Surging

Zhou Kai successfully finished inspecting the second floor.

The remaining two bedrooms had windows that were well-sealed, showing no abnormalities.

In the basement, the Moonlight Orchid had grown to the length of a finger, emitting a faint, ghostly blue radiance that allowed him to barely see even without an oil lamp.

"If I can successfully transplant these, I can consider planting them in other parts of the house later; that would save on oil."

Zhou Kai carefully plucked a sprout of the Moonlight Orchid from the Nursery and hid it inside his clothes.

This thing had the effect of dispelling ill omens and keeping one clear-headed, which would allow him to hold out longer when out in the field.

Extinguishing the oil lamp, he took off his coat and wrapped his brand-new longsword in layers, concealing its overly conspicuous cold glint.

After completing these preparations, he took a deep breath and gently pulled open the door of the Sanctuary.

A suffocating, fishy stench immediately rushed into his face along with the drizzle.

The rain outside seemed to have eased slightly, which, for him, was a decent opportunity.

Zhou Kai's heart rate accelerated sharply; this was the first time he had truly, in the literal sense, stepped out into this Nightmare town called Soraka.

He had long since devised a relatively safe exploration plan.

Soraka was crawling with monsters—on the streets, inside the houses, everywhere.

Compared to fighting on open streets, resolving combat within enclosed buildings could effectively prevent attracting more enemies.

Tonight, Zhou Kai's goal was to explore one or two nearby buildings as much as possible, search for usable supplies, and incidentally hunt down any straggling monsters.

The dark night and the curtain of rain were his cover, but they were also the monsters' cover.

In such an environment, creeping along cautiously was far less wise than moving at high speed without regard for noise.

Like a leopard, Zhou Kai crouched in the shadows of the Sanctuary, his eyes wide open, adapting to the darkness.

He knew the locations of the surrounding buildings by heart; fifty meters away at the five o'clock position stood an independent two-story house.

The only thing he needed to confirm was whether there were any ill-intentioned "roadblocks" on this seventy-meter path.

"Waiting for a flash of lightning."

Zhou Kai rubbed the oil lamp at his waist, calming his mind and listening to everything within the rain-swept landscape.

A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, and for a fleeting instant, the entire town was as bright as day.

Zhou Kai's pupils constricted instantly, taking in everything along his path.

As the world plunged back into darkness, he surged upward, his body like a fully drawn bow, exploding with all his strength as he sprinted toward the house seventy meters away!

A collapsed flower bed, a wide patch of mud, a few scattered pieces of debris—there was nothing between him and that house.

Charge!

Zhou Kai pushed his speed to the limit, his legs moving like lightning across the muddy ground, covering the seventy-plus meters in just eight seconds.

Crack!

The moment he reached the door, Zhou Kai reached out in advance, grabbed the handle, and exerted force from his waist and abdomen, actually ripping the entire bolt right out of the rotting wooden door!

He tossed the bolt aside, pushed the door open, and used the momentum to roll into the interior of the room.

Another flash of lightning happened to strike, allowing Zhou Kai to see two windows in the living room emitting a faint light, as well as the general layout of the room.

His brain raced, and his subsequent actions formed in his mind instantly.

Without pausing, he rushed to a wooden cabinet nearby and pushed with all his might, shoving the heavy piece of furniture behind the door to wedge it shut.

He then quickly hoisted up a wooden board from beneath the window to block the two glass panes.

Only after finishing all this did Zhou Kai let out a long breath, pull a lighter from his pocket, and with a click, ignite the oil lamp to begin cautiously exploring his surroundings.

The materials used for this house were inferior to No. 777; the sound of the rain outside was clearly audible, offering no soundproofing whatsoever.

He needed to devote more energy to distinguishing whether there were any abnormal movements inside the house.

When he entered, he had caught a glimpse of the house number by the lightning: this was "No. 653."

Are there no patterns to the house numbers...

As Zhou Kai frowned in thought, he adjusted the light of the oil lamp so that it was just bright enough to see, but not so bright that it would shine too far.

Gripping his sword, he headed toward the rooms connected to the living room.

When he explored the kitchen, he discovered that the floorboards had been shattered from underneath by something, with rotten wood splinters scattered everywhere. The entire floor of the room had sunk more than ten centimeters lower than the living room. Poking the wood aside with the tip of his sword, the damp soil underneath was clearly visible.

"Soil..."

Zhou Kai suddenly remembered that the texture under his feet had felt somewhat strange while he was running over earlier.

Driven by his subconscious, he rummaged through the soil for a while, but found nothing, and felt a strange, inexplicable sensation in his heart.

The furnishings in the kitchen were dilapidated, the tableware was rusted, and all sorts of debris were piled up like a garbage dump.

Nothing worth noting.

Zhou Kai frowned and turned to head toward the next area.

"Could it be... that this first exploration is going to end in failure?"

The moment he stepped out of the kitchen, a strange, rustling sound emerged from behind him.

Zhou Kai turned around instinctively, his eyes widening in shock!

The soft soil that had been deathly silent just a moment ago was now churning, bubbling away like boiling water.

Zhou Kai retreated several steps, staring fixedly at the dirt.

A few seconds later, black beetles the length of a finger crawled out from the earth, layer upon layer, dense and swarming!

The ground was filled with insects!

Could it be that the hard, clumpy objects beneath his feet when he ran over earlier were actually these damn bugs?

A wave of intense nausea surged up his throat!

Zhou Kai's trypophobia was on the verge of triggering; he spat out a few curses, hurriedly turned away from the kitchen, and sprinted toward the stairs with long, rapid strides.

Misfortunes never come singly.

The instant Zhou Kai rushed to the second floor, a black shadow lunged from the darkness at the corner, pouncing directly toward his face and nearly colliding with him.

He instinctively raised his blade, struggling to fend off the monster's biting and clawing.

In the flickering light of the oil lamp, Zhou Kai saw the creature's appearance clearly.

Its body was that of a normal human, but severely bloated, exhibiting the characteristics of a corpse in the stage of advanced putrefaction, while its head was a bumpy, squid-like mass, its tentacle-like feelers waving frantically...

Diablo Parasitic Corpse!

"Get lost!"

Zhou Kai was no longer the man he used to be.

This monster's strength was greater than that of Lan Ze, but his efforts over the past few days had not been in vain!

He let out a muffled grunt, his arm muscles bulging as he steadied his stance and shoved forward with all his might, actually sending the Parasitic Corpse flying backward!

The creature's sharp claws tried to grab Zhou Kai's greatsword, but they only shredded the cloth wrapped around it, revealing the cold, lethal gleam of the blade beneath.

"Die for me!"

With a flash of steel, Zhou Kai lunged forward, bringing his sword down in a vertical strike aimed squarely at the Parasitic Corpse's head!

Crack!

Accompanied by a series of terrifying sounds of snapping tendons and shattering bones, the razor-sharp greatsword cleaved all the way down to the creature's waist.

Its head, shoulders, and chest were cleanly split in two by that single strike!