Chapter 795 - 678: Where Did My Head Go? (2)

Chapter 795: Chapter 678: Where Did My Head Go? (2)

This thought grew like wild vines, entwining her heart.

But she dared not!

She was terrified.

Afraid that the moment she heard her family’s voices, all her strength and facade would collapse instantly, and she would uncontrollably want to go home immediately, throwing herself into her mother’s arms.

And then... bring that monster, Feng Yuhuai, back home.

So, she could only force herself to endure the longing, not calling, not texting, making her family think she was dead or missing.

It was simple, on the day of the Martial Arts Joint Examination at the Eighth Academy, many teachers and students were either dead or missing; adding her wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

She wandered aimlessly down the street, her mind in a jumble, various thoughts flashing chaotically past.

About an hour went by in this haze, and only when her legs were sore and numb did she dazedly lift her head to take in the familiar street scene surrounding her.

Then she was stunned to find that she had unknowingly wandered to a neighborhood near home.

Just a couple more street corners, and through a row of breakfast shops, she’d almost be home...

The familiar street scenes, familiar shop signs, all like invisible hands, tugged at her heartstrings.

"Go home... just sneak a look... from a distance, hiding at a street corner... just one look at mom and dad..."

A seductive whisper echoed in her heart, like the murmur of a devil.

"You can’t go home! Absolutely not!"

Zhang Liyou suddenly halted her steps, her eyes instantly reddened, a layer of mist blurring her vision.

She bit her lower lip hard, forcing herself to turn around, with tears in her eyes, almost in a flee, turning and running in the opposite direction of home.

She didn’t necessarily want to go right, just to choose a path directly opposite from "home," using physical distance to forcibly sever the emotional ties within her.

And on the right, after crossing two relatively wide, traffic-heavy main roads, led to the area of... Jade Garden.

Of course, Zhang Liyou’s destination was not Jade Garden, that place had nothing to do with her, and she had never thought of going there.

Before reaching the district still at quite a distance from Jade Garden, her rushing pace slowly eased.

Feeling somewhat thirsty, she stepped into a roadside convenience store and bought the cheapest bottle of mineral water.

Opening the cap, drinking the cold water in small sips, she continued down the sidewalk, while looking for bus stop signs on either side as she walked.

It was then that she suddenly caught a strange, faint sound near her ear.

"Squeak... Squeak..."

The sound was intermittent, like something forcefully rubbing, scratching on a rough surface, making her teeth ache.

The source of the sound was not from the main road where she was but from the entrance of a narrow alley off the street.

Nestled between two slightly old-fashioned buildings, the entrance, dimly lit, cluttered with several huge garbage bins, emitting a sour and rancid stench, nearly blocked most of the entrance, obscuring the view.

Zhang Liyou frowned had it been the old her, she certainly wouldn’t have such intense curiosity, would have avoided it at all costs, but now, prompted by the world, her curiosity surged anew.

Curiosity may lead to death or may lead to strength!

Zhang Liyou quickly glanced around, pedestrians on the main road hurried by, either looking down at their phones or rushing forward, seemingly unaware of the strange noise from the alley.

She hesitated no more, eyes fixed, then diverted her path rapidly darting into the alley’s entrance, hiding behind the garbage bins, promptly and resolutely activating the [Turtle Breath Technique].

In an instant, her entire aura seemed erased by an invisible hand, the sound of her heartbeat and breath so faint as if fading away, the ambient light around her seeming to warp and weaken.

Then, she tiptoed silently, heading toward the source of the persistent "squeak" sound deeper within the alley...

.....

Zhang Liyou snuck into the alley, following the unsettling sound further in.

The alley was even narrower and darker than it appeared from outside, the peeling walls on either side seemed ready to collapse inward, large patches of wall skin flaking off, revealing the grayish bricks underneath.

The ground was uneven, littered with randomly discarded trash and cigarette butts; the further she went, the dimmer the light became, blocked by the overlapping old buildings overhead.

She walked with stops, each step light, her toes cautiously stepping ahead, ensuring no sound was made before gently placing down her foot.

Her entire attention was focused on that nearing sound.

The sound... was eerily clear.

It seemed like some astonishingly powerful wild beast was savagely dragging its prey, accompanied by sounds of cracking bones being forcefully twisted and broken, as well as the wet, sticky noises of flesh being torn and separated by sharp claws.

All these sounds combined, forming a terrifying auditory scene.

Ahead of the alley was a ninety-degree corner, the dreaded sounds and increasingly pungent scent of blood wafting from beyond the bend.

Zhang Liyou’s heart uncontrollably pounded, though she forced it down sternly.

With steeled nerves, she inched a few steps forward, icy cold creeping through her thin garments from the wall, then cautiously peered out from the corner’s edge with half her head.

Just one look!

Her blood seemed to freeze instantly, limbs turning icy, chilling fear shot from the soles of her feet straight to her skull, nearly making her scream, yet she bit her lip fiercely, holding all fright within her throat.

Beyond the corner lay a cul-de-sac formed by the architectural layout, enclosed by high walls on three sides.

On the ground lay a corpse... or rather, one that could hardly be called a "corpse" anymore, in pieces.

Only a broken chest and half a shoulder remained, the limbs twisted and broken at angles completely contrary to human anatomy, strewn about like wrecked marionette parts.

The sounds she heard earlier must have been the sound of limbs being twisted till they broke.

Beside the corpse stood, or rather crouched, a deformed humanoid monstrosity.

Described as crouching because it had four human thighs varied in color, thickness, even length, grotesquely fused forcefully under its abnormally swollen abdomen, forming an odd support point.

Oh, no, it had five legs now; it was picking up a bloody leg from the ground, thrusting it into its abdomen with a squelch.

Zhang Liyou’s pupils shrunk, witnessing in horror as a horrifying wound opened on the monster’s abdomen, yet surrounding fleshy tendrils immediately wriggled wildly, quickly enveloping and merging the new leg.

Within just a few breaths, that leg became part of its body, twitching slightly.

It seemed the monster grew another leg itself.

Described as humanoid because every component of its body indeed originated from humans, just the quantities were off.

Besides those five legs and four hands, its waist and chest were abnormally and enormously swollen, almost overtwice that of a normal human, riddled with twisted veins.

Most terrifyingly it grew two side-by-side necks.

One neck bearing a complete head, covered by a jet-black metallic mask, at the mask’s eyes, two points of crimson light vaguely flickering in the dim light.

The other neck, however, ended abruptly at the shoulder, the break not showing normal flesh but withered, charred fleshy tendrils, empty.

At present, the monster was partly crouched on the ground, three of its hands rummaging around messily, crazily stuffing scattered, broken limbs into itself indiscriminately, attempting to "repair" itself.

Its remaining hand dangled a head with disheveled hair, frozen with an expression of utmost horror from its last moments.

Evidently, the poor corpse’s head from the ground.

The masked head of the monster leaned closer to the head in its hand, its crimson eyes staring intently, as if identifying, or feeling something.

After a while, a bizarre synthetic sound mixed with electronic noise emitted from under the mask, filled with confusion and savagery:

"Not... this is incorrect... this isn’t my head... I’m missing one... where did I put my head?!!"