Suddenly, Li Fan’s steps paused slightly.
He probed the surroundings with divine sense, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the corner of his mouth.
Then, he deliberately headed toward a nearby dead-end alley.
Behind him, several small, thin figures hurried to follow.
Only when they reached the depths of the alley did they realize, with a start, that the person they were tailing had vanished.
They were just about to retreat when they found a figure blocking the exit.
It was Li Fan.
Li Fan looked at the five who had been following him and tilted his head.
Five mortals, and they were frail, weak children.
The oldest was only six or seven and all skin and bones. A strong gust was enough to blow them over.
“What are you little ones following me for?” Li Fan asked, somewhat amused.
The five children, caught red-handed, looked nervous.
But faced with Li Fan’s question, not one of them answered. They just stared at him intently.
Just as Li Fan was about to speak again, he heard one of them suddenly shout, “Gouzi!”
At the same moment, a vicious dog’s furious snarl erupted right behind Li Fan.
The beast closed the distance in an instant, about to pounce on him.
Li Fan had intended to crush it outright, but upon seeing the “vicious dog’s” appearance, he stayed his hand.
He grabbed it and lifted it up, applying only slight force.
Ignoring its fierce snarls, he held it before his eyes for a closer look.
It definitely had the limbs of a dog... But its torso and head were human.
What is this? A demonic beast?
A strange light flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.
Spiritual qi surged from within him, circulating once through the creature’s body.
Its snarls gradually weakened, and it fell into a deep sleep.
“Gouzi!”
The five children behind him, thinking Gouzi was dead, let out cries of utter grief and despair.
Without a thought for the absolute disparity in strength, they all lunged at Li Fan together.
With a light flick of his hand, Li Fan sent them all tumbling to the ground.
“It’s not dead yet,” Li Fan said calmly.
“If you want to keep it alive, answer a few questions for me.”
The children exchanged glances, then reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"This dog..." Li Fan paused, then corrected himself. "This child. What is the story here?"
Indeed, from his earlier examination, Li Fan had discovered that this creature with a human torso and dog's limbs was not some demonic beast.
It was a human, one whose limbs had been... grafted with those of a dog.