(PS: While this is a new book, Xiao Z (forever 18) is begging, begging, begging for recommendations and tips.)
I'm going to die! I'm going to die!
Lu Yuanming knew it all too well. If he couldn't fold his broken leg into the hollow and curl up, the monsters would drag him out and tear him to pieces before devouring him.
At the same time, Lu Yuanming could hear the sounds outside. The monsters had come down from the rooftop. There was no way he could hide from them; all he could do was cower in the hollow and try to survive. He was already out of options, left only to hope the weight and thickness of the shattered walls could hold the monsters back.
And he also had to hope the monsters didn't have any Supernatural Powers.
As the sound of the monsters crawling drew closer, Lu Yuanming began to tremble uncontrollably. He looked at his broken left leg, his hands groping wildly without conscious thought. Suddenly, he felt a broken Stone Chip, a piece that had fallen from the collapsed wall. An idea flashed through Lu Yuanming's mind. At this desperate moment, he found one last burst of courage. He picked up the Stone Chip and began smashing his bent-back left leg.
Crack! Lu Yuanming let out a muffled groan. The agony sent tremors through his entire body, but perhaps because he'd already died once, or because he was now something like a soul, he didn't pass out. He could only endure the indescribable pain. Meanwhile, the crawling sounds outside grew louder and more frantic, mixed with a clatter of impacts. Lu Yuanming gritted his teeth and began savagely pounding his left leg with the Stone Chip.
His entire left leg was soon drenched in blood. When the Black Wanderer had struck his knee earlier, his leg had bent backward at the joint. Now, in his desperate attempt to survive, Lu Yuanming smashed it so hard that the bones at the knee joint were exposed. The joint was nearly shattered.
Just then, several shadows charged through the room's doorway. They crowded together, attacking and snarling at one another, each trying to reach the hollow where Lu Yuanming was hiding. Dust and rubble flew everywhere. Terrified beyond measure, Lu Yuanming kept hammering his left leg with all his strength.
Suddenly, a tremendous force seized his left leg and nearly dragged him out of the hollow. Fortunately, some rebar jutted out inside the cavity, catching one of his arms and his upper body. That kept him from being pulled free.
Outside the hollow, one of the monsters had pounced at the opening. It grabbed Lu Yuanming's broken leg with its forelimb—or, well, it had a humanoid upper body, so it used its hand—and began to pull him out. But two other monsters pounced at the same time, interrupting the attack. Lu Yuanming was still inside the hollow.
He had only a second or two left. His mind went blank with panic as he desperately pounded his left leg with the Stone Chip. Then the monster outside grabbed his leg and yanked hard. With a ripping sound, the leg—smashed nearly all the way through and held on by only a little flesh—was torn off at the knee. The agony was too much. Lu Yuanming let out a scream.
But his scream did nothing to deter the three monsters outside the hollow. They began fighting over his severed lower leg. As soon as one got hold of it, it sank its human face into the flesh and gnawed. Though human, the face was as hideous as a demon's.
There were more than ten monsters in all. The three fought over the lower leg. The others could smell the blood in the room, but the space was small and the scent was faint, so while the three monsters tore at the leg, the rest continued down the hallway in pursuit.
Lu Yuanming was in so much pain that his mind had begun to blur, yet he still couldn't pass out. And with life and death hanging in the balance, he didn't dare. After breaking off his left lower leg, he immediately curled the remaining upper part upward. The pain surged, blood sprayed everywhere, and bone and flesh scraped against the protruding rebar. Lu Yuanming screamed even louder.
In just two or three seconds, the three monsters had torn his lower leg to shreds. Then one of them reached into the hollow, its claw groping wildly at Lu Yuanming's curled-up body.
The claw was gaunt and black, but more than half again the size of a normal human hand. Long black nails jutted from it. As it scrabbled against the rebar, sparks flew. The monster's arm was also longer than a normal person's—about eighty centimeters—and its nails managed to catch Lu Yuanming's curled-up legs.
It couldn't get a firm grip or drag him out, but it tore plenty of flesh from his curled-up thighs.
Lu Yuanming screamed without stopping. The screams and the smell of blood drove the three monsters outside into an even greater frenzy. They snarled and bit at one another, rolling back and forth as they fought for the entrance to the hollow. Each wanted to tear Lu Yuanming apart and devour him alone.
Lu Yuanming was already at the end of his rope. There was nothing he could do but squeeze deeper into the hollow and curl his legs as tightly as possible, ignoring the pain. He could only fight for his life—or gamble it—and hope he could stay alive in the hollow until he crossed over again.
Gradually, the three monsters kept fighting. Some tried to lift the broken wall, but it was part of the hollow formed when a load-bearing wall and pillar of the building had collapsed. Even the monsters couldn't easily move it. So the three continued fighting over the entrance, and every so often one reached in with its claw and tore at Lu Yuanming. Though it couldn't pull him out, it left his legs a mangled mass of flesh.
Perhaps it was because he'd lost so much blood... Heaven knew why a soul could still bleed after death. In any case, Lu Yuanming's awareness began to grow hazy. His mind was intensely focused, yet he felt as if he were losing chunks of time. This terrified him even more. He could only stare at the entrance, watching the monsters reach their claws inside every so often.
Gradually, reaching in with their claws no longer satisfied the monsters. They grew more and more violent, even beginning to seriously hurt one another with their claws and teeth. The three monsters were truly fighting now. Lu Yuanming felt a surge of relief, but it didn't last long. The monsters seemed to have their own way of settling things. After a brief, savage fight, two of them backed off and left the room.
The one that stayed was surely the strongest of the three.
Lu Yuanming thought this as he watched the monster push its face into the entrance of the hollow. Then, to his disbelief, its head stretched inward like a snake. Its human face twisted completely out of shape, its mouth gaping wider and wider until it truly looked like a Human-faced Snake.
Lu Yuanming shoved himself farther in, but he'd already reached the end. The monster's head had stretched at least eighty centimeters into the hollow, coming within ten centimeters of his curled-up legs. Lu Yuanming could no longer hold back his screams. The monster paid him no heed. It simply opened its mouth wide and bit into his severed thigh.
Its human mouth was full of sharp fangs. One bite tore away a huge piece of flesh. The monster swallowed it whole, then continued gnawing at Lu Yuanming's leg.
All Lu Yuanming could do was lie there like a lamb waiting for slaughter. Every bite made him scream more miserably, but his cries meant nothing to the monster. In just a few bites, nearly all the flesh had been torn from his thigh. Hissing, the monster bit down on his thighbone and kept pulling, trying to drag Lu Yuanming out of the hollow.
"Die, die, die, die..."
Lu Yuanming suddenly roared. In the depths of his fear, a fury welled up—an utterly irrational rage.
He stopped curling up and swung the Stone Chip at the monster's head with all his might. By sheer chance, its sharp edge struck the monster's eyeball. At first, Lu Yuanming felt as if he'd hit something like rubber. But the eyeball wasn't rubber, and the Stone Chip actually punctured it.
The monster tried to retreat, but for some reason it kept its jaws clamped around Lu Yuanming's thighbone. One of Lu Yuanming's arms was caught against a piece of rebar. The monster was far stronger than he was, but with its neck pulled back like this, it couldn't use all its strength. Its head couldn't withdraw completely. Lu Yuanming clung to the rebar with one hand and took the Stone Chip in the other, savagely smashing the monster's forehead and eyeball.
Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times...
Lu Yuanming had no idea how many times he struck. His lower body had gone completely numb, and the arm he used to bash the monster's head felt as if it had been dislocated. His fingers had swollen like little radishes, but he didn't stop. He just kept smashing the monster's head. At last, after who knew how long, the monster released his leg and tried to pull back, making strange noises all the while.
Lu Yuanming didn't know whether he'd lost his mind, but he suddenly thrust his hand out and shoved his fingers into the monster's ruptured eyeball, digging and tearing with all his strength. At the same time, he recklessly raised his upper body and bit down on the monster's other eyeball.
The monster's roar rose sharply, but its retreat slowed. Gradually, it stopped moving, stuck fast in the entrance to the hollow. Lu Yuanming, meanwhile, was like a monster himself. He roared and shrieked, constantly biting at the creature's head and jabbing his fingers deep into its eyes...
As this went on, Lu Yuanming vaguely saw white Light Particles rise from the monster's body. Most faded into the air, while a few landed on his skin and in his mouth.
After who knew how long, Lu Yuanming's voice had grown so hoarse that he couldn't make a sound. His movements had also become stiff and weak. Then, once again, he felt the opportunity to cross over. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he could do it again. Without hesitation, he activated the crossing.
The next second, Lu Yuanming returned to his body in a Vegetative State. He couldn't feel his body, move, or express himself. There was only darkness and faint sounds around him, while the pain from his injuries had turned into an endless feeling of exhaustion and weakness.
In less than an instant, Lu Yuanming finally passed out in blissful relief.
Before you continue