Chapter 93: Time To Trust People
“Tell me, what method do you have to make it obedient?”
Doggy first let out two sly hehe laughs, then said in Yun Ce’s head with an extremely charming voice: “I just checked it out and found that this Doggy’s pituitary gland is abnormally developed… hehe, you know, the growth hormone secreted by the pituitary gland is the driving force behind animal growth.
Now, the weird thing is, this Doggy’s body can not only grow big, but also gradually shrink, so I want to observe it long-term, control its pituitary gland secretion of growth hormone, that way…”
“Cut out its pituitary gland, cut it out completely, without leaving a single bit.”
Yun Ce didn’t wait for Doggy to finish speaking and decisively issued the order.
“Beast— the pituitary gland doesn’t just secrete growth hormone, it also secretes prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, gonadotropin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, melanocyte-stimulating hormone, antidiuretic hormone, and oxytocin… If you cut it out, this Doggy would basically have no hope.”
“This is a Doggy spirit, trust me, this guy’s body is tough as nails, and besides, you can’t apply normal animal growth patterns to it.
Cut it out.”
“It will definitely hate you to death.”
“Is there a way to erase its memory?”
1 “By your moral standards, you also want to cut out this guy’s hippocampus, right?”
1 “Cut it out! Remember to sweep it clean.”
1 “In that case, you’ll only end up with a dumb dog.”
1 Yun Ce sneered and said: “Dog, why does it need to be that smart.”
1 Under Yun Ce’s gaze, a few more silver threads drilled into this Doggy’s mouth, and in a moment, the Doggy started rolling madly on the ground, its mouth sometimes as big as a cave, sometimes small and delicate.
1 Yun Ce didn’t care about these changes; he kept staring at the Doggy’s eyes until the wisdom in those eyes gradually faded, and they became clear, then Yun Ce picked up the dog, handed the unfinished dried meat to its mouth, the puppy opened its mouth, bit it, and chewed the dried meat contentedly in Yun Ce’s arms.
1 Doggy dangled the silver thread in front of Yun Ce: “See clearly, this is the pituitary gland and hippocampus cut out according to your request, swept very clean.”
1 With that, it shook the silver thread and threw the freshly cut things far away.
1 Just then, Steward Qiu returned carrying a massive Doggy with some people, and the people on the horse carriage all looked over.
1 Steward Qiu beamed and said to everyone he met: “Our Chief Manager killed the Doggy King.”
2 Despite the indescribable looks those people gave Yun Ce, Yun Ce still waved his hand, signaling the convoy to continue on its way.
2 On the road, they still encountered many Doggy, but these Doggy were no longer as disciplined as an army, scattered in groups here and there, some dog packs even tearing into each other, very disorganized.
2 Yun Ce sat on the red date horse, holding a good-looking black-and-white puppy in his arms; this puppy was very strange—as long as Yun Ce pinched its tail, its mouth would dramatically enlarge, followed by two rows of stark white teeth clamping shut like two cleavers.
2 Yun Ce experimented on the road for a day and a night before figuring out the precise way to use this guy; he could leave it for E Ji—that girl was silly and had no self-defense ability yet; with this dog, under enemies’ unexpected attack, this dog could bite through metal and iron.
2 When returning to the Royal Hunting Ground, Yun Ce didn’t interfere much with the arrangements for those seeking refuge; after opening the gate of the Hunting Palace, he entrusted everything to the two men and women selected by Old Cao and the others, then hurriedly left.
2 Truth be told, entrusting family to someone requires great resolve; Yun Ce believed that Old Cao and the others must have been truly desperate to so readily entrust their families to him.
2 At the same time, he believed that Old Cao and his group in Chuyun City must be hearts frying in oil, all sorts of good and bad speculations flashing before their eyes like a galloping lantern.
2 At this time, Yun Ce naturally wouldn’t get too close to those family members; if even a bit of bad rumor arose, even if a misunderstanding, all the favors he was doing this time would be for nothing.
2 Returning to the residence outside the Hunting Palace, the courtyard where Yun Ce lived was bustling; E Ji led An Ji and a group, unloading goods from the horse carriage.
2 Anything she liked, she had Feng An, Liang Kun, and Steward Qiu’s group carry the things into the courtyard; anything not to her taste, she tossed to Steward Qiu and the others to carry to the Hunting Ground Camp to distribute to everyone.
3 Seeing E Ji and the others in a complete mess of busyness, Yun Ce chuckled and sat on the doorstep, watching them bustle about happily.
3 Unable to look at the flirtatious glance E Ji threw him, he turned and went to the room where Peng Zeng was recuperating.
3 Speaking of which, in just two days apart, Peng Zeng had recovered from near death; seeing Yun Ce enter, Peng Zeng was on high alert like facing a great enemy.
3 Yun Ce strongly suppressed the urge to treat this guy as a test subject—his abilities were too miraculous—but after all, this guy wasn’t a Doggy, couldn’t just study him whenever he wanted.
3 “Kill me, don’t torment me anymore; all my suffering comes from you—perhaps you are my jinx, my destiny.”
3 “Once your wounds heal, leave on your own; don’t run into me again—that’s good for you and for me.”
3 Peng Zeng, now able to sit up, hung his head low and said: “What did you do to me? This time is different from before; my body’s recovery speed has gotten faster again.”
3 Doggy roared in Yun Ce’s mind: “See how tempting that sounds? If you let me keep studying him, from now on, all the Nobel Prizes in Medicine will be mine… no, yours.”
3 Yun Ce looked past Peng Zeng’s eyes full of curiosity, clenched his fist in his sleeve, and finally said: “I’ll give you five more days; by then, I think your wounds will be healed.
3 Once healed, leave.”
4 Once Yun Ce’s figure disappeared from the doorway, the old woman tending to Peng Zeng immediately said to him: “Leave as soon as you can walk; I saw the look in the Chief Manager’s eyes like he wanted to eat you—be careful, in this world no one’s words can be taken as true, everyone is swindling, they are all swindlers.”
4 Peng Zeng nodded silently; over these days, this old woman was the only one truly good to him.
4 “This Doggy is so dumb.”
4 E Ji disdainfully eyed the puppy but held it tightly in her arms.
4 Yun Ce forcibly took the dog and placed it in front of a low table, pinched its tail hard; the puppy yelped in pain, its mouth dramatically enlarged, instantly enveloping the low table, two rows of teeth clamping shut swiftly, biting the crude low table into two halves.
4 “Don’t touch its tail normally; when bad people try to harm you, then pinch its tail—that way, it can help you bite the enemy in two.”
4 Before Yun Ce finished speaking, the puppy was back in E Ji’s hands; the excited E Ji was reluctant to experiment on furniture, so she hugged the Doggy and went outside to gnaw on a big tree.
4 Facts proved this thing was a great logging tool.
4 With such a good tool, keeping the stones, trees, dilapidated buildings, and broken horse carriages outside the Hunting Palace intact became very, very difficult.
4 At bedtime, Yun Ce pulled a dog out from under E Ji’s quilt and tossed it on the ground, pressing down on E Ji’s struggling body with one hand: “Sleep properly.”
5 Under Yun Ce’s observation, that Doggy was a bit unsteady on its feet, probably related to too much stuff being removed from its head.
5 However, its territorial instinct remained strong; it lifted its leg to urinate in various spots in the room to mark its territory.
5 “I’m going to raise carrier pigeons well; you brought six chicks today, and I’ll raise them into good carrier pigeons.”
5 Yun Ce thought E Ji would keep talking about the Doggy, but unexpectedly she talked more about the carrier pigeons, those six brought back from Chuyun City.
5 Earth also has carrier pigeons called bluebirds; Yun Ce had never seen them, only heard of them in legends—supposedly, whenever a bluebird arrives, people’s longing turns into the waters of the East Sea; who knows whose longing could fill the East Sea.
5 Waking in the morning, E Ji was still asleep; the dumb dog had buried its head under E Ji’s neck, sleeping soundly; Yun Ce was startled—he was always light sleeper, yet last night, whether the dog climbed onto the bed, or E Ji got out of bed to grab the dog and bring it back onto the bed, he hadn’t noticed.
5 “Don’t worry, your wife got out of bed to grab it; you slept like the dead.” Doggy’s voice rang in his mind.
5 Yun Ce nodded, turned to look at the still-sleeping E Ji, feeling an indescribable heaviness in his heart; somehow, his trust in E Ji had breached the dam of vigilance he always prided himself on.
5 “Actually, it’s pretty good; if you want to change or reform a group of people, first you have to integrate; if you can’t even do that, to them, you’re a demon.”
5 “Where did you copy that from?”
6 “I used 《Bible》’s bones, Nietzsche’s muscles, the skin of universal history, and summed up that passage—doesn’t it suit you perfectly?”
6 Removing E Ji’s hand draped over his chest and abdomen—her hand very close to his heart—Yun Ce rolled over, sat up, dressed, opened the door, and dazzling sunlight streamed into the room.
6 An Ji was already up; she always rose early; this morning, this little girl who loved dance was dancing gracefully in the sunlight.
6 This was Yun Ce’s first time seeing Great Han dance; the dance steps were light and agile, the posture graceful and enchanting; even without music, An Ji fully displayed the beauty of this waist-focused dance.
6 At the end of the dance, An Ji prostrated at Yun Ce’s feet: “Young Master, does this 《Green Waist》 please your eyes?”
6 Yun Ce hadn’t answered when a pillow flew out from the room; An Ji deftly caught it, then ran off giggling.
