Chapter Fifty-Two: A Tale of Terror

The girl he cherished had her throat slashed by his own hand. Even as she pressed her hands desperately against the wound, blood poured uncontrollably down her neck—a sight that struck with inexplicable force. Yet, Fan Li understood that the so-called “Jia Yue Li” had never truly existed. Perhaps she was still alive, but she was certainly never his.

How many desires in life are ever truly fulfilled?

When he first entered school, she already had a boyfriend. Their relationship was stable. Both families were affluent and well-matched. More than once, Fan Li had seen that sweet face blush with shy happiness as she declared that they would marry after graduation.

How could such a blissful young woman ever impulsively confess her feelings to him?

His resistance to fear allowed Fan Li to remain calm in any situation. He suspected that this campus was not reality at all, and that the forgotten dream was, in fact, the true world in which he existed.

His arm trembled, but he chose to strike. The “Jia Yue Li,” clutching her bleeding neck, glared at him with a vicious hatred. Her once fair skin darkened to a ghastly hue, growing taut and creased with wrinkles. In the blink of an eye, her sweet features were replaced by a withered, grotesque visage—like dead wood.

He caught a glimpse of countless tiny, white, maggot-like worms writhing across her face.

It was as if he had stepped through a tunnel: outside, the sky had been clear and bright, but within, everything was plunged into absolute darkness.

Fan Li’s consciousness flickered between campus and reality. The familiar green lawn vanished, replaced by a foul-smelling, blood-soaked room. Seven or eight corpses lay scattered around him, each with a gaping hole at the base of the skull—brains missing, clearly devoured.

The sweet girl from his dream was now a monster nearly two meters tall. Her lower body had morphed into a massive tumor, rooting her in place, quivering rhythmically like a grotesque heart.

Her upper body remained that of a naked woman, but her skin was black-purple, mottled with dense black spots. Her head was three times larger than normal, her features horribly distorted, her eyes bulging with venomous hatred as she glared at Fan Li.

He swung his katana, slashing her under the jaw. Fetid, corrupted blood poured out, the stench so overwhelming that tears streamed involuntarily from his eyes.

A monster!

Fan Li reacted instantly, retreating five or six steps to put distance between them.

Everything about this creature—from its appearance to the aura it radiated—was monstrous, on par with the Titans he’d encountered before. Yet while the Titans embodied raw power, this being possessed the ability to draw people into dreams. The corpses strewn about must have been lured, step by step, into the dream and then killed as their brains were devoured.

Recalling the dream, Fan Li realized he had come within a single step of death. It was like a nightmare come to life, with himself as one of its protagonists.

“Ellie…”

Fan Li turned and saw Ellie standing beside him, shaking her head as if just awakening from a trance.

No wonder he hadn’t heard anything—Ellie herself had been ensnared by the creature’s power, dragged into the dream.

Deformed, hideous, and endowed with bizarre, unnatural abilities—even Ellie, a monster herself, had been affected.

Fan Li had once believed his resistance to fear, after contending with so many zombies, would allow him to face any of these flesh-bound abominations without flinching. Yet time and again, he was forced to confront the reality of ugliness and distortion. This new horror shattered all his previous conceptions.

“Its lower half has turned into a tumor. Does that mean it can’t move?” Fan Li muttered, suppressing his trembling.

“In…”

The monster opened its maw, extending a barb-covered tongue. It tried to make a sound, but its sealed vocal cords would not allow even a proper roar—only a series of discordant, almost musical noises emerged.

These sounds were more grating than nails on glass—like needles stabbing straight through the eardrums, unbearable to hear.

With a wet, squelching sound, the monster’s bulging eyes fixed on Fan Li. The katana had left a gaping wound in its lower jaw—its entire chin seemed in danger of falling off.

A series of sickening pops rang out. Suddenly, from the tumor that was its lower body, a leg sprouted—then a second, a third—until six legs had emerged. Fan Li felt numb with horror.

Each of the six legs was different: some smooth and delicate, some thick and hairy, others withered and shriveled—clearly scavenged from different hosts.

The clashing, twisted amalgamation was so chaotic it defied belief.

Fan Li had witnessed a Titan lose control before—muscles tensing and expanding until, within seconds, it became a giant of flesh and blood. This monster was the same: its prey had escaped and wounded it, and now, enraged, it had assumed a second, more terrible form.

A six-legged, enormous-headed, black-spotted, indescribably deformed monstrosity.

The only difference between this and his encounter with the Titan was that Fan Li had been a mere observer before, safely removed from the carnage. Now, he was a combatant on this grotesque battlefield.

The pharmacy had become a gladiatorial arena. Fan Li was a sword-wielding slave—a choice lay before him: kill or be killed.

“Ellie…”

Fan Li’s gaze never wavered from the creature, but he quietly uttered the only name that could bring him comfort.

The familiar sound of teeth grinding echoed—he had never found it so reassuring.

“In…”

The monster stepped forward, six legs moving in eerie synchrony, each step hammering at the most fragile corners of the human heart.

A moist squelch followed as its blood-slick feet pressed onto the pharmacy floor, making a sticky, sucking sound.

“In…”

The monster’s voice dropped to a guttural rumble. Though less piercing than before, it made Fan Li’s hair stand on end. Even through his heavy clothing, cold sweat broke out all over his body. It was the sound a predator makes just before the kill.

“In…”

Without warning, a cacophony of shrill sound erupted, shattering the glass around them. In that instant, the monster crouched low on its six legs, then sprang at Fan Li.

“Ellie!”

As the beast rampaged, Fan Li roared like a wild animal. A small, lithe figure dashed in front of him, cannoning into the monster’s chest. The two strange bodies tumbled to the ground, sending medicine racks crashing down all around them.

The cramped room was no place for battle. Katana in hand, Fan Li turned, opened the door, and burst onto the broad street outside in one fluid motion.

He told himself, this was not a retreat—merely a tactical withdrawal.