The Fall and Escape

Li Yi still had no idea that Yang Yilong and the others had successfully hunted down an Extraordinary Creature. For now, he, Brother Tao, and Zhang Gao were still dutifully guarding the observation point as planned, alert for anything unusual around them.

"Two hours already, and not a peep. This is way too boring." Zhang Gao yawned, feeling the weariness creeping in.

After all, people tired easily when they had to remain highly vigilant.

"If you're tired, get some rest. I'll keep watch for the remaining few hours. If anything special happens, I'll wake you." Brother Tao spoke while smoking.

Li Yi said, "I'll keep watch with you, Brother Tao. I'm full of energy right now. I'm not tired at all."

"No need to take it so seriously. I made several rounds just now, and this place is safe. The only thing that bothers me a little is that spider-like monster I drove away earlier." Brother Tao frowned. "I didn't manage to kill it. It might leave behind some hidden trouble."

"Wait. Listen. What was that sound?"

As he spoke, Brother Tao's expression suddenly shifted. He turned his ear toward the front and listened intently.

From the distant urban district shrouded in darkness came the faint roars and snarls of beasts. Besides that, other unusual noises echoed through the air, and those sounds were rapidly drawing closer.

Beep beep!

At the same time, Brother Tao's phone rang. It was a particularly important text message: Mission complete. Evacuate the Danger Zone immediately.

When he saw the message, Brother Tao's face changed drastically. He immediately tossed away his cigarette and barked, "Yang Yilong has probably finished the hunt. Come on, we need to leave now. I have a feeling we're about to run into trouble."

"What?" Zhang Gao was startled.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here." Li Yi spoke.

Brother Tao did not hesitate in the slightest. He turned and rapidly evacuated along the route they had taken earlier.

Seeing how anxious he was, Li Yi and Zhang Gao did not dare be careless. They immediately followed close behind.

As the three of them hurried downstairs, they also heard the commotion outside the building growing louder. Something was rapidly approaching them.

"Nothing that can survive in the Danger Zone is simple. No matter what happens later, just run. Then return by the same route. Once we're out of the sealed-off zone, we'll be safe. Those vicious creatures usually won't pursue us relentlessly."

Brother Tao was a loyal man. Even at a time like this, he did not forget to warn the two newcomers.

But just after he finished speaking,

he suddenly slammed to a stop, forcibly halting in the stairwell.

At that moment, the pupils of all three contracted sharply. Their body hair stood on end, and a chill surged from the soles of their feet through their entire bodies.

More than a dozen eerie figures had appeared on the walls of the stairwell before them. Their skin was grayish-black, blending into the surrounding environment. Several withered, elongated arms had grown from their bodies. Like spiders, they crawled across the floor, ceiling, and walls, advancing continuously in complete silence. If the three men had not run into them now, these monsters might have reached the top floor without ever being noticed.

"I only drove one away earlier, and there are actually this many here now." Brother Tao was frightened too.

The sheer number of them abruptly gave rise to a feeling of despair.

If they were surrounded, they would definitely die.

Yet before the three could do anything, the spider-like humanoid monsters in the stairwell ahead immediately sped up upon discovering them, closing in at an incredible pace.

"Run!"

At that moment, this was the only thought in their minds.

Brother Tao was the first to react. He spun around, his body erupting with tremendous strength as he tried to widen the distance between them as quickly as possible.

But the instant he turned, the wall beside him suddenly exploded apart. A withered, grotesque arm shot out and lunged straight for his head.

"What?"

Brother Tao was both shocked and terrified. He had never imagined that these monsters were not only in the stairwell—the floors on the other side of a single wall were crawling with them too.

There was no time!

At that moment, this was the only thought in Brother Tao's mind.

Bang!

The next instant, Brother Tao's head suffered a heavy blow. His body immediately lost its balance and slammed into the steps beside him, blood gushing out at once. His vision went black, then turned into a sea of scarlet.

Buzz buzz!

Brother Tao's body swayed, his ears ringing.

But driven by his instinct to survive, he hurriedly drew his black machete and swung it wildly.

He did not hit anything. Instead, countless terrifying palms came crashing down from above.

Screams echoed through the stairwell.

Li Yi watched as Brother Tao's entire body was swallowed by the grayish-black monster figures. His body was torn into a mangled mess, and blood dyed the entire stairwell red.

"A Spirit Medium Realm cultivator died just like that?"

His heart pounded with fear, but he did not dare delay for even half a moment. He immediately ran. However, instead of retreating upstairs, he plunged into the floor behind him.

"Li Yi!" Zhang Gao looked terrified. He chose to retreat along the original route, and the two were separated in the stairwell.

He wanted to change course and flee with Li Yi, but it was already too late.

The monsters behind them had caught up. If he delayed now, he would only die a more gruesome death.

Seeing Li Yi's figure disappear, Zhang Gao gritted his teeth and sprinted madly onward.

Whether the two of them could survive would depend on their own abilities.

Although they had fled in separate directions, the monsters had no intention of letting either of them go. They split into two groups and pursued them separately.

"Going to the top floor means certain death. This building is the tallest one here. Going up would be the same as trapping myself, so I can only find another way out."

Li Yi's entire body was taut. He moved through the building like a nimble cheetah.

The terrifying crawling sounds behind him continued without end.

Li Yi did not dare stop for even an instant. He had not even awakened his Spirit Medium abilities, and he did not possess a decent weapon. He could not deal with even one monster. The only thing he could rely on was his agile body.

He vaulted over piles of debris and rapidly smashed through tempered-glass doors, doing everything he could to speed up his escape.

Fortunately, Li Yi could see in the dark now. Otherwise, he would not even have been qualified to flee.

As he ran for his life, he gradually opened up a little distance from the monsters behind him, but he still did not dare catch his breath.

"I have to get out of this building, or I'll die here." Li Yi was breathing heavily, but his mind remained calm.

"Which way can I escape? The stairwell is blocked, and the elevator shaft isn't on this side. Otherwise, I could go straight to the first floor through it. There's no time. I'm almost at the end of this floor."

"The window."

Li Yi suddenly gritted his teeth and raced toward the window.

Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed the windowsill and vaulted out.

But this was more than twenty floors up.

If he fell from this height, Li Yi would certainly die.

Li Yi understood that perfectly well. But he had no choice. This was the only path to survival.

The wind howled beside his ears as he plummeted downward.

But after Li Yi fell three or four floors, he suddenly thrust out his arm and grabbed the windowsill beside him.

The physical strength of a cultivator revealed itself at that moment.

His arm forcibly absorbed the impact of the fall, allowing Li Yi to hang safely from the windowsill.

But he had no time to breathe a sigh of relief. The sound of shattering glass came from above, and several grayish-black arms thrust out from the window he had just climbed through.

The monsters had caught up again, and these monsters could crawl along walls.

"Again."

Li Yi gritted his teeth and let go once more.

His body plunged downward again.

After another three or four floors, he caught another windowsill and steadied himself. Then he let go again.

Falling again and again left him hovering on the brink of death each time.

If he failed to get a firm grip just once, he would be finished.

But this desperate struggle also produced clear results. He widened the distance between himself and the monsters, while the ground drew closer and closer.

In barely more than ten seconds, Li Yi had descended more than a dozen floors.

Yet above him, a group of monsters pursued him along the wall at astonishing speed. With no obstacles in their way, they crawled faster outside than they had indoors.

The distance between them was shrinking.

"I don't want to die here." Li Yi's eyes glimmered. In this desperate struggle between life and death, his body seemed to be accelerating its evolution and transformation. His eyes appeared to be awakening his Spirit Medium abilities.

But even if he did awaken them, what use would it be?

Brother Tao, a Spirit Medium Realm cultivator, had already been torn to pieces. Even if Li Yi awakened his Spirit Medium abilities, he still could not escape the danger.

He fell again.

This desperate fight for survival forced his body to unleash tremendous potential. He gradually mastered the feeling of falling weightlessly, and slowing himself down by grabbing the windowsills became easier and easier.

He no longer needed to prepare deliberately. The moment he let go and his body dropped, he knew what to do.

Soon.

Li Yi, who had originally been more than twenty floors up, had successfully descended to the height of the fifth or sixth floor.

At this height, he would not die from the fall.

His final release.

With a muffled thud, he landed safely.

But the monsters behind him were still pursuing him. They crawled down the walls and reached the ground as well, so the danger had not been lifted for Li Yi.

He ran again, retracing the route he remembered taking to get here.

He did not dare wander blindly in the Danger Zone. Otherwise, he might run into some other deadly danger.

"Li Yi!"

At that moment, a shout came from the rooftop of the building behind him.

It was Zhang Gao's voice.

Zhang Gao had already escaped to the rooftop platform. He stood at the edge of the parapet and saw Li Yi's figure, but he had reached a dead end with nowhere to go unless he jumped.

Several monsters on the rooftop were rapidly crawling toward him.

Li Yi's body paused slightly as he fled. He looked back, but then he sped up again.

"Li Yi, I can't get away. Do me a favor—give my money to my family." Zhang Gao's shout echoed through the dark city and reached Li Yi's ears.

Li Yi did not answer. He merely clenched his fist and raised his arm.

Responding was the same as agreeing.

Zhang Gao saw him from afar and smiled. He was already prepared to die here.

However, just as he prepared to face those terrifying spider monsters, something unbelievable happened.

A thin mist suddenly spread across the rooftop. The mist was pale green, and the higher it rose, the denser it became, until it merged with the night and could no longer be seen clearly.

The spider-like humanoid monsters seemed to have sensed some terrifying danger. They actually abandoned their prey, which was almost within reach, and scrambled into the building. The hurried sounds of their climbing rang out without end.

"Could a miracle have happened?" Zhang Gao found it unbelievable.

But soon, his pupils suddenly contracted. He saw something extremely terrifying.

Directly above the building, a gigantic eyeball suddenly emerged from the depths of the thick mist. It seemed to belong to some kind of Extraordinary Creature, because the vague outline of a colossal creature could also be seen within the mist. Yet at that moment, the enormous pupil shifted slightly and turned its gaze this way.

"Wh-what is that thing?"

Locked in place by that gaze, Zhang Gao was struck by overwhelming terror. It instantly drowned his entire body. At the same time, his body lost all sensation, and it seemed to be melting.

No.

This was not an illusion.

Zhang Gao's body was truly melting.

In only a few seconds, Zhang Gao's body melted into a pool of pale green liquid. Only his clothes remained where he had stood, completely unaffected.

The thick mist gradually dispersed.

The terrifying figure hidden within it departed, heading deeper into the Danger Zone. It happened to be moving in the opposite direction from Li Yi's escape route.