Luring Monsters

Just as those two people appeared.

A monster with skin as green as a rotting corpse, its knees, collarbones, and feet stripped of flesh to reveal bone, and sharp bone claws on its hands, slid down from the ceiling vent behind them and landed on the floor at their backs.

Elina screamed, startled by the monster.

The monster lunged at the woman without a sound, biting through her neck in one motion, her head dropping to the floor.

It then lunged violently at the man.

Taking advantage of the moment, Wu Heng drove power into his leg muscles and launched himself forward, closing the distance in two strides. He swung the briefcase with all his might, arcing it from back to front, and smashed it hard into the monster's head.

THUD!

The monster's head burst open. The force of the impact drove the teeth it had sunk into the man's neck deeper, like a hammer driving a nail, snapping the man's neck instantly. His head fell to the floor, resting sweetly against the woman's.

The bodies of the man and the monster collapsed simultaneously, their red and black blood mingling into a brownish liquid.

"My God, are you a demon hunter? That was absolutely shocking."

In this environment, Elina had already developed a dependent personality disorder.

"God probably doesn't like me much."

Wu Heng replied.

He walked over to the monster, and a stench like a thousand crushed stink bugs assaulted his nostrils.

The odor was incredibly thick, as if someone had stepped on a hundred stink bugs at once.

Wu Heng examined the monster's appearance closely; it resembled the Lesser Demons from the Abaddon Hell, a layer beneath the Leviathan Hell, as described in a manga spin-off.

It is said that this type of demon emits the scent of ether and human metabolic waste.

They can mimic voices, and their sharp claws can easily tear prey apart, but these demons are easily damaged by ordinary physical attacks.

The thick scent of human metabolic waste confirmed to Wu Heng that this was indeed a Lesser Demon.

It seemed the barking dogs, meowing cats, squeaking rats, and Elina's cries for help in the subway were all imitations by these Lesser Demons—though they were a bit dim-witted, mimicking whatever sound they happened to catch.

Wu Heng thought for a moment, endured the nauseating stench, reached out to grab the Lesser Demon's body, and attempted to trigger his Siphon ability.

A faint stream of energy flowed from the Lesser Demon's body, up Wu Heng's arm, and merged into his own.

Wu Heng could feel his physical constitution strengthen by a fraction once more, though the energy from a single Lesser Demon was weak, providing only about a one percent boost.

Wu Heng looked at the fragile Lesser Demon before him and listened to the hissing and mimicking sounds of other Lesser Demons echoing through the subway.

He suddenly didn't want to leave. Since he could return at any time, this group of bottom-tier Lesser Demons looked more like walking experience packs.

Of course, that was only from Wu Heng's perspective; to ordinary people, they were insane killing machines.

With sharp bone claws, extreme speed, and the fact that only crushing their heads could kill them, ordinary firearms were completely useless.

"The exit is just ahead, go on out. I'll go check on your friend."

"I hope to God they're okay!"

Wu Heng pointed toward the right, then turned and headed back toward the position he had strategically retreated from earlier.

"I'll call the police to help you."

Elina whispered from behind.

Wu Heng followed the trail of blood on the ground until he reached the rear carriage of the subway.

A blonde woman was still slowly struggling to crawl in the direction Wu Heng had come from, dragging a long streak of blood behind her.

Only her upper body remained.

"Help..."

The woman managed only two words before she went still.

Wu Heng ignored the woman on the ground and scanned his surroundings, hearing a faint movement coming from the top of the subway car.

The moment he looked up, two Lesser Demons lunged at him from the roof.

Wu Heng stepped back, swung his alloy briefcase, and knocked the first one down. He kicked the second Lesser Demon in the stomach, but as it flew back, its bone claws tore into his lower leg.

It sliced through his flesh like tofu, exposing the bone.

Wu Heng ignored the injury, rushed forward, and used the briefcase like a hammer to smash the two struggling Lesser Demons repeatedly.

He didn't stop until black, foul-smelling blood covered the floor and they stopped moving entirely.

Wu Heng reached out; the black liquid dried rapidly, leaving dark stains on the floor, and the two Lesser Demons withered into dried husks, like skeletons wrapped in vacuum bags.

He stood up, his leg injury already fully healed, and his body had strengthened by another two percent.

It's just a bit hard on my pants.

Wu Heng looked down at his pant leg, shredded by the Lesser Demon.

He then turned back to look behind him, feeling a bit strange.

"Wait for me."

Elina had actually trembled her way back over here.

"Why are you back? Do you enjoy living on the edge?"

Wu Heng had no idea what this woman was thinking.

"The subway doors are locked, the security guards are dead, I can't get out, and I'm too scared to stay there alone."

Elina panicked and lit another cigarette.

"Can you scream?" Wu Heng asked.

"Huh?"

Wu Heng pulled Elina into the rear carriage, shut the back door, and left the side door half-open.

"Scream. Lure the monsters here."

"Oh, ahhhhh!" Elina understood his intent. Trusting in Wu Heng's looks and strength, she let out a loud scream.

As her cries rang out, chaotic running sounds began to emerge from the surroundings, moving from the distance toward them.

Wu Heng gripped his suitcase tightly, standing to the side of the doorway, waiting in silence.

The Lesser Demons surged toward the entrance like a crowded mob of zombies.

Bone claws began to pierce through the carriage walls from the outside. Terrified, Elina grabbed the handrail pole in the center of the carriage, no longer daring to stand against the wall.

Bang. Bang-bang.

The continuous pounding inside the subway echoed through the deep, dark tunnel, each strike layering over the last like an artillery regiment opening fire.

Wu Heng played a game of whack-a-mole, striking continuously for ten minutes. His clothes had been reduced to rags, and in the freezing tunnel, steam rose from his sweating body.

No more Lesser Demons entered through the battered carriage door, and nearly twenty of their corpses lay scattered on the floor.

Wu Heng Siphoned them one by one, absorbing their evil energy, though the thick stench made it feel like fighting a war in a latrine.

The Lesser Demons on the ground all withered into dried-up specimens. Wu Heng felt his body; it had been strengthened by about twenty percent, and he was quite satisfied.

Clang!

A straggler of a Lesser Demon tore off the ventilation cover on the carriage ceiling and dangled its upper body inside, trying to snatch Elina.

Wu Heng turned, his left hand striking out like a thunderbolt to seize its throat, and with a surge of strength, he yanked it downward.

With a one-handed Tombstone Spike, he smashed the Lesser Demon's head hard against the floor. It didn't even have time to let out a scream before it, too, became a dried-up specimen.

"Not bad, exactly twenty."

Would you be willing to trade your collections, monthly tickets, and recommendation votes for two towels from me?