Chapter 23

Lu Mian's focus was completely concentrated.

When things were truly about to happen, he was actually less afraid than just a moment ago; although his body still trembled a little, at least he didn't have that feeling that he was about to collapse.

"I should have died five years ago. Thanks to Aurore, I've lived until now. I've already earned five years, what else is there to fear?" Lu Mian gritted his teeth and cheered himself on in his heart.

The next second, he saw that the already dim light on the surface of the loose soil covering the first trap had become even dimmer.

A figure had arrived beside it, blocking the faint light that penetrated the thick fog high above.

That figure was indeed the half-human, half-beast monster carrying a hunting rifle. Its blood-red eyes scanned the ground, and its forward-bending "knees" flexed.

Just a breath later, it, wearing a dark jacket and muddy trousers, took down the hunting rifle, jumped up, and while controlling its height, leaped directly over the trap, landing on the solid yet cracked ground.

Almost simultaneously, it turned its head, covered in greasy black hair, and looked toward the place where the slight movement had come from.

Then, it saw Lu Mian, who had a panicked expression, hurriedly getting up and trying to hide behind the wall.

Amidst a low growl, the monster jumped high again, pouncing toward its target.

It locked onto a position slightly further out from where Lu Mian had originally been, to avoid the opponent turning around and delivering a fatal blow while it was not yet standing firmly.

And Lu Mian disappeared behind the wall as if crawling and pouncing.

As soon as the monster landed, the soil beneath its feet sank as if it couldn't bear the weight.

It had no way to leverage itself, and following the soil and the rope net, it fell toward the bottom of the suddenly appeared deep pit.

Thump!

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed, mixed with a sound like the screeching of a rat.

Lu Mian, who had flashed behind the wall, saw this scene, and an intense feeling of joy surged in his heart, impossible to suppress.

The first step was a success!

This made the remaining fear in him disappear by more than half. He grabbed the steel fork placed nearby and ran to the side of the trap.

The tenacious vitality of the skinless monster from before had left a strong impression on him, and plus the current target had a hunting rifle, so he did not let his body appear above the deep pit, but stopped at a distance and stabbed randomly into it with the steel fork.

Suddenly, the steel fork became heavy and stopped there.

Immediately after, a powerful force was transmitted to Lu Mian through the steel fork, forcibly pulling him toward the inside of the trap.

Lu Mian was caught off guard and was pulled forward a step.

He didn't care to observe the situation at the bottom of the deep pit, directly dropped the steel fork, turned his body, and lunged toward the side of the wall that hadn't collapsed.

Bang!

His back felt heavy, as if he had been smashed hard by a giant hammer.

Lu Mian felt a sweetness in his throat and felt a distinct metallic taste of rust surging up.

With a thump, he landed and lost his balance, rolling continuously a few times before regaining control of his body and climbing up.

Almost simultaneously, he saw the half-human, half-beast monster jump out of the deep pit.

It held the single-barreled hunting rifle in its hands, its jacket was torn at the chest and abdomen, revealing several hideous wounds that had pierced its body. Dark red blood mixed with pale yellow liquid was constantly flowing out, and various internal organs were vaguely visible inside.

It was very clear that this monster had indeed been seriously injured by Lu Mian's trap, but it hadn't reached the point of completely losing its combat ability.

During the process of falling to the bottom of the deep pit, it must have adjusted its body posture in time, avoiding vital areas like its head and chest, and didn't let its legs or arms suffer serious damage; otherwise, it likely wouldn't have been able to jump out of the trap now.

As soon as Lu Mian saw the opponent's appearance, he immediately ran into the ruins of the house beside him, without hesitation.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but something he had planned beforehand.

After all, he wasn't sure if the trap could catch the monster, and if it could, whether it would directly lose its combat ability.

If not, and the opponent was only seriously injured, Lu Mian was prepared to play a game of "hide-and-seek" with it.

That is to say, use the environment to circle around the target, delaying time as much as possible, until it could no longer suppress its injuries, and both its strength and reactions dropped significantly.

At that time, the opportunity would come.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang out. A few lead pellets appeared where Lu Mian had been standing, and a little soil splashed up.

Lu Mian, who had shrunk behind a half-collapsed wall, did not stop, and crawled to the other side through the gaps in the ruins using his hands and feet.

Before he could even stand up, he heard the sound of wind scraping in mid-air.

That monster had jumped over.

Lu Mian immediately turned his body and crawled back behind the previously half-collapsed wall along that gap.

Just like this, with the help of the special conditions of the many collapsed buildings here, he hid and dodged, circling around from time to time, not directly confronting the monster, but only avoiding the corresponding attacks.

"Hide-and-seek" was Lu Mian's specialty.

Many times before, after playing a prank, he had relied on this skill to escape the fate of being beaten up on the spot.

Between chasing and fleeing, attacking and hiding, time passed quickly. Lu Mian himself was gradually becoming a bit out of breath, while the monster's running speed, jumping height, strength, and reactions had all clearly weakened.

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer. I still can't beat it as it is now..." Lu Mian hid back in his previous position, leaning against the half-collapsed wall, forcibly controlling the urge to counterattack immediately.

Bang! His back felt pain again, and his whole body flew forward.

The half-collapsed wall he had been leaning against had stones flying everywhere and collapsed completely.

This time, the monster did not choose to circle around to chase, but directly turned its body and slammed heavily into the obstacle blocking it.

With it using its full strength, the half-collapsed wall, which was already tottering, naturally couldn't withstand it.

However, the monster also bled more as a result, and the ground was a patch of dark red.

Although Lu Mian hadn't expected to be "knocked" away like this, his own injuries weren't serious, and his reaction was fast enough. He rolled with the momentum and hid behind the remains of a house piled up with stones.

Bang!

The hunting rifle bullet that followed was a step slower.

—After the monster knocked down the wall, the time it took to adjust its posture was much longer than before.

It touched the cloth bag hanging at its waist, saw that there were no more bullets, simply threw away the hunting rifle, and lunged at where Lu Mian was.

Lu Mian had long since changed positions and continued to play hide-and-seek.

Of course, he didn't dare to keep playing like this until the opponent's injuries flared up and he himself collapsed. Firstly, he was worried that once the monster's situation reached a certain degree, it would directly flee; secondly, he was afraid that if the time dragged on too long, other monsters would follow the sound.

After circling a few more times, Lu Mian keenly discovered that the monster's movements seemed to be a bit difficult now.

"Opportunity!"

His heart stirred, and he pretended to flee to the side of a collapsed building.

Then, he stood there, pulled out the axe tucked behind his back, and adjusted his breathing.

In the time it took to blink an eye, the monster turned the corner and appeared before Lu Mian's eyes.

Lu Mian made a prompt decision. Before the opponent could see the situation here clearly, he didn't hesitate to raise his axe and meet it.

He took a step, turned his body, and lowered his shoulder, intending to use the "lean" method his sister had taught him to knock the monster back, and then take advantage of the momentum to swing the axe at its neck.

Bang!

Lu Mian squeezed between the monster's arms and leaned heavily against its chest.

But the reaction to this lean was beyond Lu Mian's expectations; the opponent was like a thick wall, and no matter what, it wouldn't budge!

"This..." Lu Mian's heart tightened. He rebounded with the momentum, intending to lunge toward the ground and forcibly escape the opponent's attack range.

Just at this moment, one of the monster's hands reached over as fast as lightning and directly pinched his neck.

The state it was showing had no sign of difficulty in moving at all!

"Damn, I've been tricked!" Lu Mian felt pain in his neck and was directly lifted up by the monster, hanging in mid-air.

A creaking sound followed, and his head quickly became dizzy.

The axe he had swung in a hurry not only failed to hit the target but was instead knocked aside.

Lu Mian finally understood that he had fallen for the monster's trap.

The monster was indeed about to reach its limit, but it still had the strength to fight, so it feigned weakness to lure him into attacking and stop hiding. He had underestimated its combat wisdom, never thinking of this point, and had fallen into this current situation of a dying struggle.

The monster was also truly approaching its limit and hadn't been able to directly snap Lu Mian's neck, but this didn't affect the overall situation; it would just take a little more time.

Amidst the pain of his neck about to break and his breathing unable to keep up, Lu Mian's head began to go numb, almost blank.

Blank.

At the verge of death, Lu Mian suddenly thought of that lady's words:

She told him to utilize his own specialness within this dream.

Specialness... Borrowing the state where his thoughts were approaching blankness and had no distracting thoughts, Lu Mian quickly began to meditate.

That crimson sun instantly stood out in his mind.

And unlike before, when he used meditation to calm his emotions and made it disappear as soon as it was fully formed, he tried his best to keep this sun in existence.

Soon, that sound, which seemed to come from an infinitely high place and yet seemed to ring right in his ears, pierced into Lu Mian's head.

Intense pain followed, accompanied by the terrifying feeling that his heart was about to jump out of his chest. This made Lu Mian actually forget that his neck was still being pinched by the monster, that his bones were about to shatter, and forget that his breathing couldn't keep up and his brain was beginning to lack oxygen.

Thump, he fell to the ground.

Meditation was interrupted as a result, and that indescribably weird sound disappeared.

But Lu Mian was still in unbearable pain and couldn't check his body's state or confirm the situation around him at all.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally recovered from that feeling of being on the verge of death.

Lu Mian didn't care to check his neck; he supported himself with his hands, raised his head, and looked forward.

That half-human, half-beast monster was crouching not far away, its arms supporting it forward, its head hanging low.

At this time, the several piercing wounds on its chest and abdomen were still dripping blood mixed with pale yellow liquid, and its body couldn't stop trembling violently.

What's wrong with it? Was it scared silly by that "specialness" I displayed? Lu Mian, while regaining his thoughts, picked up the axe that had fallen nearby and moved closer step by step.

He didn't give the monster a chance to recover, gripped the axe with both hands, and slashed fiercely at the back of its neck.

With a *pu* sound, the axe sank deep into the muscle and was blocked by the bone.

Lu Mian exerted his strength, pulled out the sharp axe, and continued to slash down.

Once, twice, three times, the monster's head, carrying splashing liquid, fell to the ground with a thump and rolled to the side.

Its body supported itself for another second before collapsing with a crash.

Throughout the whole process, it didn't make any resistance and was trembling there the entire time.

The next second, Lu Mian's body arched forward, his hands hung down naturally, letting the blood-red color on the axe slide off continuously.

*Hu, hu, hu*, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

(End of chapter)