Chapter 21: Possible Survivor

No one could tell if a Spiritual Source Beast like the One-Eyed Frog would suddenly burst out of the water and attack.

The reason Su Li had nailed planks and wrapped ropes around the raft to make it so sturdy was to guard against any monster that might appear in the water. What he feared most wasn’t the monster attacking him, but rather the monster ramming the raft from below.

If the raft were smashed to pieces, all his supplies would be lost, and he would be even more vulnerable in the water without the raft.

This was his greatest fear.

Although the distance was only 40 or 50 meters, Su Li was highly focused and nervous, his heart constantly in his throat. Because he was not skilled at paddling, the raft wobbled back and forth, slowly drifting closer to the building exposed above the water in the distance.

In just a short time, Su Li was so tense that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He felt more stressed than when he was fighting the One-Eyed Frog for his life.

After all, this was his first time paddling, and it was under circumstances where an accident could happen at any moment.

Fortunately, the journey was uneventful. Seeing the building ahead growing nearer, quickly closing the distance to within five meters, Su Li finally let out a long sigh of relief. He stopped paddling and let the raft glide toward the building using its remaining momentum. He then pulled up the thick rope that was acting as his anchor.

Holding the rope, he aimed carefully at the window facing him and hurled the rope with immense force.

The three bricks, tightly bound together, whistled through the air, dragging the thick rope behind them.

With a “crash,” the window glass shattered, and the bricks and rope flew inside, causing the raft to accelerate and drift toward the wall beneath the window.

Su Li raised his paddle and pushed it against the wall, slowing the raft’s speed and allowing it to approach the windowsill gently.

He secured the paddle handle by sticking it between some of the bound ropes. Su Li then retrieved the iron hammer and cleaver he carried and approached the window where the glass had just been shattered.

He didn’t climb in immediately, but observed the interior first.

Through the window, he saw an office or study. Directly facing him was a bookshelf piled high with books. Next to the shelf was a desk, on which sat a laptop, a leather pen holder filled with pens, and a small Bluetooth speaker.

The door to the study was closed, and all he could see was everything inside this small room.

Confirming there was no danger, Su Li then climbed in through the window.

Stepping onto the study’s wooden floor, Su Li felt his mind settle. This felt much safer than floating on the raft.

He pulled out the cleaver into his left hand. This was a completely unfamiliar place, and Su Li had to be extremely cautious.

Walking up to the desk, he saw that the surface was covered in a thick layer of dust. It seemed no one had cleaned here for a long time.

The study held nothing of value to Su Li, so he didn’t linger. He went straight to the room door, listened for any movement outside, and when it felt quiet, he grasped the doorknob and slowly began to open it.

He opened the door just a crack and peered outside.

The day was now fully bright. Through the gap, Su Li could clearly see a well-lit living room. He saw a sofa set, a coffee table, a TV stand, and a curved screen television. The feature wall behind the TV stand looked quite impressive.

Judging by the decor, this household was likely quite well-off. As Su Li thought this, he slowly opened the study door all the way and walked into the living room.

Su Li walked straight to the double-door refrigerator facing him. Upon opening it, he was met with a gust of moldy air.

Su Li frowned slightly.

The refrigerator was packed with fruits and vegetables, but unfortunately, they were all rotten and moldy. Clearly, these items had been stored in the refrigerator for a very long time.

He silently sighed in regret and closed the refrigerator door.

“It looks like no one has lived here for a long time. But the great flood only happened the day before yesterday. There’s no way these fruits and vegetables could have rotted this severely in just two days. That’s strange.”

Su Li remembered finding a similar situation in the young couple’s apartment, where there was thick dust on the table and the spilled noodle soup had gone moldy. The timeline simply didn’t add up. Now, a similar situation had presented itself, which Su Li couldn’t immediately comprehend.

Su Li then checked the other rooms, confirmed there were no living people inside, and walked toward the living room’s security door.

His primary goal for coming here was naturally to find other survivors, and his secondary goal was to gather useful supplies, especially food.

He decided to check all the apartments on this floor first to confirm if there were any living people, and then thoroughly search each room one by one to collect usable supplies.

As he approached the exterior security door, Su Li sniffed slightly. He caught a hint of a bloody smell.

This immediately put him on high alert.

“It looks like there’s something going on outside,” Su Li thought. He stopped trying to open the security door and first used the peephole to observe the situation outside.

Outside the security door was another long corridor. Su Li saw bodies lying strewn across the floor.

These bodies, both male and female, had their heads smashed in and were unrecognizable.

Su Li immediately understood. These were all Corpse Beasts, bodies of drowned humans who had transformed. The key difference was that all these Corpse Beasts had been killed by having their heads crushed.

“Who killed these Corpse Beasts? Is there a survivor like me hiding here?” Su Li’s heart quickened at the thought, and he felt a surge of excitement.

If they had been killed by other monsters, the bodies wouldn’t be intact without signs of being gnawed on. The fact that only their heads were crushed strongly suggested that the killer was a survivor like himself.

Su Li took a deep breath to calm himself down, then gripped the security door handle and slowly twisted it open.

As he gently pushed the door open, a gust of wind carried the bloody smell inside.

Su Li had grown accustomed to the strong smell of blood over the past two days and didn’t react much. He quietly activated the “Peering Rune” to examine the Corpse Beasts lying on the corridor floor.

Sure enough, the information that appeared in his mind confirmed that these were all low-level Corpse Beasts.

“Anyone capable of killing so many Corpse Beasts must be a Spiritual Source Wielder like me, at least. I wonder if they’re still here, or if they left like I did?”

Su Li slowly walked out. The floor plan of this apartment was almost identical to his own. There were also three units on this floor. Looking at the corridor in front of him, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Su Li walked slowly down the corridor, approaching the security door of the second unit.

(End of Chapter)