Future Pet Shop

'Did it get stuck in the bushes again?' Shen Yibin sighed in frustration. He had no choice but to turn back and search slowly. But even after checking every corner of the maze, he still couldn't find any trace of Carmen.

'Looks like I can't find it by myself. I should go get Sun Qian and Sakai Kaori to help.' By now, Shen Yibin's eyes were sore from searching. He could only exit the maze to call for help. But the moment he stepped out, he was startled. 'Holy shit, when did you get out?' Carmen was squatting by the entrance with a goofy grin, wagging its tail at Shen Yibin, as if mocking him for taking so long to get out.

"You got out a long time ago?" Shen Yibin scratched his head. 'This makes no sense. It took me forever to get out, but you—the one who's always getting stuck—actually beat me to it?'

"AWOO~ AWOO~" Carmen barked excitedly a couple of times, then ran up to Shen Yibin and nuzzled its head against his calf. It really did look like it had gotten out by itself.

"Wait here. I'm going to change the maze. You can try again in a bit." Shen Yibin was getting serious now. The maze had several vine-covered gates that could be used to change the path, preventing it from getting boring after people memorized the route. Shen Yibin went inside and quickly adjusted the gates, drastically altering the maze's layout. Then he went to the entrance and called Carmen over. "Alright, go on in and try again. Let's see if you can find your way out this time."

"WOOF WOOF!" Carmen barked excitedly twice and zipped inside. It seemed to be extremely enthusiastic about this game. Shen Yibin didn't follow it in. Instead, he stared intently at the exit next to the entrance. Usually, after changing the route, it would take him about ten minutes to find his way out. He wondered how long Carmen would take.

But in less than five minutes, Shen Yibin saw a doggy head pop out of the exit. Carmen flashed past, rushing up to him with its tongue hanging out, eager to please. The last round hadn't been enough to satisfy it. Now it was tugging on his pant leg, trying to drag him back into the maze, apparently wanting Shen Yibin to change the route for another run.

'This is impossible,' Shen Yibin scratched his head, completely baffled. 'It usually gets stuck just walking around, so how is it breezing through a maze today? What on earth is going on?'

"Hold on, I'll go set it up for you." There was nothing for it but to have it run the maze one more time. Shen Yibin went back into the maze. This time, he adjusted every single gate he could, cranking the difficulty up to the maximum. It took him a full half-hour to get out, and he almost got himself trapped inside.

"Don't rush in yet!" The moment he got out, Shen Yibin quickly held Carmen back. 'I'm not ready yet.' He patted its head and instructed, "You squat here for now. Wait until you hear my command before you go in! Got it?"

"WOOF! WOOF!" Carmen barked obediently twice. It tucked its front legs under itself and lay down at the maze entrance, staring eagerly at the opening, waiting only for Shen Yibin's command.

"Good, just like that. I'm going up. When I say 'Go,' you go in!" After giving the instruction one more time, Shen Yibin slowly backed away and climbed the nearby rope ladder. The ladder led up to a large tree that had a small treehouse. The treehouse had a terrace directly overlooking the maze, providing a perfect bird's-eye view of the entire layout.

"Alright! Go!" Shen Yibin composed himself and shouted the command to Carmen. As soon as it heard the order, Carmen shot inside with a bark. It unhesitatingly turned left at the first intersection, decisively chose right at the second, and ignored the side paths at the third, charging straight toward the fourth... It was as if it had already imprinted the maze's route in its mind, making decisions instantly without any consideration.

And every single one of those decisions was correct. The route Shen Yibin had painstakingly designed didn't throw it off in the slightest. Again, in less than five minutes, Carmen burst out of the exit. It sat down, looked up, and gave Shen Yibin a goofy smile.

'What the—are you using cheat codes or something?' Shen Yibin was completely dumbfounded. He had watched Carmen's entire journey through the maze, not missing a single detail. 'How did it do that? Was it following my scent? No, that doesn't make sense. I was wandering around in there for so long that my scent must be everywhere. Besides, watching it just now, it never once stopped to sniff around. It definitely wasn't using that method.'

'But if it wasn't by scent, then what could it be?' Shen Yibin sat blankly on the terrace, unable to figure it out. 'Once could have been a coincidence, but this creature has run the maze three times today!'

"Bin, Shi Xuan and the others are almost here! Hurry up and come to the riverbank to get ready for fish-catching!" Just as he was puzzling over it, Sun Qian's voice snapped him back to reality. He looked up and saw Sun Qian waving at him from a rock by the river.

"Okay, I'm on my way! Give Mr. Wen and Mr. Long Sheng a call and have them come over too! While you're at it, ask Officer Bai and Qiao Wenqi how long they'll be." Shen Yibin waved back in response. When Sakai Kaori worked at the store, she had gotten along well with these girls, so Shen Yibin invited them all.

He set the matter aside for now, climbed down the rope ladder, and waved at Carmen. "Come on, let's go to the river. We can play with this again later." 'After we eat, I'll change the maze route again and see if you're still so fast!'

Shen Yibin made a mental note of the matter, planning to investigate it thoroughly later. If this maze still proved ineffective, he would take Carmen to the biggest amusement park in Yunzhong City tomorrow to give it a try. He seemed to recall a large maze there, and he wondered if Carmen would be able to get out so quickly from that one.

"AWOO~ AWOO~" Carmen looked at the maze reluctantly, plopping onto the ground and refusing to get up. It clearly hadn't had enough fun yet.

"We'll eat first today. I'll play with you again after we eat." 'You won't even have to pester me. After we eat, I'll be the one dragging you back here to try again!'

"AWOO~ AWOO~" Carmen whined pitifully twice and reluctantly got to its feet. It started trotting toward the river, but instead of taking the main path, it shoved its head into a gap in the bushes.

"Don't go that way—" Before Shen Yibin could finish his sentence, the creature, as expected, got stuck. Its upper body was wedged in the bushes, its two hind legs kicking helplessly.

'Sigh... And here I was thinking you'd gotten smarter. I guess not!'