It was midday in summer.

A dust-covered Ford pickup drove into the graveyard.

Sun Yan got out from the driver's seat and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he looked at the graveyard master's house.

As vast as North America is, this is the only place that makes me feel at ease.

This time, returning from the Youma Community, he brought back a lot of good things.

Zombie heads, Undissolving Bones, these can all be trophies for the exhibit cabinet.

And the body of Ma Glasses, who ate the Undissolving Bone and turned into a Bone-Man, Sun Yan plans to bury it in his own graveyard.

So that next time, on White Sunday, when Bakar Moon comes to collect bodies, he might be able to trade for some good stuff.

The physique of a werewolf is indeed strong; on the way back from San Francisco to Gospel Town, Sosia, who had been purged of corpse poison by Glutinous Rice, gradually recovered its health.

If it were an ordinary person, I'm afraid it wouldn't have recovered without a few days of rest.

Click!

Sun Yan stretched out his hand to push open the door of the main house, and immediately a scene of utter chaos appeared before his eyes.

Empty plastic bottles of Coke and Sprite were scattered everywhere on the floor, with pizza boxes and burger paper bags thrown about.

In the originally somewhat shabby living room, a brand new 88-inch LCD TV and a new PS5 had somehow appeared.

At this moment, Elise was wearing a white dress, barefoot, lying on the floor holding a controller, excitedly playing games.

"Holy shit, where did you get the money to buy these things?"

Sun Yan couldn't help but ask in surprise.

On the TV screen, Elise was controlling a monkey, wielding a staff to fight monsters; judging by the gameplay style, this seemed to be some kind of soul game.

Sun Yan bent down to pick up a game disc box from the floor: "Black Myth: Wukong? Oh my, where did you buy the game?"

"I earned the money myself; you didn't leave any money in the main house."

Elise didn't even turn her head, intently focusing on the TV screen with great seriousness.

Sun Yan then remembered that before he left, he indeed hadn't left any living expenses for Elise, who was responsible for watching the house.

He couldn't help but pat his forehead in embarrassment: "My oversight, but how did you earn money? You don't even have personal identification."

"It's simple, just like with that motorcycle, go to nearby cities and wander around. If you see those guys who look like they are in gangs, just ask them for money."

Elise scooped some Haagen-Dazs at hand and put it in her mouth while speaking.

Sun Yan was instantly dumbfounded, Darn it! Isn't this just robbery!

"Where's Dahuang?" Sun Yan glanced around the living room and didn't see Dahuang coming to welcome him, so he asked.

"He was in the house just a moment ago; maybe he ran off somewhere to play... Oh, right, there's something for you on the dining table that appeared suddenly at midnight."

"Thing? What thing?"

Sun Yan immediately walked to the dining table, but apart from a few bottles of Coke, there was nothing else on it.

"A piece of black stone!"

"Are you joking? There's nothing on this table."

It was only then that Elise got up and walked over. Seeing that there was no so-called black stone on the table, a look of confusion appeared on her face.

"Huh, it was here before; how did it disappear."

"Awoo!"

Just then, a panicked barking sounded from outside, obviously Dahuang's voice.

Sun Yan hurriedly ran out the door and saw in the direction of the graveyard's backyard, a large black dog with pitch black fur was sprinting towards him.

This black dog was barking while occasionally spewing fire sparks from its mouth, igniting the grass on the ground.

"Dahuang?!"

Once it got closer and he saw the lump of flesh on the other dog's head, Sun Yan instantly recognized the black dog's identity.

Isn't this Dahuang? How did he become like this after I went out for a bit.

Dahuang was wildly running in circles in the graveyard, then suddenly lifted his butt up, raised his tail.

The sight of it using its forceful hind legs, a lump of flaming feces directly fell out from its rear.

The scene instantly shocked Sun Yan, Sosia, and Elise.

"Flaming shit?"

"Shit, I can't imagine how painful that must be."

"Impressive."

After defecating this fiery lump, Dahuang seemed significantly more comfortable and continued running around the graveyard joyfully.

Watching Dahuang splashing fire sparks from its mouth, causing small fires everywhere it went.

Sun Yan suddenly remembered something; he seemingly eliminated Ma Glasses in the Youma Community and also helped a Yin Messenger seize Ma Glasses' soul.

Didn't that mean he completed two tasks at once?

He already obtained the materials for upgrading the Tomb Guardian; could the black stone Elise saw on the dining table be the reward for the other task?

And now, the black stone was eaten by Dahuang, resulting in this bizarre transformation.

"A black dog, spitting fire, could it be the legendary Demon Dog Huodou?"

Sun Yan quickly recalled something in his mind and soon found a reference matching Dahuang's current appearance.

It's said in ancient times there was a kind of demon beast that could breathe fire, named Huodou.

Huodou feeds on fire and excretes flaming feces.

As it leaves fires everywhere it goes, ancient people saw it as a sign of impending fire disasters and an extremely ominous symbol.

The Tang Dynasty's Huangfu Clan's work, "Original Transformation Record," recounts an event involving Huodou that occurred in the early Tang Dynasty in Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture.

The story tells of Wu Kan, a widow in Yixing County who was a junior official with a modest and submissive character.

He once found a white snail by the water, and brought it home to raise; since then, he found freshly prepared meals on the table whenever he returned home.

Neighbors told him that each time Wu Kan left home, a beautiful young woman appeared and arranged the meals for him.

Wu Kan, curious, pretended to leave one day but secretly hid in a neighbor's house to observe. Soon, he saw a woman come out of his house and enter the kitchen.

Wu Kan hurriedly went over to express his thanks, and the woman said with a smile: "Heaven knows you work diligently and sympathizes with your loneliness, thus sent me to take care of your household."

From then on, Wu Kan married the Snail Girl and lived lovingly, though, as the saying goes, there's no wall without a crack.

The local County Magistrate heard of Wu Kan's good fortune, intensely jealous, attempted to seize the love by laying a trap.

He summoned Wu Kan and said, "I want Toad Hair and the Ghost Arm, you must find them or else I will severely punish you."

Wu Kan returned home and told his wife, who reassured him not to worry, went out, and soon found those peculiar items.

The County Magistrate summoned Wu Kan a second time, again using the same trick saying, "I want a demon beast, fetch it for me immediately, or I will punish you severely."

Wu Kan returned to tell his wife, who then procured a demon beast named Huodou, whose body size and shape were indistinguishable from a dog by ordinary people.

Wu Kan brought the demon beast to the County Magistrate, who, upon seeing it, curiously asked about Huodou's special abilities.

Wu Kan said it could eat coal fire and also excrete fiery feces; the County Magistrate found it interesting, and had people burn hot charcoal for Huodou to eat.

After eating, all the feces dropped on the ground became fire clumps; the County Magistrate deliberately vented anger, "What good is this demon beast? Drag it away and chop it."

Just as they were about to harm Wu Kan, the flames suddenly flared up, quickly engulfing the entire county office, the smoke so vast it wafted to the city gates.

The County Magistrate and his entire family perished in the fire, while Wu Kan and his Shell Wife disappeared without a trace.

Although the story in "Original Transformation Record" seems absurd, it is the recent recorded appearance of the Huodou demon beast.

Tracing back further, the origin of Huodou involves the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," said to originate from the Yehuo Kingdom overseas in the south.

"Shouldn't we manage Dahuang? I'm worried it will burn down the main house," asked Sosia with concern, watching Dahuang run around playfully.

Sun Yan shook his head: "Don't worry, Dahuang has become a demon beast now, it has its intelligence, it won't do something stupid like that. Just let it familiarize itself with its new abilities,

and once Dahuang learns to control its fire-spitting skill, it will surely be a great help to our exorcism work in the future."

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