Douluo Continent: Reincarnated as Huo Gua, yet a Manjusaka Flower

But just as he took a step, he suddenly tripped, lost his balance, and fell heavily forward!

He turned around in astonishment, his pupils suddenly shrinking to pinpoints.

What should have been a lifeless mass of "flesh paste" now began to writhe wildly like living mercury!

It resembles the embryo of some deep-sea creature, constantly rolling, contracting, and bulging on the ground.

What tripped him up was a bizarre tentacle that suddenly shot out from the depths of the flesh and blood, formed from congealed blood, flesh and twisted blood vessels!

"Gurgle..."

A sickening, tooth-grinding sound of bones grinding came from the ground.

With a sickening slurring sound, the minced meat exploded open.

Countless tentacles formed from congealed flesh shot out like venomous snakes, instantly wrapping around the man's ankles.

Immediately afterwards, the center of that pool of flesh, in a manner defying physics, abruptly bulged and elongated, transforming into a distorted face.

The face had no features, only a deep, bottomless crack that opened and closed with each breath.

"monster!"

The words had barely left his mouth when, *click!*

A sickening crack of bone breaking suddenly rang out in the deathly silence of the ruins.

Before the man could even let out a scream, his neck was snapped by that invisible force!

Blood gushed out like a fountain from the severed neck, staining the ground red.

But the monster, formed from mutated flesh and blood, didn't even glance at the convulsing corpse. It simply stood quietly under the blood-red setting sun, letting the flesh and blood flowing from who-knows-where continuously repair and reshape its distorted body.

The pool of flesh proliferated wildly amidst its viscous writhing, countless blood vessels and bone spurs bursting from the earth, weaving together into an indescribable shell under the blood-red setting sun—

It is no longer human, nor is it an ordinary soul beast, but an extremely strange and bizarre species.

Its segmented, jet-black body coiled like a giant python, its carapace studded with translucent skull protrusions, each one pulsating faintly, as if still chewing on its deathbed howls. Its dorsal fins were layers upon layers of crimson-orange bone blades, their edges gleaming with a metallic sheen, each engraved with eerie patterns originating from the stone slabs, emitting a faint hum in the wind.

Its head was a churning mass of purplish-black flesh, devoid of facial features, with only countless fine tentacles thrashing about wildly. The ends of the tentacles were hook-shaped bone blades, dripping with black blood capable of corroding bricks and stones.

Several pairs of segmented claws extended from below, their joints jagged, the tips still stained with the warm blood from the evil spirit master's neck.

Countless root-like limbs spread out from the base of the torso, deeply embedding themselves in the scorched soil, absorbing nutrients from the earth and the corpses while gnawing away at the surrounding vegetation, turning it into ashes.

It was enveloped in a silent black mist, within which countless tiny Gu worms could be vaguely seen wriggling and emitting hissing sounds that only the soul could hear.

"Monster? No, this is a magnificent evolution!"

"Please remember, my name is Shi."

At this moment, Shi is standing on the boundary between existence and nothingness.

The boy's will roared, wanting to regain control of his body and return to the past when he could still see wheat fields and cooking smoke.

The newly formed body's will roars, wanting to tear apart all the shackles of "humanity," to devour all life and existence, and to drag the entire world into the abyss of chaos.

Two wills clashed fiercely within this indescribable body, flesh and bone spurs sometimes contracting and sometimes expanding, and fragments of the soul within the skull protrusions emitted mournful howls, intertwining with the blasphemous prayers on the stone slab to form a symphony that drives one mad.

"I don't want to become a monster... I want to go home..."

"Home has long since turned to ashes; only devouring is eternal! We are one, let us submit to this great evolution!"

"No, shut up!"

"Get out of here."

Even after regaining control of his body, it was only temporary.

It's better to live as a monster than to be slaughtered as a lamb!

He was once a child running through wheat fields, a trembling prey in ruins, and a lamb to be slaughtered.

Now, he is a ghoul, a descendant of the abyss walking among humans, a calamity capable of snapping the necks of evil spirit masters and devouring flesh and souls.

One day, he will come to understand this "identity," the identity called "Abundance."

In the darkness under the bed, the boy covered his sister's mouth tightly with one hand, his palm almost digging into her soft skin. He gritted his teeth, his breath becoming barely audible, but two streams of hot tears still rolled down uncontrollably, splashing onto the dusty floor and leaving a small wet patch.

Beneath the bed, through a crack, the father lay quietly, blood still gushing from a gruesome hole in his chest. Warm blood seeped through the cracks in the floor, slowly soaking the boy's tattered clothes; sticky, sweet-smelling, with a temperature he knew all too well.

That's his father.

Not long ago, everything was bathed in light.

He had just become a formal Soul Master, and his family gathered around him, filled with laughter and joy, looking forward to the future.

But why did the world collapse completely in just a moment?

Grandma was struck hard by the collapsing beam and never woke up again.

The mother's heart-wrenching cries were forcibly dragged away by the thugs, disappearing into the thick smoke and screams.

The father shoved his two children under the bed, turned around to block the door, and the next moment he became this cold corpse.

Why...

Why did it turn out like this?

"Hehe~ Hide and seek is so much fun~ I love hide and seek the most~"

"Let me look carefully... Where are you hiding~?"

A delicate yet eerie laugh echoed outside the door, sounding less like a human voice and more like the shrill scream of a puppet being forcibly pulled out.

A pair of bright red boots, as red as blood, slowly appeared in sight from under the bed with twisted and comical steps.

The boy was stiff all over, his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, and he prayed frantically in his heart, please don't be discovered, please don't be discovered.

But the next second, a sudden heaviness descended upon his head.

The man sat down.

His body rolled and thrashed on the mattress. With each fall, the heavy force pressed down hard on the boy's shoulders, back, and head through the wooden board, causing excruciating pain, yet he dared not even groan.

"The bed is so hard... The clown hates hard beds!"

"The clown is angry! I want a bed... that's softer!"

"Pfft—!"

A gleaming silver knife suddenly pierced the mattress, tearing with a piercing sound, and fell straight in front of the boy!

The blade grazed his forehead, instantly severing his flesh.

Warm blood slid down his brow bone and dripped into his eyes, turning them crimson.

Extreme pain and fear exploded at the same time, and the boy's body trembled slightly uncontrollably.

It was this instantaneous movement.

A pale, comical clown face, covered in paint, suddenly leaned down from the bedside, tilting its head to meet his utterly terrified eyes.

His lips parted in a wide arc far exceeding human limits, his smile both eerie and satisfied.

"Oh dear~"

"I found you!"

The boy could no longer bear it; his instinct for survival instantly overcame all fear. He grabbed his sister and, disregarding everything, rushed out from under the bed, stumbling and running wildly towards the door.

Behind me, the clown's laughter grew closer and sharper, like a nursery rhyme from hell.

Why are you running?

"The game has only just begun!"

The clown burst into laughter, his body twisting strangely, and two gleaming throwing knives suddenly appeared in his palm.

The next second, with a flick of his wrist, the throwing knife shot through the air!

One blade grazed the ground and missed, while the other, with a piercing shriek, plunged straight into the boy's thigh!

Blood splattered out instantly, staining the floor red and also his thin trouser legs.

"Karina—run!"

The boy, who had fallen to the ground, used all his strength to push his sister away. He endured the excruciating pain, stood up shakily, and his weak but resolute soul power surged wildly within him.

Above his head, a pair of tender yet resilient antlers slowly emerged—his newly awakened martial spirit.

His face was contorted with rage, his eyes were bloodshot, and he charged toward the clown without regard for anything else.

"Oh ho~ A newly awakened little Soul Master? Hehehe, the clown loves that!"

Seeing the boy charging at him fearlessly, the clown laughed even more maniacally and recklessly.

His figure flashed and disappeared completely from the spot.

The next instant, he appeared beside the boy like a ghost, his withered hand gripping his shoulder tightly.

Before the boy could react, the knife fell swiftly.

"Click—"

The antlers were forcibly cut off!

His martial spirit suffered a devastating blow, and excruciating pain shot straight to his brain. The boy groaned and collapsed heavily to the ground, his vision quickly blurring and turning black.

He could only watch helplessly as the clown grinned and walked step by step toward his trembling sister.

Despair, like an icy tide, completely overwhelmed him.

In that moment of imminent destruction, he made the exact same choice as the boy in the ruins years ago—

We pray desperately to nothingness, to the heavens, to all that may exist.

This time, however, a "god" truly responded to him.

"Buzz—!!"

There was no warning, no sound.

The earth suddenly cracked open.

Countless giant, black, sticky tentacles covered with eerie patterns burst forth from beneath the floor, like an ancient nightmare awakening, instantly wrapping around the clown's body!

The clown's smile froze instantly, replaced by extreme fear.

Before he could scream, his whiskers snapped shut.

Blood splattered.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

The world returned to deathly silence.

Only the tentacles that stretched out from the abyss slowly retracted back to the ground, leaving behind only a crimson expanse and endless eeriness.

"Does a 'God' really exist?"

This kind of situation wasn't just happening to the boy; it was happening simultaneously throughout the entire town.

The shouts and laughter that had been there before had disappeared. Now, the evil spirit masters were emitting screams that were no different from those of the victims.

When it comes to Ghoul, He is too strong.

In its current abundant "childlike form," it can only be considered a minor monster, possessing only extremely strong regenerative abilities, as well as the power to distort space, deform flesh and blood, reconstruct existence, silently pray and break down reason, and experience abyssal hunger and soul devouring.