Roasted Bear Paw

"Ah!"

Qi Liang was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. 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, "Dead... dead person! Whose... whose is it?"

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

Chen Jing, a psychologist, was relatively calm at first. Although her hands were shaking, she reacted much better than Qi Liang.

"Ugh..."

Qi Liang was just an ordinary university student and had never seen such a bloody scene.

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

The pungent, sour smell made Zhao Ke frown. Grasping the old woman's hair in his arms, he moved aside to make space.

Qi Liang didn't seem to notice this detail. After a moment of effort to compose himself, he got up from the ground and stared at the old woman, saying, "You killed him!"

The old woman grinned, revealing her black and yellow teeth, and let out a cold laugh. She didn't answer Qi Liang's question, seemingly admitting to it.

Seeing this, Qi Liang's chest tightened. 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.

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

"You're asking for death!"

A shadow flashed in Zhao Ke's eyes. He reached out to punch her, but before his fist could connect, a chill suddenly surged through him.

He saw that the attacking hand was withered and dry, but covered in black hair. The five long, sharp claws glinted in the air, exuding a terrifying killing intent.

Zhao Ke's heart leaped: "Is this even a human hand??"

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

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

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

At the same time, with his other hand, he flicked the hilt of his knife. The small fruit knife spun rapidly at his fingertips. Zhao Ke gripped it tightly, the tip pointing upward, and lunged at the hand that was grabbing 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 feel transmitted through the blade that he had at least severed the old woman's left wrist tendons.

"Ah!"

The old woman shrieked, pain flashing across her wrinkled face. She opened her mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and swiped at Zhao Ke's back with her other hand.

"Whoosh..."

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

"Get lost!"

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

With a "bang...", the seemingly old stool instantly shattered in front of Qi Liang.

Such a blow would have at least caused a concussion, if not worse, even to a younger person. Yet, the old woman merely stumbled, swayed, and turned her head, her single eye glaring fiercely at Qi Liang. She 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 went unfocused, and she felt dizzy. She didn't manage to grab Qi Liang and almost fell over herself.

"Opportunity!"

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

"Thwack!"

The stab was quick and vicious. The slender fruit knife slipped past the bone beneath the old woman's skin, its blade cutting through flesh as if it were tofu, stopping only when it reached the hilt.

"Die!"

Zhao Ke's face was grim. Fearing the old woman wouldn't die, he forcefully twisted the hilt in her back. "Ching..." Blood spurted from the wound with a splash.

The old woman's body stiffened. She grinned, revealing her yellow teeth, and clutched her chest with both hands before falling heavily to the ground.

"Kill... someone's been killed!"

Staring at the body lying in a pool of blood, Qi Liang stood frozen. Although he had regained consciousness and witnessed someone's head being bitten off by a bear, someone pushing Chen Jing down a slope to escape, and the human head in the pickle vat, this event affected him far more deeply. It wasn't just seeing it; he had participated in it.

Seeing Qi Liang's pale face, Zhao Ke couldn't help but frown slightly. Although he disliked Qi Liang's cowardly demeanor, he understood. After all, when he killed someone for the first time, he wasn't much better, setting aside the fact that he was only 13 then.

"Stop shouting! Look!"

Chen Jing, standing nearby, stared intently at the old woman's corpse. When she saw black hair growing from the body, she couldn't help but interrupt Qi Liang's babbling, pointing at the newly grown black hair on the corpse. "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, and she looked like she had gained at least two sizes compared to when she was alive.

Zhao Ke wasn't surprised that the old woman wasn't human. After all, what human hand could grow such sharp, thick claws?

If he hadn't dodged quickly, his back would have been more than just grazed.

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

"Bear!"

Having personally witnessed a bear mauling a human 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 and curse, "Damn it, what kind of cursed place is this! Can even bears become spirits?"

"You should be thankful she was already old and frail, otherwise all 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 had encountered before, she was no match at all.

Her emaciated and withered body was curled up into a ball after death, appearing to be about the size of a calf.

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

But even so, it had felt like they had walked through the gates of hell.

If it hadn't been for the faint smell of blood they had detected upon entering, which had put them on guard, the three of them would probably be peacefully lying in bed by now, waiting to suffer the same fate as Li Hongbing.

"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 claws. He couldn't help but shout in alarm.

Zhao Ke ignored Qi Liang. After swinging the axe and severing the old woman's left claw, 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? Of course, I'm making Roasted Bear Paw!"