Chapter 81: Headless Horse (3rd Update)

Before Jing Yan could answer, Qiu Ge had already started the countdown.

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One!"

"Run!!"

In a flash, Qiu Ge actually turned and sprinted away, his hunting dog barking loudly as it chased after him.

Although Jing Yan was utterly bewildered, he still followed Qiu Ge's advice and bolted the moment the countdown ended.

But his resolve wasn't firm enough—he couldn't help glancing back.

The moment he looked, he nearly pissed himself!

The strange horse suddenly sprouted long fingernails, dense as a swarm, rising two stories high like spider limbs, towering over its surroundings.

Some of the fingernails skillfully gripped nearby trees, scaling upward in seconds and hanging suspended mid-air among the forest, terrifying and repulsive.

The horse itself seemed like the brain of this fingernail-spider monster, swaying back and forth until it locked onto a target.

That was… Qiu Ge's hunting dog.

In a flash, the fingernails beneath the horse's belly moved like a spider, darting through the forest and instantly overtaking the dog—then one nail pierced straight through its belly, pinning it in place; it whimpered twice and fell still.

Beside him, Qiu Ge had already collapsed in terror, screaming for help—but after only a few cries, he too fell silent.

Cold dread crept up his spine; though the sun still blazed high in the afternoon sky, Jing Yan felt utterly frozen.

He ran while screaming for help.

Soon, his cries drew the Guard Team—they took one look, understood the situation, and charged forward to engage the anomaly.

Jing Yan had no hope to begin with—he believed only a Captain could handle a Possession.

But reality proved otherwise.

This six-man squad moved with perfect coordination, advancing and retreating in unison, their rifle formation fierce—they actually held the horse anomaly at bay, trading blows back and forth.

Huh? This…

So it's not some powerful Possession after all!

As two other Guard Teams were now rushing toward this location.

Jing Yan's eyes darted—he stopped running, took down his Hunting Bow, and fired aimlessly ten or more times—all misses.

But he dared not get closer, so he switched to arcing shots to extend his range and gamble on accuracy.

Just as he was about to run out of arrows, he finally landed one—a "-0" prompt flashed above the anomaly's head.

Jing Yan: …

The Hunting Bow was only meant for hunting.

I'll spare its life today—once I've leveled up, got a better bow, and learned a Martial Technique, I'll come back for revenge.

As Jing Yan was thinking this, the horse anomaly suddenly retracted all its fingernails into its corpse, then shot away with a *whoosh*—its speed surged beyond reaction time; four men were instantly pierced through the chest and died, the rest all suffered Heavy Injury.

The tide turned—the horse anomaly regained the upper hand.

Even though the other two squads had arrived and joined the fight, the situation remained unclear.

If this continued, the Guard Team in the Hunting Zone would be wiped out…

Jing Yan sharply noticed the horse anomaly's attacks had weakened, and black blood kept oozing out—it was clear that move had taken a heavy toll.

He thought for a moment, retreated strategically, and sent a message to someone.

"Ye Ge! Ye Ge nearby?! Interested in a low-health boss?!"

"Ye Ge! Anomaly, team in danger, return fast!"

"Ye Ge, where are you? Hurry and patrol to our Hunting Zone—please protect us! The anomaly is already Heavy Injury, the Guard Team is useless—only you can finish it off! Ye Ge, come quick!"

He sent several messages in a row—unexpectedly, Ye Ge replied instantly.

"Send location, on my way!"

He said "on my way"—and he truly arrived immediately.

Less than two or three minutes after the message, Jing Yan saw Fang Yue and Xiao Hou.

Jing Yan stared blankly at Fang Yue, utterly stunned.

That speed was too fast.

Apparently, no player can resist a low-health boss.

"That's it!"

Xiao Hou instantly recognized the anomaly—or rather, recognized the horse.

But as he spoke, Fang Yue had already charged forward.

"Name: Horse-Fingernail Possession (????)."

"Level: Black Grade Low."

"Type: Transfer Type."

"Description: Product after Possession infests a horse."

"Note: Use civilized language, care for horses."

Fang Yue charged forward with such confidence not only because he saw the Guard Team holding the anomaly at bay, but because of these exact lines of information.

This… was the effect of the Analysis Pupil!

The Analysis Pupil had reacted to a Possession for the first time, providing brief details.

This might mean… the Horse-Fingernail Possession was weaker than him!

Of course, this was only Fang Yue's guess.

Because previously, when facing other powerful Possessions, the Analysis Pupil had never reacted—he'd assumed it couldn't affect Possessions at all.

Yet now one had appeared, and the only explanation Fang Yue could think of, besides himself having grown stronger, was that this bizarre creature was weaker than the ones he'd encountered before.

Seeing the Horse-Finger Bizarre once again being pressed back by the Guard Team, he grew even more certain of his theory.

The Horse-Finger Bizarre was very weak!

"All of you, get out of the way!!"

As he sprinted forward, Fang Yue drew his blade with a sharp ring.

This kill is mine for the taking — not even Jesus can stop me! I said so!

"It's Deputy Captain Ye!"

"Deputy Captain Ye has come to reinforce us!"

"Everyone, cover Deputy Captain Ye's charge!"

The moment the Guard Team members saw Fang Yue, their morale surged instantly. They quickly cleared some space, letting Fang Yue charge in.

Best of all, they flanked him on both sides, blocking the Horse-Finger Bizarre's long-nail attacks for him. The few that slipped through, Fang Yue either dodged or simply cut down with his blade.

Charging all the way to right beneath the Horse-Finger Bizarre, he hadn't lost a single drop of blood.

Gazing at the dense forest of long nails standing before him like a bamboo grove, Fang Yue unceremoniously unleashed his Water-Sky Blade Technique.

Water-Sky Blade Technique!

Force Control +0.6. Force Deflection +0.6.

Next came… the Leng Yue Blade!

With 6.9 Force Control and the Leng Yue Blade's 3-point Sharpness, Fang Yue cut into the forest of long nails as if it were empty ground.

Bladework as smooth as flowing water, each strike faster than the last — every slash snapped several of the long nails that supported the 【Horse-Finger Bizarre】's stance.

15!

25!

13!

17!

19!

Fang Yue hacked away with great gusto. The damage numbers popping out were honestly underwhelming, but the visual effect was spectacular.

There he was, Fang Yue, wielding a cleaver, hacking from the east side of the nail forest to the west, then from the west back to the east. Nails flew everywhere around him, and he didn't blink even once.

Wherever he passed, nails were harvested wholesale like stalks of rice. The 【Horse-Finger Bizarre】 lost its footing and, somehow, stood several inches shorter.

Pedicures — I'm a professional!

Seeing it was working, Fang Yue immediately kept up the pedicure, and the damage kept climbing higher and higher.

30!

35!

375!

37!

41!

The -375 in the middle wasn't Fang Yue's doing — it was the 【Horse-Finger Bizarre】 suddenly hacking up a huge mouthful of black blood on its own, with the damage prompt popping up above its head by itself.

Fang Yue's heart leaped with joy. It seemed Jing Yan hadn't lied — this 【Horse-Finger Bizarre】 really was a low-HP boss, already heavily injured.

Recommending a book — the new work by 【Eight Treasure Rice】 great-god, "Where Has the Daoist Gone."

A veteran lv5 author, quality guaranteed. Anyone interested can go check it out.

(End of chapter)