Outside the bedroom, the half-human, half-canine Da Huang waited in absolute silence by the door, like a cunning hyena.
It stood upright on its hind legs, its eyes brimming with avarice and longing. It had obtained everything a human ought to possess; all it lacked was the complete and utter mutation of Jiang Ming into a dog, and it would claim it all!
“I lack nothing!” the dog mused to itself.
As it lay in wait, it glanced toward the clock in the living room: the hour was fast approaching 5:00 PM.
Seeing the time, the dog could not help but feel a flicker of agitation, yet it quickly forced itself back into cold composure.
Truthfully, it had harboured little hope of a successful ambush on Jiang Ming during this stakeout.
After all, having traded blows with Jiang Ming before, it knew the depths of this human's guile. Given his temperament, he was bound to remain secluded until well past the fifth hour before stepping out of the bedroom.
Despite the slim odds, the dog remained steadfast in its vigil, refusing to relinquish even a single sliver of opportunity.
It yearned to become human! This desire had already coalesced into an unyielding obsession!
This present opportunity was the most effortless path it would ever have to attain humanity. Should it fail, the subsequent price required would be utterly unacceptable!
Even if it were willing to pay such a steep toll, the chances of true metamorphosis would remain staggeringly bleak.
Right at this moment, faint rustling sounds drifted from within the bedroom.
The dog's eyes lit up. Could that boy be coming out?
It instantly assumed a predatory stance, preparing to launch a lethal ambush the moment Jiang Ming dropped his guard!
Bang!
The very next instant, the bedroom door was viciously kicked open, and a solitary figure charged out from within!
Overjoyed, the dog was just preparing to pounce when a massive shadow crashed down from above.
Witnessing this, the dog cursed inwardly and retreated.
“This brat is truly cunning. Before even showing his face, he tossed out this vending machine!”
The charging Jiang Ming let out a hearty laugh at the sight. Just as he had anticipated, this dog's wicked ambitions refused to die.
Fortunately, he was cautious enough to deploy two vending machines before crossing the threshold: one to the left, and one to the right.
This way, no matter which side the dog chose to hide on, its efforts would be rendered futile. As for the dog standing directly in front?
Jiang Ming gripped his kitchen cleaver, confident in his ability to stall it for a moment or two.
Seeing the dog thwarted, Jiang Ming did not hesitate in the slightest, sprinting straight for the main door.
Taking in this scene, the dog naturally deduced Jiang Ming's underlying scheme and immediately sneered:
“Attempting to replay an old trick? Even if you lure that anomaly inside again, what use will it be?”
“It could not defeat me before, let alone now.”
Jiang Ming paid it absolutely no heed, merely continuing his mad dash toward the exit.
Swish!
The piercing sound of something tearing through the air echoed out as two macabre eyeball insects shot toward Jiang Ming, but he had long been on guard against them.
With an agile pivot, he bypassed one of the creatures, then swung the flat of his kitchen cleaver in a horizontal arc, instantly swatting the other away.
As for why did he not chop them? That was naturally because if he attempted a vertical strike, the insects were far too minuscule; the contact area with the blade's edge was too small, leaving Jiang Ming with no certainty of a clean hit.
Right as Jiang Ming cleared the two eyeball insects and followed through with his right-handed swing, his footsteps momentarily paused, leaving his defences entirely wide open.
That eerie appendage, resembling both a human hand and a canine paw, struck out from his blind side. Its target was, shockingly, Jiang Ming's face!
Jiang Ming did not panic in the slightest. He did not even bother acknowledging the approaching palm, continuing his relentless forward charge.
The very next instant, a heavily thorned ball-shaped cactus materialised out of thin air. With no time to react, the anomalous hand gripped it forcefully! Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
Then, it plummeted to the ground alongside the cactus, twitching convulsively.
Behind him, the dog watched its myriad tricks being thwarted one by one, yet it showed no signs of panic. It did not even rise to pursue Jiang Ming.
Just as Jiang Ming was a single step away from the door, a cruel smile crept onto the dog's visage. Tearing vocal cords to produce an eerie, unnatural timbre, it uttered a single word:
“Transform!”
The moment the syllable hung in the air, Jiang Ming, still lingering by the door, suddenly realised his physical vessel was undergoing a rapid, terrifying mutation!
His height of one point eight metres violently shrank. In a fleeting breath of time, he dwindled to a mere one point four metres. His now-oversized clothing and trousers draped loosely over his diminishing frame.
Yellow canine fur sprouted greedily across his flesh. His spine warped uncontrollably, hunching over in a grotesque arch as the bones within his body continuously fractured and ground against each other. His fingers began to fuse together!
At this moment, Jiang Ming felt that simply standing upright had become an agonising torment; his only primal instinct was to drop onto all fours and crawl.
Within his mind, that sensation of temporal dissonance surged forth once more. This profound distortion, which seemed to act directly upon his very soul, left Jiang Ming deeply unsettled, plunging him into profound anguish!
This horrifying bodily mutation occurred within the span of a single heartbeat!
Now, across his entire physique, the sole sanctuary untainted by this mutation was his head.
Right now, with his scrawny, diminished body supporting a disproportionately massive human head, he looked the very picture of an abomination.
Conversely, the dog standing opposite him had adopted an increasingly upright and imposing posture.
Comparing the two in this bizarre moment, it was ironically the dog that bore a closer resemblance to a human being than Jiang Ming!
The dog approached at a leisurely pace, its voice growing smoother, richer, and laced with mockery:
“I know exactly what you intend to do; it is nothing more than repeating your former tricks.”
“Although I would harbour no fear even if you managed to drag Uncle Li inside, I figure less trouble is preferable to more. It is best that you do not step outside.”
“Furthermore, look at your current state. You resemble a dog far more than I do. If you go out there, who do you reckon Uncle Li will slaughter? Hahaha!”
This was the dog's explicit threat, and after delivering it, the beast began to lay out its chips, attempting to entice Jiang Ming.
“Besides, there is no need for you to resist. The grand scheme is already set in stone. Submit obediently, turn into a dog, and when the next person arrives, perhaps you might even secure a chance to transform back.”
The dog's tone was drenched in utter sarcasm, yet simultaneously, it accelerated its pace, swiftly closing the distance to Jiang Ming.
Only by seizing Jiang Ming in its clutches could this entire ordeal conclude, allowing it to finally attain peace of mind!
Were it an ordinary person thrust into such dire straits, they might have surrendered without a fight long ago, especially since the dog had so thoughtfully offered an illusory path of retreat.
With the dog serving as a prime example of a successful transformation, a vast majority of people would likely have capitulated.
But Jiang Ming's response was simple:
Bang! Bang!!!
Two colossal vending machines crashed down, perfectly interposing themselves between the two entities.
Jiang Ming let out a cold sneer. It was true that he feared death, but living out his days in a muddy stupor as a dog was something he utterly refused to accept. Enduring such an existence would be far more excruciating than suffering from ALS and wasting away in a sterile hospital ward!
One must know that before the dog had tasted human blood, every facet of its behaviour had been indistinguishable from that of an ordinary canine!
Although he had fallen into such a pitiable state, as long as his scheme succeeded, there would still be a turning point for everything.
As for the dog's proposal, that was inevitably what would transpire if his plans ended in failure anyway.
Therefore, Jiang Ming completely ignored the dog's offer.
…
These metallic constructs were hardly an obstacle for it, but what truly troubled it was Jiang Ming's indomitable will to resist.
As expected, it would only find true tranquillity once it had crushed him firmly in its grasp.
Without a shred of hesitation, the dog unleashed its full martial prowess. In a mere fraction of a second, the two vending machines were utterly shredded, ripped apart as easily as fragile parchment.
However, upon tearing through them, the subsequent sight left the dog entirely dumbfounded:
Behind the wreckage stood vending machine after vending machine, stacked layer upon overlapping layer in an endlessly repeating barricade!
“This…”
The dog felt its scalp go numb. Even though dismantling this sheer volume of vending machines would only cost it a bit of extra effort, Jiang Ming himself should have been well aware of this fact.
Yet, he had executed this manoeuvre regardless, and based on its understanding of his character, Jiang Ming was not a man who performed meaningless actions.
For him to pay such a heavy price now meant his overarching scheme was undeniably colossal!
What else could he possibly do at this juncture?
He was right next to the door; his sole remaining option was to flee outside and seek reinforcement from that Uncle Li.
But that Uncle Li was someone who hungered for dog meat!
Going out in his current abominable form would ensure he was devoured alive by Uncle Li!
If he perished, it would permanently lose its chance to become human!
The moment this realisation struck, anxiety seized the dog's heart, instantly driving it into a state of rabid frenzy.
Forsaking its ongoing human metamorphosis, its physical form violently expanded as it unleashed a heaven-shaking roar!
Strands of hair as tough as dark iron pierced through its skin, and razor-sharp talons regrew from its hands. It began to channel every ounce of its strength, vowing to tear these infuriating metallic husks into utter oblivion!
…
Outside the door, the hunched and crippled Jiang Ming dragged his oversized garments along the floor. His footsteps staggered and swayed; his eyes were bloodshot and overflowing with profound exhaustion.
He had just summoned seven vending machines in a single, unyielding breath!
This was the absolute limit of his current capabilities. The Sanity indicator on his status panel had already plummeted to fifty-five.
He needed to preserve a margin of Sanity for unforeseen emergencies.
Jiang Ming had a dreadful premonition: if his Sanity were to drop below the threshold of fifty, something exceptionally terrifying would transpire!
Even without dipping below fifty, he had already paid an astronomical toll.
The faint, distant whispers by his ears had vanished, replaced by waves of grotesque sutra chanting and bizarre incantations…
Unfamiliar, horrifying visions incessantly surfaced within his mind, and his temperament was gradually growing tyrannical. It felt as though a second, or even a third persona was on the verge of splintering out from his psyche!
Bloodcurdling hallucinations flashed repeatedly before his eyes. At some unknown point, a pallid-faced child clad in burial clothes had appeared at the end of the corridor. The child's face was painted with exaggerated blush, and it greeted Jiang Ming with a ghastly, odd smile…
Jiang Ming's vision blurred, and the child vanished, only to be replaced by another horror:
Countless pale severed heads had materialised in the hallway. From their severed necks hung strings extending directly into the void. These macabre head balloons1The ‘head balloons' is a reference to Junji Ito's The Hanging Balloons. See more here: https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hanging_Balloons drifted in the stagnant air, all fixing their dead gazes uniformly upon Jiang Ming…
A multitude of bizarre, eldritch sensations blended seamlessly with that profound temporal dissonance, very nearly driving the present Jiang Ming into sheer madness!
Staring at this surreal, treacherous spectacle, his psyche teetered on the precipice of total collapse!
Forcing down his agony, he cast a glance back toward the apartment, listening to the abominable roars of the monster and the crashing of splattering iron fragments…
He understood clearly that he could not delay the dog for much longer.
Gazing down at his left hand, which was on the verge of completely transmuting into a canine paw, Jiang Ming's eyes hardened with ruthless resolve. Raising the kitchen cleaver with his still somewhat intact right hand, he viciously chopped downwards!
“Ah!!”
Notes
The ‘head balloons' is a reference to Junji Ito's The Hanging Balloons. See more here: https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hanging_Balloons ↩