Chapter 453

Because Xiao Xuedou's bodily structure had not changed at all, it was simply as if its body had suddenly grown several times larger while retaining its original proportions.

This is entirely different from the fully grown adult giant beast Xuedou.

If compared to animals, it's like an adult black bear and a giant-sized juvenile black bear—similar in size, but fundamentally different.

At this moment, Xiao Xuedou's gaze was vicious, baring its teeth, emitting a low, rumbling roar like a car engine, its body arched as if ready to tear apart every living thing around it.

Most shocking of all, Xiao Xuedou's eyes had turned completely black, with black blood streaming down them!

Possession…

Possession had occurred on a Ghost Hunter?!

Everyone was stunned, utterly at a loss for what to do.

They were not Hunters, nor Lord Han—they lacked such experience and specialized knowledge.

They had no idea what was happening before their eyes.

In the chaos, Jing Yan roared: "Run! Take Wu Wu outside first! I'll go notify Ye Ge!"

Jing Yan's voice instantly drew Xiao Xuedou's attention.

That massive head, with its black, blood-streaked eyes, locked onto Jing Yan; its four short legs lunged forward and charged at him.

Swish.

Jing Yan's face turned as pale as paper; he fell to the ground in terror—he had no combat ability at all!

"Jing Yan!"

At that moment, a barrel-shaped wine bottle shot out from the side with a swish, and with a thud, smashed into Xiao Xuedou's eye.

Xiao Xuedou's eye was injured, causing its charge to veer off course; it crashed past Jing Yan with a boom, smashing the kitchen into rubble, partially damaging the second-floor pillars, and causing the second floor to begin creaking and swaying precariously.

"Run! Run! Xiao Xuedou's gone mad!"

While Jing Yan was still dazed, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu grabbed his hand and dragged him outside.

Even though Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu herself had a wounded thigh, she ran swiftly—only the beads of sweat on her forehead revealed she was enduring pain.

"Wait! What about Ye Ge? What about Lord Han? Others are still upstairs!" Jing Yan cried out.

"Don't panic—I sent someone up already. Look over there!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu pointed; Jing Yan then noticed a small figure sprinting desperately, darting past Xiao Xuedou and heading straight for the crumbling upper floor.

He wasn't the only one fighting for his life.

Those who had escaped from Gu Yue Cun during the village's destruction night all carried the resolve to face death!

"Lord Han! Captain Ye! Wake up! Wake up!" the small figure shouted.

Fang Yue's room remained silent, but Lord Han had already pushed open the door upon hearing the cry.

Looking up, he saw the small squad member's look of relief—and Xiao Xuedou's enormous head, mouth wide open, unleashing a deafening roar.

"Roar!!"

Saliva flew everywhere; the small squad member fell to the ground, turned in terror, and stared at Xiao Xuedou, now nearly upon him.

"Lord Han! Save me!"

Lord Han had just snapped out of his daze.

The sudden chaos outside had stunned him, but he was already running toward the man.

But it was too late.

The distance was too great.

Amid the echoing scream of despair, Xiao Xuedou had already clamped its jaws around the man, poised to crush his body and swallow him whole.

"How could this…?"

Lord Han's fury surged, yet he felt utterly powerless.

Right now, he could do nothing.

Only by waking Fang Yue quickly could he regain control of the situation.

But before Lord Han could turn and rush into Fang Yue's room, he suddenly heard a sound.

"Woof!"

Not a wild, furious roar—but… the usual cute little bark.

Stunned, Lord Han looked toward the giant Xiao Xuedou.

Xiao Xuedou's eyes had returned to clarity, all traces of blood gone.

Sitting on the ground like it had been given the "sit" command, its short tail wagged rapidly and excitedly.

The person it had bitten lay on the second-floor floor, drenched in saliva and streaked with a little blood—but still alive, even hopping and screaming "Aaaah!" as it scrambled toward Lord Han on all fours.

"Lord Han, save me!!"

He sprinted behind Lord Han, still covered in Xiao Xuedou's saliva, cautiously lifting his head to look out.

Only then did he realize… Xiao Xuedou no longer seemed dangerous.

What was going on??

The small squad member was bewildered; Lord Han was bewildered too.

In his understanding, once Possession began, the strange entity should seize control of the body and take dominance.

When the eyes shifted from white to pitch-black and bled, that meant the Possession had advanced from Black Grade Low to Black Grade Mid or higher.

Theoretically, this meant increased power—making it harder to handle—not suddenly vanishing, allowing Xiao Xuedou's own will to regain control.

"Could it be… because Xiao Xuedou is a Ghost Hunter, its conflict with the strange entity disrupted the Possession?"

Even Lord Han knew little about Ghost Hunters.

After all, Ghost Hunters were countless, their traits wildly varied, each unique.

Non-specialist Hunters, outsiders, simply had no way of knowing the traits of Ghost Hunters—or what happened when a specific Ghost Hunter became entangled with a strange entity.

"Woof!"

Xiao Xuedou barked again, clearly eager to play with Lord Han in his black mist form.

But with that massive body, Lord Han suspected that a few casual bounds from it would be enough to tear the building down.

It was fortunate that Fang Yue had just obtained a small chest of gold bars; otherwise, paying for the inn's damages would have been more than they could handle.

After all, both land prices and the cost of living in Qingsi County were quite steep.

"Jing Yan, take Xiao Xuedou out to the courtyard and have him stay there for now."

"M-me?"

"Yes."

"..."

Jing Yan fell silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and walked up to Xiao Xuedou anyway.

This was no ordinary little dog—this was a colossal beast he had to face, the kind where a single pink paw coming down could crush every bone in his body.

Forcing a smile, Jing Yan said carefully, "Xiao Xuedou, come on, let's go play outside."

"Woof!"

The excited, giant-sized Xiao Xuedou immediately went thump-thump-thump like an earthquake as it ran outside.

Once outside, it sat down just like before, its tail wagging excitedly.

Seeing that Xiao Xuedou still listened to him, Jing Yan finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

He then used the usual training commands to direct it a couple of times, and only then did he truly relax.

It seemed... apart from its body becoming giant-sized, Xiao Xuedou was no different from usual in every other way.

But the frenzied look from that Possession earlier was still fresh in everyone's mind, and no one dared get too close to it.

"Lord Han, what's going on here exactly? How did Xiao Xuedou suddenly become like this? Can it change back?"

Although the big, fluffy Xiao Xuedou was also very cute.

Still, it was the small, compact Xiao Xuedou that gave people a sense of security.

(End of this chapter)