However, as her small body took a step, Gecko instantly burst forth with a speed that didn't match his burly physique, and in a flash, his tower-like figure was already blocking Hinami's path.
Gecko lowered his head, looking down at the little intruder, a hideous smile blooming on his face like a demon, his eyes glinting with cruel excitement.
"Oh? A lost little bird?" Gecko's thick fingers, with a playful intent, slowly reached towards Hinami's pale little face.
Just at this critical moment, He Xi Qian Yu's figure blocked Hinami's path. He didn't hesitate, pulling the stunned Hinami behind him and shielding her with his body.
"Please stay away from this child," He Xi Qian Yu's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetrating power, "Mr. Gecko of Bronze Tree."
Gecko's hand, reaching for Hinami, stopped in mid-air. He slowly turned his head, curiously sizing up this unexpected intruder.
"Heh..." Gecko parted his lips, letting out a low, pleased chuckle, "Interesting... Another little bug that doesn't know its place? Or perhaps..."
His gaze swept over Hinami, who was tightly protected behind He Xi Qian Yu, then looked at Deguci Asaki, who was filled with terror and despair, "...Do you want to be a hero who saves people?"
Gecko licked his lips, slowly straightening up, his burly body exuding a violent aura, and his crimson Ghoul eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
"Daddy! Big Brother Qianyu!" Hinami trembled behind He Xi Qian Yu, her small hands tightly clutching his clothes, her voice choked with tears.
"Hinami, don't be scared, close your eyes." He Xi Qian Yu's voice remained steady, he whispered without turning his head, his gaze locked on Gecko, "Mr. Deguci, take Hinami back, as far as possible."
Deguci Asaki awoke as if from a dream, suppressing his fear, scrambling over to embrace his daughter, holding her tightly in his arms, looking in terror at the two confronting each other, staggering back towards the corner of the clinic.
"Oh?" The smile on Gecko's face twisted to the extreme, "Then I'll crush you first!"
Before he finished speaking, the ground beneath his feet cracked with a "crunch," and his burly figure, like a cannonball, suddenly vanished.
The next second, Gecko's fist, wrapped in terrifying power, struck He Xi Qian Yu with the force to crush everything.
He sneered, as if he had already seen the foolish fellow in front of him being torn to pieces.
The expected scene of blood and gore did not occur; his fist merely touched the surface of He Xi Qian Yu's body, as if blocked by something, unable to advance even an inch.
"What a pity, Mr. Gecko," He Xi Qian Yu's lips slowly curved into a playful arc, "Your attack, it seems... isn't even enough to tickle."
"What?!"
The sneer on Gecko's face instantly froze, turning into extreme astonishment. His proud strength had been so casually blocked.
Just as he was in his moment of shock—
"Screech—Ch-ch-ch—!!!"
Crimson matter expanded, twisted, and shaped at an alarming speed.
The sound of countless flesh and blood being forcibly torn and then madly proliferating suddenly erupted from within He Xi Qian Yu.
In just a few seconds, a crimson monster nearly four meters tall replaced He Xi Qian Yu's original standing position.
A Ghoul?!
And a... complete Ghoul?!
Gecko felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him from head to toe; all his arrogance instantly extinguished, leaving only boundless shock and fear.
The gap between a complete Ghoul and a half-Ghoul was like an insurmountable chasm.
He was irritable, but not a fool.
"Why aren't you talking now? Bug?" Slaughter's deep, hoarse voice emerged from the giant mouth, laced with mockery.
He slowly raised his crimson giant claw, with a casual air, and with a "smack," like swatting a toy, heavily slapped Gecko on the head.
Thump!
Amidst the dull thud, Gecko felt as if his head had been struck by a battering ram, golden stars exploded before his eyes, his ears rang incessantly, and he stumbled, almost falling to his knees, overwhelmed by immense humiliation and fear.
"You should consider yourself lucky," Slaughter's pale eyes glanced at the corner—Deguci Asaki was tightly holding the trembling Hinami, who had her eyes closed, looking over in utter terror.
His voice held a hint of suppressed bloodlust, "If this little one weren't here, this pile of rotten flesh... would already be scattered across the floor."
Just as Gecko was still reeling from shock, thinking that this inhuman monster would let him go—
Pfft!
A dull thud of flesh being pierced!
A wildly flailing crimson tentacle from Slaughter's back, without warning, pierced through Gecko's abdomen.
"Aargh—!!"
Gecko let out a heart-rending scream, excruciating pain instantly sweeping through his entire body. His burly frame trembled violently, and he could no longer stand, falling heavily to his knees with a "thud," blood gushing from the Run through wound in his abdomen and from his mouth.
This kind of injury was not fatal for a half-Ghoul with tenacious vitality, but it was enough to make Gecko feel bone-deep pain and fear.
"This is a warning." Slaughter's voice sounded again, carrying a tangible sense of threat, "If you dare to appear before us again..."
He opened his giant mouth, revealing sharp teeth, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust, "...I will... chew you up... inch by inch... and swallow you."
He slowly withdrew his blood-soaked tentacle, flinging Gecko away like discarded trash.
"Get out."
Gecko ignored the excruciating pain and humiliation, using his last ounce of strength, and disappeared miserably into the shadows outside the clinic, leaving behind only a mess and a strong smell of blood.
Slaughter's pale eyes coldly swept over Gecko's retreating figure, and after confirming that the repulsive aura had moved far away, his massive body began to slowly shrink, the viscous crimson matter rapidly receding like a tide.
Amidst the faint sounds of bones resetting and muscles reshaping, He Xi Qian Yu's human form reappeared.
"...Why... didn't you let me eat him...?" Slaughter's voice echoed in his mind, filled with undisguised dissatisfaction.
"How about considering the child's feelings?" He Xi Qian Yu retorted testily in his mind.
"...Brat... so troublesome..." Slaughter complained, then fell silent.
He Xi Qian Yu exhaled, then turned and walked towards the corner, his face returning to its usual gentleness: "It's alright, Hinami. The bad guy has been scared away, you can open your eyes now."
He squatted down, looking levelly at the small figure tightly held in her father's arms, his voice unusually soft.