Chapter 14: Saving the IQ Valley¹

All the way there, Aofeng wore a stony dog face, feeling like he’d been duped. These people never spoke a word of truth while chatting. Could it be they knew he was eavesdropping? Too sly!

Dezi led Aofeng, with the man following closely behind. After exiting the gate of the Training Base, they got into a small car. The ride lasted about ten minutes before stopping in front of a scenic area.

After getting out of the car, Aofeng looked up at the sign and saw it read “Dabai Mountain Forest Park.” Though it was a Monday, the place was still fairly crowded. Tourists came and went, laughing and chatting, all in high spirits.

As for why people were willing to drive nearly three hours to come here, it was because this forest park was different from the rest. It had amusement facilities, areas for barbecuing, camping grounds, and even fishing gear rentals for anglers. The services were thorough and well-rounded. For company team-building events, this was the top choice.

But why had they brought him here? Aofeng looked at Dezi in confusion, then at the man, itching to scratch out a few words with his paw.

Damn it, it was almost lunchtime!

“What a cute dog!” A girl with a phone hanging around her neck walked over, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Aofeng. She was clearly a dog lover, especially fond of large breeds.

“Hey, can I pet him?”

Dezi’s face flushed a little, though his sun-darkened skin made it hard to tell.

“Sure, go ahead. Just don’t touch his head. Aofeng doesn’t like that.”

With permission granted, the girl immediately reached out, petting him as she spoke. “So adorable, and his expression is so serious. Your name’s Aofeng? That’s such a badass name.”

Aofeng stiffened under her touch. As long as her hands didn’t wander, he could tolerate it. After all, he had no idea what this assessment had turned into. This girl could very well be someone sent by the organization to test him!

To his dismay, other nearby tourists, seeing how easily the girl got permission, started to crowd around too. Once allowed, they quickly joined the petting squad. German Shepherds weren’t commonly seen, and in their neighborhood, most dogs were small breeds like Corgis and Toy Poodles, or large but goofy types like Golden Retrievers and Huskies. Though Aofeng wasn’t fully grown, he was still a decent size and looked far more reliable than the average dog.

Fortunately, they’d all heard what Dezi said earlier and avoided touching his head or any other off-limits spots.

Aofeng stood there helplessly, enduring the petting and even posing for photos with the tourists from time to time.

Finally, the crowd dispersed. Aofeng stood there, his fur all fluffed and messed up, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

After passing that round, they continued deeper into the park. Aofeng kept a careful distance from Dezi, scanning his surroundings with constant vigilance. He was on edge, worried that a “threat” might suddenly appear from anywhere. If he reacted too slowly, he might lose points.

Since he’d promised the old man to take the assessment seriously, he had to come in first. Otherwise, how humiliating would that be? He used to be a six-foot-tall man—what kind of joke would it be to lose to a bunch of pups not even six months old?

The evaluator had been observing Aofeng the whole time. Seeing how he handled the strangers’ petting without fear or aggression, he nodded to himself. Not bad, the courage was there.

In fact, the assessment plan had only been communicated to the base trainers that very morning. The previous courage tests were well-known, and trainers would prep the puppies in advance, which meant most of them passed without issue.

But in real-world situations, some police dogs assigned to patrol duties would become uneasy when faced with busy streets and loud noises. Some adapted over time, but others resisted going out, avoided crowds, or even showed hostility.

To address this, they decided to change the assessment method and notify trainers at the last minute to see the dogs’ most genuine reactions. When giving feedback later, they’d consider all aspects of performance to decide whether to eliminate a dog or keep it under observation. They also aimed to guide each dog toward a suitable career path based on its personality and abilities.

After walking for a while, just as the evaluator was about to say they’d gone far enough, Aofeng, who had been quietly following Dezi, suddenly grew restless and started pulling him toward a small path in the forest park.

“Aofeng, what is it?”

Of course, Aofeng couldn’t speak, so he used his body to express himself, tugging hard in that direction. He had just caught a faint sound, like someone calling for help, but it was too distant to make out clearly.

The evaluator had once been a trainer himself—a top-tier one at that. He knew that when a police dog behaved like this, it usually meant it had detected something.

“Follow him. Let’s see what he found.”

The two men followed Aofeng down the path. It was a secluded trail, with no one else in sight. Not knowing what Aofeng had discovered, they had no choice but to keep going. Gradually, they began to hear faint whimpering sounds.

“Something’s up!” the evaluator said, immediately quickening his pace and rushing ahead.

Dezi ran after him with Aofeng. After about a hundred meters, the sound grew clearer.

Aofeng listened closely, then headed toward a cluster of bushes beside the path.

“Whimper… awooo…” The source of the noise had clearly heard Aofeng too and began howling in response.

Aofeng looked down at the source and instantly felt a headache coming on.

Lying in a shallow pit was a Husky. Its leash had gotten tangled with a bunch of vines, wrapping around its entire body so tightly it couldn’t move at all. When it saw Aofeng, it got excited and howled nonstop. In dog-speak, it was basically saying: “Boss, help me! Save me! Please save me!” Judging by the tone, its owner probably played a lot of battle royale games and wasn’t very good at them. Luckily, the Husky’s voice carried well—otherwise, Aofeng might not have heard it from so far away.

Dezi and the judge both let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it wasn’t some serious incident. Then, following Aofeng’s lead, they both broke into silent exasperation. As expected of a Husky—truly the king of low IQ.

After freeing the Husky, they found the dog was well-fed and in great shape, clearly well cared for. Around its neck hung a dog tag and a leash. One look and it was obvious this was someone’s pet.

Dezi flipped over the dog tag and saw a string of numbers. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number. The call had barely started ringing when someone picked up.

A young man’s anguished voice screamed through the line, “Please spare my Kaka! If you’ve got a problem, take it out on me. He’s innocent!”

The two men and the dog all froze again in silent disbelief. No wonder this was Kaka’s owner—they were clearly cut from the same cloth.

Before Dezi could say anything, the Husky tilted its head back and howled, “Awoo woo woo…”

“Just tell me how much you want to let Kaka go!” The young man panicked when he heard his dog howling so miserably.

Dezi sighed. “Comrade, we found your Husky at Dabai Mountain Forest Park. If you have time, please come pick him up. If it’s inconvenient, I’ll temporarily leave him at the park’s management office. You can claim him there.”

“Huh?” came a strange sound from the other end, clearly shocked by how things had turned out. In his mind, Kaka had been kidnapped by bad guys who were now using him as leverage.

“I’m actually in the park right now. Where are you? I’ll come right away!”

“We’re waiting at the park exit,” Dezi replied, then hung up.

The two of them led Aofeng and the Husky toward the gate.

Now that he was free again, the Husky was clearly overexcited, howling “Awoo woo woo” nonstop along the way, pouring out his gratitude and excitement to Aofeng.

From his rambling, Aofeng learned that Kaka’s owner had come to the park for a local PUBG² offline tournament. He’d gotten so caught up in the game that he hadn’t noticed Kaka sneaking out. Since the room door had been closed, he hadn’t bothered to tie the dog up. But he forgot that a server had come by midway to deliver a fruit platter, and when the door opened a crack, Kaka had slipped out on his own.

Hearing this, Aofeng couldn’t help but bark back, telling him not to run around alone next time. What if something like this happened again, or he ran into someone dangerous?

Kaka was so moved he teared up, calling Aofeng “Big Bro” without a hint of shame, completely ignoring the fact that he was already three years old while Aofeng was only six months.

Translator’s Notes