Having scouted the layout of the slaughterhouse once before, Bai Tang was now familiar with the route. This round trip felt much smoother.
Although she was still confused about Demon Hunter Theresa Delina’s intentions and why she had to undergo this so-called “test,” she remembered that if the other party hadn’t stepped in that night outside the Goat Tavern and given her the Demon Hunter Revolver, she might have already become food for the ghouls.
Consider this repayment.
It should come in handy.
She opened her palm and looked down at the small transparent glass bottle resting in her hand. A skull label was stuck on it, and inside, a dark purple potion slowly swirled, giving off an aura of death.
A few days ago, while assisting the Witch teacher in making “Flesh Recovery Potion,” Bai Tang had gotten distracted and added an extra ingredient. The resulting failure was this potion.
It was a complete accidental product. Other than the Witch teacher strictly warning her never to drink it, even Bai Tang herself had no idea what specific effects it possessed.
Shaking her head, Bai Tang stopped thinking about it.
Standing in front of the slaughterhouse’s iron gate, she tucked the potion into her pocket. After confirming there were no unexpected situations around, she hooked the iron hook onto the top horizontal bar of the iron gate, creating a stable triangular structure in the gap. With a push of her foot, she agilely climbed up the gate, found her footing, and flipped herself over into the slaughterhouse. Her feet landed precisely on a small patch of grass without making a single sound.
The entire sequence was smooth and fluid, with no wasted movements.
Her figure weaved between the rows of meat-drying racks. The hanging “pork” provided the perfect cover. Without lingering, Bai Tang quickly followed the same route as her first visit and located the Pig-Head Man’s current position.
“Heh~ What an idiot. She didn’t even realize she was scammed.”
The Pig-Head Man was hanging a processed half-pig carcass onto a drying rack. His words were full of mockery toward Bai Tang, his expression brimming with disdain.
When he had first seen the girl and recognized her as the human who had killed the werewolf not long ago, he had felt some wariness. But after personally testing her earlier, his opinion had completely changed.
She wasn’t nearly as impressive as the bizarre creatures on Undead Street made her out to be. Winning against the werewolf had simply been a stroke of luck.
Slurp~ The Pig-Head Man licked the corner of his lips with his liver-colored tongue. “I really want to eat you. If only that troublesome person wasn’t around…”
Bai Tang withdrew her gaze.
Although the Pig-Head Man she had to face was only an ordinary Fierce Ghost Level bizarre creature—not completely unbeatable like a Blood Robe Level one—his physique alone was nearly one meter ninety tall. With a butcher knife as a weapon in hand, there was zero chance of victory in a direct confrontation with her current combat ability. The only options were to rely on a surprise attack or to use the potion in advance to weaken his fighting strength.
Just as Bai Tang was contemplating her strategy—
She had no idea that something in the dark corner of the slaughterhouse had already locked onto her and was silently approaching.
As the distance closed, perhaps due to her enhanced spiritual power making her danger perception extremely sharp, a bone-chilling cold instantly rose from the bottom of her heart.
The girl’s body instinctively shivered.
She turned around to see a cat with entirely pitch-black fur, vertical pupils flashing with an abnormal bloody light, and eyes full of malice.
But how could there be a cat in a place like this?
In just an instant, Bai Tang realized this was the figure she had vaguely glimpsed during her first visit to the slaughterhouse.
No, it wasn’t a cat!
By the time Bai Tang reacted, it was already too late. The black cat bared its sharp fangs at her, then its body melted like mud, transforming into several pitch-black tentacles that lashed toward her.
The Eye of Breaking Delusions slowly provided information.
[Name: None]
[Race: Parasitic Demon]
[Level: 11 (Fierce Ghost Level)]
[Alignment: Chaotic Evil]
[Introduction: A member of the Parasitic Demon race. They commonly parasitize flesh creatures stronger than themselves, latching on like a bone-deep parasite until the host dies.]
Not good!
Even though she had dodged at the first opportunity, the black octopus-like tentacles firmly wrapped around her body. A wound was torn open at the back of her neck, and half of a tentacle drilled into her body.
Bai Tang’s pupils contracted sharply.
All sound was swallowed up. She could clearly feel the sticky, wet, slippery tentacles crawling under her skin and wrapping around her spine—the very thing supporting her body!
Through some ability of the Parasitic Demon, Bai Tang was gradually losing control of her own body. It reminded her of the parasitic flatworm back on Earth that specifically targeted snails and was skilled at mind control.
If this continued, she would die!
Buzz—!
She suddenly released a spiritual impact. Under the force of the impact, the Parasitic Demon’s movements stiffened for a moment. Seizing the chance, Bai Tang violently tore away the tentacles covering her mouth.
“You want to parasitize me without even asking first? How arrogant!”
Bai Tang quickly pieced everything together.
“I saw you earlier, didn’t I? You’ve been watching from the slaughterhouse the whole time. Your original target was the Pig-Head Man, but since you weren’t confident, you chose me when I came back.”
The Parasitic Demon gave no response. Its tentacles had already spread down to her waist. That was when the girl pulled out the small bottle with the skull label.
“If I’m not mistaken, our bodies are already half-fused together. If you stay silent any longer, I will drink this bottle of poison!”
A ruthless glint flashed in Bai Tang’s eyes.
“You’d better pray you can escape from my body before the potion takes effect and kills us both.”
“Don’t!”
A young girl’s voice filled with terror rang out, startling Bai Tang for a moment. The key issue was—why did the other party’s voice sound so similar to her own?
“Our Parasitic Demon race’s gender changes according to the host we parasitize,” the Parasitic Demon explained upon sensing Bai Tang’s confusion. “Please don’t drink it, I beg you!”
Where had this Parasitic Demon ever seen such a fierce human?
Shouldn’t she be panicking after being parasitized, desperately searching for a solution, only to be worn down by endless failed attempts, and finally resign herself to being parasitized? Shouldn’t they then live together in an inseparable, intimate daily life no matter what they did?
How could she think about mutual destruction before the parasitization was even complete?!
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go!
“Beg you? Begging won’t work either. I’ll give you three seconds to get off my body!”
Bai Tang pulled out the wooden stopper of the potion bottle, pretending she was about to drink it.
“No! I’ll die!” The Parasitic Demon’s voice instantly became soft and pleading. “My previous host is already dead. If I leave you, I’ll die too!”
Bai Tang had never been a heartless person, but that was only if the other party was at least a fellow human.
As for a Parasitic Demon that had actively attacked her—what did its survival have to do with her?
Seeing that she couldn’t scare the Parasitic Demon off her body directly, Bai Tang began considering the possibility of rushing back to the general store at top speed to ask the Witch teacher for help.
At that moment, the Parasitic Demon timidly made a suggestion.
“As long as you don’t drive me away, and if you don’t mind, I’ll only eat some of your leftovers each time. I’ll just occupy a small corner of your body and behave myself. When there are people around, I’ll hide obediently. When no one’s around before you sleep, I’ll serve you. What do you think?”
As it spoke, the pitch-black tentacles covered in slippery mucus began sliding down toward the area below Bai Tang’s waist.