Chapter 4

As night fell, Qiao always felt that it was dangerous to sleep anywhere, especially when he passed by the market earlier and clearly saw that they were selling human flesh!

The corpses were laid out on the stall, cut up and sold by the giant with a large cleaver. Sharp hooks hung upside down from ankles, heads, and dismembered arms, dripping with blood. This made his hair stand on end, his face turn pale, and he felt unwell and vomited uncontrollably.

He left the market in a daze, and for several days he was in a daze, waking up from nightmares.

The wet market is such a terrifying place!

Now, in his eyes, any giants that pass by are terrifying beings who could capture and eat him.

Joe also stopped sleeping on the commercial street where there were many giants at night. He felt it was unsafe. He went back to the bridge archway where he had previously occupied it. The three primitives who had occupied it were long gone, leaving only the stench of excrement. Joe could no longer sleep there, and he also felt that the terrain was too low and unsafe.

Finally, he found a lush, old tree, climbed up, tied himself to a branch, and slept in the tree.

He also managed to get some relatively clean blankets that the giants had discarded, which finally solved the sleeping problem.

Fearing being captured and cooked by the giants, he tried to clean himself up as much as possible so that others would think he had an owner. He even picked up a collar and put it around his neck.

It seems that to escape the homelessness crisis, we must find a giant who dotes on pets!

Joe didn't know what rules the city had for stray animals, so he could only proceed with extreme caution. It seemed he needed to find a way to get some information quickly.

*

He walked to a park where he had seen many people walking their pets, and not just humans, but also various large animals. Joe also saw various bears, pythons, and even cats and dogs!

Moreover, the cats and dogs here are enormous, some even larger than humans, which is astonishing. Is this due to genetic modification?

Relatively speaking, the proportion of pets belonging to humans is much higher.

Most of the pets weren't wearing clothes, which made Joe feel very uncomfortable. He observed the various primitives, trying to figure out which one was fatter.

A primitive human came up from behind and circled around him. Joe was startled and realized that he was not on a leash. He looked around and saw his master behind him.

This person was middle-aged, with fair skin, pure eyes, and a buzz cut.

"Hello, can you speak?" Joe tried to greet him.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you before." The man with the buzz cut looked him up and down, seemingly curious.

Joe was also pleased: "Yes, I'm new here. Do you come here often?"

Yuan Cun was unguarded: "Yes, my owner takes me out for a walk every morning and after dinner. I know all the animals in this park."

Joe kept talking to the man with the buzz cut, who was very tactful, staying at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from his master. Whenever his master called him, he would immediately go over.

Joe also felt that this original human was as innocent as a child, very simple-minded, and easy to get information out of him, from which he learned a lot of information.

All the primitive humans who could speak were taught by their mothers.

"Why can their mother talk?" Joe asked a rather idiotic question.

But Yuan Cun didn't laugh at him. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Because their mother's mother can talk too."

All right.

Therefore, some homeless natives who seem to have mental illnesses cannot speak, and Joe also guessed that they might be born from homeless natives and rarely communicate.

Or perhaps after wandering for so long, they've forgotten how to speak, leaving only their primal instincts.

“Wandering natives without owners will be captured and killed!” Yuan Cun said when he heard him mention the homeless.

Joe was also startled: "You've seen it before?"

"I've seen it. There are Cohens who specialize in taking them away with big pliers," the crew-cut man said earnestly.

"Cohen" is another new term, which should be a name for giants.

"Yuanbao, we're home. Huh? Whose Yuanbao is this? I've never seen him before." The owner of the man with the buzz cut was wearing black clothes and had gray hair; he was quite old.

Yuanbao and Qiao also said, "I'm going home now. Let's play together again next time."

Joe, unable to understand the giant's words, asked, "Can you understand your master's words?"

Yuanbao said with some pride, "Of course, I'm the smartest guy in this area."

Yuanbao's owner came over, patted his head, and put his hands on his neck. He seemed to be curious about Qiao Ye and wanted to touch him, but Qiao Ye dodged him.

Realizing his guarded behavior, Joe felt a little regretful. He should have shown his friendliness and let the Coen man touch him. The Coen man seemed to dote on the natives, and if he had chosen him as his master, his life should have been secure.

Yuanbao immediately snuggled into his master's arms, a little jealous: "Master, you're not allowed to touch other Yuanbao, you can only touch me!"

Yuanbao turned to Qiao Ye and said, "Go find your master."

Qiao Ye: "..."

As you can see, being a mistress isn't so easy.

*

Given Yuan Cun's assessment of the city's dangers, Joe became even more cautious.

Everyone has to relieve themselves eventually, and Joe couldn't bring himself to do it anywhere. However, he couldn't find a toilet nearby, and having an ownerless pet relieve itself would attract attention, which was a dangerous act.

He found a secluded spot, and just as he finished relieving himself, a large net came crashing down on him, easily lifting him up.

"Oh no!" Joe panicked and struggled desperately in the net.

“This one is incredibly clever. I was wondering why I couldn’t find it, but I didn’t expect to find it here!” said the Cohen man who had scooped it up in a net.

Another Cohen man, holding pliers, said, "Let's call it a day. Tonight, let's have some drinks and a whole hot pot of raw meat!"

Joe was also lifted and put into a cage in a cart. There were many cages in the cart, and each cage contained three original people.

Through the cage bars, Joe saw the three primitive beings who had previously occupied his bridge hole, including the primitive being that had eaten the garbage can.

The situation is terrible!

Joe kicked the cage in a fit of rage. After so many days, he knew he might have transmigrated. If he died, he might really be dead.

Qiao made too much noise, and Yuan, who was in the same cage as him, said, "It's no use, this cage can't be opened!"

At this moment, the car started, and the inertia caused Qiao to lose his balance and fall in the cage, and the other original person also fell on top of him.

Qiao then realized that he seemed to have seen this original person before. He was wearing a well-fitting pink pet outfit and had his hair tied in a ponytail. Didn't he have an owner?

Xiao Guai said with surprise, "You know me? Yes, yes, I remember now, I was the one who greeted you!"

"Do these people even kidnap pets with owners?" That makes the situation even worse. They might have encountered human traffickers and could be killed tonight, only to end up in the market tomorrow!

Xiao Guai regretted it very much: "I just felt too bored inside. There were no Cohen people to play with me or talk to me, so I thought I'd come out to play for a while. I was even ready to go back when I ran into the bad guy!"

Joe was also studying the cage's switch, pondering the possibility of escaping the moment the cage was opened.

Xiao Guai was furious: "That's too much! When my master comes to save me, I'll definitely beat those two bastards to death!"

With a glimmer of hope for rescue, Joe asked, "Really? Your master is coming back to save you?"

Little Guai said confidently, "It's true, my master spoils me so much. If he finds out I'm missing, he'll definitely look for me! My master is amazing!"

Joe couldn't open the cage either. He tried to calm himself down. He needed to stay calm!

Xiao Guai was also very scared. He seemed to be trying to relieve his fear by talking, but the other people in the confined space of the car were also very stressed and screamed.

Among the people captured in the car, it seems that only the ponytail next to them has an owner. If the Cohen people really come to rescue them, this may be their only hope.

But it's also possible that only the ponytail was rescued, and his owner had no reason to rescue the homeless man.

Having hope is better than sitting idly by and waiting to die!

Joe also asked, "Will your master find out you're missing soon? Should we leave them some clues?"

Xiao Guai wiped away her tears and asked, "How do we leave clues?"

Qiao also looked at Xiao Guai's clothes and said, "When you're halfway there, take off your clothes and throw them outside. That way, your owner will have a direction to find you."

Just then, as the car passed a tollbooth, Joe tried to stick his hand out of the cage and then out of the open window, hoping to be noticed by more people.

He shouted loudly, "Help! Help!"

Because of Qiao Ye's lead, the other passengers in the car also started yelling. The people at the tollbooth glanced at them but didn't say anything.

The former human trafficker driving the car picked up something and banged it against the cage, warning, "Are you looking for death? I'll kill you all in a bit!"

The car continued to start, and after turning a corner, Joe also took off the pink clothes of the person next to him and tried to throw them out the window.

*

"They ran away?" Ji Fang listened to the report from the robot Ling Yu.

"Master, should we notify General Wei?" Ling Yu asked anxiously.

Just then, Wei Liangguan made a video call. Ji Fang answered, and Wei Liangguan's image was projected in front of Ji Fang: "Where's my little darling? Is he being obedient? He shouldn't be causing any trouble, right?"

Ji Fang: "It just so happens that your pet might not be used to living here and has run away."

Wei Liangguan said urgently, "What? You mean he's missing? Go out and look for him! I've raised him for over ten years, and this one smells especially good; it calms my irritable temper. We can't let anything happen to him!"

Ji Fang thought it was troublesome: "If it gets lost, just get another one!"

Seeing that he didn't take it seriously, Wei Liangguan jumped up and down: "Xiao Guai is more important than a bed partner. Do you think it's easy to find a suitable original human? Stop dawdling and hurry up and check the surveillance footage, or someone will stew you."

Ji Fang felt troubled, as it was also his responsibility that Wei Liangguan's original escaped. The Seventh Army was stationed in this city, so he immediately contacted his subordinates, mobilized the reconnaissance company, sent Xiao Guai's photo, investigated the city's satellite surveillance, and urgently searched for him.

Less than ten minutes later, the surveillance footage showed that the original human wearing a pink pet costume was caught by two original human traffickers and headed southeast towards an original human hot pot restaurant.

Ji Fang checked the time; it was eight o'clock in the evening, the peak time for late-night snacks.

Wei Liangguan called again via video call. He had just received the news and his voice was excited: "Damn it, those human traffickers dared to touch my baby! Ji Fang, please hurry! My little darling is really going to be stewed! You go personally and take down those human traffickers in one fell swoop..."

Ji Fang found it annoying and hung up the video call. It was really making a mountain out of a molehill, making him go in person for a mere wild animal! This childhood friend really deserved a beating.

Wei Liangguan's video call was disconnected, and he called back repeatedly. Ji Fang then pulled him into a small dark room, and things finally got quiet.

Forget it, I'll just go there myself.

If this original human is really stewed, Wei Liangguan will probably keep nagging in front of him for years. What a nuisance!

Ji Fang grabbed his clothes and notified the guard captain: "Li Cheng, take the guards and head 30 kilometers southeast of Lizhou. Target: Yuantai Yuanrou Hot Pot Restaurant!"

Upon hearing the order, the guard captain immediately mobilized the troops. One of the guards, Zhao Xiaolin, joked, "Yuanrou Hot Pot Restaurant? Does the general know we haven't eaten yet and want to treat me to hot pot?"

Li Cheng turned his head and said, "You only know how to eat. If the general is going in person, it must be an urgent and important mission. Hurry up."

"yes!"