Dumbo was crouching in front of Jiang He, baring its fangs and sticking out its scarlet tongue.
It was a wolfhound, and looked very much like a wolf.
The fur on its back was black, while its belly and legs were brown. The fur below its neck was white, and it looked very imposing and handsome.
Wolfhounds were rarely seen in cities. They were large and ferocious, making them unsuitable as pets. On the other hand, they were common in rural areas, and there was nothing better than being used as a guard.
"Woah …"
Startled, Jiang He shone his phone's flashlight at the dog. "Dumbo, what are you doing coming to my house in the middle of the night?"
The light was blinding.
Dumbo turned its head away and wagged its tail hard at Jiang He.
When a dog wags its tail at a person, it was a gesture of goodwill and flattery.
Jiang He could not help chuckling. "You're quite smart, you dog. You wouldn't be after my cucumber, would you, coming to my house in the middle of the night, would you?"
"Arf!"
Dumbo barked once. It actually …
He nodded his head.
"Woah …"
Jiang He almost fell to the ground.
Dumbo was certainly a smart dog when it wagged its tail to show goodwill and flatter him, but now it was nodding at him. That was not smart, but horrifying, alright?
Had the dog gained sentience?
That was Jiang He's first thought.
Still, he soon came to a realization.
"Could some animals have gained sentience because of the Revival of Qi? Could Dumbo be one of them? "
"No, that's not right. If Dumbo really gained sentience because of the Revival of Qi, it wouldn't have eaten my beef mixed with rat poison. Could it have gained sentience because it ate my cucumber?"
Jiang He narrowed his eyes and stared at Dumbo.
Dumbo's hair stood on end from the stare, and its canine face made a very human expression, as if saying, 'Why are you looking at me like that?'
"I'm going to ask you a few questions. Nod if it's true, shake your head if it's not."
Arf!
Dumbo nodded.
"Did you become so smart because you ate that cucumber?"
Dumbo nodded, but then shook its head.
"…"
Jiang He scowled and was about to say something when he saw Dumbo lying on the ground, its limbs twitching and foaming at the mouth, whimpering from time to time.
Jiang He understood at once.
"You mean it has something to do with the rat poison?"
Dumbo rolled to its feet and 'crouched' on the ground again, nodding at Jiang He.
Jiang He mused to himself as if in thought.
"Could it be the same as Doggy Li's fever? Poisoning is a stimulating process? "
"I got it!"
"The effect of this cucumber is to clear away heat, detoxify, strengthen the brain, and calm the nerves. Clearing away heat and detoxify can be understood as detoxifying all kinds of poisons, and strengthening the brain and calming the nerves is to improve mental strength. Dogs are very smart. After some training, some dogs can even skateboard, drive prams, and go to the supermarket to buy things by themselves. After Dumbo was poisoned and stimulated, he ate half of my cucumber, which developed his intelligence and made him smarter."
Taking a long look at Dumbo, Jiang He's mind twinkled.
He would definitely need to experiment with some crops in the future, and it would be best if Dumbo stayed to look after the house.
Moreover …
Whether the System's cucumber could really detoxify all kinds of poisons needed to be tested.
Reaching out to pat Dumbo's head, Jiang He smiled. "Dumbo, since you like my cucumber so much, you should stay here from now on."
Yip!
With a howl, Dumbo turned and ran away.
Its dog ears drooped, and it would turn back to look at Jiang He even as it ran outside, its gaze evasive.
"Could this dog know that I'm going to use it for poison testing?"
Jiang He could not help laughing.
Picking up a wooden stick beside the orchard, he weighed it a few times and chuckled. "Trying to leave after eating my cucumber? I'll break your dog legs if you dare to run! "
Dumbo promptly turned around and ran back to him.
Taking out a cucumber, Jiang He plucked off a third of it and threw it to Dumbo, saying, "Guard the house well. This is your fortune. Legend has it that there was a Black Emperor among dogs that ruled over all worlds, and you might become a Dog Emperor in the future."
Dumbo's eyes lit up even as it munched on the cucumber.
(⊙ o ⊙) …
So annoying!
What title should I get if I become a Dog Emperor?
Hmmm …
When Jiang He saw that the dog was giggling foolishly, he cursed inwardly, 'It's really a spirit', but then thought, 'I wonder if Chief Wang would come after me after I abducted the village chief's dog?'
… …
Returning to his room, Jiang He picked up his phone again and searched for relevant videos and posts online.
Just like before.
Many videos and posts would be 404'd the moment they appeared.
"Wolves suspected to be roaming Mount Dadong. Over 300 goats of a farmer were killed …"
A video caught Jiang He's attention then.
He knew about Mount Dadong, which was over three hundred miles away from Lingzhou City. It was located in Yuwang Town, Tongxin County, which was under the jurisdiction of Lingzhou City, and it was a continuous stretch of loess mountains. The farmers living on Mount Dadong had begun 'ecological migration' a few years ago, moving their entire village to nearby the county and city. Most of those who remained there now were sheep farmers.
And there was a blurry picture on the cover of the video.
It was nighttime at the mountaintop.
A giant wolf larger than a cow was howling at the moon.
Unsurprisingly, the video was soon gone.
Even the discussion comments section had been cleared.
Jiang He felt a mysterious sense of danger. Others notwithstanding, Two Dog Li's superhuman strength alone was not something he, a Quasi Martial Artist, could compare to.
"Are people who awaken on their own … really that frightening?"
"Someone like me who grows stronger through cultivation … eating cucumbers should be considered normal cultivation, right?"
His thoughts ran wild, and he only fell asleep at one in the morning.
…
Meanwhile.
A hardened road led straight up the mountain from the eastern end of Jinyintan Village.
Although it was called a mountain, it was just a little higher than the village itself. Jinyintan Village was close to the city and belonged to the 'Plain Zone', and the overall terrain was flat, unlike the mountains and ravines of the loess highlands.
There were many farmlands and cornfields on the mountain.
The cornfields were ablaze with lights, and many double-bridge trucks were moving in and out of the area.
By the end of August, the corn in the fields was almost fully grown. Heavy corn cobs hung on the surface of the fields, and the growth was gratifying. At this time, it was also time for the major ranches and breeding cooperatives to prepare for the "green storage".
'Green storage' was the process of harvesting the cornfields with machines, crushing the corncobs and fermenting them into fodder. It was both nutritious and low-cost, and could be stored for an entire year.
"Damn it!"
"Why did they ban the child-seeker just like that?"
A BMW stopped beside one of the cornfields, and Two Dog Li got out of the car, cursing. He had signed a contract with the thousand-Mu cornfields nearby, and the cornfields would be supplied to his ranches every year.
He had been working overtime over the last few days to catch up.
However …
Just as he got out of the car, he saw a black MPV blocking his way.
Three men and a woman got out of the MPV.
The men were all dressed in black, while the woman was wearing a tight-fitting leather jacket. They walked straight up to Two Dog Li, flashing a red booklet as they said, "We are special forces personnel from the National Special Affairs and Security Administration stationed in the Western Xia Province. You must be Two Dog Li, right?"
"…"
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