Chen Song: The Great Responsibility of Carrying On the Human Teaching's Lineage Rests on You!

Beside the crude nest-huts of the human settlement stood a rough yet remarkably spirited statue.

It was Big White's majestic likeness as the "Guiding Divine Dog, Saint Venerable Qiming"—head held high, chest thrust out, four paws treading clouds, and eyes looking down upon the world.

Before the statue, incense smoke curled through the air. Several human children who had only recently learned how to kowtow, their postures still far from proper, imitated the adults as they babbled prayers toward the statue, mumbling, "Saint Venerable, bless us."

Chen Song's mouth twitched as he looked at that abstract dog-head sculpture.

That craftsmanship... Big White could have done a better job digging one out with its own paws! Look at those crooked eyes and slanted nose. If not for that signature silly grin and bloated body, I would have thought they were worshipping some mutated potato spirit!

As for Big White, the star of the whole affair, it was currently standing upright beside the statue's pedestal, one paw resting on its own paw carved in stone, the other planted on its nonexistent waist. Its dog head was raised high, its tail wagging as though powered by a perpetual-motion machine, and it nodded repeatedly at the passing humans.

A supposedly reserved "mm-hmm" came from its dog mouth, as if it were saying, "Rise, all of you. Rise. This Saint Venerable has seen your devotion!"

It even tried to piss on the statue to mark its territory, only for Chen Song to swiftly kick it away. "Get lost! That's your own statue! Are you trying to consecrate yourself?!"

Laozi stood nearby, expressionless as he looked at the dog statue, then at the real dog beside it that was practically floating with smugness, and finally at the humans devoutly kneeling before the dog statue. Even his