Chapter 77: Attack, Spirit Summoning, Distress Call

The sky plunged fully into darkness, leaving only moonlight to cast its glow.

At this moment, the school bus, which had been leading the way, stopped again—this time because the rear tire had also blown out.

The coach and teacher got out and pulled something from the tire; for a moment, all three fell silent.

It was another one of those darts from an hour ago—and this time, right at its center was a depression shaped like a navel. No, this *was* a navel!

The surrounding material was human skin! One could even see tattoos on it!

Faint strands of downy hair lingered within the polished edges.

For a moment, all three adults felt their minds cracking—they had stumbled into a killer’s trap.

“No! No! No!”

“This place is wrong. Terribly wrong!”

“Stay calm. The car won’t move. Let’s take out the flare sticks, light them, so no passing vehicle misses us and crashes into us. Then get back inside quickly and lock the doors—that’ll be safer.”

“When you get back in, use the radio to contact the police.”

The driver got back in and picked up the vehicle’s radio to call for help, but the signal kept flickering in and out—he had to keep trying.

Meanwhile, the coach and teacher lit the flare sticks outside.

Suddenly.

A shadow surged—something like a giant bat swooped down, snatching one of the coaches away without even letting out a scream.

Crack!

All that remained on the ground was a single burning flare.

The other teacher, puzzled, hesitantly walked over.

“Oh, where’d you go? This isn’t the time for jokes—there might be—”

Before she could finish speaking.

A pair of massive claws descended from above, gripping her shoulders. She looked up—a black-cloaked monster with a face covered in jet-black keratin, and six to eight long, sharp claws sprouting from its head, grinned at her grotesquely.

“Aaaahhh!!”

It soared into the sky.

This time, the scream was loud enough to shake the air.

“WTF?!”

The driver, with no sense of self-preservation, ran down—and found both adults gone. “What the hell happened?”

“Hey, boys, I’m going to check on your teacher. Don’t move around—”

At that moment, something tapped his shoulder. The students’ expressions instantly twisted into terror.

???

He turned his head, still scolding the students.

“Hey! This isn’t the time for pranks—”

A black monster, its massive claw still extended, grinned at him as he turned. “Ha ha.”

Whoosh!

Bat-like wings flapped—and he was lifted into the sky.

“Oooohhhhhhh!!”

Only the fading echo of his scream lingered in the air. The terrified students slammed shut all windows and doors.

“What is this? What is this?!”

“Oh, my God!”

“This has to be a demon!”

“What do we do?!”

At this moment.

Sitting in the back seat, Minnie watched the scene in terror—but as her emotions peaked, her eyes rolled back white, and she slipped once again into a dream. This time, however, it felt different. Unlike an hour ago, she now felt as if her soul were floating.

She arrived at a farm. A blood-drenched young man stared at her, repeating over and over: “Leave… leave…”

Seeing her, he lifted his head, his face filled with sorrow as he warned her.

“If you’ve come here and can speak with me, then I must tell you a tragic truth.”

“This cannibal monster emerges from its nest once every twenty-three years, hunting for twenty-three days. If you survive those twenty-three days, it will sink back into slumber. Don’t fight it—it’s impossibly strong, nearly impossible to kill. It can devour limbs to repair itself. You can’t defeat it.”

“Run. Today is the twenty-third day. Those among you who aren’t its targets might still escape.”

Minnie was confused. “Targets? His targets are…?”

The young man fell silent. The next instant, he turned into a hollow, blood-soaked sheet of human skin.

His eye sockets were empty. His skin stretched wide like a blanket. Still, his mouth moved, whispering: “The targets… are us!!”

Minnie was terrified. As her emotions surged, her body floated again—but this time, she didn’t wake up. Instead, she arrived somewhere else.

A dark sky.

Cornfields. A road.

It looked like the highway they had just passed.

Here, a stretched limousine was driving along. Minnie drifted toward it, her gaze locking onto the boy in the back seat—he felt different to her.

Suddenly.

A dog’s bark rang out, vibrating faintly—Minnie felt dizzy.

She focused—and saw a tiny black dog staring at her, eyes fixed, watching her with predatory intensity.

“Who are you?”

The boy suddenly spoke.

He could see her. Minnie realized—this might be her chance. If she could truly affect the real world now…

She hurried to speak: “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to explain this, but please believe me—our school bus stopped ahead. A monster is attacking us. This monster emerges every twenty-three years—”

She told the boy everything she had heard. Finally: “Please, believe me. Drive off-road through the fields. Go to the police. Save us. Save us…”

Before she finished, her form grew fainter—and vanished.

On the school bus.

“Hhhhhhh!!”

Minnie gasped sharply, sitting upright, her head still foggy.

Had everything she just seen… been real?

Her friend beside her asked if she was okay, but Minnie didn’t answer. She stared blankly, replaying the vision.

Inside the bus, the arguing grew louder—some boys were about to fight.

“Enough!”

Disturbed, Minnie forced calm and shouted out what she had just learned:

“That monster emerges every twenty-three years. Today is the final day. If we hold out until dawn, we’ll be safe.”

“And there’s another car behind us—they’ve gotten the same message. They’re heading to the police station now. We just need to hold on a little longer.”

Everyone doubted her words.

But they had no other option—they had to believe.

Meanwhile.

Behind the road.

…

Louis narrowed his eyes.

Just now, Coal Ball had suddenly barked furiously toward one direction, startling David and the others—but when they looked, there was nothing there.

Yet knowing Coal Ball’s nature, Louis suspected it had seen something. He dripped two drops of cow’s tears into his eyes—and looked again. Sure enough.

Before him appeared a faint, flickering female student.

She noticed he could see her and urgently told him many things: a monster every twenty-three years, today was the twenty-third day, an attack was happening ahead, they needed to call the police.

Then she vanished.

“Was that girl’s soul out of her body?”

“And a monster that appears every twenty-three years, hunting for twenty-three days…”

(End of Chapter)