A Long Grind to Daoist Monarch

Chapter 210 160: The Roadside Inn and the Dog Demon (Part 2)

The Yellow Dog Demon squeezed through the shop door, swaggering as it sat down on a chair:

"Erzi, you're not being honest. Grandpa heard that quite a few outsiders came running to you recently."

Zhao Erzi shivered and quickly begged for mercy:

"Master Gou! I'm wronged, terribly wronged! Those are from the county, we can't touch them. If... things get out, there will certainly be tough characters causing trouble."

The Yellow Dog Demon exhaled a stinky breath towards Zhao Erzi and said:

"What are you afraid of, even if the sky falls, Grandpa's got you covered! It's not like those meddlesome people didn't end up as food on the plate."

Zhao Erzi trembled all over:

"Master Gou, Black River County has many experts! Even the Red Eyebrow Bandits couldn't take it... Besides, what if we attract ghostwriters from the County City?"

The Yellow Dog Demon was quite impatient, as it was just a newly formed demon and couldn't think that far:

"What's the point of all this useless talk! Grandpa doesn't want meat buns, needs fresh meat to fill the belly! If you can't get it, hehe, Grandpa will do it himself!"

Zhao Erzi's face changed, he clasped his hands together and pleaded:

"Master Gou! It's not even spring now. Leave some people, or else no one will be left to work, the land will be barren, fields overgrown with weeds, and how will we live on then!"

The Yellow Dog Demon's strong hand grabbed and lifted the not-so-weak Zhao Erzi, eyes revealing a fierce light:

"Erzi, Grandpa doesn't have much patience, either you figure something out; or Grandpa will personally pick his rations."

Zhao Erzi's legs were several inches off the ground, his neck seemed clamped tight, making it hard to breathe, his dark face flushed red.

"Master Gou! I'll do it! I'll do it, you don't have to worry!"

The Yellow Dog Demon nodded satisfactorily, with hands behind its back heading straight for the kitchen:

"Grandpa will fill his stomach for now, wait until you get a good dish ready to serve on the table."

Zhao Erzi took a large breath, looking dejected, thinking to himself:

"It's all because of that scoundrel Wang Daifu! How could he rear a Dog Demon!"

Wang Daifu was a well-known prominent figure in the village, living in a large house made of blue bricks and black tiles, with seventy to eighty tenant farmers working for him, enjoying quite a comfortable life.

Normally, raising a dog for twenty years at most, Wang Daifu's family had an old dog that lived a full thirty years. Having lived so long, many villagers said it had gained human-like intelligence.

In the countryside, it is generally taboo to let a dog or any animal live too long, or else it may become a spirit.

Wang Daifu paid no heed to such things, instead employing four or five servants specifically to serve this old dog, ensuring it ate and drank well.

Unexpectedly, one night the old dog sprinted off into the mountains and disappeared, only to reappear later as a Dog Demon that relished eating humans.

"Bad luck!"

Zhao Erzi cursed in his heart and sighed helplessly, thinking of the outsider guest mentioned by his employee:

"Consider yourself unlucky!"

...

...

"Staying the night or just stopping for a meal?"

Before Bai Qi lifted the curtain, the black-faced shopkeeper enthusiastically welcomed him in:

"Are you coming from Black River County? If you're just stopping for a meal, we have noodles and rice, both meat and vegetarian options are available. If you want to stay, our top rooms are eighty cents a night, including breakfast."

Zhao Erzi was wiping the tables and chairs while sizing up the visitor. The man stood tall, carrying a bow and arrows, clearly not an easy person to deal with.

"Just stopping for a meal."

Bai Qi's senses were sharp, his nose twitching slightly as he caught a faint scent. He noticed the shopkeeper's forehead was beaded with sweat, and asked nervously:

"What's available to eat?"

Zhao Erzi wiped his face:

"You're in luck, sir. Yesterday, we just had a cow fall and die, and we bought it. We've just braised a few pounds, perfect to go with wine."

Bai Qi took out a few pieces of scattered silver, having barely carried copper coins since becoming a fish stall owner:

"Good wine and good food, bring it on."

Zhao Erzi responded, taking the silver taels with both hands, contemplating whether to use opium or numb muscle powder, when from behind came the crunching sound of bones being gnawed.

Looking back, he saw the Yellow Dog Demon holding a bloodied human leg, biting with sharp canine teeth, red muscles caught in the gaps, mixing with thick saliva.

"Erzi, Grandpa was really hungry! Couldn't hold back... next time let Da Fu compensate you a worker, okay?"

The Yellow Dog Demon grinned broadly:

"Too fresh is not as tasty, the taste is too strong. It's better after you've cooked it."

Zhao Erzi's eyes seemed to fill with blood, turning blood-red instantly, his voice hoarse:

"Master Gou, my shop just had that one worker."

The Yellow Dog Demon put down the human leg it had torn apart, narrowing its eyes:

"Grandpa said, he'd compensate you..."

"Compensate your damn mother!"

Zhao Erzi went mad, grabbing a bench beside him and smashed it over, the Yellow Dog Demon extended its claws, gripped suddenly, and crushed it to pieces.

"Erzi! Grandpa gives you face for your diligence! You must not..."

Yellow Dog Demon scratched his head, struggling to remember the right word.

"Overstep your bounds."

The young guest who had just entered the inn reminded him.

"Yes, overstep your bounds! If you keep arguing, I'll eat you too!"

The Yellow Dog Demon bared his teeth, struggling to contain his ferocity.

"Eat then! Damn you! I'm done, do whatever you want, eventually a martial artist will end your dog's life!"

Zhao Erzi stumbled from the recoil but straightened his back:

"Damn it, I run a black shop for profit, making meat buns for you every day, haven't received a single cent, ate and drank for free without complaint, but you harm my workers! You love eating so much, go eat shit!"

The Yellow Dog Demon showed his sharp teeth, raised his claw, ready to rip Zhao Erzi apart, but an imposing man pulled the black-faced worker to dodge the deadly attack.

"A few hundred years old Little Demon, it even refined the bones, quite human-like..."

Bai Qi's eyes flickered with doubt. He had encountered many demons and monsters, but this enlightened Yellow Dog Demon was truly rare.

"Forget about beef, I want to try dog meat."

He stood up, his shoulders moved to loosen muscles, these five or six hundred-year-old creatures could barely withstand three punches from him.

...

...

"This... you... I..."

After three punches, Zhao Erzi looked at the Yellow Dog Demon lying in a pool of blood, and the unfamiliar outsider, stammering.

"Running a black shop?"

Bai Qi wiped the blood from his palm; the demon's blood is toxic, not suitable for prolonged contact, the talk of eating dog meat was a joke, at most dissect to take an Inner Pill to replenish energy.

"Yes."

Zhao Erzi nodded dumbly.

"Selling meat buns?"

Bai Qi asked again.

"Yes."

Zhao Erzi seemed only capable of nodding.

"Then you're no different from this Dog Demon. It eats humans, you eat humans."

Bai Qi sneered, hooking Zhao Erzi's shoulder:

"Anything else to confess?"

Zhao Erzi's lips opened and closed a few times, dryly saying:

"From here go straight east, there's a big mansion, and an old Dog Demon keeping villagers from Dayu Town captive.

If you truly intend kindness, save them, but if worried about danger, at least inform Black River County, let them send martial artists."

Bai Qi nodded:

"Nothing else?"

Zhao Erzi's eyes flickered, carrying a complex emotion of regret or sorrow:

"If there's a next life, let me be born in a good house. I don't want to do these things, but to live, one must survive."

Bai Qi nodded again, this time without further inquiry, he channeled force into his palm and delivered a heavy blow to Zhao Erzi's head, blood seeped from his orifices.

The black-faced shopkeeper collapsed, hearing the young hero's voice faintly as he died:

"My name is Bai, from Black River County."

...

...

A grand mansion with blue bricks and black tiles lay less than five or six miles east of Dayu Town, an old dog with a mottled coat sat in the main hall, wearing specially tailored clothes like a human, speaking with Wang Daifu:

"Master, Dayu Town's rations are running low, we need to think of a way to get more."

Wang Daifu looked at the old dog with sagging cheeks, trembling with fear:

"Should I... go purchase some?"

The old dog spoke leisurely, slowly savoring a tender liver:

"That won't do; with too many people, Black River County will surely notice. It's better to target the nearby villages of Dayu Town, don't worry, Master, you've treated me well, I won't eat you."

Wang Daifu's legs trembled uncontrollably. Little did he imagine, his family dog had not only become enlightened but transformed into a terrifying demon.

"But Song the Fourth cannot be trusted; he works for you but secretly skims on food, buying cheap big bones. I remember that, he must be eaten."

The old dog contently wiped its mouth:

"Master, the Turbid Tide is coming, people from Black River County won't concern themselves with Dayu Town's affairs, they won't care about your life or death. I will, I shall repay the favor."

Wang Daifu smiled more bitterly than crying, he just wished to escape, living with a Dog Demon daily under the same roof was truly unsettling.