Chapter 24: Passage

Black grease seeped into Cai Zixuan's skin, merged with his blood, and sank into his bones.

Crack!

The bandages wrapped around his hands suddenly snapped; his rapidly swelling muscles tore through the fabric, exposing them to the air.

The plaster cast on his leg suddenly exploded; the foot emerging from the shards was already larger than an adult's.

The needle was forcibly ejected from his vein by muscle, along with the cationic cleanser injected into his body an hour earlier.

At this point, Cai Zixuan's body had expanded to one point eight meters tall, yet still growing; his excessive weight made the hospital bed groan beneath him.

In some deep, instinctive corner of his mind, a primal urge rose—he pressed his palms together and slammed them down, twisting.

Boom—

An invisible force spread outward; the metal bed, cotton blankets, reinforced concrete walls, glass water cups—all seemed draped in a thin shadow.

In the night sky, a deep red fissure stretched across.

The Shadow Realm opened.

Vast amounts of hazy knowledge flooded Cai Zixuan's mind; he instantly understood the Shadow Realm's function—any destruction caused here would not affect the real world, thus avoiding immediate detection by agencies like the Special Affairs Bureau.

It gave him ample time.

The only downside was that any supernaturals within a certain radius would also be drawn into the Shadow Realm.

"Why did the lights go out?"

At the end of the corridor, Cai Yongyuan, who had been staring intently at his phone's countdown, lifted his head in confusion.

Everything around him was shrouded in shadow—not just the buildings, but also the doctors, nurses, and family members in the corridor—they walked past him as if they couldn't see him or hear his cries for help.

Outside the window, visibility had plummeted; he could no longer make out any scenery beyond the hospital grounds.

Before he could make sense of the situation,

Bang!

The wooden door of the single room was violently kicked open from within, slamming hard against the corridor wall.

A giant, two meters tall and swollen with muscle, bent over as he stepped out of the room.

Tattered fragments of his hospital gown hung from his body; his veins bulged like earthworms; his face was painted with black grease into a grotesque, mad grin.

Behind him, the shattered wooden door rapidly turned to sand, then reversed time itself, flying back into place on the frame.

"Zi… Zixuan?"

Cai Yongyuan stared at the familiar contours of the giant's face, his hand trembling, dropping his phone to the floor.

"Huh—huh—"

The giant did not answer; he merely hunched his spine, gasping heavily, slowly advancing toward him.

"Don't come closer! Don't come closer!"

Cai Yongyuan's voice squeaked like a chicken with its throat squeezed; just then, someone was about to take the elevator downstairs—he bolted inside the cabin, cowering in the corner.

Thud… thud… thud…

The heavy footsteps in the corridor grew nearer, louder; under Cai Yongyuan's wide-eyed stare, the elevator doors finally closed slowly, the cabin descending.

Safe…?

The towering giant paused outside the elevator doors, reached out both hands, hooked his fingers into the metal seam, and pried it open.

The elevator shaft was deep and dark, filled only with the sound of steel cables retracting and extending.

The giant stepped forward and plunged straight down, crashing heavily onto the cabin.

The massive impact dented the cabin's ceiling within the Shadow Realm, kicking up clouds of dust—but everyone except Cai Yongyuan acted as if nothing had happened, chatting and scrolling on their phones.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One punch after another, the giant hammered the cabin, tearing open the metal ceiling; through the cracks, Cai Yongyuan's face—terrified, desperate—was clearly visible.

The giant reached through the crack, grabbed the hem of Cai Yongyuan's clothes, and yanked upward with all his strength.

Thud—

Cai Yongyuan's spine slammed into the ceiling; his untrained muscles were easily pierced by metal shards; blood sprayed instantly.

"Is the elevator leaking?"

One passenger sensed something, looked up in confusion, touched his cheek—but found no wetness.

Probably just an illusion.

Ding-dong.

The elevator reached the first floor; the passenger shrugged off his doubt and stepped out with the others into the Zhuyuan Force lobby.

At the same moment in the Shadow Realm, Cai Yongyuan's clothing tore and ripped from the violent pull.

He fell to the ground, ignored his injuries, scrambled to his feet, limped along the wall out of the lobby, reached the parking lot, and climbed into his Volkswagen.

The car started; his bleeding leg stomped the accelerator, flooring it toward the hospital gates.

Boom!

Suddenly, a towering black shadow burst from the lobby and slammed into the car's side; the 1.3-ton vehicle skidded sideways, rolled several times, and crashed into a lamppost, flipping onto its back and dying.

Cai Yongyuan inside the driver's seat was thrown senseless; head down, face covered in blood, his blurred vision showed his "son"—far taller than him—walking steadily toward him.

"Zi… Zixuan,"

He stammered, "Dad's sorry. Dad shouldn't have pushed you off the balcony."

The giant gripped the car door frame and yanked hard, tearing the door off and dragging Cai Yongyuan out.

"It was those loan sharks! They pressured me too hard—I had no choice, I only thought of your insurance payout!"

Cai Yongyuan was lifted into the air, sobbing and weeping, begging, "Forgive me this once!"

The giant said nothing; he stared into the man's eyes, lost in thought—as he had been three days ago, when his own father threw him off their balcony, falling toward the ground.

Left hand gripped the man's shoulder; right hand gripped his legs; he raised them overhead, then twisted like wringing out a Mao Jin.

Accompanied by a shrill scream, the man's bones snapped and pierced through his skin. Blood gushed like a waterfall, his organs swayed and tumbled down, dropping into the giant's gaping mouth.

Chew. Swallow.

The giant gnawed on the man's mangled corpse, the black paint on his face not smudged away by the blood, but growing ever more vivid.

Still not enough. More blood is needed, more death.

The giant casually flung aside the remains, looked toward the Zhuyuan Force before him, pressed his palms together, and slammed them down hard.

Many people inside the building looked up in confusion, staring at the lights that had begun flickering on and off. They had no idea that the entire Zhuyuan Force was being slowly drawn into the Shadow Realm.

Step.

A figure walked out from the building.

Li Cheng's gaze was icy. His body still retained a great many insect features—his arms were covered in ant bristles, and bone-blades of a mantis extended from beneath his forearms.

Crack—

The mantis-blade sank into the concrete ground, carving a horizontal line between him and the giant.

This place is forbidden.

(End of chapter)