Dog Beating Staff Technique

At this very moment, two factions of demons were engaged in a frenzied slaughter within Qiantang County. The Beggar Sect and the Corpse Herders, two groups of cannon fodder, were under some unknown compulsion from the remnants of the Eternal Life Cult. After taking a brutal initial blow that left them with heavy casualties, they still rushed back into the fray after catching their breath, their battle cries echoing throughout the entire county.

Of course, there were also some unlucky souls who lost the ability to care for themselves in the first wave.

Just like this Corpse Herder that Ge Xian spotted with his senses at this moment.

In a dark, damp alley, by a gutter filled with filthy water, lay the half-body of a person. The Exotic Taoist Robe on his body was also only half-remaining, unable to cover his mangled waist. Even more unfortunately, this person had lost more than just his lower half; an arm and a small portion of his head had also been torn apart by the storm, scattered to who knows where.

Judging by his facial features, he was a young man with an ugly appearance. Nothing else stood out, except for his nose, which had a thumb-sized mole on it, making it quite memorable.

The rest of his exposed skin was grayish-black, appearing hard and cold. Strange, talisman-like patterns were etched onto it with some kind of foul-smelling blood. His mouth was adorned with a metal ornament made of interlocking plates.

This person seemed to have exhausted his magical power, unable to summon his severed body parts. He could only twitch the metal plates, emitting a strange whistling sound, to command a zombie, which had only one leg left, to hop around and retrieve his dismembered body from the gutter.

The zombie appeared to have been transformed from a "human." It was just different from ordinary people, bloated and obese, like a rhinoceros or a bull. As it hopped, the ground trembled, indicating that it must have been a formidable fighter in life.

Before long, it actually managed to retrieve a hand from the filthy water and brought it to the Corpse Herder's severed limb.

Following the whistling sound, a bizarre scene unfolded:

From the rough, grayish-white severed end, tendrils resembling Blood Maggots suddenly emerged, emitting an eerie red glow. In the blink of an eye, they pierced into the severed hand, forcefully pulling it together, and then it was as good as new.

Next came the other severed parts.

As he gradually recovered his full body, his complexion grew even more ashen. His body trembled, and the alley was filled with continuous "gagging" sounds. Every time he vomited, amidst the rattling of the metal plates, pools of foul-smelling, viscous Corpse Fluid mixed with dozens of plump, white corpse maggots would fall to the ground, causing it to sizzle and corrode.

Clearly, repairing his body came at a considerable cost.

Because of this, the Corpse Herder kept muttering curses at Lu Hualong, never repeating himself.

Ge Xian didn't understand the Xiangxi Dialect, only catching a few words like "Pig's Head," "Son of a Bitch," and "Idiot." He suspected the curses weren't just directed at Lu Hualong, but also at those Eternal Life Cult cultivators. He thought they were blaming them for acting without proper intelligence, leading to a potential disaster.

"Even though he's a corpse, this guy can still curse."

"There might be danger. I'll find another."

With that thought, Ge Xian gave up on attacking this person.

He silently concealed himself and followed his senses to find the next one.

Although his super-senses gave him a vague feedback that if he used his three powers—Call Wind Summon Rain, Skinning, and Bewitch—there was a considerable chance he could subdue this Corpse Herder, devour him, and then kill him. A Corpse Herder who associated with the Beggar Sect and Evil Cultivators was unlikely to be a good person.

However, Ge Xian was unwilling to take even the slightest risk.

For the next few dozen breaths, Ge Xian darted around like a wandering soul, observing the Beggar Sect disciples and the Corpse Herder Evil Cultivators from afar.

Inwardly, he saw that each of them appeared to be severely injured, but unfortunately, they could still move and even curse.

As such, they did not meet his requirements.

"Since it can move erratically and curse, it might suddenly attack and kill."

"Who knows what trump cards these Evil Cultivators are hiding."

Muttering, just as Ge Xian was about to give up.

After taking many turns, he arrived at a large embankment within the city. Amidst the scattered rocks by the embankment, a dilapidated body, like a corpse, lay there. Although it still twitched slightly, it was clearly severely injured and on the verge of death.

The outward appearance was that of an Old Beggar, wearing tattered clothes sewn with five brightly colored large pockets. His limbs were limp, and he lay in filth, clearly having broken bones all over and lost control of his bowels and bladder.

"Whoa, it's even a Five-Bag Elder?"

"Just has the worst luck. Not only is he about to be swept out of the city, but he also unluckily crashed into these rocks. There probably isn't a single good piece of flesh left on him."

Ge Xian muttered this but still didn't step forward.

He continued to observe from the shadows. He personally saw a strange green light flicker on the Old Beggar's body from time to time, as if he were trying to use something like "Internal Energy" to repair his body. However, each time, it would dim halfway through.

After multiple attempts, in Ge Xian's perception, the Internal Aura within the Old Beggar had almost completely extinguished.

He knew that if he didn't act now, it would truly be a corpse.

What he wanted wasn't just to rummage for some Bizarre Martial Arts from the Old Beggar, but information and secrets were what he truly desired.

The next moment, Ge Xian moved.

As he stepped out of the shadows, a fine drizzle suddenly drifted down from the embankment, carried by a gentle breeze.

The Old Beggar, on the verge of death, coughed up blood and was in a daze.

Suddenly, he sensed a green umbrella appear above his head, shielding him from the drizzle. Beneath the umbrella, a seemingly frail female figure appeared.

The Old Beggar's cloudy eyes, originally filled with unwillingness and resentment, immediately showed astonishing greed and a desire to survive. He kept shouting in his heart: "Faster, closer, closer."

The woman under the umbrella, just as he had expected, leaned down as if to ask him something.

Without any hesitation, the Old Beggar's face suddenly contorted into a ferocious expression, his eyes turning blood-red. His aged body immediately underwent a transformation: bulging muscles erupted, coarse dog hairs sprouted, and a set of foul-smelling yellow teeth instantly elongated and protruded... In the blink of an eye, the Old Beggar had transformed into a Mangy Vicious Dog.

He leaped up like a Man-Wolf and lunged at the woman under the umbrella.

As he moved, the wicked Old Dog even transmitted a message into her ear:

"Little girl, this old man thanks you for saving my life..."

Before he finished speaking, the Old Dog had already bitten down.

In his anticipation, he expected to taste tender flesh and warm blood next, which would help him regain his strength and live.

But in the next instant, he felt that what entered his mouth was incredibly tough, impossible to tear at all. It was clearly a Demon's Skin Sac.

He looked down, and there was no trace of a young girl's flesh and blood. It was indeed a smooth, glistening otter skin.

And that green umbrella was even more outrageous; it was actually a large lotus leaf.

Realizing he had been tricked, the vicious old dog's face contorted with rage. Just then, the last bit of strength in his body completely dissipated. His foul-smelling corpse crashed heavily to the ground. A muffled thud echoed from within his body upon landing, and not a single bone remained intact. He retched incessantly, spewing forth pus and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.

With this, the old dog had no strength left and was headed for death.

His body visibly transformed from a mangy vicious dog back into the appearance of a frail old beggar. He roared incessantly, "Green Umbrella Woman, Azure Otter Demon, to think that I, Hong Buyi, would be toyed with by such low-class spirits before my death. I hate it, I hate it so much..."

He had every reason to be enraged. The so-called Green Umbrella Woman was actually a spirit transformed from an otter, specializing in bewitching handsome young men. She possessed little skill. Normally, such spirits would become his prey, devoured one by one.

As his consciousness completely blurred, a face from his youth seemed to appear before him, and voices called out, "Hong Buyi... Hong Buyi..."

Amidst these calls, the old beggar felt as if his life was flashing before his eyes, recalling his entire existence.

All his secrets, all his hidden deeds, were revealed without omission.

"I, Hong Buyi, have no regrets in my life, only that I wasn't more shameless back then."

"If only I could have abandoned all humanity and become a true beast, I wouldn't be unable to establish my foundation. I had clearly entered the Dao! I had touched that supreme Dao! I could have lived forever and enjoyed eternal bliss..."

With these murmurs, the old beggar finally breathed his last, turning into a puddle of rotten flesh.

Before his corpse, Ge Xian knelt down with a complex expression.

Naturally, it wasn't due to the old beggar's dying ramblings that he felt moved. After he used [Bewitch], the old dog not only revealed everything he knew to Ge Xian but also recounted his life story.

After listening, Ge Xian felt that the scoundrel deserved to die.

If not for the speed at which the old dog met his end, Ge Xian would have even wanted to do it himself.

"The old fellow's original name was Hong Buyi. He was an innate evil seed. In his childhood, he had a penchant for arson and mingled with ruffians and villains all day. Later, he accidentally burned down his own house, crippling his younger brother. Feeling that he was no ordinary person, he encountered the Beggar Sect passing through during a famine and voluntarily joined. He even stole all the family's stored grain to offer as tribute to the sect."

"After joining the Beggar Sect, Hong Buyi obtained a rudimentary cultivation method and cultivated diligently. However, his talent was poor, and he couldn't enter the Dao. In the end, he took a risky path and cultivated an evil technique, the Primordial Chaos Art. This method required extinguishing emotions and desires. Thus, the fellow returned to his hometown and killed his parents and younger brother. Later, during a breakthrough, he poisoned his master to death, finally truly entering the Dao."

"Afterward, he changed his name to [Hong Buyi], considering himself a person devoid of benevolence, filial piety, and righteousness, seeking only freedom and ease."

"Therefore, this old dog committed almost every evil deed imaginable. Whether it was practicing evil methods, torturing children, Life Harvesting Dismemberment, abusing enemies, or rape and plunder, he was always at the forefront."

"Moreover, because he cultivated an evil technique with the greatest cost, it was accompanied by the most vicious habits. He spent most of his day enduring torment, his disposition becoming increasingly twisted. His cultivation advanced little, and after wasting most of his life, he only managed to achieve the position of a [Five-Bag Elder] in the Beggar Sect."

"However, relying on his seniority and his considerable skill in rhetoric, the old dog actually secured an important position in this operation. Therefore, he carried many valuable items, which now rightfully belong to me."

"Of course, the greatest gain was the old dog's memories."

"What is the Cultivation Path in this world? What are the various pieces of intelligence and secrets? They have all entered my ears."

As these thoughts flashed, one could see that the confusion and bewilderment in Ge Xian's eyes had indeed lessened considerably.

Meanwhile, he had also finished looting the corpses.

With Hong Buyi's memories, he naturally knew all the items hidden in the five large pockets and the secret pouches on his person.

He didn't take everything, but picked and chose, taking some good things that wouldn't cause trouble later.

For example, what he valued most was a martial arts manual called the Dog Beating Staff Technique.

It sounded like it had the same name as a martial art from his previous life.

In reality, it was completely different. This staff technique was fundamentally a ferocious and evil art. Ge Xian was willing to take it for his own reasons.

After packing it up, Ge Xian didn't linger. He erased all traces of himself and then quickly fled.

In the future, whether it was the Beggar Sect or Lu Hualong's ghouls who discovered the old dog's corpse, they wouldn't notice anything. They would assume it was as it should be, and if they knew items were missing, they would only attribute it to the storm.

How could they imagine that a small peddler could deceive a cunning and ghost-like Five-Bag Elder of the Beggar Sect completely in such a bizarre manner?

ps: Requesting follow-up reads and monthly votes. Thank you, brothers and sisters.