Seeking Advice

Fu Qian had barely caught his breath when he realized something was wrong.

So hot!

His body felt like a candle in an oven, as if it could melt at any moment.

No, it was already melting.

In just that short while, every cell in his body had started acting up, struggling to break free of its restraints.

His muscles began to writhe uncontrollably, and he felt as if his body were about to fall apart.

Fu Qian looked up at the flower beds ahead. In the silvery river of petals, countless moons seemed to swirl.

Bright flares of light were reflected all over him.

Was there something wrong with the moonlight?

He hadn't noticed it before, but the petals were gathering moonlight that was many times stronger and directing it all onto him. Now he could feel its effects.

Fu Qian made his assessment in an instant.

Something had already started growing out of his arm.

A few twitching strands of flesh were rapidly twisting and swelling.

Alien birth, huh?

The sight didn't frighten Fu Qian. Instead, he grabbed one of the strands and yanked with all his might.

A sharp pain shot through him as he tore it off.

But more strands soon sprouted, and before long, his entire arm had become completely deformed.

No saving it!

Fu Qian gave up on trying to clear them away and focused instead on the tentacles growing from his arm. He discovered he could even make them twitch a little.

These things were burning through his life force at an incredible rate. It wouldn't be long before he became a twisted lump of rotting flesh.

He couldn't stay here!

Fu Qian quickly scanned the area, but unfortunately, he couldn't find an exit. He turned and ran back the way he'd come.

But even with his lightning-fast reaction, his legs had completely melted and deformed before he could make it back through the Stone Door. They were even starting to merge with the ground.

He staggered back into the courtyard, unable to keep his balance any longer, and fell face-first to the ground.

That had undoubtedly disturbed the Werewolf inside the doorway.

With a howl, a dark figure pounced without hesitation.

[Containment failed, survival time: 25 minutes]

He'd thought the Werewolf might not be interested in him once he'd turned into a slime, but it turned out the creature wasn't picky at all.

Back in the Warehouse, Fu Qian recalled the Werewolf tearing into him and relished the memory of its crisp chewing sounds echoing in his ears.

This was bad!

The flowers in the garden were clearly strange, and at the rate the mutation had spread, he wouldn't have time to destroy them.

If he couldn't destroy them, he couldn't stay in the garden. Even if he slowed down every previous step as much as possible, there was no way he could make it through an hour.

He was surrounded by dead ends!

What was that saying? Every dead end came down to not being strong enough.

If he could kick the Old Man over with one foot and beat the Werewolf to death with two punches, he'd have found a way out of every dead end long ago!

Fu Qian wasn't discouraged. Instead, he patted his head and tried to think outside the box.

Forget whether it was possible. If he really had to choose one to kill, which should it be?

The Old Man seemed unfathomably cunning and powerful. The Werewolf seemed a little more manageable, at least. It didn't look all that bright.

So, here was the question.

Against a creature a head taller than him, stronger and faster by far, with lightning-quick reflexes, what kind of martial arts could he use to kill it?

Fu Qian silently took off his work badge and left the Warehouse, returning home.

He hurriedly turned on his computer. After a moment's thought, Fu Qian typed in a search.

[How to fight an adult tiger one-on-one, bare-handed?]

He browsed through the search results one by one.

"You can't generalize about people's physiques. Once, when I was extremely angry..."

"Fighting a tiger one-on-one is easy..."

"First, you need to be very strong... Don't panic... Don't turn your back on it..."

"Look it in the eye, and when it pounces, slide under it..."

"...Do that a few times, and the tiger will die from the strain."

Amid the screenful of nonsense, one post caught his eye.

A slide tackle...

That idea had... some merit.

[Sanity Value -1, entering Containment Scene]

Fu Qian entered the Full Moon Garden for the eighth time.

Once again, he reasoned with the Werewolf, got up, left the house, and hid.

Fu Qian opened the garden gate again.

But this time, he didn't cross the threshold. He only stuck both hands through.

The flares reflected off the petals instantly lit up both hands.

Before long, strands of tentacle-like flesh began to push their way out.

Perfect!

Fu Qian pulled his arms back and turned around.

The Werewolf under the moonlight had already stood up, facing him in silence.

That damn oppressive presence!

Killing this thing was the only way he could possibly complete the mission.

Fu Qian stared coldly at it without even blinking.

He didn't have to wait long. With a piercing howl, the Werewolf leaped high into the air beneath the moon and came hurtling toward him like a black bolt of lightning.

Don't turn your back on it... Look it in the eye...

Fu Qian took a deep breath and charged forward instead of retreating.

He ran two steps toward the Werewolf, then dropped to the ground and slid straight beneath its belly.

Secret technique—forum wisdom—slide tackle!

Dodging the Werewolf's mouthful of gleaming white fangs, Fu Qian shoved one of his swollen arms, now nearly unrecognizable, straight into its mouth.

Pain shot through him. The Werewolf immediately clamped down with its sharp teeth, and Fu Qian felt as if his arm had nearly been bitten in half.

Just like that!

Fu Qian wrapped his other arm tightly around the Werewolf's neck to keep himself from falling off.

Every strand of flesh on the arm in the Werewolf's mouth began growing wildly at his command.

The strands slithered down the Werewolf's throat and esophagus. Fu Qian controlled them, making them tear at everything in their path and entangle themselves deep within the creature's organs.

What was that phrase again—touching someone to the depths of their lungs?

The next moment, Fu Qian used every ounce of his strength to grab hold of anything he could and yank wildly.

A howl burst from the Werewolf's mouth.

Deeply affected, it lost control of itself for a moment and began savagely wrecking everything around it.

But Fu Qian clung tightly to its chest and neck with his deformed arm, staying in the blind spot of its claws.

At last, after the whole courtyard had been reduced to ruins, the Werewolf collapsed.

Fu Qian struggled out from beneath the Werewolf's corpse and calmly tore off the last bit of flesh from his left hand.

"One slide tackle, and then let it choke to death."

The forum bro's advice really had worked.

After reflecting on that, Fu Qian dropped onto the ground and gasped for breath.

The sensation of his cells rebelling was spreading slowly up from his arm.

Fortunately, it wasn't moving too fast. He should be able to hold out for an hour.

Unless that man intervened.

Fu Qian looked up and saw that the Old Man had somehow made his way into the courtyard.

The Old Man had put away his scythe and was looking at him with a strange expression.

After a long while, the other man nodded.

"Very good!"

"Your fighting style made quite an impression!"

"Facing a monster like that, what made you decide to fight back—even to kill it?"

If you've come here just to state the obvious, that's enough.

As the hour finally drew near, Fu Qian breathed a sigh of relief.

"I see you really don't understand..."

"For a true gamer, if it has a health bar, then even a god can be killed."