Pet King - Chapter 522

Chapter 522
Chapter 522: Danger


Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

To be cautious, Zhang Zian asked Sun Xiaomeng to text back Qian and Li and ask them for details on how they lost their dogs . They replied to the texts soon after .

After compiling the information, the three of them identified a pattern . All the dogs were lost in Dongcheng District, near the Family Housing Facilities of the university, the hospital and the state-owned enterprise . These facilities were old and were under-equipped with surveillance cameras . There were many dead ends and the security guards were sloppy with their jobs which left them vulnerable to intrusion .

Among them, Mr . Li claimed that although the surveillance did not record the dog trapping, it recorded a suspicious vehicle . He sent over the screenshot from the surveillance video .

The three events happened either in the early morning or in the late evening . It could not have been a coincidence . The surveillance video was not clear in the dim light of dusk and dawn . Mr . Li's video screenshot was very blurry, in which only a sliding door of an MPV car was identifiable . As the car drove, the door was ajar and not completely closed . Apart from this, no other sign could relate this vehicle to the lost dogs . But to use this screenshot as the only evidence was obviously far-fetched . 　

Mr . Li complained in the texts that he reported the surveillance video to the police in his district, but the police would not accept the case . They advised him to look further near his home because they thought the dog might have gone astray .

Zhang Zian could understand it . The police had a lot to deal with at the end of the year . Even a lost person's case could only be established after 24 hours, not to mention a dog . Besides, there was no evidence .

The surveillance camera was too high to capture the face of the MPV driver . The plate number was captured, but blurry .

Zhang Zian thought for a moment, then called Sheng Ke . It was New Year's Day holiday, and he didn't want to interrupt Sheng Ke's day off, so he called his office number . If nobody answered, he would wait another day or two . 　

Surprisingly, Sheng Ke answered the phone within a second . Zhang Zian briefly explained the case . Sheng Ke asked him to send the picture to a designated email, then wait for a call back .

It did not take long for Sheng Ke to call back . The technical department processed the picture and identified the plate number, but unfortunately, it was a falsified number which did not match the vehicle . In other words, the owner of the MPV could not be found .

Sheng Ke sounded busy over the phone, and had constantly been interrupted by subordinates' issues to deal with . Despite this, he promised to notify the police to keep an eye on the plate number and vehicle model . He specified that he didn't do it for the sake of Zhang Zian . Falsifying a plate number was illegal anyway .

Zhang Zian put the phone on speaker so that Ning Lan and Sun Xiaomeng could also hear the conversation . Ning Lan was eager to find the dog, but felt sorry for Sheng Ke when she heard that he had to work during the New Year's holiday . She signaled Zhang Zian to drop this matter .

He gave a brief apology and thanks, then hung up the phone .

Ning Lan sighed and said, "It's fine . I'll look for it myself . Thank you, Mr . Zhang . I'm grateful for what you have done so far . Please don't interrupt his office hour with our business . Caption Sheng must have a lot more urgent matters to deal with . "　

She was a sensible person, and did not take advantage of the fact that Zhang Zian had a police captain friend .

Things had reached a dead end . The trappers were clearly well prepared and even used a falsified plate . Zhang Zian and Sun Xiaomeng could not help any further even if they wanted to .

Ning Lan looked at the time and stood up . "Sister Xiaomeng . . . thank you . I'm leaving now . It's New Year's day and you should take a break . I have a date with my classmates at the gate of Binhai University . We'll look for the dog together today . The more people, the better . "

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help much . " Sun Xiaomeng stood up and walked her out . 　　

Ning Lan thanked Zhang Xian . "Thank you for your help, Mr . Zhang . Although Tuan Tuan is irreplaceable, if it's truly lost, I'll surely buy another dog from you . "

As soon as she said goodbye, Zang Zian suddenly remembered that the elfins at home were waiting for breakfast . He prepared to leave as well .

"You are welcome . I'll leave too . "

After leaving Sun Xiaomeng's clinic, Ning Lan went to meet her classmates . Zhang Zian dropped by Uncle Li's restaurant, and returned to the pet shop with a styrofoam cooler .

While the elfins were eating breakfast, Zhang Zian turned on the computer at the cashier station, logged into the public account of Wechat, and sent a group message .

The Spring Festival is coming soon . There have been a few dog trafficking events lately in the Dongcheng District . Please be careful when you walk a dog . Make sure to use a leash, and never let the dog out of your sight .

A moment later, more than one comment confirmed that their neighbors had lost their dogs in the recent days, and most of them were in the urban village .

A few others cursed the dog thieves to bump into ghosts at night .

A few minutes later, Snowy re posted the message on her Weibo page, reminding people to keep their dogs safe . 　

Although the store was open today, there were barely any customers . Most people were either resting or visiting relatives during the long-awaited, 3-day break . Most nearby stores were closed . 　

Zhang Zian continued to read the Abyssinian cat breeding book left by Kathy, but found it hard to stay focused . 　

He put down the book, dressed himself again, grabbed the baseball and baseball gloves, and prepared to play the daily game in the green field . The weather was not great, but it was cloudy and cold . So he didn't take the elfins with him . 　

After locking the shutter door, he left from the back door with Zhan Tian .

The back door of the pet shop was facing a quiet alley, leading to the green field on the right . Around the green field were some old residential buildings waiting for demolition . The old residential buildings were not well insulated and were cold in winters . Not many people lived there . They were mostly the old and the sick .

The green field was empty and cold as usual, without anyone in it . 　

Zhang Zian played with Zhan Tian for a while . Zhan Tian was apparently getting more excitable than before, responding faster to orders and executing them faster . It did not mean that the Special Forces were not good at training dogs . They had other more important things to do, and wouldn't compromise their daily training and assignments for training a dog . Zhan Tian was excellent, but so where the other candidate dogs, plus the numerous new ones that arrived each year .

Zhang Zian knew well that Zhan Tian was unlikely to get back to its peak state . It was good enough to give him a normal life .



"Zhan Tian, fetch!"　　

He threw the baseball to Zhan Tian to fetch, rewarded it with beef jerky, and so forth . He threw harder and harder, and the ball was landing further and further . But Zhan Tian was able to fetch it each time . 　

Zoom . . .

He threw the baseball again, except it was not very accurate this time . The baseball hit the fence, then bounced towards the alley at the exit of the green field .

Zhan Tian chased after it with excitement . It made a turn, then disappeared into the alley . Zhang Zian did not notice that . He looked at his cellphone when Zhan Tian returned earlier . It was getting late and decided that he should head back soon . He had not yet started the daily boxing class, nor played hide-and-seek with Galaxy but he waited for a while longer, yet Zhan Tian did not return .

He threw quite hard just now, and the baseball flew far away . But even after this, Zhan Tian should have returned . Did the ball get stuck somewhere Zhan Tian could not reach? It was possible . Sometimes the ball got stuck in the branches, and he had to climb a ladder to get it . 　　

He waited awhile longer, but Zhan Tian still not return .

Zhang Zian had a bad feeling in his heart . He shouted, "Zhan Tian, come back!"　

Usually, as soon as he shouted, Zhan Tian would have returned to him, with or without the baseball . As he shouted, Zhan Tian growled in the alley with rage . At the same time, a motor sound came from the alley .

Damn!

Zhang Zian felt anxious, as if a million llamas were running over his heart and left a million holes . 　

Can I be unlucky enough to encounter this?

He ran towards the exit with so much regret that he wanted to slap his own face . This old residential area was about to be demolished, with no surveillance nor securities . It was the perfect crime scene for the dog-trappers! How could he be so careless to ignore that? And he was reminding others not to let their dogs out of their sight? He failed so miserably at this . A big slap in his face!

If Zhan Tian had been trapped . How could he answer Fu Tao from the police dog nursing home the next time he asked him "How is Zhan Tian lately?" 　

Zhang Zian was stronger than before . He ran out of the green field and entered the alley .

A dark shadow flashed in front of him, and he almost ran into something . He was covered in cold sweat, and quickly dodged to the side . As he looked carefully, it was Zhan Tian .

"Zhan Tian, are you OK?" He was thrilled with excitement that Zhan Tian was back and no longer had to worry . There was something wrong with Zhan Tian . It barked restlessly towards the other end of the alley, as if it had seen an enemy .

Zhang Zian looked over, and saw an MPV disappearing at the end of the alley in smoke . It looked like the vehicle in Mr . Li's video . Subconsciously, he took out his phone to film the plate number, but then he realized that it was a falsified plate and filming would have been in vain .



"It's OK, Zhan Tian . It's OK . "

He held Zhan Tian, trying to calm it down .

As he looked closely, the hair in Zhan Tian's neck seemed to have been scraped by something against the direction of growth, and the skin under the hair was reddish . 　　

Zhan Tian furiously barked a few more times towards the vanishing MPV, then stopped reluctantly .

"Zhan Tian, let's go home . "

Zhang Zian put the leash on Zhan Tian in terror . They just walked a few steps, and Zhan Tian was distracted by a soft object on the ground . It sniffed and sniffed, unwilling to leave .

Zhang Zian was certain that this thing was not there earlier . It must have been left by the dog-trappers . 　

He picked it up and pinched it . It looked like a ball of rice, or some dessert made with glutinous rice . It was made with an unknown substance but it was soft with a nice smell .

He drew a picture of what happened just now . 　

The group of trappers drove into the alley, slowed down, or stopped with the engine on, and searched for a victim dog . Then they saw Zhan Tian run out of the field to fetch the baseball . They thought it was an ordinary German Shepard, so they threw bait towards it as they did with most dogs . The dogs chased after it because the bait was probably irresistible to them . Then they trapped the dog . Using this method, they caught it every time .

But Zhan Tian was no ordinary dog . Despite the early retirement, it was still one of the best police dogs, and would not accept food from strangers . It had always been alert, and the bait did not work . But those people were obsessed with money, and didn't want to let go of this beautiful, purebred German Shepherd . It would cost a lot of money . They drove up, trying to trap Zhan Tian anyway . But it was smart enough to get away, and barked horrendously to alert Zhang Zian .

The thieves were nervous, and accelerated the car to flee the scene . After hurrying over, all Zhang Zian saw was the exhaust from the vehicle .

It was a pity for Zhang Zian . If Zhan Tian had not been hurt by the flare, it might have been brave and chased and bitten them . Had they stopped those dog-trappers, they would have done the world a favor .

"Come on, Zhan Tian . Let's go home . " He put the bait in his pocket, and wanted to return to the pet shop through the back door . But Zhan Tian stopped at the door, staring in the direction of where the MPV disappeared . He tugged a few times, but Zhan Tian would not move . Zhan Zian frowned, and lowered his body to Zhan Tian . "Zhan Tian, do you remember their smell?"　　

Zhan Tian turned its head and barked loudly . Then it continued to stare in the direction that the trappers went . He knew what Zhan Tian meant . It wanted to chase them .

As one of the best police dogs, Zhan Tian must have received professional scent recognition training, and must have graduated with good grades . Otherwise, it would not have entered the Special Forces .

Honestly speaking, Zhang Zian was pissed off by these people . They were bold enough to trap his dog . He remained calm despite the anger . He was thinking about two things; first, was Zhan Tian able to trace them by the odor; second, could he turn those trappers over to the police after he traced them .

He was more concerned with the second thought . Since they were a group, there should be at least three people, or even more . That was a lot of people for him and a dog . He was good at Wing Chun Kung fu, but lacked battlefield experience . If the enemies had knives or bricks, he and Zhan Tian would be in danger . A wise man should not put himself in unnecessary danger . He didn't suffer actual loss, and should not risk himself impulsively .

It was inappropriate to ask for Sheng Ke's help as well . It was uncertain whether Zhan Tian was able to trace them yet . If Sheng Ke came over with a group to help and ended up with nothing, it would look bad . 　

Old Time Tea could nail it for sure, but it may draw too much attention in bright daylight, so he better not .

A decision must be made as soon as possible, before the enemy's odor disappeared . 　　

After realizing this, he asked Zhan Tian to wait by the door . He stuck his head inside the room and called, "Famous, come out with me . "

Famous was snoozing next to the reclining chair in boredom . It followed Zhang Zian outside after hearing how serious he sounded .

Fina and Old Time Tea watched him in confusion . He had little time to explain . "I'll tell you later after I come back . Lunch may be late today . "

"What?" Fina was about to explain when Zhang Zian shut the back door . 　

He took out the phone and texted Sun Xiaomeng to ask for Ning Lan's number . 　

"Hi, is that Ning Lan? This is Zhang Zian, manager of Amazing Fate Pet Shop . " He dialed the number .

"Oh, hi . " Ning Lan was obviously surprised . "Mr . Zhang, what's the matter? Did you find my Tuan Tuan?"　

Her voice was full of expectation .

"No, but I may have a lead . Are you looking near Binhai University with your friends?" Zhang Zian asked . 　

"Well, yes . "

"How many are you?"　　

"One, two, three . . . ten including myself . " She replied . Others could be heard in the speaker . 　

That was a lot of people . Ning Lan seemed popular in class . Zhang Zian speculated that most of the ten were guys .

"OK . Please come over as soon as possible . I'll meet you at the intersection of Zhonghua Road . I saw the vehicle just now . " He said . 　

Ning Lan was excited with happiness, and replied, "OK, we'll be there right away!"　　

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Zian patted the eager Zhan Tian . "Zhan Tian, now it's your show time!"