Chapter 124: Aberrant 14

Liu Zhi and her group found Young Master Li as quickly as possible—only to discover he was being pinned to the ground and beaten by a gray-shadowed woman. Their precious and noble Young Master Li had completely forgotten his identity, lost in the role of the woman’s cowardly husband, caught up in a game of chase and retreat.

It took a great deal of effort—and the use of a rare item—to finally snap him out of it and restore his senses. But before they could even make it up one more floor, Young Master Li was suddenly assimilated again, disappearing in front of their eyes for a second time—even though the Bodyguard had been holding tightly onto him.

These gray shadows didn’t seem deadly, but the group still didn’t understand what triggered the assimilation. One wrong move, and someone could be absorbed.

“…Go find him,” Liu Zhi said, her smile fading. Inwardly, she cursed the useless young master.

She had a vague sense that the assimilation was tied to a person’s mental state—the more fearful or tense someone was, or the more they paid attention to the gray shadows, the easier it was to be assimilated into one of them.

The four of them had all entered Domains early on and were battle-hardened. If it were just them, they would’ve reached the sixth floor already. But with Young Master Li in tow, the journey had been one long hassle.

This second time he was assimilated, he turned into an elderly man. By the time Liu Zhi and the others found him, he was watching TV on the first floor.

Great. After all that effort, back to square one.

“Skinny Monkey, take out your bell and cover Young Master Li with it. We can’t let this happen again,” Liu Zhi said as they ascended the stairs, visibly holding back her anger.

Skinny Monkey pulled a small golden bell from his oversized sleeve. When activated, it projected a translucent, person-sized bell that enveloped Young Master Li.

Trapped inside, Young Master Li’s dazed expression finally cleared a bit. But after being assimilated twice, his legs were weak and he could barely walk.

With the bell shielding him, the gray shadows stayed away, and he finally made it to the second floor without vanishing again. But once he had caught his breath, he scowled inside the golden projection and demanded, “Since you had this item, why didn’t you use it on me earlier?!”

“…My dear little master,” Liu Zhi said with a smile, “that bell can trap an S-rank Domain Boss. You know how rare it is. Every extra minute we use it now is one less minute it can hold Aberrant later. How were we supposed to know these gray shadows would be this troublesome?”

How were we supposed to know you’d be this much of a deadweight?

Before Young Master Li could retort, Liu Zhi’s expression abruptly changed. “She’s coming!”

Baldy and Skinny Monkey reacted immediately. The Bodyguard wasn’t as attuned to ghostly energy, but his reflexes were solid. Only Young Master Li, slow on the uptake, grew nervous upon seeing their serious faces.

He looked forward—and his pupils suddenly dilated as a tall, thin figure appeared in his line of sight.

That was—

No one needed to say a word. The moment they saw her, an inexplicable fear bloomed in their hearts.

It was Aberrant.

The woman appeared without a sound. Her pitch-black hair seemed to absorb all light, covering most of her face and leaving only a glimpse of her red lips—but everyone could feel her gaze.

Arms that would be graceful and beautiful on any other woman bloomed from her back like coral, clustering together. That beauty twisted instantly into a horrific visual impact.

In the blink of an eye, Aberrant stood before them. Liu Zhi, who had been so relaxed moments ago, shouted sharply, “Trap her!”

Skinny Monkey instinctively pulled the golden bell projection off Young Master Li and redirected it toward Aberrant, halting her advance.

That’s when the Bodyguard cried out, “Young Master!”

The other three turned and were immediately speechless—Young Master Li had been assimilated again, vanishing behind them for a third time.

If this wasn’t the definition of deadweight, what was?

But no matter how useless he was, he was still a precious golden pig. Not only could they not curse him, now they had to figure out how to rescue him while also dealing with the boss-level Aberrant, before Young Master Li’s fragile mind was completely lost to assimilation.

“We need to rescue the young master first,” the Bodyguard said.

“It’s not about what we want to do—right now we can’t! If we don’t keep Aberrant trapped, we’re all stuck here!” Skinny Monkey shouted through clenched teeth.

He had used the golden bell on ghosts before, but never had it been this difficult.

“Take Aberrant down first—once she’s dealt with, we go after Young Master Li,” Liu Zhi decided swiftly.

From Aberrant’s appearance to their reaction to Young Master Li’s disappearance, barely ten seconds had passed. The bell projection was straining under Aberrant’s expanding form, forcing them to retreat step by step.

Clang—clang—clang—

The golden bell rang out repeatedly. The sound itself was a torment to the ghost trapped within. Aberrant began to go berserk, her arms thrashing wildly, her hair like writhing snakes pressing against the bell’s surface—it was eating away at it.

“This is bad! I can’t hold her much longer!” Skinny Monkey yelled. “Liu Zhi, are you ready?!”

Liu Zhi’s ability was the strongest among them—but the stronger the power, the greater the limitations. Hers had a long activation time and a short duration.

A gentle white light began radiating from her body. She seemed to become a glowing lamp. Floating upward, her hair danced in the air, and her face took on a sacred glow. Her whole appearance transformed, resembling a divine statue—a true Bodhisattva incarnate.

Once her divine form was complete, Skinny Monkey instantly withdrew his treasured bell and stumbled back to catch his breath.

Though Liu Zhi’s form was small compared to Aberrant’s monstrous shape, the threat and power she emanated were immense.

The soft white light expanded from her floating body. With that radiance, she charged straight toward Aberrant. At the moment of impact, Aberrant let out a shrill, piercing wail that echoed through the entire building.

Qian, dragging a completely stunned Chen Cailing downstairs in search of her mom, flinched at the sudden screech and instinctively covered her ears.

She stomped anxiously, shaking Chen Cailing’s hand and pointing downstairs, shouting, “Mommy! Mommy!”

They reached the floor just above where Aberrant and the others were. Just as Qian was about to run down, Chen Cailing snapped out of her daze, scooped her up, and dragged her back upstairs. She clamped a hand over Qian’s mouth and sat on the stairs, peeking down through the gaps.

Chen Cailing’s heart pounded wildly, even more violently than that night when she had woken up to find a human face bulging from the ceiling above her.

Her mind was a mess. She still couldn’t figure out why Qian had called that monster “Mom.” If Qian was the child of that monster, then didn’t that make Qian a monster too? But… she was clearly just a clueless little girl.

Even though she didn’t understand everything, one thing was clear: those people downstairs were trying to kill Qian’s “mother.” If Qian ran down and they saw her, they would definitely kill her too!

“Shhh! Shhh, it’s okay, Qian, don’t make a sound!” Chen Cailing clutched Qian tightly, refusing to let go.

The white light downstairs grew brighter and brighter. Even seated on the stairs, they could feel its radiance spreading throughout the Tianzi Building.

Qian began to squirm in her arms, crying that it hurt. The parts of her body touched by the light were in pain.

Seeing Qian scratching at her chubby arms, Chen Cailing quickly picked her up and rushed upstairs, away from the intense glow.

The white light drove away the gray mist on the lower floors. The swaying gray shadows screamed as they thinned out, and soon the entire Tianzi Building echoed with all kinds of ghostly wails and howls. The harsh, chaotic sounds were unbearable for all the humans trapped inside.

Clutching her ears in pain, Chen Cailing dragged Qian with her as they fled upward.

Skinny Monkey was forced to activate the golden bell barrier once more.

Where Aberrant collided with Liu Zhi, her body began to melt away. In moments, a massive hole had opened in her abdomen. Blood dripped from her skirt in thick, sticky rivulets, spreading like a river across the corridor. From this red mass sprouted twisted crimson arms, rising up from the floor to attack the humans nearby.

Those hands couldn’t approach Liu Zhi, but the other three had to deal with them constantly.

Baldy’s body gleamed with golden patterns. Each punch he threw shattered the red arms. Skinny Monkey had the bell barrier and a weapon that looked like an Emei thorn. The Bodyguard swung his black, searing blade, slicing the bloody limbs into nothing.

Aberrant’s enormous body grappled with Liu Zhi’s. Though half her form had melted away and it seemed like Liu Zhi had the upper hand, Liu Zhi herself was silently panicking.

Aberrant was far tougher than expected. She couldn’t keep this up much longer! If she faltered, Aberrant would counterattack—hard.

It couldn’t go on like this. Even if she couldn’t kill Aberrant, she had to seriously wound her to prevent any further pursuit.

A sudden surge of white light burst forth. Tiny points of light drifted from Liu Zhi’s body as she floated forward, arms open in a deadly embrace aimed at Aberrant’s head.

The white light spread across the entire floor. All three levels above and below were instantly submerged in a sea of pure, silent light.

This was Liu Zhi’s most powerful purification. Every time she unleashed this Domain, no matter what kind of ghost or monster it was, they were always annihilated.

Baldy swung his arms with a grin. “Liu Zhi-jie’s the best! Aberrant’s either dead or crippled now—she won’t be a threat anytime soon.”

Skinny Monkey, who had partnered with Liu Zhi countless times, finally relaxed. Just as he was about to withdraw the bell barrier, a sudden premonition of death hit him. He instinctively shifted the bell aside—and in that moment, the blood on the floor surged up, swallowing the completely unprepared Baldy in the blink of an eye.

He was eaten!

Aberrant reappeared after consuming him. Her entire body was riddled with wounds. From her hair to her limbs to her torso, she was melting, her form barely recognizable. Her once-upturned red lips drooped grotesquely from the decay.

“Run!” Liu Zhi shouted in warning.

She was at her limit. No one had expected Aberrant to be even more terrifying than the intel suggested.

Right now, escape was the only option.

The white light surrounding Liu Zhi had dimmed considerably. She soared toward Aberrant once more and, as Aberrant flickered and vanished, Liu Zhi shot past her without looking back and darted toward the stairs.

With her clearing the way, the Bodyguard and Skinny Monkey followed.

As they ran down, the Bodyguard shouted, “What about Young Master Li?!”

Though his job was to protect the Young Master, he was also entrusted to Liu Zhi’s team by the Old Master himself—someone the old man trusted deeply. This time, accompanying the Young Master into the Monster Domain was more about keeping an eye on the trio.

Skinny Monkey snapped, “Who knows what floor that little punk’s been assimilated to now! Going back up is suicide! If you want to go, go by yourself!”

The Li family might be rich and powerful, but no amount of money was worth dying for.

Earlier, they’d been on the second floor. By now, they’d charged down to the first, and there—dodging about with a panicked expression—was none other than Young Master Li.

After the unlucky assimilation, he’d been dragged to the first floor. The purifying light from Liu Zhi had restored his sanity. That same light had also cleared the supernatural threats from three floors up and down, and anything powerful had retreated to avoid the blast. So Young Master Li had managed to survive by hiding out on the first floor.

Hearing the terrifying chaos upstairs, Young Master Li was already scared witless. If he hadn’t been too afraid to leave alone, he would’ve bolted long ago and ditched them all.

“Quick! Get me out of here! I want to leave!”

Killing Aberrant? That thought was long gone. Right now, all he wanted was to get the hell out.

“Behind you, Young Master!” Bodyguard yelled, hurling his long blade.

Young Master Li turned in horror—and saw the melting, blood-dripping Aberrant appear. Screaming, he scrambled toward Liu Zhi on all fours.

The blade’s black edge carried a strange, searing heat. It stalled Aberrant for just a second, giving Young Master Li a chance to escape.

Liu Zhi hadn’t expected Aberrant, wounded to this extent, to keep pursuing them instead of retreating to recover.

Her own power was nearly depleted. The only option now was to burn her life force to hold Aberrant off—otherwise, none of them would get out alive.

“Bodyguard, take the Young Master and go! Skinny Monkey, back me up!” Liu Zhi commanded.

The dim white light around Liu Zhi flared up once more. Skinny Monkey, who had been about to leave with the others, reluctantly activated his golden bell barrier to support her.

“Liu Zhi, this time even you messed up. Aberrant isn’t as easy to deal with as you said…” he muttered, when suddenly his body froze, paralyzed on the spot.

It was one of Liu Zhi’s abilities.

He watched helplessly as Liu Zhi took advantage of the moment he had drawn Aberrant’s attention to slip away from his side. She had no intention of reactivating the purification.

Skinny Monkey’s eyes widened, bloodshot veins surfacing. The next second, the sluggish Aberrant lunged forward and devoured him in one massive gulp.

Bodyguard, witnessing the scene, ran even faster with Young Master Li in tow.

Young Master Li had gone deathly pale, stumbling as he ran. In the short distance to the Tianzi Building’s entrance—barely ten meters—it was practically Bodyguard dragging him forward.

The door was just ahead, only a few steps away, when Young Master Li suddenly felt a chill on his forehead—something was dripping down from above.

He looked up, and saw Aberrant—having just swallowed Skinny Monkey—clinging to the ceiling overhead, her near-liquefied body dripping downward.

“Aaaaah—!” Young Master Li let out a scream that barely sounded human as the waxy substance poured over him, wrapping around his entire body. It squirmed and chewed a few times before swallowing him whole.

Bodyguard watched in horror as the young master was gruesomely killed before his eyes. His expression changed drastically—but just then, Liu Zhi grabbed him from behind, and the two of them took the chance to escape the Tianzi Building.

Once outside, the white light around Liu Zhi faded completely. She coughed up a mouthful of blood and lowered her gaze to the looming shadow of the Tianzi Building, a barely perceptible smile flickering in her eyes.

This mission had gone fairly smoothly. Young Master Li had died in a perfectly reasonable manner.