Chapter 34

"The Land of Great Peril 4," The Dog's Dilemma.

At half-past seven, Angler and Mofei arrived at the largest pet market in S City, just before it closed for the day.

Mofei asked Angler, "Angler, what kind of dog do you want to buy?"

Angler glanced at Mofei and replied, "One like you."

Mofei looked at Angler somewhat helplessly and asked, "How am I like a dog?"

Angler, without answering, strolled through the market. There were many dogs there: some barked wildly, others lay quietly asleep. Most of them were Teddies.

Angler frowned and asked Mofei, "Why are there so many of those small, disproportioned, red, curly-haired creatures?"

Mofei, with a wry smile, answered, "Angler, Teddies are quite popular because they are small, smart, and well-suited for keeping at home."

Angler turned and locked eyes with a little red Teddy. The small dog wagged its tail at him.

Angler frowned and said, "That's really ugly!"

The Teddy seemed quite offended by this remark, barked twice at Angler in protest, and then hid behind something.

"Isn't it quite cute?" Mofei said, "What kind of dog do you want? A big one or a small one?"

Angler stroked his chin, sizing up Mofei, and mused, "Hmm, probably a big dog, but not too big."

Mofei, feeling helpless, asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Angler wrinkled his nose and muttered softly, "Not like you..."

"If you want a big dog, let's look inside. It seems like the larger dogs are all there," Mofei suggested, hands in his pockets as he led Angler further into the market.

"How do you know that?" Angler inquired, "Have you worked at a pet market before?"

"No," Mofei replied with a smile, "I just really like dogs and used to frequent pet markets quite a bit."

"So, what kind of dog do you like?" Angler asked with keen interest.

"Hmm... a Husky," Mofei replied. "A subspecies of the Siberian Wolf. They're beautiful dogs, the kind you often see pulling sleds."

Angler pondered this, imagining a Siberian Wolf hauling a sled, when Mofei suddenly pulled his attention away, pointing, "Over there."

Following Mofei's gesture, Angler saw at the far end of the pet market a larger shop. Inside, instead of cages, there was a fenced area housing about a dozen dogs of various sizes, all with white coats and grey-black patterns. They were either standing or lying down, looking quite relaxed. A middle-aged man was cleaning up, apparently preparing to close the shop.

As Angler walked into the shop, he glanced at Mofei beside him, who seemed a bit excited. A thought crossed his mind... did Mofei have a fondness for this breed?

The shop owner, tidying up, noticed their arrival and looked up with a smile, asking, "Interested in a Husky?"

Mofei glanced at Angler and saw him intently observing a large Husky standing against the wall at the back, stroking his chin as if deep in thought.

Following his gaze, Mofei noticed the largest Husky in the corner. It appeared to be about one or two years old, a large dog. Its head, ears, and back were grey-black, the rest of the body snow-white. The dog's round eyes were ocean blue, with two white spots above the eyebrows. The black fur on its head formed an attractive inverted 'V' above its eyes. The Husky had a medium-to-large build, with a body almost as wide as it was tall. Its neck and back formed a right angle, and its chest was prominent. The large tail curled high over its back, exuding a proud demeanor, yet its head was slightly lowered, as if preoccupied with some thought.

"Hmm," Angler assessed briefly, then pointed at the dog and said to the owner, "I'll take that one!"

The owner looked back, somewhat surprised, and asked, "You want that one?"

"Yes," Angler nodded, and Mofei, standing nearby, asked, "Angler, it seems to be already grown up. With large dogs, it's usually better to raise them from a young age to ensure closeness."

"That's true," the owner agreed with a smile. "Huskies can be quite stubborn. They're smart but not very obedient, and have a wild, freedom-loving nature that makes them less homebound. They're inherently difficult to domesticate, and it's even harder to manage an adult one."

Angler looked at the owner, puzzled, "Aren't dogs known for their loyalty and obedience to their owners?"

The owner chuckled, "Dogs indeed bond closely with humans, but each breed has its own temperament." Shaking his head, he explained, "Dogs can be evaluated on two criteria: intelligence and obedience. Intelligence refers to their understanding and learning abilities, while obedience is how well they follow commands. Huskies are extremely intelligent but have very low obedience. As a subspecies of wolves, they're the closest to wild wolves among all dog breeds and are quite challenging to raise."

"Really?" Angler seemed surprised. "Do they bite?"

The owner smiled, "Huskies love people. They're a bundle of contradictions: cheerful but sometimes lost in thought, friendly yet maintaining a distance even with familiar people, proud and not easy to approach."

"Right," Mofei nodded. "That's why not many people keep Huskies these days."

"These dogs are not suitable for apartment living," the owner explained. "They're very active and energetic. If confined to a cage, they can go mad. They're better suited for suburban living, preferably in a house with a yard where they can run freely, and they need regular exercise."

Angler looked at Mofei and asked, "Is the space at the gallery enough for it to run around?"

Mo Fei pondered for a moment, then nodded. "That plot of land in front of the gallery is yours too, right?"

"Yes, it is." An Ge'er nodded in agreement.

"We could install a gate at the corner, and lay out some lawn in the yard. That should be sufficient for keeping it," Mo Fei calculated, then asked An Ge'er, "Are you really planning to raise one?"

"Absolutely! I want that one." An Ge'er seemed to have set his heart on the dog at the far end.

The owner, somewhat helpless, suggested, "I would rather recommend starting with a puppy."

"Why?" An Ge'er asked, puzzled, "I like that one."

The owner sighed, then called out to the dog at the back, "Ace, come here."

An Ge'er raised an eyebrow, "Ace? That sounds a lot like Oss's name. So if I command it to bite Oss, it should obey, right?"

Mofei, looking at Angler helplessly, said, "Do you really want to keep it even though it bites? Os has a gun, you know."

"I don't care. If they bother me again, I'll set the dog on them." An Ge'er wrinkled his nose, just as the dog named Ace, hearing its owner's call, glanced back, wagged its tail gently, but didn't move.

Ansgar asked in bewilderment, "Aren't dogs supposed to come running and wagging their tails when you call them?"

"Huskies don't," the owner replied with a smile. "They might stop and think, 'What do you want me to do?'"

"Oh…" Ansgar nodded, beckoning the dog named Ace, "Come here, I want to buy you."

But Ace just tilted his head, observing Mo Fei and Ansgar as if sizing them up.

"So disobedient," Ansgar remarked with dissatisfaction.

Mo Fei walked over, crouched down, and clapped his hands, "Ace, come here."

The dog looked at Mo Fei for a moment, wagged its tail lightly, and walked over.

When it reached Mo Fei, Ace sniffed him, then looked up at Ansgar. Mo Fei patted its back twice, and the dog wagged its tail again.

"Has a good temperament, doesn't it?" Ansgar observed, turning to the owner, "How much?"

The owner pondered for a moment, then looked at Mo Fei, "Young man, you seem to really like huskies, don't you?"

"Yes," Mo Fei nodded, gently pinching Ace's ears.

"Do you plan to tie him up?" The owner seemed genuinely concerned about Ace's treatment after being taken home.

Mo Fei pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "The room should be spacious enough. Besides, a grown large dog shouldn't chew on things, so there's no need for a leash or a cage."

Ansgar crouched down too, stroking Ace's neck. Ace glanced at him and wagged its tail lightly. Ansgar squinted his eyes, grabbing both of Ace's ears, and asked discontentedly, "Why are you more affectionate with Mo Fei? Am I not as good as him?"

The dog stared at Ansgar for a moment, tilted its head, wagged its tail at him, and then licked his wrist with its tongue.

"It seems to like you both quite a bit," the owner said with a smile. "Let's say five hundred."

Mo Fei looked up in surprise, "Five hundred?"

Ansgar leaned in and asked Mo Fei, "Is that expensive or cheap?"

Mo Fei observed Ace for a long while and then said, "Owner, this Husky is purebred."

"I raised it myself," the owner nodded. "Its parents were both show dogs, absolutely purebred."

"Mo Fei," An Ge urged Mo Fei with a tug, "Five hundred is not expensive."

Mo Fei nodded, looked at the owner, and asked, "Purebred Huskies a few months old sell for thousands. Why is this dog so cheap? Is it sick?"

The owner shook his head honestly and explained, "Ace was bought by someone before... Later, it was badly injured and abandoned, but it found its way back on its own."

Mo Fei was taken aback, then listened as the owner continued, "Since its return, Ace has always seemed preoccupied, not very obedient, and indifferent to people... If you take it and manage to cheer it up, that would be great. If it doesn't behave, don't hit it; just bring it back to me, and I'll refund you."

After hearing this, An Ge's face lit up with a smile. He pinched Ace's ears and said, "Mo Fei, let's pay for it and take it home."

……

By the time the two of them returned to the gallery with Ace, it was already past nine in the evening. While Mo Fei was preparing a bed for Ace, he asked An Ge, "An Ge, why suddenly decide on getting a dog? Is it related to the case?"

An Ge, sitting on the sofa and stroking Ace, who had jumped up to lie beside him, replied, "The case? You mean the one about the zombie?"

"Hmm." Mo Fei nodded, "This case is really strange."

"Actually, there isn't really a case," An Ge said with an indifferent smile, "Mo Fei, we've been deceived... or more accurately, used."

"What do you mean?" Mo Fei looked up at An Ge, "Are you saying there's something wrong with that Zheng Jiu?"

"If it's for an amusement park," An Ge said methodically, "a haunted plot of land is undoubtedly great for publicity. But if it's for a business building or residential housing... then the property can only be sold cheaply, if at all."

"That's true," Mo Fei nodded, "You mean, someone is deliberately creating a ghostly facade, and it's that Zheng Jiu?"

An Ge smiled, "Well, I think it might not be Zheng Jiu... but someone else."

Mo Fei, observing An Ge's expression, asked, "Do you already know who it is?"

An Ge nodded, "It's not a particularly clever trick."

Mo Fei didn't ask further, just stood up and said, "So you're content being used, not fighting back? For all we know, by tomorrow morning, the news could be flooded with stories about the haunted construction site."

An Ge stood up, shook his head, and said, "Not necessarily." With that, he went upstairs to wash clothes and go to sleep.

Mo Fei was still confused, but since An Ge had already figured it out, he didn't want to delve further. He locked the gallery's main door and prepared to go upstairs. Seeing Ace still lying on the sofa, he asked, "Ace, where will you sleep tonight? Upstairs or downstairs?"

Ace looked at him, jumped off the sofa, and followed him upstairs. He surveyed the place inside and out, glancing into each room, before finally fixing his gaze on the large terrace visible through the floor-to-ceiling glass doors.

Mo Fei opened the door for him. Ace stepped onto the terrace, gazing at the distant night view, then turned back and barked twice at Mo Fei.

Mo Fei moved his dog bed up to the terrace and said, "If you get cold and want to come in, just scratch at the door, okay?"

Ace wagged his tail, settled into his bed inside the kennel, lying on the soft, thick cushion, and gazed at the stars in the sky.

Mo Fei went back inside and closed the door.

"Does Ace like the terrace?" An Ge, after his shower, asked Mo Fei, who was reading a book.

"Yeah," Mo Fei nodded and said to An Ge, "An Ge, I found some information about the owner of that construction site. He seems like a real villain."

An Ge smiled, walked over to the bed, and reached out to feel the blankets, saying, "Mo Fei, go take a shower, the bed's freezing."

Resigned, Mo Fei put down the book and turned to shower. An Ge sat on the sofa, picked up the financial magazine Mo Fei had been reading, shook his head, put it down, and crossed his hands in front of him, resting his elbows on the armrests of the sofa, lost in thought.

……

The next morning, Mo Fei checked the news and waited until the afternoon, but there was no report about the haunted construction site. He went outside to retrieve the mail and newspapers, finding no related news in them either, which puzzled him.

"An Ge, there's an envelope," Mo Fei said, picking up a heavy envelope and handing it to An Ge, "Found it in the mailbox this morning."

An Ge opened the envelope and found a stack of money and a note inside, which read, "Please keep this a secret, much appreciated."

An Ge put down the envelope, chuckled, and started eating. Mo Fei, utterly baffled, asked, "An Ge, what's really going on?"

An Ge pondered for a moment and said, "All I can say is that we unwittingly became involved in a situation and ended up helping someone in need."

As they were speaking, the doorbell rang. Oss hurried in and, upon stepping through the door, was startled to see Ace eyeing him intently, and he exclaimed, "An Ge, why did you get a dog?!"

An Ge smiled faintly and said, "Ace, bite him!"

Ace actually ran towards Oss, who, startled, quickly backed out and closed the glass door, with Ace barking at the door.

Angler nodded in satisfaction and said, "Who says Huskies are disobedient?"

Mo Fei sighed helplessly, walked over to bring Ais back, pushed him aside, opened the door, and let Os in.