Chapter 524: Urban Village
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A lot of cities had urban villages, including Binhai City.
An urban village started out as an ordinary village near the city. As the city expanded, the village became part of the city, but was never demolished and rebuilt for some reason. It became a unique scenery on its own, and could not blend in with the tall buildings around them.
Ning Lan's classmates were grad students in Binhai University, and were familiar with this urban village. A lot of student couples in Binhai University did not live on the campus residence, but rented their own place in the urban village. Most houses in the village were built by the villagers and were three-story buildings with simple furniture and cheap rent. It was popular among the student couples.
The problem with an urban village was evident. It was chaotic!
Most residents of the urban village were tenants that moved often. The security was loose, and many tenants lost their wallets or phones all the time. Fights and conflicts were often reported. Underground brothels were everywhere which were a natural hotbed of crimes.
Upon arrival, Zhan Tian stormed into the urban village without hesitation. Zhang Zian knew well that the dog-trappers were very likely to be hiding here. The urban village was indeed the perfect hiding place for them.
Hotels that were sloppily built by the villagers were everywhere in the urban city, forming a labyrinth. Many hospitable villagers came up to greet potential guests. "Are you looking to rent? Our hotel is cheaper than the others. Monthly payment with one-month deposit. Would you like to take a look inside?"
There were all kinds of odors in the urban village. Zhan Tian had to sniff more carefully. Zhang Zian reminded the others to pay attention to the surroundings.
Ning Lan's friends became nervous. It was one thing to help her look for the dog, but facing a gang of criminals was something else. A few girls were afraid, but were too shy to leave. The guys were emboldening each other. "What are we afraid of? We are so many, plus two dogs! Good always defeats evil!"
Zhan Tian led them to an ordinary yard. The gate was shut, and it was quiet inside. It sniffed around near the gate, then sat down and looked at Zhang Zian silently, as if it was telling him something with the eyes.
"Is it here?" He bent down and asked quietly.
Zhan Tian watched him in silence.
This was the difference between a police dog and a house dog. When something unusual was spotted, a house dog would bark right away, but a trained police dog would be unusually quiet, in order not to scare the enemy.
Famous lifted its head and sniffed, then said in a low voice, "There is a smell of many dogs in the yard. Some of it smells...rotten."
Zhang Ziwan was 100% certain that this was the base of the dog-trappers. Some of the trapped dogs may be dead already, and were about to be sold to dog meat restaurants. As for why the living dogs were silent...he was not sure.
He was thinking about the next move. Should he call Sheng Ke? Then he suddenly noticed a few villagers were peeping at them from a distance, and typing on their phone.
Damn! The urban villagers probably knew that they were running a shady business. To cope with the sudden inspections from the government, they had secret WeChat groups in order to stay connected and alert each other. As soon as the outsiders arrived, including Zhang Zian, they were fighting against countless invisible soldiers everywhere.
Soon, a hustling sound came from the yard, as if someone was packing up in a hurry.
Zhang Zian made an immediate decision and told Ning Lan, "Call the police, and tell them someone is selling illegal drugs here." Before Ning Lan could respond, he clenched his fist and knocked on the door. "Open the door! Open the door!"
As he yelled, Zhan Tian barked with him. The sound became more chaotic in the yard with the noise of tables and chairs being knocked over.
Zhang Zian assigned tasks to two students. "You guys detour to the back. One take the left and the other take the right. Go see if there are back doors or side doors in the yard, then come back to tell me."
They took the order and hurried off. Soon they came back and reported. "This is the only door."
Zhang Zian nodded. The people inside could not run away.
Suddenly, the bolt clicked and the door was pulled open. A young man wearing a mask shouted to Zhang Zian angrily. "Hey, what are you knocking for? Who are you looking for?"
Zhang Zian replied calmly, "Our dog is lost. We are looking for it."
"We don't have dogs here!"
The young man wanted to close the door after answering impatiently. But Zhang Zian held the door.
"What you do want? Trouble?" The young man's face changed. He rolled up his sleeves, ready for a fight.
"Woof! Woof!" Zhan Tian growled and showed its teeth.
The young man saw the yellow dog teeth, and chickened out.
During this moment, through the door slit, Zhang Zian saw an MPV parked in the yard. It was the same vehicle in the video, and the same one he saw in the valley at the back of his pet shop.
"It is here!" He tilted his head to tell Ning Lan. "Let's go inside and see!"
Ning Lan saw it too. She was very anxious to find her dog, so she followed Zhang Zian inside the yard. The young man wanted to stop them, but he couldn't stop so many people alone, and was brushed to the side.
They forced themselves into the yard with Zhang Zian. Two young men came out of the room, both wearing masks, with a shady look in their eyes. They were clearly not good people.
"What you do want? To steal or rob?" They forgot that they were thieves and robbers themselves, and yelled rudely with their hands on their waists. "Let me tell you. If you don't leave, we'll call the police!"
"Go ahead." Zhang Zian responded. "If you don't, I'll call them for you. Give the trapped dogs back!"
"Dogs? What dogs? We don't have dogs here!" The three men would not admit it.
Zhang Zian pointed at the MPV. "Then open the trunk of this vehicle, and let us take a look."
"Why? Who do you think you are? Police? Do you have a warrant?" They protected the vehicle nervously, as if there was some horrible secret inside the vehicle.
Zhang Zian was not in a hurry. Ning Lan already called the police. All he needed to do was to hold them off until the police arrived.
A crowd of people had already gathered outside the yard. Some were the urban villagers, and some were tenants. They were all watching the drama.
The dog trappers knew that it would be bad for themselves to be held off. One of them got into the driver's seat of the MPV and started the engine. The other two also went inside the car.
"Get the f*ck off! I'm driving off. If you don't go away, I'll run you over!" The driver rolled down the window, stuck out his head and cursed.
They were not bluffing, and started to back out the vehicle. The MPV was backing up toward Zhang Zian and others. They knew what would happen if their shady business was exposed, and couldn't wait to get away.
If Zhang Zian and the rest did not move away, they could have been rolled under the wheels. These lunatic dog-trappers were capable of anything. This was just a rented place, and the plate was falsified. They had nothing to fear. They would be hard to catch once they got away.
The students rebuked them furiously, but had to move to the side, as did Zhang Zian. As soon as he moved away, the MPV tried to hurry off. Zhan Tian leaped into the front window with precision, bit the driver's wrist, and pulled it abruptly to the side.
Zhan Tian's bite was accurate, but didn't hurt him. The teeth merely pierced through the cuff of the driver's winter coat.
The driver was shocked and infuriated. The MPV driver lost control as he battled against Zhan Tian for the steering wheel. The car banged into the yard wall. The engine cover was distorted, broken and had smoke coming from it.
"Zhan Tian!"
Zhang Zian was worried about Zhan Tian's injury. He hurried over to pull it out of the window. Zhan Tian's forehead was injured by the steering wheel during the impact, and blood ran down its cheek. But its eyes were excited. The injury didn't seem too bad.
The three dog-trappers had their sh*t bumped out. They pulled open the door, and wobbled out of the car.
"Tuan Tuan!"
Right away, Ning Lan saw her Samoyed lying in the car. She jumped over, and screamed in terror.