Chapter 178: Accident

Without making a sound, Fang Jing carefully stepped down, and his foot smashed the head of the terrifying-looking Corpse Hound.

At this point, he was near the peak of human limits in strength, speed, and physique. This was basically the maximum power a human body could achieve. In his current state, he could easily overpower ordinary Corpse Hounds.

(Among Corpse Hounds there were powerful individuals, such as ‘Elders’, ‘King’s Nightmare’, and ‘Clan Heir’. Besides these, there were other upper-level individuals who, due to mutations, had some standout strengths compared to regular Corpse Hounds.)

Fang Jing’s step crushed the head of this Corpse Hound.

In the next second, the Corpse Hound moved its four legs backward, simply abandoning its head, and swiftly shifted its body away.

This move even made Fang Jing pause for a moment.

The headless Corpse Hound quickly climbed a tree, agile like an ape. It clearly judged the gap between itself and its enemy, chose to climb the tree, and attempted to escape.

Just as it jumped up, a hand grabbed its ankle.

“Trying to run now? Not so easy!”

With a thud, the headless Corpse Hound was yanked down, slammed onto the ground, and pinned down so it couldn’t move.

“Urgh… it’s already growing half a head back.”

Fang Jing noticed that a smaller head was gradually emerging from the Corpse Hound’s neck.

“Don’t… don’t celebrate too soon, Fang Hunter.”

The Corpse Hound twisted its deformed little head with difficulty.

“You bear the ‘Jawtooth Mark’. We’ve noticed you already. To deal with you, our ‘Baiqian’ branch has come out in full force. You and your allies won’t escape.”

“‘Baiqian’? Aren’t you from ‘Phantom Jaw’?”

Fang Jing voiced his doubt.

He only knew that among Corpse Hounds there were three major factions: ‘Oblique Tooth’, ‘Phantom Jaw’, and ‘Wild Fang’. This ‘Baiqian’ seemed to be another independent sub-faction.

“Killing you will surely please the members of ‘Phantom Jaw’. It’s you who won’t escape!”

The dwarf-sized head screamed. As soon as it finished speaking, several dark shadows dashed through the bushes and lunged at him.

“Looking for death!”

A fierce gleam flashed in his eyes, and he snorted coldly. A burst of black flame erupted from his body. All the Corpse Hounds within five meters of him were affected by the radial black flames released by the Seal of the Asura Hand. The moment the Corpse Poison Curse touched them, they let out agonizing screams.

Whoosh!!

Suddenly a fierce blast of wind rushed forth violently.

The wild attack instantly struck four Corpse Hounds that had jumped at him. With several thuds, they were sent flying like rubber balls.

Fang Jing merely pulled a Katana from his fisherman’s bag. He didn’t unsheathe it but swung it forward with the scabbard still on. Each of his strikes carried force enough to break bones and snap tendons in a human, but against these Corpse Hounds, it wasn’t enough.

“But this Corpse Poison Flame is enough to drain their regenerative power!”

The more severely the Corpse Poison Flame corroded them and the larger the area it covered, the more their regenerative power decreased.

If he seized this moment and used high-speed destruction to break down the Corpse Hounds’ bodies, killing them wasn’t impossible.

Timing it right, killing them three or four times would solve the problem.

The Corpse Hounds that were struck and covered in black fire had skin that withered as if corroded. They rolled on the ground in pain, tormented cruelly by the life-destroying power of the Cadaveric Toxin.

“The actual combat effect is surprisingly good, far beyond my original expectations…”

Fang Jing held the Corpse Hound he had caught earlier by the neck. It could only make whimpering noises.

“Wait, Hodai Shiki and Kamichiruzuru said earlier that there were only three Corpse Hounds in this mission, but now it seems there are more than three appearing…”

Right, what did that Corpse Hound say? “Come out in full force”—so it wasn’t just one or two, but a whole group.

But that couldn’t be right… Fang Hunters had ways to sense Corpse Hounds. If such a large group appeared together, why didn’t Hodai Shiki, Kita, Miss Yumei, or Kamichiruzuru notice them?

While thinking about this, he swung his sheathed blade and smashed a Corpse Hound covered in Corpse Poison Flame that was charging at him fiercely. In an instant, flesh and blood fragments burst everywhere.

The Corpse Poison Curse flame released by the Seal of the Asura Hand not only corroded but also made living bodies brittle, as if petrified, allowing them to be easily shattered in this state.

It was no exaggeration to say they couldn’t withstand a single blow!

These few Corpse Hounds were no match for him at all.

“Trash!”

A bunch of weaklings. Without their regenerative power, none of them could put up a fight.

“Arrogant! Truly arrogant! Who… are you calling trash?!”

A roar like thunder made the hairs on Fang Jing’s neck stand up. He turned his head and saw a giant ape-like creature covered in black fur with fangs by its mouth. It howled toward the sky and leaped up from the mountain forest.

Covering dozens of meters in the air, the figure soared and crashed down onto the ground with a boom.

“I am Wei Gu, an Elder of the ‘Baiqian’ branch. Let me tell you a fact.”

This bizarre “Corpse Hound”, resembling a giant ape, stood over two meters tall and wore a large raincoat and straw hat.

“You humans are the real trash. Without the help of the Exorcism Blade, useless human garbage is nothing but our food.”

As these words were spoken, a violent aura rapidly spread. For ordinary people, it was an utterly terrifying and extreme pressure.

This oppressive feeling was paired with the threat of death. The innate aura of an upper-level predator from an Elder Class Corpse Hound made humans feel like they were at the bottom of the food chain.

Corpse Hound Wei Gu just stood there motionless, but the air around it seemed to distort, radiating a fierce and murderous intent.

Anyone targeted by such a powerful predatory beast would freeze up, unable to move, like a frog stared down by a snake.

“Interesting… an Elder of the ‘Baiqian’ branch?”

Fang Jing licked his lips. This was his first time encountering an Elder Class Corpse Hound. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and with a warrior’s intuition, he could sense that this Corpse Hound named Wei Gu possessed astonishing physical power.

Just its massive body alone proved it had strength surpassing human flesh.

(…Probably similar in combat power to Kuki Muyen in his early transformation stage.)

He made a mental judgment. To deal with this guy, he’d probably need to open one Inner Ghost Gate.

“The Exorcism Blade, you mean this?”

Fang Jing drove his Exorcism Blade straight down, embedding the sheathed Katana upright into the ground.

“No, no, you’ve misunderstood. This thing is just for decoration. I’ve always been used to using these…”

He raised his two fists and grinned.

For some reason, seeing Fang Jing grin sent a chill down even Corpse Hound Wei Gu’s spine.

Suddenly, the human male before him had glowing eyes, and his body swelled up rapidly, muscles bulging out.

Fang Jing’s height suddenly increased from 1.7 meters to 2 meters. His clothes were stretched tight over his ballooning muscles, giving his whole body a streamlined, golden-ratio form.

In the past, opening one Inner Ghost Gate didn’t change his physique at all, but after his recent upgrade, even opening one Inner Ghost Gate brought about drastic physical changes.

And this was only opening one Ghost Gate. If he opened a second one, the transformation would be even more exaggerated.

“Hoo!”

He exhaled slowly, releasing a thick white breath, and spoke in a deep, muffled voice: “Even without the blade, I can still smash you trash.”

——————————

Ah!!!

Suddenly a scream came from somewhere outside the forest.

Hodai Shiki was startled. He had merely been following Fang Jing up the mountain, but after entering the woods, he realized things were shifting in a way their side couldn’t predict.

(The likelihood of an error from ‘Intelligence Division’ intel isn’t very high. Our mission isn’t difficult: with a five-member hunting team, killing three unsuspecting Corpse Hounds shouldn’t be too complicated…)

Especially since he, Kita, and Yumei were old partners. Even with two new members, as long as arrangements were proper, nothing should go wrong.

The scream came from the southeast. It sounded like a man’s voice. Could it be that Shu ran into danger?

Hodai Shiki held a Ruger P85 pistol in one hand and pulled out a Vajra Pestle with the other.

This object was a Buddhist ritual tool, also known as a Kongo, and it was a rare form of Exorcism Blade. Though it had a strange shape, it could effectively kill Corpse Hounds.

Every Exorcism Blade in a Fang Hunter’s possession was recorded and numbered in the Kagami God Room. Because crafting Exorcism Blades was difficult and the output of Cursed Iron was low, discarded blades had to be recovered and reforged. Generally, most Fang Hunters used only one blade their whole lives. After all, Exorcism Blades made from Cursed Iron were extremely sturdy, more durable than regular blades, and using the blade to kill Corpse Hounds didn’t cause much wear. With careful maintenance, a blade could last a long time.

However, there were exceptions. For example, in the earlier chaotic days, Fang Hunters would retrieve lost or broken blades from comrades, piece them together, and reforge them. Blades made this way were only half as effective as genuine Exorcism Blades and were called Variant Exorcism Blades.

Variant Exorcism Blades had weaker Blade Poison effects and were better suited for making into short daggers rather than long swords.

The Vajra Pestle in Hodai Shiki’s hand was only half Cursed Iron; the other half was made from a mixed metal similar to Cursed Iron. This was his hidden trump card.

It was a habit of old-school Fang Hunters. They mostly operated alone, and even when teaming up, they kept a little something for themselves.

Corpse Hounds were monsters skilled at disguising themselves as humans. Before the Fang Hunter Organization established a thorough intelligence system, Corpse Hounds would even find ways to cooperate with humans to hunt together. They mixed with gangs, ordinary citizens, and fanatical religious groups in towns, sometimes even hunting Fang Hunters in return.

“Help! Save me!”

Hodai Shiki headed toward the source of the scream. Soon, he heard a man’s cries for help.

The man seemed to have injured his leg and was crawling on the ground with difficulty.

This person didn’t have the scent of a Corpse Hound.

The Ba Bell didn’t react at all.

“Strange, where are the Corpse Hounds exactly?”

Hodai Shiki’s intuition told him this man wasn’t a Corpse Hound.

He approached cautiously, calling out softly: “Hey! Sir, are you okay?!”

The instant he got close, the man’s body instantly grew covered in black fur. He transformed into a black beast and lunged at Hodai Shiki, biting toward his neck.