Monsters Die When Killed

Su Zhou made his own assessment. ’Since the target is human, and in a heavily populated residential area, I need to use my full power for a one-hit kill. I’ll finish this in a single instant—just as I originally planned.’

’The bedroom light on the eighth floor is still on. Looks like the family below is still up... I’ll have to be quiet.’

With his plan finalized, Su Zhou leaped out. A dark shadow in the air, he glided directly onto the side wall of the apartment building.

The instant he made contact with the wall, he clung to it like a gecko. With his fingers pressed lightly against the surface, he scurried up to the ninth-floor balcony, then raised a hand and placed it on the glass window.

WHOOSH. A faint Spiritual Light flickered.

A heatless, violet Spiritual Power flame sank into the glass, gradually strengthening a circular section. The enhanced glass became crystal clear, its inner layer shimmering with a bright Spiritual Light, a stark contrast to the ordinary glass surrounding it.

Then, with a slight exertion of force and a soft POP, the reinforced glass separated from the rest of the pane. He caught the circular piece in his hand, leaving a hole in the balcony’s glass enclosure large enough for a person to climb through.

Even an Enhancement System’s Spiritual Power has all sorts of clever uses.

Spear in hand, he slipped silently onto the balcony. Su Zhou was about to look around and confirm whether this apartment at the end of the Spiritual Qi trail was truly the Dusk True Demon’s lair. However, before he could get a good look, he felt it the instant he entered—something was terribly wrong.

It was as if he had crossed a threshold. The moment he stepped into the ninth-floor apartment, Su Zhou could clearly feel the air grow thick and foul, and the light from outside—both from the moon and the city—seemed to dim.

A hazy shadow seemed to permeate the space, absorbing all light.

In his Spiritual Vision, there was no Spiritual Light whatsoever. The entire ninth floor was utterly dark, without so much as a single Ghost. But that was what was most wrong, because even old furniture should naturally gather a faint Spiritual Light over time.

’I feel sick.’ A subtle, unnerving anxiety welled up in Su Zhou’s chest. It felt as if someone was whispering just out of sight, sizing him up from his blind spot. A strange tremor began to interfere with the electrical signals in his nerves, a subtle suggestion trying to inspire fear.

"..."

Silently, Su Zhou exhaled and narrowed his eyes. He could see a partially obscured door leading from the balcony into the apartment. Beyond it lay absolute darkness, without a sliver of light. Just a moment ago, he thought he’d felt a venomous gaze shoot out from that darkness and lock onto him. His Cross Spear reacted as well, beginning to glow.

The Holy Emblem upon the spear, which had been repeatedly steeped in highly concentrated Holy Water, began to flicker. It purified the surrounding darkness while also acting as an early warning against any sinister, unholy power.

"Pathetic!"

Without a shred of hesitation, Su Zhou strode forward with a savage grin. Spear in hand, he shoved the door open and charged inside. His entire body, along with his Cross Spear, ignited with a violet Spiritual Light.

’Trying to scare me? Give me a break. In my entire life, Ghosts have always been the ones to run in fear. Why would I ever be scared of them?’

’Getting exposed? So what! You really think I’m afraid of the authorities finding out?!’

But after he burst through the door, there was no ambush.

In the dim light, Su Zhou could only make out what looked like several "balls" scattered across the floor.

A thick, foul stench of blood and decay washed over him, filling his nostrils. He didn’t need to guess. One look was enough for Su Zhou to see that those "balls" were human heads, lying in pools of dried gore.

The venomous gaze he’d sensed earlier had come from one of the heads, positioned to stare right through the crack in the door. She had been drained of all Spiritual Energy. Her unclosing eyes stared out at the balcony, a look he had caught just moments before. Her stiffened face was frozen in what looked like a terrified scream.

He could even see a large hole in the back of her skull. Her brains had been licked clean.

BOOM!

The Snake Spirit, hidden in the hair at Su Zhou’s temples, instantly felt an astonishing heat erupt from its Contractor’s blood vessels. His simple, pure rage was so intense it was on the verge of using his Spiritual Power to manifest as a physical wind, strong enough to make his hair stand on end.

Even without that, the sound of grinding teeth was audible—a sound born not of fear, but of pure, unadulterated fury.

Nine heads. Nine lives. And likely far more.

On the news, a death is just a number. But seeing it with your own eyes... only then do you truly understand the depths of such an atrocity!

Lifting his head, Su Zhou strode forward, heading for the place he perceived as the ’darkest’—the bedroom of the apartment!

At the bedroom doorway, he thrust his spear forward. Burning with Spiritual Fire, the Long Spear pierced through the wooden door with a loud CRACK.

Then, Su Zhou gave his wrist a powerful twist. As he pulled back, the rotating Cross Spear head tore the entire door apart with immense force, reducing it to a cloud of violet ash.

But in the next instant, just as he was about to unleash a thunderous strike and blast the Dusk Evil Demon in the bedroom to smithereens, Su Zhou froze.

Because in the bedroom, there was no "True Demon"—only an ordinary, middle-aged man lying on the bed. His face was pale and filled with terror, and he seemed to be trapped in a nightmare.

"I’m sorry... I’m sorry..." The low mumble, like words from a dream, escaped from between his clenched teeth, thick with the stench of despair.