Hearing Suming's question, Mr. Lin's mouth twitched twice, and he looked somewhat sheepish and evasive, mumbling, "The situation was so sudden, and with the county's finances tight, funding would definitely prioritize the human rescue stations first, to ensure the animals', and our rescue station has never had to rescue so many dogs in one go. As the director, this is all I can do for now. The death toll of the dogs is rising, and we had no choice but to ask for your help, if this doesn't work out, we will have to figure out another solution ourselves..."
Listening to Mr. Lin speak, Suming quickly sensed something wasn't quite right.
What Mr. Lin called 'just doing this for now' effectively meant neglecting the issue. If left long enough, the problem would resolve itself as the dogs died off, and the hot potato would simply cease to exist. This was a way of stalling for time because time could solve all problems.
Of course, funding for the rescue of humans must be prioritized; there's nothing wrong with that. The funding for the animal rescue station hadn't been delayed, either. The only blame lay in the fact that the crisis had come too suddenly and Mr. Lin's job was difficult, all of which Suming could understand. However, what really struck him as odd was Lin's remark about "figuring it out on our own."
The rescue station was only so big, and counting Lin, there were only two employees. How were they supposed to solve the problem themselves?
Could it be they were secretly killing the dogs? Surely not, as such an act, if exposed, would spell disaster not only for the rescue station but also for the higher-ups in charge.
So this "figuring it out on our own" was quite puzzling! In other words, did Mr. Lin resort to some special means to solve the funding issue?
"How exactly did you solve it?" Suming asked nonchalantly.
"Hahaha, well, now that you guys are here..." Mr. Lin laughed awkwardly, clearly reluctant to discuss the topic further, but he hospitably ushered Suming and Su Meng inside the house, saying, "Let's eat first, have a meal first. You've both come a long way, you must be tired from the journey. I'll ask Lin to get some drinks to welcome you."
Lin was the other employee at the rescue station, a temporary worker, Mr. Lin's only subordinate, and Mr. Lin's nephew. To be fair, these base-level workers really had it tough. With an annual budget of a hundred thousand yuan, after deducting the salaries of these two, there was still a huge amount of work at the rescue station to deal with. Suddenly having to care for hundreds of dogs, it was quite an achievement to have maintained their current situation.
"No need, no need, I've brought alcohol in my car." Suming took out a bottle of Wuliangye costing over four hundred yuan from the back of his Wrangler. Ever since he started dealing with higher-ups, his trunk was always equipped with a box of fine alcohol and several packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, just in case.
A bottle of Wuliangye costing over four hundred yuan would normally be too extravagant for an average family to consume regularly, reserved only for entertaining friends and relatives during the festive season. Mr. Lin and Lin, watching over this rundown rescue station, certainly didn't have the money to indulge in fine liquor, usually drinking bulk alcohol priced at four or five yuan per catty.
So what could it be?
Suming released a surge of spiritual power, attempting to connect with the injured dogs, thinking perhaps these animals, after staying here a while, might have some answers.
However, his normally effective spiritual power seemed to have little to no effect on these dogs! Likely due to excessive trauma, most of the dogs' thoughts were scattered fragments, making even the simplest communication impossible. Many of the dogs even felt extreme fear at the sudden intrusion of spiritual power and didn't respond to Suming at all.
These poor guys were traumatized! Just like people who survive a terrifying earthquake, they were in a state of shock. At such times, if you ask them anything, they won't respond to you. Even if you show concern, they won't accept it, and trying to force an answer could lead to hysteria or even more damage to the already hurt beings.
The best and only tactic at such a time is patience — given enough of it, psychological wounds gradually heal, and only then can normal communication become possible.
Apart from the severe trauma, Suming noticed another critical problem: these pet dogs no longer seemed to be friendly towards people.
Dogs and wolves might share a common ancestor and look similar, but they are fundamentally different. Wolves are wild creatures, naturally independent. Even Huiya, the Wolf King, could be said to have a 'good relationship' with Suming but definitely not one of dependency.
To put it another way, even if Suming could command wolves, without him, Huiya and the others could survive just fine and wouldn't suffer from any 'psychological issues'.
Dogs are different, though. They're pets, raised by humans, meant to keep company or assist humans, so a dog's nature is to be close and dependent on people.
But in his few encounters, Suming found that these pet dogs seemed to have lost their dependency on humans. On the contrary, they had a deep-seated wariness towards humans! It was like encountering a wild wolf in the wilderness upon sighting a person!
Using another term, this was called severe psychological trauma, and it had caused irreversible damage to the victim... ah, no, the victim dogs' spirits.
Suming was puzzled; simply being captured, even if roughly handled at the time, shouldn't result in such severe 'psychological trauma'.