Chapter 366 - 367: A Plea for Attention

Chapter 366: Chapter 367: A Plea for Attention

Lilika ran without stopping. Thank God she was wearing pants and sneakers today; if she’d worn a skirt and high heels, she’d be dead for sure.

She glanced back, only to find the monster hadn’t followed her.

’Could it have gone after that handsome guy?’

But she couldn’t afford to swoon over him now. The "damsel saves the hero" trope was all well and good, but you had to know your limits. The most she could do was run a safe distance away and call the police.

But it was so dark all around, with none of the house lights on. Lilika didn’t dare go back the way she came. She could only keep running forward, quietly ducking around a few corners.

She found the corner of a house and, gasping for breath, pulled out her phone to make a call.

"CHITTER CHITTER CHITTER..."

The strange sound came from right beside her, and Lilika froze.

"AHHH—!"

With a scream, she took off running again, not even thinking of turning her head to look.

With a RIP, a sharp pain shot through Lilika’s scalp as a few strands of her hair were torn out.

Glancing back mid-sprint, she saw that the monster, despite having a human head, was spewing countless worms from its mouth. The worms, still attached to its body, looked like a mass of squirming, disgusting tongues. A small tuft of her hair was clenched between several of them as they fought over it.

’If I had been a step slower just now, would my whole scalp have been torn off?’

Lilika’s heart felt like it was going to explode. She stumbled along, running nonstop as the monster closed in from behind. Its speed was unnatural, giving her the eerie feeling that it was gliding over the ground.

"Help me!!!"

This time, she didn’t care about the noise attracting the monster—it was already right on her heels.

"Die!"

Nax appeared out of nowhere, holding three unstoppered test tubes in his hand. He splashed the Holy Water with an aim better than someone throwing stones.

However, it had no reaction to being hit. Instead, it turned toward Nax, who was now closer.

"Give your... to me..."

’Fuck!’

’The Holy Water didn’t work!’

Nax had all his props ready. When the Holy Water didn’t work, he immediately threw salt, followed by Garlic, a Cross, a Buddha statue, and even some virgin boy’s urine he’d procured from who-knows-where. He tossed everything out in a wide arc like a goddess scattering blossoms, all while running.

"Damn it! None of it is working!"

"Run!! None of this stuff is working!"

He wasn’t a believer in any of those religions, but he held a certain reverence for the gods behind them. He never expected that none of it would have any effect.

Seeing the monster getting closer, Nax grew desperate, pulling out a pistol and firing.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The muzzle flash and the impact of the bullets actually startled the monster, punching a few holes in its body.

"So a gun works after all!"

"Hssss—"

Although the shots startled the monster and punched a few holes in it, their effect was limited. The creature pounced, tackling Nax to the ground.

The disgusting, maggot-like monster coiled around him completely.

Like a python constricting its prey, its small appendages pierced dozens of holes in Nax’s trench coat, breaking his skin and drawing blood.

"Cough... urk..."

His organs felt like they were about to burst; he couldn’t even get a word out.

Lilika, watching from the side, was in a full-blown panic. Her body, however, reacted more calmly than her conscious mind. She knew rushing in now would be useless. She picked up the gun from the ground but didn’t dare fire. After all, the handsome guy’s shots had done nothing; she figured even a headshot would be just as ineffective.

The only thing to do was call the police.

This handsome guy, whose name she didn’t even know, was almost certainly going to die here. But she herself didn’t want to die!

Before the call could connect, Lilika, still backing away, bumped into several gaunt figures.

The elderly residents from the surrounding houses had, at some point, surrounded them. There were more than twenty in all, each one looking more ghastly than a ghost.

"Hungry... hungry..." "So... hungry..."

The terrifying atmosphere felt like she’d been dropped into a zombie movie, only she was just a side character with no plot armor.

"Hello, this is the 911 emergency dispatch. What is your emergency?"

The operator’s voice came through the phone.

But Lilika was frozen in terror. She was afraid she wouldn’t even make it until help arrived...

In the gloom, her vision seemed unnaturally sharp. She could see the elders’ sickly green eyes and their drooling mouths, full of yellowed teeth.

"Help! In front of Flory Middle School! Flory Middle School!"

"AHHH—!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

She frantically emptied the pistol’s remaining bullets at the surrounding elders.

Lilika was losing her mind. Everyone’s seen Resident Evil. Whether these were zombies or not, she didn’t want to be swarmed, didn’t want these ghoulish figures to get any closer.

Nax’s body was in agony, but his mind was crystal clear. He knew he was going to die and that he had dragged the beautiful, red-haired girl down with him.

Neither of them would escape.

’Regret?’

’Maybe a little. But if I had the chance to do it over, I’d still have come. I’d just have ditched the ridiculous Holy Water and salt and brought a rocket launcher, or maybe just some gasoline!’

He looked up at the monster’s head. Aside from the mass of worms in its mouth, its face was just like a human’s. Its hands cupped his head, as if it didn’t want him to die too quickly.

’Will I also be like those old people, having my life absorbed by it?’

In a daze, Nax saw two mysterious figures standing on a distant rooftop behind the monster.

They wore black robes, and their forms were blurry. One of them had already raised an arm in their direction.

"Dinsa, Lanoman!"

A low chant echoed throughout the area, and Nax thought he saw light flowing all around.

Then, the monster coiled around him began to tremble and convulse violently.

An immense, oppressive pressure descended.

The monster worm went limp, and Nax slid to the ground as if he were boneless.

Lilika also noticed that the crowd of eerie elders had all frozen in place. She quickly scrambled up and stumbled away from them; she had just been knocked to the ground.

The call had already dropped due to a lack of signal.

The two mysterious, black-robed figures had appeared nearby and were now walking toward them step by step.

’Are we saved?’

The same thought rose in both Nax’s and Lilika’s minds.

"Hssss—"

The monster worm let out a hiss in their direction, then, with a frantic CHITTERING, it began to squirm away in the opposite direction.

A Demon of this level couldn’t gauge how powerful the newcomers were, but it trusted its instincts implicitly.

"So unintelligent, yet it almost became a real threat. How ironic."

Su Su’s voice drew closer as she and her Mentor walked past the wall of frozen elders.

As they passed, the gaunt figures collapsed one after another.

"Corpse Demons. I didn’t expect to see them here. But for a single Corpse Worm to create so many... just how long has it been hiding?"

Qin Xiaoxia murmured, a hint of confusion in his voice.

In the eyes of Nax and Lilika, the two mysterious figures stopped right beside them.

They saw two pairs of bright eyes looking down at them.

"I was hoping to see what you were capable of, to see if you could pose a threat to the Corpse Worm. It seems I overestimated you."

In truth, Qin Xiaoxia was quite disappointed. He figured that in a situation like this, a calm and collected ’lunatic’ might have pulled off a surprise or two.

He’d expected a scene straight out of a movie: the Exorcist setting a trap, preparing the battlefield for a battle of wits against the monster, and maybe even burning it to death in the end.

But aside from trying to look cool for the girl, there were no other brilliant moves. He just ran, got caught, and would have died the same way as any generic movie extra if he and Su Su hadn’t appeared.

He looked up at the monster worm, which was now fleeing in a panic.

As Nax and Lilika wondered who these newcomers were, they subconsciously followed their gaze.

THUMP.

In the distance, the fleeing monster suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall, bouncing back a short way.

"Such a lowly Demon dares to steal human souls. Mentor, should we capture it for the Pharmacy College?"

"No need. A specimen of this level has no research value. Just make its death painful."

"Understood!"

Su Su opened her palm, from which a wisp of fog seemed to rise. At the same time, the monster—which had hit the invisible wall and was now trying to flee in another direction—also began to emit a similar fog.

"Grr... spare... me... sp... urk..."

The fog in Su Su’s hand seemed to have a life of its own. Tendrils of smoke shot into the distance, latching onto the escaping monster and dragging it back.

The fog acted like chains, binding the creature tightly as it was dragged back. But the source of the fog wasn’t just Su Su’s palm; more of it was now pouring out of the monster itself, which looked like a large, smoking censer.

"Gaaah..."

The fog was initially gray, then it turned a milky white. Finally, the mist seeping from the monster’s body turned black.

Once the fog stopped pouring out, the monster collapsed into a motionless, sludge-like heap.

"A quick death, but an absolutely painful one."

Pinching the ball of black mist in her hand, Su Su tossed it into a Crystal Ball.

Qin Xiaoxia watched the entire process without missing a single detail. ’Su Su’s power is really not to be underestimated,’ he thought.

"Who are you? Are you from the Holy See?"

Nax, despite the immense pain he was in, managed to ask a strange question.

Qin Xiaoxia glanced at the man, smiled, but didn’t answer.

He turned to look at the dumbfounded Lilika instead.

"Your power is far greater than you understand, and it’s certainly not something you can control at your current level. Using it recklessly will only continue to weaken you. You need a good teacher, or you will simply burn through your own life force."

Lilika’s physical constitution should have long surpassed that of an ordinary person. There was a reason she was still as frail as any other girl.

"You’re not from the Holy See? Then what is that monster on the ground? A Demon?"

Nax tried to get their attention again. He also shot a surprised look at Lilika; the mysterious man’s words seemed to imply there was more to this girl than met the eye.

Su Su went over and helped Lilika to her feet. In her mind, Lilika was already her chosen student.

"Lilika, we’ve been observing you for a while now. The fact that you haven’t used the power of your Curse to do wrong shows that you are of good character."

Her gentle voice helped to soothe Lilika’s tense nerves.

"If you want to join us, I will be your Mentor."

As she spoke, she raised the Crystal Ball, revealing the countless magical wisps of smoke churning within.

"Are you Mages? Or Holy Knights? Have you been following me?"

Despite his whole body aching, Nax relentlessly tried to get the two mysterious figures’ attention.

’Please, just pay some attention to me! I’m so curious!’

PS: First Chapter for Monday.

Book Recommendation!

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I’m Really Immortal, by author First Love is as Brilliant as Summer Flowers, tells the story of an immortal man living a happy life in a modern city.