A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

As night deepened, Jinghai finally quieted down.

One by one, the neon lights outside the window went out, leaving only a few stubbornly sticking out, like they were addicted to playing games all night and refused to turn off.

The living room lights were off long ago. Qiqi was already asleep on the small bed, breathing evenly. Occasionally she would turn over and mumble a few words, I wonder what delicious food she was dreaming about.

Ji Zuodao stood on the balcony, his hands gripping the railing, gazing at the distant, brightly lit city nightscape.

The night breeze carried the dampness characteristic of early summer, along with the unique scent of Jinghai.

The smell of car exhaust, the aroma of cumin from roadside barbecue stalls, and the scent of osmanthus wafting from some unknown neighborhood.

It's a jumbled mess, not exactly smelling good, but it makes you feel grounded, like you're still alive.

Old Dog squatted on the wicker chair next to him, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, slowly savoring it.

Ever since Ji Zuodao grew from a little debt collector into a big menace, the two of them, one human and one dog, often chatted like this.

"Hey Dog, guess what? Today's been quite a spectacle!"

Ji Zuodao's voice carried a lazy, smug tone, as if he were telling someone else's joke.

"There's this stalker fan who has the exact same face as me and went to the Qi Practitioner Market to swindle people."

"Tell me, isn't this guy shameless? He tore off his own face and stuck it on mine, isn't that insane? Damn it, what kind of class does he think he is, daring to use the same face as me?"

"And then the most amazing thing happened."

Ji Zuodao turned around, leaned against the railing, crossed his arms, and looked very excited.

"There was a woman who looked quite wealthy, dressed in gold and silver, her whole outfit clearly indicating she came from a rich family. As soon as she saw me, she rushed over without saying a word and called for her son."

"After shouting, that wasn't all. He even stuffed pills into my mouth. He was so enthusiastic, I couldn't stop him. You didn't see the scene. He wanted to give me his whole fortune."

He got more and more excited as he talked, his eyebrows dancing with excitement, as if he had gotten a great deal.

Dog exhaled a smoke ring, which slowly rose under the moonlight, growing larger and larger until it finally dissipated in the night breeze.

He remained silent for a while before speaking.

There was an indescribable meaning in his voice.

"Kid, have you ever considered that, from a certain perspective, that woman might not have mistaken you for someone else?"

"What do you mean?"

Dog put out his cigarette, pressed it against the balcony railing, and then threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray next to him.

How much do you remember about your childhood?

Ji Zuodao paused for a moment, then scratched the back of his head:

"I don't remember very clearly. I only remember that my master and the others raised me, and I don't have much of an impression of anything else. It seems that I started remembering things relatively late, and the things that happened when I was a child are all blurry, like looking through a layer of frosted glass, and I can't see them clearly."

Dog nodded, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke.

"I watched you grow up."

"I was there the day your master took you in. I remember everything that happened that day perfectly, it's like it just happened yesterday."

"That morning, Old Shen came back from outside, carrying a bundle on his back, his face beaming with undisguised excitement, as if he had found some rare treasure."

"I was wondering what kind of junk this old man had picked up this time. But when he opened the bundle, there you were inside."

"At that time, you only had one breath left. Your innate essence was depleted, your acquired metabolism was weak, and your blood and qi would never have a chance to be replenished. Your pulse had no foundation, your true essence gradually dissipated, and your yin and yang were about to separate."

"Old Zhou said at the time that this child couldn't be raised at all, that he would kick the bucket in a few days, and that no amount of medicine could save him. He also said that living like this was suffering, and it would be better to die quickly and just throw him off the mountain."

"But Old Shen disagreed. He said it was a child's destiny, something only found in ancient books, and he had only managed to salvage it from the trash can with great difficulty. It's a good thing you were half-dead, otherwise no one could have thrown it away."

As Dog Lord spoke, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, a smile carrying a complex emotion.

"Later we discovered that your innate energy had been taken away. All you had left was that broken body and the fate of a sick child who absorbs bad luck."

To put it bluntly, you're an abandoned child. You were abandoned the moment you were born.

After saying that, Doggy looked up and stared at Ji Zuodao.

"Hey kid, have you ever wondered why that hothead looks exactly like you?"

"Two people who look almost identical—what a coincidence!"

Ji Zuodao remained silent.

He stood on the balcony, the night breeze ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead, bringing a touch of coolness.

The moonlight shone on his face, blurring his expression and making it impossible to see what he was thinking.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

His voice was a little hoarse, as if something was stuck in his throat.

"Dog, are you saying I might be that woman's..."

"pretty close."

Dog nodded.

"If you want to be sure, I can go with you to investigate. With our current capabilities, finding out the truth about this shouldn't be difficult. It's just a matter of spending some time and effort."

Ji Zuodao remained silent for a long time.

The balcony was quiet, with only the sound of the night breeze and the occasional car horn in the distance.

After a long while, Ji Zuodao finally spoke.

His voice was soft, yet unusually firm, as if he had already thought of the answer and was just waiting for someone to ask.

"never mind."

Whether you know it or not is no longer important.

"Hmm? How so?"

Dog Master looked at Ji Zuodao with some surprise.

"The first master picked me up from the trash can and taught me how to be a person, the second master taught me how to kill, the third master taught me how to cheat and swindle, and you taught me how to steal chickens and dogs."

"You spent so many resources and so much effort to raise me from a dying little brat into what I am now."

"Even though I'm a sick child, even though I'm on the verge of dying every few days, you've never given up on me."

"You gave me my life. You taught me these skills. You raised me."

Ji Zuodao's voice trembled slightly, but he still tried to make his tone sound relaxed.

He took a deep breath, as if to calm himself down.

"So, biological parents and blood relations don't matter to me."

"You are my family."

"Always."

After Ji Zuodao finished speaking, he lowered his head and buried his face in Dog Master's fur.

The fur was a bit prickly, and it had Dog-Grandpa's signature smell.

It smells of tobacco leaves, earth, and a tiny bit of barbecue.

That was the familiar scent of Ji Zuodao, the scent he had smelled since childhood, the scent that made him feel at ease.

Dog felt a drop of warm liquid drip onto his back.

He didn't move, just squatted there quietly, letting Ji Zuodao hold him.

He stuck out his tongue and gently licked the back of Ji Zuodao's hand. The movement was very light and gentle, as if to say: It's okay, I'm here.

The moonlight shone on the man and the dog, casting long shadows on the balcony floor.

A night breeze, carrying the warmth unique to early summer, gently brushed past them.

The city lights in the distance are still twinkling, like countless stars scattered across the earth.

After a long while, Ji Zuodao finally raised his head.

He took a deep breath, wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve, and then grinned.

That smile carried a hint of embarrassment.

"Alright, alright, enough with the sentimental talk, let's get down to business."

Dog rolled his eyes: "You call that sentimental? That was cheesy. I got goosebumps. Damn it, in the middle of the night, you had to pull this stunt, almost made me cry too."

"Go away, you're just a dog now, where did you get these goosebumps?"

Ji Zuodao cursed irritably, then stood up and dusted off his knees.

A smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth.

That smile had a familiar, cunning quality that made you want to punch him.

"Dog Lord, tell me, what if I really were their son—"

He deliberately dragged out his words, as if he were brewing some terrible idea.

"Then weren't the masters raising their son for nineteen years? They spent so many resources and put in so much effort to raise me from a half-dead little brat into the handsome, dashing, charming, and universally loved genius I am today."

He paused, then turned his head and looked at Dog Master, a sly glint in his eyes.

"Shouldn't we go and get it back, with interest? Like, the kind where you get it back after nine out of thirteen?"

"They seem to be quite greedy. That woman just throws out tens of millions worth of pills without even batting an eye. That man looks like he's in big business; his clothes, his airs—he's definitely a sucker. If we don't go and collect some interest, we'll be letting our masters down after nineteen years of raising us, don't you think?"

Dog Master was taken aback.

Then he smiled.

The laughter echoed through the night sky.

He laughed so hard he almost fell off the wicker chair.

"You little rascal, you really are worthy of being the child we raised."

"Quiet and wicked."

Ji Zuodao also smiled.

That smile, under the moonlight, carried an indescribable air of unbridled freedom and arrogance.

That's the smile of someone who is loved.

Actually, to say that Ji Zuodao is like a wolf king is to give him too much credit.

He was more like a wild dog than a wolf king.

Stray dogs have their own rules for survival.

If you feed it, it will wag its tail at you.

But that's not intimacy; that's a transaction.

It knows exactly what it's doing: if you give me a bite to eat, I won't bite you, and we're even.

If you try to reach out and touch it, it might let you touch it on the surface, but its muscles are tense, its ears are erect, and its eyes are constantly staring at your hand, your gaze, and your every move.

If you show even the slightest hostility, or do anything that it perceives as a threat, even just a wrong look, it will pounce on you without hesitation, bite your throat, and refuse to let go.

Stray dogs are very vengeful.

If you treat it well, it will remember.

The more you treat it badly, the more it will remember.

Once you hit it, it will remember you for a lifetime.

Even if three or five years have passed, if it sees you again, it will still rush up and bite you.

Ji Zuodao is that kind of person.

He always had a smile on his face, and seemed to be able to call anyone a brother and have a drink with anyone.

But if you really think he considers you a friend, then you are very wrong.

He keeps a mental record of everyone's kindness and disrespect towards him.

He will repay those who are good to him tenfold; he will retaliate a hundredfold against those who are bad to him.

Look at his usual carefree attitude, as if he doesn't care about anything, as if the sky falling down has nothing to do with him.

But in reality? He's more vigilant than anyone else.

He always sleeps on his side, facing the door.

When he walks, he always pays attention to every corner around him and every possible escape route.

When he talks to people, he always keeps a bit of his guard up and never reveals all his cards.

These are all instincts of stray dogs.

Even wild dogs have their soft moments.

When you truly earn its trust, when it considers you its family, it will reveal its most vulnerable side to you.

A dog's belly is the softest and most vulnerable part of its body.

In the wild, exposing your belly means handing your life over to the other party.

That was the greatest trust and the deepest reliance.

Ji Zuodao was the same.

In front of his masters, in front of Dog Master, in front of Qi Qi, and in front of those he truly respects, he will put away all his sharp teeth and claws, put away all his vigilance and defense, and become an ordinary young man who might even act spoiled and unreasonable.

He would let Qiqi hug his waist and bury her little face in his belly.

He would say those cheesy things in front of Dog Master, and then turn his head away shyly.

He would complain like a child in front of his masters, then wait for them to scold him a few times before secretly slipping some good stuff into his pocket.

At that moment, he was not the evil star that struck fear into the hearts of the cultivation world, nor the heretical and evil cultivator who terrified all sorts of demons and monsters.

He was like a stray dog ​​that had been stroked and pampered, squinting his eyes and whimpering as he enjoyed the rare warmth.

Ferocity is for outsiders.

Warmth is reserved for family.

This is Ji Zuodao.

A stray dog.

P.S.: Just to clarify, the author didn't slack off today; I just combined the content of three chapters into two. There are definitely enough words.