The thick clouds blocked out almost all the moonlight. Some of the streetlights on both sides of the road were also out. The trees by the roadside resembled silent giants, their thick branches stretching out wantonly, clawing and flailing in the darkness.
A gust of wind blew, rustling the leaves, adding to the gloom and tranquility, making this secluded street appear even more ominous and terrifying.
A dark night, a strong wind – perfect for killing… and for eating!
A man wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask walked down the secluded street, hands in his pockets. He suddenly stopped and looked towards the green belt on the right side of the street. Outside the green belt was a park, and inside it, a small grove of trees.
"Hiding in the grove?"
Zhào Xuān turned and stepped over the green belt, entering the grove.
"Such strong killing intent! And… more than one! Come out! We can sense each other's presence, so hiding is futile!"
As soon as Zhào Xuān finished speaking, two figures emerged from the trees, one in front of the other, sandwiching Zhào Xuān between them.
"I heard that some of our kind have been killed by our own kind recently, so you must be the one killing our kind, right?"
"Stop wasting time with him. He's been tracking me for a long distance, and he's never hidden his killing intent. It must be him!" The moment the one behind spoke, his head split open into several sections, transforming into powerful tentacles.
"Interesting!" Zhào Xuān looked at the two figures. "So the ability to sense each other is indeed a double-edged sword. While tracking others, you can also be detected by them. So… you also contacted a companion through some method, intending to ambush me with numbers?"
The figure in front also split out tentacles and sharp blades. "Facing death, and you're still so calm! Now, the two of us will tear you, the traitor to our kind, to shreds!"
With that, the tentacles of the two figures, front and back, shot towards Zhào Xuān simultaneously.
Zhào Xuān's head also split open in an instant, forming several tentacles that danced rapidly in the air, blocking their attacks. At the same time, he moved quickly, running to the side to create distance. He wanted to change the situation from being attacked from front and back to a triangular formation, avoiding a surprise attack from behind.
"Unnecessary movement!"
A Parasitic Beast, designated "A" by Zhào Xuān, let out a cold laugh. The tentacles on its head moved even faster. He and "B" joined forces, their combined tentacles numbering at least seven or eight, dancing in the air and constantly attacking Zhào Xuān, forming a net of blades that enveloped him.
Since he didn't know their names, Zhào Xuān decided to temporarily refer to them as "A" and "B" to distinguish them.
At the same time, Zhào Xuān understood what they meant. As Parasitic Beasts, unlike humans, they likely only had a field of vision of about 150 degrees in front of them. A Parasitic Beast's body could change freely and develop different organs, including eyes and mouths. Therefore, if a Parasitic Beast wished, it could grow eyes anywhere on its head, giving it a 360-degree, no-blind-spot field of vision.
So, Zhào Xuān's attempt to create distance was, in their eyes, a superfluous action.
And so it was. Facing their airtight attacks, Zhào Xuān, using only the tentacles that had formed from his head, could no longer completely block them. His body was also cut in multiple places by sharp blades. Fortunately, his speed was also not slow, so these wounds were only superficial.
"Your strength is nothing special, so why could you kill other members of our kind?"
Seeing Zhào Xuān struggling to block their attacks, "A" found it somewhat strange.
"B" shouted, "Don't let your guard down! He must have some trump card he hasn't revealed yet! Hey! Kid, what other skills do you have? Hurry up and show them! If you don't use your signature move soon, you're going to die!"
As he spoke, "B" seized a momentary opening in Zhào Xuān's defense. His flailing tentacles severed one of Zhào Xuān's tentacles. The bright red blood bloomed like a flower.
"Damn it! Careless!"
Zhào Xuān let out a pained groan and turned to run.
"You can't escape!"
"A"'s tentacles shot out faster, impaling a large tree on Zhào Xuān's escape route. Then, with a strong pull, "A"'s entire body flew out, swinging like Spider-Man, landing directly in Zhào Xuān's path.
"Today is the day you die!"
As he spoke, "A"'s tentacles attacked Zhào Xuān again. "B" also attacked from behind.
Zhào Xuān had no choice but to again wave the tentacles above his head, blocking their attacks with all his might. However, because one of his tentacles was partially severed, it was even harder to block all the attacks.
Then, another of Zhào Xuān's tentacles was severed by "B".
"Pathetic!"
"We've severed two of your tentacles. Even if you can grow new ones, you'll lose a lot of stamina and cells. Your strength has clearly declined significantly…"
"A" and "B"'s pincer attack intensified. Zhào Xuān's strength, speed, and reaction time had all weakened considerably, and he even began to pant.
"This is boring. It seems we were overthinking it. You don't have any trump cards at all. Those companions you killed were simply too weak!"
"A" had already entangled all of Zhào Xuān's tentacles with his own. Zhào Xuān, despite his best efforts, could not break free.
"Let me deliver the final blow!"
"B" raised his tentacles high, preparing to launch the final assault.
But the next second, a slight smile touched Zhào Xuān's lips. He suddenly raised his right hand. His right hand also transformed into four strong and powerful tentacles, shooting towards "B".
This sudden attack startled both "A" and "B".
However, it was only a momentary surprise.
"B" reacted quickly. The tentacles on his head blocked Zhào Xuān's right-hand attack with even greater speed, entangling with his tentacles.
"This is your trump card? I see! Now I understand why you could kill our brethren!"
"It seems your ability to conceal your presence is very strong! Neither of us noticed that you had another companion hidden within your body. Such a sudden attack, and anyone else would have fallen for it!"
"But unfortunately… you ran into us! Such petty tricks won't work on us!"
"A" and "B" spoke in turn, revealing their smugness.
Zhào Xuān looked at them. "Apologies! This is not all of my trump cards!"
"Goodbye!"
In the next second, two chunks of flesh suddenly sprang up from behind them, and those two chunks of flesh transformed into sharp blades in the air. Then, they swung…
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
Both of them simultaneously noticed a change in their vision, and then they saw two headless bodies slowly fall.
"We… were… decapitated…?"
"Damn it… to actually… use… this… method…"
In their vision of the ground, they saw two lumps of flesh rapidly crawling towards the target, then leaping onto the other's head and merging with it.
"So… it was… the parts… we severed…"
They finally understood what had happened and slowly closed their eyes.
Zhào Xuān walked up to them. "You are mistaken! It wasn't severed, it was intentionally separated by me!"