No time to deal with the Husky and his bizarre train of thought.
Bai Jimu prepared to head to the next room to look for the Pomeranian.
“Woof! You can check next door!” A village dog that had just been released barked urgently. “I think they put the small dogs in there earlier.”
“Got it.” Bai Jimu nodded.
Looking at the group of dogs in the warehouse staring at him eagerly, waiting for instructions, a wave of warmth and responsibility surged in his heart.
Perhaps because of the aura of his own kind radiating from him, all the rescued dogs trusted him surprisingly well.
He pressed his ear against the door, listening carefully.
After confirming there were no footsteps outside, he cautiously pushed the door open a crack.
The familiar poop-yellow[1]TN: In Chinese casual slang, this color description is often used to describe that specific muddy, yellow-brown shade found on dogs, clothes, or objects that aren’t quite gold and aren’t … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1834223_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1834223_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Beagle head poked out immediately, looking left and right alertly.
“No one. Safe!”
Under the cover of night, furry figures slipped out one by one in an orderly fashion, following the Beagle through the hole in the warehouse wall.
Once this batch of dogs had safely evacuated, Bai Jimu squeezed back into the warehouse through the dog hole.
These dog traffickers are cunning indeed; they left two people guarding the monitoring room.
He couldn’t help but complain internally.
Actually, it didn’t need to be this troublesome.
A simple Sleeping Spell would have solved everything… but as luck would have it, he had forgotten the incantation Teacher Bai Yanzhou taught him!
It’s all because a certain Beagle’s soul was wandering who-knows-where during class.
He silently infiltrated the other room and sped up the unlocking of the cages.
The small dogs kept here were obviously more anxious. Even facing a Beagle, who was much larger than them, they subconsciously bared their teeth and growled low.
Bai Jimu hurriedly lowered his voice, communicating with soothing whimpers, and finally managed to stabilize the situation.
The biggest challenge now was how to lead this mighty “army” safely back to town and ensure no one fell behind.
It was the middle of the night, so they couldn’t go find their owners.
They had to be settled at the clinic first.
After opening all the cages, he finally found the Pomeranian curled up in a ball in a corner cage.
Just as he was preparing to withdraw, an extremely weak cat cry caught his attention.
In a dirty cage in the furthest corner, a small figure was curled up—it was a cat.
Strangely, even though cats and dogs didn’t speak the same language, Bai Jimu clearly sensed a faint thought:
Save… save me…
He leaned in and sniffed gently.
No malice, only the heavy scent of blood and a trace… a very faint trace of demonic energy belonging to his own kind?
Bai Jimu hesitated no longer.
He lowered his body and let out a low rumble from his throat: “Do you have any strength left? Climb onto my back.”
The cat nodded weakly, struggled to stand up shakily, and with difficulty climbed onto his furry back.
After confirming the cat had a firm grip, Bai Jimu issued the command: “Everyone, attention! Follow the ones who know the way. Retreat to town according to the planned route! I’ll bring up the rear!”
Most of the dogs, led by a few local dogs, quickly and orderly disappeared into the night, running toward the town.
They knew to gather at the safe point near the clinic first.
However, with so many animals moving together, it was impossible to be completely silent.
A small dog, startled by a rat darting past, let out a “Woof!”
“What was that sound?!” Fugui in the monitoring room had sharp ears and immediately jumped up to check the surveillance feed.
One look and his soul nearly left his body.
The room where the animals were kept was empty!
“Stop f*cking sleeping, Goudan! The dogs escaped!” Fugui roared in exasperation.
He didn’t have the brainpower to think about how they escaped right now.
He only knew that if they didn’t catch them back, the money in his hand would fly away!
“F*ck!” Goudan was startled awake. He grabbed the iron rod with his hand and rushed out with Fugui.
The two men chased after them with flashlights, cursing all the way.
In the darkness, they could still see a few lagging animal figures, as well as that particularly conspicuous poop-yellow Beagle carrying a cat on its back.
“Over there! Catch that Beagle with the cat!” Fugui pointed ahead and shouted.
Bai Jimu was startled. He accelerated, deliberately picking narrow paths full of obstacles to squeeze through.
Goudan chased too eagerly and didn’t watch his footing.
With a thud, he tripped over a hidden rope and fell flat on his face, eating dirt.
The iron rod in his hand flew out with a clang.
“Ouch! My ankle!” Goudan clutched his foot and wailed.
Fugui tried to go around to chase, but was deliberately led by a few clever dogs into a pile of abandoned construction materials.
He crashed headfirst into it, ending up covered in dust and looking wretched.
“Damn it! Dead dogs! I’ll slaughter you!”
Fugui’s eyes were red with rage as he watched helplessly as the Beagle and the last few animals ran far away.
“We can’t just let this go! They definitely ran toward the main road! Drive and chase them!”
He roared unwillingly, limping with the barely recovered Goudan toward their broken van.
When Bai Jimu, carrying the cat and leading the rearguard dogs, rushed to the roadside, most of the earlier group had already taken the small paths back to town safely, as planned.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but he needed to get away quickly too.
Just then, bright headlights approached from a distance.
A sleek luxury car that looked expensive stopped with abnormal precision right in front of him.
The rear window rolled down, revealing Lin You’s face, which wore a mix of helplessness and surprise.
Lin You looked at this panting Beagle on the roadside, covered in dust, carrying a dying cat on its back, flanked by several guard dogs. He felt the scene was truly surreal.
He scratched his head, muttering to himself—or perhaps to the dog:
“Uh… Teacher called me in a hurry to come for backup, saying there was a ‘special situation’… He didn’t mean you guys, did he? Where is your Bai Jimu? Why didn’t he come himself? Where did he run off to? His phone isn’t going through either. He expects me to pick up a pack of dogs and a cat?”
He completely failed to connect this exhausted but intelligent-looking Beagle in front of him with the sunny, handsome “Bai Jimu” he was looking for.
He assumed Bai Jimu had something urgent to do or was busy elsewhere, and had just asked him to pick up these animals first.
Bai Jimu’s heart skipped a beat, but he couldn’t blow his cover.
He could only look up at Lin You, trying hard to convey urgent “let us in the car” vibes with his eyes.
Looking at the Beagle’s eyes, full of “wisdom” and pleading, Lin You felt it was odd, but still opened the car door. “Forget it, forget it, just get in! Teacher ordered it, I can’t leave you here. Hope that kid Bai Jimu is okay…”
Seizing this opportunity, under the cover of the car’s shadow, Bai Jimu quickly and gently pushed the cat on his back into the car, then nimbly leaped in himself.
He gave a low growl to the other dogs, issuing the command “Disperse and gather at the safe point.”
The dogs understood immediately and quickly vanished into the surrounding bushes.
Lin You wanted to turn his head and say something, but the van approaching from a distance didn’t allow them to stay any longer.
When Fugui and Goudan arrived at the roadside in their broken van, panting heavily, they saw only a few tufts of dog fur on the ground and the retreating back and taillights of the luxury car speeding away.
“Damn it! They actually had backup?! You can run, but you can’t hide! Just you wait!” Fugui punched the steering wheel viciously.
The piercing honk echoed in the night sky, filled with the flavor of impotent rage.
Meanwhile, in the back seat of the speeding luxury car, Lin You drove while glancing awkwardly at the rear-view mirror.
That poop-yellow Beagle, who looked exhausted, was carefully placing the weak cat on the soft seat and gently nudging it with his nose to adjust its posture.
A subtle awkwardness permeated the car.
Lin You and Bai Jimu had only met once, briefly at the clinic, and hadn’t even exchanged more than a few words.
At this moment, he really didn’t know how to communicate with the… dog brought by “Teacher’s family member.”
He cleared his throat, trying to break the silence, his tone uncertain. “Um… Teacher only hurriedly told me to drive to this intersection for backup, saying it was a ‘special rescue’… I didn’t expect to be… uh, picking up you two?”
He chose his words carefully, his gaze shifting between the unconscious cat and the Beagle in the back seat, whose eyes were exceptionally lively, as if it could understand human speech.
“Mr. Bai Jimu… isn’t he with you? Did he go to handle other matters?”
In the back seat, Bai Jimu looked up and gave Lin You a glance with those signature big eyes. He let out a short, soft “woof” from his throat as a response, then lowered his head to care for the cat with concern.
This display of almost human-like intelligence made Lin You even more certain that this dog was unusual.
It must be a special “assistant” trained by Teacher or Bai Jimu.
Or perhaps, it was also a little demon who had gained sentience?
“Alright.” Lin You didn’t ask further and focused on driving. “Teacher ordered us to return directly to the clinic. He should be waiting for us there… right?”
He still grumbled a bit inwardly.
This Bai Jimu, letting his dog execute such a dangerous mission while he’s nowhere to be found.
He really… has a big heart.
Bai Jimu secretly sighed in relief and curled up his body.
Lin You’s unfamiliar and somewhat polite attitude was perfect. It saved him from the risk of being interrogated.
Now, he only hoped to return to his brother’s side quickly to treat the injuries of this “fellow kind.”
As for how to explain tonight’s chaos to Lin You, whom he had only met once… that was a headache for his brother, Bai Yanzhou.
References[+]