered.
Shang threw one more glance at the burrow.
As soon as he had seen the Pest Cat jump out of the wrong hole, Shang had realized that it had probably offspring in its nest. That was the only explanation he could come up with.
Pest Cats in the Wild Forest should be used to humans, and humans should be the biggest danger around here. No sane Pest Cat would attack a human with a weapon that had suddenly appeared in front of its nest.
Unless it had something to protect.
In the end, Shang took a deep breath, put the Beast Sack over his shoulders, and walked off.
For some reason, it was rather difficult for Shang to just leave like this.
When Shang had left, Mervin looked at the burrow of the Pest Cat with narrowed eyes.
Then, a green bottle appeared in his hands, and he poured the contents into the hole.
After making sure nothing left the burrow, he left the forest and caught up with Shang.
The job was done.
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