Chapter 498: Chapter 431: Harvesting and Pruning
As they exited the unit door again, they realized it had started to rain, and the rain intensified steadily. Yang Xiao, observing the endless curtain of rain, decisively ordered a retreat.
However, they weren’t without gains; Da Xiong narrowed the range of activity of that "thing" further based on the strength of the signal.
After coming out, Wu Zhe rushed over in haste, bringing with him the latest report from the technical department. They found a common pre-death characteristic of the victims: they all had consumed dog meat or wore ornaments related to dog teeth and dog bones.
Wu Zhe presented the investigation report in hand, excitedly said, "Look, the father and daughter who were first killed both wore dog tooth pendants before their death. The reason was that the girl had been frail and often sick since childhood, and her father followed the customs of his hometown, commissioning a dog tooth amulet for both himself and his daughter to ward off evil. According to classmates, the girl never took off her pendant."
"There’s also Wei Jin and Kuang Yuanchao—one a dropout without a job, the other a security guard in the residential area. Residents reported that these two often rode motorcycles around catching stray dogs, killed them, and then set up a stall in the guard booth to eat dog meat hotpot. Last night, they had just eaten dog meat."
"We also looked into that technical department specialist; he didn’t usually eat dog meat, but he constantly wore a bracelet supposedly made of wolf bone. Now we suspect he was duped; it’s not wolf bone, but dog bone."
"Moreover, all these dog teeth, dog bones, and the like—they were not found at the crime scene, and even the stomachs of Wei Jin and Kuang Yuanchao were ripped open, their stomachs and hearts and livers all missing."
The information brought by Wu Zhe was vitally important; they had finally found the crux of the problem. Anyone with ties to dogs would become a target of that thing.
The rain grew fiercer by the minute, accompanied by flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Xi Menxiu looked at the tumultuous sky outside with a hint of panic; the oppressive, inky clouds hovered very low, bringing strong winds, like a scene from before the end of the world—an ill omen indeed.
"Beibei, you take people to coordinate with Captain Wu outside. I’m going in again to try," Yang Xiao decided to take some risks, aiming for a quick resolution.
Beibei and the others were shocked, strongly opposed, and Da Xiong bluntly said that the signal from inside that thing had grown more than twice as strong as before—it would be akin to courting death for anyone to go in alone.
"I’m not that stupid, I’m more confident dealing with it alone. If you stay close to me, you’ll only distract me." In the face of a formidable enemy, Yang Xiao dispensed with courtesy, turned his head, and instructed Wu Zhe to find him a black dog skin outfit or something with dog teeth and dog bones—he planned to wear them and draw that damned thing out.
Wu Zhe was silent for a moment, then clenched his teeth and nodded, "Okay, Yang, I believe in your strength."
Yang Xiao didn’t fight unprepared battles, and if this were the past, he really wouldn’t dare to do so, but now it was different. He had not only Drama Robe for protection but also Ghost Camera as a marvelous escape tool. If he couldn’t beat it, hiding inside the mirror would make him untouchable.
Additionally, in his backpack, he carried a mini Ghost Camera, the size of a digital compact camera, much lighter than the usual Ghost Camera—a prototype from years ago given to him by Lu Youdao. It would come in handy now.
Soon, two dog teeth and a dog bone necklace were delivered to him. Yang Xiao put all of them around his neck at once and, fearing it wasn’t enough, also stuffed a pair of dog skin gloves into his backpack. Now, he must have maxed out the animosity.
"I will go in for an hour. Within one hour, no matter what happens, do not come in. Just guard all the entrances," Yang Xiao said sternly. "This matter is related to the Yu Yuan Sect, and you must be very careful. I am concerned they will come to cause trouble."
As for this, Wu Zhe assured him, thumping his chest, that they had people watching the area, with dozens of brothers focused here, telling him to set his mind at ease.
Actually, Wu Zhe’s words made Yang Xiao hesitate; aside from Wu Zhe and Beibei, who were somewhat capable, the rest would find it difficult to even escape if they encountered a Venerable Level Heretic Cultivator.
After leaving a word to be extra careful, Yang Xiao shouldered his backpack, opened a black umbrella, and walked away without looking back. The most important thing now was to act swiftly. Following the map redrawn by Da Xiong, he patrolled within the marked key areas.
The sensation came quickly this time; in less than 10 minutes, Yang Xiao felt as though something had been added around him, as if a pair of eyes were spying on him from the darkness.
He pretended not to notice and kept walking. That feeling became even closer, and at the same time, Yang Xiao faintly heard the sound of a dog barking.
The barking grew louder and more distinct. Strangely, this noise did not come from the surrounding rain curtain but from a place indescribable by Yang Xiao, as if... it came from another world.
As the barking neared, clearer by the moment, Yang Xiao discerned a difference in this bark—it didn’t sound like a dog; it sounded like someone imitating a dog’s bark, and rather accurately at that.
Suddenly, Yang Xiao halted his step. Just a second earlier, the pitter-patter of rain on his umbrella ceased, the world around him blurred, and seemed to be moving away at an exaggerated speed, abandoning him.
"Finally... it has come."
The next second, the space to Yang Xiao’s left twisted, and a dark shadow burst out from there, lunging straight for Yang Xiao’s face. Fortunately, prepared, he dodged to the side, abandoning his umbrella and drawing the Human Bone Staff in front of him.
The shadow missed its strike and quickly rebounded after landing, with incredible speed. Yang Xiao couldn’t even make out what it looked like before instinctively swinging his staff. As they passed each other, he felt the Human Bone Staff hit something, and he himself was viciously clawed across the chest, causing a burning pain.
He was lucky to have the protection of the Drama Robe; otherwise, he feared he might have lost a chunk of flesh.
The blow from the Human Bone Staff didn’t leave the creature unscathed either. Yang Xiao only saw a blurry shadow crouching not far away, confronting him.
His thoughts racing, the next second the Ghost Lantern appeared in his left hand, and as its greenish light extended outwards, the black fog dispersed. Now, Yang Xiao could finally see the true form of this thing—it was a big black dog, no, more precisely, a person draped in dog skin.
But the dog skin was tightly fused with the person’s own skin, making it look just like a big black dog, and most of the face resembled that of a dog. The next second, the creature bared its teeth at Yang Xiao, showing a row of fierce fangs.
Near the dog skin on the exposed part of its face, one could still vaguely see blue-green tattoos. The next second, Yang Xiao’s heart trembled; he knew the identity of this creature. In ancient times, there were some traffickers who would kidnap children, intentionally mutilate and maim them, or even dress them in dog or monkey skin to create "monsters" as a ploy to evoke sympathy from passersby and thereby extort money, a practice known as "life harvesting."
This atrocity was abhorred in every dynasty, an affront to human decency and law. Once such traffickers were discovered, they were always subjected to the most brutal punishments. One of these punishments involved using their own methods against them.
First, the traffickers’ faces would be tattooed to publicly declare their crimes, and then they would be skinned. While still alive, they would be enveloped in fresh black dog skin, whipped by several people. This was to ensure the criminal could never reincarnate as human in the next life, forcing them into the realm of beasts to atone for their sins.
The blow he had landed earlier had wounded the Human Dog Ghost. The injury was on its curled right leg, where the color had paled significantly, as if a piece of flesh was missing, looking extremely horrific.
Just as Yang Xiao was stealthily taking out the camera, intending to take a picture of the Human Dog Ghost, the next second, the Human Dog Ghost lunged at him once more. Luckily, Yang Xiao was well prepared and barely managed to dodge, but his back was harshly stepped on, causing him to stagger and nearly fall.
As he regained his balance, a gust of wind struck from behind. Without time to turn and look, he rolled on the ground quickly, feeling a cold breeze brush past the back of his head, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The speed of the Human Dog Ghost was too fast. As Yang Xiao continued to dodge, his rhythm was disrupted, and he couldn’t find a chance to counterattack. In a critical moment, he switched to the Soul-Capturing Mirror and vanished the next second, using the water on the ground to hide within the Mirror World.
Sitting down in the Mirror World, Yang Xiao gasped for air. The attacker outside wasn’t very strong, and its mode of attack was just ordinary biting and clawing, but its speed was too swift. His eyes could keep up, but his body couldn’t react fast enough. If he fell into the creature’s rhythm, it was only a matter of time before he would be killed.
Now, he noticed something different about the Human Dog Ghost. Looking through the accumulated water to the outside, he saw an inexplicable darkness; he was no longer in the world he knew. He was trapped within the domain of the Human Dog Ghost.
If things had been normal, even if the battle dragged on, Yang Xiao wouldn’t worry. With his current abilities, he could sustain the Mirror World for ten hours without a problem. But that wouldn’t do; he had agreed with the others to return within an hour, and if time ran out, Beibei and the others would definitely come looking for him. Given their strength, if they encountered such a creature, the chances were high that they wouldn’t survive.
Yang Xiao calmed himself and quickly devised a strategy. The priority was to reduce the creature’s speed, then find an opportunity to take its picture and seal it.
The Human Dog Ghost’s right leg was injured, indicating that the Human Bone Staff could inflict damage, and after being attacked, its speed slowed down. His plan now was to strike unexpectedly, hit it once, withdraw, and then strike again with the staff when it least expected, retreating each time to ensure his safety while wearing it down.
Of course, this plan had its flaws, such as what would happen if the Human Dog Ghost simply fled after being hit, but Yang Xiao had no time to worry about that.
The greatest risk of this plan lay in the uncertainty of the situation outside. He didn’t know the current location of the Human Dog Ghost. In the worst-case scenario, he might emerge right on top of it. The thought was terrifying.
"Impossible, I, Mr. Yang, have lived a life of virtue and kindness, with an untarnished reputation. How could I be so unlucky?" Yang Xiao quickly dismissed this thought, wishing to teleport behind the Human Dog Ghost for a sneak attack. With a thought, his figure instantly disappeared.
The next second, the scenery shifted, and thankfully, Yang Xiao wasn’t so unlucky to end up on the Human Dog Ghost’s face. Instead, he found himself riding on the back of the Human Dog Ghost.
He didn’t dare move a muscle at that moment, with the furry back beneath him. Lowering his head, he found himself staring directly into the eyes of the Human Dog Ghost, whose neck was rotated 180 degrees against its body. Man and ghost locked eyes in this awkward situation.
The Human Dog Ghost’s eyes, bulging and reddish, slowly opened its huge mouth. The cheeks split apart, and this gaping maw, reminiscent of a crocodile’s, seemed large enough to swallow Yang Xiao’s head whole. The next second, however, a lantern was stuffed into the dog’s mouth, Yang Xiao gripped the dog’s neck with his left hand, and with his right hand, he swung the Human Bone Staff hard at the dog’s head.
"Fuck!"
"Fuck! Fuck!"
