Super Zoo

So I looked up the news reports from that time on my phone, and that\'s when I found the reason.

It turned out that these dogs had already been through Ghost Gate Pass once. The first time, someone had rescued them from the dog meat market, but somehow, they ended up being sold again. This rescue was like their second lease on life.

There was only one explanation: these dogs, having witnessed countless of their own kind being butchered alive at the dog meat market, were utterly traumatized.

Helpless, Suming could only stop trying to communicate with them and instead used his spiritual power to simply comfort them, hoping they could find some peace. However, the effect wasn\'t very good; after all, most of the dogs still suffered from serious injuries, and both their physical and psychological traumas were equally lethal.

"Hello, Mr. Song? It\'s Su," Suming called Mr. Song, and faint sounds of a child\'s voice could be heard from the other end of the phone, so Mr. Song was probably taking care of his grandson at home.

I discussed the situation here with Mr. Song, who fell silent for a while before saying, "This is something you\'ll have to decide on your own. But you need to think it through, bringing back so many dogs, how will you manage the situation afterward? According to what you said, these dogs definitely can\'t be adopted by others. If brought back, the zoo itself would have to care for them. Over time, that will certainly be no small expense. Money is one aspect, but managing so many dogs is another issue..."

Mr. Song went on and on, then finally sighed, "Ah, what I see doesn\'t bother my heart. If I were there myself and witnessed this scene, I would be soft-hearted too. Anyway, say what I might, the decision is yours to make."

Suming knew what Mr. Song was worried about. A zoo has a greater scale and level than a rescue station, but that doesn\'t mean it has endless funds. On the contrary, with a larger scale comes larger expenses. Nearly a hundred dogs added would be a significant burden for the zoo to support for no reason. Moreover, just as he had discussed with Mr. Song earlier, these dogs definitely could not be adopted out; they would need to stay in the zoo indefinitely. They might even have to avoid too much human contact for a short period to prevent further psychological trauma.

Actually, as for how to deal with these dogs, Suming had thought of a possible solution to try.

However, what he was most curious about right now was exactly what Lin was up to?

Snoring sounds came from Lin\'s room, and since Suming had drunk quite a bit, his tolerance wasn\'t great, and he felt dizzy. It didn\'t take long before he couldn\'t hold out anymore, and he simply went to the guest room to sleep it off.

After sleeping until ten o\'clock the next morning, Suming woke to find that Lin and Lin had already gotten up, each carrying a big basin filled with some mushy dog food, feeding the dogs in the yard.

Seeing Lin and Lin, the dogs refused to eat anything. Lin and Lin could only use a spoon to scoop the mush into the small food bowls in front of the dog cages. Only after they moved far away did the dogs dare to carefully lick at the food.

The Wrangler brothers ran back and forth, sniffing cage after cage, trying to express their friendliness. But the other dogs still didn\'t pay much attention to them, making them lose interest. Seeing Suming come out, they wagged their tails and ran to Suming\'s feet.

"Hey, another three died last night. At this rate, it won\'t be long before they\'re all gone," said Lin with a sigh. "What\'s the zoo\'s final word on this? We need to come up with a solution fast."

"Where are the dead dogs?" Suming asked.

"I had Lin take them up the mountain and bury them in a deep pit."

Suming grew even more suspicious. What was this, out of sight, out of mind?

He thought for a moment, then said with slight apology, "I talked with our director over the phone last night, and there are simply too many dogs here for the zoo to take care of. We can send over a batch of dog feed and a small amount of medicine, but for the rest, we\'ll have to trouble you to handle it."

"What the hell use is that!" Lin muttered under his breath, and then started cursing those dog lovers, pointing at the dog cages and saying, "Why bother saving these dogs? Kill them with one swift cut—it\'s quicker for them, and at least if they get eaten, they have some value. But now, they not only will end up dead, they\'ll die painfully, suffer themselves, and drag us into this mess..."

Suming didn\'t care to listen to his complaints any longer. Maybe he had a point, but complaining solved nothing. So he packed up a little, then got back into the car with Su Meng and the wolf dog brothers, and said, "Mr. Lin, we\'ll be heading off then. I\'m really sorry we couldn\'t be of help this time, I\'ll arrange for the zoo to send over the feed as soon as I get back."

"Ah well, that\'s the only thing we can do. It\'s tough for everyone; we understand!" Lin extended his rough hand, shook hands with Suming, and then saw him out to the door, watching the Wrangler depart.

It wasn\'t until the Wrangler had gradually disappeared from view that Lin returned to the rescue station\'s room.

Su entered from outside before long, saw only Lin there, and asked, "Uncle, did the zoo\'s people leave?"

"Yeah, they left."

"So, what about these dogs?"

"They won\'t take them; we have no choice. We can only deal with them little by little." Lin turned to look at the dogs and muttered, "Such a sin."

…

Suming drove the Wrangler away from the rescue station, but he didn\'t leave Changping County. Instead, he found a small motel not far from the edge of town, close to the station, and settled in for the time being.

"It\'s all on you now!" Suming snapped his fingers at Er Gouzi, who was circling above his head. Buzzing, Er Gouzi took a few turns and then staggered out through the motel window, heading toward the direction of the rescue station.

Suming knew very well that if he stayed at the rescue station, the Lins would definitely not make any move. Therefore, to get a clear picture of what they were up to, it was essential for him to leave first. However, once he had left, he would have no idea what they were doing. Both Su Meng and the wolf dog brothers were too conspicuous for reconnaissance.

So the responsibility fell on Er Gouzi, a creature that wouldn\'t raise suspicions wherever it flew. Although it wasn\'t very intelligent and unlikely to \'narrate\' a situation in full detail, it could at least provide some scattered fragments of what it saw, from which he could roughly deduce what had happened.

While waiting for news from Er Gouzi, Suming lay on the small bed in the motel, lazily chatting with Su Meng while resting with his legs crossed.

Su Meng couldn\'t speak human language and could only make some simple sounds. Staring wide-eyed, he uttered "Oh, oh... Mhm, mhm..." leaving it unclear what he was trying to express.

Actually, after spending a day with the Lins, Suming didn\'t think they were evil people. They were barely maintaining this shabby little rescue station with the little money they received, which was indeed not an easy task. If it was up to him, with a hundred thousand a year for both salary and rescue funding, he would have dropped everything and left—the situation was a joke! With only that little money, the so-called rescue station was nothing more than a facade that couldn\'t accomplish much.

But what was the Lins\' trick? Now that Suming himself had some wealth and plenty of time, the little affluent idle man couldn\'t rest easy without getting to the bottom of this. It itched at his conscience and was an uncomfortable feeling.