Chapter 378: The Terrifying Old Monster

At the Church Entrance

Since Wang Yong recognized the place, Shui Miao brought him along.

But as night fell, Wang Yong’s aging eyesight and mobility worsened significantly.

Shui Miao examined the church door’s lock and found it strangely open. A sudden chill ran through him—something was wrong. Earlier in the day, the door had definitely been locked, yet now the iron chain had vanished without a trace.

Could those two monsters have already escaped?

Or had someone else entered?

Shui Miao immediately spread his spiritual awareness and detected a woman inside the basement—it was none other than Lin Xue!

“What the hell! Is she trying to get herself killed?”

Shui Miao quickly pushed open the church doors and rushed inside with Wang Yong.

Wang Yong took out his phone, using its screen’s light to illuminate their way as he followed closely behind Shui Miao.

※※※

“What is this?”

Lin Xue, shining her flashlight around, suddenly noticed a yellowed newspaper. It was an old September 1979 edition. On it, someone had roughly drawn a portrait in ink, and beside it were three characters: “You Tiaozi.”

“What does this mean? Could it have some hidden significance?”

Lin Xue was a former police officer, so the sight of this old newspaper immediately raised her suspicions.

“Ahh!”

Suddenly, she felt something soft brushing against her bare foot. Startled, she shook her foot repeatedly. Shining her flashlight down, she saw a large black rat, longer than chopsticks. By sheer coincidence, her foot had landed right on it. The rat retaliated with a bite, drawing blood from Lin Xue’s foot.

After being stomped on several times by Lin Xue, the rat finally died.

But Lin Xue’s foot hurt badly.

At that moment, Shui Miao and Wang Yong rushed in. Seeing Lin Xue injured, Shui Miao felt both angry and anxious. “Big sister Lin, what exactly are you trying to do? You know this place is dangerous, yet you still dared to come alone?”

“Oh no, this is a real problem now… a real problem…”

Wang Yong picked up the dead rat and pointed at its mouth. “Look, its teeth are black. This rat came from a tomb. I was bitten by one of these rats as a child, nearly losing my life. Now, Lin Xue, you’ve been poisoned. Quickly, press your thighs with both hands to stop the poison from spreading upward.”

“What? Are you saying I’m going to become a vampire zombie?”

Lin Xue had initially been terrified, but after hearing Wang Yong’s words, she suddenly became excited.

“What? You’re thinking about that now?” Shui Miao found this utterly perplexing and couldn’t help exclaiming, “Are you really the same Lin Jie I know?”

“A vampire?” Wang Yong looked at Lin Xue with a wry smile. “Don’t get me wrong. After being poisoned by this rat, people really do turn into blood-sucking creatures. But instead of becoming a vampire, you’ll transform into a giant rat. You’ll lose all your previous memories and become extremely terrifying!”

“What? Are you saying I won’t become a vampire zombie?”

“That’s right! The monster does suck blood, but it’s nothing like the vampires you see in movies. Eventually, you’ll turn into a rat exactly like this one, just bigger.” Wang Yong picked up the newspaper from the floor to wrap the rat, but suddenly noticed the portrait and the three characters “You Tiaozi.” His hands began to tremble. “It’s them! It’s really them! They’ve come looking for me!!”

“What? Dad, you really know them? This coincidence seems too incredible!” Shui Miao was equally astonished, never expecting that fate would lead him to help Wang Yong find those who had come searching for him.

“Heaven! Is this really true? Are you joking with me? They really came looking for me!”

Wang Yong was so moved he began to cry.

For years, he had never forgotten those friends and had even gone searching for them, but never found them.

“Dad, I know where they went. They probably went to eat tofu pudding. I sensed their conversation earlier today.” Shui Miao clearly remembered their conversation.

“Great! Great! Let’s go find them right now. Oh, and Shui Miao, carry Lin Xue. She’s been poisoned by the rat, and the toxin has already entered her bloodstream. She mustn’t walk anymore. Here, quickly use your belt to tie her leg and prevent the blood from flowing upward.” Wang Yong, excited at the news that his old friends had gone for tofu pudding, wrapped the rat in the newspaper. “This rat’s poison is quite unique. We must burn it in fire for a while to completely eliminate the toxin.”

“There’s no need for such trouble to remove the poison.”

Shui Miao placed his hand on Lin Xue’s thigh and began circulating his immortal energy downward. Soon, black blood oozed from the wound on her toe. Under the effect of the immortal energy, the blood quickly dissipated into the air.

Even the wound on Lin Xue’s foot healed completely.

“Ha ha! Great! This means the others can be saved too!”

Seeing how powerful Shui Miao was, Wang Yong became extremely excited.

Thanks to Shui Miao’s treatment, Lin Xue’s wound healed quickly, leaving no trace of injury—she had only suffered a momentary scare.

※※※

In a small alley not far away, inside a dumpling shop, an old man and a young boy were eating dumplings.

The old man ate quickly, while the boy ate heartily.

After finishing their meal, the old monster placed twenty yuan on the table and left with the young monster.

The old monster kept his head down, unwilling for anyone to see his eyes.

But the young monster was a bit mischievous. As they reached the door, he couldn’t help looking up when he heard a pleasant-sounding female voice. The moment he looked, the girl screamed in terror. Realizing the danger, the old monster immediately grabbed the young one and ran.

Unfortunately, a spotted hunting dog being walked by its owner suddenly broke free from its leash and began chasing the two monsters relentlessly.

Chu Miaoyi, who had come driving to find Lin Xue along with two police officers from the bureau, saw people fleeing and assumed they were thieves, immediately pursuing them in their patrol car.

The young monster quickly grew tired, so the old monster picked him up, slung him onto his back, and with one powerful leap, landed on a taxi. Then, he jumped onto a bus, and from there onto a balcony of a residential building. Climbing upward, he reached the rooftop, moving faster than a rat. In an instant, they vanished from sight.

The buildings along the street were closely spaced, allowing the old monster to leap across rooftops. He reached a quiet spot and slowly climbed down from the wall.

But just as they descended, they saw a young man smiling at them.

This young man was none other than Shui Miao.

“Again you?” The old monster recognized Shui Miao and bared his teeth, revealing a vicious expression. “Kid, don’t think you’re invincible just because you’ve cultivated. If I want you dead, you will die!”

“Is that so?” Shui Miao smiled slightly. “You sound so confident—I’d love to test your strength.”

“This is your own death wish!”

Suddenly, the old monster’s figure flickered and vanished from sight!

“Hmm?”

Unable to sense the old monster’s presence with his spiritual perception, Shui Miao was shocked and immediately focused all his immortal energy to prepare for an attack.

“Die!”

The old monster suddenly reappeared mid-air, diving down like a hawk hunting prey, his pitch-black, shiny claws aiming directly at Shui Miao’s throat…

“Oh no!”

Shui Miao was greatly startled, never expecting the old monster’s strength to be so terrifying!