"Mmph, mmph..."
The owner clamped a hand tightly over his daughter's mouth and held her in his arms.
Su Cheng peeked out from behind the car and saw four lizard monsters gathered together, gnawing on Li Mu's body...
Wang Yang, meanwhile, had hidden somewhere.
Although Su Cheng hadn't seen what had just happened, she could more or less guess from the resentment in Li Mu's cry of "Wang Yang."
Wang Yang lay beneath a car's chassis, still trembling with fear as he watched the blood spread.
He wasn't far from the monsters and had to move. Otherwise, once they finished eating Li Mu, there was no guarantee they wouldn't discover him.
Gritting his teeth, Wang Yang crawled from beneath one car to another, struggling to remember which direction Su Cheng and the others had turned.
Su Cheng seemed capable. He had to follow that woman.
She must have discovered something to suddenly switch off her flashlight and run away.
Remembering Li Mu's resentful gaze, Wang Yang's face grew even paler.
This wasn't his fault. He'd only been protecting himself in that situation... If anyone was to blame, it was Su Cheng and the others for refusing to warn them.
Wang Yang silently cursed Su Cheng with every curse he could think of, as though doing so could give him a reasonable excuse for what he had just done.
Li Mu soon fell silent.
One monster picked up a severed limb in its mouth and left. The other three, however, didn't leave with it and instead began searching the area...
They were looking for other people.
Su Cheng's expression grew grave. Although their group wasn't particularly close to the monsters, if they let the monsters keep searching and drawing nearer...
There were several of them, and the risk of discovery was extremely high.
After thinking for a moment, Su Cheng made her decision. "I'll lure them away now. Head toward the island in the middle of the lake first. Find a boat and wait for me."
Su Cheng added, "There's a kind of monster that imitates human speech. Don't expose your location carelessly."
The owner's wife shrank back fearfully. "Okay."
"Come back soon, Sis," Hao Ruoxue said in a trembling voice.
"Mm."
After answering, Su Cheng immediately crouched low and ran from the overturned car to the green belt.
The three lizard monsters seemed to share some kind of understanding. They split up but stayed close enough for the other two to provide timely support if anything happened to one.
There was no way to pick them off one by one.
Su Cheng drew her bow and aimed at one of the lizard monsters.
Whoosh-
The arrow soaked in hallucinogen pierced the lizard monster's hide.
In pain, the monster thrashed its tail wildly, shaking its head and roaring.
The other two grew more vigilant but showed no intention of retreating. They searched even more carefully, constantly crawling around and changing positions...
Roar-
One lizard monster overturned a car.
Wang Yang bolted out in terror, immediately drawing the lizard monsters' attention.
All three monsters chased after Wang Yang.
Su Cheng took the opportunity to draw her bow again. This arrow, also soaked in hallucinogen, shot straight into the green eye of the monster she had struck earlier.
Roar-
This time, the monster let out an even more agonized howl.
Both Wang Yang and the monsters discovered Su Cheng's location.
Wang Yang immediately ran toward her.
The monsters followed close behind. Compared with Su Cheng, who was farther away, Wang Yang was clearly easier prey.
Su Cheng could only turn and run first.
Crackle, crackle...
A string of firecrackers landed at Su Cheng's feet and exploded.
Sensing the monsters' attention shift behind him, Wang Yang felt slightly relieved. He continued pulling firecrackers from his Smart Bag and throwing them toward Su Cheng.
Firecrackers kept exploding at Su Cheng's feet, their crackling stark against the sound of rain.
Su Cheng keenly picked up another faint, unusual sound amid the rain.
Her eyes chilled slightly, and she turned and hurled a dart.
She had thought the first target her darts struck would be a monster, never a person.
The dart was infused with hallucinogen. The instant Wang Yang fell to the ground, he threw out a tear-gas smoke grenade without further hesitation.
The intensely irritating smell brought the monsters to a halt.
After pulling out the dart, Wang Yang immediately swallowed a pill. Only then did his dizziness ease somewhat.
He had no time to lament using up two apartment items bought with large amounts of points at once. Nor did he dare follow Su Cheng anymore, instead hurriedly running off into the distance.
Looking back and seeing the billowing white smoke, Su Cheng was somewhat surprised at how hard Wang Yang was to kill.
She could confirm that Wang Yang was an experienced resident, but he hadn't unlocked his gene lock, since he had still needed a flashlight for illumination earlier.
But if Wang Yang had special items, why hadn't he used them when he and Li Mu were in danger?
Did Wang Yang think his companion's life wasn't worth using an item...
With the lizard monsters trapped in the tear gas, Su Cheng looked toward the monster approaching the noise, human sobs coming from the cochleae on its head, and drew her bow to shoot it!
"Boohoo... It hurts! Where are you?"
As the monster crawled toward Su Cheng, human voices continued coming from its cochleae.
It utterly disgusted Su Cheng.
Su Cheng deliberately made broad movements to create noise, drawing the monster after her.
"Don't go! Wait for me..."
The monster crawled swiftly on all fours, racing through puddle after puddle.
Suddenly, it opened its mouth wide, and a red tentacle curled toward Su Cheng.
Su Cheng barely dodged it by rounding a corner, then quickened her pace to widen the gap.
She was exceptionally calm, controlling her running speed to keep the monster only half a meter away, yet unable to reach her with its tentacle.
As she ran past the edge of the smoke grenade's cloud, she dropped a glass bottle.
When the bottle shattered with a crisp sound, she took a great leap.
The two monsters behind her collided!
Roar, roar, roar...
Aah, aah, aah...
The lizard monster, unable to open its eyes after being exposed to the smoke grenade, savagely bit at the cochlea monster, which relied solely on hearing.
The two different kinds of monsters both treated the other as an enemy.
Su Cheng kept moving, quickly escaping the battlefield.
Only once she could no longer hear the monsters' roars did she head toward the island in the middle of the lake, keeping close to any obstacles along the street that could conceal her.
Her movements were swift and agile, her figure in its dark raincoat seeming to merge with the rainy night.
[Ding-dong~ Monster collection bestiary (4/5)] [Monster name: Long-Tailed Gecko Traits: Averse to water, prefers dryness, lacks sight, possesses hearing, moves swiftly and nimbly. Its oral tentacle can reach up to 2 meters and contains a paralytic toxin. Its hide can change color to match its surroundings, and the cochleae on its head can imitate various sounds to confuse prey.] [Ding-dong~ Monster collection bestiary (5/5). Mission complete. Settlement will begin upon leaving the instance.] [Monster name: Climbing Vine Lizard Traits: Likes climbing walls, hoarding food, and traveling in groups. Possesses sight, tough hide, and powerful jaws. Fears bright light.]
Killing monsters indirectly also counted toward completing her collection mission.
After crossing an intersection with traffic lights, Su Cheng spotted the railing-lined lakeshore in the distance.
The iron railing stretched along the lake to prevent pedestrians from falling into the water.
Su Cheng didn't see any boats.
Raindrops struck the lake's surface, sending out rings of ripples.
Before the monsters and fog descended, the vast lake must have been a scenic sight for anyone walking along the road.
It had also been a place where residents took evening strolls and boat rides.
Su Cheng didn't see a ticket office where boats were moored.
She chose to search along the lakeshore to the right.
Aside from evenly spaced trees, there was nothing beside the railing to provide cover.
Su Cheng woke Mu Ling inside her bracelet.
Although Mu Ling's form was faint, she could already emerge from the bracelet. She gave a sleepy yawn.
"Help me look ahead for somewhere boats are moored."
If there wasn't a boat ticket office ahead, that meant she had gone the wrong way. She hadn't gone far yet, so there was still time to turn around.
Mu Ling stretched. "Okay."
Mu Ling floated very quickly. After she had floated for quite some time without finding a ticket office, Su Cheng decisively turned around.
With the direction confirmed, Mu Ling floated back into the bracelet.
After running for a while, Su Cheng finally saw the ticket office.
She also spotted Hao Ruoxue, the owner's wife, and the others hiding in separate groups behind the trees.
And beneath the ticket booth's shelter lay a dormant monster, the one the system's electronic voice had named the "Long-Tailed Gecko."
Su Cheng walked up behind Hao Ruoxue. Before she could speak, Hao Ruoxue turned and swung a fruit knife at her.
Su Cheng quickly caught her wrist, blocking the downward slash.
"Sis Su Cheng?" Hao Ruoxue exclaimed in a lowered voice, both startled and delighted. Looking rather pitiful, she said, "Sis, you scared me to death..."
Su Cheng released her hand. "How long have you been stuck here?"
Author's note:
None.
Chapter 41
Hao Ruoxue thought for a few seconds, then leaned toward Su Cheng's ear and whispered breathily, "About seven or eight minutes."
Su Cheng nodded, her gaze returning to the ticket booth.
Su Cheng remembered that one of this monster's traits was an aversion to water, which was why it was deliberately sheltering beneath the booth now, waiting for the rain to stop.
It was the only monster nearby.
If she took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, she wasn't incapable of fighting it. She would just have to watch out for it calling its companions...
Su Cheng frowned in thought for a moment. "I'll lure it away. Hurry aboard a boat when you get the chance. I'll circle back, and we'll set off right away!"
This plan was much like the previous one. Both required Su Cheng to lure the monster away first, then circle back.
Amid the curtain of rain, Su Cheng's eyes glimmered faintly, exceptionally resolute.
For some reason, Hao Ruoxue felt reassured, as though she had seen the tall person in the saying, "If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."
"Sis Su Cheng, you're amazing."
Su Cheng froze slightly, not expecting her to suddenly change the subject to that.
But this wasn't the time to discuss whether she was "amazing." All she could say was that Hao Ruoxue was quite carefree.