The sky was covered in dense dark clouds, the moon hid behind the cloud layers, and the world was shrouded in dimness.
In the room with tightly shut doors and windows, a fishy stench permeated from the walls. Upon closer inspection, one could see flowing weird black liquid seeping continuously from the cracks in the walls and floorboards.
The entire room was enveloped in a weird aura, as if it had become a meal trapped in the sac of some unknown predator.
The room was fully furnished, with the most eye-catching feature being the large bed in the center.
The bed, made of premium rosewood with an antique style, took up a massive amount of floor space. Lying side by side in the middle were two men dressed in wedding attire. One had a pallid face, weak breath, and was on the verge of death, while the other’s face was concealed by a red veil, hiding his appearance.
The room was extremely quiet, making the sound of the liquid flowing all the more clear. Before long, a layer of pitch-black liquid covered the floor.
“Gurgle, gurgle.”
Bubbles rose from the middle of the liquid, surging toward the bed like wild beasts that had caught the scent of blood.
Amid the black waves, the twisted shapes of monsters could faintly be seen.
“Splash—”
The first monster burst out of the black liquid, landing on its skinny limbs and charging toward the bed.
The fishy stench grew even thicker.
More and more monsters broke free from the liquid.
The first monster had already approached the two on the bed. The man with the pallid face seemed to sense something and struggled to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t open them.
The monster halted its advance. Its four limbs melted into liquid and flowed toward the two men on the bed.
“What the hell is this? So stinky!”
Lin Juan woke amid an indescribable stench. A patch of red blocked his view. He yanked off the cloth covering his head, too busy dodging the approaching black liquid to wonder why everything around him was bathed in red. He rolled to the side.
Had he bumped into something?
Lin Juan looked up and saw that there was another person beside him.
He turned his head and couldn’t hold back. “Holy shit!”
What the hell was this?
What appeared before Lin Juan’s eyes was straight out of a horror movie.
The room was divided in two: a small half was a festive red bridal chamber, while the larger half flowed with black liquid from which monsters of grotesque appearance were breaking free one after another.
Several of them were right in front of him.
Lin Juan’s heart skipped a beat.
He had been born with superhuman strength and had been sent to the mountains as a child to train under his master. His master often said he was exceptionally gifted, perfect material for cultivation. But after eighteen years, he hadn’t encountered a single supernatural event and always suspected his master was pulling his leg.
Looking at the weird monsters closing in one after another, Lin Juan couldn’t help cursing, “Thieving heavens!”
He’d only complained a couple of times while paying respects to his master. Was there any need to throw him straight into a monster nest?
Besides, wasn’t he at the mountaintop paying respects to his master? What was this place?
As the monsters drew closer, Lin Juan felt a wave of foul odor assault his nostrils. He quickly gave up on thinking, scrambled to his feet, grabbed the quilt, and hurled it outward.
Whatever. Deal with the crisis at hand first.
Lin Juan’s mind raced as he searched for a way to deal with the monsters before him, but after looking around, he found nothing that could match them.
The quilt-covered monster was flung out and swallowed by the black liquid.
As if caught off guard by the food fighting back, the remaining monsters paused for a moment.
Lin Juan grabbed a corner of the quilt and noticed that the black liquid hadn’t soaked it. He shook it hard, flinging off the black liquid clinging to it.
In that brief moment, another monster took advantage of his distraction and swiped at him with its claw.
Lin Juan twisted aside to dodge, clenched his fist, and swung back.
With a “Bang!”, the monster was smashed flying, crashing into the wall and leaving a huge hole.
It worked!
Lin Juan was no longer afraid.
He had been born with immense strength and often struggled to control it as a child, breaking things at home. At three years old, his master had taken him away to train, and the first lesson was controlling his power.
Since it worked, Lin Juan decided to go on the offensive. Opportunities to use his strength freely didn’t come often.
Lin Juan quickly beat back the nearby monsters, then turned to shove the man on the bed further inward before walking toward the monsters.
The monsters were bluish-black all over, covered in warts of various sizes, with oversized heads and bellies, skinny limbs, six claws, and webbing between their toes.
They looked like mutated giant frogs.
No way to communicate.
Lin Juan spent some time beating these mutated giant frogs into submission.
The screeching cries faded, and the room fell quiet again.
The last three monsters piled up together. Lin Juan stomped down, and the giant frog let out a piercing “Screech!”.
He patted his hands and kicked the mutated giant frogs aside. “So fragile?”
After dealing with the mutated giant frogs, Lin Juan turned his gaze to the weird black liquid in the room.
He had noticed earlier that the harder he beat the giant frogs, the slower new monsters emerged from the black liquid. By now, no new ones were crawling out.
What was this liquid?
How were so many monsters crawling out of it?
Lin Juan took a step closer, and the black liquid shrank back an inch, as if afraid of this god of slaughter.
“It has consciousness?”
The black liquid retreated rapidly. Lin Juan reached out to grab it but only managed to scoop up a handful.
The black liquid vanished, and the room returned to normal.
Lin Juan frowned at his hand. The texture of the black liquid was extremely strange.
It felt like some kind of living creature—warm and pulsating.
The liquid trickled through his fingers and onto the floor, where it seeped into the boards and disappeared.
Lin Juan carefully searched the spots where the black liquid had appeared, but there were no traces left behind.
The giant frogs he had beaten half to death were still lying there.
With the crisis resolved, Lin Juan let out a breath of relief. Only then did he realize he was drenched in sweat, with sticky mucus from the giant frogs on his hands and clothes.
He glanced at the man on the bed. The man had sharp features and a handsome face, though unfortunately, his complexion was ashen and his condition looked poor.
Lin Juan looked down at the unmistakably matching red wedding attire on his own body and twitched his lips. Was he here to rush the joy for this guy?
The bedroom had an attached bathroom. Lin Juan decided to go in and clean himself up first.
Once inside, he saw that the bathroom showed no signs of use, as if it—and the bedroom—had been prepared on short notice.
After looking around, Lin Juan walked to the sink.
Above the sink hung a massive mirror, which now clearly reflected his figure.
Lin Juan examined himself in the mirror.
The young man had refined features and pitch-black eyes. Apart from slightly softer contours, his features, the mole behind his ear, and even his head of jet-black long hair were identical to his own body.
The bright red wedding attire was embroidered with intricate phoenix patterns, perfectly tailored and finely made. But it was a bride’s style, and now it was filthy with unidentified liquid. Lin Juan grimaced, unable to accept it.
He didn’t have mysophobia, and his previous living conditions hadn’t allowed for perfection, but within his means, he always kept himself neat and clean.
The priority now was figuring out the situation—and finding some clean clothes. He couldn’t keep wearing a bride’s gown.
Lin Juan stepped out of the bathroom and rummaged through the room but found not a single change of clothes.
Aside from the bedsheets and curtains, the wardrobe in this bedroom was completely empty.
He had noticed earlier that something was off about the room—it lacked any signs of being lived in by an owner.
With no clothes in sight, Lin Juan stood by the bed and turned his gaze to the man lying there.
Should he strip this guy’s clothes for temporary use?
Lin Juan bent down and reached out.
His hand was grabbed.
He looked up. The man wasn’t awake.
Uh…
Never mind.
It wasn’t right to rob a patient.
Lin Juan tried to pry the man’s hand open but couldn’t.
For a sick person, Lin Juan didn’t dare use the same force as against the giant frogs. He could only say, “Sorry, I won’t take your clothes. Can you let me go?”
Since he had been the one to offend first, Lin Juan’s tone was gentle.
The man didn’t move.
“Look, I really didn’t mean to. Who leaves no spare clothes in their house? I just beat back those giant frogs for you…”
Lin Juan tried persuading him one way or another, but the man wouldn’t let go.
No choice. Lin Juan sat down on the edge of the bed.
“I’m filthy. If I dirty your bed, don’t blame me.”
It was like flipping a switch. After those words, the grip on his hand loosened.
Lin Juan chuckled. “Didn’t expect you to be such a neat freak.”
He couldn’t keep wearing dirty clothes, and Lin Juan never mistreated himself. He opened the door, intending to look elsewhere for something to change into.
He twisted the handle.
Hm?
It wouldn’t open?
Lin Juan applied some force, but it still wouldn’t budge.
No way? If it was for rushing joy, why was the door locked?
Had he run into some shady organization?
Was he supposed to just sit and wait?
