Waking up abruptly, Su Li found his back was damp. He quickly scrambled to his feet, realizing the dampness on the surrounding floor had intensified; the quilt he had spread on the ground was now mostly wet.
Although the windows were blocked by the cabinet and bed, a faint light filtered through, brightening the room considerably. Clearly, it was already broad daylight outside.
The knocking outside grew louder. It was the fierce shaking sound caused by something slamming into the security door in the living room.
Su Li's heart tightened. He picked up the cleaver and the iron hammer, opened the bedroom door, and walked into the living room.
Sunlight streaming in from the opposite balcony dispersed much of the gloom in Su Li's heart, and even his original sense of fear was greatly reduced.
Su Li watched the security door vibrating and couldn't help but tighten his grip on the cleaver and iron hammer. It was likely a transformed monster hitting the door. He had already acquired four Spiritual Sources; he only needed to absorb one more to reach Spiritual Source 5/5. What change would occur then?
He secretly hoped that what was striking the door outside was, in fact, a transformed monster.
He looked through the peephole of the security door.
Then, he gasped sharply.
Through the peephole, he saw that the long corridor outside was full of figures. At a glance, there were at least seven or eight of them.
These figures, men and women, old and young, were soaking wet all over, their faces pale and swollen. They stared with lifeless, motionless dead fish-eyes, their expressions vacant and devoid of life. They were all transformed monsters.
Su Li had never expected so many transformed monsters to gather in the corridor outside. He even spotted a familiar face among them.
It was a relatively young woman, the very fashionable young woman who lived next door to him. Su Li had seen her a few times but never knew her name.
Seeing her suddenly as one of the transformed monsters, wandering in the corridor, a sudden, indescribable sorrow surged in Su Li's heart.
Although he had already encountered several transformed monsters, he hadn't known those individuals, so the feeling wasn't strong. But seeing a once-familiar person dead and turned into a monster now felt like a blockage in his heart—a profound sadness.
The security door was vibrating violently; these transformed monsters were incredibly strong and were continuously slamming into the door.
Su Li felt cold all over. Through the peephole, he could see that the monsters were not only hitting his security door but also the one next door, where the young, fashionable woman used to live.
As for the security door of the young couple's apartment, which was open, he periodically saw monsters entering and leaving, moving around like wandering spirits.
"What do I do? So many monsters…"
Su Li backed away, his scalp tingling. He glanced at the balcony nearby. Although it would be difficult for these monsters to crash through the security door, if they were a little smarter, they could easily enter the water and climb in through the window.
Realizing this, Su Li quickly exerted force to lift the sofa in the living room. With the 300 to 400 jin (approx. 330 to 440 pounds) of strength he now possessed in his arms, moving the sofa was easy. He pushed it to block the balcony window. Although it couldn't fully stop the transformed monsters, it was better than nothing.
He then moved the coffee table, stood it upright in the bathroom, and used it to block the small bathroom window as well.
"Even if I can't completely block them, if a monster rushes in, I'll hear the noise. The most dangerous thing is if these monsters sneak in without my notice."
Su Li moved everything he could in the apartment to the windows, thoroughly blocking every large and small opening.
After he finished, drenched in sweat, he suddenly realized that the sound of slamming on the security door in the corridor had stopped.
Su Li hurriedly rushed over, looking through the peephole again. The corridor was empty and silent, with only the damp floor remaining. The monsters that had just been attacking the door had vanished.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the sofa blocking the balcony window shook.
"They're here," Su Li's heart tightened, yet he felt a subtle sense of anticipation.
A pale, bloated hand reached in over the top of the sofa.
Su Li charged forward, leaning his body firmly against the sofa to hold it in place.
Soon, a second hand reached in through the window, gripping the sofa.
This was quickly followed by violent impacts on the sofa, with the force rapidly increasing. Su Li couldn't hold it. He watched as the sofa and he himself were pushed aside, and a soaking wet transformed monster climbed inside.
Behind it, more transformed monsters were desperately trying to squeeze in.
Su Li raised the cleaver and brought it down on the head of the first monster that charged in.
Even though he knew he couldn't hold off so many transformed monsters, he couldn't retreat. He had to fight for his life; there might be a glimmer of hope.
This was because he was only one Spiritual Source away from reaching five Spiritual Sources, and according to the message in his mind, absorbing five Spiritual Sources might trigger some kind of change—this was his only chance for survival.
Of course, if his guess was wrong, or if the change wasn't what he needed, then he would die here today. After all, he had a chance in a one-on-one or even a one-on-two fight, but a fight against a horde of transformed monsters was a certain death.
The monster was agile; it turned its body, raised its right arm, and actively used it to shield its head against the cleaver attack.
The monster's only fatal weakness was its head; injuries elsewhere, no matter how severe, had no effect.
The cleaver sliced into the monster's raised right arm, sinking deep into it. Su Li's iron hammer in his right hand immediately followed, slamming down onto the monster's forehead.
Since yesterday, he had battled four transformed monsters. As these monsters continuously grew stronger, Su Li was also growing stronger, having accumulated some experience since his initial panic.
He had deliberately used the cleaver first, guessing that the monster would react by dodging or blocking the cleaver. His true killing blow was the iron hammer that immediately followed.
His guess proved correct this time. The monster blocked the cleaver but didn't have time to dodge or block the iron hammer.
Su Li used nearly all his strength in this strike. With one blow, the monster's forehead immediately cracked open with the crisp sound of bone shattering. Blood and a mixture of white brain matter sprayed out.
The monster stumbled forward and collapsed heavily. Immediately following this monster, two more transformed monsters furiously rushed forward.
At the same moment, the sofa was rolled over and tossed aside. Su Li looked out the balcony window and saw transformed monsters crowding together everywhere. At a glance, there were at least five or six of them, making him gasp with fright, his heart clenching and his spine turning cold.
(End of Chapter)