Zhang Hang stared in horror at the man who appeared out of thin air before him, unable to understand where such great strength came from in a body that looked so much frailer than his own.
But before he could finish his sentence, a blur of knife light flashed before him.
When the intense pain traveled from his arm to his brain, causing Zhang Hang to let out a scream of agony, he finally realized that in that split second, his right hand had been chopped off!
"Ah! You ***! Do you know who I am? I’ll *&#&%!"
At this moment, Zhang Hang was half-kneeling on the ground, howling in pain and cursing like a telegraph machine, while casting his gaze toward the altar on the table.
That’s where his hand was placed!
If he could grab it, he could reattach it!
This is the property of the Monkey Claw, one claw for one hand.
"Don’t rush, this is my first time dealing with a living person, I’m a bit nervous. Be careful, a slip of the hand and I’ll cut your head off too." Wu Liang’s indifferent voice echoed.
He held the body of the Kitchen Knife Ghost with his right hand and picked up the chopped-off Monkey Claw with his left hand.
Although he claimed to be nervous, when he wielded the knife earlier, he did so without a hint of hesitation, constantly examining the blood-soaked Monkey Claw.
Seeing Zhang Hang crawling toward the altar, Wu Liang unemotionally kicked him in the abdomen.
The pain caused him to curl up like a boiled shrimp, watching helplessly as the other retrieved his hand from the altar.
Then, in Zhang Hang’s eyes filled with despair, Wu Liang cut his hand into pieces, poured wax oil onto them, and set them ablaze.
The air began to reek of the nauseating stench of charred meat.
Watching Zhang Hang groaning in agony on the floor, Wu Liang lifted his leg and stamped on the bleeding wound of his severed limb, saying with disdain, "Do you realize? I never imagined I would have to use such heavy hands on a living person."
For a long time, Wu Liang’s targets were various supernatural events. Killing Fierce Ghosts was merely a casual task for him.
But for living people, Wu Liang had never encountered anyone vile to the extreme—at most, there were annoying relatives from his aunt’s side, people far from deserving death.
Moreover, since coming into contact with the official circles, most of the Awakened he’d met were of inherently good nature, leaving him with a sliver of optimism for human nature.
Even when he carried out a mission at Heaven and Earth, Wu Liang ensured that no one was seriously injured or killed due to his actions, choosing instead to hand those people over to the authorities.
The Phone Ghost wasn’t neglected all these years precisely because Wu Liang didn’t wish to harm living people?
Yet today, Zhang Hang managed to show Wu Liang the evil in human nature.
Just from a few of his words, Wu Liang had pieced together the sequence of events.
"This Monkey Claw grants you the ability to alter others’ memories, and you used it to harm them? You used the homes of Chen Lili and Li Xiyue to hide the Monkey Claw, and used their bodies to satisfy your beastly lust."
"Since you’ve gone this far, I suppose you’ve also used this Monkey Claw in your career, haven’t you?"
He pulled a phone out of his pocket and tossed it onto the bed.
The files on it showed that Zhang Hang only moved into this neighborhood a year ago.
But his home wasn’t on this floor!
It was on the third floor of the neighboring building!
No wonder he wasn’t worried about the mess in the place having consequences; it wasn’t even his home, but Li Xiyue’s house!
This guy used the power of the Monkey Claw like a parasite, eroding their lives and gnawing them beyond recognition, so much so that Chen Lili and Li Xiyue both had memory confusion issues now!
"Let me see, is this how you intended to use this thing just now?"
With that, Wu Liang raised the Monkey Claw.
He pointed it at Zhang Hang’s forehead, and under the man’s horrified, despairing gaze, one of the Monkey Claw’s fingers gradually curled down.
At the same time, the pieces of his already burning right hand distorted violently and eventually turned to ash.
It seemed this was the price of using the Monkey Claw.
Zhang Hang kneeled on the ground with a dazed expression, continuously kowtowing and apologizing toward Li Xiyue on the bed, mumbling the things he had done—
"I used the Monkey Claw to get Mayor Hu to open many conveniences for the hospital; to have Director Fu provide me with tax loophole information for high-ranking officials and wealthy elites; to have Miss Chen help me infiltrate the circles of the rich and connect with them..."
He continued to blabber, each name making Wu Liang’s face grow more unsightly.
This bastard did all this using the Monkey Claw!
And due to the memory alterations, everyone would help conceal his identity, so he never became a public figure, nor did he attract much official scrutiny.
He had been lurking like a vampire at dusk, secretly sucking in the things he desired.
A peculiar noise sounded, and Wu Liang glanced at the Monkey Claw in his hand.
The palm area of the claw had mysteriously disappeared, as if devoured by something.
Suddenly, the Ghost Compendium appeared tremblingly before Wu Liang, an empty page appearing out of nowhere.
In his bewildered gaze, information slowly surfaced on the blank page—
[The user can exchange their right hand to attach the Monkey Claw. By setting up an altar and worshipping the Monkey Claw daily, they have three chances each day to curse others’ memories to manifest desires, with the cost borne by the exchanged right hand]
[If the cursed individual comes under another curse, the effect of the Monkey Claw will automatically nullify]
As the information appeared, a wave of satisfaction emanated from the Ghost Compendium within, like the fullness of a hearty meal, leaving Wu Liang dumbfounded.
This thing... did it just patch itself?!
Previously, it only ever displayed Fierce Ghost information, but now it seems it can also display information on Supernatural Objects as I encounter them!
"Buddy, do you even do version updates now?"
Although the function was certainly useful, this behavior left Wu Liang feeling uneasy.
The Ghost Compendium... seems to be gradually developing its own consciousness?
That isn’t a good thing. First, it inexplicably suppresses his emotions, then it starts forming its own awareness.
"Ha, benefits always come with risks; that’s the truth, isn’t it?" Wu Liang chuckled wryly.
He realized that to grow stronger, he had to use the Ghost Compendium to collect and devour Fierce Ghosts, yet this would also induce unforeseen changes in the Compendium.
This is an unsolvable issue.
"I’ll think about it after this matter; at least there is a solution to the immediate problem."
Shaking his head, temporarily shelving the Ghost Compendium issue, Wu Liang continued using the Monkey Claw to force Zhang Hang to reveal the phone numbers of everyone whose memories had been altered.
"186xxxx; 179xxxx; 131xxxx..."
As the numbers were recited one after another, an old-style mobile phone appeared in Wu Liang’s hand.
If another curse could nullify the Monkey Claw’s curse? Well, that was convenient.
He just so happened to have something capable of cursing others—
"Evil Bell, did you remember those phone numbers just now?"
"Call each one and place a curse!"
"Don’t make it too harsh, make sure they stay alive."
After ordering the Fierce Ghost under his command to act, Wu Liang turned his attention to the dazed Zhang Hang, waking him up to hear his cries of pain once again. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel✦fire.net
Standing on his wounded area, he said sinisterly, "As for you, don’t even think about such an easy way out like handing you over to the authorities for execution!"
"Let me show you what I’m really like when I’m ruthless..."