Chapter 174
Xing Nuo ran out of the alley.
The once-bustling street was now completely deserted. The night sky was pitch black, and an eerie silence hung in the air.
Even his electric scooter, which he had parked at the alley entrance, was gone.
The others stumbled out of the alley after him, their voices panicked.
“What’s going on? Where is everyone?!”
“Where’s my car?! I parked it right here!”
Xing Nuo didn’t speak. He could sense the pregnant woman’s presence closing in on them.
Years of martial arts training had honed his reflexes and strengthened his body. He was no longer the clumsy child who fell easily. He had even won a silver medal in a city-level competition.
He sprinted ahead, the wind ruffling his hair, his pale forehead gleaming in the dim light.
The others, sensing the danger, followed, but Xing Nuo was faster. The middle-aged man who had scolded him earlier, hampered by his beer belly, trailed behind.
The pregnant woman, despite her large belly, was surprisingly fast. With a few leaps, she reached the last man and slashed his arm with her sharp fingernails.
“Argh!!!” The man screamed, turning to see the pregnant woman’s grotesque, dark face and her predatory gaze.
His legs turned to jelly.
“You smell a bit…off,” she said, her voice raspy. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m not picky.”
Her mouth opened, revealing rows of jagged teeth, and she lunged, biting and tearing at the man’s flesh like a wild animal.
His screams and the sickening crunch of bones echoed through the empty street.
The university student, her arm still aching from the earlier bite, her eyes welling up, looked back.
The sight made her gag, and she vomited, clutching the wall for support.
Xing Nuo, leading the way, reached a dead end, a tall wall blocking their path. He stopped, panting, wiping his forehead.
“Dead end.”
The others, catching up, their voices filled with fear and despair, cried out:
“What kind of path is this?! A dead end?! What are we going to do?! That monster will catch us!”
Xing Nuo, ignoring their complaints, his lips pressed into a thin line, gestured at their surroundings.
“This isn’t our city anymore. Can’t you see? Only one road.”
They finally looked around, their earlier panic subsiding slightly as they took in the scene.
A wide, empty street, stretching straight ahead, ending at the wall, the pregnant monster, still feasting on the middle-aged man, in the middle.
The gruesome sight made several of them retch.
“I want to go home! What the hell is this place?!”
One of them, his face in his hands, started sobbing.
Xing Nuo, looking at the wall, wondering if their city was on the other side, tried to jump, but it was too high.
“Can’t get over.”
He looked at the pregnant woman, still eating, and frowned, his mind racing.
“What do we do? She’s not…a normal pregnant woman. So strong…her nails…like knives…”
“She’s a monster! Why is there a monster in our city?!”
They huddled against the wall, as if seeking protection, their voices filled with terror.
“Is anyone coming to save us?”
The university student, her eyes covered, sobbed, convinced she would be next.
Xing Nuo, doubting any rescue would come, said, his voice firm despite his fear:
“We have to save ourselves.”
“There are more of us than her. We can win.”
He assessed the pregnant woman’s strength, then looked at the others, calculating their odds. If they worked together, they might have a chance.
“I can’t. I’m too old to fight. I can barely run,” an older man said, leaning against the wall, avoiding their gazes.
An older woman also quickly chimed in:
“Fighting monsters is for young people! I’m too old for this! I’ll just die!”
The monster had already eaten one person. Of the remaining seven, two had already given up.
Xing Nuo, frustrated, but not forcing them, said:
“Then we fight together?”
He looked at the remaining four: the university student, a young couple, and a muscular young man.
They were also scared, but trapped, they had no choice.
“Okay! Let’s make a plan!”
They huddled together, whispering, and quickly devised a strategy.
Xing Nuo, seeing that the pregnant woman had finished devouring the man, the bloodstains gone, absorbed by her distended belly, stepped forward.
“Monster! You like eating people, right?”
He picked up a rock and threw it at her.
The pregnant woman, licking the blood from her lips, her smile widening grotesquely, revealing rows of sharp teeth, let out a guttural growl.
“Yes. And you smell delicious. You’re next.”
Xing Nuo ran, leading her away.
The young couple, who were supposed to attack from behind, hesitated, their legs trembling, frozen by fear.
The university student, seeing this, her eyes wide with desperation, yelled:
“Go! She’s alone! We’re dead if you don’t help!”
They wanted to help, but their fear paralyzed them.
The university student, unable to stand it any longer, rushed forward, followed by the muscular young man, and they attacked the monster from both sides.
But the monster was too strong, and with a single swipe of her arm, she sent them flying.
Fixated on Xing Nuo, she ignored the two fallen figures and continued her pursuit.
The injured student, desperate, yelled at the cowering couple:
“Help us!”
But the couple, huddled against the wall, shook their heads frantically.
“We can’t! She’s too strong! We’ll die!”
Xing Nuo ran, his curls bouncing, glancing back at the cowering figures, his jaw tightening.
Can never rely on anyone.
He used his martial arts training, keeping ahead of the monster.
The monster, reaching the end of the street, frustrated by his speed, roared, her mouth opening wide.
A stream of fleshy, red lumps erupted from her mouth, hitting the ground and forming into small, squirming creatures, their voices a chorus of “Mommy!” as they chased after Xing Nuo.
Xing Nuo, his scalp tingling, goosebumps covering his body at the sight of the grotesque creatures, noticed that the woman’s belly had shrunk slightly.
But it was still round and distended, its contents a horrifying mystery.
He dodged the fleshy creatures and ran to the wall, quickly scaling it.
His adrenaline-fueled strength surprised even himself, and he reached the top, peering over the wall, hoping to see his city.
But he was disappointed. The other side was dark, a maze of narrow alleys, nothing familiar.
He sighed and looked down.
The pregnant woman, unable to climb, stood there, her expression calm, as if knowing he couldn’t escape.
Xing Nuo’s heart sank. The wall wasn’t the exit.
They had to fight the monster, kill her, to escape.
He looked at the others and yelled:
“Nothing out here!”
The others, their hopes dashed, slumped to the ground, their faces filled with despair.
“What do we do now?!”
“You tricked us! You’re going to leave us here!”
Xing Nuo, exasperated, yelled back:
“Climb up and see for yourselves! If I could escape, I would have! Why would I lie?!”
They realized he was right, and their despair deepened.
“So, we’re doomed?”
The pregnant woman, having reabsorbed the fleshy creatures, lovingly caressed her belly.
“My precious little ones, Mommy will give you more companions soon. More nourishment.”
She then looked at Xing Nuo, her eyes glinting sinisterly.
Xing Nuo, sitting on the wall, took a deep breath and met her gaze,
searching for a weakness.
But besides her grotesquely swollen belly, he couldn’t see anything unusual.
She couldn’t reach him, so she turned to the others, licking her lips.
“So delicious. Which one should I eat first?”
Her manic expression, even from a distance, terrified them, and they scrambled up the wall, the young couple reaching the top first, followed by the muscular young man. The injured university student and the older couple were left behind.
The older couple, too slow and weak, couldn’t climb.
Their faces covered in sweat, they turned to see the monster approaching, screamed, and instinctively pushed the injured university student towards her.
