Post-mortem Nen?

It was as though a movie screen had gone dark for a while, then suddenly lit up again... When Muser regained consciousness, he found that he was no longer pinned to the floor by the Fanged Moon Tiger. At some point, he had stood up and was now standing at attention, his nose pressed against the wall as though he were being punished.

There was a gap in his memory... He had been controlled... By that little brat?

But how was that possible? The brat's neck had been shot through by him. He should have lost consciousness soon enough. Under those circumstances, he couldn't possibly have continued activating a Manipulator Nen Ability...

Assuming it really had been the brat, that meant he had not only relied on sheer, unyielding willpower to overcome the agony of a bullet through his neck, but had also successfully activated the unknown Manipulator Nen Ability he had marked on Muser's left temple earlier...

He was only a five-year-old brat. How could he possibly do something like that?

Muser had no control over his body at all. He could only stand there facing the wall while his thoughts raced.

Even if he was about to be killed, he had to at least obtain information about this brat's Nen Ability...

Right. When this brat placed that Manipulator Nen Ability on his face, he had also fulfilled the activation condition for Muser's Manipulator Nen—he had touched him.

As long as he got even the slightest chance to move freely, he could attach Rear Window Bird to this brat...

As long as this brat showed even the slightest lapse...

So he had to wait patiently.

Muser emptied his mind and calmed down completely. Before long, he heard a hoarse young voice from nearby. "Come here."

Muser could not understand a single word the boy had said.

But as the boy's voice fell, Muser, who had been facing the wall, smoothly turned right on his feet and walked steadily toward the boy—Jing Yang—against his will. The Fanged Moon Tiger that had pinned him down earlier stood beside the boy like a bodyguard, glaring at him with fierce eyes and letting out low, threatening growls.

Muser noticed that although the Fanged Moon Tiger's eyes were still covered in congealed blood, the bullet wound through the side of its skull seemed to have already healed.

Even now, Muser still could not understand exactly how he had lost.

Soon, he arrived before Jing Yang against his will and stood at attention again, like a puppet being controlled.

"A little tall, aren't you?" Jing Yang gestured at Muser with his raised hand, still speaking that incomprehensible language.

The next second, Muser abruptly dropped to his knees before Jing Yang with a thud!

What an incredible Manipulator Nen Ability... Muser thought as his gaze swept over the boy's neck. The spot the bullet had pierced had actually healed—just like the wound on the side of the Fanged Moon Tiger's skull! Aside from traces of blood that remained even after wiping, there was not even the slightest scar, as though he had never shot him at all.

Smack!

Jing Yang slapped Muser hard across the face, interrupting his thoughts.

Heh, such little strength. He really is just a five-year-old brat... Muser was not particularly affected. He even felt like... His expression gradually changed, and he could no longer smile.

Jing Yang gathered a tiny amount of aura in his childish palm, then backhanded him again.

Smack!!!

That much heavier slap left Muser dazed and disoriented. The other side of his face instantly swelled red, with beads of blood seeping through his skin. Blood also trickled from the corner of his mouth and his gums.

"This is ridiculous. Are you done yet? I got dragged into some unexplained transmigration, got chased by wolves, scared by tigers, and then nearly got shot to death by some guy who came out of nowhere! Don't you think I've had it hard enough?" Jing Yang shook his burning hand and complained in Mandarin. "Is there no law anymore? No justice? I'm still a kid! I'm just trying to stay alive. What did I do wrong?"

The more he spoke, the angrier Jing Yang became. He gave Muser several more hard kicks.

Without the slightest courtesy, he reached out, pulled open Muser's Black Suit, and searched around, finding a pile of odds and ends: a handgun, a wallet, a phone...

The handgun was out of bullets, and besides, Jing Yang did not know how to use it, so he casually tossed it aside.

He opened the wallet and found quite a few banknotes and Coins, along with business cards for various identities. The photo was Muser's, but every name was different... Jing Yang could not help looking up at Muser, whose mouth was bloody from the slap, and teased, "Couldn't tell from those thick brows and big eyes, but you've got quite a few aliases, huh?"

Unable to understand Jing Yang's language, Muser remained silent and continued kneeling before him against his will.

At last, Jing Yang pulled a card from the inner pocket of Muser's suit.

Just from the feel of it, he had the instinctive sense that he had found something good.

He glanced at it in the moonlight, then flicked the card with his finger and said happily, "Oh? A Hunter License? Didn't expect an unexpected windfall. Fine, I'll gladly accept this filial offering of yours. I'm in a pretty good mood, so I'll reward you with a few more slaps! Hahaha."

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!...

Jing Yang swung his childish palm in a flurry of slaps. His own hand hurt like hell from the blows, yet he still did not feel satisfied, so he gave the guy in front of him two more hard kicks.

Damn it, he had not provoked anyone, yet one life-threatening disaster after another had come knocking. If Jing Yang did not practice a set of Military Boxing on this guy, he would never be able to settle his feelings.

After venting, he gave the Black Suit in front of him a vicious beating—though he did not actually inflict any major external injuries. For one thing, Jing Yang's tiny arms and legs had limited destructive power. For another, if he injured the man too severely, the Star Mark on his left temple would trigger passively and begin healing him. That would be the same as voluntarily revealing information to an enemy, and Jing Yang had no intention of doing that.

Jing Yang plopped down on the floor. "I'm exhausted, I'm exhausted. Brother Tiger, your turn."

He waved his hand, then seemed to stop caring whether Muser lived or died as he played with the most valuable piece of his loot: the Hunter License.

"Roar..."

At his words, the Fanged Moon Tiger stepped forward. One of its eyes was covered in congealed bloody scabs that spread across half its face. Combined with the stripes on its body, regarded by the world as one of the seven great beauties, it looked savage and terrifying, yet possessed a strange, mournful beauty.

Muser could not help swallowing.

He was not afraid of death, but dying so pointlessly, without gaining anything at all, was far too meaningless—especially before he could complete his final task for Prince...

The Fanged Moon Tiger opened its bloody maw and lowered it over Muser's head. Kneeling on the ground, Muser could neither dodge nor evade.

"That Hunter License doesn't belong to you, does it?"

Behind the Fanged Moon Tiger, the boy's question this time had suddenly changed into the universal language Muser could understand!

Cold sweat appeared on Muser's forehead. He lifted his eyes to glance at the threatening tiger maw, thought for a moment, then decided to show a little willingness to cooperate. "How did you know?"

Jing Yang grabbed the phone beside him and smashed it hard into Muser's face.

"I'm asking the questions, not you." Jing Yang stared coldly at Muser. Perhaps because language and literacy had been ingrained in Muser's bodily instincts, after Jing Wolf successfully activated the Star Mark and controlled Muser, Jing Yang naturally gained command of the basic language and writing of this Hunter World. In any case, communication was no longer a problem.

Earlier, after the gunshot from the distant night had rang out, that familiar strange aura had slipped into his heart... Jing Yang had already reached a preliminary conclusion from experience: whenever a living creature died near him, a strange aura would enter his heart. Those strange auras, both cold and hot, were precisely the culprits behind the pain in his heart.

In other words, the guy in front of him had come looking for him only after shooting someone dead.

Either the man in front of him was a licensed Hunter, or the person he had killed was. Between the two possibilities, Jing Yang had simply guessed the latter first. That was all. But he had no interest in explaining anything to an enemy.

By then, the Fanged Moon Tiger had wandered a few steps away and brought back the phone it had knocked flying in its mouth.

Jing Yang was speechless. Was it a feline or a canine?

Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. He did not know whether Hunter World had positioning satellites, but it was better to be safe... He took the phone, removed the back cover, and took out everything removable: the battery, SIM card, memory card, and so on. Finally, he tossed them all one by one out the cabin window into the pitch-black sea.

"The license is mine. You can take it." Kneeling there, Muser asked, "Who exactly are you? Where is that woman's son?"

"Listen to you. If it weren't yours, I wouldn't take it?" Jing Yang asked expressionlessly. "Who is that woman, and who is this son?"

"That son is you." Muser took the risk of saying it, but saw no unusual reaction on Jing Yang's face.

Did I guess wrong? Without betraying anything, Muser continued examining Jing Yang's clothes. His waistband hung loose and was tied with a rope to keep his pants from falling down. The pant legs had been rolled up high, while his short-sleeved shirt was equally ill-fitting, its sleeves nearly reaching his wrists... This was clearly a set of clothes that had been hastily altered.

Muser slowly said, "I suspect that as the woman was dying, she was filled with worry and unwillingness at the fate awaiting the young child in her arms, who was also about to be killed... So after her death, her corpse gave birth to a peculiar Nen that parasitized you, accelerating your growth and turning you into what you are now..."