Bestial Nature

Xiaowalus and Xiaowaluwen, relying on their keen perception and powerful bodies tempered by the Nightmare, successfully established a connection with the Abyss Matter. Selected as hosts, they each gestured an Abyss Core within their bodies, granting the Xiaowalu brothers a certain degree of regenerative power.

However, the Abyss Core possessed another characteristic that the brothers could not discover through experimentation, nor dared to.

That is, once the host dies, the Abyss Core replaces their brain, allowing the host to be resurrected in a brand-new form.

And now, the Xiaowalus appearing before Ye Chen was precisely in this grotesque state.

Of course, while it could be called a resurrection, Xiaowalus's consciousness had long since been replaced by the Abyss Core.

Therefore, in reality, the Xiaowalus currently baring its fangs, shrieking with laughter, and seeking revenge on Ye Chen was nothing more than an Abyss Monster wearing his skin, craving the consumption of flesh and blood.

"Gawuuuu--!"

Watching the terrifying figure approaching and listening to the continuous, shrill shrieks of excitement, the expression on Ye Chen's face became completely relaxed, smoothing out every ripple and wave stirred within his heart until it was still.

Do not panic, do not be impatient, do not fear.

Calm first, think second, act third.

A heart like still water.

This is the mindset a Hunter should have; this is the path I should pursue.

Because I am the Hunter, and it is the prey!

In a brief instant, several of Lyle's past teachings echoed in Ye Chen's mind. He quickly steadied his spirit, returned to a state of calm, and bravely stared into Xiaowalus's terrifying, inhuman face, observing the movements of its thick, twisted limbs.

The youth dilated his pupils and widened his blue eyes. The next moment, the surrounding scene began to slow down in his vision, and every move Xiaowalus made seemed to gradually decelerate.

Everything became clear, everything became slow and controllable.

Ye Chen understood that at such close range, he had no time to reload. He simply released the revolver with his right hand and forcefully slashed it across the blood-stained short sword strapped to his left arm.

Swish.

A bloody gash appeared on his right palm, and fresh blood poured onto the edge of the short sword, making it appear even more crimson and brilliant in the dark night.

After Ye Chen completed this brief action, the mutated Xiaowalus had already lunged before him, opening its pitch-black, deep mouth filled with tentacles to bite directly at Ye Chen's head.

The youth calmly steadied his right hand against his left arm, and the moment Xiaowalus entered his attack range, he thrust the blood-red short sword into its pitch-black maw with all his might.

Clang--!

The tip of the sword pierced through countless layers of black flesh, stabbing straight toward the depths of Xiaowalus's throat.

However, at the same time, Ye Chen was knocked to the ground by Xiaowalus's pounce.

The two figures twisted together, rolling across the ground several times in succession.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Ye Chen gritted his teeth against the dizziness, desperately trying to force the short sword toward the Abyss Core inside Xiaowalus.

But the creature bit down hard on his arm, constantly preventing Ye Chen from completing that crucial step.

The man and the monster struggled for a while before finally coming to a halt.

In the end, the lightheaded human was, unsurprisingly, overwhelmed by the monster's unimaginably vigorous energy.

His battered body was pinned firmly to the ground by the creature's strong limbs.

"Wooooo..."

Xiaowalus held Ye Chen down with its four limbs, its head moaning with uncontrollable excitement while it desperately tried to press closer to Ye Chen's face.

Although Xiaowalus's mouth was currently sealed by Ye Chen's short sword—unable to open or close—the tentacles growing on the sides of its mouth wrapped directly around Ye Chen's neck and face, attempting to suffocate him to death.

"Urgh--!"

Ye Chen used his nearly crippled left hand to push the short sword upward, preventing Xiaowalus's mouth from getting closer, while using his exhausted right hand to wedge between his neck and the encroaching tentacles to prevent Xiaowalus from strangling him.

However, maintaining this stalemate for now was already the youth's limit.

His short sword could no longer reach deeper into Xiaowalus, and his body and mind could no longer withstand the monster's unnatural strength.

At the same time, the ghostly, eerie whispers transmitted from the Abyss tentacles echoed wildly in the youth's skull, constantly assaulting his heart and ravaging his sanity.

"We are not your enemy."

"Accept us, join us."

"Together with us, let us devour all living things in this world."

Ye Chen's face flushed red as he stared into the darkness of Xiaowalus's maw and listened to the murmurs between its tentacles; his eyes gradually became ethereal and dim.

A Hunter being pounced on and killed by his prey seemed to be only a matter of time.

Am I... going to fail?

Is there really no other way to resist?

If the teacher were here, what advice would he give me?

At this point, is it still possible to turn the tide? I probably can't do anything, right?

It's over, I'm going to lose, everything is lost.

I... I have already...

The sensation of suffocation gradually overcame the pain, beginning to seize Ye Chen's brain.

However, just as his mind was on the verge of a total collapse, the words his teacher had once spoken to him suddenly echoed in the boy's ears.

"As a Hunter, never lose your humanity."

"But more importantly, never lose your beastliness."

Beastliness?

As Ye Chen pondered this, his mind suddenly grasped the profound meaning behind his teacher's words, and his tightly shut eyes snapped open at that very moment.

Hunters hunt their prey, using every method at their disposal.

And Ye Chen's Blood Spirit Art, in addition to creating high-damage ammunition, could also enhance the effectiveness of all sharp objects, not limited to metal items like knives and swords.

Precisely because of this, Ye Chen, currently bound hand and foot, actually had one weapon left unused.

That was the sharp tool constructed of calcium within his own mouth.

His teeth, stained thick with blood!

"Augh!"

The boy's face twisted hideously as he opened his mouth, revealing a set of blood-drenched red teeth, and bit down with all his might onto one of the pitch-black tentacles locked around his throat.

The Blood Spirit Art, at this moment, exerted its full potential, supporting its master with all its heart and soul, instantly transforming his teeth into dozens of razor-sharp blades that easily sliced through the pitch-black sludge and tore apart the flesh of the Abyss.

Snap.

The viscous texture and nauseating taste surged into Ye Chen's mouth like a tide, but he paid them no mind. Like a lion driven to a desperate corner, he tore this tentacle off and immediately bit into the next one.

Snap, snap, snap—!

In less than ten seconds, the boy had already bitten through a third of the tentacles belonging to Xiaowalus.

His hysterical, furious, and violent demeanor revealed a savagery that came from the very marrow of his bones.

And this was precisely the beastliness that Lyle had spoken of, coexisting with humanity within the soul of Ye Chen!

The Abyss Monster wearing the skin of Xiaowalus saw the sudden turn of events, and its entire body subconsciously froze.

Clearly, it had not expected that Ye Chen would choose such an ancient and primitive method of resistance like a beast, nor had it expected that Ye Chen's teeth, much like the sharp short sword in his own mouth, possessed such a distinct suppressive effect on its body.

"Gaugh—!"

Xiaowalus let out a strange cry, then rapidly manipulated its remaining tentacles, surging them all toward Ye Chen's mouth in an attempt to completely seal his biting power.

However, Ye Chen had long anticipated that Xiaowalus would act this way. The moment his right hand was slightly loosened by the tentacles, he immediately grabbed the base of the dozen tentacles near Xiaowalus's mouth, then lunged forward to bite, instantly severing the majority of Xiaowalus's tentacles in one go.

"Eee!?"

Xiaowalus's posture wavered significantly, and it immediately jerked its head backward.

Yet, once Ye Chen had caught his prey, how could he easily let go? He decisively turned his blood-stained mouth, which had just severed the tentacles, and lunged toward the pitch-black, viscous neck of Xiaowalus.

Then, like a lion pouncing on its prey, the boy clamped his jaws onto the throat of his target.

Black, filthy blood sprayed wildly from the neck of Xiaowalus.

The thick skin and flesh were ruthlessly torn away by Ye Chen's blood-teeth.

The next second, a round stone embedded in the windpipe of Xiaowalus was exposed to the air.

"Wooooooo—!"

Feeling the arrival of death, the mutated Xiaowalus immediately began to wail and howl, attempting to turn and flee.

But just as the fangs that had been biting Ye Chen's left hand loosened, the blood-stained short sword, now freed from its restraints, instantly pierced through the throat of Xiaowalus, shattering the Abyss Core directly.

Crack.

With the disintegration of the core, the mutated Xiaowalus suddenly stopped its strange cries, stopped running, and stopped all movement.

Thud.

And then, it finally collapsed powerlessly onto the floor of the fountain courtyard.

It allowed the pitch-black sludge on the surface of its body to separate, collapse, and dissolve step by step.

In the end, this terrifying monster reverted into a headless corpse with only a jaw, reverted into the dead Lord of Frost White City, and reverted into the appearance that the real Xiaowalus should have had.