Chapter 52 Mad Dog Hotel
“We’ve already let everyone go.” Lu Qi stepped out from behind Lulu and pleaded with the girl, “This ghost story will never enter other humans again, please… show mercy.”
She knows she's shameless, that she's brought such a hellish nightmare to so many people, and now she wants to act like nothing happened.
Lu Qi was filled with shame, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and make the request.
Lulu blocked Lu Qi again and let out a series of low growls at the girl.
The girl was stunned for a moment.
She looked at Lu Qi, who was peeking out from behind the lord, holding the dog leash. Lu Qi's face was full of guilt and pleading.
He recalled the unfortunate prince who wanted to rescue the imprisoned princess, but the princess protected the wild beast.
Lulu wrinkled her nose, revealing her canine teeth, and stared at the girl with her dark eyes. Amidst her beastly roar, she uttered in human language: "Get lost!"
She is not a female human being and does not require politeness or respect.
"No!" Before the girl could respond, Lu Qi yanked on the dog leash and yelled at Lulu, "Get out of the way!"
Lulu didn't back down, so Lu Qi walked around him again, stood in front of him, and stared at him face to face.
She didn't use human language, but commanded him with her eyes: Get out.
Lulu swallowed hard, unwilling to give up, and took a small step back.
“You see, he’ll listen to me.” Lu Qi turned to the girl and said eagerly, “I’ll keep him in check, could you…”
The girl remained noncommittal.
She slid out, retreating twenty meters, pulled the elastic bands on both sides of her hat, and tucked her entire face into the hood, only revealing her eyes as she timidly looked at Lu Qi.
Lu Qi: ?
She watched as the girl anxiously looked around, finally pulling down the sign at the park entrance and crouching down on the ground with her back to them, quietly doing something.
A moment later, the girl turned around, picked up something, and threw it towards Lu Qi.
Lulu immediately stepped forward and caught the thing in front of Lu Qi.
An airplane, an airplane made from folded metal signs.
Lulu determined that this was the murder weapon and angrily roared at the girl. Lu Qi pulled him back, saying, "It looks like there's something carved inside."
She could see some words, but she couldn't disassemble the metal airplane.
"Can you open it?" she asked Lulu.
Lulu stopped barking and tilted her head to see a few words.
The five-centimeter-thick metal plate was folded like a paper airplane. Lu Qi's efforts were in vain, but fortunately Lulu was there.
Following Lu Qi's instructions, he paused his intimidation of the girl and bent down to flatten the metal plate.
The board was engraved with small characters:
[You're not leaving? I'll help you.]
Lulu's eyes flashed with malice as she looked at the provocative words.
Lu Qi patted him to bring him back from his negative emotions, then pointed to his hand with its pointed nails and asked, "I didn't bring a pen, can you carve it?"
“Of course, Lulu,” Lulu said without hesitation, “I am the most perfect dog.”
He seemed to be competing with the girl for something.
Lu Qi couldn't understand why the girl didn't just talk to him directly, but instead used such a troublesome method.
But Lu Qi was at the mercy of the other party, whose abilities seemed to surpass Lulu's. Since Lu Qi needed their help, he obediently followed the girl's rules.
Although she also wondered if the girl thought she liked communicating with paper airplanes, which was why she did it on purpose.
Lulu wrote her response and then folded the metal plate into a paper airplane. Lu Qi then had Lulu "fly" the heavy metal lump away.
With a thud, the plane crashed straight down in front of the girl's feet.
She picked it up, turned her back, squatted down, and began to disassemble and read it, just like the gray cobblestones Lu Qi had seen upstairs that day.
Compared to the girl's concise sentences, Lu Qi wrote much longer on the whiteboard:
"Thank you for your kindness. Lulu is my dog, and I cannot abandon him. I am deeply sorry for causing you and others so much trouble during this time. But as you can see, Lulu is just a dog. He does not possess human reason and common sense. Please forgive him this once. As his owner, I am willing to accept all the punishment for him."
When Lulu was writing this, she refused several times, but Lu Qi forced her to continue.
He asked, "What if she wants to kill you?"
Lu Qi said, "That's to be expected."
Lulu lowered her eyelids slightly, concealing the murderous intent in her eyes.
If she dares to do that, he will take Lu Qi away no matter what, and he will not give in even if Lu Qi unleashes the dog.
The plane flew over, and because it had a lot of content, the girl didn't throw it back for quite a while.
I cannot harm humans.
According to the rules, [the world] will reward the life that helped Him.
Lu Qi frowned.
It was clearly a wonderful thing beyond her expectations, yet she sensed something was off.
Assuming the girl's existence is that of a "partner of justice," someone on the side of humanity, then she should at least offer some advice such as "the person next to you is a monster" or "he will hurt you," which are common ground between humans and monsters.
But she didn't say a word and accepted it easily.
On the rooftop, Lu Qi also caught a glimpse of the girl's actions.
If any giant dogs harm humans along the path the girl walks, she will intervene.
She will also intervene if there are giant dogs blocking humans from leaving;
But when the humans she saved were killed by the giant dog on their way to the red line, she stopped paying attention to them.
Indeed, death is also a form of departure, and it doesn't necessarily have to be through a "door".
However, this approach seems callous and runs counter to "justice".
She was like a not-so-bright sheepdog, not caring whether the sheep she herded came back alive or dead, as long as she got them all into the sheepfold.
Lu Qi stared at the words on the board, pondered for a long time, and then grabbed Lulu's index finger.
She wrote:
"I want to live peacefully with my puppy, and if possible, I also want to keep the memories of living here forever."
Whether it was ten years ago or now, she has only this wish.
The girl unfolded the airplane, then quickly threw it back:
She gave a half-correct, half-incorrect symbol, with a dot drawn on the "√".
She couldn't stay by their side forever and ensure their safety for the rest of their lives, so she refused her first wish and only agreed to preserve Lu Qi's memories of being here.
The number of [World's Minions] is limited, and they cannot always arrive on time. Therefore, [World] has set a rule: those who share the work of [World's Minions] will be rewarded.
Lu Qi has helped many lives escape the ghost stories, and Shi can reward her and fulfill her wishes, but for this abandoned lord, she still needs to take some necessary precautions.
As it soared into the air, it looked down at the man and woman on the ground and raised its left hand to Lulu.
Lu Qi was startled, and then heard Lulu beside him groan in pain.
He reverted to his sticky, misty state, where a jet-black feather shimmering with an eerie purple light twisted within it.
As if struggling, the feather wrestled with the girl in mid-air, unwilling to leave the sticky mist.
It was clearly no match for the girl, and no matter how unwilling it was, it was gradually peeled away from the sticky fog.
The girl retrieved the feather, then suddenly turned her head and bit and plucked it from her body.
A pure black feather appeared between her teeth. She strained her teeth and spat the feather out at Lulu.
Dark black feathers shot into the sticky mist, which churned a few times and gradually took on a human shape again.
"Hah..." Lulu knelt on the grass, drenched in sweat, her joints trembling, and she was in so much pain that she felt completely exhausted.
"Lulu, Lulu?" Lu Qi, not understanding what had happened, anxiously helped him up. "What's wrong with you?"
Lulu was pale and trembling, unable to speak.
Seeing that Lu Qi was really worried, the girl picked up the metal plate again and explained to her:
[I've replaced the [liar's] feathers; it no longer has the ability to establish rules. This ghost story will collapse soon. Quickly get out through the [door], or you'll become an idiot.]
Her feathers remained inside the lord's body in place of the [liar's] feathers, constantly monitoring his movements.
If an abandoned lord does something that violates the laws of the world again, she can immediately summon her feathers to crush him.
Shi has done this process many times.
In these kinds of non-malicious ghost stories, there are always humans willing to defend the lord. She's used to it.
Lu Qi helped Lulu to her feet and looked up at the girl in the sky.
The girl hid in the night, becoming one with this crumbling ghost story.
Lu Qi still has many questions: about the ghost stories, about [the world], and about the girl.
But that didn't seem like a question she should ask, and the girl wasn't talkative, so she probably wouldn't answer them all.
"Thank you." Unable to carve words, she sincerely thanked the girl, "Thank you!"
The girl pulled down the elastic band and hid her eyes inside the hood.
She watched as Lu Qi helped the weak Lulu leave through the "door".
The mystery is about to end, and she has received a new mission: to immediately move on to the next mystery.
Before the red line, Lu Qi turned his head again and saw the petite girl with the sign turn into black smoke and disappear into the air without a trace.
She silently thanked and apologized in her heart, and supported the trembling and weak Lulu as she stepped across the red line.
drop--
Car horns blared from ahead; it was dusk, Lunar New Year's Eve, and the nearby intersection was completely jammed.
Pedestrians hurried by, pulling suitcases and scrolling through their phones, everyone busy getting home.
Lu Qi stood at the intersection, a chill running through his hair.
She looked up and saw the fine snowflakes falling gently.
It's another winter with a light snowfall.
She turned her head and looked at Lulu, who was half-closed and almost unconscious. She exhaled a puff of white mist and touched the top of his head.
Wow, it's so cold outside.
Lu Qi hugged Lulu tightly and walked forward.
...
Lulu was sick in bed for a week, sleeping for twenty hours a day without waking up.
The girl retained Lu Qi's memories from the ghost stories; she remembered everything except for the content before she lost her memory.
After Lu Qi returned, she took care of the sick Lulu while contacting the others to check on their situations.
No one remembers what happened in the ghost stories. Tian Miaoying said that she felt she had a very long dream, the content of which seemed very bizarre, but she couldn't remember any of it.
She couldn't remember, yet she inexplicably felt like crying.
"It's so strange, Sister Lu. It feels like I've been in a war for so long, and now being able to lie at home and sleep is a hard-won happiness."
She sobbed, "My phone is so much fun, my mom's cooking is so delicious, and the problems are so easy to solve... Am I going crazy?"
Lu Qi remained silent. "...I'm sorry, Miao Ying."
"Huh? What?"
“I’m sorry,” Lu Qi said bitterly, “I didn’t care about you.”
"Oh, I was just kidding! I'm not crazy! If I were, it wouldn't be because of work. You're the best boss I've ever had!"
“Well,” Lu Qi said with a wry smile, “I just wanted to say sorry to you.”
"Why?"
“It’s nothing,” Lu Qi said. “When I have time, I’ll treat you to dinner, and I also want to tell you something.”
"What is it?" Tian Miaoying asked impatiently. "Just tell me now."
It wasn't something that needed to be deliberately hidden, so Lu Qi readily agreed, "After returning from the training, I applied to join Professor Meng's team, and I'll be going to Africa in the spring."
"Huh? Africa!" Tian Miaoying exclaimed in surprise. "When are you coming back?"
"It's not certain yet. However, I've resigned."
"So sudden! You told me to stay a few more years, why did you run away?! What am I going to do?!"
“Hmm,” Lu Qi couldn’t help but smile upon hearing her energetic voice, “I’m really sorry to treat you to dinner.”
"So that's what you're sorry for..." Tian Miaoying said listlessly, then suddenly laughed. "But since you're so happy, I forgive you."
Lu Qi was taken aback. "Happy...is it that obvious?"
Professor Meng's team is a leader in the industry, and Lu Qi was indeed pleasantly surprised that her application was approved. However, several days have passed, and she shouldn't be that excited anymore.
"Isn't it obvious yet? Sister Lu, you rarely speak with such energy; your voice is stronger than usual."
"Really..." Lu Qi chuckled, "I hadn't even noticed. Did I always speak so softly?"
“I can usually hear your voice, but you look very tired. Our work is indeed tiring.”
Tian Miaoying instructed, "Go ahead without worry. Don't worry about me. Being able to stay by Professor Meng's side is definitely a good thing. Remember to be careful when you get there."
"I'm really sorry." Lu Qi paused, then added, "Also, thank you, Miao Ying. It's hard to say now, but if I have the chance in a few years, well, I'll come to find you."
Lu Qi has never touched the compensation money given to her parents.
At first, she just felt that the money was very important and should not be touched casually; later she also thought about donating it, but before she could find a suitable channel, she got involved in the strange tale.
Now, Lu Qi has changed his mind.
Once she's more mature and has learned more, she plans to use that money to establish a veterinary rescue station.
It will be difficult, but she is not alone; she has received so much tolerance and help along the way.
Putting down her phone, Lu Qi put a half-check mark on the form in front of her, marking it as a temporary note.
On this form documenting victims of ghost stories, one-third of the pages are already half-checked, indicating that she has made contact with them.
It's easy to contact colleagues, but it takes some effort to reach others.
Perhaps it was strange for them that strangers would suddenly come to their door to apologize and offer compensation, but Lu Qi couldn't just pretend nothing had happened.
She walked to the bedside.
Lulu was still fast asleep. Lu Qi raised his hand and brushed away the stray hairs on his forehead.
"Get well soon, Lulu," she said softly as she sat down beside him. "Don't sleep anymore, we still have a lot to do."
I need to process my resignation, visit Professor Meng and her team, apologize to the victims, apply for a passport, go to Africa, pursue my doctoral studies, visit other aid stations for observation and learning, and—
She leaned down and placed a kiss on her light blonde hair.
She and her dog will continue to live a good life together.
——
(End of Unit 1)
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Author's Note: This is way too long for an episodic story! How can an episodic story be 300,000 words long?! [emoji]
Another bonus chapter tomorrow at noon, and the first unit will be completely finished. The next couple will start tonight. [cat paw emoji]
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