Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

[Only 500 words left to finish writing, will post later. This chapter is sloppy, don't read it yet.]

The 307th year of the Ming Dynasty.

Guobei County.

The city walls, a mix of blue and black, rise several meters high, and the square-shaped Guobei County town resembles a sleeping giant beast.

It was a cloudy day, and the fog shrouded the mountains and villages.

Seven or eight kilometers east of the county town, rows of reclaimed farmland are arranged in an orderly fashion, surrounding a military camp.

Four or five soldiers wearing yellow military jackets and armored tunics were resting and chatting around a dead tree.

"Hey, have you heard? The White Lotus Sect has rebelled in Qingzhou."

Wang Er was strong and had a deep voice. When he opened his mouth, his two rows of uneven, yellow teeth were particularly eye-catching.

"What's so surprising about that? With the court in its current state, never mind, this world is tough to live in."

Old Li tapped his pipe and sighed.

"Yes, not to mention natural disasters and man-made calamities, demons and ghosts are rampant, so you have to live one day at a time."

Wang Er agreed and echoed.

"Hey, have you heard about what happened to the Jiaqi official?"

Wang Er and Lao Li looked in unison at the pockmarked man who was speaking last.

Even Cao Xiong, who had been staring silently at the ground, couldn't help but look up.

It's no wonder they were curious; the events that happened to the Jiaqi official's family were too bizarre, and rumors were flying everywhere.

Seeing that everyone's attention had been drawn to him, the pockmarked man started gesturing excitedly, "Hehe, my father-in-law's neighbor's cousin lives near the Jiaqi official's house. I heard that the Jiaqi official's dog is a spirit."

"Not only did it become a spirit, but it was also in heat. It actually tried to violate the Jia family's wife in public. Jia Qiguan happened to witness it, and of course, he couldn't stand it. He fought the vicious dog for thirty rounds."

"Guess what? Not only did Officer Jia fail to kill the vicious dog, but he was bitten several times, and the dog was seriously injured and ran away, its whereabouts unknown."

"The local police station and the government have issued an arrest warrant; a reward of five taels of silver will be given for capturing and killing the vicious dog."

Old Li couldn't help but sneer, "What a damn stingy guy! Even Jia Xiaoqi, a martial artist who has reached the Skin Tempering Realm, was bitten by that vicious dog. How could we ordinary people possibly stand a chance? It's only five taels of silver. Who would risk their life for that?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Xiong's eyes flashed. If he could kill that vicious dog, he wondered if he could solve the mystery of collecting the fragments.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at the line of words that appeared before his eyes.

[Fragments: 0.5-1]

Cao Xiong has a secret: he is not actually from this world.

In this life, he was born into a military family. At the age of sixteen, he joined the army in place of his father. He had extremely poor martial arts talent and, despite practicing for most of his life, he could not even reach the Skin Tempering Realm.

He only awakened his past life memories half a month ago, and at the same time, this panel that only he could see appeared.

The number first changed after he participated in killing a rabid boar, earning 0.5 fragments.

In the past two weeks, he bought two chickens and hunted a rabbit, but unfortunately he was unable to obtain any more fragments.

Cao Xiong guessed that it might be because the chickens and rabbits were too weak.

After awakening his memories, he was certain that this was the world of Liaozhai.

Lanruo Temple is only thirty miles away from the camp.

Pudu Cihang firmly holds the position of Grand Preceptor of the Ming Dynasty, and everyone knows of his great benevolence. However, only Cao Xiong knows that Pudu Cihang is the most ferocious demon in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Faced with this world rife with demons and monsters, he dared not act rashly and spent most of his time in the camp.

At sixty years old, he should have retired from the military long ago if he hadn't been childless.

Although he had been married and had children, his children died young and his wife passed away.

He doesn't have many years left to live. Fox demons, female ghosts, and the path of cultivation seem to have little to do with this old man who's halfway to the grave.

He even suspected that this panel, visible only to him, might just be an illusion. But he was unwilling... Having been reborn, he was unwilling to simply wait to die.

"Uncle Cao, what's wrong? Are you also eyeing Lady Jia?"

The pockmarked man's voice brought Cao Xiong back to his senses.

Cao Xiong glared angrily at the pockmarked man, his wrinkles creased together.

"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting? I've long since lost all desire for that."

The pockmarked man's eyes gleamed with a thieving light. "The Jia family's lady is indeed a beautiful woman, with a very alluring figure."

"Hehe, tell me how much of a womanizer you are." Wang Er immediately got excited and grabbed Lai Mazi's hand.

"Hey, don't rush me, let me go to the bathroom first, then we'll talk."

Old Li got up and ran towards the grove of trees not far away. "Alright, alright, you guys chat, I'm tired, I'll go back and rest first."

Cao Xiong didn't want to get involved in their gossip anymore, so he picked up his scalpel, turned around, and prepared to return to the camp to rest.

"Damn it!"

Cao Xiong had only taken a couple of steps when he suddenly heard a scream from behind him.

Cao Xiong's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around to look.

A giant dog, comparable in size to a goat, appeared under the trees and pounced on Old Li, tearing him apart.

"Oh no! Quick, save them!"

Cao Xiong drew his willow-leaf knife and, along with Wang Er and Lai Mazi, rushed towards the grove.

When Cao Xiong arrived, he saw Old Li lying on the ground struggling, his face mangled and blood staining his armor.

Looking at the giant dog again, it was enormous, with bloodshot eyes and dried blood on its body. A hideous old wound ran from its forehead to its chin, oozing pus.

At this moment, it was wagging its tail and baring its teeth at Cao Xiong and the other two.

"You beast!" Cao Xiong roared.

"Uncle Cao, this looks like the dog demon from the Jiaqi official's household."

Lai Zi was a little nervous and kept leaning closer to Cao Xiong.

Although Cao Xiong was already sixty years old and frail, he had served in the army for over forty years and was the backbone of many military households.

Cao Xiong took a deep breath, a murderous look on his face. He saw that the dog demon was indeed seriously injured. Today, either he, Cao Xiong, would fall, or he would use this dog demon to start a new life.

"Dry!"

Before the words had even finished, Cao Xiong had already lunged forward.

Lai Mazi and Wang Er immediately flanked from both sides, and the three knives fell simultaneously.

The dog demon let out a deep growl, its two sharp fangs bared menacingly.

"Swish~"

"Boom!"

Cao Xiong gripped the knife with both hands and slashed down fiercely, immediately feeling a tremendous force strike him.

"Oh shit."

Cao Xiong was so shaken that he staggered backward and landed hard on his backside.

"Cough cough~"

The dog demon remained focused despite the blows from Lai Mazi and Wang Er, as if it had its sights set on Cao Xiong. It charged straight at Cao Xiong.

Cao Xiong watched the dog demon approaching at high speed and his heart hardened.

"Damn it, do they really think I'm an easy target? Don't underestimate an old person like me!"

"kill!"

Cao Xiong suddenly threw out a handful of lime and rolled it to the side.

The dog demon had no time to dodge and crashed head-on into the lime.

"Hmm~"

The lime got into the dog demon's eyes, causing it to let out a painful wail. Tears streamed uncontrollably down its face.

"Attack its wounds."

Cao Xiong knew that the opportunity was too good to miss, so he said to Lai Mazi and Wang Er beside him.

"Alright~" The pockmarked man said excitedly, swinging his knife to specifically attack the dog demon's lame right hind leg.

The blind dog demon became a headless fly, only able to blindly bump and bite. The man with the pockmarked face was caught off guard and bitten on the calf, tearing off a large chunk of flesh.

Wang Er seized the opportunity, leaped forward, knocked the dog demon to the ground, and then locked its neck in a lock.

"Uncle Cao~"

Cao Xiong understood immediately and attacked from behind the dog demon. His willow-leaf knife moved with lightning speed, piercing the dog demon's buttocks with precision, and then he spun it sharply.

"Awoo~"

The dog demon has completely lost its fighting ability.

"Uncle Cao, you really went all out!" The man with the pockmarked face breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the dog demon's buttocks bleed profusely, but he couldn't help but shudder.

"You don't know anything. Uncle Cao's knowledge comes from experience."

Wang Er's tone also became noticeably more relaxed.

Seeing that the dog demon had no chance of getting back up, Cao Xiong belatedly realized that his body felt like it was falling apart. His old bones really couldn't withstand a prolonged battle.

"Wang Er, go check on Old Li and get Ma Zi's wound bandaged."

Cao Xiong then walked up to the dog demon and severed its neck with a single stroke.

[Fragment +0.5]

[Fragments: 1-1]

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