Ch. 99 – Vicious Dog

Feng Ye stopped beside the wooden house and tilted his head back, clearly meaning to drive away his passenger.

The crow flapped his wings to steady himself. Though he was unwilling, they had reached their destination, and he had no excuse to linger any longer on the dragon’s head.

So the crow first crouched low, then spread his wings wide and gave Feng Ye’s head one last reluctant pat before taking flight.

He flew into the wooden house, and before Feng Ye could follow him inside, Hao Chen stepped out.

The corners of his eyes were tilted up, victory written all over his face.

For he had finally fulfilled a small, personal wish.

Feng Ye was in human form and didn’t have dragon horns, and the crow was just an avatar rather than the real thing. But in spirit, Hao Chen had indeed been sitting next to Yinglong’s dragon horns.

He was probably the first person ever to do so. Given Yinglong’s reputation, no one would dare to approach him, let alone dare to climb up to his dragon horns.

But he dared.

Hao Chen couldn’t help but open his fan and give it a proud flutter.

Feng Ye keenly noticed that there was a small purple flower on this fan, the same one that had been in the crow’s feathers earlier.

It was unknown what method Hao Chen had used, but the flower had transformed into a painting on the fan, preserving it in perpetuity.

But although he noticed this, he didn’t call attention to it.

Hao Chen didn’t mention it either. He didn’t say a word about what had just happened, and simply asked in a perfunctory manner: “Has Fellow Daoist Feng Ye sobered up after wandering around for so long?”

I’ve been sober for a while now, Feng Ye thought. He had originally been a little tipsy, but the subtle provocation of the crow brushing his sensitive spot had shocked him back to sobriety.

Although he had ultimately accepted the crow’s wildflower as a compromise, he still couldn’t help but shudder when he recalled how those feathers had brushed against his inverse scale.

It had felt so strange. This was the first time someone other than himself had touched it, and Feng Ye didn’t want to bring it up again, lest he have to keep reliving that feeling.

So he nodded, deciding to just change the subject. He glanced into the room, and when he saw no sign of Fang Yang and his friend, he asked: “Where’d they go?”

“They’re playing with the dog behind the house,” said Hao Chen.

No sooner had Hao Chen finished speaking than a beastly howl and two shouts of surprise sounded from behind the house.

The two exchanged a glance, then tacitly made their way toward the back.

Turning the corner, they caught sight of a large brown-grey dog. The rope around its neck pulled taut as it lunged with all its might, baring its fangs as if determined to rip into the two boys in front of it.

Shaken to their cores, Fang Yang and Cao Zirui clutched their chests in fright.

“What’s going on?” Feng Ye asked, surveying the scene.

Only when he spoke did Fang Yang notice their arrival. He took a moment to catch his breath. Then, still shaken, he explained the situation to Feng Ye: “I was just feeding it the leftover rabbit, but it wouldn’t eat it when I offered the bones to it. I tried to put a bone near its mouth, and it suddenly lunged and startled me.”

Cao Zirui nodded in agreement. The incident was just as Fang Yang had described it. If the dog hadn’t been leashed, it would have bitten off Fang Yang’s hand when it suddenly attacked.

When he heard this, Feng Ye turned his head to regard the big dog that was still struggling to lunge forward. It was likely a hybrid between a dog and a wolf, and was therefore bigger and fiercer than a domestic dog, with a bloodthirsty gleam in its eyes.

And near the big dog were a few scattered rabbit bones with scraps of meat still attached. This dog, however, ignored them. It observed Feng Ye and the other three, but ultimately settled its gaze back on Fang Yang and Cao Zirui. 

The look on its face was like that of a wild beast locking onto prey. In stark contrast to the human principle of giving way to the elderly, the young, the ill, and the disabled, beasts regarded these four types as their ideal prey.

Compared to Feng Ye and Hao Chen, who were both tall adults, these two teenagers would obviously be easier to hunt.

And fresh flesh and blood tasted much better than roasted rabbit bones. Unable to break free of its leash, the big dog could only lick its chops, dribbling foul-smelling saliva as it growled deep in its throat.

This dog has probably killed people before, thought Feng Ye.

An ordinary hunting dog wouldn’t target humans. But this dog was different, openly displaying its intention to attack Fang Yang and Cao Zirui them moment it had the opportunity.

But it made sense that wicked people would raise a wicked dog. Its owners were bandits who killed and robbed, and this dog had likely helped its owners commit many crimes.

Feng Ye didn’t mention this, and only said: “If it won’t eat, then so be it. Let’s pack up and get ready to leave.”

“Okay,” Fang Yang replied. As he was about to go back to the house and gather his things, he cast one last look toward the big dog, only to find that its beastly eyes were fixed on him.

The rope tightened again as the dog opened its jaws to reveal sharp fangs, barking repeatedly at Fang Yang.

Fang Yang was once again given a fright. Most of the dogs he encountered in his hometown were gentle and friendly, and unlike this fierce creature, he could pet them freely.

He didn’t realize that this was no ordinary domestic dog, nor did he understand that in the eyes of this big dog, he was nothing more than prey.

But he also abandoned any thought of befriending it. He grabbed Cao Zirui, then took off running into the house without looking back.

But the escape of its prey only fueled the dog’s aggression, and it struggled more and more violently, trying to break free of the rope around its neck.

As it pulled, the wooden stake anchoring the rope to the ground began to loosen.

Feng Ye suddenly sent it a casual glance.

To a wild beast, eye contact was a provocation.

But while this vicious dog had attacked Fang Yang when he looked at it before, at this moment, it stopped barking and lay down obediently on the ground with its tail tucked.

It also retracted its fangs, behaving itself well.

Feng Ye then turned and left with Hao Chen following behind him. But before leaving, Hao Chen cast one last look back at the big dog, which was now curled up on the ground and even trembling slightly with fear, showing no hint of its former ferocity.

It seemed that even vicious dogs feared vicious dragons.

Although this dragon only appeared vicious on the surface – a little secret that only Hao Chen knew.

The two made their way back to the house. When Fang Yang and the others were ready to set off, Wang Wu and Zhao Yi had not yet returned from the riverbank. 

The wooden house these two lived in was anything but tidy. Leftover dishes were piled up and attracting flies with no one bothering to wash them, and all sorts of trash was scattered throughout the house.

They had originally come to ask for directions, but ended up receiving a free roasted rabbit instead. Fang Yang felt a little embarrassed, and took the initiative to suggest that everyone help Wang Wu and Zhao Yi clean up as a way of repaying them.

This was good way to express their gratitude. It was just that…..Feng Ye glanced at the embroidery needles and thread, as well as the cloth tiger he had noticed upon first entering the room.

There was an unfinished pattern on the embroidered cloth, red flowers that were often favored by women. If someone told him that those burly bandits were skilled embroiderers, Feng Ye wouldn’t believe it.

The cloth tiger was clearly a child’s toy. Wang Wu and Zhao Yi were bandits who had fled to the mountains to evade government soldiers, so where did a child come into the picture?

This wooden house likely didn’t belong to the two of them. They had simply taken it as their own. And as for the original owners of the house, judging by the amount of dust collected on the cloth tiger, they had probably already met with misfortune.

It seemed that these two bandits had committed no shortage of heinous acts, and treating them to roasted rabbit was not done out of the kindness of their hearts.

But Feng Ye didn’t intend to reveal everything yet, and would even allow the bandits to lead them along. The man-eating monster in the ruins Wang Wu had mentioned might be related to his true purpose for this trip. Thus, he agreed with Fang Yang’s suggestion to help with the cleaning.

Of the four of them, three could be said to have some experience with cleaning. While Hao Chen had never done such things previously, even if he hadn’t picked up anything else during his days at Lingxiao Sword Sect, he had certainly mastered the art of sweeping the floor.

Cao Zirui was the only one without sufficient skills. He had been a young master at home, and a favored personal disciple within the sect. Pampered wherever he went, he had naturally never done such rough work.

But he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty, and simply imitated Fang Yang. Working together, the four of them made quick work of tidying up.

Wang Wu and Zhao Yi took their time coming back, and when they arrived, they were met with a completely renovated house.

Feigning politeness, Wang Wu offered perfunctory words of thanks to Feng Ye and his group. Then, unable to conceal his impatience, he eagerly put forth a suggestion: “It’s getting late, so let’s set off shortly.”

Although his eagerness stemmed from his desire to get Feng Ye and the others to the ruins as soon as possible, this suited Feng Ye’s plans perfectly, and he gave a cooperative nod.

Wang Wu was secretly delighted. He ran off to change his clothes, which had been soaked by river water, then grabbed a dead rabbit and threw it to the big dog behind the house.

This dog wouldn’t eat the roasted rabbit bones Fang Yang offered it, but it immediately devoured the still bloody rabbit corpse.

Its sharp teeth ripped open the rabbit’s belly, and blood smeared across its nose and mouth as it feasted.

Fang Yang glanced at it once, and dared not look again. Eating roasted rabbit was one thing, but seeing the bloody internal organs being pulled directly from the rabbit’s body was another.

After changing his clothes and feeding the dog, Wang Wu waved his hand and set off with Zhao Yi and the others in tow.

The mountain path was rugged, but traversing it didn’t pose a challenge to their group. Wang Wu and Zhao Yi, these two mountain bandits, had grown accustomed to a life of hiding in the mountains and were very familiar with its paths.

Feng Ye and his group all had a foundation in spiritual cultivation, so maintaining their balance on the mountain paths was not difficult for them.

So they moved forward at a fast pace, even laughing and chatting as they went. It all looked very harmonious.

“By the way, Wang-xiong, what type of breed is your dog? It’s so fierce, ah.” As they were talking, Fang Yang recalled the big dog that had given him such a fright, and couldn’t help but ask about it.

“Oh, that thing? Hehe.” Wang Wu stroked his beard, saying with some pride: “That’s a wolfhound, a mix of a wolf and the mongrel dogs that live in the mountains. It is indeed very ferocious. When it was only eight months old, not yet an adult, it had already killed …..”

He abruptly cut himself off, as if he had realized that he shouldn’t speak the next words on his tongue.

Feng Ye glanced at Wang Wu.

“What did it kill?” Asked the perpetually oblivious Fang Yang.

Wang Wu paused briefly before replying: “It…..it killed the neighbor’s chicken.”

That’s clearly not what you were going to say, thought Feng Ye.

Although Fang Yang hadn’t realized this, he did sense that something was wrong.

Wang Wu had been speaking with great pride before, and what was there to be proud of about a pet dog killing the neighbor’s chicken? Where he came from, such a vicious dog would be severely beaten by its owner.

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