Ghost Hound, Demon Child (Part 2)

10:30 p.m., outside the apartment building.

Chu Hengkong wrapped a tentacle around a long spear. The spear was seven feet long, head and shaft both forged from refined iron, astonishingly heavy. Spears on ancient battlefields usually had wooden or bamboo shafts; an all-iron spear was far too heavy for ordinary people, but it suited Chu Hengkong just fine.

The spear was not a relic, but it would do. He had put on newly custom-made leather gloves on his right hand. The Perception Necklace was embedded in the palm, while two Water Bullet stickers were affixed to the back of his hand. With a clench of his fist, he could conveniently trigger both relics, saving himself the trouble.

He had eaten dinner early, then walked around for a while that night to let his eyes adapt to the darkness beforehand. He always made thorough preparations before doing serious business. It was the same whether he was killing people or beating dogs.

After night fell, the abandoned apartment building's atmosphere changed completely. The dim lights in the corridors had actually come on again, flickering as they cast sinister shadows where there was nothing. The evil ghost made no effort to hide its hostility; it was warning the man outside. Yet Chu Hengkong ignored all of it. He strode into the apartment building, arrogantly striking the iron door with his spear shaft. The knocking echoed harshly through the corridor.

The evil ghost inside the building was enraged by the intruder's provocation. It let out a low growl as fierce winds howled through the darkness.

Doors throughout the apartment flew open, and several black shadows shot toward Chu Hengkong with piercing whistles. They were rusted iron tools and blades. The evil ghost's power really had grown stronger at night. It did not need to reveal itself to move objects through the air with its bizarre power. More than ten sharp weapons stabbed at him from every direction, like the evil ghost's sharp teeth. They were even faster than ordinary Water Bullets, while Chu Hengkong had only one long spear.

His spearpoint flickered.

It was only an instant of movement, so silent that no sound could be heard, yet every weapon crashed to the floor. The evil ghost's control over objects seemed to have failed. The flying blades suddenly dropped, shattering into fragments, while the man with the spear calmly walked around the debris. The evil spirit in the darkness was briefly at a loss. It could not understand what the man had done. Usually, throwing a whole pile of knives at intruders was enough to send them running, but that method seemed useless against this man.

The evil spirit decided to try another approach. It dragged up a heavy butcher's cleaver. The blade was broad and thick; its weight alone was enough to knock a man unconscious. Yet under the evil spirit's control, it flew without a sound and vanished completely into the shadows. It crept all the way behind Chu Hengkong, then slashed at his torso!

The butcher's cleaver sank into the wall. A round hole had appeared in the thick blade. Dense cracks spread from around the hole, and the cleaver shattered across the floor like glass. The evil spirit was completely stunned. This time, it finally understood why it had failed. Chu Hengkong's spearpoint had moved before the cleaver accelerated, and by the time the blade shattered, he had already withdrawn his spear. The evil spirit saw the beginning and the end, yet not the process. The instant that thrust was unleashed seemed to have been hidden away. Even illusory undead left traces, but this man of flesh and blood had delivered an invisible stab!

Chu Hengkong slowly raised his steel spear and aimed it at the damp wall.

"That's all the speed you've got at night?" he said with a smile. "Not worth looking at. Or... call your master out!"

The instant the final word left his mouth, he began running through the corridor. The spear scraped rapidly along the wall. Its excessive speed sent sparks blooming from the spearpoint. The team members waiting outside immediately covered their ears. They heard an ear-splitting screech, like fingernails scraping a blackboard, only a thousand times shriller. The noise resonated and echoed through the empty corridor, becoming an indescribably terrifying sound. The evil spirit in the darkness roared. It could not endure even another instant. The sound was torture even for humans, let alone a dog!

In an instant, every light in the apartment exploded and all the doors slammed shut. Shards of glass and broken blades formed a razor-sharp storm that swept through the narrow corridor. Every hiding place in the building was sealed off. Chu Hengkong could only defend himself or leave; no matter which he chose, the commotion would stop. But the evil spirit miscalculated again. The noise stopped for only an instant. Chu Hengkong's tentacle slid backward, his right hand gripping the spear shaft in reverse as he shouted and exerted force. The iron spear became a staff and smashed down into the heart of the storm.

"Ha!"

The blades swept backward, the storm flowed in reverse, and the evil spirit's attack was shattered! By an even stronger wind! The space before Chu Hengkong cleared, the fierce wind carving out a path. He continued running, turning his spearpoint toward the glass and making the shriek twice as piercing.

That was the advantage of using a weapon: greater range, greater force, and more ways to use it.

"Awooo—!!!"

A dog's bark exploded from the darkness, and window after window shattered. Even the team members waiting outside could feel the evil spirit's fury. The evil spirit could no longer hold itself back. It wanted to tear this bastard into pieces. Dust and debris swirled toward the stairwell, and beneath the sickly green light, a pitch-black beast revealed itself.

Gray dust formed its body, sharpened wood formed its claws and fangs, and within its enormous fist-sized eyes burned blood-red fires of hatred and malice. The evil ghost looked nothing like a dog. It was a giant wolf that could only appear in a child's nightmares. It howled as it transformed into a malignant gale and charged forward, but Chu Hengkong smiled instead. What he feared most was the ghostly thing hiding in the dark and endlessly harassing him. Once it showed its true form, it would be much easier to handle.

Chu Hengkong stood his ground and struck twice first. The spear shot out swiftly like two streaks of silver, not targeting the eyes or throat, but attacking the giant wolf's forepaws. The wooden claws were pierced through by the two thrusts, but the evil ghost's illusory body was completely unharmed. It leaped high and snapped at Chu Hengkong's head. Its closing fangs tore only air. Chu Hengkong bent his knees and lowered his body to evade the pounce, his right hand gripping the spear shaft tightly as purple light flashed in his hand. The spear swept close to the ground, then rose, shattering the giant wolf's two hind claws as well.

After the first exchange, the giant wolf landed while Chu Hengkong had yet to rise. The giant wolf felt smug. In the end, a bare-handed man could not harm it at all. He could only break wooden blocks and disturb the dust. Its form suddenly scattered. When it appeared again, it had teleported behind Chu Hengkong, its bloody maw biting down savagely.

Chu Hengkong sensed the wind behind him and heard the giant wolf's footsteps, but he still did not stand, because there was no need to rise yet. His half-bent right leg was gathering strength, while his extended left foot had quietly drawn back. The moment the giant wolf opened its jaws, he violently kicked off the ground and sprang up. His right foot stepped forward as he spun and shifted into a left bow stance, the spear shaft turning with his arm and smashing backward!

The blow smashed through the giant wolf's dusty outer hide and struck something deep within its body. The giant wolf froze on the spot as if electrocuted. It rolled across the ground, letting out agonized whimpers. Chu Hengkong's attack had actually worked. He had injured this ghost with iron.

This was the result he had expected, because from the very first exchange of the battle, he had been setting up this strike. Breaking the wooden claws was meant to reduce interference, ducking to evade was meant to close the distance, and when the giant wolf passed over his head earlier, he had activated the Perception Necklace. His enhanced vision had allowed him to see through the dust and into the wolf spirit's body.

A stone collar was hidden deep within that enormous body. He guessed that this was the key to how the evil ghost could stir up trouble.

Who knew how many people and beasts died unjustly in Dragon's Return City every year? Why could a pet dog become the evil spirit haunting this building? Either it had some strange and unusual bloodline, or it had manifested through the effects of a relic. Now that crucial relic had been struck by his spear. Like a venomous snake seized by its fatal seven inches, the giant wolf rolled several times in pain, then rose and fled. Behind it, Chu Hengkong calmly flung out his tentacle. The iron spear ahead caught up with the wolf's body and stabbed the stone collar three more times.

All three strikes landed precisely in the same spot. The stone collar was thoroughly damaged, several cracks surfacing across its face. The giant wolf whimpered and dropped to its knees. Chu Hengkong stepped on the collar, slowly raising his spear as if to smash it completely.

"—Don't hit Hawu anymore!!"

A little girl's sobbing cry came from the darkness. A bizarre suction force snatched away the collar, causing Chu Hengkong's spear to stab into empty air. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If I didn't miss that, even the dog would be able to tell I was holding back. He turned and rested the iron spear on his shoulder.

Sure enough, the little female ghost he had seen once during the day appeared. This time, she was no longer hiding in the wall, though she still timidly cowered beneath the green light. The giant wolf lay beside her, whimpering, as docile as a real pet.

"Sir, please stop," the little female ghost pleaded pitifully. "Hawu shouldn't have provoked you. Please let us go."

Chu Hengkong's head ached at that tone. He had never been good at dealing with women or children, and this ghost happened to be a little girl. He sighed, then abruptly asked, "Are you a good child?"

The little female ghost stood there with her mouth half open, unable to understand what he meant. She hesitated before speaking. "I... I am..."

"When you were alive, you were a good child. Now that you're dead, don't cause trouble for others," Chu Hengkong said coldly. "Dragon's Return City is huge. If you don't cause trouble, no one will care about you or your dog. But if you refuse to behave, people like me will come to deal with you."

The little female ghost said nothing and took two steps back. Chu Hengkong softened his tone, trying his best to sound kind and gentle. For a killer, that was exceedingly difficult. "I don't kill children. Give me the collar, behave yourself, and this ends here."

"...I won't give it to you." The little female ghost hugged the collar tightly.

Chu Hengkong rubbed the bridge of his nose. The little female ghost's eyes held the stubbornness of nails driven into wood. This was why he disliked children. Children were always stubborn and single-minded. Once they clung to something they had set their minds on, they would never let go. Even if you kicked them or beat them, do not dream of making them change their minds. They would only stab you viciously with the nails in their eyes, turning even a petty matter into a war against the whole world.

Chu Hengkong made one final attempt. "I'm a police officer. If you have any enemies, this policeman can help you kill..."

"So you're a police officer." The little girl lowered her head. "Are police useful?"

"When my mother was beaten to death, you weren't there. When they beat Hawu and me, you weren't there either... I screamed with all my strength, screamed until my throat went hoarse, but no one came... Now my father and mother are both dead, and the police have finally come, to beat my dog...!"

Blood-like tears streamed from the little female ghost's eyes. She stared at Chu Hengkong with desperate intensity, her howl nearly a sob. "My whole family is dead! What use are you people now?! Go die! All of you, go die!!!!"

A shrill explosion accompanied her cries, and Chu Hengkong immediately raised his spear. The next instant, sickly green power erupted around the female ghost. The giant wolf charged out, more than twice as fast as before!

The wolf's head slammed straight into the iron spear. A tremendous impact traveled through the shaft, a force like a giant hammer that smashed Chu Hengkong directly into the ceiling. In an instant, the spaces between three floors were consecutively smashed through. Chu Hengkong was violently blasted from the second floor to the fifth. The impact passed through the iron spear and struck his flesh directly, making him spit out a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, searing pain erupted all over Chu Hengkong's body. Invisible blows fell like raindrops. There was clearly no one around him, yet his perception told him he was being beaten by dozens of vicious ghosts!