"Wait, wait a moment..."
Qing Jiuliu blinked his eyes slowly as he stared at the skeleton at the entrance.
As they entered the room in a hurry, he didn't take much notice. Looking at it now, he immediately discovered that there was something unnatural about the skeleton.
"Ji Shanqing, could you move a little?" he whispered. He pressed his furry mouth against the sofa back and requested softly, "Look at the corpse at the entrance."
The blue floral sofa shifted a distance as if it was pushed by an invisible hand. After it made an angle and straightened itself once more, a section of its front side was now facing the door.
"You're suspecting that the corpse isn't dead?" Ji Shanqing asked, "That's impossible. The decomposition—"
He suddenly stopped speaking.
Of course, that badly decomposed corpse couldn't possibly be alive. However, both of them found the decomposition of the corpse very strange.
As the climate around this region was very dry, the corpse's flesh and skin was dry and like black cotton wadding. It clung on the yellowish skeleton along with the ragged remnants of the person's clothes. They looked as if they could be blown away with a single breath. The patches of black decomposed flesh were like an army of black fungi. Yet, the corpse's skull seemed to be missing a large piece of flesh. The torn opening seemed very fresh and the skull that was revealed below was a lot whiter than the other bones.
"There is someone else hiding in these three floors!" Ji Shanqing exclaimed quietly. The entire sofa shifted backward. "Not just that head of black hair. Someone just bit off that corpse's face!"
The red panda lost his balance with Ji Shanqing's sudden movement. He immediately fell into the sofa's seat with a plop. Ji Shanqing did not check if he was alright but instead continued rapidly, "How did this happen… Is it that old lady? Why would she do something like that?"
The red panda on the sofa seat made a sighing sound.
"Hey… look up." Qing Jiuliu suddenly muttered quietly, almost grimacing.
The blue floral sofa stood in a daze for a moment. Two of his feet suddenly shifted upward as if he had been lifted up halfway. With that action, Ji Shanqing "looked up" and finally had a clear view of the ceiling. If it weren't for that human face, he would have assumed that there was a giant bat hanging from the ceiling.
The man on the ceiling was in a full suit of black. His four limbs were outstretched toward the four corners of the room. His body was sturdily attached to the ceiling. Without moving his body, the man lowered his dry, yellowish face. He stared at the two people below him emotionlessly. Judging from his puffed up cheeks, he seemed to be chewing on something.
After two seconds, he swallowed whatever was in his mouth and spat out a chunk of human scalp with a clump of hair.
Ji Shanqing was so grossed out when he saw the hairy, salivcovered chunk of scalp land beside his feet that he shuddered. At the same time, Qing Jiuliu, who had already gotten up, answered a question that bothered Ji Shanqing, "I recognize that face. He is one of the people sleeping in that room. Magus' ability must have been deactivated. They're all awake!"
"Oh, so you've seen me before," a somewhat unnatural voice came from that yellowish, shriveled bug-like face which swayed a few times, while his black clothes hang from the ceiling. Hearing his voice, it seemed as if this was the first time he had spoken in a long while, "So, you guys are related to that woman."
He was definitely referring to Magus. Just as this thought appeared in both Ji Shanqing and Qing Jiuliu's mind, the space above them suddenly became dark. The shadow above them suddenly lurched at them.
"Go!" Ji Shanqing shouted. Meanwhile, the red panda leaped off the armrest of the sofa. Once his paws landed on the floor, he immediately looked behind him and saw the bat-like shadow covering the blue floral sofa.
"I've never seen an animal and a furniture talking," the man stood up on the sofa. The outline of his skinny limbs and spindly body protruded from under his black clothes. He turned his head and eyed the red panda. His brown lips curled, "I've eaten duoluozhongs and posthumans but I've never eaten an animal like you."
He was a Jaeger!
Qing Jiuliu's fur was standing on end. His hind legs were tensed as he prepared himself for any sudden movements—
The man chuckled. He twisted his body and readied himself for another attack. Just when Qing Jiuliu was about to leap aside, his expression suddenly froze for a moment. He shook his body and lowered his head.
Even though there was someone standing on the sofa seat, the person's legs seemed to be too deep in the seat. No. Both the man's feet were actually buried in the seat. He tried to pull his legs out but JI Shanqing was "grabbing" one of his calves.
"Call for my sis! Quick!" As Ji Shanqing held on to the man strenuously, his voice was so tensed it was almost as if he couldn't catch his breath. Qing Jiuliu didn't dare to waste any time. He turned around and rushed to the balcony.
Without turning his head, Qing Jiuliu could tell from the sound of fabrics rubbing against each other that the man was trying his best to free himself so that he could catch him. Ji Shanqing's combat and strength wasn't particularly outstanding so it was just a matter of time before the man could struggle free. However, at that crucial point, the red panda stopped by the balcony railings.
Qing Jiuliu could not reach the floor above with his current height.
Thud. One of the man's feet landed on the floor. Ji Shanqing let out a painful cry after whatever the man did but he held on to the man's other feet tightly. However, a victorious smile slowly spread across the man's shriveled, yellowish face.
There was still a strand of hair between his dense set of teeth. The reddish-brown panda immediately turned back and stuck his head out of the railings. He took a deep breath.
Ji Shanqing gasped again as the man pulled his feet out and stood firmly on the floor. Following which, the man strode across the room, approaching Qing Jiuliu. The man would cover the few meters between them soon.
"Lin Sanjiu!" Qing Jiuliu raised his voice as much as he could, with fur bristling. "COME BACK AND SAVE US! YOUR GRAND PRIZE IS DYING!"
His voice was so loud that even his eardrums hurt. His call for help echoed quickly through the three floors. The bat-like man froze for a moment. His smile dropped from his face as he rushed to the balcony.
The Jaeger displayed his true strength. When Qing Jiuliu tried to call out a second time, the man gripped his throat and halted both his voice and his breath.
Qing Jiuliu waved his paws and created several deep red scratches across the man's skin. However, the man seemed oblivious.
"I'll eat you first," the Jaeger declared pantingly. His putrid breath assaulted Qing Jiuliu's face. "When your rescuer comes, I'll eat him. After sleeping for such a long time, I'm famished…"
As he spoke, a large shadow suddenly appeared above him. Then, he was kicked by a large claw. The force caused the man to fly backward. At that moment, he was almost like a real bat. He landed heavily on the floor. Borrowing the momentum of the impact, the red panda escaped from his hand.
A large hen flapped her wings as she landed on the balcony. She shook her head and threw the black-haired woman in her beak down on the floor. As the Jaeger looked blankly at her, Lin Sanjiu stepped on the delirious woman with a claw. She stared back at him icily with her black eyes.
"Were you trying to kill my friend?"