Yin Chao ran toward the stairwell, leaped up, and grabbed the railing, leaving his whole body dangling over the stairs.
A gunshot rang out as he jumped.
The Rat-Headed Man leaped after him, took several bullets in midair, and plunged straight into the pitch-black basement.
Yin Chao turned and saw Liang Chen holding a silver-white rifle.
Well, well. Only now did you bring out your weapon.
But the gunshots were loud. Liang Chen might have had all sorts of reservations earlier and only fired now because he had no choice.
Sure enough, another hunter appeared at the end of the corridor soon afterward.
Yin Chao was still hanging from the railing. He was in a blind spot: the hunter couldn't see him, and he couldn't see the hunter.
He could only guess from the gesture Liang Chen made, warning him to stay quiet.
Then he watched Liang Chen pull Linmu slowly back into the classroom.
His arms gradually began to ache. He looked down at where the Rat-Headed Man had fallen, unsure what to feel.
If he got the chance, he absolutely had to get an item that increased his stamina.
The footsteps drew closer and closer. Watching Liang Chen gesture frantically at him from behind the door, Yin Chao released his grip and calmly dropped toward the basement.
Fortunately, the drop wasn't far. Yin Chao summoned Anna to catch him.
The dark space reeked of blood-the Rat-Headed Man's blood.
He could imagine the Rat-Headed Man's shattered corpse and the blood pooling across the floor.
Anna held Yin Chao in a bridal carry. Their minds were linked, so she could sense what her master was thinking. She walked over to a clean spot and set him down.
In darkness so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face, Yin Chao could barely move.
"Anna, can you see?"
Anna murmured an affirmative.
"Take me upstairs."
He had to keep an eye on Linmu himself.
Yet thirty seconds after he spoke, Anna still hadn't moved.
Yin Chao was puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"I want to eat it."
Anna spoke.
Yin Chao knew she meant the Rat-Headed Man. Apparently, monsters had their own rules of survival of the fittest.
The strong consumed the weak, and the weak devoured the strong.
Yin Chao nodded. "If it makes you stronger, I'll be happy."
Perhaps his earlier disgust had been so obvious that it had affected Anna's behavior.
Only after getting his approval did Anna hum happily.
Yin Chao had no idea how she ate it. He couldn't see anything or even hear a single other sound.
About two minutes later, Anna took Yin Chao's hand.
The system's mechanical voice also sounded in his ears.
[Beep. Ghost servant Anna, A-rank monster, level 20 HP 10,000, stamina 5,000, mental power 100, intelligence 70 Specialized skills: Claw Wind, Flash Strike]
Huh? Wait, what went down?
Yin Chao read it carefully again and discovered that Anna's intelligence had decreased.
It had been 80. Now it was 70.
So this is what devouring does? Looks like she absorbed some of the Rat-Headed Man's traits.
Yin Chao was speechless. Why did it have to be intelligence?
After a few steps, Anna felt they were moving too slowly. Fierce sounds of fighting were also coming from upstairs.
Unable to contain her excitement over her newly gained power, she hoisted Yin Chao onto her back and started running.
When they reached the first floor, they saw not Liang Chen, but Moqi Xinzhi.
He held a pitch-black magic staff, waving it repeatedly to fire lightning at the Tiger-Headed Man before him.
The Tiger-Headed Man was incredibly fast. Crouched on all fours like a real tiger, he darted and leaped from side to side, dodging the lightning.
Wherever the lightning struck, it left a blackened scorch mark.
"Go! My stamina is limited!"
Moqi Xinzhi shouted toward the classroom behind him.
Several people ran out, including the familiar Skinny Monkey and Square Face, along with someone Yin Chao had never seen.
But there was no sign of Liang Chen, Linmu, or the quiet girl who had been with Moqi Xinzhi's group earlier.
They ran down the corridor. Meanwhile, Moqi Xinzhi had already gone pale, sweat pouring down his face.
He had probably exhausted his stamina.
Yin Chao directed Anna to hide in the shadows. He stared at the Tiger-Headed Man, hoping to see his stats panel.
[Beep. Hell Hunter, S-rank monster, level 30 HP 20,000, stamina 20,000, mental power 100, intelligence 50 Specialized skill: Space Rend. Can briefly travel through spacetime, returning to three seconds earlier to anticipate an opponent's movements.]
This was the first monster Yin Chao had seen with a skill description.
This Tiger-Headed Man was no ordinary foe.
Moqi Xinzhi was absolutely no match for him.
Just as Yin Chao was about to leave, Moqi Xinzhi somehow noticed him hiding in the shadows.
"Yin Chao! Let's work together! We'll have a better chance of winning!"
Yin Chao turned and smiled brightly. "But if I leave now, I'll have a better chance of surviving."
Moqi Xinzhi's expression darkened for a moment before he continued.
"Come help me."
His words were nothing but an order, without any of the sincerity of someone asking for help.
Yin Chao found this baffling and prepared to leave before the Tiger-Headed Man shifted his hostility onto him.
He had just turned when he heard something whistling through the air behind him.
A black sword shot past his side, stirring a gust that smelled of blood, followed by a deafening bang.
He turned and saw the Tiger-Headed Man pinned to the wall by the black sword.
The Tiger-Headed Man struggled desperately. Even that blow, packed with immense power, hadn't seriously wounded him.
Yin Chao stared, stunned.
"Didn't I tell you not to run off?"
Warm breath brushed his ear as Midnight's handsome face suddenly filled his vision.
A strip of black silk covered Midnight's eyes, presumably to keep him from seeing blood.
Without waiting for Yin Chao's answer, Midnight leaped past him and Anna, landing before the Tiger-Headed Man.
He threw several punches at the Tiger-Headed Man's face, each one precisely blocked.
Only the wall collapsing behind the Tiger-Headed Man revealed just how much force those blows carried.
Midnight seized the opportunity to pull out his sword and sweep it through an elegant flourish, swift as the wind and fast as lightning, yet the Tiger-Headed Man still dodged it.
Moqi Xinzhi broke out in a cold sweat and collapsed into a sitting position.
He shouted to Midnight, "It seems to predict its opponent's next skill! You can only hit it if you forget what you're going to do next and make a completely different move!"
Yin Chao curled his lip. No longer in a hurry to run, he walked over to stand in front of Moqi Xinzhi.
"Easy for you to say. Didn't all that lightning you fired miss, too?"
Moqi Xinzhi scowled at Yin Chao, perhaps still resentful that he had refused to help earlier.
Yin Chao spread his hands helplessly. "You know how it is. In a game like this, your own interests come first."
Perhaps there was some truth to that, because Moqi Xinzhi's expression eased a little.
He looked at Anna, whose Lolita dress was utterly out of place here, and asked, "Who is she? Your ghost servant?"
Yin Chao nodded without explaining further.
Ghost servants were rare, but not unheard of. He had only kept her hidden because he wanted her as his trump card.
Meanwhile, Midnight had begun to get the hang of it and landed several hits on the Tiger-Headed Man.
That black sword was extraordinary. Ordinary weapons usually left shallow wounds on monsters, especially high-level ones, and those wounds healed quickly.
But the black sword seemed to have a buff. Every time it pierced the Tiger-Headed Man, he howled in agony, and the wounds refused to heal.
The Tiger-Headed Man soon fell on the defensive.
Finally, Midnight killed him with a single stroke.
His head rolled toward Yin Chao and the others, making his already savage face even more horrifying.
The black cloth covering Midnight's eyes made the bridge of his nose look even more pronounced.
He put away his black sword and walked up to Yin Chao, giving Anna only a brief glance.
Then he turned to Yin Chao and asked, "Where's Liang Chen?"
Before you continue