Chapter 185: Flesh-Bone People

Lin Xian.

Kiki, who had previously been the boldest among them, was now terrified by this scene; she hid beside Lin Xian, face twisted in revulsion: "How… how could this be? These people…"

Lin Xian frowned deeply; the sight before him had shaken him profoundly. He studied the rows of flesh-bone figures and said grimly: "Something's off. The degree of decay differs greatly from the corpses outside—these look like they've been dead less than a month."

"Then this place isn't safe at all," Kiki said, steadying her breath. "Do we still need to investigate?"

"No need."

Lin Xian shook his head, sweeping his flashlight beam across the rows—but when he reached the very last row, he spotted a fully intact woman seated among the flesh-bone figures.

"Lin Xian, there's still someone here!" Kiki gasped.

From afar, the woman looked disheveled, hair wild and clothes torn, slumped back in her chair, lifeless or alive—unclear.

"Go check."

Without hesitation, Lin Xian sprinted up the aisle to the viewing platform. Kiki, gritting her teeth against nausea, flew up swiftly after him.

As they drew closer, Lin Xian became more certain the woman was still alive.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

To be safe, Lin Xian conjured a long pole and jabbed it into the woman's back.

The woman slumped sideways off her chair—her body wasn't stiff, and she still breathed faintly. Lin Xian and Kiki exchanged glances; Kiki immediately raised her hand and used her ability to lift the woman from the seat, lowering her gently onto the aisle floor.

"She's still alive," Kiki frowned. "But her heartbeat and breathing are erratic—she's close to death."

Lin Xian stepped forward, shining his flashlight over the woman. She appeared to be in her early thirties, her entire body pale and gray, malnourished, hair and clothes in tatters, barefoot—she radiated the unmistakable stench of a dying person.

He glanced at the last row of flesh-bone figures—their decay was minimal, clearly very new.

"Maybe a survivor," Lin Xian muttered, crouching to examine her condition.

But as he shone the light on her face, the woman winced as if blinded, furrowed her brow, and weakly lifted her hand.

Lin Xian and Kiki's expressions changed. The woman's breathing grew rapid, then her eyes slowly opened.

In the next instant, she saw Lin Xian and Kiki, her eyes widening in terror, and she frantically scrambled backward along the floor.

"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you. Who are you?"

Lin Xian hadn't expected her to wake up. Seeing her fear, he spoke quickly.

But the woman seemed utterly terrified—she didn't hear him at all. She kept crawling backward, then struggled to her feet and turned to run.

"Catch her!"

Seeing this, Lin Xian ordered Kiki to act.

"Got it."

They moved in perfect sync. Kiki extended her telekinesis, seized the woman, and dragged her back.

"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you," Lin Xian shouted loudly.

The woman thrashed wildly under the invisible telekinetic grip, but her mouth made no sound.

Kiki frowned, glancing at Lin Xian: "Could she be deaf and mute?"

Lin Xian realized this too, and was about to figure out how to communicate—when he suddenly noticed the woman's face had grown even more terrified. Her gaze wasn't on them—it was fixed behind him, on the aisle.

Both turned sharply—and saw a grotesque human face standing in the corridor behind them.

It was a man walking upside down.

"Watch out!"

Lin Xian's pupils contracted. He raised his hand and fired a surge of electricity.

Zzzt!

A brilliant silver bolt struck the white, inverted monster, burning a charred hole through its body. The creature paused—then, in an instant, it surged forward at blinding speed, silent as shadow, reaching Lin Xian in less than a second.

Lin Xian had no time to conjure a steel door. Reacting on instinct, he summoned an ice shield.

Kiki, without hesitation, thrust her hand forward, shoving Lin Xian's ice shield ahead.

CRASH!!

The white inverted monster slammed into it, flailing its long limbs, sending flesh-bone figures flying from their seats—chunks of meat and bone scattered everywhere with a wet clatter.

"Fall back!"

Lin Xian immediately ordered Kiki to retreat with the woman outside the theater. The sheer number of flesh-bone figures here meant this cinema, like the sealed space of Underground City No. 8, harbored anomalies even in daylight.

"Got it." Kiki, unable to maneuver freely here, landed and used her ability to drag the woman toward the theater's emergency exit.

Lin Xian followed close behind.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

He fired several wind spears to test the anomaly's vulnerability—but the white inverted monster moved too fast. It shattered his ice shield and scaled the walls, closing the distance in seconds.

Zzzz!

Kiki, while running, unleashed a powerful telekinetic pressure to pin the monster—but it held only a few seconds before it erupted in violent struggle. Kiki gritted her teeth, shoved forward—and unleashed a shockwave.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The corridor's carpet and wall sconces exploded in sequence, blasting the inverted monster to the far end. Its grotesque limbs writhed wildly in the shadows—then vanished into the darkness.

!

Lin Xian turned to Kiki—her face was tense. He knew this thing wouldn't be easy to eliminate.

"Get out," Lin Xian said. The corridor led to the projection room—he wanted to reach the street outside. Though he could now conjure the Roar K23 rotary machine gun, he couldn't instantly materialize a forty-kilogram Gatling and hundreds of rounds in this emergency.

Outside was daylight. This anomaly probably wouldn't follow. Even if it wasn't afraid of sunlight, they could run for the train—Train 1130 would definitely calm it down.

Seizing the moment, both sprinted toward the exit of the projection room corridor.

But behind them—silence. The white inverted monster hadn't followed.

Lin Xian's heart tightened. He sensed something wrong. He raised his flashlight—and saw a man standing at the corridor's end.

The man stood motionless, wearing a faint, mocking smile as he stared at them.

"Who are you?!"

Without hesitation, Kiki raised her hand—ready to immobilize him with telekinesis.

But the man suddenly opened his mouth wide—his face split open from the center. Brownish-red tendrils surged from his throat, shrieking as they lunged forward.

"Human anomaly?!"

Kiki whipped her hand back, pinning the human anomaly midair. Lin Xian fired a charged surge of electricity straight through its skull.

Sploosh!

Aaahhh!!

The human anomaly howled, crashing to the floor. Lin Xian lunged forward and fired twin wind spears point-blank into its head.

Tsk-tsk-tsk!!

Flesh and blood sprayed. He drew his GK electric knife, activated the arc, and sliced the creature clean in two.

Splash~

A gush of flesh erupted—and instantly, Lin Xian and Kiki realized: this human anomaly was nothing like the ones they'd seen in Underground City No. 9. A thin layer of human skin covered it—but beneath the skin writhed a monstrous mass: a tangled knot of red worms.

"This… this monster is wearing human skin?!" Kiki exclaimed.

"So all those people… were stripped of their skin and made to look human?" Lin Xian's expression turned grim. Before its tendrils emerged, this thing was indistinguishable from a normal person.

This was far more chilling than humans mutating into zombies or human anomalies. If the monsters grew more human-like, humanity's fate would grow even bleaker.

At that moment, Lin Xian suddenly sensed something. He spun around—his gaze locking onto the woman they'd just rescued.

Because he realized: she hadn't struggled for a long time.

The woman who had just been desperately fighting to escape now stood behind Kiki, a strange smile spreading across her face. Her lips curled upward, her skin peeled back—her features twisted into something grotesque, inhuman.

(End of Chapter)