And just like that, our team was assembled.
“Watch closely, Sui. This is what a proper Hound Squad looks like—four members: a Handler, two Leashes, and one Hound.”
Lu Xiu still took the opportunity to lecture me.
“The Handler is the captain, responsible for command. The Leashes are members with combat ability, like Demon Contractors. And the Hound… Do you still remember what that is?”
He suddenly tossed me a question.
“Uh… really good at fighting?”
“Heh, it’s a demon or an aberration.” Liu Xue answered for me, “Also, they’re the main combat force. The Hound takes the offense, the Leashes provide support, and the Handler coordinates and issues orders.”
“Oh, I see.”
This big sister seemed pretty nice—though I couldn’t help wondering if she’d taste good.
“This time, our target is underwater. So, we need to lure it to the bank, or rather, drag it ashore.” Lu Xiu switched to work mode and began discussing the plan with the other two.
I stood off to the side, eyes following the ants on the ground. I watched as one ant carried a scrap across the grass, weaving through dense Forest Canopy and enormous Hill and Ravine, heading home.
Found it… the ant nest!
I licked the corner of my mouth.
“Sui, come over here.”
Lu Xiu’s voice called from a distance. Only then did I realize they’d already reached the riverside.
Reluctantly, I memorized the location of the ant nest and ran over to join them.
“I’m here!”
At the riverbank, I saw the pretty boy crouched at the water’s edge, holding out a finger just centimeters above the still surface.
“What’s he doing?”
I asked in confusion.
“Communicating with a demon.”
Lu Xiu replied.
Communicating?
With water?
“Usually, communicating with demons or performing rituals requires something reflective—like a mirror or the water’s surface. Different demons have different preferences. Finding a method that appeals to a demon is a skill in itself.”
I didn’t really get it.
But it seemed like the water beneath his fingertip suddenly blurred, and then ripples appeared from nowhere, spreading out in circles with him at the center.
At some point, the entire river surface became as smooth as a mirror, leaving only that single ripple fanning out from his fingertip.
It stinks.
“Found it.”
He suddenly spoke.
“Oh, my turn?” Liu Xue stepped forward, stripping off her outer clothes.
I saw that her skin was now covered in a faint layer of scales, and behind her ears had sprouted gill-like organs. Her presence became wild and briny.
“It’s at the riverbed, buried under silt. I’ve marked its location for you.”
The pretty boy gazed at the water’s surface.
“Thank you.”
With that, Liu Xue dove into the river, slipping beneath the surface without a ripple.
“Sui, in a bit, your job is to drag GD-034241 out of the river. If possible, use your tongue to pull it up. We’ve already cleared the area of people, so just haul it out.”
“Okay!”
I’m good at that.
Soon, bubbles began to rise on the water. They grew bigger and bigger, while the pretty boy thrust both hands into the river.
In an instant, the once churning river fell eerily still, the water growing dense and sticky like glue. He pressed down suddenly, and the center of the river swelled with a giant bubble.
A dark shadow was sealed inside the transparent sphere.
“Sui!”
Lu Xiu gave the order at once.
I lifted my shirt, and my enormous tongue shot out, puncturing the bubble and wrapping around the mass of super seaweed, yanking it with all my strength.
“Get up here!”
Whoosh—
With the pull of my giant tongue, the huge shadow was suddenly hauled out. The water bubble burst, scattering countless sparkling droplets in a rainbow arc.
The massive body blotted out half the sky as it swept over my head, sunlight swallowed for a moment, leaving only a swiftly moving, dusky afterimage.
Beads of water fell, gleaming so brightly in the sun they almost burned the eyes, all crashing to the ground together with the super seaweed mass.
Seeing this, Lu Xiu whipped a compass from his pocket and chanted, “Heaven’s heart in the center, earth upholds the eight directions! Heaven and earth, fixed; Four Symbols mark the border! By my order, make this a Fa Field! Water Demon, leave this place and never return! Suppress!”
As his words finished, the compass burst with golden light, and the shadow of an Eight Trigrams Array floated overhead.
In an instant, the super seaweed mass that had tried to struggle and escape was seized and pinned in place.
“Sui, finish it off.”
“Alright!”
My tongue slammed to the ground, carrying me into the air. Spinning, I transformed it into a giant hammer, building up power before smashing down!
Boom—
The ground beneath us trembled like jelly, and I was sent flying by the rebound, crashing into a nearby thicket.
Didn’t hold back enough.
My arm was scraped raw by the branches.
I scrambled up, eyes darting to where the super seaweed mass had landed.
The ground was cracked, but the super seaweed’s body was slowly recovering from being smashed flat.
By now, Liu Xue had leaped from the river, back in human form, hefting a giant axe and hacking at the aberration, severing several tendrils.
There was no time to rest—I charged at the aberration again.
If the hammer didn’t work, I’d have to slice it up.
Though the super seaweed mass was out of water, its tentacles were still a nuisance.
They kept sprouting from its body, seemingly without end, growing in number and wrapping layer after layer around it like armor.
Whoosh, whoosh—
A few bullets whistled past me, tearing into the seaweed aberration and exploding with a bang. Flames licked at its leafy shell, slowing its movement for a split second.
I seized the moment, and the long tongue from my belly shot out like a spear, piercing straight through the aberration’s body.
Barbs sprouted along my tongue, embedding in its flesh, and I yanked hard in my direction.
Heh, into my belly you go!
Perhaps sensing my hunger, the seaweed immediately sprouted more tendrils, wrapping around nearby trees to resist me, stretching its body like a spring pulled to the limit, inching ever closer to the gaping maw that awaited.
“Wait, don’t eat it—”
Lu Xiu’s voice cried out, rushed and urgent.
Snap—
The tendrils finally gave way and all snapped at once.
The super seaweed mass surged toward me, and as it loomed in front of me, the great jaws hidden beneath layers of seaweed burst forth, lunging for my head.
Thud, thud—
My heartbeat slowed to a crawl. The reek of rot hit me in the face, those massive teeth caked with decaying scraps and sand, reflecting clear as day in my eyes.
It wanted to eat me.
The thought flashed through my mind.
Then.
I licked my lips and grinned.
“Heehee.”
As if sensing something, its whole body shriveled, shrinking by an entire size. At the same time, my body grew, and the giant mouth on my belly gaped wider.
My tongue, still buried in its flesh and sucking out its strength, pulled hard, stuffing the aberration into my maw and clamping shut, leaving only a few stray seaweed tendrils dangling outside, dripping gray-green fluid.
It all happened in an instant, and ended just as quickly.
“Burp—”
So full.
Another delicious meal, nice and filling.
My body shrank back to its usual size.
“…Sui?”
I turned to see Lu Xiu looking at me with an expression impossible to describe.
“Hehe, don’t worry, I’m fine.”
I eat other things, nothing else dares eat me.
“No… actually, I meant, don’t eat it.”
“Oh.”
So he wasn’t worried about me after all.
“Wow… You really just ate the aberration?” Liu Xue was dressed again. “How are we supposed to file the report now? We can’t exactly say ‘the Hound ate the target’… can we?”
“Uh… wait…” I reached into my mouth and rummaged around, pulling out a small pearl-like object. “Will this do?”
“This is… the aberration’s core?” Lu Xiu took it and examined it.
“No idea. It’s hard and not tasty.”
Lu Xiu sighed and tossed the core to the other two.
“This will have to do. Better than nothing.”