100 Black Dog (1/2)
Xue Wei had finally entered the Northern Territory. From all the books he had read, he knew that the Northern Taiga took up a great amount of space within the Northern Territory, so he would encounter it sooner or later.
When he found the Northern Taiga, it was simple to just follow around the edge of it until he reached Lingyun town, but he also understood that this was the moment where he had to be careful and on high alert.
This was a place where humans hunted for treasures. Although they mainly targeted Fierce Beasts, some of them would not shy away from killing a single young man in their pursuit of fortune.
Xue Wei was already a hunted man, so if someone saw his youthful appearance, then their first assumption would be that he had escaped from the army and would not hesitate to attack him as a result. Deserters were hated all over the kingdom.
Xue Wei reached the edges of the taiga without any issues, but many were curious about him. He was dressed in all black clothes, and his head was hidden beneath a big bamboo hat, hiding all his features.
Everyone knew that someone with an appearance like this meant they were eager to stay out of people's sights, but this just made them even more curious about him.
Fortunately, Xue Wei was traveling the edge of the taiga. Although he met mercenaries and groups of apothecaries surrounded by guards that were going to find herbs, none of them truly had the time to deal with him.
They were all either traveling to the taiga to start their hunt as soon as possible, or returning with all their bountiful harvest.
As he traveled, Xue Wei found that it was safer for him to travel inside of the taiga. He did not have to fear the beasts, as none of them wanted to be close to him, nor he did have to fear the humans either, as they were too busy fighting against said beasts.
Xue Wei came across many fights while traveling. Some were bloody and desperate, others beautiful and elegant. But no matter what he saw, Xue Wei did not intervene. He would not save any of the beasts, and he did not save any of the humans either.
It was not before he sensed a great commotion in front of him that he changed his tactics. There was a beast, a massive black dog, that was being targeted by around fifty cultivators.
These cultivators were all at the higher end of the Earth Warrior rank, with some at the ninth layer and others at the eight layer.
The beast that they were chasing seemed to have a strength equivalent to the ninth layer of the Earth Warrior rank, but it held its own against this massive group of people; it scratched and bit, kicked and clawed at them, leaving one person after another with a wound more serious than the last.
”Dammit! This is not a simple black dog!” one of the people swore. Another added in, ”it has such fine fur – we need to capture it already. If we can capture it alive and get our hands on a Diviner to tame it, it will be the best we've ever done!”
”As if we have the money for a Diviner! Let us just kill this monster. It has already killed half of our men and wounded the rest of us.”
”I agree. Although it might be fighting desperately, it won't be able to survive for much longer. We might have sacrificed half of our men, but we have severely wounded and tired out this beast!”
Xue Wei had avoided all sort of battles up until now. However, when he saw the beast that was cornered from every direction and riddled with wounds, he felt his heart ache slightly as it reminded him of himself.
This dog had eyes filled with despair and unwillingness to give up. It was fighting against the world; no one came to assist it, and it was not strong enough to defeat the enemies in front of it.
It opened its mouth, and briefly it seemed as if it had swallowed the sun and the moon. The area turned as dark as the darkest of nights. Although it was in the middle of the day, there was no light that penetrated the tree branches, and everything seemed to be completely enveloped in darkness.
Xue Wei frowned. He knew that special beasts had different abilities, this could be seen on the beast hides and silks woven by the humans that also carried some of these abilities, but it was the first time that Xue Wei had seen them display something more magnificent than just hurling fireballs, water balls, or other inherent abilities.
Xue Wei felt his blood run cold. This ability was dreadful.Shortly after the darkness descended everywhere, he started hearing screams. He felt a breeze spread through the area, and then someone yelled out, ”Be careful! He is a celestial dog! He is capable of devouring the sun and the moon – devouring us is a simple matter!”
After this was said, rustling sounds could be heard, and Xue Wei assumed that this was the result of people fleeing as far and as fast as they could.
Xue Wei remained in his hiding place behind a large tree, ensuring that no one managed to find him, and then he just patiently waited for the light to return in the area.
It happened slowly, and when it did Xue Wei saw that the black dog was laying on the ground. Blood poured out of its wounds, painting the grass on the ground red.
Around him were the remains of humans. Some of them had half their torsos removed, clearly showing that they had been ripped in half and devoured by the black dog. Others had their limbs torn off, and some had lost their heads.
All of them were either dead or unconscious, or close to dying. The only one still standing was the black dog, but it too was on the verge of collapsing.