Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  After hearing the noise, Richard tilted its head and saw Pi coming down the tree. “Why are you coming down? Did you get the dogwood?”


  Pi looked at him, confused.

  Richard shook its head. “Just like rotten wood can’t be carved, you can’t be educated!”


  Fu Tao was surprised to see the black-and-white cat return with the monkey, he didn’t that they’d return. He had enough rest, so he walked over to relieve Zhang Zian. “Take a break. I’ll take over.”


  “It’s fine. I’m not tired.”


  Zhang Zian wasn’t trying to impress anyone, he just wasn’t tired.

  Fu Tao took off his white working gloves and tossed them to Zhang Zian. “Put them on, or else you’ll get blisters.”


  Zhang Zian stuck the shovel in the ground and put the gloves on as his palms were indeed becoming red.

  Famous ran towards the tree with Zhang Zian’s thermos in its mouth. The thermos was filled with hot tea from the pet shop.

  Zhang Zian poured some of the tea into the thermos cap and drank.

  “Master Fu, would you like a cup?” he asked out of courtesy.

  “What is it? Tea or alcohol?” Fu Tao leaned over and looked in the thermos cap.

  “Tea,” Zhang Zian replied.

  Fu Tao shook his head. “I’ll pass. I’m not thirsty, I just drank some water.” He pointed at Famous. “Your dog is well-trained and very smart. It knows to fetch water for you.”


  “It’s okay.” Zhang Zian smiled. He gave the thermos back to Famous, and Famous took the thermos back to the foot of the tree. “Zhan Tian, the dog I took home from here, is a good dog, too.” He picked the shovel back up to continue digging.

  Fu Tao tried to remember Zhan Tian, then answered, “That dog was too timid. It’s only good as a pet.”


  “You’re wrong,” Zhang Zian corrected him. “Had it not been for Zhan Tian, Ning Lan would have never found her dog.”


  He didn’t add, “If Ning Lan had never found her dog, she wouldn’t have been here with her friends to help.”


  Fu Tao was astonished. “What happened?”


  “Didn’t Ning Lan tell you?” Zhang Zian asked.

  Fu Tao remembered now. “She mentioned it once, but I had no idea that Zhan Tian was the one who helped get her dog back.”


  “Zhan Tian is amazing.” Zhang Zian started to dig and while he did, he told the story of how Zhan Tian tracked the dog trappers and jumped into their car to stop them from getting away. He might have exaggerated some details.

  “Really?” Fu Tao asked doubtfully.

  “When you have time, ask Ning Lan for the details. She tells the story better than I do.” Zhang Zian smiled, and stopped to point at the hole. “Is this deep enough or should I dig deeper?”


  Fu Tao jumped into the hole to check. “It’s deep enough. You can stop digging.”


  The hole was almost one meter deep. If it was too shallow, rodents could get inside.

  They jumped out of the hole, threw the shovel to the side, and grabbed the legs of the dead police dog to pull it out of the wheel barrel. They wrapped it in plastic to prevent worms and ants from eating the body, and laid it carefully into the hole.

  Fu Tao stood outside the hole and gazed at it for a while before he grabbed the shovel to fill the hole.

  Each time the dirt hit the plastic cover, it made a rattling sound.

  As time passed, part of the police dog’s body vanished under the dirt. It looked like it was covered by a thick blanket, warm and peacefully asleep on this cold winter day.

  At first, Fu Tao was shoveling slowly, but after its head was covered, he started moving faster.

  Zhang Zian rubbed his palms on his shirt, and watched silently. He didn’t offer any help.

  “Quack!” Richard shrieked. “If someone saw you, they’d think that you killed someone and are now trying to dispose of the body.”


  A small hill slowly formed. It wasn’t very different from the other hills, except that the soil was slightly fresher, so it was obvious that it was recently dug.

  Fu Tao patted the soil with the shovel, while he panted and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He leaned against the shovel, and said, mostly to himself, “I’ll plant a tree here once spring arrives. The tree won’t survive if I plant it now.”


  Famous took the bouquet of yellow carnations that was in the wheelbarrow and dropped it in front of the tiny mound. It pushed a few stones on top of the carnations to use as a paperweight, in case the wind tried to blow the flowers away.

  “Wow! That dog is really…” Fu Tao was once again amazed by Famous. He couldn’t find the words to describe what he was thinking, so he didn’t finish the sentence.

  “Master Fu, you’ve been sweating a lot. Do you want my jacket?” Zhang Zian asked. “You can’t get a cold.”


  “You’re right. If I’m sick, who will take care of the dogs?” Fu Tao threw the shovel back into the wheelbarrow. “It’s too cold to be outside. Let’s head back! The dumplings are probably ready, and they’re waiting for us.”


  He refused to put on Zhang Zian’s jacket, and pushed the wheelbarrow to head back. Zhang Zian put it on himself.

  “Are we finally going back? I’m freezing, and the only way to keep warm is by moving the muscles around my beak,” Richard spoke from inside his hoodie.

  “As if you don’t speak when it’s not cold.” Zhang Zian didn’t believe its nonsense.

  “Quack!”


  Zhang Zian called the other elfins. “Come on, everyone. Let’s go.”


  The sun was setting, so the light was getting dim in the forest. Only part of the treeline was still covered in sunlight.

  “Quack! I’m in good mood today. How about a song for everybody?”


  Maybe Richard had sensed the sadness in the air and wanted to lighten the mood. Before anyone could object, it started singing.

  “The sun sets in the west, the sunset glows. We’re returning to camp because of a booty call.”


  It’s awful voice traveled far and wide. The birds in the forest were startled and flew away before they even passed by.

  After walking a distance, Zhang Zian looked back. Only the bouquet of yellow carnations was visible.