"Bang!" The door was violently rammed from the outside.
"Crack!" A scaly, green arm brutally punched through the wooden panel, followed quickly by another. The two arms flailed and tore like chainsaws, rapidly carving out a large gap in the door.
A half-beastified young man then squeezed through the opening. Gao Yang immediately recognized him as Ah Zhi, the village's artsy intellectual. His eyes bulged grotesquely behind his glasses, the pupils gone, leaving only eerie whites. His face was twisted into a savage snarl, his mouth dripping with ravenous drool as he half-crawled into the room. "Humans... humans humans humans..."
"Bang!" A bullet pierced his eye.
"Ah—!" He let out a pained howl.
A sharp Tang sword stabbed into his gaping mouth, piercing through his throat. Ah Zhi convulsed a few times before finally going still.
"Squelch!" As Qing Ling withdrew her blade, a streak of blood splashed onto Wang Zikai's face.
Wang Zikai stood frozen. Despite his earlier bravado, it seemed he wasn't as fearless or bloodthirsty as he'd imagined.
"Don't just stand there!" Officer Huang shouted at him.
Wang Zikai snapped back to reality.
"Die!" He lashed out with a kick, sending Ah Zhi's corpse flying back through the hole. It had to be said—for a young beast, Wang Zikai was freakishly strong.
"Bang! Bang! Bang—!" More beasts charged from the courtyard, slamming into the door.
The already fragile and battered door couldn't hold any longer. It collapsed inward. Three half-human, half-beast villagers clambered over the wreckage, ignoring their fellow beast Wang Zikai and lunging instead at Qing Ling and Officer Huang behind him.
"Bang!"
"Swish!"
Gunfire and blade flashes erupted simultaneously. Blood sprayed as the two beasts on either side dropped dead. The one in the middle was intercepted by Wang Zikai, who wrapped his arms around its waist. His limbs rapidly beastified, transforming into two bronze-colored "giant pliers."
With a roar, Wang Zikai squeezed with all his might. A series of crisp cracks echoed as the beast's spine was snapped in half. It let out an agonized shriek, and in its death throes, its jaws split open, revealing crimson fangs that sank deep into Wang Zikai's shoulder.
"Ahhh—!" Wang Zikai screamed in pain.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three consecutive bullets pierced the fanged beast's skull. Its head jerked back, blood gushing as it went limp.
Realizing the beast in his arms was dead, Wang Zikai gasped for breath and loosened his grip. The corpse slid to the ground, gradually reverting to human form—it was "Sister Fan," the woman who had served them tea earlier.
Wang Zikai's shoulder was torn open, his face smeared with blood—some from the enemy, some his own.
This was his first time killing a beast. Excitement, terror, rage—all these emotions surged through him at once, overwhelming his already limited intellect and shattering his rationality.
"Ahhhh—!" Wang Zikai howled at the sky. The muscles in his legs, chest, and back bulged violently, morphing into tough, bronze-colored, rough hide—like a more aesthetically pleasing version of the Hulk.
Outside, an endless horde of beasts surged forward. Wang Zikai charged straight into the seething mass of monsters, fists and feet flying. A single punch could explode a beast's skull; a single kick could send one flying. He plowed through them recklessly, a whirlwind of destruction, completely lost to bloodlust!
Wang Zikai's combat prowess far exceeded everyone's expectations. He single-handedly took down seven or eight beasts in one go. But the sheer numbers were overwhelming. More beasts piled onto him like wolves swarming a lion, biting and clawing, quickly burying him under a mountain of bodies.
The remaining beasts bypassed the pile and stormed into the house. They fell one after another to bullets and blades, but their numbers were too great. The defensive line formed by Officer Huang and Qing Ling was on the verge of collapse.
Suddenly, one of the beasts rose slowly from the bloodied corpses—it was Village Chief Wu. His neck had been slashed by Qing Ling's blade but not completely severed, leaving his head lolling grotesquely to one side.
He lunged at Qing Ling with outstretched arms. Qing Ling had just driven her Tang sword into another beast's heart and couldn't pull it free in time.
"Blade God!" Gao Yang activated his Blade God talent and rushed forward, plunging his dagger into Wu's heart.
He yanked the dagger out quickly—he couldn't afford to waste the remaining seven seconds of his Blade God ability. He pivoted and leaped toward Officer Huang, stabbing at a beast lunging for him during the officer's reload. But this time, the beast's chest was armored with hard scales, and the dagger failed to penetrate.
The scaled beast backhanded Gao Yang, sending him flying into a dirt wall. His head slammed against the surface, stars exploding in his vision.
As the scaled beast pounced on him, a bullet tore through its right eye while a sharp Tang blade split its skull from behind.
Qing Ling yanked her sword free. "Fall back!"
Fatso ran over and helped Gao Yang retreat to a corner, pressing his hands against Gao Yang's chest. A searing pain shot through him—he looked down to see a long, narrow gash across his torso.
"It'll… it'll be fine… hang in there…" Fatso stammered, his entire body trembling, his mind completely hijacked by terror. He was operating on autopilot.
"Thud!" A pair of long, brown-furred ape-like arms smashed through the window and grabbed Fatso by the neck, yanking him backward.
"Ahhh!" Fatso screamed. Fortunately, his chubby frame got stuck in the window frame, preventing him from being dragged outside.
Ignoring the pain in his chest, Gao Yang scrambled up and mustered all his strength to stab the ape-like arm. A shriek came from outside as the arm retracted.
"Mom, save me! Help…!" The rescued Fatso didn't even have the presence of mind to thank him. He crawled frantically across the floor, wedging himself under a table, curling into a quivering ball, his spirit utterly broken.
Gao Yang knew Fatso had done his best. There was no point blaming him.
Clutching his wound, he forced himself to stand. Outside the door, corpses now lay in piles.
Officer Huang had run out of bullets. He tossed his gun aside, grabbed a rusty firewood axe from the corner, and retreated to Gao Yang's side. "Still good?"
"Still good!" Gao Yang tightened his grip on the dagger, gritting his teeth.
A nimble beast charged through the entrance on all fours like a cheetah. It dodged Qing Ling's horizontal slash with a nimble leap and pounced at Officer Huang.
"Ah!" Officer Huang swung the axe at the beast's head but missed, striking its shoulder instead. The beast's momentum carried it forward, knocking him to the ground.
It roared furiously, jaws splitting open to reveal rows of fangs, poised to crush Officer Huang's throat.
Gao Yang lunged, gripping the dagger with both hands and using his falling body weight to drive it deep into the beast's skull. The sharp blade pierced through its cranium and out its mouth, stopping just short of Officer Huang's eye. Thick, viscous blood and brain matter oozed from the dagger's tip, dripping onto Officer Huang's face.
With great effort, Officer Huang shoved the beast's corpse off and grabbed his axe, pulling Gao Yang up. The two stood back-to-back, panting heavily, bracing for the next wave.
"Still good?" Officer Huang wiped the grime from his face and asked again.
"Still good!" Gao Yang's eyes burned with battle fury.
"Good!" Officer Huang roared with adrenaline. "My wife hasn't given birth yet—I can't die here!"
"I can't die here either!"