Following Wang Tiancai's directions, we cautiously made our way forward. In the distance, a dim yellow light appeared, accompanied by a cacophony of barking dogs.
Slowing our pace, we approached a bit closer. Three black-backs were tethered on iron chains, one lying on the ground with one hind leg raised, licking something repeatedly.
Anyone who has raised dogs knows the drill: two dogs shouldn't be tethered too close. If their chains get entangled without being noticed, the dogs could strangle each other. Cats are the same.
The other two dogs tugged on their chains, bringing their heads close together, pretending to bite each other with their mouths and occasionally using their paws to intimidate one another.
The other three men were locked in the dog kennel, battered and bruised, their clothes torn to shreds, looking utterly bedraggled.
Zhang Wenjie sat against the wall, legs stretched out and crossed, eyes closed in repose. Chen Laoda curled up, lying on the ground with his arms serving as a pillow, fast asleep. Chen Duoyu had the most wounds, with dog hair still clinging to his head. With a resentful gaze, he stared at one of the black-backs. It seemed this guy had been in many fights with the dogs, and the outcome was obvious: Chen Duoyu was even worse off than a beast.
How could we rescue them? I was at a loss.
Being too close, I dared not speak. I waved my hand vigorously. Chen Duoyu squinted for a few seconds, then shook Chen Laoda's buttocks vigorously.
Then he made a parenthesis gesture with his fingers, encompassing the three of them, and pointed outside, indicating for me to quickly rescue them.
I pointed at the black-backs, indicating that we must deal with these three dogs first. But I noticed that the "troublemaker" black-back was staring at me, baring its teeth and emitting a low growl.
Before I could react, a bark shattered the silence, and the other two black-backs joined in. Their barks merged into a cacophony, and the iron chains clattered loudly.
Zhang Wenjie opened his eyes, put on his glasses, and saw Zhang Ling and me, both looking shocked.
"When a dog barks, people will come soon. You two hide first," Chen Laoda loudly reminded, then signaled to Chen Duoyu, "Third, quickly."
The two brothers rushed forward and joined the fray with the black-backs.
The battle between man and dog officially began.
Sure enough, in less than a minute, three people came running swiftly. Leading them was Miss Bai from the Bai family, Bai Ruoxue.
The combat capability of the black-backs was not weak to begin with. With all three together, even Tibetan mastiffs would have to be wary. The two brothers were already at a disadvantage, and when Bai Ruoxue arrived, the three dogs became even more ferocious, as if they had been injected with chicken blood. They were even more formidable, showing no intention of stopping until they tore the Chen brothers into pieces.
This must be the influence of a strong supporter.
"Dare to hit my dogs, I'll, I'll kill you." Bai Ruoxue said with resentment.
Chen Laoda just wanted to divert attention and protect us, not to fight. He quickly withdrew from the battle and pulled Chen Duoyu away.
The three black-backs immediately changed their demeanor, wagging their tails and whimpering toward Bai Ruoxue, as if they were wronged children. Chen Laoda wiped the blood off his hands and said solemnly, "Let us out."
Chen Duoyu followed up, "Exactly, if you want to kill or maim us, it's up to you, but locking us up here without any explanation, what's the meaning of that?"
Bai Ruoxue's lips curled into a cold smile, and she said sarcastically, "You'll be released tomorrow, don't worry."
"Really, are you true to your word?" Chen Duoyu asked naively.
A hint of surprise flashed across Zhang Wenjie's face, and he pushed Chen Duoyu aside.
"Bai Ruoxue, I want to see Old Lady Bai. You can't kill me."
"Humph, stay put."
After speaking, Bai Ruoxue took out chicken legs from a bucket nearby and threw them to the three black-backs. Then, she led her people away.
Pointing at the three black-backs, I made a throat-slitting gesture, intending to convey to them that once we handled these dogs, we would rescue them.
Zhang Ling anxiously asked, "Guangting, do you have any good ideas?"
I extended my injured middle finger and shook it. "Let's use this trick. Let's become dog thieves and poison them."
Like two mice, we crept along the wall to the abandoned tank, picked up a few horse bones with white hair, and slipped back. Using pottery shards, we scraped the powder off the bones onto the chicken legs.
"Scrape more, increase the dosage. Dogs are worse than humans."
"Jie, why are you cursing? I didn't mean it that way. Stop talking nonsense and scrape quickly. Dogs are tougher than people. A small dose won't knock them down."
It was a bit ironic that there wasn't even a dirty word in this curse.
With everything ready, we tossed the chicken legs to the three black-backs. These beasts lay on the ground, using their paws to hold down the chicken legs, tilting their heads and chewing, leaving not even bone scraps behind.
All we could do was wait.
It had been several hours since we parted ways with Wang Tiancai, and I had no idea what was happening on his end.
From not far away came the sound of creaking. Looking closely, it was an old man carrying a pole, with two thermos flasks hanging from it, walking rhythmically.
"Guangting, what smell do you smell?"
"It's fermented mustard greens and dumplings. They're about to have a meal."
This smell was too familiar. After Grandpa passed away, our family's condition wasn't great. Summer was fine, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, but in winter, we could only eat cabbage and fermented mustard green dumplings.
Smelling this, I couldn't help but swallow my saliva involuntarily.
"Let's go, let's follow them."
We tracked the old man secretly until we reached the construction site, where two golden retrievers were holding a roasted chicken in one hand and a flat jug in the other.
Roast chicken and alcohol, the more you drink, the more spirited you become.
As soon as the laborers, who were accustomed to physical labor, saw that it was mealtime, they immediately dropped their tools and rushed over like a swarm of bees, snatching up the steamed buns and pickles.
Several slower ones could only watch others eat, swallowing saliva continuously.
Wang Tiancai held a steamed bun with pickles in one hand, his eyes darting around. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he slipped out and made marks on the wall.
"Hey, stop drawing."
I shouted from behind, startling Wang Tiancai. The steamed bun in his hand fell to the ground. He stood up, pressing his body tightly against the wall.
"It's me, Gousheng."
"Ah, you scared me."
"What's the situation? Is there any news?"
Wang Tiancai looked around, then whispered, "I just heard the big golden retriever contacting outside with a walkie-talkie, saying they've finished packing and are starting to transport out. They estimate they'll finish by the latter half of the night."
At this point, Wang Tiancai suddenly became nervous, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and continued, "From what I gathered, it seems like everyone here is about to..."
He didn't say the word, but I had already guessed the outcome.
These were dozens of lives at stake. These people were simply annihilating humanity, worse than beasts.
Zhang Ling saw through my thoughts. "Life and death are predetermined, wealth and honor are heaven's decree. After we rescue them, let's leave here immediately and mind our own business."