Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 213 Demon Dog Guarding its Master
For the soldiers, these looted items still need to be cashed in, but the price given by the merchants accompanying the army is often around 30% off, which is very low.

Some soldiers who were afraid of trouble just sold them directly, while others would find ways to sell them in the market.

But the things that are snatched away are varied, and now is not the era of information explosion where you can just ask DEEP or Zhihu, so there are still many people who are forced to lower the price or get cheated.

Cui Ziyang saw the business opportunity and started doing business with these soldiers.

The prices he offered were very fair, often 10% or 15% higher than those of the merchants accompanying the army, so he quickly became famous.

Not only that, Cui Ziyang also did something that looked very "stupid":

He bought an agate ring from an old soldier and then resold it.

As a result, one of the buyers recognized that it was a relic that had been passed down in his family for four generations. His father was a merchant who traveled abroad. He was killed by horse thieves three years ago, and his valuables were taken away.

Therefore, the buyer was determined to get this agate ring, and Cui Ziyang sold it for a good price and earned at least eight silver treasures.

After he made money, he took out half of the silver treasures from the profit and distributed them to the old soldier in the military camp.

The old soldier was very surprised, so Cui Ziyang told him the whole story, and then said:

"The buyer said he must give you these four silver treasures because you may have avenged his father."

This old soldier was a generous and prestigious person, so the news spread quickly, making Cui Ziyang's reputation even better.

In fact, reputation and word of mouth are much more important than making money when it comes to doing business. As soon as Cui Ziyang's incident came out, he immediately established himself in this industry.

But Cui Ziyang learned a lesson from his failure and concluded that he was too high-profile when he was a steward in the Marquis' Mansion, which led to him being framed.

Therefore, he did not pursue the victory, but quit while he was ahead, and carefully limited the circle he operated to a certain range.

Not only that, when they come across a business with higher value, they will even take the initiative to introduce it to the Fan family, and at the same time help the seller to negotiate a higher price, even though they themselves do not make any money.

The Fan family also waited and watched.

Seeing that Cui Ziyang was just picking up some leftovers that he despised and was very sensible in his actions, and of course more importantly, he heard that he was a relative of the Marquis, so he acquiesced to his existence.

In this way, Cui Ziyang finally gained a foothold in the city again and was freed from his previous precarious situation.

Of course, he was also very clear in his heart that the core reason why he could be where he is now was because of his nephew.

***
It is said that it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone, but this is a saying on Earth.

In the Shushan world, Gong Tianwu's hand injury would recover in about twenty days with ordinary treatment. If there was a magical medicine given by a Taoist, then it would just be a matter of sleeping.

At this time, the two puppies have grown into half-grown dogs and can be considered teenagers among dogs.

One of them has a tuft of red hair on its forehead, and the other has extremely large ears, so it is natural that they are named Red Hair and Big Ears.

Although they are still very immature, they are already quite smart and have an extremely strong sense of territory.

The rats and cockroaches in the house had long disappeared, and even the greedy sparrows dared not come again after a few of them were ambushed and bitten to death.

Even a passing wild cat would be stopped and beaten up by the two bullies among the dogs.

At this time, their bloodline advantages have already developed very clearly, and the tabby cat next door, which weighs more than ten pounds, is actually no match for them in terms of agility.

Under Gong Tianwu's training, the two little ones can even understand compound commands - throwing a bone and asking the dog to pick it up is a single command.

When you throw the bone to the dog and let it pick it up, put it on a nearby rock, and then bring it back, this is a compound command.

For animals, being able to understand single commands is equivalent to having an IQ of an elementary school student, but being able to understand compound commands is equivalent to having an IQ of a college student.

This makes Gong Tianwu more and more looking forward to the strength they will be able to display when they grow up.

At noon that day, as soon as Gong Tianwu walked out of the private school, Red Hair and Big Ears surrounded him happily as usual.

Its tail was wagging like a windmill and it was humming softly from its mouth, as if expressing its longing for the whole morning.

Gong Tianwu squatted down with a smile, touched Red Hair's head, pinched Big Ears' soft ears, and was about to take them home when he suddenly heard a hurried sound of footsteps approaching from afar.

He looked up and saw a servant running towards him in a hurry. His face was flushed and beads of sweat were hanging on his forehead. It was obvious that he had been running all the way. The servant stopped in front of Gong Tianwu, panting, and said breathlessly:
"Seven, Master Qi, Coach Gu said your hand should be almost healed, so he will ask you to go to the training ground this afternoon for training."

Gong Tianwu nodded and said:
"Okay, got it."

The Chen family, the Marquis of Zhenbei, made their fortune through military force, so they have had very strict requirements on their descendants since the first generation, requiring them to learn both civil and military skills from a young age.

Therefore, before Gong Tianwu's hand was broken, he would study in the morning and practice martial arts under the guidance of a coach at home in the afternoon.

Therefore, he quickened his pace. If he had to go for training in the afternoon, he would have to eat lunch quickly.

As mentioned before, the Marquis' Mansion covers a very large area. When Gong Tianwu came to a secluded and deserted path, suddenly, the red-haired man's ears stood up, his nose twitched twice, and a low roar came from his throat.

Big Ears immediately became alert, baring his teeth, raising his tail high, and all the hair on his body stood up.

Before Gong Tianwu could react, he heard a "rustle" sound from the bushes next to him, and a huge and ferocious monster suddenly jumped out, baring its teeth, its yellow eyes flashing fiercely, and making a strange "woooo" sound from its throat.

This thing is two meters long including its tail. Its fur looks somewhat similar to that of a leopard, with unique light red stripes, and its tight muscles bulge out, making its fur very tight.

The most eye-catching thing is its ears that stand up high, and even have very unique red ear feathers.

Gong Tianwu immediately understood that this was a large adult red lynx! This thing is an absolute beast, with both strength and agility. Even vultures, cobras, leopards, Tibetan mastiffs and the like are on its menu.

Faced with such a terrifying beast, the two "underage" dogs, Red Hair and Big Ears, were not afraid at all and rushed forward instantly. They were indeed worthy of being dogs with wolf demon blood.

The red-haired cat was the first to let out a fierce "woof" sound, then pounced on the red lynx.

But it was slapped away by a claw, but it still flexibly turned over and landed on the ground, roaring fiercely. What shocked Gong Tianwu was that just when the red-haired cat attracted the other party, the big-eared cat suddenly launched a surprise attack, it turned into a gray shadow, and instantly passed by the red lynx.

Because Gong Tianwu was concerned about Red Hair, he didn't even see its specific movements. He could only feel that Big Ears stretched out its claws when the two sides passed by each other.

The red lynx seemed to be electrocuted and suddenly began to jump two or three meters high crazily.

After landing, it could not keep its balance and kicked the ground violently with its limbs. Its claws left deep marks on the ground and a low roar came from its mouth. Drops of blood flew everywhere as it moved wildly.

At the same time, a painful "hissing" sound came from its throat, like the sound of a water pipe leaking.

Two underage dogs stood in front of Gong Tianwu, their attitude of protecting their master was very obvious. They stared at the monster in front of them motionlessly, but a dull growl of "wooooooo" came from their throats.

As the blood in its body continued to flow out, the red lynx struggled slower and slower, so Big Ears and Red Hair pounced on it at the same time and finished it off.

This guy was already in a dying state at this time. After struggling for a few times, he fell to the ground powerlessly. Blood oozed from his throat, staining his fur red.

At this time, Gong Tianwu had already understood that the most fatal blow was the one when Big Ear pounced on him.

Its claws popped out in an instant and cut the throat of the red lynx. At that time, the outcome was already decided.

The whole process took only a moment. Red Hair and Big Ears cooperated well with each other and moved quickly. Without using their full strength, they easily dealt with the ferocious beast.

The air was filled with a smell of blood, mixed with the scent of earth and fallen leaves, which was particularly pungent.

Gong Tianwu checked the red-haired creature's body and found that it was also injured when it was luring the enemy. The red lynx had left a two-inch long bloody wound on it, but the bleeding had stopped now and it was obvious that it was not serious.

The two dogs ran back to him, wagging their tails like windmills and humming softly from their mouths, as if asking for credit.

Gong Tianwu picked up the red lynx, carried it on his shoulders and dragged it back home, while he seemed to be thinking about something.

Cui Xiaoyi was also surprised to see Gong Tianwu carrying such a big beast in. After listening to his description of the whole process, he began to talk incessantly:
"This thing must have escaped from the hunting grounds. Old Wu and his gang didn't keep a close watch on it."

"Every year, the Marquis's Mansion releases some wild animals into the shooting range to use as live targets for archery practice. Two years ago, a wolf escaped."

As Cui Xiaoyi spoke, he began to tidy up the red lynx.

After all, the old man of the Cui family is also an old hunter, and Cui Xiaoyi has collected a lot of big goods with his mother since he was a child.

According to the hunter's rules, Cui Xiaoyi first picked out the heart, liver, intestines and stomach of the red lynx and fed them to the two dogs, so that the hunting dogs would be more motivated to hunt in the future.

As a result, the two guys smelled it, shook their heads, and then kept yelling at the pot.

Cui Xiaoyi finally understood that the two dogs had been drinking rice soup, eating rice bran mixed with oil, and chewing cooked bones since they were young, and had never eaten raw meat.

So I threw the heart and liver into clean water and blanched it symbolically. I estimated that it was only about 30% cooked at most. Then I scooped it up and fed it to them.

The two dogs then happily started eating, wagging their tails and enjoying the meal. Cui Xiaoyi also smiled as he saw the two dogs.

Before this, the two dogs had big appetites and it cost a lot to feed them, so Cui Xiaoyi didn't like them in her heart, but fed them reluctantly because of her son's attitude.

But today, after she realized that these two dogs were already able to protect her son, her previous rejection disappeared.

While the two dogs were feasting on their food, Gong Tianwu was also eating.

The staple food is sorghum rice + steamed potatoes.

The dishes were tofu with green onions and pumpkin with pig's blood that Cui Xiaoyi brought from the big kitchen.

Of course, there is also a big bowl of bone soup that is always there.

While eating, Gong Tianwu began to think about the mastermind behind today's incident.

He was not as stupid as Cui Xiaoyi. How could this red lynx escape by itself? It was obvious that someone wanted to cause trouble.

After all, if we follow the normal analysis and inference:

This red lynx would definitely attack and kill the two puppies at the first moment, and then I would be terrified and completely collapse, and even be injured by the red lynx.

As for killing them, it is almost impossible because animals will not take the risk of hunting other creatures when they have food (the corpses of the two puppies).

And then? This matter will definitely become a big deal again.

Next, the fifth son of the Marquis's family will become the key suspect because he has a criminal record.

But Gong Tianwu felt that it was obviously not Laowu, because although Laowu was a fool, his biological mother, Mrs. Wang, was a shrewd and powerful character, and she would not do it so openly and brutally if she wanted to take revenge.

Therefore, based on the principle that whoever benefits is the criminal, Gong Tianwu quickly identified the suspect in this incident, who was the third or fourth son of the Marquis' Mansion.

Recently, these two people have been having a big fight with Lao Wu. As for who did it, Gong Tianwu doesn't care. To Gong Tianwu, these two people are targets to be attacked, so he will just deal with them first.

Soon, Gong Tianwu finished his meal and came to the training ground. He found that Coach Gu had already arrived, but the rest of the people had not yet arrived.

Coach Gu’s identity is also quite special. He was originally Chen Yunsheng’s personal soldier and was promoted to military judge because of his merits.

Then, because the Savior had lost one of his legs and walked with a limp from then on, he withdrew from the army.

He was also very strict and impartial, so he was personally invited by Chen Yunsheng to teach the next generation in the mansion.
Once he made up his mind about something, he would not buy into it even if Lady Wang and the eldest son of the Marquisate, Chen Feidi - the next generation's young Marquis - came forward to explain.

When he saw Gong Tianwu coming, Coach Gu called him over, checked his arm, and then asked him to join the team again.

By the way, the students that Coach Gu usually trains are not just the sons of the Marquis of Zhenbei. He also teaches the personal soldiers and male servants of the mansion equally as long as they are willing to come.

Soon, after everyone arrived, Coach Gu began the formal training, and the process was not complicated.

(End of this chapter)