[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-dawn-walker":3,"chapter-dawn-walker-dawn-walker-chapter-174":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Dawn Walker",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1836731,2443,"Chapter 174: Night’s Hunt V","dawn-walker-chapter-174",174,"\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not let the scene drift into chaos. Then he moved. Not rushed. Not dramatic. Just decisive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stepped to the fourth man. The one with the sack. The one who had been standing slightly back, pretending he was only \"carrying goods\" and not part of the cruelty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man’s eyes widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s fangs slid out. He bit to feed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warm blood hit his tongue. The man’s body jerked once, then softened as the bite stole more than blood. It stole will. It stole strength. It stole confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet drank with control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not too much. Enough to taste the blood. Enough to lower the man’s resistance so he could not run or scream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Sekhmet pulled back. His eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Stop, otherwise they might die,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vera pulled away instantly, lips barely stained. Her posture snapped back into discipline as if she had never been hungry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vela pulled away instantly too, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, gaze still sharp and protective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat did not stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat kept drinking like she had forgotten the concept of orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bat Bat,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat made a happy sound and continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet flicked his finger. A thin blood thread snapped lightly across Bat Bat’s cheek. Not to hurt. Just to remind her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat yelped and pulled back, offended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master,\" Bat Bat whined, \"Bat Bat almost finish.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stared at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Control,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat puffed her cheeks, wiped her mouth dramatically like a warrior after battle, then nodded as if she had been in perfect control the whole time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bat Bat controlled,\" she insisted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vela glanced at Bat Bat without moving her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You drank like a bucket,\" Vela said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat glared. \"Twins are new,\" Bat Bat snapped. \"Bat Bat is senior.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vera’s lips twitched faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s tone sharpened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Bat Bat obeyed that tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The four men were down now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not dead. But out of blood. Drinking more will kill them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All four lay sprawled in the dirt, breathing shallowly, eyes rolled back, bodies limp. Blood loss and fear had turned them into sacks of meat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s gaze moved to the cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sat on the ground where the man had dropped it earlier. It was not shaking anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was covered with a cloth, like someone had tried to hide what was inside from the world, or from their own conscience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stepped closer and crouched. He lifted the cloth. And froze for half a heartbeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not a beast pup. It was not an animal at all. Inside the cage, curled into itself like a leaf trying to become smaller, was a tiny spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Six inches tall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human-shaped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Delicate limbs. Small hands. A face that looked almost like a child’s, except the skin had a faint greenish glow, like light filtered through forest leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its hair was messy and soft, dark like wet bark. Its eyes were huge and glassy with fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked up at Sekhmet. It did not scream. It did not attack. It simply stared at him, trembling so hard the cage rattled faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat’s eyes widened so much her whole face became round.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She is small. Bat Bat size,\" Bat Bat whispered, awed, like she had discovered a lost sibling species.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vera leaned closer slightly, careful, controlled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vela’s posture shifted subtly, protective by instinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stared at the tiny spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do I do with a spirit?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had expected something... He had expected beast. He had not expected... this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He activated Blood Eye. His vision shifted, and information rose cleanly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Baby Forest Spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Name: None\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall Battle Power: 500\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Status: Frightened\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emotional State: Confused \u002F Desperate \u002F Exhausted]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So weak it should have been dead already if it had been treated badly for long. And yet it was here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the hands of men who sold living things like furniture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet’s thoughts tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why would they capture a baby forest spirit?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was still staring at the information when the system rang inside his mind. Not a loud celebration. A sharp alert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[System Note: Rare potential detected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evaluation: Baby Forest Spirit possesses uncommon growth path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recommendation: Preserve. Do not discard.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet went still for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rare potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uncommon growth path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system did not give those notes often. When it did, it usually meant the thing in front of him could become valuable later in a way most people would never predict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet looked at the spirit again. It was trembling. Too young to talk. Too young to negotiate. Too young to understand why its life had become a cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t want more responsibilities.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reached in slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirit flinched as if expecting pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet did not grab it. He simply opened the cage door. He pulled the cloth aside and stepped back slightly, giving it space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Go,\" Sekhmet said quietly. \"where you came from.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The baby spirit did not move. It stared at him. Its tiny hands clutched the bars, knuckles white despite being made of something that looked like light and leaf.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was too frightened to trust freedom. Or too exhausted to run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat leaned in, eyes shining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat smiled. It was the kind of smile Elena would call dangerous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hello,\" Bat Bat whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirit blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat pointed at herself proudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bat Bat,\" she declared softly, as if introducing a noble title.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirit trembled again, but it did not recoil as much. Bat Bat was small. Bat Bat looked like it. Bat Bat was not a towering human size monster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat looked up at Sekhmet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master,\" Bat Bat said urgently, \"let’s keep it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sekhmet stared at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bat Bat puffed her cheeks and continued her argument like a lawyer who had been paid in candy.\u003C\u002Fp>",1003,"2026-06-09T06:31:32.937Z",1,"novelbin.me","ae4d9e04b78ef40788346bd6ee2f5c046278b4071d024ac92377eaff6ce12159","dawn-walker-chapter-175","dawn-walker-chapter-173",359,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdawn-walker-cover.jpg"]