Volume One, Chapter Two: Dog!

Seeing that her shopping was mostly done, Qingyi picked up her bags and prepared to head home. Suddenly, she felt a gaze fixed upon her from behind and turned around.

There, tied to a wooden board, was a hairless, mangy dog. The creature seemed incredibly weak, its eyes glazed and unfocused. Qingyi approached the dog, leaned in, blinked, and instinctively exclaimed, "Wow, what an ugly dog."

(o)!

Ugly?

The "dog" tied to the board weakly lifted its eyelids.

Detestable human!

It was the Fox Emperor of Qingqiu; how dare she call it ugly! If it hadn't been ambushed and beaten back into its original form, its fur burned away entirely, it would never have been insulted by a mere human!

Noticing it was still watching her, Qingyi asked, "Were you just looking at me? Are you asking me to save you?"

Butcher Wang, who was sharpening his blade, heard the commotion, set down his cleaver, and grinned with his rugged face. "Oh, it’s you, Qingyi. Want some wild boar meat? It was just slaughtered, fresh as can be."

Qingyi shook her head at the sound, her gaze falling on the dog waiting for the blade. She pointed at it and said, "Uncle Wang, could you sell this dog to me? I happen to be missing a guard dog."

In truth, Qingyi had long wanted a dog. It could guard the house, look impressive when she took it out for a stroll, and keep away any annoying troublemakers! But high-quality dogs were simply too expensive, so the idea had remained just that—an idea—until now.

"This scrawny thing? Why would you want to buy it?" Butcher Wang patted the dog’s hairless rear. "It’s all skin and bones; it’s not fit for guarding a house!"

Qingyi smiled sweetly. "It’s alright, maybe it’ll get stronger once I feed it!"

"Well... alright then!" Butcher Wang could see that Qingyi truly seemed to like the dog. After a moment of hesitation, he agreed. He had found the dog in the mountains yesterday and intended to use it for sausages, but if someone was willing to keep it, then the dog must have a stroke of good luck.

After some bargaining, Qingyi bought the hairless dog for twenty copper coins.

"Thank you, Uncle Wang!"

The Fox Emperor rolled its eyes upward, feeling a mouthful of blood stuck in its throat, wanting to vomit but unable to. It wanted to slap these two detestable humans to death! Was it, the dignified Fox Emperor of Qingqiu, only worth twenty copper coins?!

...

Qingyi returned to the gate of her small courtyard and spoke to the bamboo cage in her hand, "From now on, this is your home!"

"The Master is back!"

Inside the courtyard, Hongluan and Xuanling, who had been stretching their limbs, tapped palms and quickly transformed—Hongluan into a hen, while Xuanling, who had been sparring with her, turned into a small silver turtle and crawled leisurely toward the pond.

"Oh, you’ve run out again!" Qingyi ran over in a few steps, picked up the silver turtle, tapped its head, and placed it back into the pond.

Little did she know that the moment she stepped into the courtyard, several pairs of eyes had already fallen upon the dog.

"What is this thing? Why is it so ugly, and why does it reek of demonic aura?"

"Never mind what it is. With us here, even if it truly is a demon, it won't be able to stir up any trouble."

At this moment, Bai Ziye was utterly shocked. The moment it entered the courtyard, it felt a massive surge of spiritual energy pouring into its body. Where was this place? How could such immense spiritual energy gather here? Its own Qingqiu was a holy land for demonic cultivation, yet compared to this tiny courtyard, it seemed inferior!

Bai Ziye glanced carelessly at the ground. A plump hen was pecking at the dirt. If it wasn't mistaken, that was the Source of the Great Dao!! A single grain of the Source of the Great Dao was worth a hundred years of bitter cultivation!

Bai Ziye watched longingly as the hen pecked up all the grains of the Source of the Great Dao, its eyes turning red with envy. What a waste of heaven's gifts! It hadn't seen the Source of the Great Dao in thousands of years! How could there be so much of it here?

"Woo-woo."

Hearing the sound from the bamboo cage, Qingyi crouched down, smiled sweetly at Bai Ziye, and asked, "Are you hungry? Wait a moment, I'll go get you something to eat!"

Watching the human turn and head into the wooden house, a murderous glint flashed in Bai Ziye's eyes. This woman was definitely not an ordinary person; she couldn't possibly have failed to see its true form. What was her purpose in saving it? Was she also after that thing?

Bai Ziye never trusted humans. It was convinced that the rescue was all staged, a ploy to make it feel grateful. How could it not see through such a despicable tactic? It was a pity its injuries hadn't healed; otherwise, it would have captured this human and demanded to know who was behind her!

"Cluck, cluck, cluck." Hongluan pecked at the Source of the Great Dao on the ground, casting an unkind glare at Bai Ziye. This little demon actually harbored murderous intent toward the Master! Should it just slaughter it before the Master came back out?

When Bai Ziye noticed the silly-looking hen staring at it, it felt hostility emanating from the bird! It, the dignified Master of Qingqiu, was being looked down upon by an old hen?! If it weren't currently unable to move, it would have slaughtered this chicken!

Hongluan was getting worked up, too. This ugly dog actually dared to glare at it! Was it looking for a beating?

Just as the fox and the chicken were locked in a tense standoff, eye to eye, "The yummy food is here!"

Qingyi came trotting out, carrying a steaming, large bone. Hongluan immediately turned its tail to peck at the rice.

The hostility vanished?

Bai Ziye stared at the hen, its expression uncertain. Was its injury so severe that it was hallucinating?

The bamboo cage was suddenly opened. Bai Ziye grew alert, mouth agape, ready to pounce and bite the human.

"Crunch."

Bai Ziye bit down on the bone, nearly shattering its own teeth! Qingyi picked up Bai Ziye and placed it back into the cage along with the bone. "Don't be impatient, this whole bone is yours!"

Insult! A blatant, naked insult! It was the Fox Emperor! How could it possibly gnaw on a bone! Murderous intent surged in Bai Ziye's eyes. It was now more certain than ever that this human was deliberately humiliating it!

Qingyi patted the bamboo cage and smiled sweetly, "I'm going to cook now. Eat slowly; if it's not enough, I'll give you another one later!"

The cage was closed once more. Bai Ziye stared fixedly at Qingyi until she returned to the house, only then withdrawing its gaze. It looked at the meaty bone; the aroma of meat kept drilling into its nose and eyes. Perhaps the human was watching from the shadows!

Bai Ziye closed its eyes. It would absolutely not be insulted by this human! But why was the scent of the bone so rich? Maybe it should just take one bite? It only wanted to survive! It was definitely not falling for this woman's trick!

With that thought, Bai Ziye sneakily ate a scrap of meat from the bone, and its pupils dilated instantly. A massive surge of spiritual energy poured into its body, beginning to heal its internal wounds.