"When I came in, did you hear the dogs barking?" Gu Xizhou pointed to the alley at the entrance. "With this alley as the boundary, the poisoned dogs can protect the people in the yard."
"The newbie who died on the first day left on his own, so the dogs in the yard didn't bark. We didn't hear any barking that night either." Gu Xizhou said, "As for Xiao Hai who died on the second day, I'm guessing that he was pushed out by 'Xiao Hua' and didn't go out on his own, so the dogs in the yard barked that night too."
Fang Zhi nodded. "Yes, I remember Gu Ge, you said that you only saw a pair of eyes last time. The dead white dog couldn't come in from the outside, and the dogs inside were guarding the yard!"
Gu Xizhou nodded and said, "That woman just told us that the Tian family had an eight-year-old daughter who lived in this yard when she was young. Eight years ago, she went missing while looking for a dog. I suspect that the girl was looking for this Samoyed, and she didn't go missing. On the contrary, she died on the mountain."
"Xiao Hua's name is proof. Tian in the heart — is a painting."
"So I'm guessing that this Xiao Hua is the girl who went missing that year."
Xie Wenhuo was stunned when he heard Gu Xizhou's words. He muttered to himself, "Tian in the heart? Painting … "
"That's right. In her heart, Tian just happens to have the word 'painting'. That's why she's called Little Painting. She has always been able to see many dogs because what she sees is different from us. She can see the other eight dogs in the courtyard.
Because of Gu Xizhou's words, the people in the group suddenly looked into the dark yard. It was as if there were many dogs in the yard wagging their tails, squatting on the ground, and looking at them.
Si Yu looked at Gu Xizhou suspiciously.
Gu Xizhou could translate that look for him: When did this guy become so smart?
In fact, Si Yu thought to himself: I suspect that you are Xiao Hua herself!
"You're saying that those dogs are actually protecting us? But it was clearly these children … who poisoned them … and they still protect them like this?! "
Xue Xiao heard the team members whispering. She sighed and said softly, "Dogs are different from humans."
Si Yu withdrew his gaze from Gu Xizhou and said to the others, "It's getting late. Let's go back to our rooms and get some rest. Since we've confirmed the direction, we'll make another call to the Tian family tomorrow."
"But … one of us … hasn't returned yet!"
Upon hearing this, Si Yu smirked contemptuously. She looked at the man who had spoken and asked, "You want to save him?"
"No, no, I just …" The man's eyes fell on Gu Xizhou. He wanted to say something but stopped himself and took two steps back.
Si Yu said coldly, "Why are you looking at others? If you want to be a good person, go ahead. You can die however you want. "
That person's face was very ugly after being mercilessly criticized by Si Yu like this.
In the latter half of the night, Gu Xizhou lay on the bed and fell asleep. When Fang Zhi saw that Gu Xizhou had returned, his heart settled back into his chest. He lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. As he stared and stared, he fell asleep.
On the other hand, Si Yu sat silently on the bed and stared at Gu Xizhou for a long time.
Gu Xizhou opened his eyes and asked him, "What are you looking at?"
Si Yu said softly, "I'm looking at whether you're human or not."
"Do you need me to recite the core values of socialism again?" Gu Xizhou blinked at him and grinned, revealing two small canine teeth.
Unexpectedly, Si Yu said, "Sure."
Gu Xizhou was speechless.
Gu Xizhou sat up on the bed and recited, "Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony, advocating freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law …"
After listening to Gu Xizhou recite the core values of socialism, Si Yu seemed to be relieved. He covered himself with the blanket and lay on the bed.
Gu Xizhou saw this and said, "You really believed it? What if ghosts also recite core values? "
Si Yu was expressionless when he heard this. He lay on the bed with his back facing Gu Xizhou and whispered that he was bored.
The next morning, everyone in the team was tired. They gathered together after breakfast.
The man who had been scolded by Si Yu yesterday was also in the group and looked at them anxiously.
Si Yu said coldly, "What are you looking at us for? Call the Tian family to confirm Gu Ran's guess and ask them about the situation yesterday. "
Xie Wenhuo was a little conflicted. He and Xue Xiao spoke softly as if they hadn't heard Si Yu. The others around them were the same. They lowered their heads and pretended not to know anything.
It was not good to make calls in the mission world. Even if there was a signal, no one would know if the call was connected to a person or a ghost.
Gu Xizhou looked at these people indifferently. He took out his phone from his bag and dialed the number from yesterday.
After a few beeps, someone picked up the phone.
"Hello, may I know who you are looking for?"
"Hello, Mr. Tian. I'm a police officer. I would like to ask you something," Gu Xizhou said.
The man on the other end of the line choked up, "Hello, police officer! Do you know where my daughter is? "
"It does have something to do with your daughter, but we can't be sure if it's her. I would like to ask about the situation back then. The more details, the better."
"Okay. Ten years ago, my shipping company had just started. My wife was also helping out at the company. At the time, she was pregnant and wasn't feeling well. We didn't have time to take care of our daughter, so we sent her to the countryside. Our daughter had been living in the countryside for two years. She said that she saw other people with puppies. She was very envious, so I bought her a puppy that summer …"
"Was it a Samoyed?"
"Yes … It was a white Samoyed. That dog died last year … Little White was always disobedient at home and liked to bite things. Our relatives asked us to send the dog away or lock it up, but we didn't agree. To be honest, my wife and I have always felt guilty about losing our daughter. Sometimes, we think that if we hadn't sent our daughter to the countryside, she wouldn't have gone missing.
"It was also summer that day. I took advantage of my free time to send the puppy I bought to her in the countryside. She saw the puppy and liked it very much. She even asked me how to take care of it. When I went back, I bought her two books on dog rearing. But a few days later, I heard bad news … My daughter went missing.
"She said she went to chase the dog, but I don't think so."
Gu Xizhou: "Why?"
"Well … The Samoyed that died last year … Actually, after my daughter went missing, our family found it in the trash can … We looked everywhere for her, but to be honest, I was very angry at the time and blamed myself for buying a dog for my daughter …
"But then my wife looked for Little White in the trash can. Its legs were broken, its body was covered in wounds, and its head was hit by a rock. Its whole body was covered in blood. When it saw my wife, it whimpered and whimpered like it was dying. I guessed at the time that Little White might have bitten someone when my daughter was kidnapped. But at that time, Little White was just a puppy, so it was definitely no match for the trafficker. After being beaten, it was casually thrown into the trash can."
Gu Xizhou: "Did you ask the children in the yard if they had seen your daughter?"
"Yes, of course we did. But they said that they went to the mountains to play early in the morning and played until late at night. They didn't see my daughter."
Gu Xizhou: "Well … They were all children of the same age. Why didn't they bring your daughter with them?"
"… I don't know why, but those children probably didn't like to play with my daughter. Anyway, it was quite strange. There were a few times when I brought her a lot of food and asked her to share it with the other children, hoping to improve their relationship. But I saw that the child from the Li family not only rejected the food my daughter gave him, but also pushed her. That boy even turned around and told his grandmother that my daughter was stupid and that she would fall down when walking. His grandmother just kept laughing. To be honest, I was very angry at that time and scolded that boy. "
"That boy just stared at me and scolded me the moment he opened his mouth. Anyway, it was very unpleasant and uneducated."
"Why haven't you changed your phone number after all these years?" Gu Xizhou asked.
"Eh? What does this have to do with my daughter? "The man on the other end of the phone was slightly taken aback.
"I'm just asking."
The man: "… Uh, actually, I've changed my phone number many times. I kept this number because my daughter often used her grandfather's landline to call me when she was young. She memorized this phone number … I thought that if she called me one day in the future … I would be able to receive it immediately."
"…" Xue Xiao heard the man's words from the other end of the phone and her eyes reddened. The man's words more or less confirmed Gu Xizhou's guess. Back then, a girl from the Tian family went missing, and this girl didn't have a good relationship with the other children in the courtyard. This paved the way for her disappearance.
After hanging up the phone, one of them muttered, "The girl's disappearance was caused by the children in this courtyard?"
"It should be."
"But why? Why would those children do that? How old are they? Eight years ago, the oldest of them was only ten years old! "
Si Yu said coldly, "They could even poison the eight dogs at home. What do you think they wouldn't dare to do?"
They were jealous of her parents, jealous of her dogs, jealous of everything she had that they didn't have. At the same time, they rejected the girl's advances!
One of the teammates couldn't understand at all. His face turned pale. "This …"
The people around him said numbly, "Then what should we do now?"
Si Yu frowned and said, "Let's think of a way to find the girl's body first."
After exploring the mountain for the past few days, Xie Wenhuo was quite familiar with the mountain paths and quickly climbed to the top.
"This is such a big mountain. Where could they have buried the girl?" Because this mountain was very big, the people who had been patrolling the mountain recently couldn't find the missing person, let alone the bodies that were buried in the ground. Xie Wenhuo frowned. "We can't possibly empty this mountain, right?"
"Someone went missing yesterday. He went missing with Xiao Hua." Si Yu suddenly said, "Do any of you remember where he was last seen?"
"I saw him." Xue Xiao heard this and brought everyone to an area.
Because it was dark, Xue Xiao could only use a large rock on the ground to point out the approximate location. The others nodded and began to dig around the area inch by inch.
Fang Zhi waved the shovel in his hand and worked hard to search. Because the area was very vague, they could only search in a large area with this area as the center.
The sun was very bright at noon. Gu Xizhou leaned against the shade of a tree and rested for a while.
As they dug, there was a sudden movement from Xie Wenhuo's side. The few people's voices were trembling. They had dug up the body of the man who went missing with Xiao Hua yesterday!
The body was buried upright in the ground. The surrounding people immediately gathered around. Then, they dug up a total of five corpses of different degrees of decomposition in this area.
In the middle of the five corpses, they found a very small body. The moment they dug out the body, they found a very small body.
All the dogs in the town barked at the same time on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
"Woof, woof, woof!"
Gu Xizhou saw a dog running over from afar. Its rotten body was gradually changing. Flesh and fur were gradually growing out.
It was obvious that its owner loved it very much. Its fur was snow-white. It stuck out its tongue and gently licked the bones of the girl on the ground. This was the first time Gu Xizhou saw it in the daytime. It silently dragged the body to the town.
"This is … the girl from the Tian family, right?" the people in the crowd said when they saw the clothes on the skeleton.
The furry dog barked twice and nodded crazily, as if to say yes!
It tilted its head and looked at Gu Xizhou. Then, its body shattered and turned into half a wooden door in front of them. The people around did not seem to see it. Gu Xizhou heard a clear child's voice. "Xiao Bai, you're so annoying. I don't want to leave like this … but forget it. Thank you for being with me for so long."
After the voice finished speaking, Gu Xizhou saw the other half of the door slowly appear. He did not hesitate and opened the door directly.
As soon as Gu Xizhou opened his eyes, he heard a small dog barking.
"Woof woof!"
The voice was very soft. It was a small dog.
A pair of small hands picked it up. Gu Xizhou saw a cute smiling face. The bright smile was clean and pure.
The scene changed quickly. Gu Xizhou saw a few children in the courtyard appear. The small dog was lying in its own nest. Suddenly, it was caught by the children in their pockets. It barked twice.
"Hmph, if you don't let us play with this dog, we'll play with it even more!"
"Yes, yes, yes. When we get back, she'll definitely cry again. Hahaha!"
The children whispered. Gu Xizhou could not see the situation outside, but he could hear the voices around him. They should be on the mountain now.
Suddenly, the sunlight was a little dazzling. Gu Xizhou panicked and his eyes hurt. The small dog was released by the children.
The pain pulled Gu Xizhou's attention back.
One of the children was holding the dog's tail. When he saw that it could not walk, he laughed loudly. He seemed to think that this was something very interesting.
The children picked up branches from the ground and hit the dog. The small dog was beaten until it cried out and trembled in pain. Just as it was in despair, a soft voice sounded in its ears.
Gu Xizhou looked at the girl.
The girl who rushed over angrily pushed one of the boys and said angrily, "Li Ming, why are you bullying Xiao Bai!"
"Heh, not only am I bullying it, I'm bullying you too!" The boy called Li Ming pushed the girl to the ground and then ordered his companions to continue hitting the dog.
"Hahaha, your parents gave birth to a little brother and don't want you anymore! That's why they threw you here! "
"That's right, that's right. What's so great about that? Do you think they really love you?"
The little girl got up from the ground, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at Li Ming. "Your parents don't want you!"
The boy did not expect the girl to resist. He was so angry that his eyes turned red, as if he wanted to kill someone.
They bullied the girl just like how they bullied the dog. They used branches to chase and hit her. The girl lost her footing and rolled halfway up the mountain and was blocked by a tree. When the children chased after her, they saw the ground covered in blood. The children knew that something had happened.
They did not know who came up with the idea, but they planned to bury the girl. When the small dog saw this, it wanted to stop the children, but it was kicked away. One of its hind legs was broken, but the small dog did not give up. It endured the pain and bit one of the children's trousers, hoping to stop them.
"Awoo … Awoo!"
The small dog wailed as it looked at the girl who was about to be buried.
Gu Xizhou followed its gaze. Gu Xizhou looked at the girl in shock … She was not dead, but the children did not notice. They continued to bury the girl. In the end, the girl was buried.
Buried alive.
The small dog climbed down the mountain to ask for help, but it was seen by a passerby and was casually thrown into the rubbish bin.
In the blink of an eye, Little White was brought back to the city. After receiving treatment, it had almost recovered. It tried to run away from home several times, but it was discovered. Later, when there was no one at home, the doors and windows were locked. It could not leave at all.
After some time, the family brought it back to the town again. It did not recognize the place immediately, but when it entered the yard, it smelled a familiar scent!
"Woof woof woof!" It was them. They buried the little master!
"Woof woof woof!" The little master was here!
"Woof woof woof!" Let them bring me to the little master! I want to dig her out!
The dog knew that it had to leave, so it bit the rope that day. It bit the children of the Li family, hoping that they would bring it to the little master and dig her out.
It did not understand what death was. It naively thought that as long as it dug the girl out of the ground, the little master could continue to accompany it.
When Gu Xizhou saw the scene of it being beaten to death, the dog refused to let go. It wanted to see its little master.
The moment the dog died, Gu Xizhou heard the sound of the chains moving again.
Gu Xizhou sighed, but in the blink of an eye, he had returned to Si Yu's luxurious villa.
The dog's wish was simple — it wanted its little master to come home.
After Gu Xizhou and the others dug up the body, the dog dragged the body to the town. When someone recognized the girl, its body immediately dissipated and turned into a wooden door. The voice that spoke … was the girl from the Tian family. She had always wanted to know if her father did not like her anymore.
If possible, Gu Xizhou wanted to tell her that her father did not change his phone number. He had always been waiting for her call.
When Gu Xizhou returned to his senses and saw Fang Zhi, the boy's eyes were red. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
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