Dog Trainer, Dog's Tearful Recognition

The morning fog in Blackwater Ancient Town was thicker than usual, carrying an earthy stench that would not go away.

Li Xiang had risen early.

He changed into an unremarkable gray robe, pulled a wide-brimmed hat low over his head, and carried a half-worn wicker case.

Before leaving, he hung a wooden sign reading "Temporarily Closed" on the weathered Cypress Wood Gate.

As for when he would reopen, that day was nowhere in sight.

"Time to go."

He lowered the brim of his hat and disappeared into the morning fog.

He was going to Linjiang County to learn martial arts and build a strong body. Only then could he stand tall in this man-eating world.

West Wharf, the passenger hub, was already bustling with voices.

Usually, at this hour, there were only passengers waiting to board and relatives seeing them off, most of them hurrying along.

But today, something seemed wrong.

A crowd had gathered where tickets were normally checked, three layers deep inside and out. Their chatter bubbled like a pot of boiling porridge.

A nauseating stench of decay drifted over on the wind.

Li Xiang frowned slightly and slipped into the crowd without drawing attention.

With an Embalmer's keen sense for the air of death, he knew without looking that it was the smell of a corpse—one that had soaked in the water for at least three days.

"What a terrible thing. The body's swollen beyond recognition. Who could identify him?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. See the fabric of those clothes? That's finest cloud brocade. Only a handful of people in town can afford it."

"I heard they fished him out of the backwater downstream. He had stones tied to him. Someone sank him in the river!"

"From his build, he looks like that man from the Yellow Dog Gang..."

"Shh, quieter. Don't you see who's coming?"

They found Huang San's body?

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Li Xiang rose slightly on his toes to see over the others.

On the bank of the murky Blackwater River, two corpse fishers with ashen faces were dragging a body ashore.

The corpse had swollen like risen dough. Its skin was an eerie bluish purple, and its features had bunched together beyond recognition.

Though he could not make out the face, Li Xiang recognized the clothes at once. They belonged to Huang San, who had barged into the Shroud Shop with his men a few days earlier, only to be silenced by Wang Shuo.

"Make way, make way! Second Master's here!"

The sharp shout cracked like thunder. The packed crowd parted like a tide split down the middle, surging aside to leave a broad path.

A dozen burly men in short black-silk jackets led the way, bamboo staves on their backs. Every one of them wore a thuggish scowl and radiated menace.

Behind them came a heavily built middle-aged man.

He wore a dark-gold robe and looked strikingly like Huang Shendu, whose backside had been bitten by a dog yesterday. But their bearing was as different as heaven and earth.

If Huang Shendu was a mad dog that bullied others by leaning on his power, this man was an old lion that had just eaten its fill and was picking its teeth.

He was the Yellow Dog Gang's second-in-command, Second Master Huang.

His narrow, sinister eyes swept over the crowd like knives scraping across skin, sending chills down their spines.

But he was not what drew the most attention.

The one who left everyone frozen with fear, scarcely daring to breathe, was the large yellow dog he held on a leash.

The yellow dog was absurdly huge. Standing up, it would probably reach the height of a grown adult.

Its fur was a sickly dark gold.

Muscles knotted beneath it, and veins bulged.

Its eyes were not the brown of an ordinary dog's but a bloodshot scarlet. Murky drool dripped constantly from the corners of its mouth.

A heavy gold plaque hung from its neck, engraved with a conspicuous "Two."

"Is that... the legendary Second Master Dog that likes eating human hearts and livers?" someone in the crowd whispered through chattering teeth.

An evil man with an evil dog. One look and you can tell he's found his way into a trade. He must have the Dog Trainer Profession. Rumors Li Xiang had heard around town flashed through his mind.

"Second Master." One of the corpse fishers hurried forward. "We just pulled him out. His face is rotten, but the things on him definitely belong to Third Master."

Second Master Huang walked up to the bloated corpse. Far from recoiling at the overpowering stench, he crouched and gently prodded a gaping wound with the hand that wore a jade thumb ring.

"Clean cut. A trained hand did this." Second Master Huang's voice was low and hoarse, betraying neither anger nor grief. "His money pouch is gone, but the cut wasn't made to rob him. It was made to silence him."

Second Master Huang slowly stood, brushed off his hands, and turned to the large yellow dog beside him.

"Old Two."

His tone turned strangely gentle, as though he were speaking to his own brother. "Go on. Take a sniff. See if that's my brother."

The large yellow dog called Old Two gave a low whine and stepped forward.

He did not sniff around like an ordinary dog. He went straight to the corpse's ruined face.

The next moment, everyone saw something that made their skin crawl.

After sniffing for a while, the large yellow dog shed two trails of murky tears, just like a person.

He's crying?

A dog, crying over a corpse?

Is that... Dog's Tearful Recognition? Li Xiang's heart tightened.

The Yellow Dog Gang really was sinister.

"It's Third Brother, all right." Seeing the dog's tears, Second Master Huang's eyes grew colder still. "Old Two is loyal. He knows Third Brother's scent."

The next instant, all tenderness vanished.

The large yellow dog, still weeping, suddenly opened his jaws wide. His interlocking, sawlike fangs gleamed coldly in the morning light.

Crunch!

He sank his teeth into the corpse's swollen thigh.

Riiip—

The sound of flesh tearing was especially piercing on the silent wharf.

The large yellow dog tore a huge chunk of rotting meat from the corpse, along with half a length of white bone. He tipped back his head, his throat working, and gulped it down whole.

"Urgh..."

Someone in the crowd could not help retching. The person beside them immediately clamped a hand over their mouth.

Second Master Huang looked as though he had seen it countless times. He took out a spotless white handkerchief and gently wiped the black blood and scraps of flesh from the dog's mouth, his eyes full of affection.

"Good boy. Eat up. Once you've had this bite, Third Brother's soul will have somewhere to go. He won't have to become a lonely wandering ghost."

At the back of the crowd, Li Xiang narrowed his eyes beneath his hat brim.

This was no ordinary Dog Trainer. It had to be some kind of unorthodox Profession.

This world had three hundred and sixty trades, each with its own master, and its Professions were just as strange and varied. The Yellow Dog Gang had clearly taken an especially sinister path.

The gold plaque marked "Two" around the dog's neck did more than show his rank. It probably meant that, in a sense, he was the real "Second Master Huang."

"Motherfucker."

Second Master Huang stood and casually tossed the bloodstained handkerchief onto the corpse. His gaze swept across the crowd like a hawk's.

"Anyone who dares touch a member of my Yellow Dog Gang in Blackwater Ancient Town had better watch their skin, whether they're a dragon crossing the river or a tiger coming down the mountain!"

Second Master Huang did not raise his voice, but killing intent seeped from every word. "Old Two remembers the scent on this corpse. You'd better hope I never find out who did it. Otherwise, I'll chop him to pieces, mix him into a meal, and feed him to the dogs!"

"Woof!!"

The large yellow dog roared in answer, the force of it making even the pier tremble.

Only after Second Master Huang led the dog away and his men dragged off the mangled corpse did the oppressive air begin to lift.

In this world, a man lives worse than a dog and dies worse than one, too. Li Xiang sighed inwardly, tightened his grip on the case, and turned toward the ticket checkpoint.