Chapter 3: The First Echo

Shen Luming tucked the business card back into his pocket, turned, and grabbed a beat-up canvas duffel from the shelf. He stuffed it with three things: a portable otoscope, a roll of medical tape, and half a pack of unopened cat treats. Tang Doudou trailed behind him, holding up her phone, the lens practically pressed against the back of his head.

“Doctor Shen, is this rig… a little pathetic? AiChongHui dispatches drones for their patrols.”

“Can a drone sniff out doggy scent?” He slung the strap over his shoulder. “Send me the address. You stay here to watch the shop. Transfer the emergency line to your phone, but don’t answer. Let it ring.”

“Ring but not answer?”

“If it rings, it looks like I’m busy. Makes the practice look popular.”

Tang Doudou blinked, then burst out laughing. As she chuckled, she pinged him the location: “Head down Locust Tree Alley, take the third fork to the right, Zhou's Courtyard. We’re looking for a seven-year-old male Border Collie named Yuanbao. The owner is surnamed Zhou, in her sixties, mobility issues.”

Shen Luming paused his stride. “Service dog?”

“Almost. They were training it, but the old lady’s eyes went. So they kept it. Yuanbao knows the route; he escorts her to the market every day.”

He didn’t ask more. He stepped out of the clinic. The calico cat under the old locust tree was still there. It spotted him leaving, perked its tail, trotted two steps into the alley, then looked back. Shen Luming stared at the swishing stub of a tail. That feeling rose in his chest again—last night, in the Echo from the orange tabby, this alley had appeared three times, each with a shadow in a dark coat. Now, a calico was willing to show him the way.

He followed the cat.

The gate to Zhou's Courtyard was ajar. The air smelled heavy of cheap, household disinfectant that couldn't quite mask the underlying urine odor. The old lady sat on a low stool, clutching a leash that had frayed at the edges. She looked up at Shen Luming, her eyes cloudy, taking a long while to focus.

“Are you the… doctor the Tang girl mentioned?”

“Shen Luming.” He crouched down to meet her gaze level. “When did Yuanbao disappear?”

“Two days ago, late afternoon. I woke from a nap, the gate was open, the leash was lying by the door. He never strays. He really never does.” The old lady’s hand trembled. “I’ve searched for three days, turned this whole block upside down. Then I heard AiChongHui has a city-wide pet tracking network, so I…”

“AiChongHui came by?”

“Two guys in uniforms. Took photos, asked a few questions, said they’d call within twenty-four hours. Then yesterday they called and said—” Her throat tightened. “They said the dog was likely carried off by someone. They suspected someone from a nearby clinic did it, and asked if I’d recently had contact with any vets.”

Shen Luming pulled the otoscope out of his bag, then put it back. He’d come to do a checkup; now he had to play detective. “When they said that, did they have proof?”

“No. Just said ‘industry suspicion.’”

Tang Doudou’s voice message popped up right then. He hit play, speakerphone on: “Shen G! I just saw a clip from AiChongHui’s livestream. Luo Xuelan is on camera herself. They got a hit on the same case, five thousand bounty, but it was a bust. They suspect someone moved the dog early, and she’s hinting that ‘unlicensed small clinics in the Urban Village’ have been frequenting pet owners lately—holy shit, she’s talking about you!”

The old lady froze, her fingers tightening on the frayed rope.

Shen Luming killed the phone, his voice flat. “Auntie Zhou, do you have a photo of Yuanbao’s collar?”

“Yes, yes.” She fished out her phone. A blurry shot of a blue nylon collar on the dog’s neck, with a small copper tag engraved with a name and phone number.

“Where does he sleep?”

“By my bed. On an old cotton mat.”

Shen Luming stood up and paced the yard once. The walls weren’t high. There were scuff marks on the top, but the edges were too neat to be dog claws—those were shoe soles. In the cracks of the bricks at the gate, he found a few black-and-white hairs. He pinched them up, held them to the light. The roots were clean, no flakes of skin. Natural shed. It meant Yuanbao had been here, and when it left, it hadn’t struggled.

He walked back to the old lady, pulled out the half-pack of cat treats from his bag, tore open a strip, and crouched by the wall. He waited in silence.

The calico hopped down from the wall and came over to lick a few drops. Shen Luming reached out, his fingertip lightly brushing the base of its ear. The cat didn’t flinch.

【The Echo Ledger of Ten Thousand Beasts, Initial Rank, Legacy Echo, healing count reached ten. Unlocked.】

Shen Luming’s vision went dark. When it lit up again, it wasn’t the cat’s memory, but the dog’s. The Border Collie’s view was low and wide, nose almost touching the ground, the blue collar swinging at the edge of the frame. It was 4:17 PM the day before yesterday. The courtyard door was pushed open a crack from the outside. A hand in a dark-sleeved cuff reached in, holding half a sausage. Yuanbao sniffed it, didn’t eat, backed up two steps, and let out a low growl. The hand retreated. After about two minutes, the gap widened. This time, a piece of jerky was tossed in, reeking of medication. Yuanbao dodged the meat, ran to the gate, and barked twice. No one answered. Then the view shook—someone vaulted over the wall, landing softly, and clamped a hand on the dog’s scruff, shoving it into a burlap sack. Before the neck was tied off, the last thing Yuanbao saw was a badge pinned inside that person’s coat, blue background with white text: “AiChongHui, Field Ops.”

Shen Luming opened his eyes. The sun was still there. The cat was still licking its paw. The old lady was still waiting.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Tang Doudou. “Download and archive every livestream clip, announcement, and missing pet post from AiChongHui today. Especially the bit with Luo Xuelan. Also, check one thing—what does the chest badge on their field uniforms look like? Blue with white text?”

“Blue with white text, yeah. It’s on their website. What’s the deal?”

“The afternoon Yuanbao went missing, someone scaled the wall, put him in a bag, and took him. They had an AiChongHui badge pinned inside their coat.”

Silence for two seconds on the other end, then Tang Doudou exploded: “Holy— they stole the dog themselves, took the case to find it, then dumped the blame on you?!”

“Keep it down.” Shen Luming lowered his voice. “I’m heading to the Urban Suburbs now. Package those proofs and send them to Auntie Zhou. CC the local police station’s reporting email. Also, contact Professor Chen Yanqiu. Tell him I have on-site animal behavior logs and want him to do a third-party assessment. If he yell’s at me, just say, ‘After you’re done yelling, remember to sign it.’”

“Professor Chen? The old man who argues with the dean of the provincial agricultural university?”

“Yes. He respects competence, not titles. AiChongHui’s titles don’t mean a damn thing to him.”

After hanging up, he turned to the old lady. “Auntie Zhou, I have a rough idea where Yuanbao is. Do you trust me?”

She looked at him for a long time, then handed over the frayed leash. “If you trick me, this old body will sit crying at your clinic door every day.”

“Deal.” Shen Luming took the leash. “Then sit tight, don’t hold in your tears so hard you rupture something.”

The rental unit in the Urban Suburbs had been dug up by Tang Doudou from a local pet owner group. Someone had posted a photo saying, “This place buys dogs, fair price,” showing a tin-shed yard with a white van parked outside. By the time Shen Luming arrived with Auntie Zhou and two police officers, the yard was empty. Broken leashes were scattered on the ground, along with a large, unwet stain of water. In the corner of the tin shed, curled against the wall, was Yuanba. The blue collar was still on his neck, the copper tag polished by wear.

The old lady hobbled forward. Yuanba initially flinched, sniffed twice, then his whole body bounced up, front paws resting on her shoulders, tail wagging like it wanted to fly off.

The officers found a stack of dog intake logs inside the unit, plus a few dark coats they hadn’t had time to pack. Sewn into the linings were badges with blue backgrounds and white text.

That evening, Tang Doudou posted the organized timeline and evidence chain to the local pet forum. The title read: “Five Thousand Bounty. A Influencer Hospital Steals a Dog, Then Hires Themselves to Find It, Then Blames the Village Vet—What a ‘Professional’ Job.”

The post hit 100,000 views in two hours. AiChongHui’s official account issued a statement overnight, claiming the “involved field staff is a contractor acting personally.” Luo Xuelan herself reposted the statement with a caption of just four characters: “The innocent prove themselves innocent.”

Professor Chen Yanqiu left a single comment using his verified account: “A contractor can access your uniform badges and execute a precise case two hours later? That level of ‘personal’ organization is higher than my graduate research groups.”

Over two thousand replies followed.

Shen Luming didn’t read any of it. He sat in the clinic, examining the abrasion on Yuanbao’s paws. The old lady was wiping tears nearby. Tang Doudou held her phone, wanting to film but too scared to, whispering, “Shen G, did we just win?”

“Win what?” He didn’t look up. “We got the dog back, the guy was caught. Where’s the money? The five thousand bounty was paid out of Auntie Zhou’s own pocket. Tell her to keep it for dog food.”

“Then what about AiChongHui?”

“If they don’t admit it, wait for the police report. A report works better than any statement.”

He finished medicating Yuanbao and stroked its head. The instant his fingertip touched the fur, his vision went dark again—

Still Yuanbao’s perspective. The sack was thrown into the back of the van. It wasn’t the only one in there. Two other sacks sat nearby, both moving. The van drove for a long time, stopped once. Someone opened the hatch, looked inside, and said, “Good quality batch. Let’s move them all tomorrow night.”

The vision froze on the floor of the cargo area. In the corner, written in marker: “Third van, seven dogs total.”

Shen Luming’s eyes flew open.

Tang Doudou was still rambling: “Shen G? Why is your face so grim?”

He tossed the cotton swab into the trash, voice low. “Get Professor Chen here. Now. Also, check the Urban Suburbs for the last half month—any reports of missing dogs? Not just Yuanbao.”

“Huh? Other dogs?”

Shen Luming stood up and walked to the window. The shadow of the old locust tree shifted as the wind pushed it. The calico cat squatted on the threshold, staring deep into the alley.

“It’s not lost,” he said. “Someone is stealing dogs in bulk. Yuanbao was just one that slipped out of the third van.”