The following morning, General arrived precisely three minutes late.
The old black-and-white cat leaped gracefully onto Yaoyao's apartment windowsill before letting out a dramatic sigh.
"You live very high."
Yaoyao looked up from the breakfast she was making.
"I live on the third floor."
"Exactly."
"You climbed the fire escape."
"I am elderly."
"You climbed it anyway."
"I suffered."
Mochi floated nearby, holding a tiny notebook that had somehow appeared overnight.
He made an exaggerated writing motion.
General
Dramatic tendencies: Confirmed.
General glared at him.
"Round Ghost."
"Mangy Cat."
"I've stolen fish from chefs more dangerous than you."
"I've audited dragons."
"...What's an audit?"
Mochi smiled.
"You don't want to know."
Yaoyao laughed as she placed another dumpling into her lunch container.
Somehow, in only a few days, her apartment no longer felt quite so lonely.
The silence that had once surrounded her was now filled with sparrows arguing over breadcrumbs, Mochi criticizing her spending habits, and an elderly stray cat demanding breakfast as payment for detective work.
She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.
Probably grateful.
She opened another package of premium cat treats.
General immediately forgot every complaint he'd made during the climb.
"...You're becoming my favorite human."
"I thought I was already your favorite."
"I was keeping my options open."
⸻
An hour later...
The three of them stood beside Cloud Lake.
Unlike the glittering business district in central Cloud City, the northern lake district was quiet.
Ancient willow trees leaned over the water.
Elegant stone bridges connected walking paths.
Private estates occupied the hills surrounding the shoreline, hidden behind tall walls and carefully maintained gardens.
General sniffed the morning breeze.
"This way."
He trotted confidently along the lakeside trail.
Yaoyao followed.
"So..."
Mochi floated beside her.
"You trust him?"
"I trust that he remembers something."
"Those are different statements."
"They are."
General suddenly stopped.
He sniffed one tree.
Then another.
Then walked in a circle.
"...I may have forgotten."
Mochi immediately wrote something else in his notebook.
Detective Ability:
Questionable.
General hissed.
"I haven't been here in years!"
"You claimed certainty."
"I was emotionally certain."
Yaoyao pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I'm beginning to understand why police don't usually hire cats."
"They should."
"They absolutely should not."
⸻
Nearly twenty minutes passed before General's ears suddenly stood upright.
"There!"
He darted toward a narrow stone road hidden between rows of towering cedar trees.
The air itself seemed different.
Quieter.
Older.
The homes here were unlike the modern luxury villas scattered across Cloud City.
Instead, each estate resembled a carefully preserved family residence passed down through generations.
Massive iron gates.
White stone walls.
Traditional gardens hidden behind ancient trees.
Everything radiated understated wealth.
General stopped before the largest estate on the road.
His tail slowly swished.
"This one."
Yaoyao looked up.
The estate walls stretched so far she couldn't immediately see either end.
Beyond the trees rose the tiled roofs of multiple buildings connected by covered walkways.
The entrance gate alone looked large enough to accommodate two trucks side by side.
Two discreet security cameras overlooked the entrance.
No family name appeared anywhere.
Only an elegant silver crest had been engraved into both gates.
Yaoyao's breathing slowed.
The crest...
It wasn't identical.
But it was unmistakably related.
A crescent cloud.
A blooming night cereus.
Exactly the same flower carved into her jade pendant.
Mochi's expression became unusually serious.
"Similarity analysis..."
Golden light spread across his tiny fingertips.
Invisible lines connected the pendant beneath Yaoyao's blouse with the silver emblem on the gate.
A moment later...
Similarity: 97.8%
Yaoyao swallowed.
"...That's..."
"A custom family design."
Mochi's voice had lost all humor.
"It was almost certainly commissioned by the same artisan workshop."
Her heartbeat quickened.
"So..."
Mochi shook his head.
"No conclusions."
"But—"
"No."
His answer was firm.
"Evidence is not certainty."
Yaoyao slowly nodded.
He was right.
Her emotions desperately wanted to connect every piece together.
But emotions were not proof.
She had spent her life relying on facts.
She wasn't going to stop now.
General sat beside her feet.
"Crying woman smelled like this place."
Yaoyao looked at the flowers climbing along the wall.
Night-blooming cereus vines.
Exactly as the pendant depicted.
Exactly as Director Chen had described.
She closed her eyes for several seconds.
Twenty-one years.
She had imagined this moment thousands of times.
Finding the place.
Finding someone.
Finding answers.
Yet now that she stood before the gate...
She couldn't bring herself to knock.
"What if they're my family?"
General quietly replied,
"What if they aren't?"
That simple question settled her racing thoughts.
Mochi smiled.
"Excellent answer."
Yaoyao nodded.
"If I knock today..."
"...I might destroy any chance of learning the truth."
She wasn't afraid of rejection.
Not anymore.
She was afraid of believing the wrong story.
⸻
A black luxury sedan quietly entered through the gates.
Yaoyao instinctively stepped back behind one of the cedar trees.
The gates opened only long enough for the vehicle to pass.
For less than three seconds...
She caught a glimpse.
An enormous courtyard.
A koi pond.
Stone lanterns.
Children's swings.
The swings looked old.
Unused.
Almost forgotten.
Then...
The gates closed again.
Yaoyao stared at them for a long time.
General rubbed against her ankle.
"You sad?"
"...No."
She surprised herself with the answer.
"I'm curious."
Curiosity hurt less than hope.
Much less.
⸻
Several hundred meters away...
Inside the estate...
A maid hurried toward the main residence.
"Madam."
The elegant woman arranging fresh flowers in the sitting room looked up.
"Yes?"
"The gardener says the night cereus has begun blooming early this year."
Madam Ye's hand froze.
Her fingers tightened around the white blossom she had been trimming.
"...Already?"
"Yes."
The maid smiled.
"It must be a good omen."
For reasons she couldn't explain...
Madam Ye's chest suddenly ached.
She slowly turned toward the front windows overlooking the estate entrance.
Beyond the gardens...
Beyond the towering gates...
She felt...
As though someone had just left.
Someone important.
Someone she desperately wanted to see.
But by the time she reached the window...
The road outside was empty