Edited—

With a click, the iron lock on the massive cage was removed by Ye Zhen. She was clearly terrified of the creatures inside that no longer resembled dogs but rather looked like monsters. Fear was written all over her face, from the corners of her eyes to the tips of her brows.

The dogs in the cage seemed to have heard the sound of Ye Zhen unlocking it and began slowly moving toward this side. Their faces were hidden within strands of black hair, and under the dim lighting, they appeared even more ferocious and terrifying.

Zhou Jiayu noticed that the way these dogs walked was somewhat strange. Looking carefully, he realized their movements were more like people crouching on the ground and slowly shuffling forward rather than canines. Could these animals really be transforming into human forms? Just as Zhou Jiayu was thinking this, he saw Lin Zhushui reach out and pull open the bars, walking directly inside.

Although he was very clear on Lin Zhushui’s strength, seeing him do something dangerous still inevitably made him nervous. Zhou Jiayu involuntarily held his breath, afraid of startling the dogs in the cage.

Lin Zhushui, however, didn’t seem afraid at all. He entered the cage and walked toward the dog in the corner that Ye Zhen had said was the first to start changing.

The surrounding dogs began low growls. Some bared their sharp teeth at Lin Zhushui. Zhou Jiayu could even see transparent saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths, falling to the ground and staining it with dark marks.

The dog innermost had been facing away from them the whole time. It heard Lin Zhushui’s footsteps, and its body twitched slightly, but it didn’t turn around.

Lin Zhushui quietly looked at the dog before him, as if waiting for something.

The air seemed to freeze. The people outside the cage didn’t dare breathe, observing the situation inside.

After a moment, that dog slowly turned its head. The moment its face turned around, everyone outside the cage sucked in a cold breath. If the other dogs in the cage only had faces that were sixty to seventy percent similar to humans, then this dog’s appearance was almost no different from a human’s. However, its features were extremely ugly—its eyes were narrowed into a long, thin slit, its nose was collapsed, and its mouth was very large. Although it looked like a person, every one of its facial features emanated disharmony.

Lin Zhushui seemed to intend to walk directly up to the dog’s side. But the moment he took a step, a sharp whistling sound rang out from outside the room. The moment this whistle sounded, the dogs in the cage instantly began roaring in succession. Their emotions became extremely volatile, and several even began surrounding Lin Zhushui, their mouths wide open, looking as if they were ready to attack at any moment.

“What’s going on?” Lin Jue asked displeased.

“It’s evening… time to feed them.” Ye Zhen was also a bit nervous. What she was nervous about, however, wasn’t Lin Zhushui’s safety but rather whether these monsters would rush out of the cage. “Every time they’re fed, the caretaker blows a whistle…”

Zhou Jiayu suddenly thought of something and frowned. “You mean you haven’t been feeding them?”

Ye Zhen mumbled a couple of sentences, but still told the truth. “How do I feed them? These things are so ferocious, they already bit someone to death… Who would still dare to feed them?”

It seemed it wasn’t just that she didn’t dare feed them; Ye Zhen had abandoned this entire room of dogs. One could clearly see that in another direction of the cage there was excrement. Previously Zhou Jiayu had only thought she didn’t dare let people clean up; who knew she wasn’t even willing to give them food. The starving monstrous dogs in the cage, hearing the feeding whistle, all became agitated and slowly moved their feet, actually wanting to surround Lin Zhushui.

Lin Zhushui’s face still showed no expression, but Zhou Jiayu outside was getting a bit anxious. “Will something happen?”

Lin Jue said, “It should be fine. Your Sir knows what he’s doing.” Since Lin Zhushui dared to go in, he definitely had confidence; otherwise, he absolutely wouldn’t have put himself in danger.

Several dozen monstrous dogs surrounded Lin Zhushui, and it looked like they were about to launch an attack on him.

At this critical moment, the dog that had been curled up in the corner let out a whimpering sound. This sound was very light and very weak, but the moment it came out, the monstrous dogs that had wanted to attack Lin Zhushui instantly stopped moving.

Lin Zhushui said, “You’re quite smart.” He was clearly speaking to that dog.

From an outsider’s perspective, the one who should have been in crisis at this moment was Lin Zhushui, but his relaxed expression contrasted with that dog’s nervous attitude, making it seem as if the ones in danger were instead the dogs attempting to attack Lin Zhushui.

Lin Zhushui slowly walked to the side of that monstrous dog.

The monstrous dog sized up Lin Zhushui with its eyes. Its pupils were completely black; at a glance, they looked like two pitch-black holes. It crouched on the ground, its gaze appearing dead and cold, showing not a trace of the loyalty and gentleness unique to canines.

Lin Zhushui actually squatted down with his back to the people outside.

This action made a thin layer of cold sweat form on Zhou Jiayu’s palms. If the dogs nearby really planned to attack Lin Zhushui at this moment, he didn’t know if Lin Zhushui would be able to react in time.

Fortunately, what Zhou Jiayu was worried about didn’t happen. Lin Zhushui squatted on the ground for about four or five minutes. During this time, he seemed to be saying something in a low voice; the one he was conversing with was clearly the monstrous dog before him.

“Is Mr. Lin talking to it?” Ye Zhen’s expression was a bit strange.

“Probably.” Lin Jue casually responded.

“As expected of Mr. Lin… truly amazing.” Ye Zhen praised. Unfortunately, at this moment everyone’s attention was on Lin Zhushui, and no one paid attention to her.

A few minutes later, Lin Zhushui got up and walked toward the outside of the cage.

Ye Zhen eagerly rushed forward. “Mr. Lin, how is it?” She didn’t forget to hang the iron lock back on the cage.

“Miss Ye.” Lin Zhushui’s tone was quite gentle, but the words that came out weren’t so gentle. “You should be glad you only killed two dogs.”

Ye Zhen’s expression stiffened.

“If all the dogs here had died, then you probably wouldn’t have had the chance to come find me.” Lin Zhushui said.

Ye Zhen was so frightened by Lin Zhushui’s words that her face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling as she couldn’t speak.

“So what did you dream of?” Lin Zhushui asked.

“I…” Ye Zhen’s cheek twitched, and she said very quietly, “I dreamed that I also turned into a dog…”

Lin Zhushui raised an eyebrow.

“And was thrown into the fighting arena.” Although it was only a few words, the fear on Ye Zhen’s face indicated just how terrifying this dream was to her. “Mr. Lin, this dream… it won’t come true, right?”

Facing Ye Zhen’s question, Lin Zhushui didn’t answer. His thin lips parted slightly as he spoke: “It’s getting late today. Let’s rest first.”

Under normal circumstances, when Lin Zhushui could resolve things quickly, he wouldn’t delay. Today he had actually taken the initiative to ask for rest, which seemed somewhat unusual.

Hearing Lin Zhushui say this, Ye Zhen also didn’t feel right asking for more. She reluctantly nodded and said okay, saying she had already prepared meals and accommodations and asked everyone to rest well first.

Dinner was very sumptuous, but after seeing that scene in the afternoon, no one had much appetite. Even Shen Yiqiong, who wasn’t picky about food at all, didn’t touch his chopsticks much, let alone Lin Zhushui.

They weren’t arranged to stay at a hotel but were placed nearby at the Ye family old residence. Zhou Jiayu had originally thought the Ye family would have quite a few people, but after entering he discovered that besides the servants, the only ones living here seemed to be Ye Zhen and her uncle.

After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.

Zhou Jiayu’s room was next to Shen Yiqiong’s. Before sleeping, he ran over to Shen Yiqiong’s place to chat for a while.

“This Ye Zhen definitely still has something she’s hiding from us.” Shen Yiqiong hugged a bag of melon seeds, lying on the bed and cracking them. “Those dogs definitely couldn’t have turned into that for no reason.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “What exactly is the origin of these dogs? I remember when my soul left my body back then, I seemed to have seen this kind of thing in the underworld too.” It was just that the ones in the underworld were even larger in size and had an even more dangerous aura.

“The underworld?” Shen Yiqiong only now remembered that Zhou Jiayu had his soul slapped out of his body by someone. He leaned over and said, “Right, I haven’t even asked you. What exactly did you encounter down there?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “That would be a long story…”

Then Shen Yiqiong listened to a long bedtime story. After he finished listening, the sky was completely dark. Zhou Jiayu looked at Shen Yiqiong, who was shrunken in the blankets with only his eyes exposed, and showed a pitying expression. “Good night, little baby.”

Shen Yiqiong said painfully, “Guan’er, you’ve changed.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “It’s not me who changed; it’s the world.” Then he left gracefully, not forgetting to turn off the light at the doorway. Having seen too many dirty things, his immunity was starting to strengthen. Only Shen Yiqiong, this cowardly dog, still couldn’t get used to it…

When Zhou Jiayu got into bed, he was still feeling proud of having scared Shen Yiqiong. But the moment he fell asleep, he regretted it—he dreamed of dogfighting.

It was a noisy dream. Zhou Jiayu seemed to be suspended in mid-air, looking down from above at the trapped beasts fighting to the death in an iron cage. Before his eyes were two massive dogs with strong muscles and sharp teeth, currently attacking each other, pouncing and dodging, every move fatal. Wounds, blood, stimulating the nerves of the people around. Some were cheering, some were cursing.

Zhou Jiayu saw that the whites of their eyes were stained with red blood vessels. The string called reason had completely snapped. The slightly larger fighting dog leaped up fiercely and bit into the other’s neck. Its sharp teeth deeply embedded into the flesh. The dog that had been bitten in a vital area struggled like crazy, but as it suffocated, its strength began to weaken, and the intensity of its struggle gradually faded.

Won, won! A woman’s shrill laughter rang out from the crowd. Zhou Jiayu saw Ye Zhen standing by the cage.

Compared to the Ye Zhen he had met today, the one in the dream was practically a different person. Her face carried a frenzied smile as she forcefully slapped the railing, her mouth emitting piercing laughter: “Bite it to death, bite it to death!!!”

The fighting dog, obeying its master’s command, tightened the force of its bite and forcibly bit its fellow creature to death. Then it loosened its mouth, swayed as it walked to Ye Zhen’s side, stuck out its tongue, and wagged its tail, longing for its master’s affection.

Ye Zhen reached out and stroked its head, not caring that its fur had just been stained with blood. “You’re so beautiful. I love you to death.” She rubbed her cheek against the fighting dog’s wet fur, her eyes full of love.

The fighting dog also happily used its tongue to lick its master’s cheek, as if it couldn’t feel the pain in its body…

Zhou Jiayu felt somewhat uncomfortable watching this scene, but before he could think carefully, the scene in the dream changed. It was another fierce battle, but this time, the loser became the fighting dog that Ye Zhen had previously shown such intense affection for.

Its entire body was covered in wounds, lying in the prison cage on the verge of death, looking at Ye Zhen outside the cage with full expectation.

However, this time, Ye Zhen didn’t step forward. Her expression was cold with disgust, and her gaze only swept over the large dog lying on the ground before moving away.

Someone nearby was speaking: “Miss Ye, it seems your dog king isn’t doing so well either.”

“Winning for three years, what more do you want? But don’t get cocky. Among the new dogs I’ve trained, there are some even more powerful than this one.” Ye Zhen responded with a cold laugh.

After saying this, Ye Zhen casually instructed the people beside her to dispose of the large dog that had already lost its fighting ability.

Although Zhou Jiayu had already mentally prepared himself, when he saw the people around him picking up iron bars and walking toward the large dog, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable.

The large dog also seemed to understand its fate. Its eyes full of expectation began to dim. It tried hard to move its body, letting out soft whimpers from its mouth, as if wanting to get close to Ye Zhen and have her look at it one more time.

But Ye Zhen left without looking back. To her, a dog without fighting ability was no different from garbage.

The iron bar was raised high, then fell heavily. Zhou Jiayu involuntarily closed his eyes, unwilling to see this scene again. But the sound of the iron bar striking flesh and the large dog’s mournful whimper lingered in Zhou Jiayu’s ears…

He had thought such behavior was already excessive enough, but when Zhou Jiayu opened his eyes again, he saw an incomprehensible scene.

The large dog’s corpse actually hadn’t been buried but was dragged back to the dog farm. After being skinned, it was chopped into several pieces with a knife. Then, the people at the dog farm cooked all these pieces of meat, mixed them with some feed, and distributed them as food to the other fighting dogs at the dog farm.

The sounds of eating rang out. Zhou Jiayu felt cold all over watching this scene. He hadn’t expected Ye Zhen’s dog farm to be this insane.

“Once these dogs eat the meat of other dogs, their bloodlust will be stimulated.” Someone was speaking; it seemed to be Ye Zhen’s voice. “This is also our dog farm’s special secret recipe.” She laughed. “Look, the dog kings of these past few years have all come from our dog farm. Hahaha, impressive, right?”

At this moment, Zhou Jiayu was suddenly filled with disgust toward Ye Zhen. This girl who looked gentle and cute on the surface was doing things that made people want to vomit. Cannibalism among the same species was something that should only appear under extreme circumstances, but Ye Zhen treated it as a special secret recipe.

The unwilling gaze of that massive fighting dog before it died surfaced again in Zhou Jiayu’s heart. He felt his heart filled with an indescribable fury.

A cool sensation suddenly passed over his neck. Zhou Jiayu immediately sobered up quite a bit, and his person also separated from the dream. Opening his eyes, he saw a white ceiling and the heavy night outside the window.

Was this really a dream? It was more like some kind of memory. Zhou Jiayu climbed up from the bed and discovered that his face was covered in sweat.

“Ha…” Zhou Jiayu exhaled, wanting to go to the restroom to wash his face.

It was already almost two in the morning. The room was very quiet; one could only hear the splashing sound of water flowing from the faucet. Zhou Jiayu washed his face and felt much more awake, his heart relaxing slightly. However, when he returned to the bed in the bedroom and prepared to fall asleep again, a very strange sound came to his ears… It was as if something was gnawing on meat.

This sound was very close to Zhou Jiayu, as if it was right behind the door.

“What sound?” Zhou Jiayu said.

Jiba was also sleeping. Hearing Zhou Jiayu’s question, he yawned and lifted his eyelids. “The sound of something eating…”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Useless words were indeed the most useful words.

This sound gave people a very bad feeling. Zhou Jiayu closed his eyes, wanting to force himself to ignore this sound. But the more he thought this way, the louder this sound became, making Zhou Jiayu almost go crazy in the quiet room.

“I can’t take it anymore.” Zhou Jiayu climbed up from the bed.

Jiba said, “Go out and take a look?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “I’m a bit worried.”

Jiba said, “What are you worried about? Sir is right next to you. If there’s really anything dangerous, he’ll definitely take care of it first.”

That did make sense. This sound was too uncomfortable to listen to. If he ignored it, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep the whole night. Zhou Jiayu didn’t go out directly. Instead, he first opened the door a crack and looked outside.

The corridor was completely empty. The sound that had originally seemed so close, as if right at the door, upon careful listening was actually discovered to be coming from downstairs.

Now Zhou Jiayu was a bit hesitant. He was thinking about whether he should go see what was going on by himself.

“Why don’t you go next door and call Sir to come with you?” Jiba suggested.

Zhou Jiayu said, “Is that okay?”

Jiba said, “Why wouldn’t it be? Sir won’t eat you.” He blinked his black eyes and made the suggestion with a very sincere attitude.

If this had been before, Zhou Jiayu definitely wouldn’t have dared to trouble Lin Zhushui. But now Zhou Jiayu wasn’t as afraid of Lin Zhushui as he was at the beginning. After hesitating a moment, Zhou Jiayu, whose heart was panicked by the continuous chewing sounds, still decided to knock on Sir’s door and ask what exactly was going on.

Knock knock knock. He carefully knocked three times. Zhou Jiayu stood before Lin Zhushui’s door, his expression appearing somewhat uneasy.

The door creaked open. Lin Zhushui appeared before Zhou Jiayu wearing pajamas. His voice carried a bit of a hoarse quality, sounding much softer than usual. “What’s wrong?”

“Sir.” Zhou Jiayu said, “I heard chewing sounds downstairs and wanted to ask if you heard them?”

Lin Zhushui nodded to indicate he had heard them.

Zhou Jiayu said, “I…”

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Zhushui had already seen through his thoughts and said, “Let’s go. I’ll accompany you downstairs to take a look.”

Zhou Jiayu’s face showed delight. With Lin Zhushui there, it didn’t seem to matter if he立了个flag in this terrifying atmosphere…

The sound was coming from downstairs. After carefully searching, Zhou Jiayu locked onto the kitchen. The closer they got to the kitchen, the louder the chewing sounds became. Standing at the doorway, one could even hear heavy swallowing sounds coming from inside.

Lin Zhushui looked at Zhou Jiayu, who was hesitating at the door, and slightly lifted his chin, indicating to go in. Seeing Lin Zhushui’s expression, Zhou Jiayu’s heart relaxed. He boldly stepped forward and entered the kitchen.

However, when he clearly saw the situation inside the kitchen, he was stunned. He saw Ye Zhen’s uncle sitting in the kitchen, swallowing large mouthfuls of a piece of bright red meat. This meat was definitely raw; Zhou Jiayu could even see the blood dripping from it. Ye Zhen’s uncle held the meat in his hand, his expression ferocious as he tore at it. Hearing the sound from the doorway, he raised his head with a ferocious gaze… It was the expression of a beast whose meal had been interrupted, so fierce that it looked like he might pounce over at any moment.

Zhou Jiayu was startled. Lin Zhushui, however, raised an eyebrow and indifferently said, “Good evening.”

Ye Zhen’s uncle reached out and heavily wiped the fresh blood from his chin, then cracked open his mouth to reveal a strange smile. “Goo… d… eve… ning.” Speaking seemed to be a very difficult thing for him. He tried hard for a long time before squeezing out these three words from his mouth. It seemed Ye Zhen saying he had communication problems wasn’t a lie.

“Are you eating a midnight snack?” Although the scene was incomparably bizarre, fortunately what appeared before his eyes was a person and not some strange dirty thing. After recovering, Zhou Jiayu wasn’t that afraid anymore.

“Wu… eat… meat.” He put down the meat in his hand, used a napkin to wipe clean the areas around his lips stained red with blood. “Hungry.”

Zhou Jiayu also didn’t know what to say. He said, “Then… please continue eating?”

Ye Zhen’s uncle didn’t speak and silently looked at him. The ferocity in his eyes had receded, returning to the peacefulness of daytime, as if what Zhou Jiayu had seen just now was merely his imagination.

“Let’s go.” Lin Zhushui’s expression was calm from beginning to end.

So Zhou Jiayu and Lin Zhushui returned to the second floor.

“Sir, why is he alone in the kitchen eating raw meat?” Zhou Jiayu spoke in a small voice.

“Didn’t he say he was hungry?” Lin Zhushui said, “When people are hungry, they always want to eat something.”

Zhou Jiayu didn’t know if he was overthinking it, but he always felt that Lin Zhushui’s expression when saying these words was quite meaningful.

“Scared me. I thought it was some dirty thing.” Zhou Jiayu also felt he was overthinking.

“You did well.” Lin Zhushui suddenly spoke, actually praising Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu was overwhelmed by the favor and said, “Sir, what are you praising me for…”

“In the future, when you encounter this kind of thing, don’t think about going by yourself. Come find me first.” Lin Zhushui said, “Remember?”

Hearing these words, Zhou Jiayu was extremely moved. He nodded heavily, and only after nodding did he remember that Lin Zhushui couldn’t see, so he said yes out loud.

“Still scared?” Lin Zhushui asked again.

Zhou Jiayu answered honestly, “Not scared anymore.”

“Mm, then go back and sleep.” Lin Zhushui’s words paused for a moment. “If you’re scared, you can come sleep in my room.”

Hearing these words, Zhou Jiayu immediately felt some regret. He should have just answered that he was scared just now. Then he could have gone to Sir’s room to freeload a night’s sleep—wouldn’t that have been blissful?

But the words were already out; it was too late to regret them. Zhou Jiayu said goodbye to Lin Zhushui and returned to his own room to rest. Fortunately, in the latter half of the night, he didn’t encounter any strange situations again and slept until dawn.

The next day, Zhou Jiayu saw Ye Zhen’s uncle in the dining room again. This time he was sitting beside Ye Zhen, eating breakfast with elegant movements, completely unlike the ferocious appearance of gnawing on raw meat last night. When he saw Lin Zhushui and Zhou Jiayu, he slightly nodded, counting as a greeting.

After seeing such a terrifying scene yesterday, everyone’s sleep at night seemed to have been somewhat affected. Among them, Ye Zhen was actually the one who showed it the most obviously. Her skin was fair, and the dark circles under her eyes were very obvious. Her haggard appearance was telling everyone that she had rested very poorly last night.

After seeing Lin Zhushui, Ye Zhen’s expression was hesitant to speak. In the end, she still couldn’t hold back and said softly, “Mr. Lin, I dreamed again last night.”

“What did you dream of?” Lin Zhushui asked.

Ye Zhen bit her lower lip and said, “I dreamed… that I turned into a dog, and then… was eaten by other dogs.”

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Author’s Note:

Lin Zhushui: You performed well.

Zhou Jiayu softly choked back a sob.

Lin Zhushui: In the future, this kind of thing can only be done with me. Understood?

Zhou Jiayu nodded with reddened corners of his eyes, whimpering.