Drive Away the Mad Dogs

"Out exercising, Old Ge?"

As Li Ran passed the community's exercise area, he saw Grandpa Ge working out on the horizontal bar.

Good grief. First a giant windmill, then a backflip with a 360-degree turn, followed by another aerial twist, a flip, and a landing.

The whole gymnastics routine flowed together seamlessly, leaving Li Ran dumbfounded.

"You're here, Xiao Ran?" Grandpa Ge greeted him, then pounded his lower back. "I'm getting old. A few little moves like that are enough to wear me out."

"Those weren't little moves, Old Ge. I think you could compete in the Olympics."

Grinning, Li Ran took a packet of pu'er tea out of his Storage Space.

He'd picked up some tea on his way out of Happiness Supermarket, since there were a few things he wanted to ask Old Ge about.

"Xiao Ran, why have you brought me tea again? I haven't even finished what you gave me last time."

Li Ran pressed it into Grandpa Ge's hands. "It's a new kind. I'm sure you'll like it."

"Well... then I won't stand on ceremony. My, what a nice young man."

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Ran got straight to the point.

"Old Ge, you know this community well. Could you tell me what rules I need to watch out for here?"

Li Ran felt he needed to get certain things straight. He couldn't just blunder around and figure them out the hard way.

"You seem like a decent young man, so I'll tell you."

Grandpa Ge nodded. "There's a clinic east of the community. Even if you get hurt, don't go there. If you do, they'll do everything they can to make sure you can't get home before midnight."

"Don't go picking fights with the stray dogs in the community. They're vicious."

"They?" Li Ran asked in surprise.

"That's right. Them!" Grandpa Ge nodded firmly.

"The female resident in Building Six brings a man home every few days, but I've never seen any of them come back out. If you're confident in your stamina, you can give it a try."

"A Madman lives on the rooftop of Building No. 4. You'd better stay away, or you'll be in grave danger."

"Back Street is a real mess..."

"One last thing. You new residents need to know about this."

Grandpa Ge turned to Li Ran, his expression suddenly excited.

"In ten days, the community will celebrate its tenth anniversary with the Night of Madness!"

The first few things Grandpa Ge had told him were incredibly important, but that last one made Li Ran feel as though the apocalypse was about to begin.

"What's the Night of Madness?" Li Ran asked uneasily.

"On that day, every household has to leave its doors open and keep the lights on until dawn. The community holds events like a dragon lantern parade, lighting sky lanterns, floating river lanterns, and guessing lantern riddles. All the residents take part. The whole place goes wild all night."

"Boom!"

Li Ran froze as if struck by a bolt from the blue, unable to speak for a long time.

"You're a good kid. Come have tea at my place sometime."

"Y-yes. I will."

Li Ran stood there in a daze, the images he'd first seen at Yulan Academy surfacing in his mind.

A night of revelry filled with so many monsters it made his scalp crawl?

"The fifteenth day!"

He drew in a sharp breath.

"Even sleep won't be safe on the last day!"

There was a BUG in the Happy Home instance that allowed players to safely get through every night.

As long as they went to bed before midnight, they'd be fine.

On the final day, that BUG would be forcibly disabled.

Nobody sleep. What's the point of sleeping? Get up and party!

The fifteenth day. The Night of Madness!

Once it arrived, it would become every player's nightmare!

Near the community's garbage station.

Xiao Yi, Chen Jiabin, and Huang Wentao were hiding in some bushes not far away.

"Is everything ready?"

Xiao Yi looked at the other two and asked seriously.

"I bought some dog food and scattered it all along the way here," Chen Jiabin said.

"The animal traps are ready," Huang Wentao said.

"Good. Now we just have to wait for the mad dog to take the bait," Xiao Yi said.

The three of them stared fixedly toward the garbage station.

If all went according to plan, the mad dog would come from that direction.

Xiao Yi had picked up a team quest from the property management office. The recommended party size was four.

The objective was to drive the mad dogs out of the community.

At first, he hadn't wanted to ask Li Ran to join them. But then he remembered it was a four-person quest, and Li Ran was the strongest among their batch of players. With him along, the quest might be much easier.

But Li Ran had turned him down so callously.

No matter. It was only a team quest. The three of them could handle it, and they wouldn't have to split the rewards with anyone else.

After all the quests he'd completed these past few days, his Mysterious Power had reached 200. He'd also acquired a hunting rifle of fine quality and an escape skill.

He had both offense and self-defense covered. Even if things went south, he could get away at once.

As for Chen Jiabin and Huang Wentao, he didn't expect them to be much help. As long as they didn't hold him back, that was enough.

"It's coming," Chen Jiabin said, eyes fixed on the garbage station.

Xiao Yi and Huang Wentao looked over. A stray dog crawled through a small hole beneath the wall.

"A mad dog? That's just a village mutt," Chen Jiabin scoffed.

The mad dog looked much like the mongrels found in the countryside. It was small, with yellow fur and a vicious expression. Sharp teeth showed through its open jaws.

"A village mutt? Then you can go first," Xiao Yi said, glaring at Chen Jiabin.

"Let's go together," Chen Jiabin said, quickly backing down.

"Yeah, it's a team quest," Huang Wentao added.

Xiao Yi took out his fine-quality hunting rifle and told the other two, "Chen Jiabin goes first, Huang Wentao second, and I'll go last."

"You've got such good equipment. Shouldn't you go first?" Huang Wentao challenged him.

"I'm using a ranged weapon. You want me to fight up close?" Xiao Yi replied, as if it were obvious.

Chen Jiabin and Huang Wentao thought it over. He had a point.

After the three of them agreed on their plan, the stray dog lingered by the garbage station for a while, then caught the scent of the dog food on the path.

"It took the bait," Chen Jiabin said excitedly.

The stray dog ate the food as it went, following the trail toward the animal trap Huang Wentao had set. Suddenly, one of its paws landed right in the center of the trap.

"Yelp! Yelping!!"

The stray dog cried out in pain.

"You two, get in there!" Xiao Yi shouted.

Chen Jiabin pulled out a baseball bat, while Huang Wentao took out an iron sword.

Both of their weapons were ordinary equipment.

"Xiao Yi, stay close. You'll have to do most of the damage," Huang Wentao said nervously.

"Don't worry. I know what Xiao Yi's like. We can trust him to watch our backs," Chen Jiabin said.

Xiao Yi forced an awkward smile. "Cut the crap. Just keep it pinned down, and I'll blow its head off with one shot!"

With that, the three of them approached the stray dog.

The stray dog was weeping and whimpering. Its paw was clamped tight in the trap, the wound deep enough to expose bone.

"Get it!" Xiao Yi yelled at the sight.

Chen Jiabin and Huang Wentao rushed forward, swinging their weapons.

Xiao Yi pulled the trigger and fired at the stray dog from a distance.

"Bang!"

The hunting rifle roared, and the shot hit the stray dog squarely.

"Haha, I got it!"

The stray dog's body was torn open, and it was sent flying through the air.

Chen Jiabin and Huang Wentao saw their chance and rushed forward, weapons raised, ready to finish it off.

"Grrr!!"

But just then, the fallen stray dog let out a vicious growl.

Before the two of them could get close, its body underwent a massive transformation.

Its small frame suddenly swelled to an enormous size, becoming a giant demon hound more than three meters tall!

Black flames curled around its body. Its skin was covered in festering sores, and countless earthworm-like worms crawled out of its rotten flesh. Even one of the demon hound's eyes had a horrifying worm in it...

"H-how could this happen?" Huang Wentao cried, collapsing to the ground in terror.

Xiao Yi and Chen Jiabin looked just as pale.

A mad dog?

That wasn't a mad dog. It was a hellhound!

Only then did Xiao Yi understand the point of the team quest.

There was no way one person could complete it!

Xiao Yi began to lose his nerve. His feet were already shifting as cold sweat seeped from his palm around the rifle.

At that moment, none of the three cared about completing the quest. Only one word filled their minds: Run!

They turned and bolted, but the Cursed Demon Dog was far too enraged to let them go so easily.

"Roar!"

The Cursed Demon Dog let out an angry roar.

It charged straight at Huang Wentao and snapped its enormous jaws down on him. Huang Wentao didn't even have time to scream before his entire upper body disappeared.

Xiao Yi's face turned deathly pale.

He clutched the hunting rifle and sprinted.

Chen Jiabin was fast too, and he ran right behind Xiao Yi.

The Cursed Demon Dog was fast, and Huang Wentao's death did nothing to sate it.

As the two of them were about to be caught, a vicious glint flashed across the lenses of Xiao Yi's glasses.

"Jiabin, hold that thing off. I'll cover you from behind."

As he spoke, Xiao Yi fired at Chen Jiabin's ankle.

Chen Jiabin immediately fell to the ground, clutching his foot in agony. He roared furiously:

"Fuck you!"

"Xiao Yi, I curse you to die a horrible death!"

He never would have thought Xiao Yi would shove a teammate into the jaws of the beast just to buy himself time to escape.

"Sorry, Jiabin. You're going to have to die," Xiao Yi said coldly.

As long as the Cursed Demon Dog ate Chen Jiabin, Xiao Yi would have more time to get away.

"You only have yourselves to blame for being so naive."

Xiao Yi ran on, glancing back at Chen Jiabin's ashen face. The Cursed Demon Dog had caught up to him, and its gaping jaws could easily tear him to pieces.

Xiao Yi turned back with a sneer. Chen Jiabin's despairing expression looked so beautiful to him in that moment.

"Roar!"

The Cursed Demon Dog snarled furiously, then suddenly stopped behind Chen Jiabin and nudged his back with its head...

Chen Jiabin slowly got to his feet and fixed Xiao Yi with a sharp gaze.

The sneer froze on Xiao Yi's face. His expression was now so strange it was hard to describe.

A man and a demon hound, both grinning eerily!

This is awkward. I posted the novel in the wrong category, so it missed the trial recommendation. I only found out after asking my editor today. Luckily, my editor was easy to talk to and helped move it to the fantasy category. The trial recommendation might not come until next week, which is a bit late, but never mind. As long as I can advance through the rankings, being a little late is fine...

Big shots, please add it to your collections, keep reading, recommend it, and give it all the support you can.