Chapter 247: 243: Lost Ground

243: Lost Ground

The death of one Vampire flesh-worm summoned other Vampires wandering throughout the campus.

Those vermin that loved clumsy mimicry sensed the death of their companion and simultaneously caught He Jia'an's trail; they twisted their skins and charged rapidly toward He Jia'an's location.

Soon, rustling, strange sounds came from all directions; the quantity was too great and the sounds too chaotic, so He Jia'an could no longer rely on sound to distinguish where might be safer, and could only pick a direction at random to flee.

On the run, He Jia'an heard loud noises similar to balloons bursting, echoing continuously in this deathly silent campus; although he did not see it with his own eyes, he had already guessed that it was countless Vampires indulging in their perverse hobby of inflating their bodies, bursting their skins, and finally choosing to shed their burdens to hunt down a prey that would resist in their most primitive and wild forms.

When He Jia'an broke into the second-floor stairwell on the side of the Xingzhenglou, he saw pools of viscous, foul-smelling, blood-colored fluid, and a tattered human skin forced to unfold lay lifelessly soaking in it, while the empty eye sockets on the human face were filled with the fear and despair the deceased had felt before death.

Sensing that those blood-colored fluids were moving, He Jia'an ignored them and continued climbing the stairs, not daring to look back, only hearing the sound of rushing torrents and rising waves behind him, which was also the roar of the Grim Reaper urging him to his death.

Rushing to the top floor, He Jia'an headed straight for the location of the Principal's Office, but the group of Vampires behind him stopped at the entrance to the floor; they stood there strangely, staring at the fleeing He Jia'an with the parts of their bodies filled with biological eggs, and several Vampire flesh-worms gathered together, combining into a bizarre beauty, like a giant, blooming Rafflesia.

"They aren't chasing anymore? It seems they are also wary of the Moon of a Thousand Illusions," He Jia'an guessed in his heart.

The Moon of a Thousand Illusions was the "greediest" Alien God he had ever seen; she always wanted to swallow a fat man in one bite, delusional about swallowing a world in one go, her greed was visibly insane, and her bottomless desires were also visible; such an Alien God would naturally devour even her own believers without hesitation, turning them into her own nutrients so that she could become larger.

He Jia'an slowed his pace and stopped at the door of the Principal's Office; he heard the sounds of wailing and lamenting inside, feeling as if he were standing only a door away from hell.

Taking a deep breath, He Jia'an made a decision in his heart; he raised a foot and kicked out violently, instantly kicking the sturdy door panel of the Principal's Office into the room.

The moment the door was kicked, He Jia'an rushed toward the direction of the Vampire flesh-worms without hesitation; behind him was a terrifying landslide and ground-splitting, with cracks rapidly extending to his feet, and an inflated protoplasmic body filled with bubbles was writhing, splitting off a part of its body that could transform into anything at will, attempting to grab the little thing that had disturbed its place of slumber and rest.

The Vampire flesh-worms seemed to have long since seen through He Jia'an's dirty intentions, yet they were not affected by any emotions; seeing He Jia'an rushing toward them, they also reacted quickly, and several Vampire flesh-worms aggregated into a giant meat-mountain monster, then charged head-on at He Jia'an.

Seeing this, He Jia'an, with cold sweat on his forehead, still charged forward, looking as if he intended to fight to the bitter end.

And just as the split-body behind him and the Vampire flesh-worms in front were about to crush him into a meat patty, He Jia'an suddenly kicked off the ground with his left foot, and his whole body flew diagonally, leaping out of the building.

The Vampire flesh-worms rushed one after another into the soft, massive body of the split-body, and soon several more miserable, vengeful souls were added to the split-body's swollen, twisted form; they shrieked crazily within the body of the Moon of a Thousand Illusions' split-body, squeezing against each other in the flowing, bloated mass, unable to die, with no path to survival...

The split-body devoured several Vampire flesh-worms, but as if it had never encountered any obstruction, her speed in chasing He Jia'an did not diminish by even half; when He Jia'an chose to jump from the building to escape, she also followed closely, splitting off her body to pursue him.

He Jia'an did not choose to jump from the building out of despair; his leap was actually aimed at a street lamp not far from the top-floor corridor.

As early as the last time he visited Kisaragi High School in the Inner World, he had noticed the special nature of this Xingzhenglou at Kisaragi High School; the school's Xingzhenglou had five floors in total, designed as a square corridor with a hollow center, but the hollow center was limited to the space above the third floor; the first floor was the Duomeiti Jiaoshi and Shetuan Huodongshi, the second floor was the Tushuguan, and the third floor was an open-air Zhiwuyuan, with thin, tall street lamps standing around the Zhiwuyuan.

Landing on the street lamp, He Jia'an looked down and saw a large shadow covering him, and countless shrill, mournful, strange cries came from above his head; he slightly loosened his grip on the pole, slid down at high speed, and slipped all the way to the Zhiwuyuan on the third floor.

Rumble!

A large mass of giant, viscous matter emitting a green, oily glow fell closely behind, slamming heavily into the pond in the Zhiwuyuan, splashing waves more than two feet high.

He Jia'an felt himself pushed by the air, and no sooner had he landed than he was squeezed away before he could run far.

Falling miserably onto the corridor outside the Zhiwuyuan, his head knocked dizzy, he endured the dizziness and pain to stand up again, but before he could take a step away, he keenly felt that a strong danger was approaching.

He Jia'an subconsciously dodged to the side, and a sharp blade flashed before his eyes, slicing down almost against his body; if he hadn't moved his feet quickly, the front of his foot would have been severed.

"He-kun..." A hoarse voice appeared on the left; He Jia'an turned his head to look and saw a flesh-man who had lost its skin dragging the katana that had just launched the strike toward him, trembling as it moved forward, dripping blood all over.

Even though this appearance was a bloody mess, terrifying and twisted beyond recognition, He Jia'an still recognized that this walking corpse was Matsumoto Gin.

"Matsumoto..." After a slight shock, He Jia'an quickly calmed down, glanced at the giant green-glowing viscous mass crazily devouring plants in the Zhiwuyuan, and said sternly, "Matsumoto, listen to me, if you still have any shred of reason left, you should be able to think, when you see her, that rather than dealing with me, it would be better to kill this thing.

I will die in the end, and you are also dying; at the last moment of our lives, can we use it to do something meaningful for humanity?"

He Jia'an's words seemed to touch Matsumoto Gin; he twitched and turned his head, looking at the giant body rapidly inflating in the Zhiwuyuan.

The moment Matsumoto Gin turned his head to look at the split-body, He Jia'an turned and ran.

Matsumoto Gin did not pursue, but just looked at the split-body with dull eyes; before long, the split-body noticed its existence.

Matsumoto Gin held the katana high, but the split-body rammed into him like a high-speed truck...

Circling around, He Jia'an ran back to the Principal's Office again, then quickly lifted the wool carpet in the center of the office, and a huge Advent Ritual Array appeared before his eyes.

Rustle...

A rustling sound came from all around, and countless flesh-worms hidden in the dark crawled out with meat-tubes resembling antennae; the Moon of a Thousand Illusions' split-body, having finished a big meal, also sniffed He Jia'an's scent once more and crawled up to the floor, returning to the Principal's Office.

He Jia'an was surrounded by them; he closed his eyes tightly, took out the Red Envelope from his pocket, and quickly slapped it onto the ground; in an instant, a dazzling bright red light bloomed, and a scorching heat wave and intense shockwave surged out, exploding from He Jia'an as the center in all directions, bringing with it a powerful force that annihilated all filth, darkness, and evil.

All the evil things attempting to attack He Jia'an, those dark and twisted Vampire flesh-worms, and the Moon of a Thousand Illusions' split-body were rapidly decomposed under the illumination of the light.

After the red light faded, there was no threat left around He Jia'an; there were charred marks all around, and he was within a clean circle.

He Jia'an tremblingly raised his arm and slowly opened his eyes, looking at the now completely black New Year Red Envelope, as if he saw the end of his own dead end; his vision was once again covered by a thick, bright red fog, and he felt an unnatural, fanatical gaze focusing on him.

"What... will happen to me..."