Chapter 912: Pack of Dogs Battle Wild Boar (Night Nine)

Jiang Fan rubbed his nose. "I'd better not say it," he said. He had almost gotten Huaxin killed and felt a bit bad about it. He simply couldn't bear to keep demoralizing her.

Huaxin, however, clenched her jaw slightly. "Tell me," she said, "so I can give up hope completely. I really want to know where this bell was hidden. No matter how much I searched, I couldn't find it. I've searched everywhere on this tenth floor, except for the forbidden zone and the lairs of some incredibly powerful beasts."

Jiang Fan cleared his throat. "Alright," he said. "You insisted on asking, so don't blame me. This is how the bell came to be..."

He then recounted the events of that day in full detail.

After listening, Huaxin froze in place. "Are you saying this Hell Soul Bell was inside the belly of a One-Aperture Hell creature? And the reason you got it... was because you presented my Tiger Tally Marrow, and it surrendered to you, obediently giving you the Hell Soul Bell?"

Jiang Fan nodded. "Yes."

Huaxin asked blankly, "So, if you hadn't stolen my Tiger Tally Marrow... it would have surrendered to me and given the bell to me?"

Jiang Fan cleared his throat. "Probably."

Huaxin clenched her fists, her hair bristling, and she furiously pounded the spectral crystal. "In other words," she seethed, "you stole the bell that was rightfully mine?"

Jiang Fan rubbed his nose. "Don't talk as if we're strangers. We're all one family now. Why argue over trivial matters?"

Huaxin shrieked frantically, "Jiang Fan! You dog—"

Before his eardrums shattered, Jiang Fan swiped his finger across the crystal phantom, manually muting her. Then he looked at the Two-Headed Hellhound and said, "Look at you. Look how angry you've made her."

The Two-Headed Hellhound seemed to understand Jiang Fan's words and widened its eyes, as if to say, *'But wasn't she cursing you?'*

Jiang Fan frowned. "Didn't you hear her say 'dog'? If not you, then who?"

The two heads of the Hellhound exchanged glances, then fell into thought. It seemed she really was cursing them. After all, two-headed dogs are still dogs!

*Ding-ding-dong—*

Jiang Fan shook the Hell Soul Bell again. The Two-Headed Hellhound immediately lay down, panting with its tongue out and wagging its tail. It was as if it had found its master. It was impossible to connect this behavior with its previous fierce and monstrous appearance.

Jiang Fan couldn't help but smile slightly. "In that case, crossing the tenth floor will be no problem at all. Riding the Two-Headed Hellhound should save us a lot of trouble, right?"

Of course. Before leaving, he also cleared out the remaining half-acre of the vegetable garden, leaving not a single plant. Then he leaped onto the Two-Headed Hellhound's back. It showed no resistance; instead, it barked happily twice.

"Chaoge, get on!"

Xia Chaoge leaped and landed beside Jiang Fan. She smiled sweetly. "Congratulations, Martial Uncle, on acquiring another precious treasure."

Jiang Fan teased, "You know too many of Martial Uncle's secrets. Martial Uncle might have to silence you."

Xia Chaoge covered her mouth and chuckled. "What can I do then? There's no one here; no one would hear me even if I screamed myself hoarse. I can only let Martial Uncle..." She didn't finish her sentence, realizing it sounded inappropriate. She quickly turned her head away, her cheeks faintly flushed.

Jiang Fan also found it a bit strange. Why did she make it sound like he would do 'this' and then 'that' to Xia Chaoge? He cleared his throat. "Good dog, head in that direction."

The Two-Headed Hellhound immediately stood up and galloped towards the formation.

Meanwhile, in the forbidden zone.

The old woman stood in the ruins beneath the rift in the sky. Her finger lightly traced a stone. A wisp of faintly golden blood appeared on her fingertip. Her ancient face was filled with icy coldness. "You... you actually killed the Young Master!"

*Thump!*

Kui Xing knelt on the ground in panic, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He dared not imagine what kind of being the Asura King before him would refer to as "Young Master."

"M-my Lady," he stammered. "It was that human named Jiang Fan who deliberately detonated the black crystal. I'll take you to him right now to avenge the Young Master!"

The old woman tilted her head back, silently gazed at the sky, and closed her eyes. A moment later, when she opened them again, the murderous intent in her eyes had dissipated, replaced by calm. Her voice was also exceptionally calm. "No need. It no longer matters who detonated it. Because everyone who entered today must die. Considering you are one of my Asura clan, I will spare your life. From now on, do not come to this place again."

Kui Xing was overjoyed. He repeatedly kowtowed. "Yes, Senior!" When he looked up again, the old woman was gone without a trace. Presumably, she had gone to avenge the Young Master.

Kui Xing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "You petty humans! Wouldn't it have been better if you had just obediently become my slave? Now look what you've done. You've enraged the most forbidden existence on the tenth floor. You're all going to die!" He laughed heartily as he left the forbidden zone.

As for Jiang Fan, he galloped along on the dog towards the formation. Along the way, they encountered several attacks from Hell creatures, but upon sensing the Two-Headed Hellhound's power, they all gave up. "What a good dog," Jiang Fan couldn't help but exclaim. With this dog, crossing the tenth floor would truly be worry-free.

*Woof woof woof!*

But just then, a chorus of barks suddenly echoed from a distance. The Two-Headed Hellhound beneath him sniffed the air and immediately ran towards the sound. Before they even reached it, they saw dust billowing everywhere and continuous tremors. Blood-red beams, spat out by various Two-Headed Hellhounds, crisscrossed the air. More than a dozen Two-Headed Hellhounds were besieging an enormous beast whose entire body was engulfed in blood-red flames. By the time they arrived, the colossal beast, whose strength had reached the Nascent Soul realm of Three Apertures, had already collapsed with a thud.

Looking closely, the beast was a Hell creature resembling a wild boar. Its entire body was burning with blood-red flames. Jiang Fan recognized it as Asura Karma Fire! The Two-Headed Hellhound beneath him seemed to have a grudge against the enormous wild boar. It ran forward and bit the corpse fiercely several times, tearing open its belly.

Jiang Fan looked puzzled. The Two-Headed Hellhound looked up and made gurgling sounds. Unfortunately, Jiang Fan couldn't understand.

"Master," Little Kirin's voice echoed in Jiang Fan's mind, "it's saying that this wild boar betrayed its companions. It caused one of them to be captured by a human monk. They've been seeking revenge on this wild boar."

Jiang Fan suddenly understood. Looking at the Asura Karma Fire on the wild boar, he immediately realized where the Dharma Seal Vajra's Asura Karma Fire came from. It turned out this wild boar had used a portion of its Asura Karma Fire to enlist the Dharma Seal Vajra to deal with the Two-Headed Hellhounds.

However, Jiang Fan immediately sensed something was off. "Little Kirin," he asked, "how can you understand what they're saying?"

Little Kirin poked its head out, holding the spectral crystal in its mouth, and transmitted its voice into Jiang Fan's mind. "That older sister taught me," it replied. "She said it's Hellish script."

Hellish script? What? Hellish script? The inscriptions on the bronze artifacts he had painstakingly searched for? Huaxin knew it?