Chapter 205: Fox-Headed Human in a Crimson Robe

Before the sky darkened, Chu Danqing finally left Zhong Ting's house.

Heavy snoring came from the officer's room—he had eaten and gone straight to sleep.

Chu Danqing didn't know what the man had endured today, but he was certain the man had finally relaxed his tense nerves.

That was a good thing; otherwise, if any noise startled him at night, he might become a liability.

Night fell, but Chu Danqing's room remained brightly lit.

Thanks to the rise in Paradise Points, Chu Danqing's Electrical Age had finally upgraded from a hand-cranked version to a battery-powered one.

It used to seem expensive, but now the price had dropped by a whole digit—it was definitely more convenient.

Until midnight, the wind outside grew increasingly mournful, like someone wailing.

"The rope's been cut," Da Bao said, standing up to open the door and kill whatever fool had done it.

Chu Danqing guessed the owner of the embroidered shoe had acted.

What else could it be?

"Alright, be careful," Chu Danqing said, climbing into the war cart.

Da Bao flung the door open—and under the light stood a fox-headed woman in a bright red robe.

Chu Danqing couldn't understand why a female corpse's head was a living, breathing fox head.

And the fox head was unnaturally large, swollen as if soaked.

A normal fox head could never reach such a radius.

The withered corpse and the bloated fox head made the whole figure grotesque.

At once, Da Bao struck—a claw slammed into the fox-headed corpse.

The red robe offered no resistance, but the claw's strike sparked like it had hit steel.

"Copper skin, iron bones?" Chu Danqing was stunned—the fox-headed corpse looked frail, yet was this hard.

He immediately cast a Spirit Eye Technique.

——

【Monster·Grief Corpse】

【Attributes】

【HP: 100%】

【Corpse Qi: 100】

【Strength: 20】

【Agility: 20】

【Constitution: 20】

【Spirit: 0】

【Perception: 0】

【Talent】

【Beyond Reincarnation】

【Skills】

【Monster Grief Corpse Body (Passive) LV. AX】

【Yin Demon Absorbs Qi (Passive) LV. AX】

【Nocturnal Blood Feeding (Passive) LV. AX】

——

Chu Danqing scrutinized it—why were Spirit and Perception both zero?

That was far too abnormal.

And her body seemed to have multiple damage reductions, absorbing only specific damage types while reducing all others to negligible levels.

After Da Bao's attack, the fox-headed corpse instantly lunged toward Chu Danqing.

It seemed to target the weakest presence in the area.

Chu Danqing had no doubt—he became the target.

But Da Bao yanked him back.

Da Bao's stats were only 18—lower than the fox-headed corpse's.

But his bloodline, talents, and skills compensated for the deficit.

With his Rending Claws activated, he tore through the corpse's desiccated skin, piercing its bones and exiting its body.

"We need to buff some stats," Chu Danqing said, drawing a blade: "Da Bai, keep my HP line steady."

He pulled out a sterile device custom-made by a Life Apostle and began rapidly drawing blood.

"Holy shit, this feeling!!!" Chu Danqing's face turned pale.

His HP plummeted rapidly.

First, his Constitution's passive, Symbiotic Armor, activated—10% of all damage distributed to every summoned entity, and since wounds didn't heal, the distribution continued.

Next, his Strength's passive, Blood Sacrifice Blade, triggered—every 0. % HP lost increased all summoned entities' attack by 1%.

With a maximum of 100 stacks, full potency required Chu Danqing's HP to remain at 50%.

Once HP dropped to the activation threshold, Da Bai began healing him while he continued dealing damage.

This involved the second effect of Symbiotic Armor: if a summoned entity absorbed more than 10% of its own HP in damage within 24 hours, its attack increases by 10%.

This effect lasted 24 hours, so Chu Danqing was stacking time on all his summons.

"Nope, can't hold—hold off on Huangtian's Son, Ghost Mother, and Yue Lan's Martial Shadow." Chu Danqing stopped, quickly reversing the blood loss.

Their HP bars were too high—he couldn't sustain it.

After two rounds, Da Bao, his main fighter, had maxed out all buffs.

With 110% base attack, Da Bao's claw shredded the fox-headed corpse.

"Pity it's calculated as separate additive stacks, not multiplicative—if fixed and percentage boosts combined, it'd be devastating," Chu Danqing said, slightly disappointed.

"Need to update my notes," Chu Danqing said, adding a new entry.

Find a painless self-damage summoning skill—preferably one that doesn't impair combat ability.

Remember, 50% HP is half a life—Blood Sacrifice Blade lived up to its name.

Extremely heretical.

The fox-headed corpse died—a Superior-tier chest appeared atop its body.

Da Bao picked it up and handed it to Chu Danqing.

Chu Danqing kept his HP at 50% and opened it immediately.

Ghost Mother immediately sent a Ghost Infanticide to search the corpse for anything useful.

【You opened: Superior Chest, obtained: Jade Cicada, 900 Paradise Points】

【Jade Cicada】

【Type: Equipment·Accessory】

【Quality: Superior】

【Durability: 100/100】

【Mana +100】

【Tranquility: Mana Regeneration +1】

【Equip Requirement: Place in mouth】

"The shift in quality tiers and the rise in Paradise Points mean Superior-tier chests now yield the same points as the old Normal-tier ones," Chu Danqing said, staring at the tiny jade cicada carved in white jade.

The equip requirement made sense—it was meant to be used this way.

This wasn't for the living—it was for the dead.

"Ha, if anyone actually swallowed this for the mana and regeneration, I'd laugh at them for life."

"But if it's me? That's different."

Chu Danqing casually shoved it into his mouth, pressing it under his tongue.

Even the tiniest scrap of meat is still meat—especially when it takes up no space.

What? Unlucky? Too ominous?

His shadow held Ghost Mother and her entire brood; Da Bao carried demonic blood;

His passive, Blood Sacrifice Blade, was more sinister than anything imaginable—none of those three were less malevolent than this jade cicada.

Even without them, he carried the Nine Cauldrons Map, with dragon veins inside and the protection of Baxia, the dragon son.

What room was left for anything more ominous to be arrogant?

"Chewing it raw tastes like nothing," Chu Danqing said, spitting out the jade cicada, coating it in mint syrup, then putting it back in his mouth.

"Now that's better."

If you treat it like candy, the perspective changes entirely.

"Good thing it's only about the size of a pinky nail—if it were any bigger…"

"It wouldn't be a mouth-stopper cicada," Chu Danqing thought, imagining if he ever collected the full set of Jade Nine Orifices Stoppers.

The top seven pieces were fine, but installing the bottom two would be tricky.

"If I ever did collect the full set and sold it in Paradise, there'd definitely be niche buyers."

"After all, it boosts stats," Chu Danqing believed the market would be large.

"The only flaw is that single pieces don't form sets—if they came as a full set, it'd be perfect," Chu Danqing said, full of regret.

A set of nine pieces, even if of excellent quality, would still be comparable to a single fine-grade item once assembled.

"Alright, close the door and go to sleep," Chu Danqing said.

Tonight we've handled one matter, though the gains were limited.

As for the corpse centipede, we'll deal with it later.

Wait until Zhong Ting finds it—he has such amateur feng shui knowledge, he can't compare to a professional.

The Ghost-Resentment Infant stripped the fox-headed corpse naked and tossed it outside, then shut the door.

"You can't just litter garbage, let alone corpses. Bring it in first—we'll find a place to bury it tomorrow," Chu Danqing said, exasperated.

The Ghost-Resentment Infant nodded, half-understanding, then reopened the door and prepared to drag the corpse inside.

But as the door opened and closed again, several more monsters respawned at the threshold.

The lead Ghost-Resentment Infant tugged at its own umbilical cord, staring with confusion at the clay doll before it—taller by a full head.

Cracks ran across the clay doll's body, oozing foul-smelling blood.

Its face wore a strange smile, especially the rouge on its cheeks and the red mole on its forehead.

It gave Chu Danqing the feeling of being back in childhood photo templates.

"Ying!" One of the Ghost-Resentment Infants snatched up the clay doll and dragged it inside, then vanished like smoke into Chu Danqing's shadow.

Chu Danqing understood its baby-talk: it had found a fun toy.

It couldn't wait to share it with its mother, the Ghost-Resentment Mother.

"?" Chu Danqing stared, at a loss for words.

The remaining Ghost-Resentment Infants went outside and dragged the discarded corpse back in.

Just as they entered, the doorway was filled with a dense crowd of clay dolls, each smiling eerily at Chu Danqing.

Chu Danqing felt embarrassed under their gaze, and from his shadow emerged a large clump of mud stained with blood, organs, and bones.

Toys aren't that durable.

Ghost-Resentment Infants are, at their core, vengeful spirits.

They don't play with toys like ordinary children—they play with blood and violence.

Like vengeful spirits tormenting humans.

So to them, this thing isn't a doll—it's a target for torment.

Yet before Chu Danqing, they appear as innocent, clueless infants; outside, they are terrifying entities that have killed countless lives.

"It's my fault—I'm such a grown man and never bought my child any toys," Chu Danqing sighed.

The Ghost-Resentment Mother understood at once and released all the Ghost-Resentment Infants.

(End of Chapter)