Chapter 101
Chapter 101
At nine o’clock in the evening, the water park was at its liveliest. People were square dancing, taking after-dinner strolls, bird-watching… The lakeside promenade bustled with foot traffic.
But on the first and second basement levels beneath the little island in the middle of the lake, the excitement was only just beginning.
On the first basement level, in the ordinary customer viewing area, Mr. Liu, Zong Li, Old Miao, and the others sat together beside the arena, their expressions grim.
They were neither too close nor too far from the central dogfighting ring.
Two massive Caucasian Shepherds were tearing into each other on the stage.
Before being sent into the ring, these dogs had been subjected to long-term, repeated beatings and electric shocks, and they had also been dosed with stimulants. They had long since become monsters filled with rage, numb to pain.
Inside the artificially enclosed iron cage lined with spikes, they ripped at each other, every bite aimed for a vital spot.
Fur and blood flew together.
Soon, both dogs were covered in bleeding wounds. The slightly weaker one was seized by the neck and bitten to death on the spot.
Cheers erupted endlessly throughout the venue, turning even more bestial under the stimulation of blood.
The victorious dog began gorging itself on the loser’s corpse right there on the stage.
The heavy huffing of its breath and the gulping sounds as it swallowed chunks of flesh made Old Miao and the others frown.
Paired with the hall full of cheering and shrieking, the scene only became more grotesquely ironic.
Mr. Liu felt a chill in his heart as he watched. He looked away and said in a low voice, “These people are taking this way too far.”
There had been dogfights in the past too, but he had never heard of life-and-death matches this brutal.
Old Miao did not answer. Hidden by Old Dao, he secretly fiddled with the phone in his pants pocket, trying to record video or audio.
Zong Li was sitting with Wen Hao.
Zong Li asked quietly, “How many surveillance cameras?”
Wen Hao wore glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked refined and scholarly. He usually did not have much of a presence, but he was a proper technician through and through.
As he adjusted his glasses, he replied, “Eight points in total. Five visible, three hidden.”
Zong Li felt his teeth ache at the answer. That many cameras meant their every move was under someone else’s eyes.
He quickly said, “Message Qin Ying and the others. Tell them not to act on their own.”
If there was already this much surveillance on the first basement level where they were, there would only be more cameras in the VIP area on the second basement level.
As they spoke, Zong Li’s expression shifted. He bumped Old Miao, who was still messing with his phone, with his knee.
A moment later, two security guards appeared to casually patrol the area.
Only after they had walked away did Old Dao say, “These people are very alert. Let’s withdraw.”
Old Miao had captured some things. It should be enough evidence to obtain authorization for a search.
Zong Li agreed with him as well. The group stood up and sent messages to Qin Ying and Yin Minmin before leaving.
On the second basement level, Qin Ying stood before the floor-to-ceiling glass.
She only glanced at her phone before turning her gaze back to the dogfighting stage below.
Unlike the upper level, where a bloody victor had already been decided, things here had yet to begin.
There was only a large iron cage covered in black cloth, sitting there silently.
Two spotlights shone on the cage, adding an oppressive weight to the scene.
Qin Ying had always been keenly perceptive toward certain things. Even through the black cloth and the glass, she could still sense an unusual threat coming from inside the cage.
It felt as though what was locked inside was not a dog, but some kind of fierce beast like a tiger or leopard.
Seeing that she was not moving, Yin Minmin could not help asking softly, “Sister Ying, aren’t we leaving?”
Just as Qin Ying was about to answer, a host stepped onto the stage.
The host wore a garish red sequined suit and had a smiling, genial expression.
His voice carried clearly into the room. In an intensely rousing tone, he wished all the guests present a wonderful evening.
Then, deliberately bringing the microphone close to the iron cage beside him, he patted the cage with his hand.
A muffled roar rang through the entire venue.
Yin Minmin jolted and shrank in beside Qin Ying, to say nothing of Zhang Lang, who had been timid to begin with.
Lin Yicheng’s hands trembled unnaturally twice, and he blurted out, “Did they bring in a tiger?”
That roar just now carried its own murderous aura. It was no weaker than that of a lion or tiger.
The people sitting near the edge of the field instinctively wanted to flee.
For all that these people cheered and shouted while watching dogfights, their love of blood and violence was founded on the premise that their own safety was guaranteed.
The venue stirred uneasily for a moment, until the host onstage let out a playful laugh. “Surprised, everyone?”
“This is the latest fighting beast produced by our Smart Ecology Company.”
Clearly, tonight’s reveal had come without any warning at all.
The private room Qin Ying was in sat higher than the rest of the venue, giving her a clear view of the confusion on the faces of the audience below, as well as the fleeting flash of malicious contempt on the host’s face.
In a tone so self-indulgent he clearly didn’t care whether anyone lived or died, the host declared, “I guarantee this will be a surprise none of you have ever seen before.”
He spread his arms wide, probably hoping for screams and cheers.
But everyone standing here had some money to their name. They liked the bizarre, and they liked looking down from above.
No one wanted to be toyed with. No one wanted to hear his cute little jokes. The entire venue fell silent.
After a stretch of silence with no response, the host, still posed with his arms spread beneath the lights, looked like nothing so much as a clown.
After a long moment, he gave a dry laugh. “It seems none of you have much of a sense of humor.”
“People without a sense of humor will never be happy.”
It was an incredibly presumptuous thing to say, not at all something a professional host should have let slip.
Qin Ying frowned slightly just as Huang Zezhong knocked and entered.
He personally pushed in a small serving cart loaded with snacks and delicacies, with a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket.
Seeing Qin Ying standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, he smiled and struck up a conversation. “Miss, are you satisfied with today’s program?”
As he spoke, he let out a puzzled sound. “Huh? Why hasn’t it started yet? Did they change the program and host at the last minute?”
Qin Ying whipped her head around to look at him. Huang Zezhong had no idea why and lowered his eyes to check whether his fly was down.
Then they heard the gaudily dressed host below say, “Begin!”
With that, he yanked the black cloth off the iron cage beside him.
The creature inside was revealed.
The thing crouching in the iron cage had glossy, pure-black short fur. Two pointed ears stood erect, and one glance at its broad muzzle was enough to tell that its bite force had to be terrifying.
It was about the size of a slightly smaller donkey.
But between its eyes grew a dagger-like horn.
Huang Zezhong’s eyesight was perfectly normal, so he saw the creature under the spotlight as well. The words slipped out of his mouth. “What is that? Since when do dogs grow horns?”
He was asking Qin Ying, but Qin Ying wanted to ask him the same thing!
Hearing his strange question, Yin Minmin, who was in the room, wanted to come over and take a look.
Unexpectedly, Qin Ying suddenly said, “Go!”
“We’re leaving. Now!”
Before anyone else could react, she turned swiftly and grabbed Yin Minmin and Lin Yicheng, then said to Zhang Lang, “Head for the elevator.”
As she passed the cage holding the mother dog and her pups, Qin Ying heard the frightened whimpering of the mother dog inside.
Her footsteps paused for an instant. She looked left and right, and her gaze landed on the cart Huang Zezhong had pushed in.
With one sweep of her hand, she knocked all the food on it to the floor, then lifted the dog cage onto the cart.
The champagne in the ice bucket was swept off as well and shattered.
Pale golden wine gurgled out across the floor.
The sound of breaking glass seemed to be a signal.
Standing in the middle of the arena, the host laughed loudly and tore open the lock on the iron cage.
There was a bang as the cage swung open.
Under everyone’s gaze, the thing crouching inside rose unhurriedly to its feet and walked out of the cage step by step.
The spotlight shone down on the top of its head. The strange horn growing between its eyes gleamed at the tip with a metallic sheen.
“Go on. They like beast fights, so give them a performance they’ll only see once in their lives.”
As soon as the words fell, the horned beast leaped off the platform and slammed headfirst into the surrounding spiked iron enclosure.
A long, grating creak echoed through the venue.
The spiked iron cage had actually been warped by the impact of a flesh-and-blood head.
The audience member closest to it was a middle-aged man in a crisp suit.
He was a regular in the front row, loved watching fighting dogs tear each other apart, and had spent plenty of money as one of the venue’s best customers.
Now, he was truly blessed. As the nearest eyewitness, he watched the refined iron cage bulge open into a gap wide enough for something to pass through.
Amid a reeking stench, a pair of black claws as large as plates settled onto the shoulders of the man sitting there in a daze.
He stared up blankly and met a pair of beast eyes brimming with a strange intelligence.
In the next instant, a huge maw snapped down toward his face.
With its tremendous bite force, it tore away his plump face in a single bite.
His eyeballs rolled off to who knew where. With the flesh of his cheeks gone, there was nothing to hold his tongue in place. The tip of it lolled out as a scream was forced from his lungs.
Like a rabbit caught by a hound, his neck was clamped in the beast’s jaws, and he was dragged racing between the high-backed chairs. Before long, the impact had broken more than half the bones in his body.
The scene descended into chaos. Once their own lives were on the line, the thing called fear spread rapidly.