The camera on the wall was instantly shattered into pieces by Xiao Wa’s tongue. The tongue, carrying several fragments of the camera, retracted back into the creature’s mouth.
Xiao Wa was clearly surprised for a moment, but it quickly adjusted its posture. Simultaneously, it shot all eight of its tongues toward He Denghong’s clone, attempting to tear the girl in front of it to shreds.
At the same time, He Denghong activated the clone’s trait. From the remaining half of the clone’s right palm, thick, dense, and translucent blood vessels erupted from the flesh like a surging tide.
The clone’s arms were also corded with bulging veins; the arteries and veins immediately burst through the skin, while the blood within surged in a rhythmic cycle.
Eight sharp Xiao Wa tongues collided with the slender yet resilient blood vessels of He Denghong’s clone, creating one sonic boom after another. They became entangled, indistinguishable from each other.
Xiao Wa did not stay in place to wait for death. Instead, it moved in a series of hops and leaps, turning into a blurred afterimage as it sought any way to attack while closing the distance to the clone.
He Denghong did not defend passively either. While using the blood vessels across the clone’s entire body to attack Xiao Wa, he used the black cane, *Dictatorship*, held in the clone’s left hand to influence Xiao Wa’s mobility and prevent it from getting closer.
“Squeak, squeak… If it weren’t for the fact that Xiao Wa’s intelligence isn’t high enough and it doesn’t know the Skeletal Core is inside you, it would have killed your original body and ended the battle long ago,” the Red Crow Rabbit chirped, not missing the chance to chime in.
He Denghong gritted his teeth, moving both his original body and the clone in unison.
The clone gripped the pitch-black cane, *Dictatorship*, and swung it violently toward the pouncing Xiao Wa.
**STAGNATION**
He Denghong roared with his clone’s throat, pouring his will into the False Speech.
This time, he no longer needed the Red Crow Rabbit’s guidance to chant the False Speech; the information that appeared out of thin air in his consciousness was already enough.
Xiao Wa’s movements visibly hitched, and its eight tongues momentarily froze in midair.
The blood vessels and nerves erupting from the stump of the clone’s right arm were like crimson thorns that had gained a life of their own. They grew frantically, weaving together in the air into a dense net that cast itself over Xiao Wa.
At the same time, *Dictatorship* swung once more.
**CONFUSION**
Just as Xiao Wa broke free from the feeling of stagnation, a look of bewilderment flashed through its compound eyes. Its movements became uncoordinated, and several of its tongues even collided with one another.
*Squelch!* The clone’s web of blood vessels took the opportunity to wrap around it, tightly binding the transparent, anomalous creature.
“Gua—!” Xiao Wa let out a sharp, ear-piercing cry, struggling violently as its internal organs writhed frantically beneath its transparent skin.
The clone concentrated all its power. At the site where the right hand had been severed, even more flesh and blood surged forth.
It was no longer a mess of scattered vessels, but instead condensed into a sharp, scarlet spear composed of bone, muscle, and nerves.
**PIERCE**
Accompanied by the shared mental roar of He Denghong and his clone, the spear of flesh tore through the air, shooting with precision toward the belly of the Xiao Wa that was temporarily pinned by the blood-vessel net.
*Crash!* A sound like breaking glass rang out.
Xiao Wa’s transparent abdomen was pierced through, and the remains of the pedestrian inside that had not yet been fully digested were ground to a pulp.
“Gua—!!!”
Xiao Wa let out one last, shrill scream. Its body suddenly swelled and then rapidly collapsed and melted, like a punctured balloon.
Everything that had been Xiao Wa eventually turned into a puddle of colorless, odorless, and slightly reflective viscous liquid that seeped into the cracks of the floor tiles and vanished.
It left behind only the faint scent of blood in the air, the large puddle of blood from the pedestrian and the clone that had yet to dry, and a standing, headless corpse, proving that everything that had just happened was not an illusion.
He Denghong and his clone panted heavily, nearly on the verge of collapse. He felt the Red Crow Rabbit’s claws gripping his hair tightly to keep from falling off.
The clone stood in place. The bleeding from her severed hand had stopped at some point, but the wound remained gruesome.
The black cross pattern in her red pupils seemed to rotate slightly. The spear of flesh also turned into wisps of red mist and dissipated into the air, while the *Dictatorship* cane remained firmly gripped in her left hand.
“Is it over?” He Denghong murmured, his voice hoarse. He and the clone raised their hands simultaneously to wipe the cold sweat from their brows.
“Squeak, squeak… Barely a passing grade.” The Red Crow Rabbit’s voice carried a hint of fatigue, but it was mostly filled with its usual mockery.
“To survive your first encounter with an ‘Anomaly’ and even manage a counter-kill—even if it was only the lowest-grade trash at Harm Level 1. It seems your survival instinct and adaptability are quite good.”
He Denghong ignored its evaluation. His gaze fell on the horrific wounds on the clone’s body. “What… about these?”
“Don’t worry,” the Red Crow Rabbit said, twitching its ears. “The elements provided by the Skeletal Core are slowly repairing the ‘vessel.’ It should grow back after a while. Since it’s not your original body, the recovery will be very fast.”
“However, during this time, the pain will be synchronized and shared constantly. Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
He Denghong’s face grew a few shades paler. He and his clone looked at the puddle of blood on the ground that belonged to the pedestrian and fell silent for a moment.
“That person…”
“Beyond saving. They died the moment Xiao Wa swallowed their head. The brain was already digested and absorbed; they don’t even qualify to be a complete corpse.”
The Red Crow Rabbit’s tone was terrifyingly cold. “That is what an ‘Anomaly’ is. Their very existence is an erosion and a threat to your universe. Aside from them, there are also ‘Strange Objects’ and ‘Strange Realms.'”
He Denghong remained silent. The evening breeze blew through the entrance of the alley, carrying the metallic scent of blood and an inexplicable chill.
He looked at the girl in the military uniform who shared his senses and fate, then looked at his own hands—the hands of a freelancer who had been working just moments ago.
The wind at the alley entrance ruffled the clone’s scarlet sash and black skirt.
“But this isn’t over yet. Unlike you pure material entities, Xiao Wa has a Soul. You can use the Skeletal Core to see Souls like an atmospheric entity,” the Red Crow Rabbit said, its button eyes rolling.
“It’s a real shame. To you material entities, a Soul is just a concept; it doesn’t actually exist. If you had Souls, you could extend your lifespans by changing bodies.”
“If there are Souls, does that mean there are also Ghosts?” He Denghong and the clone asked together, walking toward the spot where Xiao Wa had just been killed.
“You can think of a Ghost as a Soul that has been left in the air for too long, causing it to slowly spoil. It becomes a pure consciousness entity that numbly mimics its personality from when it was alive and retains some memories.”
“In the future, every time you kill an Anomaly, remember to harvest their Soul. They help with the growth of the Skeletal Core and your clone, though a Soul from an Anomaly of this level won’t provide many ‘elements.'”
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