Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

In no time at all, Gou An's suspicions were confirmed.

The burly man who had just opened the door walked out, still only wearing the same shorts, shirtless, his limbs stiff and wooden.

The difference was that he was now tightly gripping a gleaming, razor-sharp butcher knife.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard, looked around, and then moved slowly toward another courtyard in the village with hesitant steps.

Gou An observed coldly, and based on his previous observations, he had already discerned the clues.

Each time this demon inhabits a new body, the demonic aura surrounding it grows stronger.

If it is allowed to continue parasitizing others to grow stronger, by the time the demonic energy is fully formed, it may not be able to securely defeat the opponent.

But Gou An did not rush to make a move. Only after the burly man's figure completely disappeared into the alley did he sneak into the courtyard under the cover of darkness and follow the heavy smell of blood into the inner room.

The moment Gou An stepped into the room, his heart skipped a beat, his heart tightening at the sight of the horrific scene before him.

Liu was found lying naked on the ground, with a deep, gruesome wound on her chest, the bone exposed, blood still gushing out, and flesh torn open.

It was as if some evil creature had been forcibly torn out of her body, resulting in a gruesome and terrifying death.

Even though Gou An is now in the form of a demon beast, he still couldn't help but feel physically uncomfortable seeing such a bloody and desolate scene.

Without lingering any longer, he turned and stepped out of the room, quickly chasing after the chilling, demonic aura.

Compared to this monster that slaughters indiscriminately and parasitizes others' bodies, Gou An suddenly felt that he, the monster, could be considered a great benefactor.

Following the trail, Gou An quickly found the burly man whose body had been possessed by a demon.

The other party had stopped in front of a villager's courtyard and repeatedly knocked on the wooden door.

The dull thumping sound broke the silence of the night, jarring and oppressive.

The villagers, fast asleep inside, were awakened by the knocking. Filled with impatience, they shouted, "Who is it? What are you doing knocking in the middle of the night? Can't a person get some rest?!"

The burly man outside the door gave no response, continuing to mechanically and numbly repeat the knocking motion.

The person inside cursed several more times, but the knocking on the door continued unabated.

Seemingly sensing the strange atmosphere outside, the people inside did not open the door, but instead moved heavy objects to firmly block the door.

The burly man knocked for a moment, then abruptly stopped, stiffly turning his head to fix his gaze on the old wooden window beside him.

He stepped forward, raised the butcher knife high, and brought it down hard.

The wooden window had been rotten for many years, and it couldn't withstand the sharp blade's blows. It immediately cracked open with a huge gap.

A knife!

Two knives!

Three cuts!

Four cuts!

Five cuts!

With a few slashes, the entire wooden window shattered into pieces.

The burly man reached out and tore apart the remaining wooden frame, twisted his body, and squeezed through the crack in the window.

The next moment, a family’s shrill screams suddenly erupted from inside the house, but the wailing lasted only a moment before falling into complete silence, just like before.

A short while later, the door slowly opened from the inside, and this time an elderly woman of about fifty or sixty years old came out.

Her face was ashen, and her limbs were stiff and sluggish, making it clear at a glance that she had been parasitized and controlled by a monster.

The old woman, controlled by the parasitic monster, slowly walked out of the courtyard, looking around as if searching for the next living person to be parasitized.

But after taking only two steps, she suddenly stopped, stiffly turned around, and looked behind her.

A large, yellow dog stood quietly in the yard, and their eyes met instantly.

The old woman tilted her head to one side, clearly realizing that the yellow dog in front of her was unusual.

At the same instant, Gou An had a thought and activated the Crude Transformation Technique, his body slowly straightening and stretching out, transforming into a dog-headed human.

"Where does this colleague come from?" Gou An asked in a deep voice.

The old woman was taken aback at first, then the corners of her mouth slowly pulled upwards, revealing a twisted, terrifying, and eerie smile.

She opened and closed her lips, and said coldly in a hoarse, aged voice, "This is none of your business. Don't bother me."

As soon as she finished speaking, the demon possessing her body turned around and tried to leave.

But then several sharp, piercing sounds came from behind, and several fist-sized balls of Nine-Part Demonic Fire struck the old woman's back precisely, instantly igniting into raging flames.

The monster paused, then turned around stiffly.

The flames spread rapidly along her robes, completely engulfing the old woman's body. The crackling sound of burning flesh filled the air, and a strong smell of burning permeated the surroundings.

"Did I give you permission to leave?" Gou An raised his hand to his mouth and pulled out a long knife from the storage space inside his mouth.

The process was equally bizarre.

"You stray dog, you just had to ruin my plans!"

The old woman's hoarse, broken voice, mixed with burning noises, sounded strange and distorted, full of resentment and curses.

Before she could finish speaking, the old woman's mouth was suddenly torn open, her lips ripped open all the way to her ears, the flesh turned inside out, a truly horrifying sight.

Before Gou An could unleash the fire attack again, a strange flying insect, blood red in color, the size of a fist, and with thin wings, slowly crawled out from the torn mouth.

Gou An immediately gathered demonic fire to prepare to bombard it, but the blood-red flying insect suddenly flapped its wings and fled rapidly towards the distant dense forest, determined to escape.

"Trying to run away?"

This was the first time Gou An had ever seen such a strange and monstrous insect, so how could he let it escape?

As long as this insect is killed and its demonic core is dug out, it will help him heal his injuries faster. Gou An drew his sword and followed closely behind.

But the flying insect's wings flapped extremely fast, and its movements were swift, always leaving Gou An far behind.

Gou An accelerated by pressing his feet, continuously gathering demonic fire to bombard the enemy from a distance during the chase.

But the flying insect was small and agile, dodging and weaving left and right, and not a single flame could hit it.

In the stalemate, the flying insect, determined to escape, suddenly turned around in mid-air, its wingtips flicked, and several jet-black sharp points shot out, aiming straight for Gou An's vitals.

Just as the black thorn was about to pierce through his body, the sharp thorn went straight through Gou An's body without causing any injury.

It was just a fleeting illusion!

"Your grandpa's right here!"

A low shout suddenly rang out from beside the flying insect.

The flying insect hurriedly turned its head, only to see a flash of cold light, and Gou An's long knife had already slashed down.

With a soft "plop," the crimson flying insect was cut in half at the waist by a single slash, losing all its momentum and plummeting straight down from mid-air, its life instantly extinguished.

"Little thing, it really can fly."

Gou An landed, sheathed his sword, and bent down to pick up the mangled corpse of the flying insect.

Just as Gou An was about to dissect the body to extract the demon core, the insect corpse in his palm suddenly turned into wisps of black ash, which were blown away by the wind and disappeared completely without leaving a trace.

"Eh!" Gou An was shocked. There was no demon core!

Then there's only one possibility: this flying insect is merely a wisp of the monster's true form.

Having spent several years in the Monster Mountain Range, Gou An had some knowledge of the methods used by other monsters.

If that's the case, then it's a bit troublesome.

Gou An sheathed his sword, dusted off the ashes in his hand, and then headed towards Mount Dawu.