Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Its purpose in existence is to hunt down its prey!

Ignoring the one-handed hammer that was about to smash into his head, the monster suddenly pounced on Gou Quan!

Fortunately, Zhao Hao's twelve paper shikigami were all meticulously crafted. Each one was stronger than an ordinary person, and they were fully armored and fearless in the face of death.

Two paper figures, wielding knives and guns, immediately blocked Gou Quan's path. Just as the monster tore the two paper figures to shreds in a few moves, the fat man's hammer slammed into the back of the Death Hound!

As the hammer slammed down, a man's painful scream suddenly rang out. In Zhao Hao's eyes, a dark red flame suddenly ignited on the golden pumpkin hammer, which was twice the size of a fist and resembled a small pumpkin!

A man's pained face trembled in the flames!

The turtle shell in the fat man's hand was ordinary, but this golden gourd hammer was no ordinary item; it was called the Ghost-Slaying Golden Gourd Hammer. It could seal ghosts within it and utilize their power.

This "Fire Candle Ghost" is the evil spirit that the fat man sealed away during the Song Dynasty.

With that hammer blow, a crater the size of a watermelon burst open on the slender back of the Deathhound! The limb remains, which resembled black mud, were scorched by the flames and burned away in mid-air.

At the same time, Zhao Hao, in the distance, raised his sword and shouted, "Stop, surround, seal!"

A square with a side length of ten meters, which had been drawn beforehand on the ground, suddenly surged with psionic energy. While the Deathhound was still recovering, four psionic walls were erected and then sealed off.

A cube-shaped barrier was formed, sealing Gou Quan, the Paper God, the Death Hound, and the Fatty inside.

Death hounds are not afraid of death or have little self-awareness; they are simply monsters with a hunting instinct.

However, this does not mean that it will not run away. In fact, its purpose is not simply to hunt, but to force its prey to break down time and time again, and finally devour the prey from body to soul.

Therefore, even without any obstacles, they will often bite their prey and then release it. So if they encounter resistance, they will retreat and tirelessly continue the next hunt.

Therefore, Zhao Hao's greatest role is to trap the monster and eliminate it in one fell swoop. Otherwise, he would be put on the defensive.

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Chapter 58 The Method of Sending the Strike and the Thousand-Pound Fixation

Zhao Hao's decision to expose his barrier technique was also a well-thought-out one.

One must have some ability to protect oneself in the open; relying solely on boxing skills and the ability to observe qi is simply not enough.

It makes more sense that someone with exceptionally high innate spiritual vision would awaken the abilities of aura observation and barrier creation when they awaken their spiritual power.

In this way, he could be said to have gained a certain amount of power through his public identity.

Otherwise, it would take five, seven, or eight years just to learn skills from Uncle Tie, and you really wouldn't achieve anything.

When it comes to barrier techniques, I'm really only a novice. I can only create barriers, but I can't use them to eliminate enemies.

In this way, one can superficially be considered a support staff member, such as helping to observe qi, help to set up barriers, etc., and be a freeloader.

But secretly, he also possesses chaos magic. And in the future, he will likely acquire even more abilities.

As an old silver coin maker, I feel uneasy if I don't keep a few in my possession.

In the blink of an eye, the fat man rushed out, Gou Quan scattered the paper figures, the hunting dogs tore the paper figures apart, and Zhao Hao erected the barrier—all almost simultaneously.

Although the hunting hound was badly hit by the fat man's hammer—a blow that, had the force been greater, might have even broken it in two—the monster felt no pain and knew no fear.

Moreover, the gelatinous skin around the wound was coalescing, as if the surrounding tissues were gathering together to heal the wound!

This monster doesn't seem to care about its injuries at all! If this is how you fight it, you'll have to wear down every last bit of its flesh!

The fat man kicked the hunting dog in the waist. Wasn't it said that it had a head of copper, a brain of iron, and a waist of tofu? It's a dog, so let's give it a try.

He was still yelling, "Gou Quan, retreat quickly!"

The fat man had already realized that even though he was hitting the monster so hard, it didn't even turn its head back, and still made survival its primary goal!

Once this thing has identified its prey, it will relentlessly pursue it!

The fat man didn't think killing the monster would be difficult; it would just take time. Twenty or thirty minutes should be enough.

The attack just now has already tested the waters. This thing is indeed strange, but its strangeness lies in its unpredictable appearance and its relentless pursuit that is impossible to escape.

Now trapped in Zhao Hao's barrier, its combat strength is only around Iron 4-star.

However, if this monster is determined to survive by biting to the death, with its recklessness and resilience, I may not be able to stop it!

Zhao Hao remained motionless in that position, even from a distance. Maintaining such a large barrier meant he couldn't afford to be distracted. Furthermore, he lacked any means to influence the interior of the barrier.

Although his barrier lacked the means to eliminate internal enemies, its ability to isolate the inside from the outside was no joke. Ordinary supernatural methods were ineffective against this barrier. Now, all that was left inside was Gou Quan and Fatty.

The fat man kicked the Deathhound in the waist, sending its hindquarters flying more than a meter into the air. But the Deathhound had no internal organs; it wasn't even a living being, but a tangible entity formed from some strange spiritual energy.

This blunt force can only slightly affect its movement; it cannot harm it.

Just then, a paper figure wielding a silver-armored spear pierced the chest of the Deathhound, penetrating at least thirty centimeters, with the spear tip emerging at an angle from the other side of its body.

But the hunting dog opened its mouth wide and bit the paper figure's arm, then tore off an arm with a flick of its head!

This paper figure possessed physical abilities surpassing even those of ordinary people, yet within the monster's mouth, it truly resembled a piece of paper.

The paper figure lost an arm, the attached spiritual energy dissipated, and the paper figure returned to being a drifting paper figure, missing an arm.

But the hole in the hunting dog's chest was shrinking, and the surrounding tissues were gathering like silt, almost completely covering the gaping wound!

Without even pausing, the monster lunged at Gou Quan, who was not far away. A paper figure with a sword and shield blocked its way, but the monster continued its relentless attack, attacking relentlessly with its mouth and claws.

The paper figure with the sword and shield was quite resilient, holding out for at least five seconds.

At this moment, the fat man had already swept his golden mace, breaking one of the Death Hound's hind legs. Moreover, an insidious paper doll with a hook-and-sickle spear, crafted by Old Silver Coin Zhao Hao, had already hooked the Death Hound's side. The barbs on the hook-and-sickle spear were stuck in the black flesh, instantly creating a restraint.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gou Quan kicked his legs repeatedly on the ground and danced backwards until he reached the edge of the barrier, where he had nowhere to hide.

The remaining paper figures swarmed forward, not caring at all even if they were torn to pieces in one move.

The fat man had already put away the tortoise shell behind the monster, but he pulled out a handful of golden millet from his pocket.

He then threw a handful of millet at the hunting dogs, shouting, "A thousand catties of millet, settle!"

Those millet grains were specially refined and had a special effect under the blessing of spiritual energy—when sprinkled on the Death Hounds, they actually stuck to them and became incredibly heavy, each grain weighing more than ten pounds!

Dozens or hundreds of millet grains could weigh hundreds or even thousands of kilograms!

The hunting hound was indeed tough enough to take a beating but not so tough under pressure; it was immediately crushed to the ground, and even its intact hind leg was broken by the weight.

The fat man breathed a sigh of relief. "If it weren't for my recent surge in power, I wouldn't have been able to keep up!"

Thinking this, he put away the golden mace and took off the yellow gourd hanging from his waist. But before he could make a move, the hunting dog suddenly howled, and its entire head stretched out, stretching and even breaking off the slender, lizard-like neck!

That long, asymmetrical dog head flew off!

"Watch out!" the fat man and Zhao Hao shouted at the same time.

The fat man slapped the gourd in his hand. Zhao Hao, no longer concerned with maintaining the barrier, reached out to cast chaos magic.

But this dog's head flying into the air was too sudden!

The dog's head had already bitten Gou Quan's head!

At this moment, flames roared from the fat man's yellow gourd, just like a flamethrower on the battlefield. This fire was generated by psionic energy and was particularly effective against psionic creations like the Death Hound.

Amidst the raging flames, the strange body gradually turned to ashes, disappearing completely within seconds. The dog's head also vanished as a wisp of black smoke.

At this moment, Zhao Hao had already run over and pulled Gou Quan up.

"How about you preserve yourself?"

"I... I almost died from the stench!" Gou Quan groaned.

The fat man quickly put away his gourd and ran over, "Thank goodness! Thank goodness the teleportation technique worked!"

Previously, Fatty was also worried that the plan might go wrong. After all, Gou Quan was just a mortal, and he couldn't stand being bitten by that Death Hound.

So he used a folk remedy, hoping to add an extra layer of insurance.

That folk magic is called the "suppressing and striking" method!

There's a folk cult where a spell is cast on a hard object, like a large rock. The caster then becomes immune to damage, as the object absorbs all the harm. It's somewhat similar to the voodoo dolls used here.

The fat man used a "sponsoring" tactic, having Gou Quan find something that was hard enough, big enough, and preferably had some meaning to it as a "sponsor."

Because that hunting hound was no ordinary attack; it was a supernatural attack from a strange creature.

If the item being sent carries special meaning, it is more likely to ward off its harm.

At that time, Gou Quan ran to find the item to be delivered, saying that everything was foolproof. The two men thought it was some large rock or an iron statue.

The fat man breathed a sigh of relief, plopped down on the ground, and asked, "What kind of spirit did you find? It worked so well! Even a rock would probably have been bitten into a hole by this monster's mouth!"

Gou Quan grinned smugly and pointed into the distance.

Zhao Hao and his companion looked in that direction and could only see light converging on the distant coastline; that was Freeport.

Zhao Hao suddenly realized something: "Wait! You didn't actually use the Statue of Liberty as a keepsake, did you?"

Gou Quan shrugged.

The fat man looked like he'd seen a ghost: "You're amazing! How did you come up with that? No, how did you do it? Is that even possible?"

This method of using a projectile as a medium isn't exactly high-level magic; the fact that it can use the Statue of Liberty as a projectile is a bit beyond the realm of magic!

In any case, this crisis is finally over.

The three rested for a while and then discussed what to do with the pendant.

This thing has lost its subtle, understated texture and now resembles a green stone. But we must not let our guard down.

The fat man said, "This thing is difficult to handle; it might attract the attention of the Wild Hunt cultists! You should take it to the Bureau of Mysteries to claim your reward!"

By the time Zhao Hao got home, it was almost midnight.

This unexpected event wasn't without its gains.

"Quest complete: Defeat the Deathhound, +75 Fate Points".

I've accumulated 505 Fate Points!

I won't bother practicing my barrier techniques and fist skills tonight; I'll just wash up and go to sleep.

Before closing his eyes, he checked his diary for the day.

Diary: Today is Qixi Festival, and my date was ruined. I ended up fighting a weird dog with Gou Quan, Fatty, and... I'll remember this grudge! I drew a [FFF Cult Fireball] card; I think I'll use it eventually!

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Chapter 59 Antique Appreciation Meeting

This lesson was truly profound. Gou Quan was so scared he was terrified!