Killing the Dog

With a shout, Xu Hua and Xiao Zhe charged at the black dog.

The black dog responded with a roar and rushed at Xu Hua.

Xu Hua thought, "Am I a pushover? Why does it specifically target me?" He slashed the steel pipe fiercely at the black dog.

Although Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua had become very selfish amidst the calamity, they still had a ruthless streak, which surprised Yang Xiao.

Seeing the black dog pounce on Xu Hua, Xiao Zhe also hurriedly turned and pounced at the black dog.

The black dog leaped up and clamped its jaws around Xu Hua's right hand. Xu Hua felt like his bones were about to shatter.

Xiao Zhe's wolf claws viciously clawed at the black dog's waist, tearing off a chunk of skin.

The black dog's sturdiness exceeded Xiao Zhe's expectations. Even rock could be scratched by his claws, yet he was unable to pierce the black dog's body.

Just then, Yang Xiao rushed over from Xiao Zhe's side, stabbing the black sword in his hand towards the black dog's waist.

Puff! The one-meter-long black sword pierced straight into the black dog's body.

The black dog let out a miserable wail and released its bite on Xu Hua's hand.

With a flick of his wrist, Yang Xiao slashed the embedded black sword down the black dog's body.

Slish! The sword sliced open the black dog's belly, nearly splitting it in two. Its entrails spilled out as blood gushed like a fountain.

The black dog kept wailing and collapsed to the ground.

Yang Xiao stepped up and delivered another slash into the black dog's wound, cleanly splitting it in half down the back.

Grabbing the rear half of the black dog, Yang Xiao lifted the entire back portion and walked off unhurriedly towards Huang Wen and the girls' camp, not looking back.

Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua froze, stunned for a few seconds before shifting their gazes to Yang Xiao's receding figure.

"Hey, Yang Xiao! Why are you taking the black dog's back portion?"

The front half with the dog head had little meat, and the front legs weren't fatty either. But the hind legs were thick and meaty.

"I saved both your lives and gave you half the dog. You're still not satisfied?"

Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua exchanged looks and heaved resigned sighs. Without Yang Xiao, they probably wouldn't even be alive now, let alone have dog meat.

Yang Xiao approached the spectating crowd.

Huang Wen, Chen Fei, Chen Lu, Chubby, and the others had already rushed out, shouting excitedly as they ran to meet Yang Xiao.

"Boss, I love you to death!"

"We have dog meat for dinner tonight, woohoo!"

"Our boss is so handsome and cool!"

"Boss, I want to marry you!"

.....

Seeing the group of ugly girls jumping and shrieking with excitement, Yang Xiao rolled his eyes.

"Eating dog meat is fine, but forget about marrying me."

"No way, Boss! You're so handsome, how could we bear letting other women snatch you away? Haha..."

Yang Xiao could only force a smile and carried the dog meat toward his own camp. As they walked, he instructed, "See if you can rummage the ruins of the academy cafeteria and find some other seasoning ingredients like five-spice powder, star anise, cassia bark, garlic, vinegar, ginger, etc. Especially salt, search the shopping center, it's probably still there since no one needs it. Also, gather more firewood, but be careful not to go too far. Go in groups of three to five."

As he spoke, they arrived at his camp. Thirty girls excitedly surrounded Yang Xiao, chattering nonstop. To them, he was now the god of men.

Chen Fei and Chubby led a team of over ten girls to the academy cafeteria ruins to scavenge for seasoning and collect firewood.

Huang Wen led another dozen girls to prepare the dog meat. This half alone weighed over 100 pounds, very meaty and fatty from the hind portion.

"Boss, how do we deal with this dog meat? We don't have much water to wash it properly." Huang Wen asked.

"Actually it's simple. There is no need to wash it. Just burn it over a big fire and place the meat on top to singe off the fur. The high heat sterilizes better than washing. Then chop it up, salt it and air dry it for future reserves. For tonight, let's all stew a pot of dog meat and eat well."

Hearing Yang Xiao's instructions, Huang Wen brought the girls to start a fire. Soon they encountered another problem. With over 100 pounds in weight, how could they lift and grill this huge side of dog meat?

"Boss, it's too heavy to barbecue!"

Yang Xiao smiled, picked up his 3-meter iron rod, and burned the tip briefly over the flames. Then he easily speared the dog chunk and lifted the 100-plus pounds of meat single-handedly.

This casual display of strength stunned Huang Wen and the others. "Boss, how did you become so powerful?"

"Hehe, like I said, I'm currently mutating, my strength increases daily. Later when you all mutate, your powers will similarly grow. Just look at Chubby now, she can easily curl a 100-plus pounds person with her hair."

The black dog's hair sizzled over the roaring fire. Within ten minutes, all the fur was burned clean, leaving behind a charred smell in the air.

Huang Wen and the girls carried over a door plank to use as a makeshift chopping board. Yang Xiao placed the burnt dog meat on it and three of the burlier girls came forth to divide up the meat.

The girls had found a kitchen cleaver. Along with Yang Xiao's two watermelon knives, they finally had proper tools for the job.

"No need to hack the big bones. These knives can't cut through them anyway. Let's just throw them in a pot and make soup," Yang Xiao instructed.

The other half of the stove was also lit, and they placed a large pot on it, filled with water. Huang Wen led the girls to prep the ingredients, smiling at Yang Xiao. "Boss, you've got nothing to do here now. Why not go rest? You didn't get hurt just now, did you?"

"I'm not hurt. I've got nothing to do, so I'll just watch here in case some idiots try to steal our dog meat."

"They wouldn't dare after seeing your skills today. Who'd come seeking death?"

"Hmm, you're right."

After over half an hour, Chen Fei, Chubby, and the others also returned to camp.

"Boss, we found more than ten packets of salt at the shopping center. We dug up a small bag of ginger and garlic from the cafeteria ruins, but no other seasoning. We even scavenged 20-30 steel bowls from the cafeteria. No need to worry about not having enough bowls in the future."

The academy cafeteria used stainless steel bowls which had survived intact in the ruins. Even the dented ones could still be used.

Hearing this, Yang Xiao felt it was a good haul and nodded, instructing them, "Go easy on the salt. We don't know when we'll get more. Pay attention to scavenging daily supplies when you all pass by shop ruins or teacher dorms in the future."

Seeing Chubby's return, Yang Xiao assigned her to lead some girls on guard duty. The mutated Chubby could now handle a few ordinary boys alone.