Chapter 32 Mad Dog Hotel
"Hell..." came a faint murmur from the crowd, which then burst into a wail, "I can't take it anymore! I want to go home! I want to go home!"
A thin, pale-faced man ran out in despair.
"Don't be impulsive!" Xie Yun chased after them. "Running around will cause trouble!"
The man ignored him and pressed the elevator button repeatedly, heading to the underground parking garage.
Xie Yun was blocked outside the closed elevator doors.
He pressed the button twice but couldn't open the door, so he decisively rushed to the emergency exit and went down the stairs to the basement.
Just as they reached the underground level, a series of ear-piercing screeching brakes rang out, accompanied by a man's scream: "Get away! Get away!"
Xie Yun's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately guessed what the man had encountered.
"No!" He ran towards the direction of the voice, shouting to stop them, "Don't chase the dogs off the car!"
It's too late.
He had just spotted a car leaning to one side in the road when a man's terrified screams erupted from inside.
Pfft—
A flower of blood bloomed on the windshield, and the blood slowly slid down like a curtain, staining half of the windshield red.
Xie Yun's breathing trembled, and she stiffly retreated.
He took two steps back, then turned and ran.
Not everyone can stay clear-headed and rational at all times, nor will everyone bother to remember those inexplicable rules.
Xie Yun pressed the elevator button, entered the elevator car, and turned around to see a young man swaying as he followed in the distance.
It—with its Shiba Inu head—was still a bit dazed, as if it hadn't quite grasped the situation, and instinctively moved closer to the person.
Xie Yun subconsciously reached for the button to return to her room's floor, but then remembered the crowd still gathered on the first floor.
He gritted his teeth and finally pressed the button for the first floor instead of going straight back to his room.
The elevator doors opened, and Xie Yun rushed to the emergency exit, closing the doors tightly behind him.
He considered dragging the sofa from the lobby over to block the door, but then realized that blocking the door on the first floor was pointless, as the hotel had nearly 30 floors, and each floor had an entrance and exit.
Instead of wasting time blocking the door, it's more important to notify everyone quickly.
Xie Yun ran towards the shops with all her might, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Someone has turned into a monster! Everyone run!"
Lu Qi is tying her hair up.
As one of the few doctors in the group—even veterinarians—she, along with Lü Shi'an and two other colleagues who were participating in medical training, decided to go into the store to perform an autopsy.
Upon hearing Xie Yun's voice, the crowd was stunned for a moment, then erupted in chaos—
Without needing his notification, everyone turned around and saw a Shiba Inu following Xie Yun, running excitedly towards them.
The Shiba Inu's speed far exceeded Xie Yun's. As the distance closed, the crowd screamed and scattered like birds and beasts.
"Let's go first!" Lü Shi'an decided immediately.
Lu Qi was pushed and shoved by the crowd, and Lulu pulled her a few steps. In the chaotic crowd, she turned her head and saw Xie Yun, who was covered in cold sweat, less than 20 meters away from the Shiba Inu.
In front of him was an elderly couple.
The husband, supporting his wife, looked back in horror at the kobolds behind them. The wife ran for her life. Both of them wore a strange necklace around their necks, loosely strung with sparse pearls, as if a complete pearl chain had been split into two.
Everyone is running for their lives; they have to survive, even in this absurd and bizarre supernatural world.
They have a reason to live.
Lu Qi suddenly broke free from Lulu's grasp and walked against the flow of people.
She walked quickly, taking the platinum necklace out of her pocket as she went and fastening it behind her back.
Someone ran past her, and after seeing that the person was holding a tennis racket for protection, Lu Qi gave up wearing the necklace.
She held the necklace in her palm, snatched the tennis racket from the other person, and said, "Sorry, can I borrow this?" Then she took longer strides, turning from walking to running, and ran towards Xie Yun.
"Little Lu!" Lu Shi'an ran a short distance and turned around to see Lu Qi walking against the flow of traffic.
Xie Yun stared in astonishment at the girl running towards him, shouting, "Run! Run!"
He didn't understand why she had come. Was she here to help him? What could she possibly do with her frail body?
As they drew closer, Xie Yun reached out to pull Lu Qi along to run with her, but Lu Qi dodged her.
Lulu stared intently at Lu Qi, then chased after her.
The Shiba Inu was incredibly excited to see humans getting closer in its field of vision.
It lunged at Lu Qi, who quickly raised his tennis racket to block its mouth.
The Shiba Inu paused, momentarily stunned by the grid.
Instead of immediately leaping a second time, it stood still, its nose twitching, hesitant and uncertain.
Lu Qi wondered, "Do kobolds can choose their masters?"
It looked like it wasn't too happy with her.
The Shiba Inu didn't hesitate for long before making up its mind: it wanted Lu Qi.
It charged at Lu Qi from the flank again, but Lu Qi braced himself against the racket with both hands, took a step back, and regained his balance.
Bang—
The immense impact sent Lu Qi staggering back several steps. The wet dog's nose and foul-smelling mouth were right in front of him. Through the thin mesh, Lu Qi could clearly see the Shiba Inu's sharp teeth and its excited, pinkish-white eyes.
Terrifying strength.
The Shiba Inu twisted its head, trying to press its neck against Lu Qi's, but the tennis racket blocked its way, preventing it from doing so.
It immediately retreated and pounced from a different angle.
Fortunately, it was just a dog, not an insect, and its movements weren't so fast that they were invisible, allowing Lu Qi to block in time. This pounce was even more powerful than before, causing her arms to ache and her hands to go numb.
She was pushed aside, her back pressed against the glass wall, behind which lay a disemboweled corpse.
Lu Qi gripped her tennis racket tightly, trying to breathe as steadily as possible.
In the distance, Lu Shi'an was being pushed and shoved by the crowd, struggling to call out Lu Qi's name. Xie Yun, not far away, also stopped running and looked over in shock.
Lu Qi silently recited Rule 3 [Pet dogs are loyal companions to humans] and Rule 5 [Pet dogs are friendly, please do not hurt them].
Perhaps by wearing a necklace and becoming a "dog" in their eyes, one can avoid being pounced on;
However, even though they are both dogs, Lu Qi is much smaller than his opponent, which is not conducive to restraining him.
A Shiba Inu in a state of heightened arousal is highly likely to attack a weaker member of its own species.
Given that he was inferior to his opponent in physique, strength, and speed, Lu Qi's only advantage was his identity as a "human".
Both rules mention that pet dogs are friendly to people, so we can assume that the dog-headed people who are pets are not red-danger level vicious dogs.
In the perception of an ordinary dog, humans are naturally of a higher status than it—a perception ingrained in the dog's genes after long-term domestication.
After finding a suitable "weapon", Lu Qi gave up the necklace.
The identity of "a thin woman" is more advantageous than "a puppy," and even a kindergarten child has the potential to become a leader of the dog pack.
Dogs are impatient animals. If they don't get a response or feedback, they will calm down and feel bored.
Lu Qi used her racket to shield her neck from the Shiba Inu lunging at her. She silently counted in her mind; ten minutes, maybe twenty, would surely be enough for the dog to calm down.
Even if all her deductions are wrong, the worst outcome would be that she would have a dog by her side and join Tian Miaoying.
She needs to hold on for twenty minutes.
The man lunged forward suddenly, and Lu Qi's fingertips trembled. After looking up and seeing the Shiba Inu's head, she returned to normal.
Once her gaze shifts and she sees the man's body, her mind goes blank, filled only with fear.
This is a dog, this is a dog...
Lu Qi gripped his racket tightly, repeatedly reminding himself of the rules.
If he were a real man, he wouldn't be so foolish as to charge around recklessly. He would just grab her waist or legs, flip her over, and she wouldn't be able to get up.
However, judging from Huang Zhenyi's foolish and impulsive charging manner at yesterday's meeting, the dog-headed man only possesses the instincts of a dog and is not very good at using human grasping abilities.
Looking at the fluffy Shiba Inu's head, Lu Qi's fear of men lessened considerably, and she even thought to herself—thank goodness it's a dog, not a cat.
Cats are not only skilled in physical combat, but also know how to hide and ambush.
If it were an owl, it would never make a loud noise like a dog when chasing prey.
They use cover; they lie in high places, quietly waiting for humans to pass below. Nine times out of ten, humans won't notice them until they're pounced on.
Thinking about it this way, dog ghost stories are much friendlier than cat ghost stories.
When Lu Qi blocked the Shiba Inu for the fifth time, he caught a glimpse of Lulu standing on the opposite side.
Looking past the Shiba Inu's erect ears, she saw Lulu's sorrowful gaze.
sad?
It wasn't surprise, anger, or anxiety, but sadness?
Lu Qi was stunned for a moment. The next moment, Lulu rushed over and pounced on the Shiba Inu's back with amazing speed. She grabbed the fur on its head with one hand and held the back of the Shiba Inu's neck with the other, and slammed it to the ground.
With a loud thud, the Shiba Inu fell flat on its face.
Lulu rode on its back, pressing down on the Shiba Inu's head with both hands, and raised her chin at Lu Qi.
Lu Qi, panting, put down her tennis racket.
She understood Xiao Lu's eyes; those eyes conveyed a clear message—"You go first."
Like that winter night before she came of age, when Lulu bit the tall man and then looked back at her.
The difference is that Lulu's eyes are resolute, while the young man's gaze is calm and composed, seemingly quite confident that he can subdue a monster.
The Shiba Inu twisted and turned, its fragile waist and neck pinned down, unable to break free in the slightest.
As the crowd dispersed, Lü Shi'an and Xie Yun, who had regained their senses, ran over to help, only to find that Lulu had already firmly controlled the kobold, leaving them no room to intervene.
Lu Qi, panting, said, "I'll go find a rope."
“There’s an outdoor store over there,” Lulu pointed with her chin to the opposite side. “I have cash in my pocket, Lu Qi, come and get it.”
"Cash?" He actually remembered to pay at this point.
"..." Lulu hesitated for a moment, then smiled at her. "It's never a good thing to buy things without paying. Someone died in the store, maybe there's some rule about it, it doesn't hurt to be more careful."
Lu Qi scanned Lulu's straddling posture, which was the same as the one he used to subdue Zhao Feipeng in the hospital.
She walked towards him, reached into his pocket, and said, "I'll be right back."
“I’ll go with you,” Lu Shi’an said.
The two ran towards the outdoor store. Lu Qi clutched the banknotes, remembering that when she scanned the code to buy milk tea yesterday, she found there was no network. Lulu immediately took out cash.
In this day and age, it's astonishing that some young people carry cash with them.
If it's said that he has an overseas background, then Lulu doesn't have the habit of carrying a wallet or cards.
Lu Qi bought a bundle of climbing rope, and the transaction went smoothly. They were not disemboweled by the shop assistant—although it is still uncertain whether the five dead were killed by the shop assistant.
On the way back, Lu Qi saw Lulu subduing the Shiba Inu again from afar.
It's even more obvious from a distance.
In a very awkward position, he straddled the Shiba Inu's waist with his legs spread apart. His legs were so long that they bent over in a pitiful way, forming a standard Japanese girl sitting posture.
This posture makes it inconvenient to get up and makes it difficult to respond quickly to emergencies. The human posture for suppressing from behind is usually a squatting position.
But from a dog's perspective, this isn't a delicate young girl sitting, but rather a riding position used for domination.
The young man's back was completely exposed to Lu Qi's eyes.
She held a sturdy climbing rope in her hand and glanced at him with a cryptic look in her eyes.
A moment later, Lu Qi walked past Lulu and stood in front of him.
She crouched down, put the climbing rope around the Shiba Inu's neck, and then tied its paws behind its back.
The Shiba Inu struggled and barked, but when it realized it couldn't escape, its barks turned into whimpering pleas for mercy.
"What do we do now?" The group looked at each other in bewilderment. The incident had happened so suddenly that none of them had expected to capture a dog-headed monster.
"Let's find an empty room to house it," Lu Qi said. "Or maybe we can keep it over there?"
"No! We can't let Lu Qi come in!" Lulu objected firmly, saying urgently, "There are plenty of empty rooms, there's no need to come into our room!"
That was his and Lu Qi's room!
How can an idiot who can't even follow the known rules be allowed into their room!
"It's safest to keep it under your nose." Lu Qi reached out, stroked the Shiba Inu's head, and pinched its ear tips. "Besides, it's quite cute, and it doesn't look cheap."
The fact that Lu Qi could utter such words as "cute" after just escaping from a dog's jaws filled the two men with awe for her attitude.
Lulu opened his eyes, barely suppressing the urge to wrinkle his nose and bare his teeth, and glared coldly at the Shiba Inu. "Cute? It's just a rude monster."
Lu Qi sighed.
"Okay, let's ask the front desk if we can book another room for it."
The group went to the hall. Lulu held the Shiba Inu by the collar behind its head with one hand, looking at it with disdain and disgust, to prevent it from pouncing on Lu Qi and making her its owner.
After hearing the request, the receptionist tilted her head and asked, "You mean you caught a stray dog and want to find a place to put it?"
"...I guess so."
The receptionist smiled and said, "Sorry, we can't book a room just for a dog. You can leave it with us, and we'll do our best to find its owner."
Lu Qi frowned. "What if we can't find it?"
The receptionist said gently, "According to the Stray Animals Act, pets that are not adopted within three days need to be humanely destroyed."
"Three days?" Lu Qi was surprised; the bill clearly stipulated two years.
She turned around and looked at Lulu, who was carrying the Shiba Inu. His face was extremely pale. When the Shiba Inu whimpered, he impatiently tightened its collar, making the Shiba Inu whimper.
Lu Qi knew that dogs were not good at hiding their emotions and had very little patience.
But two years has turned into three days... The lord who set this rule must have had a terrible lack of patience.
"Okay, thank you, we'll think about it some more."
"You're welcome." The receptionist smiled and watched them leave.
“Xiao Lu…” The four of them gathered together, and Lu Qi had just started to speak when Lu Lu stared at her resentfully.
“It’s too dangerous, Lu Qi,” he objected. “The room is the only safe place; there can’t be any unstable elements.”
“How about locking it on the terrace in the other bedroom?” Lu Qi said. “We’ll lock both the terrace door and the room door. You can control it with one hand, which means it’s not that dangerous.”
Lulu shook her head repeatedly, even stomping her foot lightly, both anxious and angry.
The room was his and Lu Qi's most private territory, and Lulu didn't want any other scents to mix in—he looked at the Shiba Inu's erect ears with disgust:
Still so rude, barbaric, and uncultured, with that stench of male masculinity!
Lulu saw the Shiba Inu's perpetually erect ears as an outrageous provocation. He controlled his itchy claws and suppressed his urge to confront the dog, trying to reason with Lu Qi using human logic: "It will defecate. If it poops on the terrace, the smell might attract danger; if we let it come in to relieve itself, we'll have to be in frequent contact with it, which is too risky."
Lu Qi choked.
That's a pain point. Raising a large animal isn't that simple.
Lulu strongly objected, and since Lu Shi'an and Xie Yun's rooms lacked isolation facilities, they probably didn't have the ability to control the kobolds.
Lu Shi'an pondered for a moment, "Let's tie it up in the conference room first, discuss it with everyone, and have the men divide into groups to take turns guarding it."
“Okay.” Lulu, who usually doesn’t like to participate in discussions, spoke up for once.
Xie Yun also said, "I have no objection."
Instead of going to the conference room immediately, they took the kobolds to Xie Yun's room first to see how many people were willing to participate in the dog-guarding plan.
"Please sit wherever you like." Xie Yun was assigned a standard room. "There was supposed to be another person here, but they left on the first afternoon."
As for the other party's outcome, he adjusted his glasses, didn't continue, and instead picked up the landline phone, saying, "I'm not sure if everyone else has gone back to their rooms. I'll try to get through."
There was only one telephone. The three of them stood in the room, waiting for Xie Yun to call the young and middle-aged men on the list one by one to explain the situation.
It wasn't easy to gather people to guard a monster right after someone died; Xie Yun had to persuade them to come up with nine people.
“Including the three of us, that makes a group of four.” He nodded to the group. “Excluding the six and a half hours of curfew, we’ll be in a group of six hours.”
"It's a bit of a waste of manpower," said Lü Shi'an.
"With fewer people, it's not safe, and we don't have the guts," Xie Yun said helplessly. "Let's be cautious for the first few days. If it's really not that dangerous, we can just keep it in the conference room and use it to deliver meals."
They were discussing personnel arrangements when Lu Qi glanced at the dejected Shiba Inu out of the corner of his eye.
She interrupted their conversation, "Excuse me, may I use the restroom?"
“Of course.” Xie Yun readily agreed, but Lulu frowned.
Lu Qi was annoyed that she wanted to leave her excrement here, to leave such a fragrant mark on the male's territory, but he couldn't let Lu Qi endure it.
He wished Lu Qi could give it to him; he would gladly taste food that had been warmed by her body.
Lulu felt resentful and regretful. He was a human now, and superior humans shouldn't make such a request.
Lu Qi put down her tennis racket and went into the restroom.
Lulu's earlobes twitched, sensing her nervousness.
He then moved a few steps and completely blocked the toilet door.
Lu Qi walked around the bathroom a few times, turned on the tap, silently counted to thirty, washed her face, and took out the thin platinum necklace amidst the sound of running water.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Lu Qi's eyes flickered with a mixture of light and shadow.
Could it really be as she guessed...? That would be far too far-fetched.
But if it really is true, what should she do...? No, now is not the time to think about what will happen next. She needs to verify it a few more times. Maybe, maybe she's just overthinking it.
A person is a person, and a dog is a dog. Stop overthinking things...
In order to let Xiaolu see that she was wearing a necklace, she deliberately wore a low-cut sweater, which made it impossible to hide.
After turning off the tap, Lu Qi realized that these deliberately created sounds were unnecessary.
When they came out, Lü Shi'an and Xie Yun's discussion had come to an end.
"Thank you so much for earlier." Xie Yun smiled at Lu Qi. "You startled me when you rushed over. You were so brave."
Lu Qi smiled faintly.
She wasn't brave; compared to others, she simply had fewer worries and constraints.
This shouldn't be happening... Lu Qi frowned and glanced at the young man blocking his way.
Several people tied the dog-headed man to the handle of the conference room's security door.
To make up for not being able to help earlier, Lü Shi'an and Xie Yun volunteered to stay and serve as the first group of "dog watchers".
The other nine "dog watchers" arrived one after another. The presence of a dozen or so men, all over 1.75 meters tall, made the already thin Shiba Inu look even more pitiful, and it was hard to tell who the evil force was.
After listening to Xie Yun and Lü Shi'an's explanations, the nine elder brothers stared at Lu Qi and Lulu in astonishment, their eyes constantly glancing at Lu Qi. They simply couldn't believe that such a frail girl would dare to rush up to the dog-headed monster alone and fight it head-on.
Lu Qi lowered his head.
She knew those gazes meant no harm, but she couldn't suppress the fear deep within her heart.
This fear runs deep, and each recurrence reinforces the memory, making her increasingly terrified of men.
"We're leaving now," she whispered, barely a whisper, before crouching down to pat the Shiba Inu's head in farewell.
The moment my hand touched it, the listless Shiba Inu suddenly struggled and barked angrily.
"careful!"
At the prompting of the older brother next to her, Lulu suddenly stepped forward, pushed aside Lu Qi, stood in front of the Shiba Inu, and looked down at it with a disdainful glare, revealing one side of her canine tooth.
The Shiba Inu's erect ears drooped down, and it huddled up pitifully.
Lu Qi tugged at Lulu to indicate that she was alright, then nodded to Lü Shi'an and Xie Yun before leaving the conference room.
Lulu was a little irritated; somehow, things seemed to be heading in a direction he didn't like.
The journey back was unusually quiet.
Lu Qi watched her and Lulu's steps. Lulu's shoes were always three inches too big for her. When she slowed down, Lulu would slow down as well; when she sped up, Lulu would speed up.
He was adjusting his speed to match hers.
“Of the five people who died,” Lu Qi stared at their shoes and suddenly spoke, “four of them were roommates in pairs, and the one who died had already left his roommate.”
Lulu agreed, giving a soft "Mmm".
Lu Qi muttered to himself, "Now nobody knows why they went to the store, and nobody knows what they did."
Lulu smiled slightly, then tilted her head and kissed Lu Qi's temple. "Don't worry about Lu Qi, I will protect you. You will never become like them."
Lu Qi's hands hung limply at his sides. He had used too much force to grip the tennis racket, and now his fingers were trembling uncontrollably.
"You've put on the necklace."
The abrupt words left Lu Qi frozen in place.
She looked up, and Lulu tilted her head to look at her, her dark pupils filled with laughter: "When did you put this on? Do you like wearing necklaces?"
Lu Qi composed herself and stroked the necklace. "I don't have the strength to deal with another dog. Just in case, I'll wear it for now."
“After wearing it, those dogs really couldn’t tell them apart,” Lulu praised. “You did the right thing.”
Lu Qi gave a perfunctory reply, his mind unsettled.
Upon entering the room, she strode forward abruptly, rushing in before Lulu and immediately grabbing the check-in guide.
Flipping through the pages, there was no new content.
The space between pages five and seven remains blank.
Lu Qi touched the thin silver chain around his neck.
"What are you in such a hurry to look at?" A gentle voice came from the side of her neck, and Lu Qi suddenly closed the booklet.
A cool breeze enveloped her. Lulu braced herself against the edge of the table from behind, encircling her beneath her, and followed her gaze to the guestbook.
She calmly placed the manual back on the table. "I was wondering... if the store-related content would be updated after someone dies. Unfortunately, it isn't."
Lulu stared at the manual that Lu Qi had pushed away. After a moment, he licked Lu Qi's lips and said, "Don't think about it anymore, Lu Qi. You're already very tired today."
A wet, sticky sensation crawled across Lu Qi's lips, and she shivered slightly, echoing Lulu's words, "Mmm...you've worked hard too, it's all thanks to you today."
His arms, which were braced on the table, suddenly wrapped around her waist.
Lulu lowered her head and buried it in Lu Qi's neck.
"Today is very dangerous." The young man's voice was slow and somber. "Lu Qi, you must take care of yourself first. There will always be times when I can't protect you. You must take good care of yourself."
Lu Qi opened her eyes.
Her thoughts were still in disarray, and her emotions were in turmoil. She felt lost and her eyes and nose stung with tears.
Amidst the chaos, the young man's cool voice rang in her ears again: "Why did you touch it?"
"What?"
"Why did you touch that dog?" Lulu tilted her head inquiringly. "You touched it twice. And then you touched it again after you put on the necklace."
He held her tightly, his nose touching the corner of her lips, inhaling her breath as close as possible.
"Lu Qi, what were you doing just now?"
Lu Qi swallowed hard.
At such close proximity, even the smallest action like swallowing could not escape Lulu's perception.
She belatedly realized that Golden Retrievers are one of the breeds favored by the military and police.
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Author's Note: [He looked at the Shiba Inu's naturally forward-pointing ears with disgust:]
Still that rude, barbaric, and uncultured masculine stench!
Shiba Inus have erect ears; when a dog is excited, nervous, or aggressive, its ears will stand up straight.
To a dog, this kind of appearance is like you're walking down the street when suddenly a burly, snarling man yells at you, "Come on, let's fight! I'll beat you to death!"
Lulu has soft, floppy ears and is very polite. He's a mixed breed of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and his ears are longer than those of a typical Golden Retriever. So, in a dog's eyes, he is—
Blonde hair with twin tails!
(But not a loser, a winner)
So what Lulu heard was like this ↓
Lu Qi: I want this big brother with a face full of scars, baring his teeth, and always yelling, "Come on, let's fight! I'll beat you to death!" to move into our room. He'll poop and pee in our house every day. Maybe I'll even pet him, kiss him, and call him my darling.
Lulu: No! No way!!!
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