Chapter 82
Chapter 82
His sunken heart shot right back into his throat.
Everyone watched as the burly man drew closer and closer.
Wang Qiang was trembling nonstop. He was only an intern and had never been in a real field operation before. Now, faced with an actual criminal, all he could do was reach for his collapsible baton for a sense of security.
“In a minute, you and Bo Suihan move off to the side. Senior and I will take him head-on.”
Even so, he had not forgotten his duty. Wu Xiaojiu agreed without the slightest hesitation.
The figure came closer and closer.
Facing the car’s headlights, the burly man raised a hand and pointed inside.
“Get your lousy friends to help too. If you ask me, once you’re done using them, cut them off. Nothing good comes from hanging out with that crowd.”
After dropping that line, the burly man turned around, fastened the rope to the front of his own vehicle, and waved for the young man to start driving.
A false alarm.
Senior was drenched in sweat, and Wang Qiang was not much better. His body was still shaking from the adrenaline, and even his voice stuttered as he said, “Thank goodness the headlights were too bright for him to see our faces clearly. But just to be safe, Senior, I still think you shouldn’t get out of the car later.”
Senior sighed and nodded.
“That scared me half to death too. Once we get to the Dog Farm, we’re really on their turf. If we alert them and something goes wrong, out here in the middle of nowhere, no one will hear us no matter how we scream.”
The group quickly came to an agreement.
Senior would stay outside the Dog Farm and watch the car.
The others, being unfamiliar faces, would go in to investigate. If anything unexpected happened inside the Dog Farm, they could still make a timely escape.
The two cars, one towing the other, struggled their way up the mountain.
When they finally reached the outside of the Dog Farm, Wang Qiang felt his heart go cold at the sound of barking from within. He handed his collapsible baton and other self-defense tools to Wu Xiaojiu and Bo Suihan, then passed Senior’s self-defense tool to the young man.
Seeing the three of them get out, he remained in the car for a long while without moving, looking somewhat awkward. Wu Xiaojiu understood perfectly. He knocked on the window and waved at him.
“All right. You’ve been running around with us these past few days too. It’s normal to be tired. Roll up the windows and lock all the doors. If something happens, I’ll message you, and you can come over then. If nothing happens, just stay here.”
Wang Qiang nodded again and again.
Their group split into two teams just like that: one followed the young man into the Dog Farm under the pretense of working while actually investigating, and the other camped out in the car to guard against any sudden changes.
The group entered the Dog Farm.
When the burly man saw them come over, he wasted no time and tapped the dogs in the trunk, signaling for them to unload the dogs and carry them into the Dog Farm.
His trunk was packed with aggressive breeds, specifically the kinds cities banned people from keeping.
Wu Xiaojiu looked at the dogs, each one bulkier than him and some even a little taller, and wanted to cry but had no tears.
Seeing his expression, the burly man even tried to comfort him from the side. “Go on, carry them. They don’t bite. It’s just that when they like you, they might not know their own strength. They might pounce on you, tear at you, gnaw on you a little. Nothing serious, really.”
“In that case,” Wu Xiaojiu said hesitantly, “am I really not going to end up in pieces?”
The burly man glared at him, then casually dragged a dog out of the trunk. It was obvious all the dogs were terrified of him. The moment the burly man reached out, every single dog shrank backward.
Especially the one he had grabbed. It whimpered nonstop. Perhaps annoyed by the sound, the burly man slapped it twice across the muzzle, then forcibly hauled it out.
“See? That simple. Hurry up and get started. It’s already dark. If you keep dragging your feet, these dogs won’t even get leftovers tonight.”
Since he put it that way, they had no choice but to begin.
Wu Xiaojiu forced down the fear in his heart and reached for the bully dog at the very edge. The dog was powerfully built and heavily muscled, drool dripping from its panting mouth. Among the other dogs that looked exceptionally ferocious, it actually seemed a little cute.
Just as he dragged the bully dog down to the ground and looked at its huge, toad-like build, he suddenly felt like this job might not be so bad after all.
The burly man’s hand abruptly clamped around the leash.
His sharp gaze cut toward him.
After raising dogs for years, if you didn’t have the strength, fighting ability, and sheer intimidation factor, there was no way you could keep these banned urban breeds under control. And when the burly man looked over with those cold eyes…
Wu Xiaojiu suddenly wanted to go back to the car too. “What’s wrong?” he asked weakly.
The burly man stared at him thoughtfully. Only after a long while did his lips move.
“Why aren’t you saying the quotes?”
“What quotes?”
Wu Xiaojiu froze awkwardly in place. Just as the burly man shifted half a step toward him…
The young guy suddenly ran over, shoved Wu Xiaojiu aside, and pointed at the giant toad on the ground.
“A river dragon, a mountain tiger-society isn’t yours to rule.”
Satisfaction showed on the burly man’s face. He turned to look at Wu Xiaojiu.
Wu Xiaojiu hesitated for one second, then immediately crouched down, copied the young guy, and pointed at the toad on the ground.
“As long as a young man’s spirit stays strong, he’ll be elite wherever he goes.”
The burly man nodded heavily, looking immensely pleased, as if something in him had finally settled. “You really are one of us. Anyone who runs with my brother and doesn’t say the quotes? I don’t buy it. Boiling water is too hot, so I dare not drink it. People’s hearts are too cold, so I dare not touch them. Go move the dogs. Put the cages wherever you want, but remember, two dogs to a cage. I’m going inside to make the mush.”
With that, he locked that one into a cage off to the side.
Only the three of them were left standing there.
Wu Xiaojiu and the young guy were scared. Bo Suihan, however, was not. While the others had been talking, he had already unloaded half the dogs by himself.
Several large dogs were held by their leashes in his hand, wagging their tails as they circled around his pant legs. Their bloody mouths breathed out foul air, and drool dripped down every now and then.
The scene was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.
Wu Xiaojiu felt a burst of panic. He stepped forward, reached out, and blurted, “Give me two of them. I’ll take them with this bully dog and send them to the factory first.”
The instant he opened his mouth to speak…
Those big dogs crowded over. The bully dog had been lying obediently on the ground, but when it saw several dogs wagging their tails and rushing toward it, it probably got triggered.
It suddenly sprang up, whipped its head without warning, and bit down on Wu Xiaojiu’s calf.
Blood flowed out at once. No one knew exactly where it had bitten, but beads of blood were bubbling out of several puncture holes in his calf. The blood was even a little dark, making it obvious the injury was more than skin-deep.
Wu Xiaojiu hissed in pain. When he saw that he was the one bleeding, his face instantly went pale. He held on to the car door and tried to use the light to see the wound clearly.
But Bo Suihan came over first.
“Does it hurt?” There was no gauze, so he could only keep wiping away the blood with tissues. But the puncture wounds only bled more and more. Seeing that Wu Xiaojiu’s shoe and sock were already soaked, Bo Suihan hurriedly straightened up and called the young guy over.
The young guy had just come back from delivering a dog. When he saw this, he practically sprinted over, pulled several packs of wet wipes from his pocket, tore them open, pressed them over Wu Xiaojiu’s wound, and tied them tight.
“No shit.”
All the color had drained from Wu Xiaojiu’s face. It really hurt too much. On top of that, he had had no mental preparation at all. The bite had come out of nowhere, and the blood was flowing like it cost nothing.
The double burden, mental and physical, left him unable to catch his breath for a moment.