CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52 TRAP_1

Lu Yuan halted his frantic run, staring in bewilderment at the spot where the giant rat had disappeared.

The place was eerily quiet, devoid of any sound.

It was as if the giant rat had vanished immediately after scurrying there.

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, not pursuing any further.

He slowly moved his phone’s flashlight in that direction.

He saw the woman the giant rat had "abandoned," lying face down on the ground.

He still couldn’t make out her features; her disheveled black hair, like a wet mop, lay messily across her face.

Could she be dead?

Lu Yuan’s heart tightened.

The woman had been struggling fiercely just moments ago. After being dragged for quite some distance by the giant rat, she had suddenly become motionless.

Was she dragged to death?!

Lu Yuan decided to go over and take a look.

He took a step forward, then hesitated again.

He stared at the motionless woman lying four or five meters away, dressed in a plaid long dress and black tights.

He subconsciously swallowed.

He couldn’t imagine what kind of face was hidden beneath that mass of disheveled black hair.

She’d been gnawed on by the giant rat for quite a while...

Horrifying close-up shots from every horror movie he’d seen in two lifetimes flashed through Lu Yuan’s mind.

Lu Yuan suddenly realized... he wasn’t as brave as he’d imagined.

RUSTLE—

A faint sound suddenly broke the silence.

Lu Yuan tensed.

The beam of his flashlight instantly shot towards the alley entrance ahead.

A ferocious rat head peeked out soundlessly from the alley entrance, silently watching him.

TWITCH—

At that moment, the woman lying on the ground spasmed.

Not good!

The atmosphere in the alley, which had calmed only moments before, instantly grew tense again.

Without a second thought, Lu Yuan charged towards the woman.

It was only a distance of four or five meters; at his speed, two strides would be enough to reach and protect her.

But as Lu Yuan took that first step, an inexplicable sense of unease welled up within him.

...

The smell of blood!

Why is there no smell of blood?!

There don’t seem to be any bloodstains on the ground either.

This woman was being gnawed by the giant rat for so long, yet she hasn’t shed a single drop of blood?

...

It stinks!

Why is it getting even more putrid?!

The closer I get, the worse it smells!

Was this woman just fished out of a cesspool?

How can her stench be even stronger than the giant rat’s?

...

Sound... hairpin... woman... stench... giant rat...

These images flashed through Lu Yuan’s mind like a revolving lantern, colliding with each other.

When he was merely a step away from the woman...

Lu Yuan forced himself to a halt.

A thought flashed through his mind like lightning splitting the night sky—

Something’s wrong!

This... this is a trap!

At that very moment, the woman lying face down not far in front of Lu Yuan suddenly sprang up from the ground with a WHOOSH—

Her limbs contorting bizarrely, she lunged straight at him.

Lu Yuan had almost no time to think.

Clutching the rusty steel bar tightly in his right hand, he raised it and swung.

SWOOSH—

The steel bar tore through the air before him, emitting a sharp, low whistle.

THUD!

The impact felt as if he’d struck a stone heavily wrapped in cotton.

The immense recoil made the webbing between Lu Yuan’s thumb and forefinger ache fiercely!

The strange woman, who had almost lunged at his face, was sent flying by the blow.

Even her "head" was knocked clean off.

No, wait...

What flew off was just a clump of black hair.

Something whitish, resembling a large piece of scalp, seemed to be stuck to it.

PANT, PANT—

Lu Yuan’s heart pounded as he gasped for breath, profound shock etched on his face.

This sudden series of events was like walking home from school as a child and suddenly finding a huge pit appearing right in front of him. He hadn’t had time to stop, but thankfully, he’d reacted quickly, narrowly managing to step over it. Looking back at the pit, his heart filled with a mixture of relief, terror, and exhilaration.

He quickly raised his phone’s flashlight, shining it towards the "woman" he had just sent flying with the steel bar.

There, in a dusty corner of the alley, crouched a deformed, grotesque figure.

Its limbs were long, its fingers and toes also elongated and pointed, apparently covered in dense, fine black fur.

GRIND, GRIND— GRIND, GRIND—

The creature cowered in the corner, clutching its head, continuously making a sound like teeth grinding hard.

It seemed pained by Lu Yuan’s earlier blow.

But even its display of pain was shocking and terrifying, nothing like how a normal human would react.

The more Lu Yuan observed it, the more alarmed he became.

He began to back away slowly, step by step.

Just as he was retreating, the monster in the corner suddenly lifted the head it had cradled in its arms.

CRACK—

Lu Yuan froze mid-step.

For an instant, it was as if he’d been struck by something immense; his muscles tensed, and he stood rooted to the spot.

It was a face beyond anything human imagination could conjure.

Rotting, pustule-ridden, pockmarked, and uneven. It had no lips, its jagged, sharp teeth fully exposed.

It looked as if it had been steeped in sulfuric acid, with patches of mottled black fur growing in places.

It resembled a rat, yet retained some human facial features.

Under the stark, cold white light of his phone’s flashlight, its wide eyes glinted with a vicious light, looking utterly terrifying.

Lu Yuan was struck dumb, a voice screaming desperately in his heart—

"You... you stay away from me!!"

After revealing its head, the grotesquely-featured rat man straightened up from the wall.

It was actually somewhat taller than Lu Yuan.

It wore a dark gray plaid dress, put on backward in an extremely awkward fashion.

On its bald head was a clear, sunken mark from a blow—obviously from Lu Yuan’s steel bar.

Lu Yuan suddenly understood.

This rat man must have put on a wig, hiding its face within it, then lay on its back on the ground, pretending to be gnawed by and struggling with the giant rat.

All along, those eyes had been fixed intently on me.

He recalled the red hairpin that had lured him into the alley, deliberately dropped to make a sound...

A trap!

The word instantly leaped into Lu Yuan’s mind.

Without a shred of hesitation, he turned and fled.

He ran even faster than when he’d arrived.

His strength had grown rapidly, making him somewhat ’overly energetic’ and bursting with a desire to prove himself. He could take on petty thugs, bandits, robbers, even giant rats over a meter long, without batting an eyelid.

But this monster, completely beyond my understanding, neither human nor rat...

Better not.

Besides, this thing is clearly intelligent, knowing enough to disguise itself as a victim to lure me over for a sneak attack.

It’s obviously targeting me specifically.

Even Ultraman doesn’t go into a monster’s lair to fight!

Run!

Get out of the alley and call the police!

But the rat man was surprisingly faster than him.

As Lu Yuan fled, he heard a guttural, beastly roar erupt behind him, followed by a SCRAPE— SCRAPE— as if sharp claws were digging into the concrete, the sounds rapidly drawing nearer.

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth.

With all his might, he hurled the steel bar he was still clutching back over his shoulder.

The steel bar whistled sharply as it flew.

Lu Yuan didn’t know if it had hit its mark, but the pressing sense of danger rapidly closing in from behind seemed to lessen slightly.

He was just about to dash out of the alley.

Before Lu Yuan could even take a breath of relief, a black shadow suddenly shot past him like lightning, defying gravity as it leaped onto the top of the wall.

Then, it kicked off the wall forcefully and lunged viciously at him.

It’s the giant rat!

"Get lost!" Lu Yuan roared inwardly, throwing a hook punch.

It landed squarely on the dark shadow lunging at his face.

The impact felt like hitting an extremely elastic, heavy sandbag.

The giant rat let out a strange SKREE— and was sent flying like a cannonball.

It slammed heavily into the wall with a BANG!

But this slowed Lu Yuan’s escape.

A choking stench surged up from behind him, brushing past his cheek.

Something clamped down hard on his shoulder.

Lu Yuan barely had time to turn his head slightly, not yet seeing clearly what had grabbed his shoulder, when an immense force erupted from behind him, violently yanking him backward!

Lu Yuan watched helplessly as the alley entrance, so close just moments before and filled with the dim yellow glow of streetlights, rapidly receded into the distance...