The wooden inn was small and looked faded and old. Large patches of grease on the walls showed that the owner of this establishment was not a clean person.
A black bulletin board stood at the entrance, displaying a detailed map of the small path ahead.
And at the very bottom of the bulletin board, written in striking red paint, were the words: "Wild beasts ahead in the forest, please be careful!!!"
The entire small shop exuded a gloomy feeling. If his car hadn't broken down nearby and the weather wasn't so hot, Mike would never have wanted to enter such a strange little shop.
"Oh wow—! Young cowboy, what can I get for you?" In the dim counter area, a woman in her thirties looked very enthusiastic after clearly seeing Mike's appearance.
The woman was dressed coolly and had a good figure, but her face was not commendable.
Her loose skin, even with heavy makeup, could not conceal her "old age."
"A bottle of ice-cold beer." Mike found a relatively clean spot at the black and reddish counter and sat down, placing his wide-brimmed cowboy hat to the side.
Dressed in a stiff, off-white shirt, his clean and handsome demeanor seemed out of place in this dilapidated little shop.
"Need anything to eat? We just got a new batch of beef in..." The woman pushed a bubbling glass of beer in front of Mike and asked, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
The scale of this shop was truly small; you could see from one end to the other with a single glance.
In the kitchen area, a tall man whose face was unclear was focused on chopping meat.
Thump, thump, went the sounds of his chopping.
Above the man's head, a fan on the verge of breaking down filled the entire room with a strong smell of blood.
"No thanks." Mike retracted his gaze and didn't even prepare to touch the beer with two ice cubes floating in front of him.
The rag the woman had just used to wipe the beer glass was unrecognizable in its original color and looked very disgusting.
"It's such a hot day, little brother, are you traveling alone?" The woman seemed not to notice Mike's disgusted expression. After wiping her hands with the rag, she sat opposite him and provocatively said, "Actually, we also offer special services here. If it's a handsome guy like you, I can help you cool off for free..."
As she spoke, the woman leaned forward, tightened her arms, and exposed most of her upper body.
The intention to seduce was obvious...
However, her appearance combined with her affected mannerisms only made one feel nauseous.
"Thank you, I am not that kind of person," the gentleman Mike interrupted the woman's speech.
Although the other party tried hard to conceal it, the greed in her eyes was still evident.
"That's a real shame..." After being rejected, the woman still stared at Mike without blinking.
The greed in her eyes grew stronger, as if she were staring at prey.
"Do you know those three people fixing cars outside?" Although faint, Mike still smelled that the woman's stench was very similar to that of the three people outside.
"They are my brothers, two of whom are intellectually disabled. To avoid discrimination, our family came to live in a place like this..." When speaking of her family, a rare look of warmth appeared on the woman's face.
In her narration, her family's experiences seemed to be very unfortunate.
"How much is the beer?" After listening to the woman's story, Mike got up, preparing to leave.
He didn't want to stay in this strange-smelling little shop for another moment.
"You saw the notice board outside, right? Why not stay here for a night. Wait until you meet other travelers to go together... The road ahead isn't safe—" The woman seemed surprised that Mike was in such a hurry to leave and tried to persuade him to stay.
"No need, the wild beasts can't hurt me." Mike put on his cowboy hat, his mind made up.
"Alright then, I wish you a smooth journey. This beer is on me..." The woman showed a slight look of regret, as if watching a beautiful work of art about to be destroyed.
But in her regret, there was also a hint of a different kind of madness.
Indeed, this family was all abnormal.
Mike pulled out a five dollar bill, placed it under the beer glass, and turned to leave.
The scorching sun outside was more comfortable than staying inside the shop.
When Mike returned to the Dodge Pickup, the three brothers had already patched the tire and were tightening the bolts.
After a while longer, the three brothers, braving the scorching sun, finished mounting the tire.
"This is your payment."Mike counted out one hundred dollar and handed it to the bowing Big Eye before getting into the car.
The car started again. After turning a bend, Mike seemed to sense something and glanced in the direction of the inn.
Indeed, in front of the wooden building, the woman and a man carrying an axe were also looking at the Dodge Pickup.
Under messy, graying long hair was a strange and terrifying fierce face.
Clearly, the man chopping meat in the kitchen earlier was also a deformed creature.
...
Summer travel adventures are a favorite among young people today.
Jessie, who graduated from high school this year and got into a good university, was pulled by her friends to go on a wilderness adventure.
Because it was an adventure, the five-person team, including Jessie, deliberately chose remote small paths without navigation, intending to seek excitement.
Then their car got a flat tire on a forest path that was neither near a village nor a shop.
At the same time, Chris, a clerk who urgently needed to travel from Texas to Carolina for work, chose a forest shortcut he had never taken before at a T-junction to save time.
However, the more hurried a person is, the more likely they are to make mistakes.
Chris, rushing to get on his way, crashed into Jessie and the others' stalled car at a bend in the forest path.
With a violent collision, both SUVs were completely totaled.
Fortunately, neither party was injured.
However, their good luck ended there; a greater danger awaited them in the deep jungle.
...
As night fell, Mike, who hadn't encountered another inn, chose to continue driving through the night.
Under the moonlight, the dim environment and swaying tree shadows made this forest path seem endless.
However, driving at night was very cool.
After another bend, Mike caught a glimpse of flickering firelight in the jungle out of the corner of his eye. Along with the firelight, the roars of wild beasts seemed to emanate.
Just as he was distracted, a dark shadow rushed onto the road, blocking the Dodge Pickup.
"Are you crazy!!!"
After a screeching brake, the car stopped in front of the girl.
"Help... help us... there are man-eating monsters in the forest..."
Heaven knows what Jessie had been through that day.
At this moment, she was calling out to Mike for help while looking in terror at the jungle behind her, as if some terrifying presence was there.
Then, with the sound of branches snapping, a tall, humanoid monster with a bow and arrow on its back and a giant axe in its hand appeared by the roadside, following Jessie under the moonlight.
"No—!!"
Seeing the cannibal appear, Jessie's face showed despair.
The cannibal, over two meters tall with a row of jagged teeth, was indeed very imposing.
Just as the cannibal approached the girl step by step and raised the giant axe in its hand, Mike timely got out of the car and grabbed the cannibal's axe from behind.
His action interrupted, the cannibal roared and turned, its extremely ugly face filled with anger.
Quite strong indeed—
The monster's struggling force was at least twice that of a normal person. But unfortunately, his opponent now was not an ordinary person.
Stepping back in a lunge, easily taking the cannibal's giant axe, Mike, with a unilaterally crushing posture, cut the monster to the ground.
"What is your relationship with the deformed people who run the shop up ahead?" Mike asked, with one foot on the cannibal's chest, rendering it unable to move.
The smell on this cannibal was very similar to the smell on the people at the inn at the intersection.
Equally nauseating—