Edited—

Regarding the dream, Ye Zhen’s description was very brief. But after last night, Zhou Jiayu keenly felt that she was concealing something about the dream’s contents.

“Eaten by dogs? How exactly?” Shen Yiqiong asked.

“It was… failing in the dogfighting arena… and being eaten by dogs.” Ye Zhen’s words were very vague; she clearly didn’t want to describe the details.

Lin Zhushui only made a faint “mm” sound upon hearing this. His indifferent attitude made everyone at the table sense something.

Seeing that Lin Zhushui wasn’t speaking, an anxious expression surfaced on Ye Zhen’s face. If she had encountered an ordinary feng shui master, she probably would have started throwing a fit long ago. But unfortunately, the person before her was Lin Zhushui, whom she didn’t dare provoke. So in the end, Ye Zhen could only forcefully suppress the anger in her heart and squeeze out a not-so-sweet smile. “Mr. Lin, look… when can this matter be resolved?”

Lin Zhushui had only drunk a little of the porridge on the table for breakfast. Hearing Ye Zhen’s words, he said, “After the meal, take me to the place where you buried the dogs.”

Ye Zhen said, “The place where the dogs were buried…?” She was a bit puzzled. “What are we going there for?”

Lin Zhushui couldn’t be bothered to explain. “Just go.”

Ye Zhen nodded and said okay.

“Also.” Lin Zhushui remembered something and added, “This morning, remember to feed the dogs in the cage a meal. Feed them the best meat.”

Hearing this, Ye Zhen quickly took out her phone and called the dog farm, instructing them to properly feed the dogs in the cage. The caretaker on the other end was clearly a bit afraid too, but Ye Zhen’s attitude was quite impatient. She said into the phone, “If you’re really scared, just throw the stuff beside the cage and use a stick to push it in—if you’re still scared, I’ll replace you.”

Only then did the people at the dog farm agree. Ye Zhen casually hung up the phone and smiled ingratiatingly at Lin Zhushui. “Mr. Lin, I’ve already had them go feed the dogs. When can we leave?”

“After we’re full.” Lin Zhushui’s calmness formed a sharp contrast with Ye Zhen’s anxiety.

Although Ye Zhen was quite an awful person, the food tasted quite good. Zhou Jiayu ate a basket of soup dumplings, drank some porridge, and gnawed on shrimp dumplings and a few silver-thread rolls before he was full. While eating, he kept paying attention to Ye Zhen’s uncle beside her. He discovered that Ye Zhen’s uncle also hadn’t touched much of the food on the table, looking as if he wasn’t very interested in these things. He drank a bit of porridge, casually ate a little something, then put down his chopsticks and fell silent.

The two people’s gazes occasionally met. Zhou Jiayu couldn’t see any of last night’s frenzy in his eyes at all; there was only a deep black like the night sky.

“Let’s go.” It was almost nine-thirty. Everyone had more or less finished eating, so Lin Zhushui finally spoke up and proposed leaving.

Ye Zhen got up as if relieved of a burden and said, “The place where the dogs are buried is right next to the dog farm. We’ll drive over; it’ll be there in a bit, very close…”

Lin Zhushui nodded.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the place Ye Zhen had spoken of. Actually, the so-called place where the dogs were buried was essentially a garbage dump with a very terrible environment. Recently the weather had been hot, and before they even got close, it emitted a nauseating stench. The garbage and sewage on both sides of the road made people unwilling to approach this place.

An unconcealed expression of disgust appeared in Ye Zhen’s eyes. She covered her mouth and nose with her hand and said, “Mr. Lin, it’s here.”

Lin Zhushui’s expression had been very cold from the moment he got out of the car. At this moment, his tone was even more frighteningly icy. “You couldn’t even be bothered to bury them?”

Ye Zhen was a bit embarrassed. She said, “Mm… because quite a few dogs died, and burying them would be a bit too troublesome.” This was the excuse she found, but only Zhou Jiayu knew that the reason Ye Zhen didn’t bury the dogs was because the dog corpses couldn’t be buried at all. The bones had all been crushed and fed to their own kind; only some remains were left. There was no need for the trouble of digging holes. In the end, throwing them into the garbage dump together with household waste wasn’t anything surprising.

Before Lin Zhushui could speak, Lin Jue unleashed a torrent of cold sarcasm at Ye Zhen. “The more people I meet, the more I like dogs.”

Ye Zhen’s face showed a bit of embarrassment. She bit her lip and didn’t dare retort. She could also tell that if she really angered Lin Jue, her matter would fall through too.

This garbage dump was too disgusting. After the few of them walked in, they indeed discovered a few dog corpses inside. However, these dog corpses were all quite thin and small, their bodies covered in wounds. They looked like breeds eliminated from the dog farm—too skinny and without much meat, so they hadn’t been taken to feed their own kind.

Lin Zhushui kept walking forward until he reached the deepest part of the garbage dump. Then he took out a thumb-sized bead from his bosom and lit it with a lighter.

After the bead was lit, it emitted a faint sandalwood fragrance. This scent wasn’t strong, but it quickly covered the dense stench of the garbage dump, making Zhou Jiayu involuntarily breathe a sigh of relief.

Shen Yiqiong beside him also had an expression as if he had eaten shit. He looked at Ye Zhen as if she were a fly, not even willing to get close to her.

The ashes from the burned bead were also sprinkled onto the land polluted by garbage. Lin Zhushui softly recited something under his breath. A moment later, his footsteps suddenly paused. He bent down and gently brushed away the loose soil on top of a small mound by the roadside.

Once the loose soil was gone, what was revealed below was actually a canine skull. The color of the skull was an ink-like black, carrying a bit of luster. At first glance, it didn’t look like a skeleton at all but rather like some kind of craft object.

“What is this?!” Ye Zhen was startled when she saw the skull and involuntarily took a few steps back.

Lin Zhushui’s expression remained as bland as ever. He reached out and dug the skull out from the soil, then took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped it clean.

When Lin Zhushui came here earlier, he had stated that there was something here he wanted. Now it seemed this skull was the thing he had spoken of.

“Zhushui, what is this?” Lin Jue asked puzzled.

“Have you heard of underworld dogs?” Lin Zhushui said.

“I’ve heard of them.” Lin Jue said, “Aren’t they those legendary evil spirits that eat human souls on the road to the Yellow Springs?” She seemed to remember something, her lips parting. “But this kind of dog…” She stopped halfway through her sentence, thoughtfully glanced at Ye Zhen beside her, then pressed her lips together heavily.

“Mr. Lin, is this the thing causing trouble?” Ye Zhen asked apprehensively.

Lin Zhushui casually made an “mm” sound. His long, slender fingers gently stroked the pitch-black skull, actually displaying a strange sense of beauty.

“Then I’m fine?” Seemingly feeling the process had been too easy, Ye Zhen’s tone carried thick doubt.

“Of course it’s not over.” Lin Zhushui said, “There are still two things you need to do.”

Ye Zhen said, “What?”

Lin Zhushui said, “First, shut down the dog farm. From now on, you cannot participate in anything related to dogfighting.”

Before the matter of life, hobbies were abandoned quite readily. Ye Zhen agreed repeatedly and then asked, “Then what’s the second thing?”

The second thing… Lin Zhushui said something that none of them had expected. He said, “Kill the dogs in the cage.”

The moment Ye Zhen heard Lin Zhushui’s words, her eyes instantly widened. She said, “But when I killed a few before, I kept having nightmares. If I kill all of them this time, won’t I…”

Lin Zhushui said, “If you don’t believe me, you can keep them.”

Clearly, Ye Zhen also didn’t want to keep that cage of monstrous dogs. Her expression was extremely conflicted. In the end, she said, “Mr. Lin, I believe you, but my heart truly feels somewhat uneasy. Could you trouble yourself to stay a few more days?”

When she made this request, Zhou Jiayu had originally thought Lin Zhushui would directly refuse. He hadn’t expected that Lin Zhushui would actually directly agree. “Okay.”

Ye Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, even Lin Jue’s face showed some puzzlement, as if she didn’t understand why Lin Zhushui was being so agreeable.

Ye Zhen then showed a joyful expression and said, “Mr. Lin, since it’s fine now, let’s hurry and leave. This place is so dirty.”

Everyone turned around and left.

Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu quietly whispered to each other, asking why Sir was helping Ye Zhen.

Zhou Jiayu said, “Are you sure Sir is helping her…”

Shen Yiqiong said, “What do you mean?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “I rather feel that Sir made some kind of deal with those dogs.”

Shen Yiqiong was silent for a moment, seemingly remembering what happened after Lin Zhushui entered the dog cage yesterday. Lin Zhushui had indeed squatted down, looking as if he had conversed with the dog in the cage.

Shen Yiqiong said, “If that’s really the case, I’m really curious what kind of agreement Sir reached with the dogs.”

It wasn’t just Shen Yiqiong; practically all of them were quite curious. But with Ye Zhen present, it wasn’t convenient to ask, so they could only hold it in their hearts.

After returning to the Ye residence, Ye Zhen proposed going to deal with the monstrous dogs in the cage. She tactfully asked Lin Zhushui what method would be better.

Lin Zhushui said, “Electrocution. Best to kill with one strike. The more pain you inflict, the longer the resentment will linger.”

Ye Zhen said okay and immediately had people arrange it. She also asked Lin Zhushui if he wanted to be present.

Lin Zhushui nodded, indicating they could go.

Lin Jue, however, wasn’t willing. She said, “Zhushui, you go. I won’t go. It’s so hot today; I can’t be bothered to run.” She said it was because of the heat, but in her heart she probably didn’t want to see the scene of those monstrous dogs being executed.

“Okay.” Lin Zhushui then asked his few disciples, “Are you going?”

The disciples didn’t dare to be as willful as Lin Jue, but their faces all showed a bit of reluctance. Especially the younger Shen Yiqiong, whose face looked terrible, but he still said he would go.

They had just arrived at the dog farm when the people Ye Zhen arranged to kill the dogs also came. Looking at their battle-ready appearance, it was more like they were hunting some large carnivorous animal rather than killing dogs. They were armed from head to toe.

Zhou Jiayu arrived before the cage and once again saw the monstrous dogs draped in black hair inside. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he always felt that compared to yesterday, these dogs lacked a kind of ferocity and instead emanated a peaceful air, as if they had fulfilled some wish.

Lin Zhushui stood at the cage door and lightly tapped the bars with his finger. “Go in peace.”

The leading dog slowly moved up to Lin Zhushui. It used those eyes identical to a human’s to quietly gaze at the person outside the cage. Its black eyes were as calm as water, actually carrying a bit of a profound quality.

Ye Zhen didn’t dare meet its gaze at all. She averted her eyes and said, “Mr. Lin, can we begin?”

“Yes.” Lin Zhushui said.

The worker beside them held a high-voltage electric stun gun and slowly walked up to the cage, opening the iron lock on the cage. Ye Zhen took a few steps back, clearly afraid that the dogs inside the cage would take this opportunity to rush out. But what everyone hadn’t expected was that the dogs inside the cage were calm to the point of being somewhat eerie. They crouched in place, looking coldly at the approaching worker, seemingly not planning to resist at all.

From this silence, Ye Zhen vaguely felt something was off. She slightly turned her head and looked at the dog in the cage, only to meet its gaze right then.

That abyss-like black made goosebumps rise all over Ye Zhen’s body. The suppressed fear exploded at once, and she screamed, “Kill them, hurry up and kill them—”

The workers made their move.

The high-voltage electric stun gun struck the monstrous dogs heavily. The monstrous dogs let out a miserable scream, then collapsed to the ground. Their bodies twitched for a moment, then instantly lost their breath.

One, two, like cutting wheat, several dozen monstrous dogs fell in groups. Until the moment of death, they hadn’t moved at all, as if they had already turned into lifeless statues. If not for that scream, they probably wouldn’t have seemed like living creatures at all.

At some point, Ye Zhen, who hadn’t been willing to look at the scene in the cage, turned her head. There wasn’t a trace of compassion or pity in her eyes; one could only see relief.

These mutated large dogs were nothing but a burden to Ye Zhen. Being able to shed this burden at this moment, it was normal for her to be happy.

The last dog also fell. The slaughter scene was quiet from beginning to end, as if it were a silent film. The fierce resistance the workers had imagined didn’t exist either. They finished their work, satisfied, and took off their protective suits.

“Mr. Lin, how should these corpses be handled?” Ye Zhen asked.

“Bury them properly.” Lin Zhushui said.

Ye Zhen nodded, instructed them to choose a cemetery and bury all these dogs. She hesitated a moment, then said in a small voice, “Mr. Lin, can these dogs be cremated?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Yes.”

It seemed Ye Zhen still wasn’t reassured and wanted to use the cleanest and most efficient method to deal with these things just in case. Since they would be burned to ashes, there shouldn’t be any accidents. She thought with satisfaction.

That night, the nightmare Ye Zhen worried about didn’t come. She slept deeply, as if she had already been saved from the curse.

In contrast to her was Zhou Jiayu. He didn’t go into his room to sleep but stood on the balcony smoking. In the scene during the day, those fallen monstrous dogs merged with the figures of the fighting dogs in his dream, making Zhou Jiayu inexplicably feel a bit of irritation in his heart.

“Still not asleep?” Lin Zhushui’s voice actually came from behind Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu turned back in surprise. “Sir?”

“What are you doing?” Lin Zhushui slowly walked to Zhou Jiayu’s side.

“Nothing. I was thinking about what happened during the day.” Zhou Jiayu said, “Sir, isn’t everything Ye Zhen encountered something she brought upon herself?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Naturally, she brought it upon herself.” He paused, then directly pointed out what Zhou Jiayu wanted to say. “You want to ask why I’m helping her?”

Zhou Jiayu was right. He then said, “Sir, actually last night, I had a dream…”

Lin Zhushui said, “What did you dream of?”

Zhou Jiayu let out a light sigh and slowly told Lin Zhushui what he had seen last night. When he spoke of how the fighting dog’s corpse had been made into dog food, Zhou Jiayu actually couldn’t suppress the disgust in his heart, and his tone carried anger. “Isn’t she just reaping what she sowed? Dogfighting is one thing, but the dogs were already dead, and she still treated their corpses like that—”

Lin Zhushui said, “Continue.”

Zhou Jiayu’s eyes were full of fury. “And she doesn’t feel she’s wrong at all. When she saw the monstrous dogs, she was still only thinking of herself!” When he said this, his heart actually began churning with an uncontrollable murderous intent. A thought popped into his head—he hoped Ye Zhen would die. Just then, Lin Zhushui suddenly reached out and tapped Zhou Jiayu on the forehead. This tap made him freeze for a moment, and his emotions also cooled down. Zhou Jiayu suddenly discovered that his state seemed a bit off. Logically speaking, with his personality, even if he was angry, he wouldn’t be this furious, even somewhat approaching losing his reason.

“I-what’s wrong with me?” Zhou Jiayu covered his forehead.

“Empathy, that’s all.” Lin Zhushui said, “Your constitution is like this. In special circumstances, when encountering intense emotions, it’s very easy to be infected.”

Zhou Jiayu swallowed.

Lin Zhushui stretched out his hand toward Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu stared at Lin Zhushui’s hand in a daze for a moment, then hurriedly fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and placed it on top.

Lin Zhushui’s expression stagnated for an instant, then he said with a tone close to a sigh, “Your hand.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Hand?”

Lin Zhushui: “…Your hand.”

Only then did Zhou Jiayu react to what Lin Zhushui meant. He quickly wiped the sweat from his palm and carefully placed his hand into Lin Zhushui’s palm.

Lin Zhushui held Zhou Jiayu’s hand. The two people’s skin touched. Lin Zhushui’s hand was, as always, a bit cold, but this coolness quickly transformed into a continuous stream of warmth, making Zhou Jiayu’s body relax as well.

“In this world, it’s very hard for everything to go as one wishes.” Lin Zhushui’s voice was still very light, but it carried a comforting quality. “This is their own choice.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “They… refers to those mutated monstrous dogs?”

Lin Zhushui nodded. He used both hands to wrap around Zhou Jiayu’s hand, slowly and gently rubbing it. He said, “Some things, once begun, will never end.”

Zhou Jiayu listened somewhat blankly, but feeling the temperature of Lin Zhushui’s palm, the irritation in his heart also disappeared without a trace. At this moment, the depths of his heart were filled with some indescribable emotions. He said, “Sir, I’m a bit sleepy.”

“Go sleep.” Lin Zhushui let go of Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu’s hands were free, but he felt a bit of loss. He said, “Good night, Sir.”

“Good night.” Lin Zhushui said this.

That night, Zhou Jiayu didn’t have any more nightmares either, but his sleep quality wasn’t very good. Between waking and sleeping, the sky at the horizon was already showing the light of dawn.

The next morning, compared to the previous day, Ye Zhen appeared especially energetic. She sat at the dining table, seemingly in extremely good appetite, eating breakfast in large mouthfuls, and even smiled as she greeted Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu couldn’t even be bothered to maintain surface-level courtesy anymore. Hearing Ye Zhen’s greeting, he only glanced at her, too lazy to even respond. If even Zhou Jiayu with his gentle temperament was like this, one could imagine Lin Jue and Shen Yiqiong beside him. They didn’t give Ye Zhen any face at all, treating her as air the entire time. But Ye Zhen had an indifferent appearance anyway. The thing she worried about most was already resolved; whether other people paid attention to her or not, she didn’t care at all.

However, halfway through breakfast, Ye Zhen, who was eating bread, suddenly covered her mouth. Her throat moved up and down, and then she staggered and rushed into the restroom.

Soon, violent vomiting sounds came from the restroom. The sounds were very loud; even Zhou Jiayu and the others in the dining room heard them.

Under normal circumstances, Zhou Jiayu definitely would have gone over to check on her. After all, she was a girl. But now everyone’s impression of Ye Zhen had dropped to the extreme, so from beginning to end, no one went over to ask what was wrong.

Over ten minutes later, Ye Zhen came out of the restroom with a deathly pale face. There were still water droplets on her face; she had probably washed her face.

“Why did I suddenly start vomiting?” Ye Zhen muttered to herself. “Could there be something wrong with the food?”

No one paid attention to her.

Ye Zhen drank a mouthful of milk to moisten her mouth. Zhou Jiayu had originally thought she wouldn’t eat anymore, but who knew that a moment later, Ye Zhen actually began swallowing in large mouthfuls again, looking extremely hungry.

Zhou Jiayu vaguely sensed a sense of dissonance. He quickly found the source of the dissonance—the uncle sitting beside Ye Zhen. He, who normally never showed any expression during the day, was currently staring at his niece wolfing down food beside him with a gentle gaze that made one’s hair stand on end.

Seemingly noticing Zhou Jiayu’s gaze, he slowly turned his head and met Zhou Jiayu’s eyes. After seeing his pupils, Zhou Jiayu suddenly stopped breathing—those were actually a pair of yellow eyes, very beautiful, but definitely not belonging to a human. Rather, they were like those of some canine animal.

But these pupils quickly turned back to black. Zhou Jiayu even wondered if he had hallucinated.

“So hungry.” Ye Zhen was still continuing to eat. She didn’t feel there was anything wrong with herself at all. “I haven’t had such a good appetite in so long. Mr. Lin, thank you so much. If you hadn’t helped me resolve this matter, I really wouldn’t be able to eat.”

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak. He picked up the milk before him and took a small sip.

The breakfast that should have had some leftovers was forcibly finished by Ye Zhen. After eating, she still seemed unsatisfied, licking her lips and muttering how she was still a bit hungry.

The uncle sitting beside her seemed to have guessed this situation. He slowly said to the servant beside him, “Bring it up.”

Hearing this, the servant turned and went to the kitchen, bringing out a steak cooked to medium-rare. This steak still had blood threads hanging on it. After cutting it open, the meat inside was also pink, looking quite delicious.

When Ye Zhen saw the meat, her eyes seemed to light up, and a smile hung on her face. “Uncle, how did you know I wanted to eat meat?”

The uncle didn’t answer and only said, “Eat.”

Ye Zhen picked up her knife and fork and began eating the meat. The tender beef was cut into pieces and forcefully stuffed into her mouth. A blissful smile was on Ye Zhen’s face.

The people at the table all sensed Ye Zhen’s abnormality. Lin Jue’s gaze toward Ye Zhen carried astonishment, but she also didn’t speak. She only waited until after Ye Zhen had cleanly finished eating a plate-sized steak and left the table contentedly, patting her stomach, before she asked Lin Zhushui.

Lin Zhushui’s fingers lightly tapped on the table. His thin lips parted slightly as he said indifferently, “It’s not a big problem. She’s just pregnant.”

“Pregnant?” Lin Jue couldn’t believe it. “Whose child is she pregnant with?”

Lin Zhushui raised an eyebrow. “How would I know? Naturally, this matter must be asked of Ye Zhen herself.”

Although he said this, everyone at the table sensed that something was off. And Zhou Jiayu was even more certain that Ye Zhen’s abnormality clearly had an inseparable relationship with those large dogs that had been killed…

__

Author’s Note:

Lin Zhushui: Hand it over.

Zhou Jiayu obediently handed his hand to Lin Zhushui.

Lin Zhushui: I meant the cigarette.

Zhou Jiayu: …………

Lin Zhushui: I was joking. I still want the hand.

Zhou Jiayu puffed up like a pufferfish.