Thud! Xiao Hei’s metal fist collided with the beast midair, and a loud noise was heard. Xiao Hei took a step backward while the beast twisted its limbs for a renewed leap after barely touching the ground. Xiao Hei lifted his fist again and attempted to smash the animal, but his attack was dodged by a nimble twist of the body, and a crater appeared on the ground.
“Leave.” Bai Ze said in a low voice and pulled Li Yiming and Liu Meng out of the alleyway.
“Look! Over there!” They had barely returned to the street when Liu Meng cried out in horror and pointed at the green belt on the other end of the street; another dog, with golden pelt this time, waited there, and it seemed just as menacing as the husky earlier.
“Another one?” Li Yiming was shocked. ‘If this one’s the same as the previous one, then there’s no way I can handle it.’ He suddenly noticed the patrol car parked in front of the hotel’s entrance. It belonged to the officers who had come to the hotel for interrogation. He knew that officers had the habit of not locking their car doors when they were on duty. After all, who would dare to steal a police car? 1
“Get in!” Li Yiming yelled as he dashed toward the pa.s.senger seat of the patrol car with Bai Ze in his arms. Liu Meng quickly followed him, only she made it for the driver’s seat: Li Yiming did not know how to drive.
‘G.o.d bless, the keys are there.’
“Quick.” Li Yiming threw Bai Ze onto the back seat and tapped at the front winds.h.i.+eld. Liu Meng did not have much time to think. She started the engine and the vehicle bolted out onto the road. Li Yiming turned his head around to look at the enraged golden dog they left behind and saw it jump on a jogger, leaving a scream of terror that weakened as they drove away.
“What is that?” Liu Meng finally had the opportunity to ask in a panicked voice.
“They’re Dragondogs,” Bai Ze’s voice came from the backseat.
“Dragondogs?”
“A mythical beast. I think I know what the will of this domain is.”
“What exactly are you talking about?” Liu Meng did not understand any of these crazy words.
“I’ll explain to you later. Bai Ze, continue your story.”
“According to legends, there used to be an emperor called Gao Xin in the past. His queen had a pain in her ear, and, after three years, a bug crawled out of her ear. The insect was golden and shone light around it, so the queen liked it very much, and asked the servants to put it in a golden basin and feed it. After a while, the bug slowly grew into a puppy. Only, instead of fur, its body was covered with scales. The emperor also liked the animal, so he gave it a name: Dragondog.” 2
“That’s the Dragondog you’re talking about? But the ones we saw…” Liu Meng interrupted.
“Their metamorphosis hasn’t been completed yet.” Bai Ze crawled up from her seat and looked through the car window.
“Continue, we have to know more about them.” Li Yiming pressed on.
“Later, enemies of the empire invaded, and the emperor proclaimed that whoever that could help defeat the enemies would be married to the princess. The Dragondog went to the task alone, sneaked into the enemy camp during the night and tore the neck of the enemy general apart. Without a leader, the enemies were quickly vanquished. However, when the Dragondog returned to the imperial palace, the emperor didn’t like the way it looked and wanted to go back on his promise. The Dragondog told him that he would be able to transform into a human if given seven days. The emperor decreed that seven days should be given to him, and the Dragondog asked the servant of the palace to cover him with a gold basin so that he could begin his transformation. However, on the seventh day, the princess, who had been worried about the Dragondog starving, lifted the basin open to feed him food. Due to the interruption, the Dragondog now had a human’s body, but his head remained that of a dog. The princess, true to her kindness, agreed to marry the Dragondog regardless. The people of the kingdom came to view the Dragondog as an ancestral protector, and called themselves the “descendants of the Dragondog”. The place where those people used to live is here, in Ning Village, Jing Prefecture.” Bai Ze tried her best to condense the knowledge she had of the mythical tale.
