Chapter 429: Chapter 379: This Was His Former Home

The sled and the off-road vehicle stopped in front of the log cabin.

"WOOF!"

Cook excitedly spun around the yard a few times, then ran to Gu Ning and lifted her off the sled. He carried her as he dashed through a gap in the fence.

But his joy was short-lived. In his overexcitement and with the snow piled so deep in the yard, he failed to notice some firewood buried underfoot. He tripped, and Gu Ning tumbled with him into the snow.

"..."

Alex and the others rushed over.

Cook scrambled to help Gu Ning up but was swatted aside by a red blur that shot past. "So reckless! You’ll get Xiao Ning hurt! Get out of the way!"

"Awooo..." Cook watched Gu Ning floundering in the snow, a helpless look on his face.

Barto scooped Gu Ning out of the snow. "Are you hurt?"

"I’m fine." Gu Ning wiped the snow from her face. Between her thick clothes and the deep snow, it was impossible to get hurt.

Barto used her scarf to wipe her face, gently brushed the snow from her head, then lifted her into his arms. He turned to Cook. "What are you running for? If you wanted to go somewhere, couldn’t you have told us?"

Gu Ning said, "Cook can’t speak."

Barto said, "You can’t always coddle him. He needs to be scolded when he does something wrong."

Cook knew he had done something wrong and calmed down a little. He came forward and nudged Gu Ning, wanting to lick her, but Barto pushed his head away. "What exactly did you bring us here for?" Barto asked.

"AWOO!" Cook’s drooping ears shot back up. He grabbed the corner of Barto’s shirt in his teeth and pulled him and Gu Ning toward the house.

Just then, Lanuo and the security team members tried to enter, but Cook immediately charged to the fence, baring his teeth and letting out a low growl.

The team leader raised his hands, and he and his men all took a step back.

One of the team members said, "He won’t let us in. Is this his house?"

They could all tell he was an Alaska Mixed Breed, and most of them were from the same ethnic group.

Beastmen of this canine breed mostly lived in the 12th District, so it wasn’t strange for this Mixed Breed to have a house here.

The young female and her companions weren’t from the 12th District, which meant this Mixed Breed might have originally lived here.

Although the 12th District was vast, any building within its jurisdiction had to be registered. No one could settle down and build wherever they pleased.

What they found strange, however, was that this Mixed Breed looked very young, almost callow. For a female’s mate, he had degenerated far too early. They were more inclined to believe he had been brought to the young female’s side by other males.

The team leader sensed something was off.

He had checked the group’s permits, and none of them were from the 12th District. If the young female had a mate from the 12th District, that mate should have been with her, regardless of whether she was here for work or leisure.

The team leader wanted to question the young female, but seeing as she was being dragged into the house by the Alaska Mixed Breed, he had no choice but to wait outside the yard for the time being.

Lanuo and Alex tried to follow them inside, but Cook let out a warning growl. He would only allow them into the yard, not the house.

"Well, at least he let us into the yard." Lanuo glanced back at the security team outside. "Our treatment isn’t so bad, all things considered," he said to Alex.

Alex said, "You’re just along for the ride."

Lanuo pushed up his glasses. "Now that’s just uncalled for."

Alex ignored him and sized up the log cabin. Judging by the building materials, it was quite old. A few other cabins were scattered in the distance, but there was no one in sight.

They had seen many such small, scattered hamlets on their journey, and this one looked no different.

"Is someone living here?"

Lanuo walked to a corner of the yard and pulled an axe from the snow. It had been buried so deep that only half the handle was showing.

Alex’s gaze swept across the yard. A large pile of firewood was stacked against the wall, and a few logs ready for splitting were scattered about. It looked as if the resident had just stepped out and might be back at any moment.

"No one’s living here."

Philinos, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke. He flew to the roof of the log cabin and surveyed the area.

"It’s definitely been empty for a while," Lanuo said, handing the rusty axe to Alex.

Alex took it and gave it a look, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air.

Besides the security team members, there were no unfamiliar Beastman scents around the cabin. Any others were drifting from much farther away.

’This must have been Cook’s old home,’ Alex thought. ’Judging from the wear and rust on the axe, the cabin has been empty for nearly two years. That lines up with when Cook degenerated.’

Alex tossed the axe aside and walked to the cabin door, peering through the half-open entrance at Gu Ning and the others inside.

"Cook, did you use to live here?"

Gu Ning curiously sized up the room before her. It was quite large from her perspective, at least a hundred square meters, and it had a second floor.

The layout was simple. The furniture was mostly made of wood, and a fireplace for heating stood in the center of the room.

Gu Ning climbed down from Barto’s arms and stepped onto the dusty floor.

"AWOO!" Cook responded, wagging his tail as he darted around the room, kicking up clouds of dust.

Hearing Cook’s response, Gu Ning was certain this had been his home.

She hadn’t expected to stumble upon Cook’s old home just by passing through. She started looking around with him, taking some pictures so he would have a memento for the future.

Barto stood rooted to the spot, his expression hardening as he scanned the room. Something felt indescribably wrong.

"Ning... Ning!" Cook zipped up and down the stairs like a whirlwind, dropping a pile of things he’d carried in his mouth in front of Gu Ning. The floorboards creaked and groaned under his weight as if they were about to collapse, showering Gu Ning and Barto in a cloud of dust.

"COUGH, COUGH..." Gu Ning waved the dust from her face. "Cook," she said to him as he bounded down the stairs with something else in his mouth, "I’ll go up and look..."

The words had barely left her mouth when the wooden staircase to the second floor snapped under the wildly running Cook’s feet, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Cook!" Gu Ning rushed over. Barto was right behind her, hauling Cook up from the floor. "Stop running! You’re going to bring the whole house down!"

"Awooo..."

Cook picked up the object that had fallen and stuffed it into Gu Ning’s hands. It was so heavy she almost dropped it.

"What is this?"

Gu Ning looked closely at the little golden dog sculpture in her hands.

’Given its weight, it must be made of iron or stone,’ she thought. The gold spray paint on the outside was already starting to fade.

Gu Ning turned the base over. A line of text was inscribed on it in gold paint. She read it carefully: "North District... Competition... ’92... Sled Champion..."

"Is this... a trophy?" Gu Ning asked, looking up at Cook.

Cook panted and nodded. "Per..."

Gu Ning’s expression faltered. "Your brother’s trophy?"

A smile spread across Cook’s face. "Awoo... Cook, Per, get."

Gu Ning understood what he meant. Kaper had won the sled race championship for him.

Barto took the trophy for a look. "What kind of backwater competition was this? The trophy is so shabby. They should have at least made it out of Crystal Stone."

Gu Ning kicked him lightly and stroked the little dog’s head on the trophy. "Winning a championship is amazing, no matter what."

Cook licked her hand, then suddenly seemed to remember something. He went to the space under the ruined staircase and started pawing at the floor. When he couldn’t dig through the floorboards, he simply snatched the dog trophy from Barto’s hand and started smashing it against the ground.

After two or three heavy blows, a crack appeared in the floorboards.

"WOOF!" Cook excitedly pried the cracked floorboards apart with brute force, revealing a hidden compartment underneath.

A faint blue light shone out from the opening.

Gu Ning and Barto leaned in to see what was under the floorboards. Their eyes both went wide.

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