010: Qilin

The body Zhou Tai was currently using belonged to a tall woman, likely about 1.7 meters tall. Under normal circumstances, even if the inside of a body was crammed with an aberrant worm's tentacles, as long as the outer skin remained intact, the worm would still move like a human. Zhou Tai, however, was different. Facing the slashing silver threads, his body twisted and dodged like a deflating balloon, effortlessly evading Yu Xian's attack. Then he raised an arm. The skin across it burst open in an instant, and a dense tangle of tentacles twisted together into a massive arm. "Here comes a fist!" Zhou Tai roared with laughter, leaping into the air and punching down at Yu Xian on the ground. Danger. Yu Xian immediately leaped aside and rolled away rapidly upon landing. Losing an arm had undeniably crippled his options. If his right hand were still intact and Zhou Tai dared leap into the air, he could have shredded him to pieces in seconds. Boom! With a deafening crash, the ground where Yu Xian had just been standing shook violently. Amid the dust, Zhou Tai's fist had caved the ground in half a meter deep. If that blow landed on a person, it would likely punch clean through their body. On the other side, Yu Xian finished rolling and dropped to one knee. He thrust his left hand into the ground, sending silver threads piercing through the earth straight toward Zhou Tai. In an instant, a dense cluster of silver threads burst from the pit, weaving into a massive net that closed over Zhou Tai and contracted immediately. In the nick of time, the smile never left Zhou Tai's face. His body ruptured, turning into a swarm of sickening tentacles that slipped nimbly through one of the mesh openings—even dragging the human skin along with them. Anyone who had seen footage of an octopus slipping through tiny holes underwater could probably picture how Zhou Tai got out. Then the tentacles quickly slithered back into the human skin, reverting to the appearance of a young woman in the blink of an eye. Such micro-control! Such speed! Yu Xian could see Zhou Tai's movements clearly, and an inward chill seized him. Though Zhou Tai's abilities did not exceed the upper limits of an aberrant worm, his control over the worm's body was simply staggering. It was a feat virtually no ordinary aberrant worm could pull off. Just then, Zhou Tai spotted Yu Xian's severed arm lying on the ground a few meters away. He glanced at Yu Xian. Then, numerous tentacles sprouted from his ruptured arm, scooping up the severed limb and burrowing into it one by one. Aberrant worms possessed an extraordinarily freakish ability. They could use their tentacles to mimic the flesh and nerves of other creatures, allowing them to manipulate the other party's body. This was practically their most fundamental trait; otherwise, having eaten out the host's insides, the host's brain would have been starved of oxygen and died long ago. "Hey, handsome, this arm of yours is really nice. Let's keep playing." Zhou Tai swung the arm back and forth using his tentacles, speaking with a grin. The moment the words left his mouth, he charged at Yu Xian. So fast! Zhou Tai ran far faster than any other aberrant worm. At least three to four times faster. Moreover, he did not run in a straight line, making his trajectory completely unpredictable. Left with no choice, Yu Xian could only retreat frantically, trying desperately to keep his distance. The two chased and evaded across the athletic field. Every now and then, Yu Xian used silver threads to obstruct Zhou Tai, but Zhou Tai dodged every attack with ease, as if dancing or merely playing a game. At the same time, Zhou Tai swung Yu Xian's right arm, occasionally extending it abruptly to punch at him. In truth, Yu Xian's attacks posed almost no threat to Zhou Tai. While the silver threads were razor-sharp and would inflict severe damage if they managed to cut into his flesh, Zhou Tai was extraordinarily agile, morphing his shape at blistering speed. Several times Yu Xian deliberately formed wide nets with his silver threads, yet Zhou Tai always escaped effortlessly through the mesh. Instead, it was Yu Xian who came close to taking a fist several times. Though he managed to evade the direct hits, his body suffered multiple grazes. Fortunately, as a vampire, minor wounds healed in the blink of an eye, leaving behind no conspicuous scars. Bang! A sudden gunshot rang out. Zhou Tai, in the middle of chasing Yu Xian, snapped backward to dodge. The bullet grazed past his chest and slammed into the ground in the distance, detonating on impact. A chance! Yu Xian seized the opening. Spinning around, he swung his left hand, sending countless silver threads whipping wildly through the air, slashing at Zhou Tai from every angle. Faced with the inescapable net of silver threads, Zhou Tai repeated his trick. A swarm of tentacles burst out of the skin, picking a mesh opening to slip through. Bang! Another gunshot. Just as he cleared the woven net of silver threads, Nora hit him with a shot. A large clump of tentacles was torn apart in the explosion. The few remaining tentacles darted back into the woman's skin as he rolled backward in retreat. Though Nora fired several more pursuit shots, Zhou Tai moved too fast, and every subsequent bullet missed. "Bitch, I was playing with this handsome guy! You're totally in the way!" Zhou Tai executed a series of backflips and landed on the branch of a campus tree. He looked up toward Nora, his wrinkled face dripping with venomous malice. Neither Nora nor Yu Xian said a word. In this instant, they shared an uncanny tacit understanding: hit him while he's down! Bullets and silver threads converged. In an instant, the tree beneath Zhou Tai had a gaping hole blown through it by the bullet while countless silver threads shredded it to pieces. Yet an instant before the attacks struck, Zhou Tai leaped backward, landing atop the school perimeter wall. "Handsome, I'll come back to play with you next time. And... you dead bitch, you're a dead woman! I'm going to kill you, I'll definitely... kill you!" Zhou Tai smiled sweetly at Yu Xian at first, then turned around in the next second, glaring maniacally at Nora. The moment he finished speaking, another wave of bullets and silver threads flew at him. Flipping backward, he vanished beyond the school grounds. Zhou Tai had originally intended to keep going until he killed Yu Xian or destroyed his current host body completely. But having acquired Yu Xian's arm, he realized there was something special about it. To bring the arm back, he had decided to retreat. Neither Yu Xian nor Nora lowered their guard immediately after Zhou Tai left. They lingered in place for a long time, only breathing a sigh of relief once they were certain he was truly gone. Yu Xian slumped to the ground, feeling utterly exhausted in body and mind. He had come within an inch of being punched to death several times just now; now that it was over, lingering fear flooded in. Nora came down from the second floor and jogged over, slowing her pace as she drew near. Yu Xian turned his head toward her. Their eyes met, and both broke into an unspoken smile. "That was terrifying. I've never seen a monster that horrific," Nora said, sitting down beside Yu Xian, lingering terror plain on her face. Yu Xian nodded. "At least we drove it off." Suddenly, Nora pressed her gun against Yu Xian's lower back. Yu Xian had no choice but to obligingly raise his only remaining hand. "There are plenty of people in the Blood Clan ten, a hundred, or a thousand times stronger than that monster. My father's patience is limited. He sent me to kill you. If I keep holding back, he'll send someone stronger, and when that happens, you're dead for sure," Nora said, looking at Yu Xian. Yu Xian could not help chuckling. "So you've decided to beat them to the punch and shoot me dead first?" "Hmph. I'll give you a piece of advice: you'd better find a way to join Qilin," Nora said, lowering her gun. Yu Xian pressed immediately, "Qilin? You don't mean there's an actual divine beast called a Qilin in this world and you want me to join its camp, do you?" "Of course not! Qilin is the name of an official government agency. I don't know the exact details, but three years ago I heard that because a vampire like you joined Qilin, the Blood Clan gave up on carrying out a self-cleansing on him," Nora said. Qilin! An official organization! Yu Xian's eyes lit up. That option sounded considerably more reliable than fleeing into the deep mountains and wilderness to live like a savage.