He petted the two dogs as he sighed gently. “You can go now. If you get hungry, come back here to find me, and I’ll feed you.”

The two dogs exchanged a glance, then quickly scurried away.

After they were far from the alley, Little Tu remarked, “He seems like a decent human.”

“It’s still yet to be seen whether he’s a human,” Old Tu replied. “That said, he did feed us, so let’s not tell our king about him. Otherwise, that could get him in trouble.”

After the two dogs left, Chu Qiguang’s facade of pity and sympathy vanished instantly. He turned to Qiao Zhi and said, “Master Qiao, I’ll have to trouble you to follow them and find out where their lair is.”

“Are you going to kill them?” Qiao Zhi asked.

“Of course not!” Chu Qiguang replied as the sympathetic facade returned. “Stray dogs are so adorable and pitiful. I want to look after them.”

***

Old Tu and Little Tu trotted their way back to an abandoned monastery in the southern part of the city.

It had once been a Buddhist monastery, but it was burned to the ground during the imperial court’s crackdown on Buddhism, leaving behind ruins that had become a gathering place for dog fiends.

Old Tu and Little Tu instinctively tucked their tails between their legs as soon as they entered the monastery. Their nostrils were immediately assaulted by all kinds of strong odors, and they could see pairs of faintly glowing green eyes watching them from the darkness. The sound of dogs barking and fighting could be heard coming from the tall grass, and at the head of the monastery, where a Buddha statue once stood, lay a massive black dog.

The dog weighed nearly as much as an average adult human, its body packed with thick, bulging muscles.

At this moment, it was gnawing on a bone, and its teeth were so sharp that the bone may as well have been made out of paper.

Many of the dog fiends nearby drooled as they stared at the bone, but none of them dared to get close.

The black dog glanced at Old Tu and Little Tu, then returned his attention to the bone as he asked, “Did you find out anything about those new guys?”

“We did,” Old Tu replied. “The people who moved in are the young master of the Wang Clan from the Wang Clan Village and his servants. He always has servants around him, so it’s not going to be easy to target him.”

The hulking black dog was called Old Black, and he was the leader of all the dog fiends in Azure Sun County.

He had once been a hunting dog living with a family of hunters. His father was a dog fiend, and he was also one of the family’s hunting dogs.

At some point, Old Black mauled the entire family to death, then fled into the county town. There, he gathered a bunch of dog fiends, became their leader, and ordered them to steal food from street-side vendors, restaurants, and anywhere else they could.

There was a strict hierarchy among the dog fiends. Those at the bottom had to hand over the food that they stole, passing it up level by level. On top of that, they were bullied by everyone else.

All the dog fiends feared Old Black, especially due to the rumors that he had previously mauled humans to death.

“What about today’s offerings?” Old Black asked.

Old Tu lowered his head in fear as he replied, “My apologies, but we weren’t able to find any food today—”

A vicious snarl cut him off as Old Black pounced on Old Tu, clamping his jaws around his neck before slamming him to the ground.

“I’ll eat you if you dare to return without food again!”

Old Tu and Little Tu whimpered as they begged for mercy, staring up at Old Black in terror.

“Isn’t there a kid in that household? Lure him out tomorrow,” Old Black ordered.

“That’s... surely not a good idea,” Old Tu protested timidly. “There’s going to be an investigation if he dies.”

“Humans can eat dogs, so why can’t we eat humans?” Old Black snarled. “Besides, that kid’s not a member of the Wang Clan. The Wang Clan isn’t going to alert the Daoist temple over something so insignificant.”

One of the keys to Old Black’s survival in Azure Sun County was picking on the poor and vulnerable. No one cared about those at the bottom of society, and neither the local authorities nor the Daoist temple would look into the disappearance of such an insignificant child.

“If you won't lure him out, then steal the meat from that household. Either bring me the kid or bring me the meat. It’s your choice.”

***

Several hundred meters away, Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi moved quietly through the darkness to avoid the guards enforcing the nightly curfew.

At that moment, Chu Qiguang stood with his back against a wall, examining the things that he had brought with him.

Before long, Qiao Zhi returned to his side, and he asked, “Did you find out anything?”

“Their leader is a black dog that looks really strong. I presume he must’ve cultivated some type of dog fiend martial arts,” Qiao Zhi replied. “Judging from his build, his combat prowess should be comparable to that of a second-state martial artist. He could probably kill the average person with just a single bite.”

“Can we keep him?” Chu Qiguang asked with a smile.

Qiao Zhi hesitated for a moment, then revealed, “He’s mauled beggars and stragglers to death before.”

“I see,” Chu Qiguang replied with a nod. “In that case, we’ll have to get rid of him.”

***

While the dog fiends were resting in the abandoned monastery, a panicked cry suddenly rang out from outside.

“The Daoist priests are here! Run!”

All the dog fiends instantly sprang to their paws.

Immediately after, another voice shouted, “This monastery is full of dog fiends! Don’t let even a single one of them get away!”

All the dog fiends were horrified. The Daoist temple had always been a nightmarish existence for them, constantly looming over their heads like a threatening shadow.

“What are you waiting for? Do you want to die? Split up and run!” Qiao Zhi yelled.

Old Black had intended to gather all his subordinates and break out of the encirclement together, but Qiao Zhi’s insistent cry sent all the dog fiends fleeing in different directions.

Old Black let out a cold snort as he rushed straight out the back door, and in the chaos, no one noticed that he was being tailed by an orange shadow.

After running for about a kilometer, Old Black slowly drew to a halt.

As he scanned his surroundings, he noticed a man approaching him. He immediately crouched down, pretending to be a normal dog. However, the man continued to approach him with a wide grin on his face.

“What an adorable little doggie you are! Do you wanna come home with me?”