Volume One, Chapter Twelve: The Dog God
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In the center of the main road near the urban village on the west side of the city, Zhang Yu, who had never been here before, looked up at the tangled mess of wires and the piles of garbage scattered all around. Occasionally, strange and pungent odors wafted into his nostrils, causing his brow to furrow deeply.
Alongside the main road, every seven or eight meters, a narrow, pitch-dark alley led into various corners of the urban village.
This was the first time in his forties that he found himself unsure of which direction to take.
After careful consideration, he decided to ask a nearby resident for directions.
He quickened his pace toward a convenience store that was just about to close. The owner was an elderly man with graying hair and glasses.
“Uncle, a pack of Purple Cloud, please.”
The old man looked uneasy. As he handed Zhang Yu the cigarettes, he warned, “Sir, you’d better head home quickly. There’s been an invasion of beast demons in this area!”
After work, Zhang Yu did not immediately return home but stayed at the school to focus on his teaching duties.
He hoped to improve the students’ abilities as much as possible before the upcoming campus recruitment, so that even those with weaker spiritual companions might secure decent futures.
When he glanced once again at Jiang Huan’s profile, he inadvertently recalled the address Murong Xue had given him and the words she had spoken.
By some strange impulse, he felt compelled to visit Jiang Huan’s home for a house call.
Therefore, he was unaware of the beast demon invasion at that moment.
Puzzled, he asked, “Beast demons invading?”
The old man nodded repeatedly, then lowered his voice to warn, “They say it’s a humanoid beast demon!”
Beast demons are classified by rank—but only spirit masters truly understand this.
Ordinary people don’t fully grasp beast demons but generally know humanoid ones tend to be more dangerous.
They often possess some degree of intelligence.
Zhang Yu’s frown deepened, and he asked, “Uncle, I’m here to find a friend. Could you tell me how to get to 128 North District, Xishan Camp?”
The old man was momentarily stunned. “You took the wrong road! You’ve added ten minutes to your trip!”
As he spoke, he poked his head out of the store and pointed at a large tree ahead. “See that tree? Walk to it, then turn left into a small alley. Keep going straight. When you see a yellow three-story building, turn right. After that, ask someone nearby again.”
Zhang Yu thanked the old man and hurried off.
The old man watched Zhang Yu’s retreating figure and muttered, “What a weirdo. Heading that way at a time like this? Doesn’t he fear running into beast demons?”
With that, he pulled down the special roller shutter door and closed the store.
Zhang Yu followed the old man’s directions, moving forward.
But the complex layout of the urban village kept causing him to lose his way.
Fortunately, though fewer people were on the street, he still encountered a few passersby.
They hurriedly pointed him in the right direction before rushing home themselves.
When Zhang Yu emerged from an alley into a small square, he found it deserted.
He sighed and lit a cigarette.
“Damn, how the hell do I get to Jiang Huan’s place?”
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He hadn’t given up on using his phone’s GPS, but once inside the urban village, the navigation seemed to lose all sense.
One moment the destination was to the left; the next, to the right.
Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps—and at times, the clash of metal.
His old soldier’s instincts kicked in, and he swiftly ducked back into the alley. With a thought, a three-foot-long wooden ruler appeared in his hand.
Soon, he saw a familiar figure dart out from the alley opposite the square.
“Jiang Huan? Why is he running so fast?”
Before he could finish, five more figures burst out behind Jiang Huan.
Unlike Jiang Huan’s calm and unharmed demeanor, their clothes were stained with blood, and panic was etched across their faces.
“Jiang Huan! Don’t you dare run! Fight that beast demon like you did just now!”
“Yeah! Stop treating us like punching bags and actually hit the beast demon!”
“Wait for me! Are we still brothers or not?”
Zhang Yu’s confusion deepened. “Jiang Huan fighting them? What nonsense is this?”
He distinctly remembered that even the weakest among them, Sun Pangzi, had a physical fitness score of 25.
What could Jiang Huan possibly use to fight them?
Jiang Huan’s angry shout echoed through the square: “Are you guys idiots? I told you to split up! Why are you all following me?”
But his words had no effect.
Wang Teng and the others kept chasing after him.
Suddenly, a towering black giant dog, about a person’s height, appeared behind them!
It stood on its hind legs like a human. Its blood-red eyes glowed vividly in the night, and drool dripped steadily from its mouth.
Zhang Yu’s pupils constricted sharply.
A fourth-rank beast demon dog spirit!
This was no ordinary beast demon within the Great Xia territory.
It was far beyond what Jiang Huan and the others could handle.
Even he might struggle to confront it.
His mind raced, pondering how to resolve the imminent danger.
The dog spirit suddenly launched itself forward, leaping over Wang Teng and the others to land squarely before Jiang Huan.
But before it could strike, a white flash swept through the air.
The dog spirit was cleaved in two!
Zhang Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief.
What was going on? Jiang Huan had just killed a fourth-rank beast demon with a single blow?
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Yet, despite being cut in half, the six of them only increased their pace.
The next moment, to Zhang Yu’s astonishment, the severed lower half of the dog spirit strode toward its upper half.
Then, the upper half, like a writhing mass of black liquid, fused back into the lower half. In the blink of an eye, it was whole again.
It quickly resumed pursuit of the six.
Jiang Huan groaned in frustration.
Since the beast demon appeared, not only had his classmates failed to assist him, but they stubbornly kept following him, preventing him from escaping danger.
What troubled him more was that despite severing the dog spirit into multiple pieces more than once, it always restored itself moments later.
It was as if his attacks had no effect at all.
In an instant, Zhang Yu realized the truth.
This was not a genuine fourth-rank beast demon dog spirit.
It was a shikigami—a summoned spirit.
The real danger lay with the controller behind it.
His taut nerves suddenly relaxed.
He shouted to Jiang Huan and the others, “Its weak point is at the chest! Jiang Huan! Wang Teng! The six of you combine your strength and you can defeat it!”
Hearing a familiar voice, they turned and spotted Zhang Yu.
They urgently called out, “Teacher Zhang! Please save us!”
Zhang Yu only said, “Concentrate your spiritual energy on your companions! Attack its chest with all your might! I have other matters to attend to!”
Then he ran off in another direction, as if oblivious to their pleas.
Wang Teng was dumbfounded, even forgetting to flee.
Abandoning students’ lives like that—what kind of teacher is he?
What they didn’t know was that in Zhang Yu’s eyes, six students together could surely destroy such a shikigami, no matter how weak.
His real task was to expose the mastermind hiding nearby who had orchestrated this trouble.
Suddenly, the dog spirit lashed out with a powerful strike!
A surge of energy shot toward Wang Teng.
Wang Teng instinctively closed his eyes, bracing for death.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the square.