Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 27: The Dog Attacks
Xue Hongling raised her finger, and the gemstone inlaid on the ring surface danced with enchanting purple light.
Xiao Ran's heart tightened and he immediately became alert. He turned around quickly and saw a red shadow approaching quickly. The shadow gradually became clearer and it was a red skeleton ghost, stretching out its arms to grab his shoulder.

Xiao Ran reacted extremely quickly. He took a step forward almost instinctively to avoid the shadow's grabbing hand.

But before he could stand firmly, he was hit in the abdomen again.

"You are attacked by the F-rank cursed item, Trick Cloak: Deception!"

The attack came suddenly, but what Xue Hongling didn't expect was that this time Xiao Ran's body just shook and he quickly stabilized his feet.

Xiao Ran stood up straight, his eyes fixed on Xue Hongling, "Is this all you can do?" Xiao Ran's voice was calm and provocative.

Xue Hongling's face darkened. "Kill him!!"

As the words fell, the Red Skull pounced towards Xiao Ran, this time much faster than before.

What was surprising was that Xiao Ran's speed seemed to have increased greatly at the same time.

All I saw was the black swan brooch on his chest flashing with a faint luster.

It was as if a force was continuously pouring into Xiao Ran's body.

Perk 1: Grinding

When you are attacked, there is a 30% chance of gaining sharpening points. The sharpening points can be used to temporarily enhance your physique, strength, agility, and spirit according to your needs.

Duration: 20 seconds.

(Note: Once the enemy stops attacking for more than three minutes, the accumulated grinding points will be reset.)
The series of attacks just now had allowed Xiao Ran to gain five points of sharpening, which were now all added to his agility. Combined with the improvement brought by the three speed talismans, Xiao Ran's speed instantly reached a level that was unattainable for normal people.

Although the Red Skull was extremely fast, in Xiao Ran's eyes, it seemed to have slowed down a lot. He dodged the Red Skull's attack again, turned around and rushed straight towards Xue Hongling, with a fruit knife in his hand. The blade flashed coldly in the dark night, and with Xiao Ran's amazing speed, it left a white afterimage in the air.

“Reckless man!!”

Seeing Xiao Ran turning back towards her, Xue Hongling put her slender finger to her lips, and softly called out to the ring on her finger, "Xiao Ran!!" There was a strange rhythm in her voice.

Following Xue Hongling's voice, the gemstone on the ring flashed a charming purple light again. The air seemed to be filled with a strange and mysterious energy. Xiao Ran felt an invisible force trying to erode his consciousness, and his eyes gradually became blurred.

"You are attacked by the E-level cursed item Death Ring: Observation."

The sounds in his ears gradually became blurred. Although his body was still diving forward, his vision, hearing, smell, and even taste began to decline rapidly. At this time, Xiao Ran just opened his mouth and whispered in a very low voice: "Attack!"

"Whoosh whoosh..."

The moment Xiao Ran finished speaking, several black shadows suddenly jumped out from the bushes. Their movements were so swift and agile that no one had a chance to react.

Xue Hongling's attention was originally focused on Xiao Ran. She had no idea that Xiao Ran had an ambush. By the time she realized something was wrong, a black shadow had already pounced forward, opened its bloody mouth, and bit Xue Hongling's arm viciously.

The huge inertia dragged Xue Hongling's body to the ground, and at the same time, she felt a heart-wrenching pain. When she looked clearly, she found that the one attacking her was a Tibetan mastiff with messy hair.

The Tibetan Mastiff's eyes had long lost their charm, but its expression was still ferocious. Its sharp teeth tore hideous gashes on Xue Hongling's arm. Xue Hongling could even hear the sound of her own bones breaking as the Tibetan Mastiff twisted its body madly.

But before she could struggle free, two other dark shadows pounced on her at the same time.

A German Shepherd and a local dog, one of the two dogs bit Xue Hongling's thigh, while the other pounced in front of Xue Hongling and bit her face.

“Get out of here, get out of here!! Ah!!”

In severe pain, Xue Hongling let out a shrill scream, and waved the dagger in her other hand desperately, calling on Red Skull to save her.

But no matter how hard she chopped, the three dogs seemed to have no sense at all. Not only did they not let go, but they bit her even more fiercely.

Then there were a steady stream of puppies rushing out from the corners. These puppies included Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, Schnauzers, beagles, and Teddy dogs. Although they were not very lethal, they would bite whatever they could find. Xue Hongling rolled on the ground in pain. At this time, the red skeleton ghost also rushed over and slapped the German Shepherd on the head. The huge force directly smashed half of Du Mu's head, and the black blood and brain matter were all slapped into the air.

But the German Shepherd bit off a large piece of flesh from Xue Hongling's thigh.

Then it pounced towards Xue Hongling and started biting her face. Her eyes, nose and mouth were torn by the dog's sharp teeth. Pain and fear filled her heart.

The Red Skull broke the spine of the local dog with one punch, slapped the Tibetan Mastiff that pounced on him to the ground, and kicked the Pomeranian's head into a meat paste, but this could not stop these vicious dogs from biting.

It’s not so much that they have no sense of pain, but rather that they are corpses themselves.

Xiao Ran asked Uncle Li to help him find the dead dog from the dog farm.

Xiao Ran first used the privilege of [Zhen'e Order·Trainee] to extract three speed talismans from the corpse.

Then, with the privilege of [Black Swan Brooch·Corpsewer], he surrounded them and turned them into slaves that he could control.

The only pity is that due to the short time, Uncle Li only found the bodies of three large dogs. Only large dogs can extract the talisman, and it has no effect on those small dogs.

Although the Red Skull kept knocking the vicious dog that pounced on Xue Hongling away, Xue Hongling's reaction on the ground became smaller and smaller, and her blood dyed the surrounding land red. Her breathing was weak, her eyes were unfocused, and it was obvious that she had lost consciousness.

The Red Skull gradually stopped moving and stood beside her. A ray of fire flickered in his empty eye sockets from time to time, as if watching Xue Hongling's spark of life extinguished bit by bit.

But in just a moment, the Red Skull gradually dispersed bit by bit until it completely disappeared in the cool breeze.

At this time, Xiao Ran also recovered from the state of being deprived of his five senses. He walked forward and kicked away the Teddy bear who was still holding Xue Hongling's shoes and shaking it desperately.

After taking a closer look at Xue Hongling's body, it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as unrecognizable.

"call!"

Xiao Ran let out a long breath, thought for a while, and decided to throw Xue Hongling's body directly into his own mystery city space.

As for the other dogs, Xiao Ran looked around and saw a grave hole next to the bushes, so he ordered all the dogs to get into the grave hole and didn't need to worry about anything else.

After waiting for about half an hour, when the privileged time of being crowded around is over, these dogs will turn into cold corpses again.

After doing all this, Xiao Ran hurriedly took out the needle and thread and iodine, and lifted the clothes on his chest. He saw a dark red scar on his chest. When he used his fingers to push it open, he could see that the cut was very deep.

"Fortunately! If it weren't for the curse I left behind that could quickly heal my wounds, I would have suffered a great loss the moment we fought."

Black Swan: The Corpse Stitcher
Privilege 2: Calmness

You can sew a curse on any target. When the host is attacked, the curse will be activated, causing the wound caused by the attack to solidify quickly and will not cause any harm to the host. However, if the wound is not sutured within thirty minutes, it will form an explosive trauma after thirty minutes.

Xiao Ran took out the needle and thread and quickly sutured the wound. After making sure there was no problem, he changed his clothes and walked out slowly.

When I walked to the duty booth, I glanced at the window and saw Zhong Yi with his hands behind his back, his head resting on his arms, wearing headphones, and his two long white legs were crossed on the table. He clearly looked like he was asleep.

Xiao Ran didn't feel comfortable calling her to get up. After all, he looked quite disheveled, covered in dirt. Someone who didn't know him would think he was here to rob a tomb in the middle of the night.

Riding on a shared bicycle nearby, Xiao Ran walked slowly towards home.

Only after Xiao Ran left did Zhong Yi hear his teammate's voice in his earphones: "They've left. Boss, should we report this?"

Zhong Yi narrowed his eyes, and after a moment, the corners of his lips moved slightly, and he only said two words: "Call it a day."

(End of this chapter)