Chapter 110: Meeting

Chapter 110: Meeting

A sharp buzzing sound vibrated through the air. It was the sound of an extremely fierce palm strike hitting the air, making people mistakenly think it was the sound of waves crashing against rocks.

Hundreds of palm strikes transformed into a huge, murky wave, crashing down on its body. A frighteningly violent force ran through the entire body of the Corpse Hound. The fast and powerful striking force left deep marks on every inch of the Corpse Hound’s body.

For the Corpse Hound, its consciousness briefly faded. Its mind went blank, and a white light flashed before its eyes.

Its body was lifted into the air in an instant, thrown up by the tremendous force, completely losing control of its form.

Amid the loud, crashing strikes came a series of crisp cracking sounds. The next moment, the Corpse Hound’s large body was sent flying sideways through the air.

“I can’t stop. I have to kill her.”

Fang Jing knew very well that this was still not enough to kill the Corpse Hound. He sharply exhaled a sharp breath, then inhaled a small amount of air quickly, drawing in about a fistful of air into his dantian, letting it flow and swirl.

Suddenly, the muscles in all four of his limbs erupted in full force. His lungs fiercely contracted, and his heart beat rapidly like a drum. His feet exploded forward like a rocket as he charged forward at full speed.

Even though the Corpse Hound had been ravaged by “Torrential Rush · Hundred Styles” and its body was like mud, it could still swing its bone whip toward Fang Jing.

“Too slow!”

He saw through the path of the whip blade. His right palm, covered with the purple membrane of “Yuan Armor,” forcefully grabbed the whip in his hand.

This whip blade, called the “Hunting Claw,” was extremely dangerous, like the venomous stinger of a scorpion. Fang Jing had always been wary of it. Now, with gloves on his hands and the purple membrane from Yuan Armor protecting his palms, he dared to grab it.

The Corpse Hound twisted the part with the beast-like mouth and opened its jaws wide like a wild animal. Something inside its mouth frothed and squirmed, and a murky yellow eyeball emerged, staring fixedly at him.

“You dare stare at me.”

Fang Jing leapt up and kicked, smashing that rotten mouth into a pulp.

The Corpse Hound, whimpering in pain, tried to flee forward. Fang Jing grabbed its tail, suddenly pulled hard, and dragged it back again. He kicked once more, shattering most of its head.

The entire ground was splattered with blood as if it had exploded. Bits of flesh and pulp squirmed eerily in the pool of blood.

“Crack!”

Fang Jing felt his grip loosen as the ossified whip blade broke in the middle.

Like a gecko breaking off its tail to escape, the Corpse Hound detached its own “Hunting Claw.”

It flipped over, landed on all fours, and raced forward, turning to flee.

This made Fang Jing freeze for a moment.

“Go!”

Takami Fuyumi, too weak to stand up, had noticed this scene earlier. Half-kneeling on the ground, she cut her palm with her blade and smeared the blood on the blade.

Instantly, a faint red pattern flashed by, and an ancient text faintly appeared on the Cursed Iron of the Exorcism Blade—this meant the curse on the Cursed Iron was briefly activated.

Using all her remaining strength, she threw the short sword in her hand.

Muhe Style Short Sword Technique · Shooting Pot.

The thrown short sword whooshed through the air and pierced the Corpse Hound’s left wrist. The man-eating monster opened its mouth and bit off its own left wrist to prevent the “Blade Poison” from spreading.

However, if it were that easy to remove the “Blade Poison,” the Exorcism Blade wouldn’t be considered the natural enemy of all Corpse Hounds.

From the severed wrist, a dark, foul-smelling smoke poured out from the cut surface. The Corpse Hound’s severed arm melted like foam, though slower than Takami expected.

(Was it because this individual had strong resistance to the Blade Poison, or was it because the effect of the Blade Poison weakened after leaving her hand?)

Only Fang Hunters could use the Exorcism Blade to hunt Corpse Hounds, mainly for two reasons. First, the Exorcism Blade required a special quality to wield.

Second, even the Fang Hunter themselves had to hold the Exorcism Blade to activate the Blade Poison.

Otherwise, forging the Cursed Iron into bullets or throwing weapons would pose a greater threat to Corpse Hounds.

Similarly, throwing the Exorcism Blade was a foolish tactic.

But seeing the enemy nearly escape, she had no choice but to resort to this.

Unexpectedly, the strike hit and actually wounded the monster.

The Corpse Hound let out a sorrowful whimper, climbed over the wall, and disappeared from her sight.

The man in the heavy coat also gave chase at full speed.

…

“The Exorcism Blade pierced its left wrist, and the curse from the wound can’t be removed?”

Fang Jing quickly followed. He vaulted over the railing of the walkway, chasing the fleeing Corpse Hound, descending to the road below—a path leading to the adjacent canal. He closed in for a closer fight with the Corpse Hound.

He leaped sideways, kicking the monster down, causing the Corpse Hound’s entire body to slam into the wire fence.

The remaining black claw swept toward him but was deflected by his counter-punch.

A swift foot swept upward, aiming as if to slash the Corpse Hound’s abdomen but actually stabbing toward its jaw.

Crunch!

It felt like something had been crushed.

The erosion of the Blade Poison made the Corpse Hound roar madly, but its body continued to melt.

The lower half of the man-eating monster disappeared. It desperately crawled toward the canal, leaving a filthy trail on the ground with every movement.

It wasn’t blood, but a mucus-like bodily fluid emitting a foul, fishy odor.

On the other hand, Fang Jing’s attacks only intensified this effect.

He suddenly reached out, grabbed the Corpse Hound’s head, and forcefully “pulled” the deformed head off its neck.

He ripped it off along with the spine. It didn’t feel like flesh; it was more like mud.

The girl’s half-melted face was also dissolving, like snow meeting the sun.

Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out. The earlier demonic madness peeled away from her face.

She wore an expression like a sleeping child, then vanished within Fang Jing’s grasp.

Only a single eyeball fell from the putty-like head into the river water.

————————

Finding Satsuki asleep inside the TV tower made the tension inside Fang Jing finally ease.

He felt weak, his lips dried out, and his muscles ached.

It seemed his guess was right—though not entirely guessed. He had realized early on that Kuranaga might have come here. He tried searching the place and unexpectedly found her.

“Thank goodness. It looks like this matter can finally be put to rest.”

Karasawa also called to tell him that the Fang Hunters were handling the cleanup. The troublesome matters could finally come to an end.

“I didn’t tell anyone about your involvement. From now on, it’s better not to get involved with this side again!”

“That’s what I think, too.”

He ended the call, reached out, and patted Satsuki’s cheek.

“Hey… sleepyhead, you should wake up now!”

His sister Satsuki was completely defenseless, looking deeply asleep.

He poked her for a long time but got little response.

Was she just too tired, or what?

Forget it, he’d take her back first.

He reached out and picked up his sister. She was much lighter than he expected.

She made a soft whimpering sound, squirming uncomfortably in his arms as if having trouble breathing.

Suddenly, Satsuki opened her eyes, and they stared directly at each other.

“Ah—!”

She let out a short cry.

“Don’t yell… it’s me.”

Fang Jing cut her off, and Satsuki realized she was being held in his arms like a princess.

“Stop moving around, I’m going down the stairs. I’ll put you down when we reach the platform ahead.”

“Mm…!”

She hunched her shoulders and mumbled a reply.

“Um… brother, what exactly happened?”

“You… how much do you remember yourself?”

“I was with Kuranaga. She offered me a cup of coffee, and then it seems I fell asleep.”

“I see…”

He hadn’t expected Kuranaga to be telling the truth; she really hadn’t harmed Satsuki.

Becoming a man-eating monster probably wasn’t her own intention either. From a certain point of view, she might have been a victim too.

He hadn’t quite caught her last lip movement—maybe she was pointing out where his sister was, or maybe it was just a lament or a curse…

Never mind… there was no point in dwelling on pointless sadness.

He didn’t have the energy to spare to sympathize with a monster.

—

The “Fang Hunter Organization”—it was actually an unregistered secret society.

Its history could be traced back to before the current government agencies were even formed.

The Fang Hunter Organization was a special group created to train people to hunt “Corpse Hounds,” a type of monster.

There were many theories about the origin of Corpse Hounds, and it went without saying that they were considered part of the Nocturnal Species.

But unlike the ancient Nocturnal Species, Corpse Hounds were believed to have first been brought into the country during the Edo period’s isolation policy by foreigners from “Dejima,” specifically Dutch scholars.

In other words, “Corpse Hounds” were actually an “import.” They were a rare alien species, and because people at the time had no defense against them, their invasion caused a massive upheaval.

Unlike other Nocturnal Species that were driven out and forced into the deep mountains, Corpse Hounds were living humans transformed into man-eating monsters. They had a high ability to mimic and could adapt to human society, making them an unpredictable danger to ordinary people.

To fight and eliminate these monsters, the Fang Hunter Organization was established at some point, gradually becoming a secret society with a unique status.

It was a civilian organization, connected to the government… yet independent from government agencies. It had its own unique way of doing things, and because of the organization’s strange nature, most people wanted nothing to do with it.

To outsiders who didn’t understand the organization, it seemed gloomy, twisted, and full of outdated customs.

And that impression wasn’t wrong at all.

…

This was a room in a certain tall building.

From the style, it looked like the conference room of a large corporation. A round table stood in the center of the spacious room, with several figures seated around it.

All of their gazes were fixed on one man.

“…That’s basically what happened. My report is finished.”

The man, who was holding a cigarette, reached into his pocket for a lighter but was stopped by a sharp remark.

“Mr. Raisu, please be aware—this is the Agency’s conference room and a no-smoking area.”

“Hahaha, my apologies! Little Marie.”

The man put the cigarette down with a resigned expression and laughed it off, but everyone could see he wasn’t the least bit humble. Instead, he seemed lazy from head to toe.

“I hope Mr. Raisu truly takes this to heart, and not just in words.”

“Of course, of course. I’m reflecting on it as we speak.”

Even as he said this, his careless attitude clearly annoyed the young woman who had called him out.