Chapter 10: Nightmare

In that moment of life and death, Su Li fought through the ringing in his head, immediately swinging the iron hammer. The hammer struck the transformed monster’s face almost simultaneously with the creature’s hand hitting Su Li’s cheek.

Su Li had already absorbed three Spiritual Sources, increasing his strength by at least over 100 jin (approx. 110 pounds), and his natural strength wasn’t weak to begin with. The hammer blow landed with the sound of bones shattering. The monster’s face instantly deformed, its nose was smashed flat, teeth flew out, and even its eyeball was ruptured.

The transformed monster collapsed backward, hitting the ground with a heavy “thud.” Fearing it might still move and attack, Su Li followed up, enduring the streaming tears and blurred vision in his left eye, and delivered one more hammer blow to the creature’s already mangled face.

This final strike splattered brains. The monster’s entire face was utterly destroyed, and the white fuzz on its skin immediately retracted and vanished into its body.

Su Li sighed in relief and finally stopped, quickly rubbing his left eye with the back of his hand.

The blow to his left cheek had been severe. Not only was half his face numb and without feeling, but his left eye was also affected.

A white fuzzy ball emerged from the surface of the motionless transformed monster on the floor, shot into the center of Su Li’s forehead, and merged into his body. Immediately, Su Li was enveloped in a wave of warmth. This time, a large amount of warmth concentrated around his left cheek.

The numb cheek instantly regained feeling, and the stinging, burning pain in his left eye began to disappear.

Su Li understood that the “Spiritual Source” was healing the injuries he had just sustained.

After lasting for several seconds, the heat inside him vanished instantly. A message appeared in his mind: “Spiritual Source: 4/5.”

“Just one more. As soon as I kill one more monster and absorb one more Spiritual Source, it will be 5/5. I wonder what will happen then?” Su Li felt a mix of anticipation and a strange fear.

He was looking forward to a new transformation and gaining more powerful abilities, but he was also afraid that he might grow the white fuzz on his body and turn into a monster, just like these transformed corpses.

The strength in his body increased again. Since killing the first monster, Su Li had absorbed four Spiritual Sources consecutively, and his strength had grown steadily. By Su Li’s own estimation, he had gained at least 100 to 200 jin (approx. 110 to 220 pounds) of strength.

The window glass on the balcony had been shattered. If there were any more transformed monsters outside, they could climb in at any time. Su Li remained vigilant, gripping the iron hammer and cleaver. However, the most daunting and terrifying threat remained the unknown dark shape lurking in the water.

It looked like a giant fish or a huge python. It had suddenly broken the water surface and dragged the other transformed monster, the woman in her fifties, into the water. Because it happened so quickly, Su Li hadn’t gotten a clear look.

The only thing he saw was that the woman-turned-monster was instantly dragged into the water and disappeared, utterly powerless to resist or struggle.

“If that thing grabs and drags me into the water, it’ll probably be the same outcome…” Su Li didn’t dare get close to the balcony, terrified that the monster would suddenly burst out of the water and pull him down.

“What do I do now? With such a terrifying monster hiding in the water, escaping is impossible.” Su Li slowly retreated and sat down on the living room sofa, then glanced at the simple raft he had made on the floor.

He had originally planned to use the raft to leave, check other buildings for survivors, and look for a way out. But now that he knew there was a monster hiding in the water, how could he dare to leave on the raft?

“Staying put here is safer, even though transformed monsters might appear at any time, I can still barely handle them. If I encounter that monster on the raft and get dragged into the water, it’s a dead end.”

Su Li abandoned the idea of escaping, believing that staying put was safer, at least for the time being. He also wanted to kill one more transformed monster to see what change would occur after absorbing five Spiritual Sources.

He believed the message in his mind had a deep significance.

Initially, he had been afraid of transformed monsters appearing, but now he was subtly hoping another one would show up. However, the surroundings remained completely safe. Only the rich smell of blood permeated the darkness, with no new monsters appearing.

Although Su Li’s body wasn’t overly tired due to the continuous infusion of strength throughout the day, the repeated terrifying incidents, the darkness surrounding him, and being alone caused him extreme mental fatigue and loneliness.

He initially forced himself to stay awake, constantly listening for changes and movements in the surroundings. However, he grew increasingly sleepy and eventually couldn’t bear it any longer. He dragged the corpse of the transformed monster from the bedroom out, then moved a cabinet to barricade the bedroom window. To be extra safe, he stood his bed up and leaned it against the cabinet.

With the cabinet and bed acting as a barrier, he estimated that even if a monster from outside had the ability to crash through them, it wouldn’t happen instantly, and the loud noise would certainly wake him up.

Afterward, Su Li moved the simple raft, which he had made by joining the two wooden doors, and the bag filled with food into the bedroom. He locked the door from the inside. The floor was somewhat damp, so Su Li placed the raft on the ground, then made a bed on top of it. Finally, holding the cleaver in one hand and the iron hammer in the other, he lay down.

He was so exhausted that he fell asleep almost instantly.

Su Li rarely dreamt, but this night he was plagued by nightmares. In his dreams, he saw a boundless ocean, but the ocean was filled with endless floating corpses. Su Li was alone on a raft, surrounded entirely by the dead. Suddenly, all the floating corpses came to life. They opened their dead fish-like eyes and wide mouths full of fangs. Their soaked, bloated, pale, and shiny faces were twisted and hideous, exuding an indescribable ugliness and terror. They stretched out their hands, swarming toward him like a horde of locusts.

“Ah—” Su Li screamed in terror, escaping that nightmare only to fall into another.

In this nightmare, he was struggling desperately in the water, sinking deeper and deeper. His limbs were bound, and below him was a murky mess of long, black hair. This black hair was tangled around his arms and legs, possessing immense strength, constantly pulling him into the depths of the water.

Su Li thrashed upward, kicking his legs desperately. Suddenly, a face emerged from the black hair below. It was the face of his girlfriend, Wang Lan.

Su Li was aghast and was about to call her name when Wang Lan opened her mouth. The corners of her mouth split back to her ears, revealing vampire-like fangs. A bloody, forked tongue darted out, lunging viciously toward Su Li.

Su Li endured various strange and terrifying nightmares until a burst of violent knocking finally woke him up.

(End of Chapter)