Xu Shuhan, who was following close behind Ling Mo and the others, suddenly heard a faint sound at this moment.
âClang!â
âWhat was that noise?!â
Xu Shuhan quickly turned around with her gun at the ready, her eyes wide, scanning the area ahead.
The mall seemed to be filled with dark, indistinct shadows, and the messy construction materials scattered about only added to the sense of eerie terror.
âDid you guys hear anything?â Xu Shuhan, realizing she was the only one reacting, asked in a low voice.
âNopeâ¦â Ling Mo shook his head, looking rather confused.
The other three girls didnât even stop walking, and without asking, it was clear they hadnât heard anything either.
Xu Shuhan swallowed hard, trying to smile through the tension: âIs that so?â
Could it be an auditory hallucination?
But⦠thatâs possible⦠Itâs quite normal to have hallucinations due to excessive tensionâ¦
Heh heh hehâ¦
Xu Shuhan laughed nervously to comfort herself, but the moment she turned her head back, that sound appeared again!
And this time, it seemed as if the sound was coming from right behind her heel!
âAhhhh!â
A chill shot up from the soles of her feet, and she leapt from the spot in panic, turning around to ask hurriedly, âDid you hear it this time? Did all of you hear it?â
She was certain it couldnât be an illusion, and while she was always particularly sensitive and scared of such eerie situations, her mind wasnât so fragileâ¦
To be honest, she would have been calmer facing a horde of zombies at the brink of life and death.
But this kind of unseen, intangible panic was too much for her to remain composed!
Weakness, this was her characterâs weakness!
âSay something, will you?â
Xu Shuhan dared not blink, but she couldnât keep staring at one spot, her gaze involuntarily drifting.
It was as if she hoped to see something, yet feared that she might actually see something.
And the quieter it was around her, the stronger the panic became.
âRight⦠Where are Mu Chen and Xia Zhi?â
Her eyes flitted everywhere, and then she noticed something even more terrifying.
How could it be that in just a few seconds, those two had disappeared?
Not here⦠not there eitherâ¦
The two who should have been nearby, searching, seemed to have vanished silently into the shadows.
âDid you see themâ¦â
Xu Shuhan became increasingly nervous, asking as she turned her head.
But as she turned, the last two words that came out of her throat changed pitch involuntarily: âNo⦠body?â
An empty spaceâ¦
Ling Mo and the four who should have been behind her had suddenly evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace.
And Xu Shuhan, who was no more than five meters away from them, hadnât heard a thing.
Ling Moâs group, as well as Mu Chen and Xia Zhi, had all disappearedâ¦
In the vastness of the mall, now, there was only Xu Shuhan left alone.
The silence around suddenly became deafening.
No sound could be heard, nor could any living creature be seen in sight.
Yet in this eerie silence, Xu Shuhan, standing there alone, suddenly shivered all over.
âHelp⦠Help me!â
â¦
Her suppressed and trembling cry of despair traveled down the elevator entrance to the underground level, where it echoed faintly.
In the darkness, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly flickered, followed by the sound of heavy, labored breathing.
âHehehe⦠scared humansâ¦â A sinister female voice suddenly rang out alongside the breathing.
In the vast darkness, the voice sounded ethereal and bone-chilling.
âWeak and pitifulâ¦â However, before she could say much more, the female voice turned into a wail and then complained somewhat aggrievedly, âHey, why did you hit my butt!â
âWhy do you always mock in groups? Iâm human too, okay? Canât you consider my feelings?â A male voice replied, clearly annoyed.
âHmph, now you remember youâre human? When you were scaring that human woman just now, I couldnât tell at allâ¦â The earlier female voice suddenly became sly.
The male voice choked, then coughed twice, trying to cover up: âHow was I supposed to know sheâd be so scaredâ¦â
âYou clearly targeted her after finding out her weakness, didnât you?â the female voice retorted persistently.
âWhose side are you on, anyway? How can I sleep peacefully with this going on!â the male voice said angrily.
âIsnât your hand on my butt right now!â the female voice also snapped back.
âI canât see where Iâm going!â
As the two were bickering, a pair of amber-colored blood-red eyes suddenly flashed in front of the man.
The sudden appearance startled him, and he exclaimed: âDamn!â
Then, in the darkness, a series of cluttered noises followed, as if something had been knocked over and somebody had fallen.
âDamn itâ¦â
In the midst of the chaos, the male voice groaned in pain.
But the real chaos was yet to comeâ¦
âAh! I stepped on⦠somethingâ¦â a timid female voice suddenly piped up.
âThatâs myâ¦â
âLook! I found some food!â The amber-colored blood eyes moved down from a higher position.
But as a âsnapâ sounded, the male voice screamed again: âDonât move, donât move, thatâs not a sausage from the supermarket, thatâs my important components! I said donât touch, donât pull!â
Suddenly, all the sounds in the darkness ceased, and silence returned once more.
A few seconds later, the timid female voice spoke up weakly again: âIt seems⦠I⦠I pulled it offâ¦â
â¦
Silence fell again, but it wasnât long before two female voices hurriedly spoke up.
âLing Mo, itâs okayâ¦â
âWe can think about getting a new component to replace itâ¦â
âWill it grow back?â
âIt usually doesnât come off that easily⦠Who did this?â
Snapâ
The sound of a flashlight switch being flicked on suddenly rang out, followed by a blinding light that illuminated the area.
Amongst the clutter of waste, a figure was holding the flashlight, shakily supporting themselves as they stood up.
In the beam of light, three girls stood quietly.
The flashlightâs glare made the girls look quite creepy.
Beneath their pale skin, the veins could almost be seen, and their crimson eyes emitted a cold, eerie light.
Their slightly parted lips revealed just a hint of a red tongue, as if they had just licked fresh bloodâ¦
However, just moments later, the girls returned to normal, and at first glance, they appeared no different from ordinary humans.
The girl in the middle was holding a strip-shaped object in her hands, her large eyes innocently fixed on the standing figure.
âGurgle!â
The other two girls simultaneously swallowed hard, the sound clearly audible in the silence.
âLing Moâ¦â
âThat⦠Ling Moâ¦â
âCome on, could you wipe your drool?â
The figure stood upright and twisted their neck, reaching out to snatch the strip-shaped object and then stuffing it into the mouth of the eager âmixed-blood.â
âMmmâ¦â The mixed-blood bit down impatiently.
The long-haired girl covered her mouth in surprise, but from the look in her eyes, it was clear she wanted a share of the actionâ¦
However, Ling Mo remained calm, dusting off his clothes and boasting, âGood thing I used the sausage as a decoy. My parts are still intact.â
âHuh?â Li Ya Lin was still dumbfounded, biting the sausage, half-wanting to throw it away, but seemingly reluctant to do so.
It was meat, after allâ¦
Meanwhile, Shana quickly regained her composure, dropping her hands and snorting, âTchâ¦â
âTch your head!â
Ling Mo exploded in anger: âYou go wild every time thereâs a fight, donât you! How many times have I told you, I donât mind you biting me, I do have a scent that attracts you, but please! Can you choose somewhere else to bite? Even if you wonât really bite through, what if you accidentally break the skin and mutate?â
âYou⦠do you even want to have kids anymore!â
âAnd you! Andâ¦â
When it came to Ye Lian, Ling Moâs anger softened as he met her watery, dazed, adorable eyes.
âNo more of this, okay?â Ling Mo sighed without principle.