Chapter 156: Dogfight

　　Clank.

　　The iron chain rattled.

　　A shadow as strong as a wild buffalo slowly emerged from the darkness.

　　Its paws were as thick as a bear's, with muscles bulging like stones on its limbs, and around its thick neck was a collar studded with nails, atop which sat a wrinkled dog head.

　　Tusks jutted out from its lower lip, ugly and terrifying.

　　Its eyes were bloodshot, and it was breathing heavily through its nose.

　　Just standing there staring at everyone, it exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure.

　　"Holy crap! Is this still a dog?"

　　Jing Jian was stunned by the appearance of this dog.

　　Or rather, it could no longer be described as a dog. This creature was clearly a size larger than the three that had just been poisoned, looking even more ferocious and strong.

　　Following the monster dog was a short, sturdy man with a face full of rugged flesh tightly drawn, holding the iron chain that leashed the dog.

　　"It's him!"

　　Lu Fei immediately narrowed his eyes.

　　This man was precisely the dog dealer in the photo, the one Jiang Hao's couple was looking for.

　　"Boss, save us!"

　　The three men shouted towards the short, sturdy man.

　　Huzi and A Long punched them a few times, directly knocking them out, and came to stand on either side of Lu Fei, staring unflinchingly at the short, sturdy man.

　　"Why did you kill my dogs?" the man asked coldly.

　　"Why don't you wait until your dogs are all dead before I tell you?"

　　With that monstrous big dog around, Lu Fei had no desire to waste words with this man.

　　"Jing Jian, do it."

　　"Alright!"

　　Jing Jian took a deep breath, raised his crossbow, and aimed at the terrifyingly huge dog, which was as formidable as a wild buffalo.

　　"I was just worrying about not having enough meat to feed the dogs, and you've delivered it right to my doorstep!"

　　The man showed no sign of panic. He released the chain, gave a hearty slap on the back of the colossal dog, and revealed a cruel smile.

　　"Go, eat to your heart's content!"

　　The big dog let out a fierce roar, its powerful and well-developed limbs exerting force as it launched itself viciously towards Lu Fei and the other three.

　　A gust of strong wind surged, the force akin to that of a small truck barreling down at them with a roar.

　　"Be careful!"

　　Lu Fei shouted, pulling Jing Jian to quickly dodge away from Hu Zi and A Long.

　　Boom!

　　The big dog ran past the four of them, raising a cloud of dust, then immediately turned around and lunged at Lu Fei and Jing Jian again.

　　"Brother Jing, we'll lead it away, you find an opportunity to shoot your arrow."

　　Lu Fei roared, and he and Jing Jian split up to evade in different directions.

　　"Got it!"

　　Jing Jian responded loudly, first running wildly towards an open area. After confirming that the big dog was not chasing him, he stopped.

　　Breathless, he looked back to see Lu Fei and the others being chased frantically by the big dog, their footsteps thunderous.

　　Jing Jian wiped the sweat from his forehead, raised his repeating crossbow, and followed the movement of the big dog with the sight.

　　Although the large dog was moving very fast and kept leaping, its size made it a big target, not too difficult to aim at.

　　Soon, Jing Jian found an opportunity.

　　However, just as he was about to activate the repeating crossbow, he felt a flash of light behind him.

　　His intuition told him something was wrong, and he hurriedly moved to the side. A sharp knife pierced through his waist, nearly cutting his clothes again.

　　He quickly distanced himself from the attacker.

　　The one who ambushed him was the short, stocky man, wielding a sharp boning knife.

　　The cold light of the knife reflected on his face, which was full of brute force, and his eyes showed cruelty.

　　"You poisoned my three well-nurtured pups! I want your lives in return!"

　　The boning knife came stabbing towards Jing Jian.

　　Jing Jian turned and ran, shouting as he ran.

　　"Lu Fei!"

　　The wounds on his body have not yet healed, and it's not advisable for him to go head-to-head with this fierce man.

　　Lu Fei and the other two were doing their best to attract the large dog's attention. When they heard Jing Jian's loud cry, their hearts tightened instantly.

　　"Huzi, A Long, you two hold on!"

　　He rolled to dodge the large dog's ferocious claws and strained to run towards Jing Jian.

　　The large dog relentlessly pursued Lu Fei.

　　Huzi, in a panic, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it hard at the dog's rear end.

　　"Ugly dog, if you've got the guts, come after your grandpa me!"

　　The large dog turned around, and Huzi provocatively curled his finger at it.

　　The large dog was instantly enraged, roaring as it lunged at him. Huzi felt a chill run down his spine and turned to run.

　　Seeing the large dog about to catch up with him, A-Long picked up another stone and threw it at the dog, diverting its attention.

　　The two of them scrambled and cooperated, managing to keep the big dog spinning in confusion for a while.

　　It seemed that although the dog was fierce, its intelligence was lacking.

　　Lu Fei managed to reach Jing Jian's side smoothly.

　　"Lu Fei, he..." Jing Jian panted heavily.

　　"No need to say, I know. You find an opportunity to kill that dog; I'll handle this person." Lu Fei nodded and stepped forward to stand in front of him.

　　Jing Jian did not waste words, caught his breath, and raised his crossbow to aim at the large dog.

　　Lu Fei warily watched the short, burly man as he approached.

　　While Hu Zi or A-Long might be better at hand-to-hand combat, this man, who could train such a sinister dog, must have some malevolent skills. Lu Fei felt it was more appropriate for him to deal with the situation.

　　"Who are you exactly?" the short, burly man asked angrily, "I have no grudge against you. Why do you want to kill my dog?"

　　"Those children have no grudge against you, but aren't you harming others just the same?" Lu Fei snorted coldly.

　　"So it's you! Sure enough, it's you!" The short and stocky man's chest heaved as his eyes filled with intense hatred, "You killed my shadow hound, and I haven't even come to settle the score yet, but here you are, delivering yourselves to me!"

　　With that said.

　　He placed his fingers in his mouth and let out a whistle.

　　In the darkness, one shadow hound after another began to appear.

　　These shadow hounds looked like shadows of dogs. Compared to those ferocious, bloodthirsty hounds, they gave off an entirely different feeling.

　　One was wild and violent, the other eerie and grim.

　　Fortunately, Lu Fei knew how to deal with these grim, dirty things.

　　"Tear them apart!"

　　The short and stocky man waved his hand.

　　Dozens of shadow hounds silently charged towards Lu Fei and his companion.

　　Lu Fei's body was tense, gripping the lightning-struck jujube wood staff, with his magical power already channeled into it.

　　At that moment.

　　Jing Jian finally found an opportunity and activated his repeating crossbow.

　　Whoosh!

　　The small arrow, poisoned to the hilt, pierced through the night and directly struck the large dog's body.

　　Fortunately, this dog had not reached the point of being impervious to blades and bullets; otherwise, it would truly defy reason.

　　In excruciating pain, the large dog became even more frenzied, charging around and chasing Hu Zi and A Long, who were rolling and scrambling to escape. If it weren't for their martial arts skills and dexterity, they would have been devoured by the large dog long ago.

　　One arrow was not enough to kill the large dog.

　　Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

　　Jing Jian fired several arrows in quick succession, all hitting their mark.

　　The big dog's speed slowed down, and its steps began to stagger.

　　"It's working!"

　　Before Jing Jian could feel happy, he sensed a cold wind swirling from behind him.

　　At this moment, the shadow hounds had already rushed up.

　　Lufei remained calm and swung his jujube wood staff out, directly striking the nearest one on the head.

　　Buzz!

　　Blue currents shimmered through the night, forming elegant arcs.

　　The shadow hound turned to ash.

　　The short, sturdy man was greatly startled.

　　"Who are you guys exactly?" The shadow hound that could take him down with a single blow must not be simple in origin.

　　He blew his whistle urgently, urging the remaining shadow hounds to swarm forward.

　　Even for Lu Fei, dealing with such a number of shadow hounds would be no easy task.

　　Jing Jian, flustered, drew the repaired peachwood sword as if facing a formidable enemy.

　　But at this moment, a gaunt wolf-dog emerged from the night, like a ghost, silently appearing behind the short, stout man.