Chapter 44: 43, Natural Enemy!

43, Natural Enemy!

In the alley, the yellow dog being savagely torn apart by Ao Duoji was Li Xiamei's eldest daughter!

Li Xiamei's adopted daughters have uncertain identities; most are ghosts or thoughts already showing signs of corruption.

It possesses two pieces of corruption skin, reserved exclusively for its adopted daughters to use.

Once draped in one of those pieces of corruption skin, ghosts or thoughts already showing signs of corruption become even more akin to corrupted entities!

Under normal circumstances, two adopted daughters wearing corruption skin are naturally adept at guarding the house and butchering meat; even capturing people from outside to kill is more than sufficient for them.

However, Li Xiamei's newly adopted third daughter has now brought Zhou Chang from the outside—

Not to mention that Zhou Chang had previously, relying on his complete Thought Robe, cracked Li Xiamei's killing pattern and escaped the Mass Grave with Zhou Sanji and Bai Xiue.

Suffice it to say that now, in his hand, he additionally holds a bone thumb ring imbued with seven 'Ao Zangben'!

Although the 'Zang Demon' cannot be compared to the 'Xiang Demon', the Zangben formed after a 'Zang Demon' is tamed is absolutely far stronger than Li Xiamei's two adopted daughters who are already akin to corrupted entities!

Moreover, according to Bai Ma, Zhou Chang's Ao Zangben was originally extremely rare and had to be cultivated over several generations to produce a 'True Zangben'!

Therefore, the moment Ao Duoji came face-to-face with Li Xiamei's eldest daughter, it displayed the formidable power of its True Zangben!

It bit down hard on the yellow dog's neck, and with a violent shake, directly caused the eldest daughter to lose the ability to resist!

Mottled Xiang Qi flowed out from the wound in the corruption skin worn by the eldest daughter; on Zhou Chang's thumb ring, the 'Ao Bai Ma' in the second Kong Dong panted urgently, and from that mottled Xiang Qi, wisps of dim yellow Xiang Qi instantly precipitated out, flowing into the Kong Dong where Ao Bai Ma resided!

"So there really is a second Ao Zangben?"

Watching that dim yellow Xiang Qi flow into the thumb ring on Zhou Chang's hand, Bai Ma's eyes instantly lit up, her thoughts racing: "Ao Duoji feeds on Anger Xiang Qi, while the second Zangben feeds on Resentment Xiang Qi..."

"It seems these Zangben of his can be used for more than just 'Bodyguard Zang'?"

Unaware of Bai Ma's thoughts, Zhou Chang saw Ao Duoji pinning the eldest daughter down and tearing at her savagely; his body surged forward, he closed the distance to the eldest daughter pinned on the ground by Ao Duoji in a few steps, and the sharp knife in his hand slashed through the eldest daughter's throat!

"Shrrr!"

The corruption skin ruptured, and the rate at which the eldest daughter's Xiang Qi leaked out increased even faster!

The Ao Bai Ma inside the thumb ring's Kong Dong evenly absorbed the wisps of dim yellow Xiang Qi formed from resentment emotions within the mottled Xiang Qi; this 'Ao Zangben' stored within the ring, nourished by resentment, accelerated its incubation and grew rapidly—

In contrast, the yellow dog on the ground became increasingly shriveled!

Until at a certain moment, when the eldest daughter's Xiang Qi had completely drained away, all Ao Duoji held in its mouth was a mostly damaged piece of corruption skin!

A wisp of floating light suddenly drifted out from Zhou Chang's thumb ring Kong Dong and cast itself into that damaged piece of corruption skin—inside that corruption skin, just as before, a fist-sized air bubble swelled up.

The air bubble surged left and right, expanding rapidly!

Suddenly, the battered 'yellow dog' propped its body up once again—

Ao Bai Ma had manifested its form through the corruption skin!

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Ao Bai Ma, having just left the thumb ring's Kong Dong, barked furiously and charged fiercely toward the front of the alley!

Meanwhile, Ao Duoji, having just won a battle, turned its body around, its fur bristling all over, lunged toward Zhou Chang, grabbed Zhou Chang's clothes, and dragged him in the opposite direction to where Ao Bai Ma was heading!

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Its barking was anxious and fearful!

In the dark alley where one could barely see five fingers, Zhou Chang suddenly looked up and saw a pitch-black figure looming at the far end of the opposite side of the alley.

Li Xiamei had arrived.

Her head was full of messy hair hanging down to her waist; she wore a black satin funeral robe, her feet were bare and pale white, and her equally pale face seemed to glow with a blue-green light even in the darkness, facing Zhou Chang on this side of the alley!

"Gag gag gag gag gag!"

Li Xiamei, with her pale white face, opened her mouth to reveal a full set of canine teeth!

The sharp knife in her hand slashed across in front of her; Ao Bai Ma, which was lunging at her, was instantly beheaded!

Only a wisp of floating light flew back into the Kong Dong of the thumb ring on Zhou Chang's hand!

Li Xiamei's head twisted stiffly, her body seeming to turn into a wisp of black smoke; in an instant, she crossed the alley and slashed a knife straight at Zhou Chang's head!

If struck by this slash, the Nie Corpse might be damaged, but Zhou Chang's Life Soul would definitely be instantly severed by the blade!

Buzz!

Watching the bright, snow-white blade light slashing straight down, all of Zhou Chang's emotions boiled over!

Indescribable fear was drawn out, yet in the instant he formed the thought, that deep fear transformed into an excitement that made his whole body tremble!

Xiang Demons are born from the thoughts of all things; from birth, they possess the ability to draw out various negative emotions from people's hearts!

When a living creature encounters an Xiang Demon, it is exactly like a sheep meeting a fierce tiger, or a domestic chicken seeing a mountain eagle—overcoming this fear, as if facing a natural enemy, is the first mandatory lesson for any living creature facing an Xiang Demon!

Even Bai Ma, who was attached to Bai Xiue, stiffened her body along with Bai Xiue at this moment.

The two of them, after all, had not yet encountered true death and were still within the realm of the living.

Only at this moment did Zhou Chang react—

He spread his five fingers and grabbed straight at the oncoming sharp knife; pitch-black Iron Thought Threads bloomed like a spiderweb in his palm, instantly wrapping around that hand, the entire arm, and half of his upper body—

Dense Thought Threads covered his entire body in an instant!

"Crack!"

That hand, as if wearing an iron glove, clamped down on the slashing sharp knife!

The sharp knife and the Iron Thought Threads rubbed against each other, producing a sound that made teeth ache!

Zhou Chang's spirit trembled amidst this violent friction; the terrifying power transmitted from the sharp knife pushed his body backward continuously, dragging him all the way out of that alley!

"Gag gag gag!"

Li Xiamei emitted a crow-like sound from her mouth.

In that instant, unable to pull the knife out of Zhou Chang's hand, she abandoned that knife, thrust her pale green hand into her own blood-filled maw, and actually pulled out another sharp knife covered in saliva and blood!

Li Xiamei then spun around, abandoning Zhou Chang as her current target, and attacked Bai Xiue, who was standing stiffly not far away, with the knife!

Seeing this scene, Zhou Chang's eyes flashed suddenly, and he then ran over in long strides!

The sharp blade gripped in his hand also transformed into a wave of black, gluttonous Qi, hurtling toward Li Xiamei's back.

He had seen Li Xiamei abandon herself and turn to attack Bai Xiue/Bai Ma, and at first assumed Li Xiamei meant to kill the 'traitor within the house,' to root out the 'mole' — but then a sudden shift in thought made him realize that the Thought-Demon, having shed its skin, no longer possessed any reason.

They would only mechanically obey the 'Law of Slaughter,' killing every living thing they saw.

At this moment, Li Xiamei had not turned to kill Bai Xiue in order to root out a mole — it was simply because the Thought-Silk had covered Zhou Chang's entire body, and the now far tougher Thought-Silk had sealed Zhou Chang's aura within itself — so that in Li Xiamei's eyes at this moment, he was equivalent to having 'disappeared.'

Thus, Li Xiamei naturally had to switch her target of slaughter!

"Run!"

Zhou Chang thrust both arms forward; strands of iron Thought-Silk shot from his fingertips, drew taut in midair, and in an instant pierced Li Xiamei, five paces away!

He gathered his focus, commanding every strand of iron Thought-Silk to unleash an overwhelming pulling force!

Yet Li Xiamei, whose body had been pierced by the iron Thought-Silk, did not stop her steps — she only stalled for a single instant before making the iron Thought-Silk burst apart in clusters!

And Bai Xiue/Bai Ma did not let Zhou Chang down — she finally seized that single instant of opportunity!

Bai Ma blew out a breath; Bai Xiue planted her heels and, light as a feather, 'walked' into that pitch-black alleyway.

Zhou Chang's other hand released Thought-Silk, which wound around Ao Duoji's neck into a leash; he tugged this fierce hound — which still wanted to charge forward and savage Li Xiamei — and dragged it with him as he ducked into the alleyway, bolting for his life!

"Caw, caw, caw!"

That terrifying, cackling sound, like a laughing crow, clung tight to Zhou Chang's back the whole time!

He burst out of the alleyway and into the front courtyard, his silk threads ceaselessly pulling at every object in his field of vision, piling them up at the mouth of the alleyway to form a wall!

Layer upon layer of Thought-Silk wove together over that 'door'!

From behind the door came the sound of Li Xiamei hacking wildly!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Once we walk out the front courtyard's main gate, we'll have left Li Xiamei's home…" Bai Ma's face surfaced over Bai Xiue's face as she spoke to Zhou Chang.

The meaning behind her words was that once they stepped out the gate, the few of them would be considered out of danger.

However, Zhou Chang's gaze swept here and there, as if he hadn't heard her words, and said: "We have to kill it twice!

Kill it once, then sew shut its five senses so it can't sense the aura of the living — that way, we can break its Law of Slaughter!"

Bai Ma drew in a sharp breath at his words: "What are you trying to do?"

"It sells braised dog meat out there, so it must still be using a human skin to deceive the living outside." Zhou Chang's words leapt from topic to topic, but the two women present both quickly grasped his meaning.

He went on: "Find that skin of its!

Burn its last human skin, break its Law of Slaughter!

Take it down!

Make it dissolve, make it die!"

As he spoke, the Thought-Silk wound around Ao Duoji's neck gathered back in one by one, and he issued a command to Ao Duoji: "Go, find the skin that Thought-Demon was wearing!"

Ao Duoji excitedly lolled his tongue, barked once at Zhou Chang, and went bounding off like a wolf!