Chapter 70: Hirakawa

Darkness, as thick as heavy ink, filled the huge underground space. In this dark void—something in the air was constantly shaking, steaming, and endlessly writhing. Faint roars could be heard, very suppressed, the kind of sounds that couldn’t be loud because of too much pain.

Stinging.

Cursing.

It kept coming out from the crack on the arm. The large black dog curled on the ground couldn’t help but let out painful howls.

The wound from being struck by the evil blade called “Jia Zuo” had a red light eating away at the flesh, starting to release the curse brought by the Blade Poison.

It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt!

The black giant dog let out miserable cries and kept cursing—cursing the woman who made it turn into this form.

Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!

Driven by some strong force, the cut wound kept turning to ash and crumbling, while another force made its flesh grow out like bubbles.

From the front arm, twisted flesh kept gushing out… gurgling as it grew from inside, looking like pink lumps, and these twisted flesh parts were quickly eaten up by the red curse power, turning into floating charred dust in an instant.

Growth and destruction, this pair of processes repeated over and over. It was the result of the Corpse Hound’s regeneration power struggling with the Exorcism Blade… But normally… Corpse Hounds couldn’t resist the evil blade’s Blade Poison curse. That thing was originally a “poison curse” made to destroy Corpse Hounds.

The reason for this exception was the strange spotted flowers growing from the black dog’s flesh. Thorny branches, one after another, whipped out, weirdly twining around the huge body, the unusual spotted petals giving off a faint glow.

Those ominous spots made people think of corpse spots on dead bodies, giving off an unclean shine.

“So… Ruoji, you’re still lucky. If the ‘flower’ wasn’t almost complete, you might not have survived being struck by Jia Zuo, one of the Twelve Artifacts.”

The suffering “black dog” couldn’t even say half a word. The Exorcism Blade’s Blade Poison had entered deep into its flesh, constantly repeating destruction and regeneration.

Not far away, a human figure could faintly be seen.

From the voice, it should be a man. From the side, he was sitting in a corner, flipping through a book on his knees.

“…Fine, I won’t say more. You learned a lesson this time. There are also not simple people among the Fang Hunters.”

The black dog opened its mouth, as if wanting to use a low growl as a reply.

The man could understand “its” thoughts and replied scornfully, “I won’t act for your small matters. Besides, I have an important mission to complete… Wait, what did you say… Are you sure that little girl who wanted to take you down really has some relation to the ‘Clan’?”

(If that’s really the case, then perhaps Clan power is involved… The plan will have to change.)

—

As a result, he was judged to not have the quality to become a “Fang Hunter,” this strange profession… To say Fang Jing wasn’t shaken at all would be a lie.

He knew he missed a rare chance, but there was nothing he could do—Amasue Suetora made it very clear; he didn’t have the talent to become a Fang Hunter.

Judging whether someone was qualified to be a Fang Hunter didn’t depend on other things, but only focused on whether they had the talent or not.

It sounded unfair, but how could there be perfect fairness in this world?

When he left, Karasawa Meisuke also comforted him, saying that even among ordinary people, very few had the potential ability of a Fang Hunter. It was like winning the lottery; no need to force it.

Fang Jing and Karasawa Meisuke exchanged contact info. As for that transfer student Amasue Suetora, she left quickly and didn’t go to school the next day.

To be honest, Fang Jing also sensed an ominous aura from her, as if something abnormal was clinging to that woman named “Amasue Suetora.”

“A troublesome smell, and a very strong one at that…”

This made Fang Jing choose not to get too close to her. He wanted to get away from this series of troubles as soon as possible.

But that night, he did gain something.

Fang Jing found that after he killed those “inferior” monsters, several Miscellaneous Fate appeared in his body for no reason.

And the Yuan Armor Fate Grade could also absorb Miscellaneous Fate. In other words, the Yuan Armor Fate Grade might grow by absorbing Miscellaneous Fate.

When he killed Tanaka, he got his first Miscellaneous Fate; after he took down Fujiwara, he got Fate Fragments; after killing those monsters transformed from humans, he also got six Fate Grades.

These Fate Grades were all absorbed by his Yuan Armor. After Yuan Armor absorbed the Miscellaneous Fate, the purple threads in his body started to split and increase.

(It seems there are other ways to collect Miscellaneous Fate in this world. If I keep absorbing, how far will the Yuan Armor Fate Grade grow…)

“Forget it, I won’t think about that for now. At least, there’s proper business to attend to today.”

Hatakena Gensai, the owner of Kyogado antique shop, called to tell him that he had talked with that collector.

Fang Jing had almost forgotten about this. The black Buddha statue left with Hatakena Gensai hadn’t been sold yet, and that shop owner Hatakena had been helping him contact collectors.

“The other party is quite a famous collector in the circle. It’s rare for him to take time to come here. Nishizuka, come over early today!”

Hearing Hatakena Gensai’s words, he didn’t think much and went straight to the old antique shop “Kyogado” in Ogibashicho.

He and Hatakena Gensai waited in the four-and-a-half-tatami quiet room behind the shop. Finally, the rich collector showed up.

“Sorry, sorry! I’m a bit late.”

This collector was a slightly plump, balding middle-aged man in a gray suit. He said he had always liked Kinugawa’s works, so after hearing the news, he really wanted to come.

“My name is Hirakawa Shun. Hatakena, old friend, aren’t you going to introduce me…”

“Mr. Hirakawa, no need to rush. This young man’s surname is Nishizuka.”

“I am Nishizuka Tsukasa. Nice to meet you, Mr. Hirakawa.”

Fang Jing also nodded and told this Mr. Hirakawa his name.

The balding middle-aged man, named Hirakawa Shun, was an extremely talkative person.

“My collecting habit is inherited from my grandfather. After the war, he got rich using his hometown’s mine. In just two generations, he became a well-known wealthy man in the area. My grandfather wasn’t a normal collector; he was passionate about strange things, like odd stones, shells, spoons, and all kinds of weird little trinkets…”