Chapter 109: A Beam of Light

“Comrade Song Changfeng, your police dog is really impressive. Could you tell us how you trained him?”

As they continued along the road, two young men with search and rescue dogs flanked Song Changfeng on either side, their eyes fixed enviously on Aofeng scouting ahead. They were clearly hoping to pick up a few tips.

They were dog trainers too, and their dogs were excellent. But a little extra skill never hurt, right? No one ever complains about being too good at their job.

In their eyes, Aofeng’s remarkable performance had to be the result of Song Changfeng’s training methods. They’d heard that Comrade Song had transferred from the Police Dog Training Base to the Criminal Investigation Detachment. Surely, he must have brought with him some secret techniques from the base.

Song Changfeng gave a wry smile. After so many years of training dogs, Aofeng was the only one with such extraordinary intelligence. Could he just say it was all because Aofeng was smart? Of course not.

If he said that, people might think he was holding back. So he went ahead and explained his training techniques in detail. In the end, he told them that the most important thing, if they wanted their police dogs to fully cooperate, was understanding.

“Understanding?” The two young men exchanged a glance. They knew what the word meant, but why was understanding more important? Wasn’t obedience the key?

“If all you want is for your police dog to obey every command, then they’re already qualified. They follow orders, know when to advance or retreat,” Song Changfeng said, glancing at the two search and rescue dogs pressed close to their handlers’ legs.

“But—”

“But you want them to do more. You want them to take the initiative, like Aofeng does.”

The two young men nodded. That was exactly what they were hoping for.

“Do you know the intelligence level of an adult dog is about the same as a child of what age?” Song Changfeng asked.

“Six or seven years old,” one of them answered without hesitation.

“A six- or seven-year-old child already has their own thoughts. They can think, they can express themselves. But if you constantly suppress their nature, you might end up with a well-behaved child, but not one who’s independent or capable of making their own decisions. Of course, there are still things they need to learn, like what’s right and wrong,” Song continued. “Just like earlier, when your dogs were restless, what did you do?”

One of the young men looked a bit ashamed. When his dog, Dabao, had started pacing anxiously, he’d simply given a command to make it sit. He hadn’t even considered why the dog was acting that way, especially since they hadn’t reached the disaster zone yet. The other young man fell silent too. When he noticed something off with his dog, Fuzai, he’d just rubbed its head to calm it down, hoping it would settle.

“If you ignore their attempts to communicate for too long, eventually they’ll stop trying. I think what’s most important for you right now isn’t shaping your police dogs into a certain mold, but truly getting to know them. Observe every action they take and try to understand the reason behind it. Once you really understand them, they’ll give you the response you’re looking for.”

Song Changfeng’s words left the two young men deep in thought. For the rest of the journey, they didn’t ask any more questions. They just walked in silence, occasionally glancing at the police dogs walking beside them.

Aofeng scouted ahead while keeping his ears perked to listen to Song Changfeng’s conversation. Whenever he heard something that made sense, he nodded in agreement. If a police dog was treated like a mere tool, then that’s all it would ever be. Once again, he felt lucky to be partnered with Song Changfeng. Otherwise, no matter how capable he was, he wouldn’t have had the chance to show it.

…

Over the fifteen-mile journey, they experienced two aftershocks. Thanks to Aofeng’s early warnings, they made it through safely. By the time they reached the small town called Yuntai at the base of the scenic area, it was already three in the afternoon.

There were already some personnel on site, though not many. They had arrived by helicopter delivering supplies, and while distributing aid to the affected locals, they also took on part of the rescue effort. When they saw the new arrivals, the lead staff member immediately lit up with excitement.

“Comrades, thank goodness you’re here!” The man had dark circles under his eyes and red streaks in his sclera, looking utterly exhausted. In times like these, no one could afford proper rest.

The team leader stepped forward and shook his hand. “We’re here now.”

There was no need for lengthy pleasantries. After storing the supplies they’d carried in, they got straight to work. The medical personnel headed to the tents where the wounded were being housed and began emergency treatment. Meanwhile, the police and firefighters scattered to search for and dig out those still buried underground.

Song Changfeng and Aofeng were assigned to the same team, which consisted of ten people and one dog. Judging by the broken walls and scattered debris around them, their assigned area appeared to be a snack street. This place would have been bustling at night. People were enjoying skewers, drinking beer, and singing songs when the sudden earthquake struck, throwing everything into chaos. Some managed to run out, while others were buried beneath the rubble.

“Woof woof woof!” Aofeng barked loudly at a collapsed two-story building. He had just pressed his ear to the dirt and heard the sound of tapping from within.

“Start digging!” Because of the two earlier warnings on the road, no one questioned him. They rolled up their sleeves and got to work, following Aofeng’s lead.

After digging for about half an hour, they too could hear the sounds coming from inside. Spirits lifted, they dug toward the source of the noise. When they finally moved aside the thick ceiling slab, they saw a man curled up in a corner, blankly tapping a ventilation pipe with a metal spoon in his hand.

He had been cooking in the back kitchen when the earthquake hit. Because he was near the corner of the room, he managed to dive into it just as the ceiling collapsed. The falling debris missed him, forming a relatively stable triangular space with the corner. He used the ventilation pipe to breathe and kept tapping with his spoon, hoping someone would hear.

The moment he saw the rescue team, he burst into tears. Though it had only been a dozen or so hours since the night before, being alone in the dark, not knowing whether he would live or die, made every second feel excruciatingly long.

Once he was pulled out, the first question the rescuers asked was whether anyone else was still alive below. The man stiffly shook his head. There had been two others in the kitchen, but they hadn’t made a sound since the ceiling came down.

By then, Aofeng had already rushed to the next location where he could hear sounds or breathing, barking loudly at the easiest spot to dig. At times like this, the most important thing was to rescue the living as quickly as possible.

This time, the one buried was a ten-year-old girl. When the quake struck, she had rolled under her bed, a metal-framed army cot, which shielded her from harm. But the air beneath the rubble was limited, and after so long, she was already showing signs of oxygen deprivation. If Aofeng hadn’t picked up her faint breathing in time, she might have suffocated.

After pulling her out, Aofeng dashed to the next site. He pressed his ear down and listened for a while, then stood up quietly and moved on. There were no survivors in that building.

Song Changfeng patted him on the neck, encouraging him to stay strong. Only by keeping their spirits up and continuing the work could they bring hope to those still buried deep beneath the ruins.

Aofeng took a deep breath and moved on to the next site…

The sky gradually darkened. From afternoon until now, Aofeng’s team had rescued five people in total. They could have saved more, but the last site had an especially complex structure. A single misstep could have caused secondary injuries to the trapped victim. It took a tremendous effort to extract her. When they finally pulled the woman out, she was barely clinging to life. A ceiling fan had fallen and crushed her leg, and by the time she was rescued, it was swollen and purple, looking completely lifeless.

Still, as long as someone was alive, there was hope. Compared to those who had perished in the quake, she was far more fortunate.

Back at the camp, the assembly whistle blew. When Aofeng and the others arrived, food had already been prepared. The people ate instant noodles boiled with hot dogs¹, while the police dog was given a bag of dry kibble.

To be honest, ever since Aofeng had awakened in the body of a puppy, he had never eaten such dry, tasteless dog food. In his view, the only joy in a dog’s unfortunate life was eating delicious food. But today, he stood silently in front of his bowl, gulping down mouthfuls of kibble, just wanting to fill his stomach quickly so he could get back to the rescue work.

Everyone else was probably thinking the same. Aside from the occasional cries of pain from the injured, the only sound in the camp was the quiet rustle of people eating.

Once they finished eating, they strapped headlamps onto their helmets. These would be their only source of light going forward. The power infrastructure here had been almost completely destroyed, so there was no way to maintain the bright, well-lit world they once knew.

Aofeng, however, didn’t need the headlamp. His excellent night vision allowed him to move as freely in the dark as in daylight.

Following the previous trail, they arrived at a neighboring building. Aofeng once again pressed his ear to the ground, listening intently for any sounds from below.

“Huff… huff…” Ragged breathing drifted up from below. Aofeng’s eyes lit up with excitement as he realized that at least three people were still alive down there. He carefully searched for a spot that would be easier to dig through, then stretched out his front paws and began clawing at the debris while barking loudly to alert the others.

“Over there! Go check it out!” The group rushed toward Aofeng. Seeing how agitated he was, they guessed there must be survivors underneath. Without hesitation, they raised their hoes and shovels and started clearing the rubble.

Song Changfeng felt a pang of sympathy. Aofeng had been with them all afternoon, helping search through multiple locations. Every time he sensed someone alive beneath the ruins, he would get so worked up, frantically digging with his front paws as if he could rescue them that very second.

The collapsed buildings were filled with broken bricks and jagged steel bars. The team had tools to work with, but even then, they occasionally got scratched or cut. Aofeng had nothing. After so many rounds of digging, his front paws were already raw and torn, yet he kept going, tireless and unflinching, as if he felt no pain at all.

His determination deeply moved the rest of the team. If even an animal could give so much, how could they, as people, do any less?

With everyone working together, they finally cleared a safe passage over forty minutes later. When the beam from the overhead floodlight pierced the heavy darkness and landed on a survivor’s face, his tear-filled eyes brimming with hope and gratitude, it was as if a ray of light had shone straight into all their hearts.

Translator’s Notes