Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Underworld Party
A bone-chilling cold, heavy with an uncanny aura, swiftly spread throughout the hall. Warm-hearted Man cursed inwardly, sensing trouble. He immediately summoned Enthusiastic, clenched his fists, and struck the inn's front door with all his might.
Bang! Bang!
Yet, Enthusiastic's fists merely produced dull thuds against what appeared to be an ancient, decrepit wooden door. Though its power rating was only at C-level, it shouldn't have been incapable of breaking through a shabby wooden door!
"Something uncanny..." Gritting his teeth, Warm-hearted Man decided to head upstairs and regroup with Qi Chen and the others. He turned towards the staircase, but suddenly noticed a figure standing in the middle of the steps, head bowed low.
Though the person's eyes were concealed, an icy gaze bore into him.
"What the—"
...
...
Thud, thud!
Deep in the corridor on the second floor, Qi Chen suddenly heard the sound of pounding from downstairs. Turning to the team leader beside him, he saw that he had heard it too.
Bad news followed in quick succession. The team leader's expression shifted dramatically as he said to Qi Chen, "Chief Mask, I've lost contact with the team members downstairs!"
Qi Chen immediately raised his arm to check his watch. It was barely past eight o'clock. According to the innkeeper's account, there shouldn't be any anomalies at this time.
"Unless the innkeeper herself has been influenced by the uncanny, and her words were false." With a sinking heart, Qi Chen pressed his earpiece to contact Warm-hearted Man, but like the Special Operations team, the line was dead.
He, too, sensed a sudden surge of strong uncanny energy in the surroundings.
"Everyone, stay sharp!" Qi Chen quickly warned the five Special Operations officers at his side. Well-trained, they immediately spread out, raising their standard rifles and aiming down the corridor.
Creak—
A battered door near the stairwell was abruptly pushed open. The unlubricated hinges groaned, sending a jarring sound through the air. From behind the door, a figure stumbled out, moving like a zombie.
"Stop right there!" shouted the Special Operations team leader, his gun aimed firmly at the uncanny figure's torso.
Yet the warning had no effect. The figure kept its head low, face hidden deep, lurching towards Qi Chen and his team like a corpse.
"Stop him," Qi Chen ordered, eyes locked on the approaching entity.
The team leader acted instantly, lowering the barrel slightly and pulling the trigger.
Bang!
A spray of blood burst from the figure's knee, and it collapsed to the floor, but uttered no human scream—only a serpent-like hiss.
...
...
"Hiss! Hiss!"
Goosebumps rose on the officers' skin as the creature, hit in the knee, continued to writhe towards them on the ground.
Qi Chen sensed only a faint uncanny aura from it—not strong, and visible even to ordinary people.
"It's not the source, but an offshoot infected by the uncanny," he quickly deduced. The burly figure of Overlord appeared at Qi Chen's side, ready to strike as soon as the enemy entered its range.
"Fire two more rounds," Qi Chen commanded.
Without hesitation, the team leader switched his rifle to automatic and squeezed the trigger. Well-trained, he controlled the recoil expertly, and every bullet hit the writhing figure.
Crimson liquid surged out beneath the creature, darkening the already red carpet.
"Hiss..."
Yet even so, the creature didn't lose mobility. Instead, it slowly raised its head from the floor!
A face devoid of features.
Crack, crack, crack!
A ring of cracks appeared on the faceless figure's visage, deepening and splitting open to reveal a worm-like maw.
Spurt!
A scarlet tongue shot from the maw, flashing briefly in midair like a red streak.
"Roar!"
With a thunderous roar, the officers saw the tongue abruptly severed by an invisible force as it flew towards them.
A sharp snap followed—the elastic tongue torn apart.
"Shoot its head!"
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!
This time, the officers fired as one. At such close range, they were marksmen; bullets, laced with gunpowder, riddled the faceless creature's head, quickly reducing it to pulp.
"Thank goodness for you..." The team leader cast a respectful glance at Qi Chen. Without Chief Mask's presence, the sudden tongue attack would surely have resulted in casualties.
The other officers looked at Qi Chen with admiration.
Truly, the legendary ones who can face the uncanny head-on...
"Xiao Sun, go check the situation," the team leader ordered a member. As the officer named Xiao Sun went to inspect the corpse, the leader remained vigilant with the others.
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...
"Let me," Qi Chen said gently, leaving no room for refusal, and strode decisively towards the faceless corpse.
"All traces of the uncanny aura are gone?"
He gazed at the riddled body at his feet, unable to sense even a hint of the uncanny. Yet the corridor itself was now suffused with a strong uncanny presence.
"Should we regroup downstairs with Warm-hearted Man?" the team leader suggested. Qi Chen nodded lightly.
However, as the Special Operations team passed an open room, something suddenly happened!
One officer was snatched inside by a powerful force. Qi Chen rushed forward, but the door slammed shut with a bang!
"Overlord!"
Boom!
A massive gray fist crashed against the door, making the entire corridor tremble. Overlord withdrew his fist, leaving a gaping hole in the door.
Qi Chen immediately leaned in to peer inside, but saw no sign of the officer who had just been pulled in.
"Damn this uncanny!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of harsh door-opening sounds echoed through the corridor, accompanied by dull, noisy footsteps.
"Chief Mask! Five more strange figures have appeared!" the team leader quickly reported, then immediately rallied his remaining three officers to fire.
Muzzle flashes danced; bullets whistled forth.
The shadowy inn corridor erupted with shrill, screeching hisses.
It was as if... a frenzied party.
...
...
Outside the inn, in an empty armored vehicle, a hazy figure suddenly appeared.
A sinister, muffled laughter could be faintly heard.
"Seems there's no need for me to step in personally."
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