Chapter 71: Nightmare Beast

Su Li again activated the “Peering Rune,” locking onto the colossal monster that was slowly climbing upward. This time, a piece of information finally surfaced in his mind.

“Name: Nightmare Beast (Mo Yan Shou). Level: Unknown (Insufficient level to peer into details). A Leader-class monster that favors hunting and collecting human corpses. It has a special affinity for human blood. When capturing humans, it does not kill them immediately but rather ‘farms’ them in its corpse nest, using its tentacles to slowly draw blood from them when it needs to feed. It is a nightmarish existence for humans. The eye on the Nightmare Beast’s abdomen can emit a mixed band of ultrasonic and infrasonic waves as an attack, but there is a cooldown period after each attack before it can be used again. If the Nightmare Beast is killed, there is a 50% probability of acquiring ‘Ultrasonic Attack’ and a 50% probability of acquiring ‘Infrasonic Attack.'”

Su Li processed this information and finally understood why the balcony and the Corpse Ship seemed to have been hit by an invisible force that caused the explosion when the ship struck the building: this terrifying monster, the Nightmare Beast, could emit ultrasonic and infrasonic waves from the eye on its abdomen.

The most shocking detail, however, was that his level was insufficient to peer into its specific power level.

What level was this thing? How powerful could it be? The information stated that it enjoyed hunting and collecting humans, even farming living people in its corpse nest to slowly draw their blood. The terror of such a fate was unimaginable.

Watching the Nightmare Beast climb closer, Su Li immediately retreated and whispered, “This thing is called the Nightmare Beast. It hunts humans, and we are its target…”

He was interrupted mid-sentence. The climbing Nightmare Beast tilted its upper body back, its dozens of tentacled suckers clinging tightly to the wall. It exposed the large eye on its abdomen. In the next instant, the window glass right in front of the three of them suddenly shattered with a crackling sound.

“Get down—” Su Li instantly realized what was happening and roared the command. He stretched out both arms, grabbing Gong Xiao and Ding Longyun, and tackling them both to the side.

An astonishing scene unfolded: the windows, glass, and walls of the corridor were violently struck by an invisible force. Glass was pulverized, the window frames twisted like pretzels, and spiderweb-like cracks suddenly appeared in the walls.

“What was that?” Ding Longyun and Gong Xiao, thrown to the floor by Su Li, looked at each other, their faces filled with terror at the shocking phenomenon.

This invisible force was something they could not possibly fight.

“The monster can emit ultrasonic and infrasonic attacks! Run—” Su Li roared, leaping up from the floor. He had a premonition: they hadn’t just gotten lucky and escaped the attack. The Nightmare Beast had deliberately spared them.

The previous ultrasonic/infrasonic attack had caused the balcony on the 30th floor to shatter completely. The current wall couldn’t withstand the full force of that sonic attack, but the power was significantly reduced compared to before. The only explanation was that the Nightmare Beast was toying with them. Its true goal wasn’t to kill them but to capture them alive.

Thinking of the horrifying fate of being captured alive, death might be preferable.

Su Li had already spun around and rushed into the apartment. Ding Longyun, still recovering from the shock, quickly followed him inside.

“We should lock the door, maybe…”

Before he could finish, Su Li emerged, dragging Xu Xuehui back out.

“Hiding won’t work! Follow me—” Su Li pulled Xu Xuehui, sprinting down the corridor toward the stairwell.

The next moment, tentacles appeared, shooting toward the row of corridor windows. Glass shattered violently, and the tentacles thrust inside like long spears.

Ding Longyun and Gong Xiao scrambled to dodge. Gong Xiao, after evading one tentacle, swung the machete in her right hand, slicing at the appendage. The tentacle was surprisingly soft. The machete sank into it, then violently bounced back. Her full-force strike couldn’t even wound one of the tentacles.

Her scalp tingled. She knew this kind of monster was something they couldn’t fight. Compared to it, they were so insignificant that they were almost negligible.

Su Li dragged Xu Xuehui, running at full speed. Ding Longyun and Gong Xiao followed closely. They didn’t know Su Li’s plan; the only thought in their minds was to flee, as far as possible.

The colossal creature had fully scaled the wall and was moving sideways along the corridor toward them. Dozens of its tentacles shot through the corridor windows, wreaking havoc. Then, it thrust one of its foreclaws forward and slammed it down, punching a huge hole in the corridor wall.

Ding Longyun turned and saw this, realizing in horror why Su Li insisted on fleeing. Even if they had hidden inside the apartment and locked the door, it wouldn’t have stopped this monster. They would have simply trapped themselves and waited for death.

“The only way out now is to quickly take the boat and escape, or jump into the water! Maybe the monster will focus its attention on this building and won’t pursue us. That’s our only chance of escape!” Ding Longyun yelled, voicing his thoughts as he ran. Despite the reluctance and regret he felt for the room full of supplies, the only choice was to abandon it and flee immediately. His heart bled thinking about the massive store of resources.

“Damn it! We dealt with so many monsters over the past few days, but nothing this terrifying! A Nightmare Beast? This is truly like a nightmare!”

Gong Xiao looked back, seeing the colossal bulk of the Nightmare Beast sliding sideways along the corridor toward them. Her face was pale with terror. “It’s targeting us! We can’t get away!”

Ding Longyun’s face also twisted in shock, mixed with a hint of despair. He knew that if the Nightmare Beast was truly focused on them and gave relentless chase, whether they tried to hide in a corner of the building, take a raft, or jump into the water, the final outcome would be inescapable death.

The monster’s power was simply beyond their ability to fight. To be caught meant certain death.

Su Li, who had reached the stairwell, suddenly gritted his teeth. He shoved the fleeing Xu Xuehui toward the closely following Gong Xiao and shouted, “You two run down the stairs! Go quickly, find the kayak, and get out of here! I’ll go up and lead the monster away! Give me your weapons!”

As he spoke, he reached out, grabbed the machete from Gong Xiao’s hand and the steel shovel from Ding Longyun, and then bolted up the stairs toward the roof.

“Su Li!” Ding Longyun shouted in panic. He then heard the relentless sound of shattering glass behind them as the Nightmare Beast’s tentacles slapped against the windows of the corridor.

(End of Chapter)