Obtaining the Item—Little Red Riding Hood

"It's coming..." His aunt leaned closer to him, nervously clutching his arm with her lips pressed tight, her entire body taut. She looked like someone trying desperately to be brave while still scared out of her wits. "Don't be afraid." Zhang Yuanqing gently freed his arm from her grip and instructed, "Crouch by the bed. Don't stay with them." He had selfish motives for saying this. Once the werewolf broke into the cabin, its first target would surely be the gathered crowd. That way, his aunt hiding on the other side would be safe. Of course, he would still do his best to prevent the werewolf from harming the civilians. *Assuming I even have the ability...* Zhang Yuanqing mocked himself inwardly. Against a Dominator-grade item, protecting his aunt alone would take everything he had. In his spirit body state, his methods and capabilities were limited; protecting family naturally came first. Seeing Jiang Yu'er obediently shrink back beside the bed, Zhang Yuanqing gave a satisfied "shh" gesture. His aunt's greatest virtue was being well-behaved and compliant. Though she often put on elder airs around him, she was always obedient when it came to serious matters. When she married in the future, she would definitely make a sweet, submissive little wife. Zhang Yuanqing strode briskly toward the fireplace and warned in a low voice, "None of you make a sound..." Under the intimidation of the golden face mask, the six nodded repeatedly. Just then, the heavy footsteps outside came to a stop right by the door. Outside, darkness reigned in dead silence. The people inside stared fearfully at the wooden door, huddling together like frightened chicks, not daring to breathe. For some reason, the monster outside did not break down the door. An eerie silence fell over the cabin, inside and out. An ordinary person's hearing was too weak, and their perception was lacking. After listening for a while without catching any unusual sound, Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to slowly approach the wooden door. In the quiet darkness, he stared intently at the door, taking every step with extreme caution. One step, two steps, three steps... Zhang Yuanqing held his breath, finally reaching the wooden door. He pressed his face close, attempting to peer through the crack to observe the outside. At that glance, his breath hitched violently in his throat. Just outside the crack was a sickly green eye, dripping with brutality and cold malice, pressed right against the door. It had been peering through the crack at the prey inside the whole time. The instant their eyes met, the sickly green pupil contracted sharply in surprise, seemingly startled by the golden face mask. *"Hehh..."* In a knee-jerk reaction, it exhaled an intensely frigid breath. *Crackle, crunch...* Amidst faint freezing sounds, frost and ice crystals surged through the door crack like an arctic gale. Pressed right against the door, Zhang Yuanqing bore the brunt of it. His face went numb as a thin shell of ice rapidly spread over half of it. *Crash!* The next second, the flimsy wooden door was violently blasted open. A towering black figure hunched over and barged into the room. Having prepared in advance, Zhang Yuanqing had already sidestepped out of the way, avoiding the flying door slab. By the fireplace facing the entrance, however, the ordinary people were not so fortunate, taking the full brunt of the flying wooden door. "Ahhh!" Screams instantly erupted as chaos broke out. With his back to the wall, Zhang Yuanqing looked at the intruder. It was a werewolf nearly four meters tall, covered in needle-like black fur with a snow-white underbelly, razor-sharp pitch-black claws, and a tall, proportionate frame brimming with power. Its long snout protruded from its face, fangs sharp, puffing out plumes of bone-chilling frost. A pair of eerie green pupils brimmed with cruelty and bloodlust. *Crackle, crackle...* The sound of ice crystallizing rang out endlessly across the room. Centered on where the werewolf stood, a thin layer of frost rapidly spread outward, freezing the floor, the table, and the chairs. Fine ice crystals appeared on the clothes of the people huddled screaming against the wall. Even hunched over with its head nearly brushing the roof beams, the werewolf lowered its gaze, casting its savage, bloodthirsty eyes upon the six ordinary people who were scared out of their wits. *I can't fight inside the cabin!* Zhang Yuanqing's eyes abruptly fired two beams of golden light, tearing through the darkness. He unleashed the gold face's affiliated skill—Mental Strike. The werewolf froze instantly, throwing its head back as if about to let out a shriek of excruciating agony. *Thump, thump, thump...* Zhang Yuanqing closed the distance in two or three strides, leapt into the air, and drove a fist into the shared weak spot of wolves and dogs—its tender flank. *Bang!* His fist felt as if it had struck an iron plate—no, an iron plate studded with steel spikes. The coarse, rigid black fur pierced his fist until it was bloody. *Its physical defense is comparable to a Level 4 Mountain God, weaker than I expected. Could this item not be Dominator-grade? Lure it outside first...* Zhang Yuanqing spun around and ran, summoning the Ghost Bride to guard his aunt. This was to prevent the werewolf from ignoring him and slaughtering the civilians in the room. Cradling the infant with sparse downy hair, the Ghost Bride floated over to Jiang Yu'er and stood beside her. "Abba, abba..." The moment Little Doubi saw Jiang Yu'er, he acted like an unruly child, squirming frantically to crawl out of the Ghost Bride's arms and rush toward his new mommy's calf. However, the Ghost Bride raised a hand with pitch-black fingernails and gently stroked Little Doubi's little head, freezing him so thoroughly that he did not dare move. After bursting out of the cabin, Zhang Yuanqing summoned the Red Dancing Shoes and activated their wear mode. Treading on a faint dark-red glow, he fled into the distance at high speed. By this point, the werewolf's mental agony had only just begun to ease when a searing pain flared from its flank. Enraged, it spun around and swiped its claws, but the cunning human had already fled the cabin, sprinting toward the distant dense woods. *"Awoo!"* It let out a short, resonant roar, dropped onto all fours, and gave chase. Zhang Yuanqing had barely cleared the cabin when he heard heavy yet swift footfalls behind him. Turning his head, he saw a giant wolf with a shoulder height exceeding an ordinary adult sprinting beneath the moonlight. Everywhere its four limbs raced, dirt and weeds quickly frosted over, freezing solid inch by inch. In just two breaths, it caught up to him, leaping high into the air to pounce. *What kind of absurd speed is this?!* Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. The light overhead dimmed as the giant wolf's massive body blocked out the moon. Just as it was about to pin him down, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly accelerated mid-sprint, executing a ten-meter slide across the ground that caused the giant wolf's pounce to miss entirely. When it came to evasion, the Red Dancing Shoes never disappointed. *High defense, immense strength, fast speed—it's practically a replica of a Bewitching Demon, plus it has frost abilities. Close combat is out of the question...* Zhang Yuanqing grimly realized that in this dungeon-like world, he could not possibly defeat the werewolf. At the very least, possessing an ordinary human body, it was impossible. Coming out of the slide, he scrambled to his feet and kept sprinting. Man and wolf chased each other beneath the moonlight, frost freezing every living thing in their wake. Zhang Yuanqing gradually noticed that dodging with the Red Dancing Shoes was becoming difficult. Several times he was nearly tackled, and his back was grazed twice by claws. Though he had evaded at crucial moments, the frost had frostbitten his muscles. On one hand, the Red Dancing Shoes' evasion was not absolute and had a threshold; on the other, the werewolf's frost damage was steadily eroding his muscles and freezing his blood, causing his movements to slow. *I can't let this go on. If close combat won't work, I'll try wraith methods...* Zhang Yuanqing did not hesitate, immediately summoning his lady to assist. From within the cabin, dense, billowing Yin energy surged forth. Her red wedding gown fluttering, the Ghost Bride hurled herself directly into the werewolf's body. Pursuing its prey, the werewolf's body stiffened abruptly. Its needle-like bristles stood on end as it bared its fangs, its four-meter frame spasming and trembling. Clearly, this monster's powers were entirely physical. It was helpless against wraith possession, yet even a Saint-level spirit servant could not suppress its mind enough to seize control. *Wait, why didn't Little Doubi follow?* Zhang Yuanqing felt slightly surprised, but there was no time to ponder. Continuing his sprint to the edge of the woods, his spirit body abandoned the borrowed flesh and floated toward the werewolf, possessing it. The moment he entered the werewolf's body, Zhang Yuanqing felt a mad, bloodthirsty, slaughterous presence—powerful and chaotic. This was the werewolf's spirit body aura. He instantly understood why the Ghost Bride had failed to suppress it. His arrival broke the stalemate, and the werewolf lost control completely. With the Ghost Bride's assistance, Zhang Yuanqing suppressed the werewolf's mental power while commandeering the body, driving its left claw violently into its own heart. If they could not defeat it in close combat, they would tear it apart from the inside. This was the true power of a Night Wanderer. Faced with such a situation, any other orthodox profession would have been waiting for death unless they were a peak Saint. *Squelch!* The claws pierced the chest with some difficulty, wrenching out a fresh, red, beating heart. With a light squeeze of the wolf claw, the heart shattered. Just as Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, the dying werewolf struggled to throw its head back and let out a long howl at the moon. *"Awoo—!"* The resonant wolf howl echoed through the night and rolled across the mountain forest. The moonlight flared brightly as Yin power surged through the woods. Inside the werewolf's hollow chest cavity, a powerful pulse began anew. It had actually grown a second heart. At the same time, the Yin power nourished and enlarged the werewolf's spirit body, sending its chaotic, tyrannical mental power sweeping through the sea of consciousness like a tsunami. Zhang Yuanqing and the Ghost Bride were ejected simultaneously. *Moon Howl? It can use Moon Howl too? No, this boost is even scarier than Moon Howl...* Zhang Yuanqing could hardly believe it. Ever since becoming a Night Wanderer, this was the first time he had encountered a monster better at channeling Taiyin power than a Night Wanderer. Though Night Wanderers were aligned with Yin, their power leaned more toward the wraith domain, whereas the werewolf before him was a creature of pure Yin. The former utilized Yin power; the latter seemed to be Yin power itself. A more fitting analogy was that the werewolf was a Night Wanderer who had specialized entirely in Taiyin power, lacking only authority over the spirit realm. Nourished by the Yin power, the werewolf's frame expanded further, breaking past five meters. Beneath its coarse fur, corded muscles bulged, radiating terrifying black Qi as frost rapidly coated the ground. *"Hehh..."* The werewolf's sickly green eyes were bloodshot, flooded with chaos and brutality. It glared at the Ghost Bride and Zhang Yuanqing floating in midair, repeatedly leaping up to bite only to snap on empty air. Although it was a Yin monster, it lacked the means to harm a spirit body. "Ahhh!" Suddenly, a scream rang out from the edge of the woods. The young man Zhang Yuanqing had possessed had regained control of his body, only to realize in terror that he was outside the cabin, with that horrifying monster standing not far away. Terror detonated within him, and he could not stop himself from screaming. The shriek drew the werewolf's attention. Turning its massive head, it fixed its gaze on the young man in the distance. Driven by its murderous instincts, the werewolf gave a low growl and lunged forward like a black blur. *Damn it!* Zhang Yuanqing's expression changed. Without hesitation, he activated the Golden Face Mask. In his spirit body state, two beams of golden light shot from his eyes, piercing the dark night. There was no other choice. He decided to employ the most extreme method—body seizure! Direct Spirit Devouring of the werewolf's spirit body. Before doing that, however, he had to use Mental Strike to weaken the werewolf's spirit body first. *"Awoo!"* Mid-sprint, the werewolf seemed to take a heavy blow to the back of the head. Its mind suffered a dreadful impact, knocking it unconscious for an instant, though momentum sent its body tumbling forward. The massive form rolled all the way across the ground, coming to a halt right in front of the young man. The werewolf staggered to its feet, dazed and disoriented, shaking its head violently before finally regaining its senses. The black Qi coiling around its body had weakened noticeably. The young man fell hard on his backside, his face deathly pale as he looked up at the terrifying, ferocious beast, a warm stream gushing down his pants. Zhang Yuanqing's eyes fired two more brilliant beams of golden light, refusing to give the werewolf any breathing room as he unleashed his final Mental Strike. The werewolf's frame stiffened violently, the black Qi around it waning another degree. "My lady, possess it!" Zhang Yuanqing roared in a voice audible only to wraiths. Her red bridal dress fluttering, the Ghost Bride seized on the werewolf's mental disorientation to successfully enter its frame, completing the possession. On the other side, Zhang Yuanqing threw back his head and howled at the full moon in the sky. A clear, brilliant beam of moonlight descended from the heavens, shining directly upon him. His spirit aura surged instantly, vast Yin Qi flocking around him like subjects answering their king. Next, he quickly wiped a hand across his face. A dull, earthy yellow paint instantly blanketed the gold. The red and black markings around his eyes, forehead, and mouth shifted as well, outlining a furious, violent face mask. Yellow Face affiliated skill: 20% increase to physical attributes and skill intensity. His spirit strength surged once more, the surrounding Yin Qi beginning to boil. With that done, Zhang Yuanqing rode a tidal wave of Yin Qi straight into the werewolf's body, seizing its sea of consciousness. This time, he did not suppress the chaotic, potent spirit body. Instead, he unleashed Spirit Devouring, consuming it directly. In an instant, Zhang Yuanqing felt as though he had downed a cup of poisoned wine. That mad, chaotic spirit body—steeped in negative emotions such as slaughter, bloodlust, and savagery—ravaged his consciousness and polluted his mind. This spirit body held no memories; it was forged purely from negative emotions and instinct. Without Mental Strike's weakening, without the buffs from Moon Howl and the Yellow Face, he suspected he would have degenerated straight into an evil spirit. Even so, Zhang Yuanqing felt his sanity slipping away rapidly, tilting toward madness. There was no Demon-Subduing Pestle here, and no Evil-Breaking Talisman. *Damn it, you can't just swallow any medicine, and you definitely can't just swallow any spirit body...* Zhang Yuanqing forcibly gathered a sliver of sanity, switched the Military Soul Face Mask, and activated the Blue Face. —Blue Face attribute: Upright and unyielding, obstinate and proud: never fears, always holds a rebellious heart, and never surrenders. Increases endurance by 50%, grants immunity to three mental-type attacks. Under the endurance buff, his mind became exceptionally resilient. The mad impulses were no longer irresistible, and his sanity gradually returned. Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body popped out of the werewolf. One of his eyes was wicked and chaotic, while the other was clear and bright—an exceptionally eerie sight. He had been tainted by the evil spirit body. The endurance buff provided by the Blue Face fundamentally bolstered his mental resilience, allowing him to stay sane amidst the onslaught of negative emotions. However, the taint would not vanish on its own unless purified. The corruption from a Night Wanderer consuming a spirit body never truly disappeared; it was usually tolerable, settling like a toxin in their mental power. But once it accumulated past a certain threshold, it would cause madness or drastic personality shifts. To make matters worse, this was not a mental attack, so the Blue Face could not nullify it. *The werewolf's spirit body is filthier than that of an evil profession. My mind is filled with slaughter right now... Is its mental pollution this terrifying because it's a pure monster? Evil professions are at least human, after all, and possess humanity...* *I can't fight in this state. If I still can't bring Aunt out, my only choice is to leave here first, return to reality, and use an Evil-Breaking Talisman to purify the negative emotions...* Thinking this through, Zhang Yuanqing looked down at the werewolf's corpse. He had prepared for the worst. Although powerful, the werewolf did not seem to be Dominator-grade, which clearly did not match the item's level. That meant there was likely an even more terrifying monster waiting for him. However, Zhang Yuanqing also had another theory: "Little Red Riding Hood" was not a Dominator-grade item, but a Saint-stage item with special functions. For example, perhaps it incorporated some Dominator-grade capability from the Eternal Night profession. Though it exhibited certain Dominator-grade traits, its lethality had not reached that scale. Such cases were not uncommon, the best examples being the Sliding Shovel Shoes and the Flawless Human Skin. The properties of those two items were definitely beyond the Saint level, yet they fell far short of genuine Dominator-grade items. Items like that were typically top-tier within the Saint stage. The Yin-Yang Dial was another example. Given that Little Red Riding Hood had never shown her face from start to finish, Zhang Yuanqing felt the latter theory was more credible. This was not a dungeon run; there was no reason for the final boss to bide its time and never show up. The more probable reality was that the werewolf was the sole danger here, and the werewolf *was* Little Red Riding Hood. The message left behind by the cabin's owner also corroborated this. Another piece of evidence was that the werewolf's spirit body possessed no memories. Even an animal ought to have memories—unless it was not a real living creature at all, but an item. As his thoughts churned, Zhang Yuanqing watched a thick plume of black smoke billow from the werewolf's corpse before dissipating. Left behind in its place was only a triangular red hood. The Ghost Bride materialized and floated back to her husband's side. *Just as I thought.* He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling completely unburdened. Zhang Yuanqing descended before the triangular red hood, leaned down to "pick up" the item, and inspected its attributes.