Chapter 32

When Xie Xishu heard the heart-wrenching scream from Xiao Tianming, he almost believed the man had truly been caught by the pursuing monsters.

But in the next second, he understood the true source of Xiao Tianming’s terror. It wasn't the scattered, low-level monsters that had been chasing them—the kind that Qi Wu could kill with a single strike at any moment.

It was a familiar woman.

The Head-Collecting Woman.

Xie Xishu had not expected to see her again, let alone find that since their last encounter, the monster that had once left him with profound psychological trauma had become even more terrifying and hair-raising.

The group had actually already left the suburbs and was about to enter the true city center of A City. According to the original plan, they only needed to cross the overpass marked on the map and drive for another twenty minutes to reach the safe zone cleared by the government.

However, the overpass now spanning the road was unrecognizable.

The Head-Collecting Woman’s slender, serpentine body was coiled around the metal bridge, occupying nearly the entire span. Countless thin, elongated arms were pieced together to form her long torso; from a distance, it looked like a white, mutated centipede magnified countless times. Those long arms had no joints and possessed pallid, sickly skin, yet every palm clutched one or several severed heads.

Some of those heads had rotted so badly that the scalps were nothing more than mushy, blackened remnants covered in tangled hair. The monster’s long, slender fingers had to be driven deep into the malodorous, fluid-filled eye sockets just to hold them steady. Others, however, were fresh, as if they had just been ripped from a living body. Aside from the pale, rigid complexion caused by blood loss, the expressions of extreme terror etched onto their faces remained vivid and lifelike.

Among all the heads, two were particularly distinct—they were embedded in the woman’s chest, where breasts should have been. One was the young man who had once crossed paths with them in a state of panic, and the other was the head of a little girl.

Their presence made the Head-Collecting Woman look as if she truly possessed "eyes."

And in fact, she did.

As soon as they saw the three of them, every single head opened its eyes in unison.

"Damn it—"

Qi Wu let out a curse. The motorcycle, which had been speeding along, performed a U-turn almost on the spot, grinding to a halt amidst rising blue smoke and the stench of burning rubber.

Xiao Tianming was not so lucky; he nearly crashed directly into a mountain of abandoned vehicles.

Yes, the area beneath the overpass was now piled high with wrecked cars. Their frames were twisted, and fresh blood was still dripping from the gaps in the deformed doors. What horrified Xie Xishu even more was that among the "mountain of cars," he even saw several military-green vehicles, their design completely different from civilian models.

The once-spacious intersection was now completely blocked.

Xie Xishu’s throat felt as if it were obstructed by an invisible stone, making it hard to breathe. Even without undergoing mutation, he could clearly feel that the Head-Collecting Woman had become much more troublesome than before—troublesome by several orders of magnitude.

"Damn it! Damn it!! What the hell is that?! You didn't tell me the monster had turned into this!"

Xiao Tianming had managed to make a turn and narrowly escape, but when he looked back to assess the situation and caught sight of the Head-Collecting Woman, he was terrified out of his wits, screaming incessantly.

"Ahhhhh, what is this?! God—"

...

No one paid him any attention.

The air was thick with the stench of the Head-Collecting Woman, the sweet, iron-like smell of human blood, the scent of gasoline bubbling from the wrecked vehicles, and, of course, the foul odor characteristic of rotting corpses.

Just looking at her physique, which was so massive it made the entire metal overpass groan and creak under the weight, one could guess that while Xie Xishu and Qi Wu were idling away in the suburbs dealing with a few stray monsters, the Head-Collecting Woman had been feasting in the densely populated A City.

She must have devoured countless monsters and undergone many metamorphoses.

To the current Qi Wu, she was undoubtedly exceptionally dangerous.

What was even more chilling was not just her size, which had expanded to an astonishing degree in such a short time, but the expression on her face.

She was completely different from the dull-witted creature she had been before. As the two heads embedded in her chest looked at Qi Wu and Xie Xishu, the look in those dead eyes held a terrifying, evil sense of intelligence.

She stared unblinkingly with countless corpse-eyes, gazing greedily at the three people below the bridge.

"Long time no see..."

She opened her mouth, emitting a hoarse voice.

The deep voice of a man overlapped with the childish tone of a child, sounding exceptionally bizarre.

Following this, the Head-Collecting Woman waved the countless arms on her sides, slowly reaching down from the bridge to the ground.

"I’m feeling... quite lucky today..."

She swayed her body slowly and continued to speak.

"To finally meet... you... again... Ahhhhh, since we parted ways last time... I have truly... regretted it so much, so much, so much."

"Such delicious... such delicious things... and I let you run away... Since then, I haven't smelled anything... as good as that... food... It must be delicious, it must be delicious, I really want to eat, I want to eat, I want to eat..."

"I like you so much..."

The Head-Collecting Woman murmured.

Her words carried a strange, sticky quality.

Just hearing that sent chills down Xie Xishu’s spine.

"I like you so much, I want to eat you, let me eat you... I will satisfy... you... I can satisfy anything... you... just let me eat you, hee hee hee, once I’ve eaten something delicious, I can do anything..."

As the Head-Collecting Woman drew closer, Qi Wu instinctively shielded Xie Xishu and took a step back.

The boy’s face was ashen.

He certainly didn't think the Head-Collecting Woman’s leisurely demeanor meant she intended to let them go. In fact, the thirst for blood he sensed from this other high-level monster was so intense it made him feel nauseous.

The instinct shared by monsters caused every muscle in his body to tremble. Beneath his clothes, countless splits had quietly opened on his skin, and "mouths" filled with fine, sharp teeth were churning and boiling, desperate to burst forth.

Qi Wu’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

He wanted to kill.

He wanted to pounce and bite.

He wanted to tear this provocative monster to shreds, grind its internal organs into meat paste, and rip its soft, rotten skin right off its skeleton...

Even if the opponent was indeed stronger than he was.

A battle intent so intense it felt like his brain was boiling swept through every cell in Qi Wu’s body.

Yet, a moment before that madness could consume his last shred of reason, Qi Wu swallowed a mouthful of blood and forced himself to maintain a final sliver of composure.

He turned abruptly and pushed Xie Xishu, who had been pressed against him, toward Xiao Tianming.

"Take... him... take him and go!"

Qi Wu stared intensely at Xiao Tianming’s pale, terrified face, enunciating each word clearly.

Xiao Tianming’s motorcycle engine was still roaring, and with his skilled technique, as long as he could buy enough time, there was a chance they could escape. Qi Wu did not trust Xiao Tianming, but at this moment, he had a strong intuition that if Xie Xishu were to fall into the mouth of the Head-Collecting Woman... he would face an irreversible situation.

However, hearing Qi Wu’s request, the man shook his head repeatedly, tears in his eyes: "No, that won't work, I can't!"

Though older than the two of them, Xiao Tianming looked like he wanted to curl up in someone’s crotch to hide. Because of this, upon hearing Qi Wu’s words, he was on the verge of tears.

"Qi Wu?!"

Xie Xishu, however, was staring fixedly at the boy beside him.

Qi Wu’s chest was heaving violently.

His endurance had reached its limit. When he spoke again, countless scarlet mouths bloomed across his face simultaneously—

"I’ll hold this thing off! Take Xiao Shu and go! Go now!"

...

The moment he clearly heard Qi Wu’s shout, Xie Xishu’s eyes grew hot.

"But—"

Before he could finish, he was pulled forcefully toward the motorcycle behind him, accompanied by a scream.

Xiao Tianming’s eyes were wide open. A second ago, when he saw the Head-Collecting Woman, he had been completely resigned to death.

But the next second, faced with Qi Wu’s completely unhinged monster form, he regained his spirit in an instant, leaping up and howling in a near-breakdown: "Go! Go! This guy is a fucking monster too, ahhhhhhh!!!!"

Xie Xishu stumbled as he was pulled along. He knew that this was no time for hesitation, and in his current state, staying behind would only drag Qi Wu down.

But he still couldn't just abandon Qi Wu like this.

"Qi Wu—"

He broke free from Xiao Tianming, stepped forward, and hugged Qi Wu around the waist.

"I promise you."

Xie Xishu said quickly, addressing Qi Wu’s broad back.

Qi Wu’s muscles had already been tensed to an exaggerated degree, but at this moment, Xie Xishu could clearly feel the skin and flesh all over the boy’s body hardening into solid stone.

"...What?" The boy’s voice sounded muffled at this moment.

"I promise to date you, to be your boyfriend... so, don't you dare die just like that."

Xie Xishu didn't know if he had choked up at that moment.

He didn't look back to see Qi Wu’s reaction.

After throwing out those words, the youth bit his lip and turned, sprinting toward the motorcycle.

He had never run this fast in his life.

Xiao Tianming had already jumped onto the motorcycle, looking as if he intended to bolt without waiting for Xie Xishu. But at the final moment, his collar was pulled tight; as he slammed the throttle and the bike surged forward, someone sat nimbly on the back.

At the same moment, a sharp roar from the monster erupted behind them.

Followed by the sound of tearing flesh that made one's teeth ache involuntarily.

Author's Note:

Let us congratulate classmate Qi for getting a wife today.