Chapter 42: 41, The Mastiff's Longing

41, The Mastiff's Longing

The last wisp of daylight was swallowed up.

Under this darkness, the thick lips of the fat woman kept splitting at the corners, the cracks extending all the way to her ears.

Inside the pitch-black maw lay a set of snow-white canine teeth, slick with drool!

She thrust her palm forward, her tiger's mouth clamping onto the man's neck, and hoisted his entire body into the air as if uprooting a green onion from dry earth!

The knife in her other hand was about to plunge into the man's chest!

At that moment, sensing something unknown, her expression suddenly changed; she even abandoned the fat meat within her grasp—she hurled the emaciated man straight out of the shop and slammed the door shut!

In the darkness.

The fat woman, her face gloomy, turned and passed through the narrow aisle of the butcher shop, opened the back door, and stepped into the cluttered backyard.

"Eldest daughter! Second daughter! Eldest daughter!"

She emitted a needle-sharp scream from her mouth, her gaze sweeping across every corner of the yard, until it finally settled on the rusted dog chain beneath the jujube tree.

The dog chain was attached only to a collar; the Eldest Daughter, who should have been tied by the chain and guarding the 'meat' in the front yard, was now nowhere to be seen.

The fat woman's face grew even gloomier, her usually kind features becoming increasingly ferocious.

She strode with long steps toward the backyard—

Her arms suddenly bent backward, her fingers groping behind her back—

"Rrrrip! Rrrrip!"

The sound of tearing flesh and skin kept rising behind her!

In the blink of an eye, Li Xiamei, with waist-length messy hair like thatch, wearing a pitch-black burial gown, and with a large belly, laughed maniacally, clutching a long sharp knife, and rushed into the backyard like the wind!

—

Zhou Chang swept the gray-white figure frozen before him into his embrace; the sharp knife in his hand pierced forward, its tip grazing the clothes of the person in his arms!

Swish!

"Ah-ya—"

The woman's piercing scream rang out instantly!

The body held in Zhou Chang's arms trembled slightly; she turned her head, her wet eyes meeting Zhou Chang's pitch-black, calm gaze.

Before the two of them lay a black dog covered in curly fur, which had been stabbed squarely by Zhou Chang; streams of colorful Xiang Qi flowed from the wound pierced by the sharp knife, and the pure red Xiang Qi within was absorbed by Ao Duoji inside the ring.

Ao Duoji's barking grew more and more excited.

The curly-haired black dog let out the woman's scream, tucking its tail as it retreated.

Its eyes remained two blood-stained holes—even though it wore this 'Ghost Skin', the wounds Zhou Chang had left on its face had not been healed.

Zhou Chang held the person in his arms and retreated slowly, hiding behind a pile of weeds; his feet touched the ground without a sound.

After the curly-haired black dog screamed for a while, a 'heh-heh' inhaling sound came from its throat; its nose twitched as it relied on hearing and smell to search for the whereabouts of Zhou Chang and the others.

In the backyard, silence reigned once more for a time, with only the sound of that curly-haired black dog pacing back and forth in search.

Fine, translucent threads of thought covered Zhou Chang's entire body, completely sealing his aura within them.

The Thought-Garment in his mind, after repeated contact with Bai Xiue, had finally been completed, becoming even stronger and more resilient than before.

Seeing this, the woman in his arms followed suit—

Threads of lotus silk suddenly scattered around her body, weaving an invisible, colorless gauze robe over her surface.

A smile played in her eyes as she exchanged glances with Zhou Chang.

No one else but Bai Xiue could wield such a technique identical to Zhou Chang's.

Zhou Chang gazed at Bai Xiue and asked with his eyes: "How did you come here?"

Bai Xiue met Zhou Chang's gaze; whether out of fear or shyness, she timidly lowered her head, her body twisting slightly as she broke free from Zhou Chang's embrace.

When she turned to look at Zhou Chang again, ripples suddenly rippled across half her face—the countenance of Qu Li Bai Ma emerged from the ripples, and she stared coldly at Zhou Chang, stopping the two from continuing their eye-flirting.

Zhou Chang turned his head, glancing sideways at the curly-haired black dog pacing back and forth outside.

The blind Second Daughter must have followed Bai Xiue here; the Eldest Daughter is still nowhere to be seen.

At the very least, one of them must be dealt with as quickly as possible now.

Otherwise, the longer the delay, the more unfavorable the situation will become for him.

Zhou Chang had clearly understood the crux of the matter.

Inside the Kong Dong of the ring on his hand, Ao Duoji whimpered softly, somewhat eager to try.

He tapped the ring in his hand, turned his head, and mouthed to Bai Xiue/Bai Ma: "Wait here!"

Then, he quietly lifted a bundle of firewood from the hay pile and threw it in front of himself—

Crash!

Once the bundle of grass hit the ground, it immediately made a chaotic noise!

The 'Second Daughter' lingering in this place let out a howl and immediately pounced toward the spot where the firewood fell!

Its speed was extremely fast; the dark fur draped over its body made it look almost like a wisp of black smoke!

As the Second Daughter's form pounced close to the bundle of firewood, it lowered its head to sniff the hay pile, trying to find the residual scent of the enemy.

At this moment, Zhou Chang had silently appeared right in front of it; the sharp knife in his hand plunged straight down into the back of the Second Daughter's neck!

Ssshh—

The blade pierced the Ghost Skin, and colorful Xiang Qi surged out instantly!

Zhou Chang's body fell like a mountain collapsing and a jade pillar toppling, pressing his full weight onto the Second Daughter—the Second Daughter howled in pain, shaking its head and struggling violently!

Even with Zhou Chang's full strength, he could not pin it down!

In an instant, it flipped him over!

Even so, Zhou Chang did not relax even a fraction!

He gripped the dagger still embedded in the back of the two women's necks with one hand, and with the other seized the curled hair on their chests, stretching their skin-tight disguise until it was taut!

Threads of thought-wire spread from his palms toward the two women; black iron thought-wire coiled around every part of their bodies, binding and imprisoning them with fierce force!

"Hiss—Hah!"

"Ah! Ah! Big Sister! Big Sister!"

The two women's struggles and screams mingled with the sound of Ao Duoji devouring the Xiang Qi inside the ring!

Zhou Chang rolled across the ground, clutching the two women!

The opponent's foul, stinking maw came perilously close to his neck several times, but each time he fended it off with an elbow wrapped in iron thought-wire!

Finally, in a certain instant, Zhou Chang felt the strength of the two women's struggles drop sharply; he rolled over and mounted the shaggy black hound, then dragged the dagger in his hand downward along the festering wound on the two women's necks, lengthening the cut—

"Rip! Rip!"

Flesh and skin tore apart!

Billowing crimson Xiang Qi surged into the Kong Dong on Zhou Chang's finger ring; Ao Duoji inside the ring suddenly transformed into a wisp of smoke, and following the incoming crimson Xiang Qi, slipped into the two women's strange skin that Zhou Chang had cut open!

"Ah—Ah!"

"Awooo—Hiss—Woo—"

Within the two women's strange skin, a fist-sized lump immediately swelled up!

That lump scurried everywhere beneath the two women's skin like a mole rat; wherever it passed, the sounds of vicious dogs fighting never ceased!

At the same time, the force of the two women's resistance grew ever weaker!

The dagger in Zhou Chang's hand met no further obstruction and sliced the entire strange skin completely open!

Mottled Xiang Qi poured forth from within, like incense smoke blown open by the wind, dissipating completely into the void!

And beneath that strange skin, the lump that had originally been only fist-sized now swelled even further, causing the entire strange skin to bulge as if inflated with gas.

The 'Ao Duoji', with bristling fur and bloodshot eyes, nestled beside Zhou Chang's shoulder.