Melee

Bang! At the same instant, a powerful arm burst through the door.

This was no human arm. It was broad and thick, its bulging, brass-colored muscles seemingly cast from steel. Sinister-looking scales covered the back of its enormous hand, and each of its four fingers bore a nail several centimeters long, hard and sharp as a blade.

The instant Gaoyang tackled Pang Jun to the floor, the claws that had broken through the door followed, slashing Gaoyang's left arm.

Sensing blood, the claws gave a brief, excited tremor, then began frantically shredding the door. Like a flimsy sheet of cardboard, it was torn to pieces by the monster outside in the blink of an eye.

The beast entered the room, stepping on the wood fragments with soft, terrifying crunches.

The room's main light was off. It was dim, eerily red, and oppressive.

"Three. There are actually three... ah, aaah..." Aunt He's voice was wildly excited, tinged with inexplicable sorrow and overwhelming gratitude. "All mine... all..."

Gaoyang lay behind the waterbed, fighting the searing pain in his arm. He held one hand over the mouth of Pang Jun, who trembled beside him, and barely dared to breathe.

Soon, Gaoyang's fingers were wet with Pang Jun's terrified tears.

The light in the room was faint, but the mirrored ceiling let Gaoyang make out their enemy.

It was indeed "Aunt He," a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her fifties, wearing a cleaner's uniform. She looked thin and aged. Her torso and head remained human, but her limbs had transformed into those of a beast, grotesquely thick and muscular, bursting through her sleeves and trouser legs.

She advanced through the entryway one step at a time, her body trembling with excitement.

Soon, a wet, smooth, dark teal tail emerged from her lower back.

The tail struggled to grow, pushing out inch by inch amid thick, murky bodily fluids, like amniotic fluid during childbirth.

It pressed against Aunt He's pelvis and spine, forcing her body to bend forward.

At last, the entire tail emerged, as thick as a thigh and two meters long. It dragged along the floor with a chilling rustle like a slithering snake.

She now looked like a Lizard Person.

Having witnessed the entire transformation, Gaoyang felt terror deep in his bones. Dizziness and ringing filled his head. In truth, all he could do was endure the pain, hold his breath, and wait helplessly, trying to delay death a little longer.

He knew perfectly well that he stood no chance against this monster.

For a hazy moment, his mind wandered.

Gaoyang remembered killing a cockroach with a slipper.

Back then, the cockroach had darted under the bed after being spotted, but Gaoyang had easily driven it out. Then, with disgust and arrogance, he had crushed it with a single smack.

Gaoyang felt that he was now that tiny, despairing cockroach.

His only hope was Qingling, hidden somewhere in the room.

Everyone remained locked in a stalemate for ten long, agonizing seconds.

Perhaps it had only been seven. Gaoyang hadn't counted.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three sharp little daggers flew out of the darkness, heading straight for "Aunt He's" eyes.

Aunt He swiftly raised her arms to block.

Clang, clang, clang! With three crisp rings, the daggers fell to the floor without even cutting Aunt He's hardened arms.

Of course, that was only a feint.

The instant Aunt He raised her arms, Qingling burst out of the wardrobe, gripping her sword with both hands as she thrust at Aunt He's heart from the side.

Although Aunt He reacted a fraction too late, she moved with tremendous speed. She seized the sharp Tang Dao with both hands, her eight hardened claws scraping sparks from its blade.

"Hah!" Qingling gave a low cry, unleashing the strength in her legs, waist, and wrists together as she drove the Tang Dao forward with all her might.

Bang! Aunt He slammed into the wall, but her hands stubbornly gripped the Tang Dao, protecting her heart.

Qingling kept pushing, driving the blade into Aunt He's chest inch by inch.

"Aaargh!" Aunt He let out a howl somewhere between human and beast. Her tail swung around and lashed Qingling hard across the waist. Qingling staggered, her strength faltering instantly.

Aunt He seized the advantage. Gripping the Tang Dao, she flung it aside, sending Qingling flying with her weapon into the separate bathroom. The tempered glass shattered with a crash, scattering tiny fragments across the floor.

The stab wound in Aunt He's chest was far from shallow. Panting quietly in pain and fury, she advanced step by step toward Qingling in the bathroom.

Whoosh! A quilt flew over, covering Aunt He's head.

During the brief ten seconds Qingling had fought Aunt He, Gaoyang and Pang Jun hadn't been idle either.

Pang Jun had flung the quilt over Aunt He, but it wouldn't hold her for even two seconds. His idea was simple: block her sight for a moment, then run.

That was exactly what Pang Jun did. The instant the quilt covered Aunt He, he bolted for the door. Unfortunately, he was too nervous, and the floor was covered with glass fragments and viscous secretions from the beast's body. His foot slipped, and he landed flat on his back right in front of Aunt He.

"D-don't kill me... Mom... save me..." Pang Jun rolled on the floor like a fat loach, but the slimy fluid kept him from getting up.

Aunt He slashed the quilt apart and fixed her gaze on Pang Jun at her feet. The three humans were harder to deal with than she had expected. She no longer hoped to savor them properly. She would kill whichever one she could first.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three daggers flew out again, stabbing toward Aunt He's eyes.

Aunt He's eyeballs burst, blood pouring from them.

"Aah..." She flailed her claws wildly. "My eyes! My eyes..."

By now, Gaoyang's body was shaking violently, but his hands never stopped moving.

-You're useless.

-Nothing you do matters. You can't change anything, so don't get nervous.

-Just do it. You're already here. Participation is what counts.

With this bizarre method of reassuring himself, Gaoyang actually managed to ease much of his fear and tension. At the same time Pang Jun flung the quilt, he had already crept to the entryway, picked up the fallen Tang Dao, and sliced through the hair dryer's cord. Then he plugged the hair dryer's plug into the wall socket.

No, it still won't reach!

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the Tang Dao and stabbed at Aunt He.

The tip pierced Aunt He's thigh, but the thrust was weak and didn't go deep. Aunt He swung a hand at him. Prepared for it, Gaoyang leaned backward, feeling a sting across the bridge of his nose-she had sliced it open.

Blinded, Aunt He didn't pursue him recklessly. She gripped the Tang Dao in her thigh and tried to pull it out. The shallowly embedded blade should have come free easily, but an invisible force pinned it firmly in place, preventing her from removing it.

Lying on the floor, Qingling held both hands out, her teeth clenched and blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. "Hurry!"

Gaoyang grabbed the severed end of the hair dryer's cord and pressed it against the blade.

There were no crackling showers of sparks like in the movies, nor any visible sign of electrocution. There was only a brief, muffled buzz before Aunt He's entire body went limp and she dropped to her knees.

She hadn't lost consciousness and still tried to stand.

Gaoyang quickly shocked her again.

Aunt He convulsed violently and collapsed into a sitting position.

She still tried to crawl up, her tail lashing across the floor. An ordinary human exposed to that current would have passed out, if not died on the spot.

At some point, Qingling had risen. She stepped forward, pulled the Tang Dao out of Aunt He's thigh, and thrust it hard into the right side of her chest. Aunt He howled in pain, her hands still struggling wildly.

"Help me!" Qingling shouted.

Gaoyang quickly dropped the cord, reached around Qingling from behind, gripped her hands, and pushed forward hard.

At last, the Tang Dao pierced through Aunt He's chest.

Aunt He's whole body spasmed. Unable even to scream, she slumped her head to one side, pinned dead against the pink wall. The sight was indescribably bizarre.

Covered in wounds and utterly exhausted, Qingling let out a long breath and relaxed, leaning backward against Gaoyang's chest. He could feel the pounding of her heart.

After several seconds of silence, Qingling turned and collapsed face-first onto the waterbed, nearly spent. Wounds covered her body, and the white bathrobe wrapped around her was speckled with blood.

Gaoyang's mind was blank too. Clutching his injured shoulder as the pain returned, he stood amid the wreckage, filth, and blood in the room. An indescribably acrid odor filled the air.

If he had to describe it, it smelled like rotten eggs mixed with burning plastic, with a little medicated oil and mustard thrown into the flames.

Gaoyang's stomach churned. He dropped to his knees in front of Aunt He's corpse and vomited violently.

Having narrowly escaped death, Pang Jun wasted no time. He hurried to find things to barricade the door, saying with lingering fear, "Thank goodness the other rooms on this floor are empty."

"Didn't you say there was only one room left on this floor?" Gaoyang wiped his mouth.

"Heh, I lied. Business has been terrible lately." Pang Jun scurried over to treat Gaoyang's arm.

"Big brother..."

"I'm younger than you."

"From now on, you're my real big brother." Pang Jun glanced at Qingling on the waterbed. "And she's my sister-in-law!"

"..." Qingling said nothing, but the murderous aura radiating from her exhausted body was palpable.

"Brother, I have a question. How did you figure out something was wrong with Aunt He?" Pang Jun asked.

"The sound." Gaoyang's voice was weary. "If she was here to clean, she would've had a cart. When I told her to leave, I never heard its wheels."

"Brilliant!" Pang Jun slapped his thigh. "You think so fast! Why didn't I think of that?"

"No kidding! That's my bro for you. He's got a great brain!"

Startled, Gaoyang turned around.

The speaker was none other than Wang Zikai.