Chapter 457 - 359
"That dog is rather strange. It wasn’t just the Xu Family’s young granddaughter who saw it. Every single one of the other survivors also saw the dog that appeared in the mist at Ju City High School."
The official who was speaking seemed troubled. ’Where could a dog with such incredible abilities be?’
Unfortunately, after the survivors made it out, the dog vanished.
Otherwise, he would have definitely kept that dog and treated it like royalty!
These days, you can’t rely on anything. You have to experience things firsthand.
’This dog... it must be real, right?’
"What kind of dog was it?" Wen Ying asked directly.
"Based on their descriptions, it was a yellow dog. Physically, it looked no different from any other common yellow dog, but everyone who saw it said it had a very special pair of eyes."
The official seemed to be second-guessing their descriptions.
But everyone described it a little differently. "They said the dog was smarter than any other dog in the world, that it was practically human! They could feel it just by looking into its eyes. It was a magical sensation, and they insisted they weren’t mistaken—that dog was special. Its eyes seemed to talk."
"Yes, yes!" The official nodded emphatically, then said with conviction, "They could talk!"
"Amidst the chaos, when they looked into the dog’s eyes, they felt like they heard a voice speaking. It was by following its directions that they were able to escape the mist safely."
’Talking eyes?’
Beyond that, the official couldn’t provide any more details. After all, he was just relaying secondhand information and hadn’t seen the dog himself.
Little White was very interested in the talking dog.
She had been a little sad that Dahuang couldn’t talk. ’To think I’d run into a talking dog here, in this unfamiliar place!’
Little White looked at Wen Ying pleadingly. "Sister, can we go take a look? Please?"
The man didn’t know Little White. Seeing her call Doctor Wen "sister," he couldn’t help but smile and reply, "Doctor Wen, your sister is so full of life. But the dog has already vanished without a trace. We’ve been looking for a long time but haven’t found it. I’m afraid you won’t be able to see it either, Doctor Wen."
Wen Ying didn’t have the heart to disappoint Little White after she pleaded like that.
"I’d like to meet one of the survivors. Just one will be fine."
"Well... all right! But they can’t handle any more stress."
Wen Ying took a piece of talisman paper from her pocket and handed it to the official. "This is a peace charm. It can help you withstand one fatal attack."
The official held the peace charm, grinning from ear to ear.
’This gives me an extra life!’
’This isn’t something money or power can buy!’
’Sure enough, getting on Doctor Wen’s good side has only benefits and no drawbacks.’
Next, the official personally arranged for them to meet one of the young men. "Doctor Wen, this young man’s thoughts are a bit clearer. I imagine it will be easier to ask him questions."
When Wen Ying met the young man, the official discreetly excused himself.
The young man was leaning against his hospital bed, dressed in his own clothes rather than a patient’s gown. "Who are you? I’m getting discharged today."
"We heard you saw a talking dog?"
Little White, ever the straight shooter, didn’t believe in beating around the bush.
"You...?"
The young man looked at Wen Ying and the other two with suspicion. "What do you want?"
’That dog saved my life,’ he thought. ’There’s no way I’m selling it out!’
Wen Ying thought for a moment before replying, "You must recognize the man who brought us here, right? So we’re obviously not bad people, nor are we here to harm you."
The young man nodded.
He hadn’t known the official before, but ever since he emerged from the mist at Ju City High School, he’d been subject to official visits and other arrangements.
So he recognized the man was some kind of high-ranking official.
’I can’t believe he personally escorted these three to see me.’
’No, not to see me. To ask me questions.’
’Since people from the government are here, I guess that means they want me to cooperate.’
"The dog really can talk—no, that’s not right. It can’t speak, but... when we looked at it, when we made eye contact, we felt like it was talking. It was like telepathic communication, the kind you read about in cultivation novels. Do you know what I mean?"
As a young man who enjoyed novels, he was intimately familiar with the genre and knew exactly how to describe the feeling.
’Telepathic communication!’
The young man’s tone grew urgent as he spoke, as if he was afraid they wouldn’t believe him.
’But everything I’m saying is true!’
’The sensation was just so incredible!’
If it hadn’t been for what happened at Ju City High School, he never would have believed that something like telepathic communication could actually exist in this world!
"We understand," Wen Ying immediately affirmed.
The young man finally let out a sigh of relief. "So, I’m sure that dog is no ordinary animal!"
Everyone already knew that.
"Did it say anything to you?"
The young man seemed to be trying to remember. "It just told me to follow it, and then to get something that looked like a key. After that, there was a loud CRASH, and I felt like I was falling. The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and I was outside."
"So, do you know where the dog is?" Little White asked, her face full of hope.
Although he didn’t understand why this little girl was asking questions like a grown-up, the young man still shook his head.
"If it’s some kind of divine being, we’ll never be able to find it. It will only appear when it wants to. With something this major happening, if there really are gods in this world, they wouldn’t just stand by and watch humanity be destroyed, would they?"
The young man’s thoughts started to wander, and he began to ramble.
Wen Ying took out her phone, found a photo, and showed it to him.
The young man didn’t understand, but he looked at the phone anyway—and saw the very dog he had been dreaming of seeing again!
His breathing grew ragged. "You... how do you have a picture of him?"
Wen Ying put her phone away. A theory was beginning to form in her mind.
"I was lucky enough to run into him once. I thought he was cute, so I snapped a picture."
The young man clearly saw Wen Ying as a kindred spirit and began chattering away, sharing all sorts of his own theories.
Little White glanced at Wen Ying, curious to see what her sister had shown the man, but since her sister said nothing, she knew not to spoil the act.
As they were leaving, Wen Ying made a point of giving the young man a peace charm.
As soon as they left the hospital, Little White looked at Wen Ying impatiently. "Sister..."
How could Wen Ying not know what Little White was thinking? She casually opened her photo gallery and handed over the phone.
"Dahuang???"
"No way! It’s really Dahuang?"
"’I knew it, I was right! That Dahuang is no ordinary dog! Hmph!’"
Little White muttered to herself. Kong Jian, standing beside her, also saw the photo. He couldn’t believe that the god-like dog from Ju City High School was actually Dahuang from the mountain.
’So, that dog has been hiding its true abilities from us all this time?’
-
After leaving the hospital, Wen Ying took Little White and Kong Jian back to Ju City High School.
From the main entrance onward, Ju City High School was completely shrouded in mist.
There were a few people scattered about nearby, so few you could count them on one hand.
But these people didn’t look like locals.
They were milling around outside Ju City High School, looking more like they were observing the place.
When one of them saw Wen Ying and the two children standing outside Ju City High School, he actually walked over.
"Hey, miss, this isn’t a place for you. You should leave while you can!"
Wen Ying knew the man meant well, but she didn’t leave.
"Thanks for the warning. I’m just here to have a look."
"Sigh. You can lead a horse to water... ah, forget it. Anyway, we’re all here for the ’good stuff.’ I won’t try to change your mind, but whatever you do, don’t take those two kids in there!"
"’Good stuff?’"
Wen Ying genuinely had no idea. ’What good stuff?’
"You don’t know? You really don’t know?" The man scrutinized Wen Ying’s face, trying to tell if she was lying.
But Wen Ying truly didn’t know.
So her expression gave nothing away.
"You don’t know about the pen?"
"What pen?" Wen Ying frowned.
’Something else happened here, and the officials didn’t mention a single word about it?’
"The Divine Pen... shh, keep your voice down. Anyway, it seems someone got a pen with special powers from inside! In short, it’s amazing! See all those people hiding in the shadows? They’re all here for the pen! And I... well, I want to take a look too, of course."
"If someone already took the pen, you won’t be able to get it even if you go inside, right?"
"Well... if there was a pen, there must be other, even more amazing things! Who wouldn’t want to become a superhero overnight?"
"If the pen is so amazing, didn’t anyone try to steal it?"
"Steal it? Are you kidding? Let me tell you, that pen has already been handed over to the higher-ups! You get me? The higher-ups! Heh heh, I have connections ’up there,’ which is how I know. Don’t you dare tell anyone else!"
With that, the man stopped talking to Wen Ying, turned around, and walked away.
Wen Ying recalled what Jiang Zhishang had told her.
She had no intention of entering Ju City High School.
「That same day, Wen Ying took Little White and Kong Jian back to her hometown.」
She had been away for a while. The clinic was closed, looking just as she had left it.
Little White grew excited when she saw the clinic. It had been so long since she’d been back. This was her home turf.
’My little brothers had better listen to me!’
Kong Jian looked around curiously. ’Is this where Liger and Da Guo live?’
She opened the door. The clinic wasn’t spotless, but it was clear someone had been cleaning it.
’It must have been Aunt Zhang.’
After tidying up a bit, Wen Ying took Little White and Kong Jian to find Uncle Zhang.
To her surprise, the door to the general store was closed.
Uncle Zhang was known for opening his shop early every single day, without exception, even when he was sick.
But now, the door to the general store was locked.
"Little Ying? You’re back!" a neighbor called out in surprise upon seeing Wen Ying.
Wen Ying smiled. "I’m back."
"It’s good to have you back! We were starting to think you couldn’t get used to life here anymore and had moved to the city for good."
"Aunt Miao, why isn’t Uncle Zhang’s shop open?"
"You mean Old Zhang? His store has been closed for a few days now. We have no idea what’s going on. We have to go much farther to buy anything now. Oh, Little Ying, and who are these two children?"