Chapter 22: Iron Rod

“If there really is a survivor hiding here, the greatest possibility is that they’re tucked away in one of the apartments. All I need to do is make a little noise, and they should react.”

Su Li paused, deep in thought, having stopped in front of the second apartment’s security door. He raised his cleaver and began to knock on the door rhythmically.

As he tapped, he focused on the door, concentrating on listening for any movement from inside.

Unfortunately, there was no reaction.

Su Li frowned slightly.

Based on his guess, there was a high probability of a survivor hiding here. If not in this unit, they would be in the other one, as there were only three units on this floor, and he had already checked the first one and found no one.

If someone was here, the sound of him knocking on the security door would definitely startle them. That person would certainly use the peephole to observe the corridor outside and would see him.

“I don’t look like a Corpse Beast. As soon as they see me, they should know I’m a survivor. Logically, they should open the door or make a sound to respond… Why is there absolutely no reaction? Are they being overly cautious? Are they still observing in secret?”

Su Li furrowed his brow and finally spoke.

“Is anyone there?” Su Li asked, raising his voice, and knocked on the door again.

He had even spoken aloud, so surely he wouldn’t be mistaken for a Corpse Beast.

Su Li called out twice, but the area remained silent, with no response.

“That’s odd.” Su Li looked at the Corpse Beasts with crushed heads on the ground. It was unmistakably the work of another survivor. Could it be that the survivor also left, just like he did?

“The fact that these corpses are still lying on the ground doesn’t suggest anyone is continuing to stay here.” Su Li contemplated, feeling a slight disappointment. If it were him, he wouldn’t leave the bodies just lying in the corridor; he would at least move them into a pile.

Judging by this detail, had the person who did this really left, and in a hurry? Perhaps they killed the Corpse Beasts and immediately departed, making it unnecessary to deal with the bodies.

Sighing, Su Li walked towards the third unit at the end of the corridor.

Although he knew the hope was minimal, Su Li decided to knock on this unit’s security door to see if there was any response.

As Su Li approached, he suddenly noticed a key stuck in the lock of the security door, with bloodstains on the key.

“Hmm? This is the security door key.” Su Li’s heart stirred. He thought that if a survivor was living here, they might have left the key in the door when they went out, worried the door might close due to wind or other reasons. This was perfectly reasonable to avoid trouble.

After all, the city was flooded, and there was no need to fear thieves coming to the door anymore. They would even welcome one if there still were any.

And Corpse Beasts wouldn’t use a key to open a door.

Looking at the key stuck in the security door, Su Li didn’t open the door right away but knocked.

“Is anyone there?”

After asking twice and pausing for a moment, and confirming there was no response, Su Li reached out and turned the key.

The key began to turn, and Su Li confirmed that it was indeed the key for this security door. He could clearly feel the door unlocking.

Su Li took a deep breath and stepped back slightly, adopting an alert defensive posture. This was an inward-opening security door. Su Li extended his leg and pushed the door inward, peering through the widening gap. He gripped the cleaver and hammer tightly, ready to react to any emergency.

A strong smell of blood drifted out. What Su Li saw was a shoe cabinet knocked over on the ground, shoes scattered everywhere, a large amount of broken glass, bloodstains, and several human corpses.

The vertical eye-like fine lines appeared between his eyebrows; the “Peering Rune” activated, and he looked at the corpse closest to the entrance.

“Corpse Beast: The lowest-level Spiritual Source Beast infected. Has a certain probability of evolving into a higher-level Corpse Beast through mutual consumption. Other: None.”

Seeing the corpse’s crushed head, Su Li could have guessed it was a slain Corpse Beast even without the “Peering Rune.”

The security door was completely opened. The living room that came into view was a mess. The large living room floor was covered in bloodstains. Three corpses with smashed heads lay on the ground, and one more corpse, also with a crushed head, was sprawled on the spacious leather sofa.

Without needing to check them one by one, Su Li knew these four were all slain Corpse Beasts.

Su Li slowly walked in. Debris was scattered everywhere, and signs of a struggle were all over the place. It seemed a very fierce battle had taken place here. Splattered blood could be seen all over the white walls.

Su Li suddenly stopped, staring at one section of the wall, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Besides the glaring bloodstains, there were deep grooves on this wall, looking like marks made by sharp claws.

“How were these marks left? These low-level Corpse Beasts don’t have sharp claws. Strange…”

Su Li looked at the claw marks on the wall and immediately heightened his vigilance. However, the battle must have happened at least a day ago, and the surroundings were completely silent now. Even if some kind of creature with claws had been here, it was likely gone.

Facing the living room was a bedroom. The bedroom door was shattered and fallen to the side, and bloodstains extended into the room. Clearly, the fight had been intense, leading from the living room into the bedroom.

Su Li slowly walked to the bedroom door, noting claw marks on the fallen door next to the entrance.

He looked up and saw the bedroom was also a wreck. A table on one side was broken, a shattered table lamp was on the floor, and a flower pot on the window sill had toppled, its once-blooming flowers now withered.

There was also a body in this messy bedroom.

The body was that of a man in his forties, slumped against a white wardrobe, his head hanging low. His entire body was covered in blood, and a huge wound split his chest, revealing glimpses of internal organs.

Although dead, the man’s right hand was still tightly gripping a blood-soaked iron rod.

Seeing the iron rod, Su Li’s eyes lit up.

To be precise, the “iron rod” was a very thick steel bar, about a meter long and the thickness of an egg. This steel bar was heavy, and if swung with enough force, it could inflict terrifying damage.

Su Li now had 700 jin of strength in his arms. He had always felt that the cleaver and hammer in his hands were too light and couldn’t fully utilize his strength. He hadn’t been able to find a suitable replacement weapon, so seeing this iron rod filled him with joy.

(End of Chapter)