BANG— At the same moment, a powerful arm smashed through the door.
This arm was by no means human. It was broad and thick, with bulging brass-colored muscles that looked like cast steel. The back of the massive palm was covered in scales with a sinister texture, and the four fingernails were several centimeters long—hard, sharp, and deadly as daggers.
The instant Gao Yang pounced on Fatty Jun, the claws that smashed through the door followed close behind, slashing Gao Yang's left arm.
Sensing blood, the claws trembled with brief, excited tremors, then began to frantically shred the door. The door was like a fragile piece of cardboard; in the blink of an eye, it was torn to pieces by the monster outside with its bare hands.
The Beast walked into the room, stepping on the wood splinters with a soft, terrifying crunch.
The main light in the room had been turned off. It was dim, eerily red, and oppressive.
"Three... there are actually three... Ah, ahhh..." Auntie He's voice was abnormally excited, vaguely mixed with inexplicable sorrow and immense gratitude. "They're all mine... all mine..."
Gao Yang lay behind the waterbed, enduring the severe pain in his arm. He covered the mouth of the trembling Fatty Jun with one hand, not daring to breathe.
Soon, Gao Yang's fingers were wet—it was Fatty Jun's tears of fear.
The light in the room was weak. Gao Yang used the ceiling mirror above to see the enemy clearly.
It was indeed "Auntie He," a middle-aged woman looking over fifty, wearing a cleaning uniform. She appeared gaunt and old. Her torso and head still retained a human appearance, but her limbs had become bestial—excessively thick and muscular, bursting through her pant legs and sleeves, looking extremely disproportionate.
She walked into the entryway step by step, her body trembling with excitement.
Soon, a wet, smooth, dark green tail emerged from her back.
The growth of the tail seemed difficult. It emerged inch by inch, accompanied by a thick, turbid fluid, like amniotic fluid during childbirth.
It pressed against Auntie He's pelvic bone and spine, forcing her body to bend forward.
Finally, the tail, as thick as a thigh and two meters long, fully emerged. It dragged on the ground, making a cold, slithering rustle like a snake.
She now looked like a lizard-man.
Witnessing the whole process, Gao Yang felt terror in his bones, accompanied by a wave of dizziness and tinnitus. In fact, apart from enduring the pain, holding his breath, waiting for death, and trying to delay the inevitable, he could do nothing.
He knew very well that he could never be a match for this monster.
In a trance, his mind wandered.
Gao Yang remembered a time when he smashed a cockroach with a slipper.
Back then, the cockroach quickly hid under the bed after being discovered, but Gao Yang easily drove it out, then smashed it to death with a snap, feeling a mix of disgust and arrogance.
Gao Yang felt that right now, he was that tiny, desperate cockroach.
The only hope was Qing Ling, hidden somewhere in the room.
The standoff in the room lasted for a long and torturous ten seconds.
Or maybe it was only seven. Gao Yang didn't count.
Swish, swish, swish— Three sharp daggers flew from the darkness, straight for "Auntie He's" eyes.
Auntie He quickly raised her arm to block.
Clang, clang, clang! With three crisp sounds, the daggers fell to the ground, failing to even cut Auntie He's hard arm.
Of course, this was just a feint.
The moment Auntie He raised her hand to block, Qing Ling burst out of the closet, holding her blade with both hands, stabbing toward Auntie He's heart from the side.
Although Auntie He's reaction was half a beat slow, she was extremely agile. She grabbed the sharp Tang Dao with both hands, her eight hard claws striking sparks against the blade.
"Hah!" Qing Ling let out a low shout. The strength in her legs, waist, and wrists exploded all at once, pushing the Tang Dao forward with all her might.
Thud! Auntie He was slammed against the wall, but her hands stubbornly gripped the Tang Dao, protecting her heart.
Qing Ling continued to push, the blade piercing inch by inch into Auntie He's chest.
"Aaargh—" Auntie He let out a roar somewhere between human and beast. Her tail whipped around, lashing fiercely at Qing Ling's waist. Qing Ling stumbled, the strength in her body instantly dissipating.
Seizing the initiative, Auntie He grabbed the Tang Dao and swung it. Qing Ling flew out with the weapon, crashing into the standalone bathroom nearby. The tempered glass shattered into a pile of small granules with a crash.
The wound in Auntie He's chest wasn't shallow. She panted in pain and anger, walking step by step toward Qing Ling in the bathroom.
Whoosh— A quilt flew over, covering Auntie He's head.
In the short ten seconds Qing Ling fought Auntie He, Gao Yang and Fatty Jun hadn't been idle.
Fatty Jun lifted the quilt and threw it over Auntie He, but this wouldn't stall her for even two seconds. His idea was simple: block Auntie He's vision for a moment, then run.
In fact, that was exactly what Fatty Jun did. The moment the quilt covered Auntie He, he bolted for the door. Unfortunately, due to excessive nervousness, and the floor being covered in broken glass and viscous secretions from the Beast, his foot slipped, and he fell flat on his back right in front of Auntie He.
"D-don't kill me... Mommy... save me..." Fatty Jun rolled on the ground like a fat loach, but the sticky liquid made it impossible for him to get up.
Auntie He tore open the quilt with her claws, her gaze locking onto Fatty Jun at her feet. Three humans are harder to deal with than imagined. I can't count on enjoying them properly anymore. Kill one, count one.
Swish, swish, swish— Three daggers flew out again, stabbing at Auntie He's eyes.
Auntie He's eyeballs were punctured, bleeding instantly.
"Ah..." She waved her claws wildly. "My eyes! My eyes..."
At this moment, Gao Yang's body was trembling violently, but his hands didn't stop moving.
—You are trash.
—Nothing you do is useful. You can't change anything. So don't be nervous.
—Just do it. You're already here; participation is what counts.
Relying on this bizarre self-comforting method, Gao Yang actually greatly alleviated his fear and nervousness. At the same time Fatty Jun threw the quilt, Gao Yang had already moved to the entryway, picked up the dropped Tang Dao, cut the cord of the hair dryer, and then plugged the hair dryer's plug into the wall socket.
No, the distance isn't enough!
He gritted his teeth, grabbed the Tang Dao, and stabbed at Auntie He.
The tip of the blade pierced Auntie He's thigh, but because the force was weak, it didn't go deep. Auntie He swung a palm at him. Gao Yang was prepared and leaned back. He felt a stinging sensation on the bridge of his nose—it had been scratched.
Blinded, Auntie He didn't chase blindly. She grabbed the Tang Dao in her thigh, trying to pull it out. The blade wasn't deep and should have been easily removed, but an invisible force pressed down firmly on the Tang Dao, preventing her from pulling it out.
Qing Ling lay on the ground, hands spread open, gritting her teeth, blood already spilling from the corner of her mouth. "Hurry!"
Gao Yang grabbed the cut wire end of the hair dryer and placed it against the blade.
There were no crackling spark effects like in the movies, nor could one see the electricity. Only a dull, brief zzzt sound was heard, and Auntie He went limp, kneeling down.
She didn't faint and tried to stand up again.
Gao Yang quickly shocked her again.
Auntie He convulsed violently and collapsed to the ground.
She still tried to crawl up, her tail thrashing on the floor. For a normal human, an electric shock like that would have knocked them out cold, if not killed them on the spot.
Qing Ling had stood up at some point. She stepped forward, pulled the Tang Dao from Auntie He's thigh, and stabbed it forcefully into her right chest. Auntie He let out a wail of agony, her hands still struggling wildly.
"Help me!" Qing Ling shouted.
Gao Yang quickly threw away the wire, grabbed Qing Ling's hands from behind, and pushed forward with all his might.
Finally, the Tang Dao pierced through Auntie He's chest.
Auntie He convulsed all over, unable to even scream. Her head tilted to the side, nailed to the pink wall. The scene was indescribably eerie.
Qing Ling was covered in cuts and bruises, utterly exhausted. She let out a long breath and leaned back, relaxing against Gao Yang's chest. He could feel her heart pounding thump-thump-thump.
After a few seconds of silence, Qing Ling turned and collapsed face-first onto the waterbed, nearly prostrate. She was wounded all over, and the white bathrobe she wore was speckled with bloodstains everywhere.
Gao Yang's mind was also blank. Clutching his re-injured shoulder, he stood in the messy, filthy, bloody room. The air was filled with an indescribable, choking smell.
If forced to describe it, it felt like rotting eggs mixed with burning plastic, with a little wind oil essence and wasabi added to the fire.
Gao Yang's stomach churned. He knelt in front of Auntie He's corpse and vomited violently.
Having narrowly escaped death, Fatty Jun wasn't idle. He quickly found something to block the door, saying with lingering fear, "Lucky no one is in the other rooms on this floor."
"Didn't you say there was only one room left on this floor?" Gao Yang wiped his mouth.
"Hehe, I lied. Business has been terrible lately." The fat man ran over obsequiously to treat Gao Yang's arm.
"Bro..."
"I'm younger than you."
"From now on, you are my blood brother." Fatty Jun looked at Qing Ling on the waterbed. "And she is my blood sister-in-law!"
"..." Qing Ling didn't speak, but one could feel the "killing intent" emanating from her exhausted body.
"Bro, I have a question. How did you realize something was wrong with Auntie He just now?" Fatty Jun asked.
"Sound." Gao Yang's voice was weary. "If she came to clean, there would be a cart. When I told her to leave, I never heard the rolling sound of a cart."
"Amazing!" Fatty Jun slapped his thigh. "Brain works so fast! Why didn't I think of that!"
"Nonsense! My brother, needless to say, is sharp as a tack!"
Gao Yang started and turned around.
The speaker was none other than Wang Zikai.