Chapter 102: Frequent Changes, a Human Face in the Darkness

At the critical moment, Feng Yuhuai agilely tilted her head, dodging the fatal attack.

Her ponytail was severed in an instant, strands of hair dancing like chaotic leaves in a gale; a thin, long gash opened on her cheek, and waves of numb itching came from the wound, as if some tiny living thing were wriggling inside it.

Her steps staggered; from the corner of her eye she scanned the wall — a wooden stick was driven deep into it, its tail trembling slightly, a few fine black fragments shaking loose and falling.

"Ants?"

Feng Yuhuai's pupils contracted sharply, needle-sharp.

She fiercely wiped her cheek; where her hand touched, countless black ants floated in the blood, dead and alive mixed together, fused with her blood, revolting.

That disgusting wriggling sensation instantly ignited her rage, completely overwhelming the shock in her heart.

Her steps abruptly halted; the power inside her erupted to its limit, her waist twisting nimbly like a snake, legs tightening, waist driving, toes snapping out viciously.

Hiss—

A sound like a venomous snake flicking its tongue sliced through the air.

Heihei No. 2 finally caught up; he raised his arm, his hideous arm bracing horizontally before him, as if bitten hard by a venomous snake — several pieces of rotten flesh were torn off by Feng Yuhuai's shoe tip, hanging in midair, swaying nonstop.

He seemed impervious to pain; wisps of strange black qi seeped from his arm, and he backhanded a swipe, five fingers like sharp blades slicing at Feng Yuhuai's foot tendons, the move both ruthless and precise.

Feng Yuhuai's mind was shaken, her movements lagging; only now did she deeply realize that the opponent she faced was on a completely different level of ferocity compared to those classmates she sparred with at school.

The other party would not flinch from injury at all; his movements were terrifyingly stable and continuous, while she had fallen into a perilous situation of switching between offense and defense.

A burst of intense pain shot from her ankle straight to her forehead; Feng Yuhuai's eyes nearly bulged out; her right foot felt as if cruelly dissected by an invisible butcher's hand, flesh and tendons torn, bones twisted into a bizarre angle.

"Foot... broken?"

This thought exploded in Feng Yuhuai's mind; her face twisted in terror, wild long hair flying in the air.

In her mind instantly flashed the desolate scene of her father Feng Ju lying on a hospital bed, missing an arm.

"No! I absolutely cannot become a cripple like my father!"

A desperate rage surged in Feng Yuhuai's heart; she let out a sharp scream, her body's potential instantly stimulated. She violently yanked back her right foot, the shoe tearing off like ripped cloth, revealing that mangled, horrifying sole.

Feng Yuhuai's heel trembled as it touched ground, her body swaying on the verge of collapse.

The severe pain spreading from her soles ruthlessly eroded every nerve of hers, and the haze of despair coiled around her heart like poisonous vines, circle after circle, tightly entangling it.

Fear, despair, anger — countless emotions entangled and erupted; Feng Yuhuai's internal Huajin Snake Art actually broke through on the spot, forcibly raising a whole tier.

Her body involuntarily trembled once, then in the moment inspiration struck, her footwork cleverly hooked, her body lightly pressing against that muddy ground.

Waist twisting nimbly, as if she had transformed into an agile snake, she slid lightly along the ground, her speed even faster than when running on two legs.

Huajin Snake Step — a footwork she had never been able to comprehend before — was penetrated by Feng Yuhuai between life and death.

In the dark corner of the alley, a bald middle-aged man, gold-rimmed glasses on his nose bridge, his pupils flashing a strange light, unhurriedly took in everything before him.

He suddenly clapped and laughed, his voice carrying a few parts admiration and mockery:

"Marvelous, marvelous! On the edge of death, to actually break through in crisis — this bone quality and aptitude are indeed no small matter. No wonder she attracted the Puppet Mother's favor, becoming one of the candidate host bodies."

"Go, intercept that black-faced one, don't let anyone hurt this girl." The middle-aged man spoke to the motionless figure behind him.

That figure was like a wax figure in a wax museum, face pale as wax, not a trace of blood color, breath barely perceptible, eyes tightly shut, as if isolated from the world.

Hearing the man's command, he seemed to awaken from slumber, abruptly opening his eyes.

He gently stretched his meridians and bones, his joints emitting a strange crackling sound, then slowly walked out from the shadows, revealing a face honest and simple like an old farmer's.

However, those eyes were completely different — entirely pale with only a single black pupil, appearing exceptionally eerie and sinister.

Bang.

Heihei No. 2 had just pulled out the Ant Stick and was about to chase Feng Yuhuai again, when he felt a thick, fishy-smelling malicious qi assault from the side.

Tremendous force struck his side shoulder; rotten flesh and pus scattered across the ground.

Heihei No. 2 groaned in pain, his movement not pausing; stick following body, he turned, piercing the other's flesh like a knife through tofu, lifting diagonally upward.

Amid a tooth-aching sound of flesh slicing, the attacker's abdominal cavity was torn open with a hideous gash, a long section of intestine severed, dragging and sliding down, dangling at the thigh root, the cool, horrifying sight striking the eyes.

In battle this was an almost certainly fatal wound.

The attacker's face showed no ripple; he let his intestines hang at his waist, took a step forward, lifted knee and stabbed foot, fiercely jabbing at Heihei No. 2's lower body.

The move was ferocious and brutal to a mess, yet in those pale whites with a single black pupil there was still not a ripple.

Heihei No. 2 retreated violently; on that face black as ink carbon that never seemed to know fear, an expression of utter horror suddenly surfaced, even his stutter turning fluent from fright, he cried out: "Zhang Hao?!"

Zhang Hao ignored his former comrade's cry of alarm; he raised a hand, a gloomy luster rising between his five fingers, like ghost fire in the night, grabbing straight for Heihei No. 2's chest.

Cold sweat drenched Heihei No. 2's forehead; he dodged repeatedly, his train of thought nearly short-circuiting, unable to understand why Zhang Hao had become so unfamiliar, as if he had lost his reason, not even recognizing him anymore.

He glanced sideways and saw Feng Yuhuai had already fled farther and farther, about to disappear from his line of sight; a trace of anxiety flashed in his eyes, he was about to step forward and give chase, but saw Zhang Hao shift a step sideways, with a strange, tilted posture, perfectly blocking his path.

Heihei No. 2's brain was a mess; he gritted his teeth, helplessly retreated a few steps, turned and ran swiftly, heading back to find the receiver.

The receiver was not skilled in force, so he had not followed; at this moment he was still at home keeping Yang Tuo's corpse company.

"Didn't, didn't catch up?"

"Someone helped me block the other side?"

Feng Yuhuai heard the brief, fierce sounds of struggle behind her; she didn't have a single thought of looking back to see her savior's appearance, her waist twisting even faster, only wanting to escape while they were entangled.

Suddenly,

A strange voice, ancient yet carrying a childish tone, transmitted into her ear from practically right against her cheek: "Little girl, running so fast, not even planning to meet your life-saver — isn't that a bit too heartless and cold-blooded!"

Feng Yuhuai was as if hit by an Immobilization Technique, frozen in place, her neck mechanically slowly turning.

In the darkness, a bald middle-aged man came into view; he wore gold-rimmed glasses, a flash of unfathomable amusement in his eyes, gaze fixed straight on her.

On his shoulder, a grotesque rag doll missing eyes, mouth corner stretched into an exaggerated slit, revealing a pink tongue, was facing her... smiling?!

ps: Little sister won't be the protagonist later, please don't worry... I can only say, the plot you probably won't guess, don't panic!

(End of Chapter)