Volume 2, Chapter 36: Fangs (Part 2)

Gradually, she awoke from her coma.

The scenery in her eyes slowly resolved into gray and black outlines. As expected, she had been slung over the shoulder of that pervert, and they were making their way back to the lumber mill along a path at the edge of the forest.

The spot where his shoulder pressed against her burned, and with every sway, her body was wracked with immense pain. The perverted old man must have realized she was waking up. He remained silent and still, likely because her fingernails had all been broken off…

But it didn't matter…

Her arms hung limply, as if crippled. As he walked, the muscles in his shoulder shifted slightly, and a sharp-edged pebble began to slide slowly from her sleeve along that point of pressure.

Her movements were slow, her body unnaturally still, as if dead. However, perhaps it was too slow, because soon, the outline of the lumber mill appeared in her vision. The old man walked at a steady pace, gradually approaching the small door behind the mill. Suddenly, he stopped and sniffed the air.

"Smells like blood…"

However, Yuechi Xun also smelled of blood. The old man, catching the scent, hadn't even confirmed his thought when a "bang" of a gunshot echoed from the small plaza nearby. The old man's heart leaped. He pushed open the small door and, taking just one step inside, Yuechi Xun, still on his shoulder, flew through the air!

Her wide kimono spun like a butterfly in the wind as the round stone clutched in her hand flashed like lightning towards the old man's neck. However, the old man reacted with incredible speed. He jolted, reaching out to grab Yuechi Xun. He missed.

Her body, flying through the air, bizarrely glided a distance before landing behind the old man. The sharp edge of the stone sliced towards the back of his head, which was completely unguarded.

Chiying Qianhuan!

Red clouds billowed in the darkness. The moment the two made contact, the girl's body arced through the air, and the old man directly flung her away, having somehow managed to grab her clothes at some point.

She wore no undergarments beneath her kimono. Her bare body, clad only in white socks, was swung through the air for nearly four or five meters before she crashed onto the illuminated ground in a corner of the plaza. Her just-developing, naked body was covered in countless wounds, a shocking, vivid red. It looked as if she had been fitted with a layer of clothing or stripped of a layer of skin. Lying on the ground, she instinctively struggled twice, spitting out a wisp of blood. In her right hand, she still stubbornly held the stone.

It was her only weapon, though now it seemed to hold no meaning.

The old man, holding the wide kimono, reached to the back of his head and pulled out a pool of blood. Staring at the blood, he suddenly laughed, "Heh heh, good, Chiying Qianhuan… Chiying Qianhuan… Xun, your sneak attack failed this time, you can try again…"

He wanted to discover the secret of Chiying Qianhuan during the fight. But looking at the naked girl lying on the ground, bathed in the light, seemingly on the verge of death, he knew she was in no condition to fight. He walked a few steps closer, and in front of the girl, he finally saw the scene in the plaza clearly. He froze.

The two buildings in the lumber yard were arranged at a ninety-degree angle. When he had first entered the small door, his view had been blocked by the second-story building. Now, standing at the intersection of light and shadow between the two buildings, he could see everything in the small plaza. Four or five headless corpses were scattered across the plaza, their blood pooling into dazzling crimson stains. A small hut on the opposite side of the plaza was engulfed in flames, threatening to spread to the surrounding structures. However, by a water pipe on another side of the plaza, a child was washing a cleaver.

Yuechi Xun was severely dizzy from the fall. After a long while, she could finally make out the expression on the old man's face. Then, struggling, she shifted her body. Both members of the Yuechi family fixed their gaze on the piles of corpses and the child in front of the plaza. The old man gripped his katana, but neither of them spoke.

After slowly cleaning the cleaver, he began to wash a dagger, then picked up a nearby bar of soap to wash his hands. Only then did the boy turn his head, smile at the two of them, and bow.

"Long time no see. What a coincidence." In Yuechi Xun's dazed vision, the child who had been trembling in fear moments ago now spoke in pure Tokyo dialect Japanese.

"Welcome to China."

An involuntary chill crept up the old man's spine.

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At some unknown time, Cao Dongfeng had also woken up in the forest.

It was pitch black all around. He dared not move his body, and only after he felt out his surroundings did he roughly understand that he was on a large tree.

He had no idea how that bastard Gu Jiaming had managed to carry him up here…

After calming himself, he fumbled in his pocket for a pack of matches. He struck one, gauged the height of the tree, and then climbed down.

As he landed, he remembered what Gu Jiaming had said earlier.

…It's despair.

He naturally didn't understand or believe the words, but since he had been thrown onto the tree, even if others caught him, they probably wouldn't kill him immediately. When he returned this time, he would make sure to deal with him properly, making him truly wish he could live but unable to, wish he could die but unable!

Thinking this, he walked forward not far when he was suddenly tripped by something.

He took out his matchbox. The first match went out. He lit the second and moved it towards what had tripped him. It was a leg. The match traced up the leg – familiar clothing, leather pants, then a leather jacket, and then—

Waaaaaaah—

A scream of extreme terror echoed through the forest. Cao Dongfeng scrambled backward several steps, pressing himself against the thick tree trunk. His heart felt like it would leap out of his chest. It was a headless corpse!

…It's despair.

In a daze, he thought he heard someone whisper in his ear.

He didn't know where to put his hands. Trembling, he fumbled on the ground. Suddenly, his fingers touched something soft and fleshy. He fearfully crawled back a few steps. After a long time, another match flickered to life, and he shakily extended it towards the object he had touched.

—A human head!

This time, his teeth chattered uncontrollably, but he finally didn't scream. After a long while, his low sobs could be heard: "Help me… someone save me…"

He gathered a pile of leaves on the ground with his hands and, after several attempts, managed to light them with a match. By the firelight, things within a few meters became clear. The headless body, the head… this person was indeed his father's subordinate. And not far away in the darkness, another corpse seemed to be leaning against a tree trunk. From here, it also appeared to be headless.

Trying his best not to look at the horrific corpses, Cao Dongfeng, trembling, threw a few branches onto the fire. Once they were lit, he held the makeshift torch and ran frantically in the direction where there were no bodies.

After running a few steps, he suddenly stopped and vomited with a "whoosh." In front of him, a headless corpse had its stomach cut open, its organs spilling out. Looking at the head lying on the ground beside it, these were still the subordinates his father had brought to rescue him.

Running away while vomiting uncontrollably could be considered a rather rare spectacle. Of course, no one was nearby to appreciate it. He turned a corner and ran a few more steps, only to find another corpse, then a head, then a corpse, then a head. Most of these people had various other injuries, but without exception, they were his father's subordinates, and they had all been decapitated. Running wildly and aimlessly, at one point, he suddenly realized that he had been turning away whenever he encountered a corpse, and now, he had run back to his starting point!

The fire he had started earlier was now burning fiercely, consuming the trees. The first headless corpse he had discovered still lay on the ground. He stared blankly at the body, and Cao Dongfeng's last words from Gu Jiaming echoed in his mind again.

It's… despair!

No, Dad must be fine. He's in charge, he wouldn't follow. He must be fine…

He wasn't familiar with the area, and it was hard to navigate in the dark. But this time, ignoring the corpses, he roughly estimated the direction of the lumber mill and stumbled his way over…

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Ah, what's going on? Sanjiang Pavilion refreshed already? Wasn't it supposed to update at midnight…

Never mind, there's another chapter tonight. I'll also add "yd" names to all chapters… Also, please vote (^__^)

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