Bang— At the same time, a powerful arm smashed through the door.

  This was no human arm—broad, thick, its brass-colored muscles bulged like forged steel. Its massive hand was covered with sinister, scaly skin, and each of the four fingers had claws several centimeters long, sharp and deadly like blades.

  As Skyler tackled Jason Han, the claw slashed right after them, grazing Skyler's left arm.

  The claw, tasting blood, shuddered in a brief spasm of excitement, then frenziedly shredded the door apart—as easily as tearing through paper.

  The Beast stepped into the room, its feet crunching over the splintered wood with a soft, ominous sound.

  The main lights had been turned off—the room was bathed in dim, eerie red, thick with a suffocating pressure.

  "Three... there are three... ah, ahhh..." Aunt He's voice was feverishly excited, tinged with inexplicable resentment and overwhelming gratitude. "All mine... all of you..."

  Skyler lay hidden behind the waterbed, gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his arm. One hand covered Jason's trembling mouth; he dared not make a sound.

  Soon, Skyler's fingers became damp—it was Jason's tears of terror.

  In the dim light, using the ceiling mirror above, Skyler finally got a good look at their enemy.

  It was indeed "Aunt He," a middle-aged woman in her fifties, clad in a cleaner's uniform. Her body and head retained human form, but her limbs had grotesquely Beastified—overgrown, muscular, tearing through her pant legs and sleeves in a grotesque mismatch.

  She walked step by step into the entranceway, her body trembling with excited anticipation.

  Soon, a slick, damp, dark teal tail began to emerge from her back.

  The tail's growth was agonizingly slow, inching out amid a flood of thick, murky fluid—like amniotic fluid during childbirth.

  The emerging tail pressed against Aunt He's pelvis and spine, forcing her body into a hunched posture.

  At last, the tail—thick as a thigh and nearly two meters long—dragged along the floor with a cold, serpentine rasp.

  She now resembled a lizard person.

  Witnessing everything, Skyler felt a primal terror from the depths of his bones—he was dizzy and ringing in his ears. In truth, apart from gritting his teeth, holding his breath, and quietly awaiting death, trying to delay the inevitable a little longer, he had no other choice.

  He knew full well—he stood no chance against this monster.

  In a daze, he drifted into a trance.

  Skyler recalled the times he killed cockroaches with a slipper.

  Back then, a roach would scurry under the bed upon discovery, but Skyler could easily drive it out and, with a mix of disgust and arrogance, smash it flat with a "smack."

  Skyler realized—right now, he was that tiny, hopeless cockroach.

  His only hope lay in Lynn, hidden somewhere in the room.

  They held a long, torturous standoff in the room for ten agonizing seconds.

  Maybe it was only seven seconds—Skyler had lost count.

  Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— Three sharp throwing knives whistled out from the shadows, aiming straight for Aunt He's eyes.

  Aunt He swiftly raised her arms to block.

  Clang, clang, clang! With three crisp sounds, the knives bounced off and fell to the floor, unable to even scratch Aunt He's hardened arms.

  Of course, this was merely a feint.

  In the moment Aunt He raised her arms to block, Lynn burst out of the wardrobe, gripping a sword in both hands, thrusting sideways toward Aunt He's heart.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Although Aunt He was half a beat slow, she reacted with astonishing agility, catching the sharp Tang sword with both hands. Sparks flared where her eight claws scraped against the blade.

  "Ah!" Lynn grunted, channeling all the power from her legs, waist, and wrists into a full-force thrust of the sword.

  Bang! Aunt He was slammed against the wall, yet stubbornly clung to the Tang sword, shielding her heart.

  Lynn pushed harder, driving the blade inch by inch into Aunt He's chest.

  "Arrghhh—" Aunt He howled, a cry twisted between human and Beast. Her tail whipped around, lashing Lynn's waist hard. Lynn stumbled, her strength instantly drained.

  Seizing the advantage, Aunt He flung the Tang sword aside—dragging Lynn along with it. Lynn crashed into the separate bathroom, and the tempered glass shattered into a sea of tiny fragments with a loud bang.

  The wound in Aunt He's chest wasn't shallow; she gasped painfully and furiously, stepping slowly toward Lynn, who lay near the bathroom.

  Whap! A comforter flew over, engulfing Aunt He's head and body.

  During the brief ten seconds of Lynn's fight with Aunt He, Skyler and Jason Han hadn't been idle.

  Jason Han had tossed the comforter to block Aunt He's vision—he knew it wouldn't last two seconds. His plan was simple: buy a brief distraction, then run for it.

  And that's exactly what Jason did. As soon as the blanket covered Aunt He, he sprinted for the door—but nerves and the slick mess of broken glass and Beast slime on the floor betrayed him. His foot slipped, and he sprawled right at Aunt He's feet.

  "Don't... don't kill me... Mom... save meee..." Jason Han flopped around like a fat, slippery eel, but the sticky filth kept him from getting up.

  Aunt He tore through the comforter with her claws, her gaze locking onto the downed Jason. These three humans were far tougher than she expected—at this point, she didn't care about savoring them. She'd kill at least one.

  Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— Three throwing knives once again sliced through the air, aiming for Aunt He's eyes.

  Aunt He's eyeball was pierced and exploded—blood gushed out uncontrollably.

  "Aaaargh..." she flailed her claws wildly. "My eyes! My eyes...!"

  At that moment, Skyler was trembling uncontrollably—but his hands didn't stop moving.

  —You're useless.

  —Nothing you do matters. You can't change anything. So don't be nervous.

  —Just do it. You're already here. It's the thought that counts.

  Using this bizarre self-pep talk, Skyler actually managed to suppress his fear and tension. While Jason Han was tossing the comforter, Skyler had already slipped to the entrance, grabbed the fallen Tang sword, slashed the cord off a hairdryer, and plugged the hairdryer back into the wall socket.

  No good—the wire wasn't long enough!

  Skyler gritted his teeth, grabbed the sword, and stabbed toward Aunt He.

  The sword tip stabbed into Aunt He's thigh, but with little force—it barely sank in. Aunt He swiped at him with a claw; Skyler had anticipated this, leaning back just in time, though he still felt a sharp sting on his nose—he'd been scratched.

  Blinded, Aunt He didn't blindly chase after him. Instead, she grabbed the Tang sword lodged in her thigh, trying to yank it out. It should have come free easily—but an unseen force pressed down, keeping it embedded.

  Lynn, lying on the floor, spread her arms, gritting her teeth as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Hurry!"

  Skyler grabbed the exposed wire from the hairdryer and pressed it against the blade.

  There were no dramatic "sparks flying" effects like in the movies—just a short, dull zzzt sound. Aunt He's body went limp, collapsing to her knees.

  She didn't pass out—she tried to stand again.

  Skyler quickly zapped her again.

  Aunt He convulsed violently and slumped to the ground.

  She was still trying to crawl up, tail thrashing across the floor—if she were an ordinary human, she would've been either dead or unconscious by now.

  At some point, Lynn had risen. She advanced, yanked the Tang sword from Aunt He's thigh, and drove it forcefully into her right chest.

  Aunt He let out a tortured wail, her hands flailing weakly.

  "Help me!" Lynn shouted.

  Skyler tossed aside the live wire, grabbed Lynn's hands from behind, and pushed forward with all his strength.

  Finally, the Tang sword pierced straight through Aunt He's chest.

  Aunt He convulsed, head lolling to the side, pinned to the pink wall—a scene so grotesque it defied description.

  Bruised and battered, Lynn let out a long breath and leaned back—landing against Skyler's chest. He could feel her heartbeat thudding thump-thump-thump.

  After a few silent seconds, Lynn turned and collapsed onto the waterbed, nearly fainting.

  Her entire body was injured; her white bathrobe was splattered with tiny crimson stains.

  Skyler's mind was blank. He clutched his wounded shoulder, standing amid the wreckage, filth, and gore, the air thick with a stench too foul to describe.

  If he had to describe it, it smelled like rotting eggs and burning plastic, laced with vapor rub and mustard gas.

  Skyler's stomach churned violently. He dropped to his knees before Aunt He's corpse and vomited hard.

  Jason Han, having narrowly survived, didn't waste time—he hurried to block the door and muttered in relief, "Good thing there's no one else staying on this floor."

  "Didn't you say there was only one room left on this floor?" Skyler wiped his mouth.

  "Heh, lied to you. Business has been awful lately," Jason chuckled sheepishly.

  He scurried over, immediately beginning to heal Skyler's injured arm.

  "Bro…"

  "I'm younger than you."

  "From now on, you're my real big brother," Jason declared, then glanced at Lynn collapsed on the waterbed, "and she's my real sister-in-law!"

  "……" Lynn said nothing, but even in her exhaustion, a killing intent radiated from her battered frame.

  "Bro, one question—how did you notice something was wrong with Aunt He?" Jason asked.

  "The sound," Skyler replied wearily. "If she were really here to clean, there should've been a cleaning cart. But when I told her to leave, I never heard the wheels rolling away."

  "Damn, that's smart!" Jason slapped his thigh. "How come I didn't think of that?"

  "No duh! My brother's a genius!" Jason crowed.

  Skyler jolted and turned his head sharply.

  The one speaking—was none other than Kevin Wang.