Chapter 46 Mad Dog Hotel

"Lu Qi, please pay attention. Lu Qi, please pay attention."

The sudden broadcast startled Lu Qi. She looked up to listen, and Lulu, who was lying by the door, also raised her ears.

"Meng Feiqin is looking for you in the restaurant on the first floor."

Lu Qi immediately set off, but was blocked by the golden retriever at the door.

It nudged her back with its head.

"Are you really going to lock me up?" Lu Qi stared at the furry dog's head on his belly. "Lulu, you know better than me what happens to dogs that can't go outside for a long time."

The golden head paused.

Lulu looked up at her.

Lu Qi's illness lingered, and her eyes were bloodshot again. Her aura was fragmented and on the verge of collapse.

Lulu paced back and forth at the door, looking annoyed.

It wanted to protect Lu Qi, but Lu Qi's condition was getting worse and worse.

Lu Qi sighed bitterly.

She crouched down, placed her wrist in front of Lulu, and gently rubbed its cheek with her other hand. "Lulu, smell me, smell me."

Its wet, black nose pressed against Lu Qi's wrist, licking her palm, looking lost and anxious.

“If you’re worried, we can go together.” Lu Qi sniffled, her eyes still red from crying. “Lulu…I want to go out.”

She wanted to say that she felt terrible, and that she couldn't breathe if she stayed in the room any longer; she wanted to hug her strong, fluffy golden dog, bury her face in its back, and breathe in the warm air from its fluffy fur.

The words were on the tip of Lu Qi's tongue, but he swallowed them back down.

She could no longer show her vulnerable side, nor could she add to his worries and anxieties.

“I’m leaving.” Lu Qi stood up and repeated as firmly as possible, “You should respect me.”

Lulu stared at her, observing her expression to determine if there was any room for negotiation, her ears drooping slightly behind her.

Lu Qi met his gaze silently, her expression both fragile and sharp.

She wasn't as calm as she thought; her feigned strength was fragile, as easily broken as glass.

Lulu saw through her outward bravado but inner weakness. If he disagreed, Lu Qi had no other choice but to obey.

She wanted him to respect her, but Lu Qi never respected him when he was vulnerable.

No matter how much he begged, she repeatedly locked him in the hospital cage and refused to take him away.

Later he learned that she did it for his own good; she wanted to save him.

Just like now, he's locking her in the room, also to save her; he wants her to be healthy. She'll understand his intentions sooner or later.

She will understand that he did it for her own good.

Her state of mind is chaotic and disordered, and in this state she is incapable of making the right decisions. She should be guided and led by a strong leader.

He is right, and she should obey him.

After a while, the golden dog's head lowered.

“Okay,” the young man said, his voice hoarse. “I’ll take you there.”

But he loved Lu Qi, he loved her.

The hoarseness in his voice made Lu Qi's eyes well up with tears and her nose sting. She buried her face in Lulu's arms and pressed her neck against his.

"Good dog," she wanted to praise him in a vivid and positive way, but the words that came out were sour and drawn out.

“You are the best dog,” she said.

Lulu turned around and licked her cheek, her dark pupils reflecting Lu Qi's image.

She was small and thin, more fragile than glass.

There was no grand spectacle at the restaurant; only three people showed up—Tian Miaoying, Huang Zhenyi, and Meng Feiqin.

"Sister Lu!" Tian Miaoying stood up as soon as she saw Lu Qi. When her gaze fell on Lu Lu beside her, it was filled with fear and a hint of anger.

"Miaoying!" Lu Qi took two quick steps, but Tian Miaoying grabbed her and pulled her to her side. She glared at Lulu with a mixture of shock and anger. Huang Zhenyi barked at Lulu without her having to give the order.

Lulu frowned. Before she could act, Meng Feiqin grabbed Huang Zhenyi's rope and gave him a short "shh" to order him to be quiet.

The Samoyed glanced at Meng Feiqin, then stopped barking, but remained wary of Lulu, ready to bark at any moment.

Meng Feiqin raised an eyebrow, looking down at Huang Zhenyi with the gaze a homeroom teacher would give a troublemaker. In just over ten seconds, Huang Zhenyi lowered his head and slipped back behind Tian Miaoying.

"What do you want to do!" Huang Zhenyi stopped yelling, and Tian Miaoying shouted at Lulu, "What did Sister Lu ever do to you? Why are you so ungrateful and taking revenge on her and on us! Other dogs know to guard their owners' graves when they die, but you have no conscience at all!"

"Miaoying!" Lu Qi's face turned pale. "That's not how it is, you've misunderstood."

Tian Miaoying turned around in confusion, "Isn't that how it is?"

Lulu's Adam's apple bobbed. He didn't pay attention to Tian Miaoying's words, but Lu Qi was a bit far away from him, which made him feel anxious.

"Lu Qi, Lu Qi," he called her softly, deliberately gently, "Come here, baby."

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Qi decided to go to Lulu's side to comfort him and prevent him from getting caught up in his anxiety.

She lifted her foot, but Meng Feiqin stopped her.

"Hey kid, come here." She beckoned to Lulu, "Come sit down here."

She wanted him to sit in front of her.

Following Professor Meng's suggestion, Lu Qi sat down opposite her.

They were all sitting in the booths. Lulu hesitated for a moment, then walked over.

Everyone took their places, and the conversation began.

"You're back." Meng Feiqin looked at Lu Qi gently and said, "Is there any information you want to bring us?"

Lu Qi was surprised by her calmness.

In contrast to Tian Miaoying's agitated emotions, Meng Feiqin showed no anger upon seeing Lulu; in fact, she didn't care about him at all and only spoke to Lu Qi.

“I have amnesia.” Lu Qi shook his head. “I can’t remember anything that happened after the training ended. I was brought back by Lulu as soon as I got home.”

Tian Miaoying hurriedly asked, "When did you get back? Why haven't you contacted us?"

“Three days... almost four days ago, I was sick for three days after I came back, and I was in a daze.”

Meng Feiqin did the math. "So, you've been outside for a month?"

“A month?” Lu Qi was taken aback. “No, I remember walking for a while in a daze…it couldn’t have taken more than half a day.”

Tian Miaoying was shocked. "Only half a day? Sister Lu, a month has passed since you 'died'! You have no idea how much has happened in this month!" As she spoke, she glared at Lulu again, her resentment mixed with instinctive fear.

Remembering Lulu's appearance when Lu Qi wasn't around, even knowing that death would mean leaving, she still couldn't help feeling fear.

“But there’s no time lag in external surveillance.” Meng Feiqin pondered. “Xiao Tian’s phone recorded you walking out of the surveillance camera. That doesn’t make sense.”

"A video recording?" Lu Qi remembered that the note she left mentioned that she would record videos. "Is it still there? Can I see it?"

“Here it is.” Tian Miaoying handed it to her, still shaken, and said, “It really scared me, Sister Lu. You have no idea how horrible your death looked. This video is terrifying.”

Lu Qi took the phone and immediately noticed that Lulu was extremely tense.

He stared darkly at the phone in her hand, wishing he could throw it away immediately.

But Lu Qi still finished reading it.

She knew she had left through "death," but such a bizarre and absurd thing couldn't possibly lead others to try "death" based on just a few words.

After watching the video, she felt a bit more at ease, as if it were real.

"The time in the video does indeed match the time flow of the external surveillance footage." Lu Qi zoomed in on the video with a puzzled look. "But there's no way I could have stayed outside for a month."

Lulu snatched her phone away, tossed it back to Tian Miaoying as if it were something dirty, and said coldly, "From the red line at the entrance to the real outside world, there is a buffer zone in between, where time is consistent with the ghost stories."

The buffer zone was supposed to be opened soon.

There is a certain probability that passersby will enter the ghost story through that buffer zone.

But because of Lu Qi's death, Lulu had no patience to accept new people and was only eager to find her again.

Meng Feiqin didn't dwell on the timing issue. She glanced at Lulu's posture of tucking in her stomach and straightening her chest, then looked at Lu Qi and said, "I didn't expect you to see me so soon. I thought it would take you several days."

Lu Qi pursed her lips.

"You don't look well," Meng Feiqin said. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lu Qi's eyes showed struggle.

Lulu sat close to her, and Meng Feiqin, observing the way the two sat together, began to make some guesses.

“The more depressed you are, the more nervous your dog becomes.” Meng Feiqin glanced at Lu Qi and the young man beside her. “I heard from Xiao Tian that you are very good at dealing with fierce large dogs at the hospital. From what I’ve known, you are also a rational and decisive pioneer. While others were still hesitant, you had already begun to boldly explore the supernatural. What’s wrong with you now?”

Lu Qi looked at Tian Miaoying with embarrassment, then sighed in frustration.

She didn't want to involve others; it was a private matter between her and Lulu, a problem she had to face herself.

But she also realized that she had dragged them into this mess and made them suffer.

The situation is out of control; she needs help.

“I’m so sorry,” Lu Qi said, her fingers curled up, her face full of shame. “I failed to control Lulu and caused everyone so much trouble.”

“Lu Qi!” Lulu frowned disapprovingly. “I didn’t mistreat them. They are living very well.”

“This is not for you to judge, you…” Lu Qi’s voice trailed off, increasingly frustrated.

Dogs that are kept as pets never have the right to choose, yet people still believe they live very well.

Lulu wasn't wrong to think that way, because she instilled in him the idea that a life without worries about food and clothing was a good life.

Meng Feiqin quietly observed their interaction.

“I don’t know where to begin,” Lu Qi said, her eyes half-closed. “On the anniversary of my parents’ death, when I was fifteen, I found Lulu.”

She recounted the whole story in detail.

She recounted the long thirteen years from the moment Lulu fell ill, without reservation.

Tian Miaoying went from shock to confusion, then to stunned silence, and finally didn't know how to evaluate it.

They were silent for a moment, and finally, Meng Feiqin spoke slowly, "Golden Retrievers are often called angels, but we all know that breed isn't the deciding factor. Every dog ​​has a different personality. There are vicious Golden Retrievers too, but Little Lu—"

She told Lu Qi, "It's no exaggeration to call your dog an angel."

Lu Qi looked at her in shock and surprise, not understanding why Meng Feiqin was so magnanimous.

As the person who raised Lulu herself, she will naturally always favor Lulu.

But Meng Feiqin is a true victim. Now, Lu Qi is not surprised at all that others call Lulu a "devil," "monster," or "devil," while Meng Feiqin calls him an "angel."

Even Lulu was taken aback.

“He loves you very much, and he is very gentle.” Meng Feiqin’s eyes were kind. “I’ve seen how crazy he is when you’re not around, and I’ve always worried that you would be hurt when you come back. But I didn’t expect him to be so restrained and gentlemanly. Although most Golden Retrievers are gentle, they are still animals after all, and animals only have two ways of solving problems: escape or fight.”

Lu Qi's eyes welled up with tears, and she nodded emphatically, pursing her lips.

She understood, and because she understood, she couldn't help but cry when Lulu, who was yelling at her, chose to step back, and when he, anxious, chose to open the door and let her out.

“He was a very, very good dog.” She said in a hoarse voice, suppressing her emotions, “He was trying to fight against his canine instincts, but I couldn’t overcome my own chaotic emotions.”

He is much stronger than she is.

“Lu Qi…” Lulu was flustered and uneasy. He licked the wetness from the corner of her eyes and pulled her into his arms. “You are good, you are the best, you should be proud of yourself.”

He tried to comfort her anxiously, but to no avail; instead, it caused Lu Qi to finally let her tears fall.

She shook her head in his arms and spoke to Meng Feiqin and Tian Miaoying, feeling utterly ashamed, "I know I shouldn't bring my bad mood to him, but I just... can't control myself."

Tian Miaoying handed her a tissue, also feeling distressed, "Don't say that, Sister Lu. You've done a great job. At least you helped us find a way out."

"Thank you." Lu Qi accepted the gift with a guilty conscience.

“Child, don’t rush, take your time.” Meng Feiqin sighed softly. “It’s true that pets are amplification of their owners’ emotions, but everyone has low periods, which is normal. You don’t need to rush to pretend to be positive and optimistic.”

"All relationships are reciprocal. You can't always be the one bringing positive emotions to your dog. Occasionally, your dog should also bring you positive energy. This is the role of a therapy dog."

Lu Qi shook his head, "But Lulu has already been negatively influenced by me."

Indeed, Lulu amplified her emotions; she was anxious and irritable, resentful and resistant to the outside world, and overly wary of men.

"That means his own energy isn't stable enough, which is why he's so easily swayed by your negative emotions." Meng Feiqin observed Lulu's muscles and suddenly asked, "How much exercise does he usually get?"

Lu Qi paused, then turned to look at Lulu.

“Before, I would take him for a 40-minute walk after school, about two or three kilometers. Back then, he wasn’t in good health and couldn’t walk for too long. After he became human, it was a two-kilometer commute…” She paused, “After entering the ghost story world, he basically stayed in the hotel every day.”

Her speech slowed down, and Meng Feiqin shrugged, "Understood?"

Lu Qi closed her eyes in frustration. She knew, of course, that 90% of a pet's behavioral problems stemmed from insufficient exercise, but she had already come to regard him as a person and hadn't even considered the issue of exercise.

“I have never paid attention to this issue since he became human.”

“He’s a large dog, and a hunting dog at that. Without enough exercise, his energy would build up, suppressed day after day, and finally, boom—” Meng Feiqin made an explosion gesture, “His excess energy created such a huge monster that swallowed us up.”

Lulu frowned, disliking her shifting the blame onto Luqi. "That's ridiculous. If a dog's lack of exercise can create a ghost story, then humans should have killed all dogs long ago."

“I’m all ears, you talking dog debater,” Meng Feiqin said, unperturbed by his tone, and asked him, “From a dog’s perspective, what is the main reason you create these ghost stories?”

“Of course it’s because of love.” Lulu didn’t care about her sarcasm at all. “Because I love Luqi, because the outside world and human men lack rules and restrictions, while Luqi is very fragile and she needs to live in a place with order.”

“Oh,” Meng Feiqin raised her eyebrows, “So, you don’t need to exercise, you don’t look forward to playing ball with Xiao Lu on the grass, and you don’t dream of swimming in the sea with her?”

Lulu's Adam's apple bobbed heavily.

Meng Feiqin laughed without any politeness.

Her laughter was hearty, without a trace of the gloom from being locked up for a month.

She said to Lu Qi, "The problem isn't as serious as you think. Child, he's just a puppy. How complicated can a puppy be?"

His deepest desires were nothing more than playing ball with his master on the grass and swimming in the sea.

Lu Qi was stunned and speechless.

She asked, "I know that 90% of pets can have their aggressive tendencies addressed through exercise, but Lulu isn't an ordinary dog, I'm worried..."

“No, a dog is a dog,” Meng Feiqin interrupted her. “It’s not good to treat a dog the way you treat a human. You can give your human boyfriend chocolate, but you can’t give it to a dog.”

Lulu immediately retorted, "She doesn't have a human boyfriend!"

Meng Feiqin raised an eyebrow. "See, he doesn't even consider himself human. He's just a dog."

Lu Qi looked at Lulu with displeasure, signaling him not to be so rude to Professor Meng.

Lulu frowned, looking aggrieved.

She never had a human boyfriend.

“Animals live in the present, unless people are stuck in the past,” Meng Feiqin said. “Don’t think so much. Look at you, girl, so thin and pale, like a bean sprout in a dark room. Putting aside the dog, you should exercise more.”

Animals live in the present, while humans are trapped in the past.

This principle is written in many books on animal behavior modification, and Lu Qi knew it long ago. But when it really came to her own situation, she found it hard to break free.

“I understand, I will try.” She thanked Meng Feiqin.

That afternoon, she talked a lot with Meng Fei and Qin Tianmiaoying, and learned everything about her life before she lost her memory.

Finally, she thanked them again, "Thank you for waiting for me here. I'll handle the rest. I'll try to persuade the others to leave. You can go now."

Tian Miaoying shook her head. "No, we'll go together. Time doesn't flow that fast outside anyway, so it's fine to stay a little longer. I'm worried about leaving you here alone." As she spoke, she glanced at Lulu.

"I'm not in a hurry. Let's see the others off first," Meng Feiqin said, leaning on her hiking stick. "I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

“Yes, Sister Lu, actually before we met with you, we went to see Professor Meng’s colleagues and students, as well as Brother Lü,” Tian Miaoying said dejectedly. “They were willing to believe what we said, but they were still a little apprehensive.”

Even if you know how to leave, getting people out of there is still a problem.

Survival is the most primal instinct. If they go around proclaiming that death will allow them to leave, nine times out of ten they will be considered crazy by others.

But if they were to actually kill someone, none of the three present could do it. Even if they overcame their moral constraints, they could not escape the pursuit of the [security guards].

Lulu understood this, so she didn't forbid Lu Qi from meeting Tian Miaoying.

He wasn't afraid of them spreading the method of leaving, because no one would try it easily.

Mentioning Lü Shi'an, Lu Qi asked nervously, "Dr. Lü... is he alright?"

Tian Miaoying glanced at Lulu, "After you left, Lulu went around killing men. Now there are only three or four male survivors left in the hotel, and they are all too afraid to go out. Otherwise, Brother Lü would definitely have come to see you."

“Torture and murder?” Lu Qi turned around abruptly and looked at Lulu. “What happened, Lulu?”

This word alarmed Lu Qi. Lulu wasn't a cat; he was a dog that sought to kill with a single blow. Why would the word "torture" be used?

“Leaving here requires negative emotions as power; you won’t get much by killing people directly.” Lulu said dismissively, “Don’t worry about Lu Qi; they won’t remember how they died.”

"The idea of ​​'collecting negative emotions' is both fairytale-like and dangerous." Meng Feiqin looked at him probingly. "Kid, with a lot of bad emotions accumulating in your body, you sound like a container."

Lulu didn't care. "So what?"

"Since it's a container, it has a storage limit. If one day you can't hold it anymore, where will the leaked negative emotions go?"

Lulu looked up and stared sharply at her.

Meng Feiqin frowned. "Even if it wasn't leaked, you, as a collective of negative emotions, have been surrounding Xiao Lu..." She paused, then exclaimed knowingly, "No wonder her complexion is so much worse than at the beginning, and her mood is so bad."

"No way!" Lulu denied immediately, but her eyes became flustered.

"How could it be impossible? It must be!" Tian Miaoying seized on the evidence and immediately countered, "Sister Lu has always been very strong and rational. Look at her now, her eyes are swollen and her voice is hoarse! As the saying goes, emotions are more contagious than viruses, so it must be you who influenced her!"

Lu Qi felt that those words were a bit much.

While Lulu did become somewhat extreme after entering the ghost story, her behavior was justifiable and perfectly in line with dog logic, so it wasn't a case of mental derangement.

But she didn't defend him; she just remained silent.

Meng Feiqin asked her, "You said you had a bout of depression in high school, what was Xiaolu's reaction at that time?"

Lu Qi glanced at Lulu hesitantly. "He was very calm back then, always quietly waiting for me to recover."

“Even depression didn’t affect him, but now you’re just feeling down, and he’s getting all worked up like this—” Meng Feiqin twirled her fingertips and looked at Lulu meaningfully, “Don’t you feel anything yourself?”

"While breed doesn't tell the whole story, it does reflect many characteristics. Most therapy dogs are Golden Retrievers, and your kind can help calm down agitated or depressed people. Your current behavior is really unlike that of a Golden Retriever."

Lulu was speechless.

He went to Lu Qi for help, hoping she could prove him right.

Lu Qi anxiously placed her hand on his back. "Lulu, you never used to bite me or suppress me. Were you influenced by the negative emotions inside you? Are you sure that was really your thought, and not something controlling you?"

Lulu felt wronged and depressed, and at the same time, she couldn't deny that she was worried.

He never looked for the swallow after it disappeared.

But the feather it sent into his body was originally hanging outside Lu Qi's window, ready to harm him.

That's not a good thing.

Lulu knew she was being used, but she couldn't be sure to what extent it had used her.

Will it hurt Lu Qi?

It harbored ill intentions towards Lu Qi from the very beginning.

Noticing his hesitation, Lu Qi and Meng Feiqin exchanged a glance, and Meng Feiqin said meaningfully, "The sun hasn't set yet, it's time to walk the dog."

Lu Qi stood up. "Thank you. We'll be going now."

Lulu stood up with her, and before they left, Meng Feiqin called out to Lu Qi, "Wait a minute, child."

She pulled a roll of dog leash from her pocket. "You forgot this."

Lu Qi opened his mouth, glanced at the young man who was more than half a head taller than him, and then looked uncertainly at Meng Feiqin.

"What's wrong?" Meng Feiqin blinked and raised the dog leash. "It's a matter of courtesy, and it's also a rule."

It also represents status and power.

Lu Qi understood what she meant.

She wanted her to dominate him; she wanted her to emphasize to Lulu who was in charge.

Lu Qi turned to Lulu, still somewhat hesitant. Lulu wasn't a dog anymore… The thought had barely formed in her mind when she remembered Meng Feiqin's words—

A dog is a dog; it's not good to treat a dog like a human.

Lu Qi has seen many negative examples of treating dogs like people. She knows that it can lead to behavioral problems. Almost 99% of annoying Chihuahuas are due to their owners making this mistake, treating perfectly good dogs like human babies.

She had to admit that Professor Meng was right.

"Lulu..." In her hesitation, she raised the dog leash, but was immediately stopped by Meng Feiqin.

“No, child, it’s not like that.” She pointed to the dog leash in her hand. “What do you think this is? A prisoner’s shackles? This is a good thing. It represents going out to play. You should act like you’re going out to play, not look guilty.”

Even so, Lu Qi felt somewhat embarrassed to put a leash on a handsome, tall man and take him for a walk.

Seeing what she was thinking, Meng Feiqin stepped forward and said, "Give it to me. You haven't had a dog in so long that you've forgotten how to put on a leash. I'll show you how a normal person takes a dog out."

She stood in front of Lulu, pressed the leash buckle, pulled open Lulu's collar, and hung the buckle on his choker.

The movements were performed in one smooth motion.

“Okay,” Meng Feiqin took off the leash and handed it to Lu Qi, “Do you understand? There are only two steps: open and hang it up. There are no other steps, especially no apology like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, my poor little dog, I have to hang the leash on you now. I’m so sorry, darling, can you forgive me and let me hang the leash on you?’ Normal people don’t have these steps when walking their dogs.”

Tian Miaoying was amazed. As expected of Professor Meng, she could still maintain her sharp, dry humor even when facing a supernatural monster that had killed so many people.

Lu Qi blushed at her sarcastic performance, "I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time."

“Oh no no no no no no,” Meng Feiqin shook her head and laughed. “Xiao Lu, this is your dog. You have no reason to apologize to me. He’s watching you. ‘A dog is bullied by its master.’ If you can’t become stronger than him all at once, at least be stronger than this old woman—let him know that you can handle me. With you by his side, he has enough to rely on and doesn’t need to be so wary of this old woman like he is now.”

“Head up, chest out,” she told her the correct way to do it. “Say to me, ‘Okay, I got it.’”

Her voice was quite powerful, causing Lu Qi to unconsciously smile and straighten her chest. She nodded, "Okay, I understand."

She understood many of the theories and had studied them, but no one had guided her in practical application, so she inevitably panicked when it was her turn.

Following Meng Feiqin's example, she pulled down Lulu's collar and fastened the clasp.

Stepping back slightly, Lu Qi, holding the dog leash, saw Lulu's expression.

His reaction was completely different from her reaction when she was put on a dog leash.

Lulu's face didn't show the surprise, disgust, or anger she had imagined. She just seemed hesitant, as if asking: Are you sure? Is she sure she wants to do this?

Lu Qi patted his head and said in a lighthearted tone, "Let's go out and play, Lulu!"

The young man's hesitation vanished instantly, replaced by a smile. "Okay, Lu Qi!"

As long as she doesn't get caught up in the pain and distress over that dog leash, he naturally won't see a leash as an enemy, nor will he suffer because of a mere leash.

She doesn't need to dwell on the unfairness between them or feel guilty for not respecting him enough.

He's not human; he doesn't need human rules. A dog is a dog.

He told Lu Qi from the very beginning:

"Just treat me like a pet."

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Author's Note: True Dog Training Literature

The original title was "The Hotel of Vicious Dogs," but in the end, it was felt that the word "vicious" was not appropriate for Lulu.