Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 45: Old Black’s Backstory

Old Black cast Chu Qiguang a disdainful glance, then stood up and tried to walk past him. In that instant, Chu Qiguang suddenly flung a handful of quicklime into his face.

Blinded at once, Old Black roared as he lunged at Chu Qiguang, only for a bucket of water to be splashed onto his face. The water reacted with the quicklime, and he howled in agony as he threw his front paws over his eyes.

Chu Qiguang quickly retreated as he yelled, “Get him!”

What a dirty bastard, Qiao Zhi scoffed inwardly.

Perched atop a nearby wall, he picked up rocks with his paws, which were just as dexterous as human hands, and hurled them at Old Black with lethal force.

Before long, Old Black was beaten to within an inch of his life, and his breathing became very faint.

“I smell a cat!” he snarled resentfully. “You’re working with a human to kill me? You’re a traitor!”

“You’ve been going around eating humans!” Qiao Zhi reprimanded. “If I don’t kill you, all the other dog fiends are going to start doing the same. Eventually, the Daoist temple is going to get involved, and all of us will be screwed!”

“Humans can eat dogs, so why can’t I eat them?” he protested in a feeble voice. “Why do you think I eat humans? Because humans betrayed me first!”

At this point, Old Black was already on the verge of death, and it seemed that he was only clinging to life in order to tell a final tale to vindicate himself.

“I was once a hunting dog in a family of hunters. My father was a dog fiend, and I trained under him from birth. I grew stronger and smarter, helping the hunters catch more and more prey...”

However, the local authorities began ordering widespread deforestation to create more farmland, making it increasingly difficult for them to find prey. In the end, they had no choice but to switch livelihoods and take up farming as well.

The hunters were completely unfamiliar with farming, but the local authorities granted them tax exemption for the first three years, and with the dog fiends helping them in their farming efforts, they were able to get by.

However, it didn’t take long before a new county magistrate was instated, and he colluded with the local tycoons to seize all of the newly cultivated farmland.

Unable to hunt or farm, the situation quickly became dire for the family of former hunters.

One day, Old Black’s father went missing. He searched everywhere for him, but wasn’t able to find him. He did, however, remember that the family’s circumstances had improved significantly for a period of time immediately following his father’s disappearance.

However, the good days didn’t last, and Old Black soon found out that his owner was planning to sell him to the butcher.

“I killed them because they betrayed me first!” Old Black revealed, his voice barely more than a whisper now. “They betrayed me first...”

Finally, his voice faded into silence, and his last words left his mouth with his final breath.

Chu Qiguang stood beside Old Black’s lifeless body, his brows furrowed in contemplation.

Qiao Zhi approached him with a forlorn expression, and when he saw Chu Qiguang’s furrowed brows, he sighed, “You must be feeling sorry for him as well, right?”

“Huh?”

Chu Qiguang was taken aback by the question because he had actually been wondering whether the dog fiend’s flesh was edible.

“I thought you would’ve killed him right away, but you let him have his last words,” Qiao Zhi sighed.

In his eyes, this was proof that there was some kindness in Chu Qiguang’s heart.

Unbeknownst to him, Chu Qiguang was actually thinking that instead of taking the risk of finishing the dog fiend off himself, it was far wiser to let him waste his final breaths on telling his life story. Why go in for the kill and risk retaliation when he could simply watch the dog fiend’s life fade away from a safe distance?

However, he played along, petting Qiao Zhi on the head as he sighed, “It sounds like he had a hard life.”

“As long as humans continue to expand and develop, they’ll inevitably come into conflict with fiends,” Qiao Zhi said. “Back in the Wang Clan Village, I always told my followers to avoid humans and stay far away from the village, but humans keep expanding their territories year after year. Eventually, there would be nowhere left for us to hide. What are we supposed to do then?”

Chu Qiguang continued petting Qiao Zhi as he replied, “There’s no future in living a primitive lifestyle in the wilderness. If you don’t change, then you’ll only be left behind and eliminated.”

“How should we change?” Qiao Zhi asked.

“Integrate yourselves into society and become an indispensable part of it,” Chu Qiguang replied. “For example, you can start by working in our fields.”

Chu Qiguang picked up Old Black’s body as he spoke.

Is this why he’s been trying to make us cats work in his family’s fields? Could it be that he’s not trying to exploit us for free labor, but actually looking out for us?

A look of realization appeared on Qiao Zhi’s face.

He wants us fiends to become an indispensable part of society! It seems like he’s already beginning to change! Is it because of my influence? I may have unintentionally altered the course of history!

With that in mind, Qiao Zhi skipped over to Chu Qiguang and began circling him, rubbing against his legs.

Chu Qiguang nudged him away with his foot as he complained, “These clothes cost me a tael of silver, and you’re getting cat fur all over them!”

Despite being pushed away, Qiao Zhi still felt very pleased with himself.

Not only am I changing the world, I may have just saved it! Everyone under the heavens should be thanking me!

After some hesitation, Chu Qiguang asked, “We can use this thing’s blood to perform the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique on Chen Gang one more time, right?”

***

Chu Qiguang carried Old Black’s body back to the abandoned monastery with Qiao Zhi.

At this point, the dog fiends had already sensed that something was wrong. There didn’t seem to be any Daoist priests pursuing them, so they all returned to the monastery.

When Chu Qiguang entered with Old Black’s body, they all pretended to be normal stray dogs, watching him with wary and hostile eyes.

“Your king has been killed by a Daoist priest of the Azure Sun Daoist Temple,” Chu Qiguang declared. “He came to me in his dying breaths, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save him.”

The dog fiends immediately erupted into an uproar at this terrible news, and one of them shouted, “Who killed our king?”

“It was Daoist Master Azure Spirit of the Azure Sun Daoist Temple,” Chu Qiguang sighed with a grief-stricken expression. “Old Black was like a brother to me. He lived such a hard life. He was once a loyal hunting dog to a family of hunters, but the excessive deforestation ordered by the local authorities robbed them of their livelihood, forcing the hunters to become farmers.

“Even then, the authorities refused to relent, robbing them of their land as well. The family of hunters was struggling to make ends meet, so they tried to sell Old Black to a butcher! Brother Old Black had no choice but to fight back, and he was only able to survive by fleeing to the county town.”

All the dog fiends listened intently to Chu Qiguang’s story. Most of them had heard some rumors here and there, but this was the first time they had heard Old Black’s life story in such detail.

Two of the dog fiends in particular, one black and one white, were astonished by this tale. The white dog’s name was White Hide, while the black one was called Black Back. They were Old Black’s most trusted subordinates.

They had both heard this story directly from Old Black, so what shocked them was the human standing before them also knew it. Perhaps he wasn’t human at all...