Chapter 253: Body of Flesh

The 12 table knives were all plunged into the vitals, fresh blood poured out to form a flowing dress.

“Xu Qin!” After she heard Han Fei’s voice, Xu Qin’s eyes trembled slightly. Her crimson lips parted as if saying something but Han Fei was too far away to hear her. Then without any hesitation, she plunged the last knife into her heart!

Blood bloomed like flowers and Xu Qin’s last rationality was shredded. The slender arms swung weakly beside her and the curse weaved intricately on her pale skin. Different souls emerged from the curse, they were like flowers opening in the sea of blood or monsters lurking in the depths of the red sea. The 13 table knives were the key to unlock the truth within Xu Qin. There were sweet whisperings, graceful seductions, shrill crying, and painful wailing but in the end, all the emotions were overwhelmed by Xu Qin’s hoarse cackling. “Who would tear me open with their hands, who would embrace me in their hugs. Kill the crazy lady or be killed by the crazy lady.”

Blood and curse mixed together, the shadow under her feet spread. The table knives were keys to unleash the gore and the gore was necessary to unlock the heart dominated by gluttony. The most vicious curse in the world poured out from her wounds. Standing in the deepest darkness, the curse consumed the area around her. It was like she was floating about an abyss. “I’ve been searching for the prettiest skin to make the prettiest dress; and the prettiest face to piece together yours. How could I keep such a selfish love to myself?”

The slender arms reached forward and the darkest curse curled around it. Mesmerizing faces appeared on Xu Qin’s body. Xu Qin stared at the monsters with pig masks and charged at them dragging her cursed body. The building kept trying to clean away the blood but its speed was much slower than the speed the blood spread. Xu Qin was already fully out of control. There was no trace of sanity left in her eyes. The curses inside her body were unleashed all at once, no one would have dared to get close to her!

Han Fei now knew the real meaning of the word, Curse Amalgamation. Every inch of her flesh and every drop of her blood was thick with despair. Other spirits were compelled by despair but she was made by despair.

Bloody shadows flew at the masked monsters, the endless pool of blood morphed into man-eating vines. There was no escape from them once you were caught. The monsters at the House of the Butcher probably did not expect the woman would turn out to be so scary as well. They had cornered her multiple times but none of those times she had done something as crazy as this. These monsters had no idea that Han Fei had returned to Xu Qin the missing knife from her set. They probably didn’t expect that when they planned to go for the kill, it would happen to be when Xu Qin was at her strongest. Do not push anyone too far unless you are confident you are able to take them down, that was the first rule in the cryptic world.

The three masked monsters knew that retreat was not an option, they shared a look and then charged at Xu Qin at the same time. The eyes under the mask glowed with malice and hatred. Their physical bodies were changing at observable speed. The two monsters leading the charge were the pig-faced monster Han Fei had seen in the factory but these two had totem-like blood painting on their bodies and they were more human-like compared to the other pig-faced monsters. Pulling out their butcher’s cleavers, they growled as they whacked their sharp cleavers on the blood red vines. Blood rained. The two pig-faced monsters blocked the advance of the blood vines. The last monster in a black-robed took a quick glance at Han Fei before he carried out a small puppy whose body had been sewn together from inside his clothes.

The puppy whined weakly. The dog’s back was lined with a nasty gash. The man chopped off his finger and fed it to the puppy. After the puppy swallowed its master’s flesh, the eyes suddenly rejuvenated with life. Yin energy pooled in it. It suddenly grew in size and the wound on its back tore open. The jaws about the size of one’s thumb glinted dangerously. The puppy’s exposed flesh was carved with names, these names belonged to its former owners, humans who had once abandoned it. All the cute-sounding names carried with them heavy despair. They looked like they were carved into the puppy’s flesh. Perhaps the owners had already forgotten about it but the puppy definitely hadn’t forgotten about them. It remembered each of its owner’s smell and taste. The giant dog tore open the blood vines and pounced at Xu Qin.

As the giant beast lunged towards her neck, Xu Qin opened her arms as if to welcome it with a hug. However, her action actually mobilized the endless curse inside the room!

Around more than 100 curses embraced the giant puppy. They overwhelmed it with the deepest resentment and despair. No one could take Xu Qin’s cursed embrace. The hug was like two giant waves closing over its victim. The pale arms slowly closed. The giant dog’s body was embraced by the wings of death. The arms swung upwards and smashed the dog’s head through the roof. When the dog was pulled back down by gravity, the head and body were already separated.

A blood red rug covered the floor. Xu Qin slowly made her journey forward. With each of her steps, the range of the redness would increase in size. As the battle continued, more humanoid curses crawled out from the sea of redness. The woman was like a walking tragedy.

After seeing the giant puppy being decapitated in one move, the 3 masked monsters were stunned but they did not retreat. The blood totems gathered to form a beast-like face. The two large pig-faced monsters used their blood to feed their cleavers. When their cleavers were fully dyed red, they advanced on Xu Qin on both sides. The man who stood at the back tore off his black robe and hood to reveal an animal head. Under his black robe was a tattered doctor’s coat. A veterinarian work license hung around his neck. The man emitted strange noises from his lips, it sounded like he had forgotten the human language.

Dying, sick and sewn together pets crawled out from his white coat and black robe. The veterinarian sliced at his veins to feed these pets his blood. Han Fei saw everything from outside the door. The veterinarian wasn’t a tenant at the House of the Butcher and he wasn’t one of the Spider’s subpersonas but he was wearing the tenant’s masks. The Doctor appeared to have given him the mask to get him to his side.

“The Dreamer wasn’t lying, his mask has indeed been snatched away from him.” The veterinarian needed time to mobilize all the pets, while he was preparing, Han Fei already sneaked in with his knife. The room that they were in was connected on 4 sides to different rooms. This was the biggest room inside the building but due to the abyss that Xu Qin created, the amount of safe space was miniscule. The veterinarian did not sense any threat from Han Fei until the crying started. Before he could react, Lee Zai already switched his body with his younger brother, Lee Huo. The burly Lee Huo instantly rammed into the veterinarian. The mutated fists slammed against the floor. This was not the first time Han Fei had worked together with his neighbours. He moved with ease behind his neighbours. His eyes carried no emotions as he focused on the veterinarian’s neck. “If not for you people, Xu Qin wouldn’t have lost control. You’ll have to pay double for the pain she had to suffer from the 13 knives!”

The veterinarian had placed his full attention on Weep and Lee Huo. He had no idea the human who posed zero threat would even be involved in the battle. When he realized the problem, Han Fei was already close to him. With his fingers around the hilt, Han Fei aimed at the vet’s neck and chopped. The veterinarian was startled when he saw Han Fei take out the knife but he had no idea how great the danger the seemingly harmless man would pose.

The veterinarian did manage to evade at the last moment. The cut meant to kill instead slashed through a big gash on his stomach. The veterinarian tried to step back but fell right into Lee Huo’s grasp. The danger to the veterinarian was not yet over.

The two pig-faced monsters were already covered by the blood vines. The humanoid curses came to bite at their bodies. While the pig-faced monsters were still struggling, Xu Qin turned her gaze upon the veterinarian and Lee Huo. She was no longer who she was. Being controlled fully by curse, she couldn’t tell what was before her anymore. All she could tell was consumption and murder. The body stuck with table knives was like a door that opened to another world, no one knew how many resentments were hidden inside that deep darkness.

“Leave me be! If you don’t run now, you’ll be killed as well!” No one cared about the veterinarian’s last word even though he did have a point. Weep dragged the dying veterinarian into the urn and then retreated with Lee Huo. Even among the redness, Xu Qin’s laughter was still as alluring, captivating and maddening as ever.

“Run, run!” Holding Han Fei, the Dreamer’s words came easier than normal. The blood vines expanded. Xu Qin was close on their heels and she attacked everything indiscriminately.

“Where is the Doctor? Bring us to the Doctor now!” Han Fei ran very fast. One wrong step and he’d be killed by the blood vines.

“The, they plan, to, to kill the writer…” Han Fei picked up the boy and they ran up the stairs. The passage inside the House of the Butcher was still changing. As it absorbed more blood, the building became more alive. Now everyone could hear the beating heart.

“Run towards the spot where the heartbeat is the strongest!” Han Fei still hadn’t found the other half of the heart which represented kindness. The sinful half was inside the blood pool at the factory so the kind half should be at the House of the Butcher. The ramming from outside continued. The building shook even more. When Han Fei’s group came to the second floor, the passages started to collapse. The person who stole the manager’s power was desperate. They aimed to accomplish their goal even if it would destroy this building.

Blood covered the world. Tragedies were everywhere at this most populated building at Cattle Alley. As the walls fell away, the heartbeats as well as the ramming from outside became more pronounced. When the wall beside Han Fei crumbled, he finally saw the world outside through the gap.

Many pig-faced monsters had gathered outside the House of the Butcher. Their pig masks were all cracked and so was their skin. Things crawled out from their bellies. The unknown fleshy substance joined together to form the shape of a human. When Han Fei saw the humanoid creature’s face, his eyes twitched. He was not expecting to see Spider in the cryptic world in such a manner!