Hunter of Mysterious Creature

The gap between the upper and lower limits of this type of martial arts is extremely large. The upper limit can even crush military combat techniques, while the lower limit is just about equivalent to a set of radio calisthenics... Without a formidable master, relying solely on the level taught by ordinary martial arts schools, it's almost impossible to defeat everyone in this city with the physique of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl.

"Self-taught," Yang Qi said.

"Self-taught? To such an extent?" Ye Xuan's eyes widened slightly, asking in disbelief.

"It's not just sheer strength she's using during training," Yang Qi smiled. "The sandbags used at her home for practice, fear they were beaten to pieces in no less than three-digit amounts."

...

The spectators on the stands were still chatting about fighting techniques, while the last round of the match had already started on the ring.

"Bring it on!" Sun Hang protected his face with his fists, body swaying left and right, taunting Wang Xiyi from several meters away.

Wang Xiyi didn't assume any stance, merely circling Sun Hang slowly, her hands naturally hanging by her sides, her long tail sweeping back and forth across the sweat-drenched floor.

They opted for no-rules combat, except for not being able to use weapons, abilities, and one more that Wang Xiyi couldn't use her tail, there were no other restrictions.

Wang Xiyi looked at Sun Hang, smiling silently, a bead of sweat trickled from her hair, sliding down her firm abs, finally seeping into the gaps of a few scales.

Sun Hang couldn't comprehend why it was possible for the same part to be so soft sometimes and yet as hard as steel at others.

In previous exchanges, Sun Hang used a tactic of trading injury for injury, striking her abdomen, but the recoil from her abs directly numbed his wrist, causing subsequent punches to be utterly powerless, giving Wang Xiyi a chance to knock him to the ground.

Sun Hang's breaths were slightly hurried, while Wang Xiyi's breathing was steady and long—her heart rate had slowed to forty beats per minute, even lower than a normal person's resting heart rate.

"I'll give you a chance; you attack," Wang Xiyi said with a smile.

"Then watch out!" Sun Hang barely finished his sentence when he lowered his stance and charged forward, aiming a hook straight at Wang Xiyi's face.

But this punch was just a feint; the real threat was hidden below—in closing the gap, Sun Hang swiftly retracted his punch, leaning back, another hand supporting the ground, sending a sweeping leg towards Wang Xiyi's lower part.

The ring's floor was made of rubber, covered in their sweat. Even though it had an anti-slip coating, being barefoot made it somewhat slippery... The sweeping leg might not take Wang Xiyi down but would definitely cause her to lose balance on the slick ground.

Once she's off balance, what awaits is a storm-like onslaught.

What Sun Hang didn't expect was at the moment he swept his leg out, Wang Xiyi suddenly leapt backward, landing atop one of the ring's corner posts.

"Oh no!"

Sun Hang immediately decided to change his tactic, but it was too late.

Falling from a height, Wang Xiyi, using momentum and her weight, directly pinned Sun Hang to the ground.

With a step over, she sat right on Sun Hang's chest. Accompanied by a gust of wind scraping his cheeks painfully, a fair fist suddenly enlarged in Sun Hang's vision—

"I surrender!!!" Sun Hang shouted.

The fist halted just a centimeter from Sun Hang's nose, as a few beads of blood seeped from his cheeks where the skin had been cut by the wind, healing in the blink of an eye.

"Why are there techniques like this?" Sun Hang couldn't help but complain, glancing at Wang Xiyi sitting on him.

"I've already said it's no-rules fighting; this isn't considered breaking the rules," Wang Xiyi didn't get up from Sun Hang immediately but reached out, pinching his cheeks.

"Stop pinching, it hurts."

"Losing means accepting punishment," Wang Xiyi said, "No dodging!"

"Why isn't the punishment kneeling to kiss your toes?"

"I seriously suspect that sort of punishment might feel like a reward for you, so no!" Wang Xiyi switched from pinching to kneading; her hands were so forceful that Sun Hang's cheeks were like a soft dough, changing into various shapes.

However, during this process, Sun Hang noticed the shadow attached to Wang Xiyi seemed to have faded slightly.

Releasing negative emotions through certain means can cause these shadows to fade?

Does it mean that maintaining a happy mindset can ward off these shadows?

As he was enjoying the bullying, Sun Hang couldn't help but fall into thought.

...

In the stands.

"Lost, and lost so miserably." Ye Jiu's expression was like mourning, having just lost his last three bags of chips in the bet, along with his beloved limited-edition handheld console... And the bet wasn't even whether Sun Hang or Wang Xiyi would win, but if Sun Hang could last more than a minute in Wang Xiyi's hands.

"Sun Hang, this guy, is way too weak, isn't he?" Ye Jiu obediently took the bet out of his bag, handing it to Song Yarong, who was all smiles. "I didn't see Mr. Wang use any amazing moves... I thought they could at least exchange dozens of rounds... How was it still one-sided dominance?"

"Hehe, forgot to tell you, Sun Hang never received systematic combat training." Song Yarong played with the new handheld console in her hand, smiling from ear to ear, "There was a related test done on him at the institute, and the result was he has no combat foundation whatsoever."

In fact, even the stances Sun Hang put up were learned from television.

"Damn, no wonder his movements seemed so awkward!" Ye Jiu couldn't help but exclaim, "I thought it was some special technique, who knew this guy is an amateur!"

According to federal regulations, all Mysterious Creature Hunters must undergo basic militarized training, which includes combat and shooting... But Sun Hang joined at such a special time that he barely had time to undertake these trainings.

Moreover, since Mysterious Creature Hunters have different combat methods depending on their abilities, this kind of basic training is more symbolic than practical, thus Sun Hang naturally skipped the makeup training.

"Ah... This feels so good now." Wang Xiyi satisfactorily stood up, rubbing her fists, then pulling a disenchanted Sun Hang up from the ground, "To compensate, I'll treat you to a big feast tonight, how about that?"

"Put the feast aside first, I want to ask you something," Sun Hang rubbed his still somewhat swollen cheeks, saying seriously, "Did you feel any emotional changes after beating me up?"

"Of course," Wang Xiyi blinked, "I feel immensely refreshed!"

"So do you think... if I didn't scare off Chen Hongjuan at the time, but let her rush in and make a scene, she might not have become a Mysterious Creature?" Sun Hang mumbled.

"Why would you think that?" Wang Xiyi asked in confusion, "Is there a connection between the two?"

"Mr. Pei told me Chen Hongjuan became what she is because her mind and body suffered from the 'three poisons' erosion... I'm wondering if there's a way to eliminate the three poisons from people's hearts, thereby preventing such events from happening."

"Impossible." Yang Qi, who was walking to the edge of the ring, suddenly interrupted, "To truly be free of greed, hatred, and ignorance would make someone a living saint, and how many of such people exist in history? Even if you satisfied Chen Hongjuan's demands, it would only encourage her to go further... Human greed continually expands, if she got a thirty-thousand stipend this month, next month she'd wonder if thirty thousand isn't too little and why it can't be fifty thousand."

Sun Hang glanced at Wang Xiyi, though the shadow behind her had faded a lot, it hadn't disappeared completely.

Yet there was one person, free of any shadows.

Ling Xiao.

The one whose seven emotions and six desires were devoured entirely by Anna.