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墨書 Inktalez
As I ran past Jack and Tang Yumo, I shouted, "Don't just stand there, run with me!"
My shout pulled Jack's dazed gaze away from Heimanluo, but instead of following me, he yelled back, "It can't come over."
I stopped in my tracks. Right, Heimanluo shouldn't be this quiet; its brutal nature should have made it pounce on us the moment it saw us, not just stare silently.
I tucked the grenade into my jacket and called out to Fatty, "Let's go together. It seems like there's a red line here that belongs to it; otherwise, it wouldn't just be using its eyes to kill you."
Staying behind to face Heimanluo one-on-one was practically asking for death. With any hope of survival, Fatty certainly wouldn't want to walk into a dark alley of death.
However, Fatty still bravely said, "I'll hold them off. Who told me to be reckless and take the gun?"
I felt a headache coming on. I pulled Jack along. "Let's go."
If we could confirm that there was indeed a red line belonging to Heimanluo here, then it wouldn't matter who moved first. Jack could only put one foot on the ground; when walking on flat terrain, his considerable weight would press down on Tang Yumo.
Climbing stairs would be even more difficult. But I couldn't help him.
I had to stay back to assist Fatty. The red line was merely our guess; if we were wrong or if it had the ability to break through the red line, I thought that by staying behind, I could greatly increase Fatty's chances of survival. As long as we weren't currently blocked against the stone wall like a wall slam by it, Fatty should excel in mobile combat.
As our group moved as one, the quiet Fatty and Heimanluo suddenly became agitated in the darkness. Its expression shifted from restrained ferocity to an overt display of menace—ten times more terrifying than the Fatty I knew—its face practically screaming for blood, sending chills down my spine.
Bang!
It seemed that Fatty was startled by its own expression; a shot rang out as if by accident, and the bullet accurately struck Heimanluo's forehead.
A shallow bullet hole appeared on Heimanluo's forehead. The lead bullet hadn't fully penetrated; at such close range, even a thin iron plate should have been pierced. But at that moment, the bullet hit what felt like hardened alloy steel; under the immense resistance and pressure from the speed of the shot, the bullet was flattened and fell with a thud onto the ground.
The shallow bullet hole on Heimanluo's forehead began to heal at a visible rate, quickly returning to its original state as if nothing had happened. Heimanluo seemed even stronger now.
"Run! A handgun poses no threat to it," I said, watching Fatty with a serious expression.
"That's just fucking ridiculous," Fatty spat, cursing. "Shooting at yourself is just fucking ridiculous."
I had never experienced anything like this. I couldn't fully understand Fatty's feelings at that moment. However, the expression on Fatty's face clearly indicated the problem: facing someone who looked exactly like oneself and pulling the trigger was a tremendous psychological burden.
What eased my mind slightly was that the enraged Heimanluo did not advance, nor did it come any closer to us. This meant there was indeed a red line it wouldn't cross.
Fatty and I remained pressed against the stone wall, only a few steps away from Heimanluo. If it had transformed into the Long-Tailed Monster, its long tail could have easily killed us in an instant. Yet, it seemed more attached to its current form or perhaps had a particular fixation on Fatty.
As I turned around, I saw Jack and Tang Yumo already at the stairs. Jack was waving at me, signaling for me to hurry over. I quickly gestured for him and Tang Yumo to go ahead. It would be easy for Fatty and me to catch up with them, but I couldn't just pass this burden onto him; right now, he would be helpless against Heimanluo.
Fatty and I moved along the stone wall towards the stairs. It seemed that Heimanluo was indeed fixated on Fatty. Even though Jack and Tang Yumo had started climbing the stairs, it remained positioned directly opposite us, moving in parallel as we shifted towards the stairway.
It did not advance; it merely mirrored our movements. Despite its increasingly angry and anxious expression, an invisible barrier kept it several meters away, preventing it from moving forward.
"No!" At the moment Fatty and I stepped onto the stairs, Heimanluo let out a desperate roar of anger.
"That’s not my kind!" Fatty quipped without looking back. "I’m not that cowardly; I won’t just scream down here. I'm definitely charging up!"
The roar nearly deafened me, prompting me to glance back.
"Damn, you really are a jinx. It is your kind; your son is coming after you."
When Fatty turned around to look, his face turned pale.
Heimanluo seemed to have broken through some kind of restraint, crossing the red line that bound it and moving toward the stairs.
This situation appeared to weigh heavily on it; its footsteps were heavy, and its face could no longer be described as merely distorted—it had become deformed. A pair of curved horns sprouted from its forehead like spikes, and numerous lumps the size of chestnuts bulged on its face and bald head, resembling swollen muscle tissue, though it had trained in the wrong place.
Moreover, its skin was a rock-like gray-black, giving me the impression that it was no longer human. Of course, it never truly was.
Fatty nodded at me. "Hurry up and run upstairs; I'll hold it off for a bit."
I glanced at Jack and Tang Yumo not far above us before turning back to Fatty. "You think you can take on a monster by yourself? That's not going to work. Either we fight together, or I handle it alone. You're not ready to compete with me for kills."
"Dude, do you really think it can drop anything? It might as well be offering you a gift!" Fatty couldn't help but laugh at his own words.
I shot him a middle finger and casually took my backpack from him. "Push it back. It's not that strong here."
"Don't take everything; give me the bullets," Fatty said as he pulled the trigger.
I couldn't run away. On the stairs, Tang Yumo could hardly assist Jack; there was no way she could carry him up the steps. For now, Jack had to rely solely on himself to climb, like a crawling creature—specifically, a three-legged one. The speed was predictable.
If I ran off, Fatty might hold it off for a while, but if the pressure increased even slightly, he would definitely leave Jack and Tang Yumo behind. He didn't think much of either of them; his reluctance to stab them in the back was purely out of respect for me. I could only pretend not to see any underhanded tactics he might employ.
Leaving those two behind would lead to dire consequences.
'Bang bang bang!'
The rapid-fire bullets struck Heimanluo's head with precision. As I expected, here, Heimanluo was weakened; the bullets penetrated its skull. With each hit to its head, Heimanluo's head jerked back as if it could fall at any moment.
This was the first time I saw Heimanluo so fragile and pitiful, which gave me the confidence to eliminate it.
I handed the magazine to Fatty, pulled out a Molotov cocktail, and shouted, "Step back, I'm lighting it."
With a 'pop,' I pulled the safety pin from the Molotov cocktail, and its fuse ignited, emitting a yellow light filled with smoke.
The yellow light illuminated Heimanluo's ghastly face, making it even more terrifying. However, I noticed something human in Heimanluo's eyes, as if it were trying to convey some kind of message or perhaps pleading.
Holding the Molotov cocktail, I froze.
(To Be Continued)
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