Bai Town, in Wencheng, is an ancient town whose economic development is driven by its snake culture.
In this atheistic era, the people of Bai Town lived by the snake. They worshiped the creature, taking the legendary Snake King as their faith and totem.
They firmly believed that no matter the hardship, the Lord Snake King would save the common people from fire and flood.
This might seem absurd, but it was indeed the truth. The Snake King of Bai Town was real, not some ethereal being, because the Lord Snake King had manifested himself more than once to help the people of Bai Town overcome crisis after crisis.
The incense in Bai Town’s Snake King Temple burned strong, and tourists visited in an endless stream.
But at some unknown point, the Snake King of Bai Town stopped manifesting. Even so, the incense in the Snake King Temple was never extinguished for a single day.
The Snake King’s absence was a good thing. His appearance always meant that a great disaster had befallen Bai Town.
But now, the people of Bai Town were praying desperately, begging the Lord Snake King to appear quickly, for the town was caught in the tragic slaughter of a Fierce Beast invasion.
Just over ten days ago, eight Fierce Beasts had charged into Bai Town, wreaking havoc and devouring any person they saw. To date, nearly one hundred thousand people had been lost to the mouths of these beasts.
News reports shocked the world. It wasn’t just the small Bai Town; Wencheng itself was on the brink of collapse. Dozens of Fierce Beasts had charged in, bathing human cities in blood. The news featured pictures, and even video clips, showing the events clearly.
Large parts of both Wencheng and Bai Town had been reduced to rubble and ruin. The sight of countless people lying in pools of blood was absolutely terrifying.
Those left lying in pools of blood were the lucky ones. Many were swallowed whole by the Fierce Beasts, leaving not even a bone behind.
These Fierce Beasts were enormous and utterly terrifying. Humanity’s prized modern weapons seemed like mere fire pokers, completely useless against the beasts’ slaughter.
Throughout the territory of Wencheng, towns and cities of all sizes were invaded by more or less identical Fierce Beasts. The only difference was that some were smaller, while others were colossal.
But they devoured any person they saw, and they didn’t spare any livestock, either.
"Breaking news! The nation’s four first-tier cities—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen—are all under attack by different terrifying Fierce Beasts. In a short span of time, humanity has become lambs to the slaughter. Tens of thousands are dying every day, and five major second-tier cities have all but fallen."
As the Fierce Beasts emerged, humanity was not idle. The previously hidden Demon Management Bureau came to light, and powerful Awakened Cultivators stepped forward, one after another, to battle the beasts.
Any city where a Fierce Beast appeared was immediately locked down for a full-scale extermination effort.
But the Demon Management Bureau had limited manpower and focused on defending the major cities. The smaller, surrounding towns became sacrificial pawns, abandoned to fend for themselves.
And Bai Town, a small town with a mere population of about five hundred thousand, naturally received no protection from the Demon Management Bureau. Its fate was left to the heavens.
It had to be said, the times had changed. This was the era of Cultivators. Atheism was overthrown in an instant.
People slowly discovered that all the creatures that appeared were, in fact, legendary Ancient Exotic Beasts, each one incredibly ferocious, as if they intended to destroy this once-peaceful world.
Just eight Fierce Beasts had reduced Bai Town, a town of half a million, to rubble and ruin. A fifth of the population was gone. The people of Bai Town lived in terror, trapped in a sunless darkness.
The last time they had been this terrified, it was only because a man-eating Fierce Snake had appeared on She Mountain. But now, legendary Ancient Exotic Beasts had emerged. It was a true apocalypse.
The police were completely useless. Instead, they desperately fled Bai Town one by one, abandoning the common people without a second thought.
"The people of Bai Town beg the Lord Snake King to emerge, to vanquish the Demons and slay the devils, and to save the people of Bai Town from fire and flood!"
In front of a Snake King Temple, countless people kowtowed and prayed every day, hoping the Lord Snake King would manifest and save them.
Unfortunately, this time, no matter how they prayed, there was no stir from the Snake King Temple. The deep, resonant bell had not rung even once.
Despair. Panic. ’Could it be that the Lord Snake King is too scared of the Fierce Beasts to come out?’
Then who could save the people of Bai Town?
The highly respected elder, Lin Defeng, led countless people from Bai Town each day, kneeling before the Snake King Temple with solemn expressions as they offered incense and prayers.
They firmly believed that the Lord Snake King would eventually hear their voices and emerge to vanquish the Demons and slay the devils.
......
「Bai Town. The Tu Family Residence.」
"Mom, please listen to me! We can’t stay here anymore. We have to find a safe place to hide, now! Otherwise, when the Fierce Beast gets here, we’ll be dead for sure!"
Tu Xiaoyue paced back and forth anxiously, trying to get her mother to leave. Rumors were spreading that a Fierce Beast was only a few kilometers away. When it arrived, all the residents in this area would be devoured.
"Yue’Er, you go. I’m old and can’t run anymore. If you take me with you, you’ll be in danger too," Wen Qiu said, shaking her head. She couldn’t understand how the world had changed so suddenly. These enormous Fierce Beasts were even more terrifying than the extinct dinosaurs.
"Mom, if you won’t go, how can I?" Tu Xiaoyue tried desperately to convince her mother.
Wen Qiu still just shook her head. "I’m already at this age. If I die, I die. It would be for the best. I could go take care of your little brother in the afterlife. Yue’Er, you’re still young. You can’t die. You haven’t even gotten married yet."
"Mom..."
Tu Xiaoyue was at a loss for words.
’Little brother, little brother, where in the world are you?’ she cried out in her heart.
She hadn’t been able to contact her brother, the one who had been reborn as a snake, for nearly a month. She didn’t know if he was dead or alive.
Now that the Fierce Beast Era had arrived, could it be that her brother was already...!
"WOOF WOOF..."
Just then, a majestic, ink-black dog started barking.
Tu Xiaoyue stroked its head. "Xiaobai, are you saying you can protect our home?"
"WOOF WOOF..."
Black-eared Xiaobai nodded emphatically, then darted to the front door. It stood as if anyone who wanted to break in would have to step over its dead body.
The time had come for this awakened and mutated House Guardian Dog to carry out its glorious mission.
To protect this home and its two mistresses.
Outside, a panic had erupted. People screamed one after another, "This is bad, a Fierce Beast is here! Everyone, run!"
BOOM...!
A resettlement building collapsed with a thunderous crash. A Fierce Beast, a full ten zhang tall, let out a heaven-shaking roar. The beast looked exactly like the Taotie avatar that had appeared in the Yaoling Mountain Range.
However, this one wasn’t as large as the one that had appeared in the Yaoling Mountain Range.
The Taotie avatar in the Yaoling Mountain Range had fed on awakened Demons, so it grew quickly. This Taotie that had invaded the Human World, however, fed on ordinary humans, so its growth was naturally not as immense.
Even so, it still had the power to kill a Rank Three Demon Spirit, to say nothing of these unarmed, ordinary people.
Wherever the Fierce Beast Taotie went, rivers of blood flowed, and not a single bone was left intact.