Chapter 226 - 225: Why Is This Never-Ending?

Chapter 226: Chapter 225: Why Is This Never-Ending?

Ye Zheng had entered a killing frenzy, surrounded by a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The ground was littered with the severed limbs of Mouse Monsters.

Her emotions were already prone to spiraling out of control. Now, facing a seemingly endless swarm of Mouse Monsters, she was on the verge of a rampage. Her back arched high, causing her wings to twist and deform. ℯ

And yet, the Mouse Monsters still scrambled up, oblivious to the danger. The flesh and body parts on the ground seemed to hold a powerful attraction for them; they would risk their lives just to drag the corpses away.

Ye Zheng kept killing! And killing!

Her crimson eyes blazed like molten lava, her face devoid of all reason. The bulge on her back grew larger and larger. Amidst the grayish-brown fluff of her moth wings, the white feathers of an Angel could be faintly seen.

’This is bad. It’s too late!’ Feng Ling thought.

She turned and leaped downstairs, simultaneously shouting to Li Qing and Xu Yiming on the opposite rooftop, "Get to cover!!!"

The Cat Owl flew off in a panic, and the Cat Spider dragged its injured leg inside the building to hide.

Huangfu Miaomiao scrambled back, holding the sedative. "Here’s the sedative!" she said hurriedly.

Feng Ling gripped the windowsill, then snatched Huangfu Miaomiao by the neck. Releasing her grip—her Teeth and Claws—she wrapped her arms around Huangfu Miaomiao as they plummeted! In mid-air, she bit onto a second-floor window frame, smashed through the glass, and burst inside.

Huangfu Miaomiao was completely stunned. Her lower body was still in its Ghost Shadow Form.

Just as she was about to ask Feng Ling what was going on, Feng Ling suddenly ducked into a corner, yanking her down by the neck and forcing her to the floor!

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!—

The ground suddenly began to shake violently! A terrifying wave of heat surged into the room, instantly searing the air.

Huangfu Miaomiao, her heart pounding in terror, huddled in Feng Ling’s arms, feeling like she was about to be cooked alive.

Why?

What was happening?!

What in the world was going on?!

Before Huangfu Miaomiao could figure anything out, she heard Feng Ling ask, "Where’s the sedative?"

"Ah... Oh, oh..." She paused, stunned, before snapping out of it. She quickly got up and handed the sedative to Feng Ling. "Here it is..."

Feng Ling took the sedative and started running back to the rooftop. "Go check if Xu Yiming and the Daoist are okay!" she yelled as she ran.

Huangfu Miaomiao got up and went to the window. She saw that at least half of the opposite building’s exterior wall was charred black, and the PVC pipes on the wall had been burned to cinders.

She finally realized what had happened. That massive explosion... Ye Zheng had lost control.

「...」

Feng Ling reached the rooftop platform without pausing for breath and saw Ye Zheng collapsed on the ground.

Clearly, the Blazing Angel skill had drained all of Ye Zheng’s energy.

The nearby Mouse Monsters had been incinerated by the superheated White Flame. Even the corpses were now little more than cracker crumbs. The remaining living monsters were likely stunned into submission and had yet to reappear.

Feng Ling drew closer and saw that the moth wings on Ye Zheng’s back had been burned away. The line of her spine was flat again, but a few sharp, white feathers now protruded from where her shoulder blades were.

—The genes within Ye Zheng’s body were still fighting for control. As long as this battle raged, Ye Zheng’s suffering would never end.

Feng Ling had no time for such thoughts. She first gave Ye Zheng an injection of the sedative, then picked her up, strode to the edge of the rooftop, and took a great leap, landing on the rooftop of the adjacent building.

The height difference between the two buildings was a little much, even for her. Her legs felt slightly numb upon landing.

Carrying Ye Zheng, she went downstairs and found Li Qing and Xu Yiming in a room on the fourth floor.

The two had dodged the White Flame, but as Xu Yiming was closing the door, the force of the explosion had slammed the door into his back, leaving several bloody scratches. Huangfu Miaomiao was getting medicine for him.

Feng Ling laid Ye Zheng on the floor, got a restorative injection from Huangfu Miaomiao, and administered it to Ye Zheng.

Xu Yiming winced in pain and asked, "What just happened? What exploded all of a sudden?"

"It was a Card Ability. Lost control of it while killing those Mouse Monsters." Feng Ling downplayed the event and continued, "We don’t know when those humanoid mice will be back. We need to find a safe house as soon as possible, or this war of attrition will wear us down sooner or later."

Just as she intended, Xu Yiming’s attention shifted. He sighed. "You’re right, we need to find a safe house fast. These Mouse Monsters are a real pain to deal with."

Li Qing said, "We should look for a higher place. These humanoid mice aren’t strong climbers. If we block the stairs, they can only come up the outer walls, which should make defending relatively easier."

Feng Ling nodded. "Exactly. We can find the highest rooftop around to use as a temporary base, then search the vicinity for a safe house."

Xu Yiming thought for a moment, then also nodded in agreement.

Feng Ling looked at Huangfu Miaomiao and said, "I’m leaving this to you. Go out and find the tallest building in this area, then lead us to it."

Huangfu Miaomiao felt both scared and excited. Scared because she would have to act alone again, and excited because Feng Ling herself had given her the mission.

She couldn’t help but stammer, "Wh-what if I run into the Mouse Monsters...?"

"Your Ghost Shadow Form is unique. The humanoid Mouse Monsters don’t seem to be as sensitive to you. Go give it a try," Feng Ling said calmly. "Besides, when we were on the truck at the beginning, the Mouse Monsters here didn’t attack us. It was only when I sent you and Zhengzheng upstairs that they suddenly went crazy. It was the same in the other building—it was full of them, but they didn’t start attacking until I entered the second floor. So, as long as you stick to the streets, you probably won’t be in any danger."

"Are you saying these Mouse Monsters are territorial?" Li Qing couldn’t help but ask.

Feng Ling shook her head. "I’m not sure. It’s just a guess."

Xu Yiming raised a question: "We’ve killed all the Mouse Monsters in this building now. Even if they are territorial, shouldn’t they have calmed down?"

"Not necessarily. Think about last night," Feng Ling said. "Last night, a few Mouse Monsters appeared to attack our truck every few minutes. We fought from midnight until 4 a.m. before it stopped. I feel like this is by design, a feature of the system. Unless we eliminate every single Mouse Monster in the entire Maze, there’s no telling if more will pop up from somewhere else to fight for this territory in the next minute."

She had barely finished speaking when a RUSTLE, RUSTLE came from the direction of the stairs.

"I just had to open my big mouth..." Feng Ling muttered, getting up and walking out of the room.

The wooden furniture barricading the hallway was trembling. Another group of Mouse Monsters had arrived from downstairs. They clawed and gnawed desperately, trying to squeeze through the gaps in the furniture, wanting to charge and pounce on Feng Ling.

"They’re back!" Xu Yiming was at his wit’s end. Killing a single Mouse Monster was no problem for him, but he couldn’t stand these endless, successive waves!

"Looks like we can’t stay in the building. We have to get out," Feng Ling said after a moment’s thought. She looked at Xu Yiming and Li Qing. "I’ll draw them away. You two take Zhengzheng, get downstairs first, and we’ll figure it out from there."