Roasted Bear Paw

"Ah!"

Qi Liang was stunned for a long time before he snapped back to reality. He scrambled to the side, his face turning deathly pale. Pointing at the head in the vat, his lips trembled, and he could barely speak coherently, "A… dead person! Whose… whose guy is this?"

The corpse in the vat was none other than Li Hongbing, who had left before them.

Chen Jing, initially relatively calm, was still a doctor despite her psychological background. Although her hands were shaking, her reaction was much better than Qi Liang's.

"Ugh…"

Qi Liang was just an ordinary university student who had never seen such a gruesome scene.

His stomach churned violently, and he couldn't help but throw up.

The pungent, sour smell made Zhao Ke frown. He grabbed the old woman's hair, moving her and himself aside to make space.

Qi Liang didn't seem to notice this detail. After a moment of trying to compose himself, he got up from the ground, his eyes fixed on the old woman. "You killed him!"

The old woman grinned, revealing her dark yellow teeth, and let out a cold laugh. She didn't answer Qi Liang's question, seemingly confirming his accusation.

Seeing this, Qi Liang felt a tightness in his chest. Just as he was about to say something, the old woman suddenly grabbed Zhao Ke's wrist, turned around, and reached for Zhao Ke's throat.

Although the old woman looked to be in her eighties, her movements were surprisingly swift, even more agile than the younger Qi Liang.

"You're asking for death!"

A shadow flashed across Zhao Ke's eyes. He reached out to punch her, but before his fist could connect, a chill ran down his spine.

He saw the approaching hand: withered and dry, but covered in black hair. Five long, sharp claws glinted in the air, radiating a terrifying killing intent.

Zhao Ke was shocked: "Is this even a human hand??"

He had seen many human hands, but never one like this. It couldn't be called a human hand anymore; it was an animal's claw.

However, Zhao Ke didn't have time to ponder whether it was a roasted… no, a human hand or a claw.

He quickly leaned back, crouching down to dodge the old woman's right hand.

Simultaneously, with his other hand, he flicked the hilt of a small fruit knife. The knife spun rapidly on his fingertip before he gripped it tightly, blade pointing upwards, and lunged at the hand holding his wrist.

"Ching!"

The sensation of the blade piercing flesh made Zhao Ke's eyes narrow. Without looking up, he knew from the sound and the feeling transmitted through the blade that he had at least severed the tendons in the old woman's left hand.

"Ah!"

The old woman screamed, pain showing on her wrinkled face. She opened her mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and struck at Zhao Ke's back with her other hand.

"Whoosh…"

The blow carried a heavy gust of wind, fast and sudden. Zhao Ke couldn't dodge in time. "Riiip~" He instantly felt a chill on his back, followed by a searing, tearing pain that made him gasp.

"Get lost!"

At this moment, Qi Liang, a tall young man of 1.8 meters, finally proved useful. He grabbed a nearby stool and smashed it down on the old woman's head from behind.

With a "crack…", the seemingly old stool instantly shattered into pieces in front of Qi Liang.

This blow, even on a younger person, would have resulted in a concussion, if not death. Yet, the old woman only stumbled slightly. She turned her head, her single eye glaring fiercely at Qi Liang, and reached out to grab him.

However, age had taken its toll. After being hit on the back of the head by Qi Liang's stool, the old woman's single eye glazed over, and she felt like she was floating. Not only did she fail to grab Qi Liang, but she almost fell herself.

"Opportunity!"

Seeing this, Zhao Ke's eyes narrowed. Ignoring the searing pain in his back, he raised the fruit knife and plunged it into the old woman's back.

"Thwack!"

The stab was quick and fierce. The slender fruit knife bypassed the bone beneath the old woman's back flesh, cutting through like tofu until it stopped at the hilt.

"Die!"

Zhao Ke's face was grim. Fearing the old woman might not die, he tightened his grip on the hilt and twisted it in her back. "Ching…" Blood splattered from the wound.

The old woman's body stiffened. She bared her yellow teeth, clutched her chest with both hands, and fell heavily to the ground.

"Kill… someone's dead!"

Qi Liang stood frozen, staring at the body lying in a pool of blood. Although he had regained his senses and witnessed a man's head being crushed by a bear, someone pushing Chen Jing down a slope to escape, and the head in the pickle vat, this event impacted him far more. It wasn't just seeing; he had participated in it.

Seeing Qi Liang's pale face, Zhao Ke couldn't help but frown slightly. While he disliked Qi Liang's cowardly demeanor, he understood. After all, his own state when he first killed someone wasn't much better, assuming he discounted the fact that he was only 13 at the time.

"Stop shouting! Look!"

Chen Jing, standing nearby, stared intently at the old woman's corpse. When she saw black hair constantly growing from the body, she couldn't stand Qi Liang's babbling. Pointing at the new black hair, she said, "She's not human."

"Not human!!"

Qi Liang was stunned. He looked closely and indeed, a thick layer of black hair had appeared on the old woman's corpse at some point. She also appeared to have gained a considerable amount of weight, looking twice as plump as when she was alive.

Zhao Ke wasn't surprised that the old woman wasn't human. He thought about what kind of human hand could grow such sharp, thick claws.

If he hadn't dodged quickly, his back would have been more than just a torn layer of skin.

Zhao Ke flipped the corpse over. The old woman's face had become distorted. Not only was it covered in thick black hair, but her facial features had changed completely.

"Bear!"

Having personally witnessed a bear mauling a person before, the three of them had a very deep impression of bears. The old woman's corpse before them, aside from wearing human clothes, looked exactly like a bear.

Seeing this, Qi Liang couldn't help but gasp, cursing, "Damn it, what kind of hellish place is this! Even bears can become spirits?"

"You should be thankful she was old and frail. Otherwise, the three of us would be dead!"

Zhao Ke interrupted Qi Liang's complaint. The old woman's body had reverted to its original form after death, but compared to the bear they encountered earlier, this one was no match at all.

Her emaciated and thin body was curled up into a ball after death, looking about the size of a calf.

Some of her fur had turned white, most likely due to old age and frailty, causing her body to shrink.

But even so, it had been a brush with death for the three of them.

If they hadn't caught a faint scent of blood when they entered, raising their guard, they would probably all be peacefully lying in bed by now, waiting to follow Li Hongbing's fate.

"What are you doing!"

At this moment, Qi Liang snapped out of his daze and suddenly saw Zhao Ke pick up an axe and prepare to chop off the old woman's thick, black-furred paw. He couldn't help but shout sternly.

Zhao Ke ignored Qi Liang. After swinging the axe and severing the old woman's left paw, he slowly raised his head, a forced smile on his face as he sized up Qi Liang. A sinister grin spread across his gaunt cheeks: "What am I doing? I'm going to roast bear paw, of course!"