Night fell without warning.
The area Wu Hao had deliberately marked out as the "bridal chamber" lay in a low spot a hundred meters from camp.
The towering Wheat Stalks around it had been pressed flat, and clothes had been spread over them as a bed.
Red moonlight poured down, cloaking the place in an ambiguous, eerie filter.
"Brother Jin Sheng... go easy on me later, okay? Don't hurt me."
Bai Lianhua sat on the pile of clothes, pretending to blush as she undid her buttons, while rolling her eyes inwardly.
The ground here was covered in Wheat Stubble. It was stabbing her in the butt.
And Wang Jinsheng, standing right in front of her, had been frozen in place ever since he arrived.
He stood with the light behind him, his expression impossible to make out. All she could hear was his heavy breathing.
"Heh heh..."
Wang Jinsheng let out a vacant chuckle and slowly came closer.
Suppressing her disgust, Bai Lianhua took the initiative, hooking her arms around Wang Jinsheng's neck and breathing softly against him.
"Dummy, what are you waiting for? Didn't you say... you wanted me?"
"Come on. As long as you listen to me from now on, I might even let you have a good time..."
But before she could finish speaking,
the large hands that should have been holding her waist suddenly clamped around her throat!
"Cough! You..."
Bai Lianhua's eyes flew wide with terror. She was about to curse him out when the red moonlight revealed Wang Jinsheng's face.
His honest, simple face had split down the middle!
His mouth hadn't opened. His entire face had burst apart from the bridge of his nose, like an ill-fitting piece of clothing!
Beneath the torn flesh, there were no bones, no muscles.
Only clumps of Withered Yellow Straw, stained with dark red blood!
"Right... I want... you."
Wang Jinsheng's voice had changed.
It no longer sounded like the voice of a simple man. It was more like two rotten logs scraping together, harsh and hollow.
"The skin... is too tight... need another... a new one..."
"Ah!!! Mon... Mmmph!"
Bai Lianhua finally understood what was happening and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
But the moment the sound left her mouth, countless rough strands of straw worming out of Wang Jinsheng's mouth forcibly shoved it back down her throat!
"Mmph!! Mmmph!!"
Bai Lianhua struggled frantically, clawing at Wang Jinsheng, but all she tore away were handfuls of rotten straw.
Squish!
Wang Jinsheng's hand, now entirely made of straw, plunged into Bai Lianhua's abdomen!
As if stuffing cotton into a rag doll,
he madly crammed straw into her body!
First her stomach, then her chest, then her limbs.
To make room for even more, he roughly tore the corners of her mouth and eyes.
Under the blood-red moonlight, two figures overlapped, thrashing violently.
The sounds of bones cracking and dull blows rang out.
"Heh heh... listen to that. Just listen."
At camp, several boys on watch exchanged lewd grins.
"Wang Jinsheng always seemed so honest and simple. Who knew he had it in him!"
"Listen to that! No wonder he's an athlete. What stamina!"
"That plastic-faced Bai Lianhua must be having the time of her life!"
The group broke into knowing laughter.
But Wu Hao, sitting by the campfire, looked far from pleased.
He held half a piece of compressed biscuit, his brows tightly furrowed.
It wasn't because Bai Lianhua had been "taken." He could sense that something was deeply wrong.
"Too fast..."
Wu Hao glanced at the Luminous Watch on his wrist. It was only two in the afternoon, yet the sky had already gone completely dark.
The unnatural Time Flow made the unease in his heart grow stronger by the moment.
"Wu Hao, we're running low on supplies."
After taking stock of their backpacks, Liang Rui came over with a grave expression.
"Even if everyone rations their food, what we have will only last two more days at most."
"Don't panic."
Wu Hao drew a deep breath, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes as he pointed to the sky.
"Remember those Rankings?"
"If the top-ranked 'No Need to Say More' can rack up points, then the monsters can be hunted!"
"If I'm not mistaken, the scores are tallied every day."
Electric Arc crackled in Wu Hao's hand, lighting up his ambitious face.
"Starting tomorrow, we just have to hunt those crows to earn points and rewards!"
"With a B-class Lightning Ability User like me here, it'll all be a piece of cake."
"The longer we survive, the richer the rewards!"
Liang Rui nodded, her eyes full of admiration.
"Fine. I'll go with you."
"If we team up, we'll definitely rule this area."
Then she glanced at the Wheat Field in the distance, where the noises continued, and sneered.
"Then... we're not calling Wang Jinsheng?"
"No."
Wu Hao snorted. "Let him enjoy himself for a day."
"Once he's waited on that Bai Lianhua woman, those two dogs will be even more loyal to me."
Liang Rui was only too happy to hear that.
As long as Wang Jinsheng was tied down with Bai Lianhua, no one would compete with her for Wu Hao.
But not everyone was so content to stay put.
"Come on, let's go crash the bridal chamber!"
Three daring boys, worked up by the sounds they'd just heard, exchanged a glance and grinned wickedly.
"Heh heh, we'll just sneak a peek and see what that stuck-up Bai Lianhua is like in private!"
Crouching low and concealed by the waves of Wheat Stalks, the three crept toward the source of the sounds.
Soon, they spotted a clearing where the stalks had been flattened.
Under the blood-red moonlight, a pale figure knelt motionless with its back to them.
"Holy crap... she's so white?"
The three stared, their eyes bulging, and swallowed hard before signaling to one another.
Three, two, one!
"Ha! Surprise or—"
The three sprang out of the Wheat Field, hoping to startle the couple.
But the moment they saw what lay before them, their lecherous grins froze and turned to sheer terror.
"Uh... ah..."
The figure kneeling on the ground was indeed Bai Lianhua.
But her skin was torn to shreds.
Her mouth gaped open, her eye sockets were hollow, her nostrils stretched wide, and her ears had been ripped apart.
And every one of those holes...
was stuffed with Withered Yellow Straw stained with blood!
Her stomach had been cut open. Her organs were gone, replaced by bundled straw!
What was this? Some sultry bridal chamber?
It was a freshly made, still-bleeding Human Skin Scarecrow!
"Ah!!!"
The three were scared out of their wits. Their screams had barely begun when—
"Sur~prise~"
A scraping voice whispered behind them.
The three turned around stiffly.
Where there had been nothing before, a Tall Scarecrow now stood.
It held an Old Lantern in its hand.
"Ahhh! Monster!"
All three shouted at once.
The next second,
crack!
The lantern handle stretched out in an instant, transforming into a rusted yet razor-sharp Giant Scythe!
A flash of cold light!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three heads shot into the air, blood spraying from their severed necks onto the Wheat Stalks.
The Scarecrow didn't stop.
It reached out with its other two hands, grabbed the headless bodies, and plunged writhing strands of straw from its hands into their neck cavities.
It was making new companions.
"Ahhhhh! Murder!!"
Not far away, another boy had lagged behind and was still watching from a distance.
He had witnessed it all. Wetting himself in terror, he let out a piercing scream and turned to run!
"Help! Brother Wu, help! There's a monster!!"
The scream shattered the night's silence.
The Scarecrow, busy working on the bodies, paused.
Click, click, click...
Its head spun a hundred and eighty degrees, and its glowing red eyes locked onto the fleeing boy.
"Roar!!"
This time, it no longer imitated a human voice.
Instead, it let out a bestial roar!
Its previously rigid body dropped to the ground, and a third arm, like a dead tree branch, burst from its back!
Moving on all three hands, it scuttled across the Wheat Field like a giant Deformed Spider, so fast it left a blur in its wake!
"What was that sound?!"
At camp, Wu Hao and Liang Rui sprang to their feet.
"Over there! That idiot who went to crash the bridal chamber!"
The remaining boy pointed in that direction too.
"Ahhh! Stay back!!"
The piercing cries for help abruptly cut off, followed by the sound of bones cracking.
"Damn it! You think you can lay a hand on my people?!"
Wrath burned in Wu Hao's eyes, but more than that, he was confident in his B-class Strength.
"Liang Rui! Come with me! Everyone else, grab a weapon and follow!"
"Right!"
Three people charged toward Deep in the Wheat Field.
But when they arrived, all they saw were chunks of flesh scattered across the ground and the bodies of New Scarecrows impaled on wooden stakes.
"W-what the hell is that thing..."
One of the boys threw up on the spot.
"Who's there?! Come out!"
Lightning surged in Wu Hao's hand, illuminating the area around them.
Whoosh~
A cold wind swept past.
The waves of Wheat Stalks rolled.
A huge shadow fell from above them!
"Watch out!"
Liang Rui screamed and hurled a fireball.
Boom!
The flames struck the Scarecrow, but only scorched a few stalks of straw before going out.
"No damage! How is that possible?!"
Wu Hao was horrified to discover that his lightning had been blocked outright by the Withered Wood Arm!
This was no ordinary monster!
It was a BOSS! A Lord!
"Run! Run!!"
Wu Hao finally realized the gap in their strength and turned to flee.
But it was too late.
The Scarecrow swung its scythe. In this wheat field, it was a god.
"Ah!!"
"My leg!!"
It was a one-sided slaughter.
Before this terrifying monster, the three of them were lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
The scythe swung, and heads hit the ground.
A mere three minutes later.
The lightning went out, and the flames faded.
"Uh... ugh, Liang Rui... save... save me!"
Wu Hao had been cut in half at the waist by the scythe. His lower body was still running, while his upper body had already been stuffed with straw.
His once-arrogant bearing vanished completely, replaced by a pitiful plea for help...
And his transformation into a Scarecrow.
Five minutes later.
The wheat field fell silent once more.
Only the thick stench of blood lingered in the air.
In a furrow beside a heap of corpses.
Liang Rui curled into a ball, clamping both hands over her mouth. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't dare make a sound.
She had seen it.
She had been hiding in the shadows and had watched with her own eyes as the monster suddenly stopped after killing Wu Hao.
It cocked its head, listening.
Whenever someone screamed, the scythe flew toward them.
"Sound... It uses sound to pinpoint its target!"
Liang Rui's heart surged with joy. She had found a Path to Survival!
As long as I don't make a sound... as long as I stay absolutely quiet... it won't find me!
She held her breath, even forcing her heartbeat to slow, and lay in the mud as motionless as a stone.
Sure enough.
The terrifying Scarecrow turned around twice where it stood, seeming to have lost its target. It waved its hand, then set off with its lantern.
I survived... I survived...
A wild joy at having escaped death welled up inside Liang Rui.
However.
Just as the Scarecrow was about to turn and leave—
Whoosh~
A night breeze swept across the wheat field.
Rustle, rustle, rustle...
The towering wheat stalks swayed in the wind.
One stalk brushed against the sleeve of Liang Rui's windbreaker.
"Pat."
The sound was faint.
As faint as a needle dropping to the ground.
But to Liang Rui, it sounded like Death knocking at her door.
She looked up in terror.
And met the gaze of the Scarecrow, which had suddenly turned back.
Its mouth, split wide to its ears, curved into a smile at her.
"Shh."
The Scarecrow raised a finger like a withered branch and made a gesture for silence.
The next second.
The scythe came down.
Blood stained the wheat field.