Chapter 13: Collection

With his boosted strength and speed, Su Li felt increasingly effortless swinging the iron hammer. Looking at the two transformed monsters crowding the doorway, he suddenly lashed out with a kick. The monster directly in front had no time to react and was caught in the abdomen. The power of this kick was immense; the monster was sent flying backward, slamming into the monster behind it. Both monsters tumbled back together. Su Li then swung the iron hammer at the other monster crowding the entrance.

The monster raised its arm to block. With a “crack,” the iron hammer struck the monster’s arm, instantly followed by the crisp sound of bone snapping. Su Li was faster. He followed up with another hammer blow. This time, the monster had no time to defend itself. The hammer landed squarely on its forehead, shattering the skull. Flesh and blood flew, splattering all over Su Li’s face and body.

Watching the monster slump down, the white fuzz on its skin retracted, and a white fuzzy ball shot out. Su Li quickly received the new information in his mind.

“Level 1 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 2/10”

After absorbing the new Spiritual Source, Su Li felt his inner strength increase again, but the magnitude of the growth was now very small, unlike the huge boost he received when he first obtained a Spiritual Source.

There were still four transformed monsters remaining in the living room. This time, Su Li actively rushed out of the room. He suddenly felt that these monsters were no longer terrifying; he felt quite relaxed after easily dispatching two monsters consecutively.

With speed, strength, and reaction time that overwhelmingly surpassed these monsters, Su Li grew confident. He charged out and immediately delivered a heavy kick.

With a “bang,” the monster that was about to pounce was sent reeling backward by his kick, crashing heavily to the floor with a loud boom. Su Li swung the iron hammer in his right hand horizontally, smashing another monster.

This monster was too slow to react, and its head instantly collapsed. Its body fell sideways, and its head struck the wall, creating a “splat” sound that left a patch of shocking red blood on the pristine white wall.

Another white Spiritual Source shot toward him.

“Level 1 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 3/10”

Su Li took a deep breath. With only three transformed monsters left, they were no longer a serious threat. He bravely charged forward. The monster he had just kicked to the ground was only halfway up when Su Li smashed its head, gaining yet another Spiritual Source.

When he finally smashed the head of the last moving monster, a new notification sounded in his mind.

“Level 1 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 6/10”

Only now did Su Li stop. His whole body was drenched in blood. He finally felt a dull ache in his arms. Although his physical ability had been greatly enhanced, killing seven transformed monsters in a row still left him exhausted.

Looking at the corpses scattered haphazardly across the floor, Su Li slumped down, panting heavily. Despite the fatigue, his mind was still in a state of excitement.

“I only need four more Spiritual Sources to collect ten. I wonder what new changes will happen then.”

After resting for a while, his strength recovered. Su Li got up, retrieved the cleaver he had dropped near the balcony, opened the security door, and began moving the corpses of the transformed monsters outside, one by one.

He had initially wanted to throw the corpses off the balcony, but he was afraid the bodies and the smell of blood might attract something dangerous. After careful consideration, he decided to temporarily stack the corpses in the corridor.

It was strange, but even though the temperature in October wasn’t low, the corpses showed no signs of decomposition. Otherwise, they would have long since emitted a stench.

However, after experiencing so many bizarre and illogical events over the last day, the lack of decay in the corpses was hardly surprising.

After moving all the corpses outside, Su Li took the cleaver and hammer to the bathroom to clean up.

Although he had prepared two large basins of water, Su Li was reluctant to waste it. He only used a small amount of water to wash his face and hands and changed out of his blood-soaked clothes. Then, he took out a packet of instant noodles. He hadn’t eaten anything since last night, and he was starving.

Watching the ground get wetter and wetter, he knew the water level was still slowly rising and that the apartment would become uninhabitable soon. His current food could only last three or four days. He couldn’t just stay here and wait for death.

“Once I gather ten Spiritual Sources, I should become much stronger. It will be safer to leave then.”

Su Li now had a plan. The transformed monsters were no longer a threat, but he was still extremely wary of the unknown creature in the water. Every bit of strength he gained gave him a better chance of survival.

He boiled water and prepared the instant noodles. The aroma of the noodles made his mouth water.

Due to the food shortage, Su Li dared not eat recklessly. He had been constantly trying to restrain himself all day, only eating when he was terribly hungry. Earlier, he had only allowed himself one biscuit to line his stomach. Now, smelling the instant noodles, he couldn’t resist; it felt like the most delicious meal in the world.

He finished the noodles, drinking the soup until the bowl was completely empty. He felt a comfortable warmth spread throughout his body.

After eating and drinking his fill, Su Li grabbed the cleaver and hammer, opened the security door, and looked out at the silent corridor.

Su Li walked out and approached the door of the apartment where the young couple once lived. The security door was ajar, and Su Li pushed it open.

“I hope I can find something here.” Su Li took a deep breath and walked inside.

While retrieving instant noodles and biscuits from his backpack earlier, looking at his dwindling food supply, Su Li suddenly remembered that the couple’s security door was open. He decided to check if they might have left any food behind.

The apartment looked like it hadn’t been occupied for some time; there was dust everywhere. Looking once more at the noodle soup spilled on the table, Su Li guessed that the couple must have left in a great rush and panic. The most likely scenario was that they discovered the flood coming and fled. However, the timeline still didn’t make sense.

“Forget it, I won’t think about it anymore. This whole situation is strange; I won’t figure it out.” Su Li quietly muttered to himself, shook his head, and stopped thinking about it. Instead, he began meticulously searching through the apartment, hoping to find something useful.

He first checked the kitchen but found nothing. He then pushed open another door and was immediately greeted by a photo hanging above the bed—the couple’s wedding photo. This must be their bedroom.

Su Li found quite a few items in the bedroom: bank cards and ID cards. Checking their IDs, he learned the couple’s names were Zhang Wu and Li Juan. He also found some cash in the cabinet, about 1,000 yuan, and some jewelry, including a diamond ring and a necklace, which looked quite valuable.

Su Li left all these items untouched. In truth, to him now, all those possessions combined were less practical than a single packet of instant noodles.

(End of Chapter)