Shuangyue City, Liujie Street.
Old Man Wang's household kept six chickens and one dog. Although they bickered occasionally, they generally lived together peacefully.
Yesterday's terrifying celestial phenomenon had truly frightened Old Man Wang's family of five. They had hidden at home all day, filled with anxiety, unsure if they still needed to go to work.
Just as they were at a loss, they fortunately heard the soldiers' shouts from the street, ordering everyone to stay indoors without cause. Soon after, many soldiers began patrolling back and forth, with small groups standing guard at intervals.
The soldiers from the Five City Patrol Department, whom Old Man Wang usually didn't pay much attention to, were now a welcome sight. Today, Old Man Wang's family of five watched from their window as a few soldiers stood guard on the street, and occasionally saw teams of soldiers patrolling.
For the first time ever, they felt a bit of goodwill towards these soldiers. At least, in this time of panic, so many soldiers could, to some extent, guarantee their lives, couldn't they?
Not a few people shared Old Man Wang's sentiment. Most commoners in the southern part of Shuangyue City felt the same way.
The next day, there were even more soldiers on the streets. However, their uniforms seemed a little different. But they looked spirited, their faces resolute and stern, clearly indicating they were true soldiers, not just from the Five City Patrol Department.
It was these soldiers who, after conducting a sweep, went from house to house to notify everyone. They informed them that the previous terrifying celestial phenomenon might cause changes in their livestock, with a chance that dogs, donkeys, and mules would lose their docility and become violently aggressive.
Upon hearing this, Old Man Wang's heart skipped a beat. He called his two adult sons, armed with cleavers, carrying poles, and wielding sticks, and they went together to check on their poultry in the yard.
It was then that Old Man Wang suddenly remembered, he hadn't seen their dog bothering anyone yesterday.
A sense of unease settled in Old Man Wang's heart, and he shared his suspicion with his two sons.
"Father, don't worry. According to the soldiers outside, even if Big Black becomes violent, we three father and sons are not ordinary people. As long as we are not afraid, we won't be harmed. We just need to be careful and cautious."
Old Man Wang nodded and, with his two sons, went to check the chicken coop first.
To his surprise, upon looking, his face turned pale with shock.
The bars of the chicken coop were broken, the ground around the entrance was covered in chicken feathers, and there was no sign of any chickens in the wide-open coop.
"Bad! Big Black must have gone bad!"
Old Man Wang shouted and quickly said, "Quick, quick, quick! Go back, go back, and call the soldiers outside to come in!"
"Yes, yes, yes~"
The two sons' mouths trembled, completely lacking the composure they had shown when advising their father.
But at this moment, a black shadow suddenly lunged from the side.
Having had experience as a militia member in his younger days and having survived the rebellion of Chen Yuanliang, Old Man Wang reacted instantly. Gripping the firewood cleaver in his hand, he swung it towards the whistling sound.
"Aowuu~"
Big Black, who had not expected Old Man Wang to react so quickly, let out a mournful howl, writhing on the ground in pain.
Only then did Old Man Wang's two sons get a clear look at Big Black's current appearance.
Big Black, who was originally only about a meter long, had grown to one meter twenty or thirty centimeters. Its height had increased from knee to lower abdomen. Its four paws were longer, with sharp, black claws, and its bared teeth gleamed.
As it whimpered with its mouth closed, they couldn't see its mouth clearly.
Old Man Wang wiped his forehead, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. He raised the firewood cleaver and brought it down heavily on the dog's head, splitting it in two.
Old Man Wang's ferocity stunned his two sons.
"Father, you've already injured Big Black, why are you still...?" the second son asked, confused and feeling a pang of pity.
Big Black had been a dog in their family for several years; it had at least worked hard if not earned merit.
"Foolish! Can this still be our original Big Black? This is not Big Black, this is a demonic beast the soldiers spoke of! Do you understand what a demonic beast is? It eats people! If you don't feel bad about me killing it, do you want to feed yourself to it?"
"Just like the chickens in the coop?"
Old Man Wang was so angry he cursed, causing the second son to lower his head in shame.
"Father, now is not the time to scold people. I think it's better to notify the soldiers outside as soon as possible."
"You're right. You two go back and hide, I'll go notify them."
Saying this, Old Man Wang casually handed the firewood cleaver to his eldest son and turned to leave.
A moment later, a squad of soldiers crowded at the entrance, shouting carelessly, "Old man, where is the dog-demon beast you mentioned? Don't try to fool us soldiers, or you'll have a hard time!"
"How dare I, honored soldier, please look!"
Old Man Wang smiled obsequiously and pointed to Big Black's corpse on the ground.
The squad leader took a good look and signaled to his subordinate. The subordinate raised his spear and poked the corpse from over two meters away. Seeing no reaction, he finally relaxed.
Walking to the side, the squad leader gestured with his hand, exclaiming, "Well, well, it's indeed two or three points more exaggerated than an ordinary black dog. It truly looks like a demonic beast. You killed it?"
"By luck, by luck," Old Man Wang replied with a smile.
"Luck is also a kind of skill," the squad leader chuckled.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he said, "Take this thing away!"
Watching his subordinates leave, the squad leader glanced at the chicken feathers on the ground. He considered asking if any chickens had been killed and remained whole, but he wasn't sure if they were edible. After thinking about it, he gave up and left.
"Father, are you alright?"
After the soldiers left, Old Man Wang's two sons rushed out, asking with concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just a pity for my chickens and dog. Today has been truly unlucky," Old Man Wang shook his head, sighing repeatedly.
He then instructed, "From now on, when visiting others, be careful of other people's livestock, and watch the children so they don't wander off."
"Understood, Father!"
This kind of incident was not limited to Old Man Wang's household.
Most families in Shuangyue City who could afford it kept chickens, ducks, and dogs. Among them, dogs that became violent and murderous were the most common, causing quite a few incidents and resulting in over a hundred deaths.
Later, the Embroidered Uniform Guard felt that this approach was not working. They directly assembled their men and went on the offensive, checking house by house. They even discovered many dog-demonic beasts that had been hiding, wanting to attack but not daring to do so.
At this time, the livestock had only transformed into demonic beasts for a day. They were no match for the squads of Body Tempering realm Embroidered Uniform Guards. In a swift and clean manner, they were dealt with.
In Yunyue City, there were many soldiers, and their actions were deliberate and orderly, thus not causing much trouble or casualties.
However, in the villages outside the city, the naturally larger cattle and sheep, with a small portion transforming into ferocious demonic beasts, directly led to severe consequences.
Often, one transformed ox-demon beast would require at least twenty people, armed with pitchforks and ropes, to barely contend with it. Fortunately, most villages had farmers who engaged in occasional labor or hunting, and many households possessed hunting bows and fierce dogs.
These hunting dogs, although mutated, still obeyed human commands and provided considerable assistance to the villages. Cooperating with the humans, they furiously took down the ox-demonic beasts, finally killing them.
As for the warhorses in the army, fewer transformed into demonic beasts, but packhorses and donkeys were more numerous. However, the army had many experts, so how could these demonic beasts pose a significant threat? They were suppressed with a flip of a hand.