Gravely Wounded and Unconscious
The moment the snake blood entered his throat, Lu Heng's body instinctively trembled violently.
Warm, salty, and thick with the unique texture of a mutated creature, it poured down his throat into his depleted stomach. It wasn't an ordinary liquid; it was more like a scalding stream that forcefully wedged itself deep into his shattered meridians. The enormous depletion left by the Blood Beast Pill's triple power was like a drained black hole, greedily devouring every last trace of life within him—and snake blood was the only thing that could feed this black hole at this moment.
He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing rapidly, not even bothering to regulate his breathing. The snake blood truly filled the void left by his body, and his body, which had been so cold it was almost stiff, was slowly permeated by the warmth. The feeling of depletion that seeped from the depths of his bone marrow finally stopped worsening.
Taking advantage of the temporary stabilization of his body, Lu Heng used his remaining strength to retrieve the pre-stored essence of flesh and blood and Star Tear from his Wristband Space. He ingested both items one after the other, and with the added repair from the snake blood, a triple replenishment was simultaneously poured into his body, which was already pushed to its limit.
However--
In the past, no matter how much physical exertion he suffered, consuming the essence of flesh and blood would alleviate the damage to some extent, at least restoring his basic mobility and sustaining him for the next stage of survival. But this time, the cost of the Blood Beast Pill's triple burst far exceeded any previous instance; the overall depletion in his body had reached a point where the essence of flesh and blood could not replenish it.
Even with triple supplies working simultaneously, it still couldn't restore any mobility.
His consciousness was terrifyingly clear, but his body was completely limp, heavy, and powerless, like a shell stripped of all its tendons and bones, lacking even the strength to lift a finger. He could feel his heart beating slowly and heavily in his chest, each beat a reminder—you are still alive, but you can no longer move.
Lu Heng was perfectly clear-headed—survival underground would only become more difficult, and the dangers to come would be more deadly than ever before; he could not afford to be complacent.
He turned his head with difficulty, his gaze falling on the Bone Demon not far away, and with his last remaining shred of consciousness, he issued a command:
"Hold this area at all costs. Stop any approaching wild animals, insects, or small creatures—absolutely no one is allowed to get near me."
The Bone Demon silently turned to him, a faint glint of light flashing in its empty eye sockets, before it went into a defensive stance, its massive body positioned beside Lu Heng, firmly enclosing the entire area within its defensive range.
Lu Heng accessed the Wristband Space and retrieved the half of the mutated rat's body that he had previously saved—the half of the mutated rat's body that remained after the hunt, with flesh and blood still intact and bones complete. He threw it at the Bone Demon, ordering it to devour it all, replenishing the physical condition of the body that had been depleted during the previous battle and maintaining full alert combat power.
The Bone Demon took the body, its bones and joints making a series of sharp, grinding sounds as it swallowed the entire mutated rat carcass into its own skeleton. The bone armor on its body bulged slightly and then receded, its depleted state slowly repaired at a visible rate.
With the last ounce of strength he had left, Lu Heng lifted his arm, which was so heavy he could barely move it, and touched the Wristband—
The enormous body of the Mutant King Cobra silently shrank and dissolved in the dim light, disappearing entirely into the Wristband Space.
The moment all the operations were completed, my body and mind, which had been stretched to the limit, completely collapsed.
Lu Heng's consciousness was like a light that had been extinguished, without any transition or struggle, it simply went out. His body slumped limply onto the cold ground, his breathing weak and even, completely losing all perception of the outside world—he couldn't see, hear, feel, or understand anything.
Complete and profound fainting.
The Bone Demon glanced down at him, a faint glint of light flashing in its empty eye sockets, before returning to its wary stance. It had no intelligence, no thought, no emotions, only the most primal and absolute instinct for protection—to guard the life form beside it that had lost all ability to move.
It devoured the mutated rat's body, and with the added nutrients from the previously stored Black Iron-Level Exotic Beast corpses, the damaged skeleton and depleted body were completely repaired at this moment, returning to its peak and complete state. The surface of the bone armor gleamed with a cold, hard luster, and every bone joint was taut to its limit, like a silent statue, standing firmly beside the unconscious Lu Heng.
At this moment, the strong stench of snake blood that filled the air was slowly spreading along the underground currents.
The first to be drawn by the smell were the scattered Zombie wandering the town. As if pulled by an invisible hand, they collectively converged towards the nearest junkyard. Their empty eye sockets held no consciousness, driven only by the most primal instincts—searching, approaching, and devouring.
However, the landfill was completely empty.
There were no corpses, no flesh and blood, nothing to bite.
The horde of Zombie wandered aimlessly through the junkyard for a moment, then seemed to be ignited by some more intense stimulus—the lingering aura of mutated beasts in the air, strong, peculiar, and carrying a scent that made their instincts extremely restless. It wasn't the scent of ordinary flesh and blood; it was something more advanced, more concentrated, and something they craved even more desperately.
They abandoned the garbage dump and, following the clear scent trail, mindlessly gathered and raced towards the bridge arch.
Fifty or sixty.
The schools, main streets, and residential areas in this region had already been cleared of large areas of zombies by Lu Heng, so there was no large-scale Zombie horde. However, scattered individuals still remained, and now, attracted by the smell of blood, they all gathered at the entrance of the bridge arch.
The moment the fifty or sixty mindless Zombie arrived at the bridge arch area, they immediately locked onto the presence of a living being—to be precise, they locked onto Lu Heng, who was lying on the ground, completely unprepared.
They attacked mindlessly, roaring as they charged into the underpass.
The Bone Demon triggered its defensive instincts and took the initiative to attack.
Both sides were beings with zero intelligence. There were no tactics, no positioning, no prediction, only the most primitive, savage, and chaotic close combat—the muffled thuds of bones colliding, the wet sounds of flesh tearing, the sound of Zombie's skull being smashed by a Bone Demon's punch, all exploding completely in the dark bridge arch.
Lu Heng, however, remained in a deep coma throughout, completely unaware of and oblivious to the brutal fighting outside.
At the dark entrance to the bridge arch, the frenzied sounds of the zombie horde fighting grew increasingly intense and brutal.
One person lies unconscious, left only with the Bone Demon in a bloody battle.