一路向西 粤语

Chapter 469: Nine Dogs and One Mastiff

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

The term “Tibetan Mastiff” did not mean a specific type of dog, but referred to the large mastiff dogs living in the Tibetan Plateau. As long as it had a large body covered with fur, it could be called a Tibetan Mastiff. There was no purebred Tibetan Mastiff. And it was only a matter of time before the economic collapse befell the dogs without any standard to judge their conditions.

Zhang Zian held his breath and stared at the projection screen without blinking.

He had heard a bit about the economic collapse of the Tibetan Mastiff, but it was too far from his own life that he hadn’t paid any attention to it. At this moment, it was only through watching the unedited video that he had truly understood the nightmare.

The appetites of Tibetan Mastiffs were too large and there was too little food on the plateau, so they had always been hungry. Whether it was feces or the food thrown away by tourists, the Tibetan Mastiffs would eat anything to feed themselves. Since they were driven by hunger, they could do anything.

Xu Gang continued explaining when the screen displayed another scene.

“What you see now is the dog ??shelter that was jointly funded and built by the local government and the temple in order to alleviate this danger. A total of five shelters have been built, taking in about 5,000 stray dogs. However, there are still many Tibetan Mastiffs roaming and mating, increasing the number of Tibetan Mastiffs. In order to fill their stomachs, they have been seen attacking livestock with wolves. They should have been protecting livestock from the attack of wolves, and now they seem to be in alliance with wolves.”

In a vast area surrounded by barbed wire, hundreds of stray dogs were wandering around, and most of them were Tibetan Mastiffs. At the end of the field was a small, shabby building with two peasant-looking people inside. They used shovels to mix the food composed of highland barley flour and ground meat. After mixing the food, the two people banged their shovels on the floor, apparently sending a signal that food was ready because numerous dogs immediately gathered, competing for the innutritious food.

The food was gone very soon. They looked up to the small building, but the duo had left, which meant that lunch time was over and the next meal would be served tomorrow.

“An adult Tibetan Mastiff can only be full after eating 1,500g to 2,000g of cooked beef everyday. But here, thousands of Tibetan Mastiffs can only fill their stomachs with hundreds of grams of flour everyday. Even so, the monthly expenditure on food paid by the local temple is around 20,000 to 30,000 Yuan. It’s unknown how long the shelter can hold up.”

Zhang Zian noticed a problem. It stands to reason that with so little to eat every day, these Tibetan Mastiffs should have been skinny, but obviously the Tibetan Mastiffs in the video were still as strong as cows.

A thin, yellow Tibetan Mastiff, who had not grabbed any food, was still hovering near the troughs to try to find some leftover food. It was too hungry and too occupied by searching for food that it wasn’t aware of the approaching crisis.

Suddenly, a huge black shadow swooped down, opened its fierce-looking mouth, and bit the back of the yellow Tibetan Mastiff’s neck. The wild nature of the yellow Tibetan Mastiff was provoked. It roared loudly and turned its head to bite its attacker. The black Tibetan Mastiff and yellow Tibetan Mastiff started to wrestle.

The yellow Tibetan Mastiff was a lot bigger than a normal dog, but its attacker’s body was even bigger, almost like a combination of a lion and a bear. The attacker was overwhelmingly superior in strength. After the initial fighting back, the yellow Tibetan Mastiff had gradually lost its momentum.

The neck hair of the yellow Tibetan Mastiff was dyed red by the blood. The smell of blood made the black Tibetan Mastiff even more ferocious. Twisting its strong neck, it shook its head abruptly and threw the yellow Tibetan Mastiff more than two meters away.

With a muffled sound, the yellow Tibetan Mastiff fell to the ground and, after twitching a few times, stopped moving.

While the two were fighting, the other Tibetan Mastiffs were too afraid to get closer and were watching timidly from afar.

The black Tibetan Mastiff walked over like a noble emperor. It used its forepaws to pull on the yellow Tibetan Mastiff a few times. After receiving no response, it immediately lowered its head and began to gnaw at its body.

There were a few Tibetan Mastiffs coveting the meat, and were brave enough to try to get a slice. The black Tibetan Mastiff raised its bloody mouth and let out a deafening roar. Those bold Tibetan Mastiffs were so scared that they ran away with their tails between their legs.

It was not until this moment did people see the true face of the black Tibetan Mastiff. It was actually a black and tan Tibetan Mastiff, with its body black and its legs and chin yellow. At this moment, the yellow color on its chin had been stained by the blood of its fallen creature. Thick, dense hair covered its entire body, and its long hair made it look as mighty as a lion. The effects of long-term cannibalism made its original black eyes, slightly red.

Zhang Zian was watching, horrified, so much so that his hands and feet turned cold.

He remembered an old saying that had been around since ancient times, one Mastiff would arise from nine dogs. In other words, when a few young Mastiffs were placed in a cellar with only a small amount of food, they would have to kill and eat each other in order to survive. In the end, the surviving Mastiff would be the one with the most ferocious temperament.

Didn’t the stray dog ??shelter look like an oversized cellar?

The black-and-tan Tibetan Mastiff that had fought its way out of thousands of Tibetan Mastiffs must be the Mastiff King!

No wonder. The number of Tibetan Mastiffs in the shelter was obviously less than 1,000 because there was a formed hierarchy of the strong bullying the weak. Even when dogs starved to death, no one dared fish their corpses out from the shelter, so they became food for other Mastiffs.

The video ended there.

Zhang Zian could not help, but immediately raise the question in his heart, “Director Feng, are you going to let Famous and the police dogs escape the siege of these Tibetan Mastiffs?”

“Yes, listen to me first.” Feng Xuan raised his hand to remind him not to worry. He could understand Zhang Zian’s feelings. It’s very dangerous to shoot this part of the script, and no one was willing to risk their own dogs.

Feng Xuan stood up, pacing slowly and thinking his words through, and said earnestly, “Maybe you guys would say that I’m old-fashioned, but I think that movies should do more than just entertain, they should talk about social issues. I’ve never made vulgar movies, although those kind of movies are more likely to do well, but there are already too many people making them. I shoot the Anti-Japanese War movies because I don’t want young people to forget their history. I make police and gangster movies because I want to support social integrity. Similarly, I make this film-”

He pointed to the Mastiff King on the screen and went to say, “In hopes that society pays attention to the beasts that are wandering around, attacking humans and animals in the Tibetan areas. To let more people know how much damage these beasts have caused to the Tibetan people and the local ecological environment. If anyone can offer help, whether it be by donating money or other objects, then me making this movie will have more meaning.”

Zhang Zian was full of displeasure. When it came to making the movie more thrilling, Feng Xuan did not consider the safety of the police dogs. But after hearing Feng Xuan’s noble remarks, Zhang Zian could not utter a word.

Xu Gang took over and said, “Statistics say that 180 people are bitten by stray dogs in the Tibetan areas and that’s not even counting the people who have not been included in the statistics. The actual data may be more than double. Besides, the danger of wandering Tibetan Mastiffs is not as simple as attacking humans and animals. They also transmit hydatid disease to humans. In some areas, one in eight people have been infected with hydatid disease, also known as Bug Cancer. It is extremely difficult to cure and has an extremely high mortality rate.”

Xu Gang turned off the video and placed a few pictures on the projector.

“These are the children infected with hydatid disease. The main reason for the widespread hydatid disease is canine excrement polluting the water sources. Obviously, the local disinfection of potable water is not as good as it is in the inland.”

Several young boys and girls were lying on hospital beds. Pale and emaciated, they were looking at the camera with dull expressions. It was heartbreaking to glance at.

“Why not just slaughter the stray dogs?”

Old Yang who had been silent suddenly asked a brutal question.

“Unfortunately, that is not an option. How I wish it could be that simple.” Xu Gang shook his head regretfully. “This is the most troubling issue, though stray dogs have caused a great deal of harm locally, killing them is forbidden by the Tibetans. We have to respect the local customs and not kill them. We can only build shelters like this one to raise them in captivity and then sterilize them. It is a race between the reproduction rate of the stray dogs and the speed of our actions.”

Feng Xuan sighed, “I know shooting this scene is very dangerous, and we will provide the best safety measures we can afford. We have built a power grid, a barbed wire fence, and asked the new pyrotechnician to bring anesthetic rifles. However, we can’t 100% guarantee safety of Famous and other dogs. That’s why I asked you to pick the German Shepherds eliminated from the police dog training base, so they could be the stand-ins for Famous and the other police dogs for this scene. What do you think?”

He looked at Zhang Zian’s eyes, speaking in a civil tone.

Everyone looked at Zhang Zian, while he scratched his head depressingly, unable to make a decision.

There was no need for Feng Xuan to ask him, Feng Xuan could have shot this scene. He asked for Zhang Zian’s opinion of because he respected him.

There’s nothing wrong with Feng Xuan’s idea. These retired German Shepherds were going to die in the first place. If their deaths were able to bring awareness to the society of the rampant Tibetan Mastiffs, thus improving the situation, then they would die for a good cause. Besides, there was no guarantee they would die during the scene.

The only problem was that Famous would not agree to let other dogs take the risks.

Since he was a child, making ethical choices between “individual” and “society” gave Zhang Zian the biggest headache. If he had nothing to do with the matter, he would certainly say, “No need to think further! Of course, we should sacrifice individuals for the greater good of society!”

However, he was unable to speak so easily when he was actually involved.

After racking his brain, he stood up, shook his head, and walked towards the door, “I’m sorry, Director Feng, I…”

He took one step before the leg of his trousers was pulled.

He looked down and found that it was Famous biting his trousers.

“Famous wants to be an angel,” it said, with its pupils shining.