[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit":3,"chapter-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-37":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","There Is a Malevolent Spirit",{"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},2263143,4416,"Chapter 37: 36, Dog-Faced Woman","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-37",37,"\u003Cp>36, Dog-Faced Woman\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stench of blood hung thick in the air, dense and unyielding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang sniffed the suffocating odor, slapped his dull head, and staggered upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze blurred as it swept over the rows of white dog carcasses hanging from iron hooks, searching for the source of the chopping sounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond the freshly eviscerated dog carcasses, Zhou Chang saw a tall figure with long hair standing across from him, back turned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The figure faced a wall caked in filth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the wall hung numerous iron knives glinting coldly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the chopping block before the tall figure lay half a dog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gender-ambiguous figure pressed one hand on the half-dog and swung a cleaver repeatedly, dismembering it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room hung with meat dogs, the mad figure hacking flesh, the dim and frigid chamber…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of it stirred a faint unease in Zhou Chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sense of unknown danger continually warned him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He staggered off the “bed,” his bare feet touching the icy floor—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang instinctively looked down and realized he wore only a pair of shorts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The plank he had lain upon was not a real bed, but a massive chopping block.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the blackened block, suspicious bloodstains had dried into dark smears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between the cracks of the block, faint traces of rotting bone and flesh could be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where are my clothes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang’s thoughts were fragmented, unable to form coherent lines—his mind jumped from one thought to another without connection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He scanned the surroundings, and when his gaze fell again on the tall, long-haired figure facing away, he suddenly realized—he was still in grave danger, and this was no time to search for clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang took a step, his body swaying unsteadily, toward the only door emitting light in the dim space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rows of meat dogs passed on either side of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the hollow cavities of the dog carcasses, foul odors drifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reached the doorway; below the threshold’s two steps lay a corridor paved with blue bricks, its surrounding rooms half-open, still shrouded in gloom, their interiors indiscernible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eaves on both sides squeezed out a narrow sliver of sky, pitch black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang raised his foot to step over the threshold—his left thumb suddenly stabbed with pain, as if bitten by a rat, and a chill shot straight to his forehead, sharpening his awareness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He heard a rush of wind behind him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, he spun around—and saw—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tall, long-haired figure, draped in a leather apron, held a gleaming dagger in one hand and pushed aside the hanging dog carcasses blocking its path with the other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iron hooks swayed; dog corpses collided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clatter of metal and the thud of flesh erupted into chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the hollowed cavities of the inverted dog carcasses, illusory, colorful aura streamed forth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The aura filled the dim room, and in that haze, the pale-skinned dog corpses seemed to transform into human figures—old or young, all emaciated and withered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire room was filled with disemboweled corpses, swaying on iron hooks, their hollow frames trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chill surging toward Zhou Chang’s forehead deepened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the swirling aura, the tall, long-haired figure suddenly drew near Zhou Chang’s face—he finally saw its face: beneath the long hair, it bore a pair of eyes with long lashes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the round eyes, its nose was black, its mouth elongated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—It was a dog’s face!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grafted onto a human head!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sss—” The dog-faced woman bared her mouth, revealing a full set of canine teeth slick with saliva, letting out a hissing, threatening growl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her lips stretched wider, exposing blood-red gums; the skin beside her nose wrinkled into grotesque folds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at those foul, canine teeth, Zhou Chang thought of an old acquaintance—Li Xiamei.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was there any connection between this dog-faced woman and Li Xiamei?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had the Paper-Faced One brought him here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhou Chang pondered, the dog-faced woman lunged forward, driving her dagger straight at his chest!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shhh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Threads of crimson thought-essence drifted down from Zhou Chang’s third eye, coiling tightly around his left arm; his left palm opened wide—though slower to move than the dog-faced woman, his grip reached her wrist before her blade could strike—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His palm clamped onto her wrist holding the dagger, and the crimson thought-threads, tethered to his spirit, snapped taut with sudden force!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each thought-thread stretched like bowstrings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the bone ring on Zhou Chang’s left thumb, sounds of canine pursuit and tearing echoed: “Ha—sss—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Roar!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wo—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He twisted his wrist, snapping the dog-faced woman’s wrist clean off!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aaagh!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dog-faced woman screamed, clutching her broken wrist and recoiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dagger in her hand was now seized in Zhou Chang’s left hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang advanced step by step, dagger in hand, toward the dog-faced woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Threads of thought-essence drifted as his mind turned, drawn into the seven hollows of the bone ring on his left thumb, feeding his spirit into the seven “thoughts” within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seven thoughts within the ring fed back more “chill” to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His forehead grew colder, his mind clearer—but his limbs remained stiff, no longer as nimble as before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Throughout his advance, he walked on his toes, never letting his heels touch the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who are you? Why try to kill me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang pressed forward; his shadow stretched behind him, stretching from his feet all the way to the doorway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around the long shadow, for a fleeting moment, seven dogs seemed to follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re this weak? You want to become a demon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang asked again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dog-faced woman growled and whimpered, as if unable to understand him, offering no reply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as she retreated toward the corner, Zhou Chang caught a flash of cunning in her black eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third sister! Third sister!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dog-faced woman shrieked in a shrill female voice!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she opened her mouth, her intact arm seized a corpse hanging from an iron hook and hurled it straight at Zhou Chang’s head!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang saw the hollowed human corpse hurtling toward him; he dropped his raised dagger and sidestepped the flying body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant, the dog-faced woman charged again, gripping an iron hook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang still did not understand the meaning of her cry “Third sister”—until the dog-faced woman drew near, when he suddenly heard the Paper-Faced One’s faint voice right behind him: “Sister, I’m here…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing that voice, Zhou Chang could almost see its smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The voice came no farther than an inch from his ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Paper-Faced One spoke, Zhou Chang’s entire body turned icy, freezing in place, utterly unable to move.\u003C\u002Fp>",1092,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d0c9c38d22bd2819b90b2e4657450977eb3266b4c053c8c0f756398c7024f1da","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-38","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-36",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]