"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The piercing howls echoed through the nursery, sending shivers down the spines of Chen Jinfa and Jiang Hao outside.
"Ah Hao, are the rest of your dogs secured? We can't afford another one barging in!" Chen Jinfa asked nervously.
"I told the guards to keep the dogs restrained and the doors shut!" Jiang Hao replied, though he wasn't entirely confident.
The villa's windows and doors were tightly closed, but the violent barks and chaotic noises inside were enough to rattle everyone.
In the master bedroom, Xiaoya was startled awake. Hearing the dogs, her face turned pale as she struggled to get out of bed.
"Ah Hao, what's going on? Why are the dogs barking like that?"
Jiang Hao rushed to her side, trying to calm her. "It's nothing, dear. They're just playing too rough."
"No! The sound is coming from the nursery. Is something wrong with the baby?" Xiaoya insisted, her maternal instincts overriding any attempts to pacify her.
"No, honey! We… we'll have another child someday…" Jiang Hao muttered awkwardly, trying to hold her back.
"Let me go!"
To his shock, Xiaoya, frail as she was, pushed him aside with surprising strength and staggered toward the nursery.
Inside the nursery.
Chaos reigned.
The wolfdog was fighting ferociously, forcing Lu Fei, Jing Jian, and Tiger into a tense standoff.
The grotesque baby in the crib thrashed and wailed, its eyes burning with hatred as it emitted strange, high-pitched howls. The sound seemed almost like a summoning call.
"Hold it off!" Lu Fei shouted, his scalp tingling with unease. If the dogs outside responded to the call, things could spiral out of control.
Leaving Tiger and Jing Jian to engage the wolfdog, he seized the opportunity to approach the crib. Swinging his thunder-struck staff, he aimed directly at the baby's black snout.
The wolfdog went berserk, charging at Lu Fei with reckless abandon.
Tiger and Jing Jian tried to block it.
Jing Jian's peachwood sword snapped in half under the wolfdog's powerful jaws.
Tiger struck with his ghost-headed blade, and with a sickening crack, the wolfdog's spine broke—but even that wasn't enough to stop its momentum.
Just as the wolfdog lunged for Lu Fei's arm, Jing Jian threw himself at it, grappling its head and wrestling it to the ground.
Lu Fei didn't hesitate.
Pouring all his energy into the staff, he brought it down on the baby's snout with a resounding boom!
Blue arcs of electricity crackled as the baby's body convulsed violently. Its cries were abruptly silenced as a torrent of black energy erupted from it.
The grotesque infant's lifeless body collapsed in the crib, its eyes dimming as the last traces of vitality faded away.
At the same time.
In the master bedroom, Xiaoya's eyes rolled back, and she fainted again.
The wolfdog's eyes turned blood-red as it howled in agony. It bit down on Jing Jian's arm with ferocious strength, tearing through flesh. Blood gushed out.
"Jing Jian!" Lu Fei yelled.
"Don't worry about me! Finish it!" Jing Jian cried out, his face contorted with pain as he held the wolfdog in place.
Tiger leapt in, pinning the wolfdog's body.
Lu Fei channeled his energy into the staff and swung it toward the wolfdog's nose.
Zap!
The wolfdog's body convulsed violently, letting out an ear-splitting howl. Black energy poured from its body, which soon fell limp. Its bloodied jaws released Jing Jian's arm.
A shadowy black mist emerged from the wolfdog's corpse, taking the shape of a spectral canine.
"That's the yin dog's true form!" Lu Fei exclaimed.
Outside, the sun had set. Without sunlight, chasing the shadowy entity would be nearly impossible.
"Jing Jian, hang in there!" Lu Fei shouted, bolting after the yin dog with his staff.
The shadow moved swiftly, slipping through the nursery door—just as Xiaoya arrived.
The yin dog let out a guttural growl and lunged into Xiaoya's body.
Her movements froze, and she stood still, her pale face rapidly sprouting tufts of black fur. Her once-beautiful features twisted into something grotesque and terrifying.
"Dear! What's happening to you?!" Jiang Hao screamed, his voice breaking as he rushed toward her.
"She's possessed by the yin dog!" Lu Fei's heart sank.
Xiaoya dropped to all fours, her hands and feet pressing against the ground like a feral animal. Her snarling face turned toward Jiang Hao and Lu Fei, baring sharp teeth.
"What do we do, Shopkeeper Lu? Please save her!" Jiang Hao pleaded desperately.
"I will save her," Lu Fei said resolutely.
Carefully, he approached with the staff, testing an attack.
To his surprise, Xiaoya didn't dodge. She deliberately took the blow, letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
Lu Fei immediately pulled back.
"The yin dog has fused with her soul and is trying to drag her down with it. If I attack recklessly, she'll die too!"
"Then what do we do?!" Jiang Hao was on the verge of collapse.
"We need to restrain her and force the yin dog out of her body!" Lu Fei said decisively.
Chen Jinfa and A Long arrived, stunned by the sight of Xiaoya in her horrifying state.
Together, they pinned her down despite her ferocious snarls and thrashing.
Jiang Hao stood aside, tears streaming down his face as he bit his lip to suppress his sobs.
"Do you have pepper powder in the house?" Lu Fei suddenly asked.
"Pepper powder? In the kitchen! Someone, bring pepper powder, now!" Jiang Hao barked at the maids.
A trembling maid hurried to fetch a bottle of pepper powder.
Lu Fei took it, opened the cap, and held it under Xiaoya's nose.
The pungent scent caused Xiaoya's nose to twitch involuntarily.
Suddenly, she sneezed violently, expelling a cloud of black mist from her nostrils. The mist quickly condensed into the form of the yin dog.
"It's out!"
Lu Fei wasted no time. Raising his staff, he struck the spectral form.
Zap!
The blue arcs surged through the yin dog as it let out a final, anguished wail before disintegrating completely.
But as the yin dog dissipated, it clung to a faint, translucent figure—Xiaoya's soul.
The yin dog had dragged her soul out with it!
Lu Fei's heart raced. Without her soul, Xiaoya would be nothing more than an empty shell.
"What now?"
Lu Fei's eyes darted to his backpack.
"The black umbrella!"
Without hesitation, he pulled out the umbrella and opened it over Xiaoya's soul.
The intricate patterns inside the umbrella glowed as eerie red flowers bloomed across its surface.
Xiaoya's soul was gently drawn into the umbrella, vanishing safely inside.