Suddenly, a beast slowly rose from the pool of blood and corpses—it was the village chief, Wu Ye. His neck had been slashed by Qing Ling, but the wound hadn’t fully severed his head, leaving it hanging at a grotesque angle.
He lunged towards Qing Ling, who was in the midst of driving her sword into the heart of another beast. She sensed the danger but had no time to pull out her blade.
"Blade God!" Gao Yang activated his Blade God ability, darting forward and thrusting his dagger into Wu Ye’s heart.
Gao Yang swiftly withdrew the dagger, knowing he couldn’t waste the remaining seven seconds of his ability. With a leap, he positioned himself before Officer Huang, stabbing at a beast lunging towards him while he reloaded. This time, however, the creature’s chest was armored with tough scales, and the dagger couldn’t penetrate.
The "Scaled Beast" retaliated, striking Gao Yang with a powerful backhand, sending him crashing into a mud wall, his head colliding with the surface. Stars burst before his eyes.
Just as the Scaled Beast pounced again, a bullet pierced its right eye, followed by a swift slash from Qing Ling’s sword, cleaving its skull.
Qing Ling pulled back her blade. "Fall back!"
Fatty Jun rushed over to help Gao Yang to the corner, pressing his hands against Gao Yang's chest. Gao Yang felt a searing burn; looking down, he saw a long, narrow gash across his chest.
"Soon... soon... it’s okay... it’s okay..." Fatty Jun was trembling uncontrollably, his mind overtaken by fear, mechanically repeating himself.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Thud!" A pair of long, fur-covered ape arms smashed through the window, grabbing Fatty Jun by the neck and yanking him backward.
"Ahh!" Fatty Jun screamed, but his corpulent body got stuck in the window, preventing him from being pulled out.
Ignoring the pain in his chest, Gao Yang leapt up, driving his dagger into the ape’s arm with all his strength. A wail erupted from outside as the arm retracted.
"Mom, help me! Help!" Fatty Jun, having narrowly escaped, crawled frantically on the floor, hiding under a table, curling into a ball, utterly broken.
Gao Yang knew Fatty Jun had done his best—there was no blame to be placed.
Clutching his wounded chest, he stood. Bodies lay scattered outside the door.
Officer Huang had exhausted his bullets. Tossing aside his handgun, he picked up a rusty machete from the corner and retreated to Gao Yang’s side. "Can you still fight?"
"Yeah, I’m good!" Gao Yang gritted his teeth, gripping his dagger tightly.
A swift-moving beast, agile as a leopard, darted into the room, evading Qing Ling's sweeping slash and launching itself at Officer Huang.
"Ah!" Officer Huang swung the machete at the beast’s head but missed, hitting its shoulder instead. The beast’s momentum was so great that it tackled Officer Huang to the ground.
With a furious roar, the beast opened its fanged maw, ready to snap Officer Huang’s neck.
Gao Yang rushed forward, both hands gripping the dagger, and with the full force of his falling body, plunged the blade into the back of the beast’s head. The sharp tip pierced through the skull and out its mouth, stopping mere inches from Officer Huang’s eyes. A torrent of thick blood and brain matter oozed down the blade, splattering onto Officer Huang’s face.
Struggling, Officer Huang shoved the beast off him, grabbed the machete again, and pulled Gao Yang to his feet. The two, gasping for breath, stood back to back, bracing for the next onslaught.
"Can you still go on?" Officer Huang wiped the grime from his face and asked once more.
"Yeah, I’m good!" Gao Yang's eyes were now ablaze with the frenzy of battle.
"Great!" Officer Huang shouted with renewed vigor. "My wife hasn’t even given birth yet! I refuse to die here!"
"I can’t die here either!" Gao Yang echoed, excitement coursing through him. Struggling to think of a rousing reason, his brain short-circuited, and he yelled, "I’m still a virgin!"