Chapter 170

"…That's how it is."

Not long after that, outside the compartment under the stairs

, Xu Ming leaned against the door and slowly gave his conclusion: "So, if it's convenient, I need to borrow Shadow Dog from you."

"…" But there was silence inside the door, and only the restrained howling of the dog could be heard. After a few seconds of pause, Lando asked hesitantly, "Does she have to see this dog?"

"I guess so." Xu Ming frowned, "Don't you think it's strange? Why do you want to see a dog for no reason? Is it just out of curiosity?"

Lando: "..."

Without waiting for his response, Xu Ming continued, "If it was a little girl like Xiao Xiao Guo, it would be understandable to make such a request. But according to Sister Yun's description, the other party is obviously a mature adult. And he was able to defeat the original domain master to take the position, which shows that he

is definitely very scheming. "Besides, she heard about the shadow dog from the dead who were released. Then she must know how strong the shadow dog's attack power is... She took the initiative to ask to touch such a dangerous thing, or she is really skilled and brave and is not afraid of anything. Or, this request itself carries another meaning."

"Hmm..." Landor inside the door seemed to be lost in thought. He coughed twice and said softly, "I don't quite understand. What does it mean?"

"It means, 'Prove your identities to me, and I will show my sincerity to you.'" Xu Ming said patiently, "She should believe that the Demolition Office exists, but she is skeptical about the authenticity of Sister Yun's identities. Bringing out the shadow dog is equivalent to further proving her identity. The appearance of the shadow dog means that the risk of her actions will increase, so in a sense, this is also her way of showing her sincerity."

"...That's how it is." Landor inside the door was obviously confused. He paused for two seconds before saying, "So complicated."

"Of course it is possible that I'm overthinking it. People just want to see the dog purely. "Xu Ming tilted his head slightly, looked at the tightly closed door, and smiled softly.

"It's also possible that I really want to talk to you more. If possible, I want to trick you into opening the door, so I'm talking nonsense... Who knows."

After the words fell, the person inside the door fell silent again, but the dog trapped in the compartment became obviously excited. The howling became louder, mixed with the clattering sound of the door, and the thin door panel creaked and shook because of its scratching.

Xu Ming was not in a hurry, and knocked on the door again slowly: "What about you? What do you say? "

…" Landor still said nothing.

Through the door, Xu Ming only heard a few more muffled coughs. Then he heard the doorknob click softly, and the compartment door was slowly opened a crack.

The shadow dog, who was finally allowed to go out, howled excitedly, and even forgot to shrink. He squeezed out directly from the crack in the door, until his body was flattened into a narrow strip. After finally squeezing out, he didn't even have time to recover, and just whimpered at Xu Ming, his flattened tail swaying up and down excitedly, looking full of enthusiasm, but as if something was wrong...

Xu Ming was shaken by it and hurriedly leaned over to hug it. The moment he leaned over, he was not surprised to hear whispers from behind the crack in the door -

"So happy, so happy. "

I want to see her, I want to see her."

"I really want to go out, I want to go out. Why don't you go out?"

... As expected.

Xu Ming's fingers that were holding the dog's neck tightened slightly, and she closed her eyes and sighed softly.

It was no surprise, she felt a little helpless, but it seemed that something was flapping its little wings and flying up from her chest, fluttering.

She raised her eyes to look behind the door, opened her mouth to say something, but heard a little sound, floating out from inside.

"It's so bad, so bad."

"Why is it so bad?"

"...It's better to just die. "

Xu Ming's breathing suddenly stagnated, and he looked up in surprise. The next moment, he heard another "bang".

The door closed again.

After a while, Landor's voice was heard again from inside. His voice was clear, and he seemed to have recovered a lot, but his words were a little depressed:

"You...when you come back, just leave it alone at the door."

"Sorry, please give me a little more time. I, I...I will handle it myself."

"Don't cause you any trouble. "

This time, it was Xu Ming's turn to be silent.

She held the shadow dog, which had swelled back to its normal size, in her arms and stared at the closed door silently for a long time. After an unknown amount of time, she responded calmly. After

the voice fell, she opened her mouth towards the door and made an idiotic gesture - then she pursed her lips, turned around and left.

With a subtle sense of urgency, Xu Ming quickly arranged a meeting with the domain master.

The meeting place was arranged in the other party's strange talk. He switched to the state of a dream walker and went to the appointment as a mid-level salesperson, Su Ming. In addition to the shadow dog, he also brought Gu Yunshu with him.

Just as Gu Yunshu said, the other party looked like a woman in her thirties or forties. She was very mature in her dealings with others and seemed a bit familiar. She always smiled when she spoke, and her body language was also relaxed. Only a hint of alertness and defense was revealed in her eyes, which inexplicably reminded people of the leopard pretending to be lazy.

Fortunately, she guessed right - after seeing the shadow dog suddenly turned into an extremely cool one, the alertness in the other party's eyes instantly faded a lot.

His attitude towards them also became more casual

and relaxed. After reading the contract that Xu Ming specially commissioned Teacher Jing to draft in advance, this casualness was even more relieved.

"Confirm again, I have two main obligations on my side. The first is to keep an eye on the 'door' and make sure it is always closed, and the second is to cooperate with the demolition and relocation office in regular spot checks and observations... Other than that, there's nothing else, right?"

The lady with golden beast eyes carefully read the contract in front of her and tried to summarize what she saw. Xu Ming sat up straight in the chair, and when he heard it, he reached out and tapped on the paper.

"You forgot the most important one." She said in a deep voice, "You are not allowed to devour living people."

"If the demolition and relocation office finds similar behavior, it will not be solved by local rectification."

"Oh...oh. Yes, yes, look at my brain." The woman with beast eyes smiled heartily and nodded generously, "Don't worry, I haven't fallen to that level."

"I hope that day will never come. "Xu Ming said lightly, turning his head slightly. Gu Yunshu on the side nodded in understanding, took out two work badges, walked up and placed them on the table.

"Ah." The beast-eyed woman looked at her in surprise, then narrowed her eyes and smiled familiarly, "You scared me. As expected of a serious unit, you look quite impressive."

Xu Ming did not respond to this sentence, but pushed two work badges in her direction.

"This is a special work badge for the cooperating personnel of the demolition office. If you find that your cognition has changed unpleasantly, you can wear it first, which should be helpful. It can also help the dead to consolidate their memory. If someone in your ghost story needs it, you can also give it to it directly. Just remember to fill in your name." Help

the dead to consolidate their memory?

The other party was obviously startled, and the look she gave to the work badge suddenly became much more serious.

She had also dealt with the dead before, so she naturally knew how easy it was for the dead to lose their past without roots. Therefore, it is clearer how important a tool that can help the dead retain their past is.

"Thank you in advance, I will use it properly." Carefully putting away her work badge, the beast-eyed woman smiled and thanked him. After a pause, she tentatively said, "By the way, leader, I don't know if this lady has mentioned it to you, but I actually have another idea..."

"I know. Adopt an animal, right?" Xu Ming said in a calm voice, with not much expression on her half-scarred face. "Unfortunately, from a professional point of view, we don't recommend that you do this." Of

course, she didn't say it without thinking. Before coming here, she specially consulted with Teacher Jing and Mao - one of them is more knowledgeable and the other is a senior domain master, and they know more about this kind of cold knowledge.

Noticing the other party's pupils shrinking into a line in an instant, Xu Ming remained calm: "After all, they are living creatures and cannot stay in the ghost story for too long. They have no order to protect them. If they stay in the ghost story for a long time, they are more likely to mutate... and eating the food in the ghost story is not good for them."

If you are sure that you will let the other party stay in the ghost story and never leave, then forget it. But if you still want to return them to the world, then it is definitely not possible.

"Oh... so." The linear pupils expanded again, and the woman leaned back directly, leaning on the chair, with a thoughtful look on her face. Xu Ming glanced at her and added, "But if it's a short-term shelter, it's theoretically feasible."

"...What about recuperation from illness or injury?" The woman thought for a moment and asked concernedly, "Is it not possible?"

"The sick body is easily affected. Theoretically, it is not recommended to keep it." Xu Ming said patiently, "But we happen to have a close partner who can speed up the recovery of living things. If you need it, we can provide technical assistance."

The woman was stunned again: "No need for medication? What about anesthesia for surgery?"

Xu Ming carefully recalled the cat's abilities, and thoughtfully: "It should be able to recover directly, but it requires physical strength as a price. As for anesthesia, we can provide alternative hypnosis services, but you need to make an appointment..."

No, wait a minute.

Xu Ming suddenly reacted: "Surgery?"

"Ah... I was a pet doctor when I was alive." The woman smiled and said truthfully, "I saw too many furry children in the past, all alone, injured and no one cared... Now that I have such a big place, I'm thinking about doing some of the things I wanted to do but couldn't do before."

"I don't know how to do very difficult surgeries, but I'm still very good at sterilization."

Xu Ming: "..."

Sterilization... It's indeed a public welfare.

But wouldn't it be more weird to outsiders? The stray cats adopted by the community suddenly disappeared, and when they reappeared, they had no balls or something...

Xu Ming thought silently, and turned his eyes again, but saw the shadow dog next to him quietly moving towards him. The head was held high like a sheepdog, and the steps were as small as a corgi.

Xu Ming: "..."

It's not that you are afraid of something, you don't have balls? Of course

, even though he was complaining in his heart, Xu Ming still managed to control his expression well. He withdrew his gaze very cleverly and looked at the domain master opposite him again.

"Anyway, that's roughly the situation." She nodded indifferently at the other party, "Our employees will come here for inspection regularly, and the two work badges can also be used for communication. If you need anything, just contact us in time."

"Okay, okay, I understand." Hearing the intention behind Xu Ming's words, the woman with beastly eyes smiled again, sat up, and picked up the contract on the table again:

"Then just sign this, right? Hey, you guys are really so formal, it's been a long time since I saw the jockey seal."

The woman said, picked up the pen prepared beside her and began to sign. The contract paper was flipped by her, and she kept talking:

"Hey, you may not believe it, but I still know a little about what's going on here, and I've always been worried that someone will come to rob me. Now that I've finally got in touch with the official, I feel much more at ease."

"It's normal. Everyone got here this way." Xu Ming just nodded slightly, picked up the water glass dignifiedly, and touched his lips lightly. "If you are not familiar with any aspects of the operation of Monster Talk, we can also provide relevant consultation. If you don't mind going out, you can also participate in the Domain Master Exchange Meeting arranged by us, and you can get a lot of professional opinions."

"So amazing?" The other party exclaimed in cooperation, "Are there many Domain Masters in your circle?"

Not more, not less. If you are included, there are exactly four, enough for a mahjong table.

"We are all partners. We just give each other face." Xu Ming explained calmly and changed the subject inconspicuously. "As for robbery... Since you have already grasped the root of this strange story, there is nothing to be afraid of. Just be careful not to let dodder appear in the strange story."

"That's not necessarily true." The person on the other side shook his head without hesitation. "You should have heard of Hongqiang Company, right?"

...Huh?

Xu Ming paused in his elegant action of drinking water.

"That's also a ghost story. There just happened to be two people who escaped from there on my site." The woman with beast eyes sighed and shook her head with regret. "It is said that they managed the site poorly and let a wolf in. As a result, they were directly robbed by outsiders. Now the whole ghost story has collapsed. It's terrible."

Xu Ming: "..."

"I've heard of it." She put down the cup calmly. "The roots of the ghost story are still here with us."

"Really?" The woman with beast eyes was stunned again, and then it suddenly dawned on her. "Are you also in charge of recycling?"

"No." Xu Ming was still calm. "It's not recycling, it's forced demolition."

The woman with beast eyes: "...Huh?"

"We are the wolf." Xu Ming added tactfully.

Beast-eyed woman: “…Ah?”

“Hongqiang Company is building illegally.” Xu Ming added, “and they refuse to cooperate with rectification. We can only take coercive measures.”

Woman with beast eyes: "..."

Woman with beast eyes: "Oh..."

A brief silence. The woman who had been leaning against the table sat up straight silently, and sorted out the messy contract in front of her.

Then she spoke a little nervously: "So, may I ask you about this strange story..."

"Our staff has checked it. Except for that door, there is no other place to be rectified." Xu Ming said in a light voice, stretched out his hand and pointed at the contract on the table, "Just follow the contract in the future."

Woman with beast eyes: "...Okay."

Xu Ming: "Anything else you want to ask?"

The other party sat upright and buried his head deeply: "Nothing else.

"Thank you."

Sister with beast eyes: Suddenly nervous, dare not speak.