The first one
Lu Heng raised his hand and retracted the Spider Reconnaissance Drone. The mechanical spider's eight limbs retracted, turning into a faint light and disappearing into the Wristband Space.
He stood outside the cold glass doors of the supermarket, a musty, rotten smell wafting out from the cracks in the doorway on the evening breeze. The images transmitted back by the reconnaissance plane kept replaying in his mind.
Those four malevolent spirits lurking in different areas of the supermarket were not without restraint. Dark runes, Sealing Runes, were engraved in the cracks of the walls, pillars, and shelf bases, binding the four ferocious spirits and confining them to their respective territories.
If the battle gets out of control, the blades or impacts will damage the Sealing Runes, shatter the shackles, and the four monsters will break free and rush out of the supermarket. There are still a few survivors scattered around the Town, and then it will be a slaughter without any suspense.
A struggle arose in Lu Heng's heart.
Once those Sealing Runes shatter, the four strange creatures will break free of their restraints, and the survivors clinging to life around the Town will have no chance to escape. He can't gamble, and he can't afford to gamble.
He recalled the observations from the reconnaissance plane: each of the strange creatures guarded its own area, not crossing boundaries, and it was highly unlikely they would come to provide support from other areas. It was unrealistic to kill all four at once; the safest approach was to start with the Checkout Counter closest to the gate and deal with them one by one.
After weighing the options several times, Lu Heng made up his mind.
He gripped the Rat King Miao Dao tightly in his right hand, while secretly clutching the Geothermal Talisman in his left palm, setting a bottom line in his heart. If there was the slightest disturbance, if the talisman shook or cracked, or if any other strange creatures made unusual movements, he would not hesitate to crush the Geothermal Talisman and retreat, never coveting the spoils of war.
Prepared for the worst, Lu Heng took a deep breath and pushed open the glass door of the supermarket.
A chilling, stagnant air rushed in, carrying an indescribable, decaying odor, as if stepping into a tomb forgotten by time. The supermarket was dimly lit, with only a few fluorescent tubes on the ceiling still struggling to survive, emitting intermittent electrical hums, cutting the aisles between the shelves into narrow passages of alternating light and shadow.
Lu Heng steadied his steps, his shoes making a soft "rustling" sound on the dusty floor tiles. He walked straight to the Checkout Counter closest to the door, his gaze sweeping over the shelves on both sides—which still held expired canned goods, moldy biscuits, and daily necessities with torn packaging, like remnants of a hasty escape.
Behind the Checkout Counter, the Cashier Wraith slowly turned around.
Its dark, murky eyes were filled with unyielding hatred, and a faint gray-black mist of resentment swirled around it as it stared intently at Lu Heng, who was approaching step by step. Its throat bobbed, and a light, lifeless sound drifted through the empty marketplace.
"Where is your goods?"
Lu Heng felt a chill run down his spine. The voice didn't seem to be speaking to him; it sounded more like an old cash register mechanically uttering a pre-programmed message—emotionless, cold, just repeating the same phrase over and over.
His gaze was icy as he looked at the strange creature before him, bound here by runes, and he spoke in a low voice:
"I'll give it to you right now."
The moment he finished speaking, Lu Heng suddenly exerted force with his wrist, Rat King Miao Dao, wrapped in cold light, slashed fiercely at the Cashier Wraith shoulder.
The blade sliced into the Cashier Wraith shoulder. There was no blood, but a grayish-black mist seeped from the wound, like torn cotton wool, its edges slowly wriggling and gradually closing in.
The Cashier Wraith's body swayed, staggering half a step, but her head remained motionless, the stiff smile still on her lips, and she kept repeating:
"Where is your goods?"
On the ceiling, above the Checkout Counter, the old security camera silently shifted its lens by half an inch, aiming at Lu Heng's back.
Immediately afterwards, all the cameras—one after another—were pulled by the same invisible thread, moving along the aisles deep inside the store, above the bulk goods area, beside the fresh produce stalls, and hanging at the end of the main aisle, emitting a faint mechanical friction sound as their lenses slowly rotated and locked onto the same direction.
It was as if an unseen eye was quietly watching everything from the shadows throughout the entire supermarket.
Lu Heng was completely unaware.
He drew his knife and slashed again, this time aiming straight for the neck. The creature's withered, black arm suddenly bent backward, blocking the attack at an angle no living person could possibly manage, its fingernails scraping against the blade with a piercing screeching sound.
The blade sliced through its forearm, and gray mist gushed from the wound, but the arm remained firmly held, refusing to let go. Lu Heng felt a chilling force spreading up the blade, like countless fine needles piercing his palm. He gritted his teeth, forcibly stabilizing the blade's momentum.
The Cashier Wraith's fingernail left a shallow mark on the knife, making a sharp, teeth-grinding sound. Lu Heng dodged its other claw's scratch and slashed at its side with a backhand. This time the strike landed solidly, and the creature's body visibly froze, its movements slowing by half a beat.
It glanced down at the wound on its waist, and the gray mist churned even more violently. Then it slowly raised its head, its murky eyes staring directly at Lu Heng, its tone unchanged:
"Where is your goods?"
A chill ran down Lu Heng's spine.
It wasn't talking to him. From beginning to end, it was just executing a program—scanning, identifying, and retrieving. No matter how badly he was beaten, that sentence was like a curse stuck in his throat, being spat out over and over again.
The Cashier Wraith lunged again, its withered, black arms swinging out simultaneously, its fingernails slicing through the air with a hissing sound. Lu Heng lowered his center of gravity, his Miao sword slashing upwards, the blade cutting across the creature's right arm. The arm severed at the elbow, gray mist erupting out. The severed arm fell to the ground, its fingers still scratching incessantly, the fingernails scraping against the floor tiles with a chilling sound.
The strange creature staggered backward and crashed into the Checkout Counter. The Sealing Runes buried in the base of the Checkout Counter lit up with a dim gray light, pulling it back to its original position.
It tilted its head, the gray mist at the severed arm churning as if hesitating whether to regrow. But it didn't look at the severed arm; its turbid eyes remained fixed on Lu Heng, and a smile that was not human slowly spread across its lips.
"Where is your goods?"
Lu Heng gave it no chance to catch its breath.
He stepped forward, raised his Miao sword high above his head, and slashed down with all his might. The blade precisely cut into the monster's neck, and gray mist violently gushed from the wound. The monster's head tilted to almost ninety degrees, with only a layer of skin and flesh connecting it to its torso.
Its body convulsed violently a few times, its withered, black arms fell limply to its sides, and the smile on its lips finally froze.
Your goods--
The last word was left unsaid, and the sound abruptly stopped.
The Cashier Wraith body slowly went limp, and gray mist seeped from all parts of its body, spreading through the air and eventually dissipating completely. The Sealing Runes buried at the base of the Checkout Counter dimmed and returned to silence.
Lu Heng sheathed his sword and retreated, panting heavily.
His eyes darted quickly toward the depths of the store out of the corner of his eye.
The Stocker Wraith in the bulk market area, the Greengrocer Wraith at the fresh produce stalls, and the Patrolling Wraith that roamed back and forth in the main aisle remained steadfast in their original positions, neither turning their heads nor being disturbed by the sounds of fighting, showing no sign of coming to their aid.
The hypothesis has been temporarily confirmed.
Lu Heng dared not relax for a moment. While continuing to fight the Cashier Wraith, he also kept an eye on the changes in the light of the runes around him, wary of the Sealing Runes being damaged by the aftershocks of the battle.
Danger still looms overhead.