Fortunately, the "dog" didn't seem interested in them. It turned away and began sniffing at Hao Shijun instead.

Hao Shijun saw that the "dog" hadn't harmed Xie Jia, so he forced himself to endure the fear and discomfort, standing still as it sniffed him thoroughly from head to toe.

The "dog" spent more time sniffing Hao Shijun than it had on Xie Jia and Wang Hui.

When its nose got close to Hao Shijun's pocket, it suddenly jerked its head away and let out two irritated sneezes.

It was as if there was something on Hao Shijun that it really disliked.

It quickly darted away from Hao Shijun, and its previously cheerful, waving tentacles now drooped slightly—clearly unhappy.

Hao Shijun reached into his pocket in surprise and pulled out two broken pieces of incense. They were the ones Wan Qian had asked them to take from the ancestral hall.

In the end, the "dog" moved over to Fang Minglan. Just like before, it sniffed her from head to toe.

Its hot breath landed on Fang Minglan's chest, making her extremely uncomfortable. She instinctively raised her hand to block it.

At the exact moment she raised her hand to shield her chest, it suddenly stopped sniffing. Then, from the mass of thick tentacles, a fleshy, reddish tongue emerged.

It gave Fang Minglan's hand a forceful lick. The sticky saliva clung to the back of her hand, thickly hanging between her fingers—utterly disgusting.

Fang Minglan was just about to wipe the saliva off on her skirt when an odd, indescribable itch crawled across the back of her hand.

What...? Under Fang Minglan's horrified gaze, a clump of pitch-black fur began to grow visibly fast on the back of her hand.

The "dog" extended its tongue further, about to lick Fang Minglan again.

Fang Minglan quickly tried to dodge backward, but a tentacle shot out from the side and wrapped precisely around her waist. She had nowhere to run.

It's tongue had already slid up from the back of her hand, licking its way along her arm.

"Incense!" Hao Shijun shouted at Fang Minglan.

Even if he didn't like this woman at all, his instinct to protect people still made him want to save her.

He ran toward Fang Minglan, swinging the incense in his hand forcefully, trying to use the smell to drive the "dog" away.

Fang Minglan reacted at that moment too. With her free hand, she pulled out a stick of incense from her pocket.

Without a second thought, she pressed it onto the tongue that was coming toward her shoulder.

The "dog" suddenly tasted something it didn't like and froze for a few seconds.

Then, it immediately let go of Fang Minglan, flinging its tongue wildly and spitting repeatedly, as if trying to get rid of the taste.

After spitting a few times, it seemed to remember something, and rolled over and tumbled toward Wan Qian, letting out whimpering, muffled sounds from beneath the mass of tentacles.

Rather than barking, it sounded more like it was acting spoiled.

Down below the altar, Doctor Jiang, who had been sitting silently, finally couldn't help but cover his face with one hand.

Unbearable.

Absolutely unbearable.

This village is full of brainless fools, as dumb as pigs!

They've even managed to turn the Dog God into an imbecile!

He really never should have stayed in this village or held any expectations for it.

Doctor Jiang stood up, brushed the dust off his white coat, and gave the so-called Dog God one last deep look, ready to leave.

The Dog God seemed to sense something and suddenly turned its head sharply, looking down the altar.

A heavy, canine snuffling sound filled the air. Doctor Jiang, who had already taken a few steps away, suddenly felt something.

Without turning around, his body instinctively rolled to the side, away from where he had been standing.

"Woof!" The Dog God landed right where Doctor Jiang had been, its tentacles thrashing wildly.

A fat, bright red tongue flicked out from the tangled tentacles, swinging through the air, catching scents, its drool dripping heavily onto the ground.

Doctor Jiang scrambled up from the ground in disarray, his once-neat white coat now wrinkled and his hair tangled with bits of grass.

He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, looking at the Dog God in shock.

What was going on? Was this stupid dog not only an idiot but also insane? Why was it attacking him?

Before Doctor Jiang could figure out what was happening, the Dog God lunged at him again, its tentacles whipping toward him.

Even though he called it a dumb dog, the Dog God was still a "God." Doctor Jiang really couldn't fight it — he could only dodge frantically, looking completely miserable.

He had no choice but to shout to the villagers, "Come here and help me hold it back!"

But the villagers just stood where they were, unmoving, completely ignoring Doctor Jiang's words.

"Why did the Dog God choose Doctor Jiang this year? Isn't it supposed to choose outsiders first?"

"Are you stupid? Doctor Jiang is an outsider too, he came here a few years ago."

Wan Qian stood on the altar, looking at the "dog" playing with Doctor Jiang, feeling quite pleased.

As expected of a dog she had raised — just like me, it's drawn to kind, gentle, and shy good people like Doctor Jiang.

Look how happy it is playing with Doctor Jiang, completely intent on getting close to him.

Doctor Jiang was about to lose his mind. Did this stupid dog have rabies?!

It was stupid enough acting all clingy and spoiled with that woman — why was it now crazily attacking him?!

The Dog God's tentacles weren't smooth; they were covered in black and brown dog fur.

Doctor Jiang grabbed one of the furry tentacles that wrapped around his shoulder and flung it aside with force. But more tentacles kept coming for him.

In this chaotic mess, no one noticed that Xie Jia, who had fallen to the ground earlier, was now struggling to crawl to the center of the altar.

There, the sacrificial incense table stood. Under the incense burner, a book was pressed down.

Xie Jia reached out, feeling around the incense table until her hand found the book.

While all the villagers were distracted by the Dog God, Xie Jia pulled a lighter from her pocket and flicked it to life, bringing the flame close to the book.

The lighter was something she had stolen from Fang Minglan.

The flame licked at the old, yellowed pages but didn't catch fire as easily as she'd imagined.

Xie Jia hunched over, shielding the flickering flame from the wind blowing around her.

Her hands were trembling uncontrollably from the overwhelming tension, her back soaked with sweat, and her lips bitten so hard they were nearly bleeding.

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