On the way home, Andy appeared above her head again. Just as he was about to complain that Mai Xiaoshu was not loyal enough and did not wait for him yesterday, he noticed that her face was not right. He asked about the battle situation today, but Mai Xiaoshu just answered vaguely.
She was so angry when she thought of Yin Lunmei's arrogant behavior in junior high school, relying on her father being a school director to act domineeringly.
At that time, both of them were famous figures in the school. They had never interfered with each other, but their peaceful life was broken after she stood up for a girl who was bullied by Yin Lunmei.
In order to get revenge on her, Yin Lunmei told the teacher that she had stolen the class funds, which resulted in her being kept after school that day and having her schoolbag searched. As a result, she missed the flight to East Africa with her parents. It was also on that day that her parents met with a plane crash and their bodies have not been found to this day.
After that day, she became depressed and had no interest in participating in any activities at school. She firmly believed that her parents were still alive, and whenever her classmates showed concern, she repeatedly emphasized that her parents were just missing. However, the small group led by Yin Lunmei mocked her for being an orphan all day long, and from then on, the two of them really had a grudge against each other.
Mai Xiaoshu recalled the past and walked to Garden Street absent-mindedly.
"Xiao Shu, something seems to have happened ahead!" said Andy.
A group of people gathered at the entrance of a residential complex under the scorching sun, seemingly discussing something serious. An old woman in the crowd anxiously asked a little girl, "Is your Teddy Bear missing too?"
"Well... Woo woo, I took it for a walk downstairs, and it disappeared while we were walking. Usually, if it gets lost, it will find its way home by itself. This time it has been lost for three days, and it still hasn't come back. Do you think something happened to it?" The girl said with tears in her eyes.
"Weiwei, our child, disappeared yesterday when we took him downstairs for a walk. Shall we go to the security booth and check the surveillance?"
"The surveillance camera has been broken for a month, and we replaced it with a new one yesterday after inspection." The security guard in a dark uniform explained apologetically.
"How do you do things? The safety of the community is all entrusted to you, but you are so irresponsible!"
"Sorry, sorry, why don't you call the police!" the security guard bowed.
"They must have been kidnapped by someone, otherwise how could more than a dozen pets disappear right under our noses!" someone speculated.
Based on the conversation, Mai Xiaoshu and Andy figured out the clue: there was a pet thief!
"Without surveillance, it would be difficult to find clues even if we called the police."
Xiao Shu feels sad whenever she hears news about animals going missing.
Mai Xiaoshu's father is an zoologist and her mother is his assistant. They often travel around the world for work. Since no one took care of Mai Xiaoshu, her parents would take her with them whenever they went out from a very young age. As a result, she spent almost her entire childhood with various animals.
From small birds and hamsters to large lions and tigers, all of them were her childhood playmates.
It is said that children are the most sensitive and good at learning. Over time, she gradually understood the subtle differences in the calls of animals and communicated with them. This understanding became more and more accurate as she grew older and came into contact with more and more animals. Therefore, she was regarded as the closest and most trusted companion by the animals.
So at this moment, in the eyes of outsiders, what is lost is a pet; in her eyes, it is her closest companion.
She couldn't imagine how someone could do such a cruel thing!
"Andy, can you do me a favor?"
Before she could say anything, Andy responded tacitly: "I'll go right away!"
After saying that, he flew away.
When they returned home in the evening, when Feifei started to busy herself with making dinner, Mai Xiaoshu finally waited for Andy to come home.
Since Xiao Shu didn't even tell Feifei that she could talk to animals, she could only sneak to the balcony to talk to Andy.
"Have you found any clues?"
"It's terrible!" Andy was trembling all over when he spoke. "I asked my friends for information, and then a bird told me a rough idea, so I followed it. Do you remember the villa at the end of Garden Street? The villa looked ordinary, but when I flew over, there was an old man sharpening a knife in the backyard, a dog lying next to him, and blood on the ground. I also heard other dogs crying for help nearby..."
"Sharpening the knives? Let's go save them now!"
"But Feifei..."
Before Andy could finish his words, Feifei, who had her short hair tied into two pigtails, ran from the kitchen to the balcony. Xiaoshu had to pretend to be feeding the birds.
Feifei was wearing a bright yellow apron, which made her skin look even fairer and more beautiful. Seeing Xiaoshu and the bird chirping non-stop, she pretended to be angry and said, "Mai Xiaoshu! You only know how to take care of this parrot. I, a cute cook, should at least show some concern when I personally cook for you in the kitchen!"
"I'm not a parrot, I'm an oriole!" Andy, a bird aristocrat, couldn't help but protest.
Mai Xiaoshu ran over with an apologetic look on his face, snatched the plate from Feifei's hand, put it on the dining table, and then helped Feifei to the dining table and consoled her, "I have something urgent to do, you eat first, and I'll wash the plate when I come back!"
"What? Where are you going?" Before Song Feifei could react, Mai Xiaoshu quickly put on his coat and ran out.
Andy followed Mai Xiaoshu breathlessly, and the man and the bird soon arrived at the end of Garden Street. There were no other residents here, only the villa standing alone at the end of the alley.
There was a peaceful scene in front of the villa. The sun had already set, and the sky had changed from orange-red to a light gray-blue. At a glance, the light pink hibiscus petals outside the courtyard fell with the wind and drifted on the mossy stone steps at the door, looking vibrant and refreshing.
From the outside, the yard looked beautiful and outsiders would never have imagined that a tragedy was happening inside.
"Are you sure it's this household?" Mai Xiaoshu couldn't help but hesitate, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes when he looked at Andy.
"Go to the backyard and you'll know." Andy said, flapping his wings and flying towards the backyard.
Mai Xiaoshu hurriedly followed. She tiptoed behind Andy, around the villa and walked towards the backyard, which was also surrounded by iron railings.
Mai Xiaoshu climbed up a small hill covered with trees and only by standing on the railing could he vaguely see the backyard .
"Where is it? I don't see anything?"
"Here, here..." Andy flapped his wings hard.
"I see it!" After finally finding the suspicious person, Mai Xiaoshu was a little nervous and his heart started beating wildly.
I saw an old man chopping something on the ground with a bloody kitchen knife, and there seemed to be a white fluffy dog's tail at his feet.
It was getting dark, and Mai Xiaoshu climbed up the railing. The scene she saw next made her tremble all over. There were several dogs lying behind the old man, including golden retrievers, Samoyeds, Teddy dogs... They were all lying on the ground covered in blood.
"All the lost pet dogs were killed!" This was the first time in his life that Mai Xiaoshu had encountered such a horrific scene. He was so frightened that he stood there in a daze.
"Quick, call the police!"
At Andy's reminder, Mai Xiaoshu took out his cell phone tremblingly, but due to excessive nervousness, when he dialed the last zero, the phone accidentally fell to the ground.
Mai Xiaoshu climbed down the railing to pick it up, but accidentally stepped on a dry branch. With a "crack", the sound of the branch breaking seemed particularly harsh at this moment. The old man heard the sound and looked in her direction.
"Oh no, he found out!" Andy said anxiously.
I am such a fool. How could I have alerted the enemy at the critical moment?
Mai Xiaoshu couldn't help but blame herself. She curled up in a corner holding her phone and held her breath, hoping that this could cover up the past temporarily.
An old man wearing a black apron and with blood on his hands walked over with a kitchen knife in his hand, looking alert. He stood at the iron railing not far away. The dense shadows of the trees provided some concealment. He squinted his eyes and looked around for a long time but didn't notice her.
Just when Xiao Shu breathed a sigh of relief and thought the danger was about to pass -
"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"
A quick cell phone ring rang!
Mai Xiaoshu glanced at the screen and saw that it was Feifei calling. She hung up the phone in a hurry, but it was too late. The old man had already heard the ringing of the phone and was rushing towards her. Mai Xiaoshu didn't dare to stay any longer and turned and ran.
To make matters worse, when she jumped down the hillside, she missed a step and rolled down the slope. Her right leg was scratched by stones and branches, and blood was gushing out. She felt severe pain when she moved her leg slightly.
Mai Xiaoshu took a breath and looked back subconsciously. At this time, the old man had climbed over the barbed wire and was chasing in her direction.
The knife in his hand emitted a cold light as he moved, which made Mai Xiaoshu feel even more frightened. He couldn't be caught by him! He might kill him!
At this moment, countless terrifying scenes of people being silenced or imprisoned for discovering a secret emerged in Mai Xiaoshu's mind...
She shuddered involuntarily, no longer caring about the pain in her legs. She gritted her teeth, stood up, and struggled to escape towards the street...
At this moment, she suddenly regretted her impulsiveness! This place is so remote, if she was caught, she would be helpless.
Mai Xiaoshu could only try his best to run towards Garden Street Avenue.
She fled to Garden Street in a panic, looking back as she ran, worried that the old man would grab her arm from behind in the next second...
When she realized that she had run to the middle of the road, a blinding white light suddenly flashed before her eyes...
She subconsciously stopped and raised her hands to cover her eyes. Facing the oncoming vehicles, her mind went blank in an instant.