The thatched hut was black as if someone had poured ink into it. Only a few dull red embers remained in the stove, pulsing faintly, rising and falling like the heart of something on the brink of death.
Wei already had half his body inside the tunnel beneath the floor. Only his head was still exposed.
At that moment, a hoarse voice sounded outside the door, rough and grating, like bone scraping against bone.
"Lin…"
Just one word, yet it pierced Wei's heart like an ice spike.
Cold sweat exploded across his back.
How does it know my father's name
It knows him
It recognizes him
Wei did not dare crawl any farther. Instead, his fingers tightened around the edge of the wooden plank, and he cautiously lifted his head to peer outside.
Boom.
The wooden door did not just fly open.
It exploded.
The door burst outward, as if hit by a siege ram.
Lin had already moved.
He launched a flying kick.
The humanoid shadow was caught off guard. It was thrown backward several steps. Blood sprayed from its mouth and vanished into the dark.
Wei let out a breath he did not know he was holding.
So they were not invincible.
A furious, beastlike roar tore through the air. The creature lunged again. Its five claws stretched out like short, curved blades. They glowed with a cold green light in the darkness.
A wave of rank, bloody stench rushed forward with the attack.
"Hah."
Lin growled low. He did not dodge. He did not retreat. His hunting knife flashed. A pale arc of light cut through the dark as he drove the blade straight at the creature's chest.
Wei's heart nearly jumped out of his throat.
He had never seen his father fight like this.
So reckless.
So desperate.
As if he were ready to trade his life for one strike.
The creature slashed sideways at Lin's wrist. It moved too fast to see clearly. The air ripped apart with a sharp scream.
Lin changed his move at once. He twisted aside. The blade shifted and sliced into the creature's forearm.
Steel cut flesh.
A thin spray of black blood burst out.
The scream that followed was unbearable. It sounded like sandpaper grinding straight against the ears.
Lin did not let up.
A second slash.
A third.
Every strike drew blood.
Then the fourth blow fell—
Clang.
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
Bronze armor had formed on the creature's forearm at some point. Sparks flew. The knife blade chipped, a clear notch bitten out of its edge.
Lin did not hesitate.
He drove a kick into the creature's chest. It crashed backward and slammed into the earthen wall. Half the wall collapsed.
The entire exchange lasted only a heartbeat.
Wei's blood burned as he watched. He forgot the pain tugging at his pant leg. He forgot everything else.
Lin had already pushed out onto the grass beyond the doorway, forcing the creature back again.
Then Wei saw something that made his scalp crawl.
A claw hung down from the shadow under the eaves.
He rubbed his eyes hard.
It was not a trick.
The thing clung upside down to the thatched roof like a gecko. Its joints bent the wrong way. Its head hung low. Pale, vertical pupils stared down without blinking.
It did not move.
It was waiting.
Waiting for Lin to make a mistake.
Waiting for the killing blow.
At the same time, the creature on the ground lunged again. It pressed forward hard, trying to pin all of Lin's attention to the front.
"Dad! Above!"
Wei screamed until his throat tore.
At that exact moment, the roof exploded.
Thatch flew apart with a violent crash.
The second monster dropped like a cannonball. Its claws reached straight for the back of Lin's head.
Lin spun around in panic. He barely got the knife up in time.
Rip.
The claws ripped through his right shoulder. Flesh and cloth were torn away together. Blood burst out like a high pressure spray and soaked half his body in red.
Lin gave a dull grunt. The knife slipped from his hand and vanished into the dark.
He kicked backward hard, forcing the attacker away. Using the recoil, he leapt back into the hut.
At that moment, the smartest choice was clear. He should roll, disappear into the night, and run as far as he could.
But he chose wrong.
He stopped in the doorway.
He stood there like a door guardian, already cracked and about to break.
The two monsters closed in. One from the front. One from behind. Their steps were staggered and careful, like a hunting pattern drilled into them long ago.
Their shoulders rose and fell with each breath. Deep in their throats came a low, excited gurgle. It was the sound of beasts holding back their joy before a kill.
"I have never killed a man like him before," the one in front said. It tilted its head and smiled. Fangs glimmered in the gloom. "If I bring him back, do I get promoted?"
"In your dreams." The monster behind licked its lips. Its voice was thick with hunger. "I want the first bite."
There was no way out.
Lin's breathing turned rough. His voice hardened.
"You little bastards. Didn't I tell you to get out of here?"
Chun panicked. She tore a strip from her clothes and pressed it to Lin's shoulder.
Blood soaked her hands at once.
Lin tried to move his right arm.
It would not lift.
With his left hand, he pulled a blackened ceramic jar from inside his coat.
"Chun. I need a lit piece of wood."
"Lin,"
the monster in front sneered, its mouth stretching wide. The mockery sounded disturbingly human, but with an undertone like metal grinding against metal.
"You are old!"
Worse still, behind them, more shapes began to surface in the darkness. Five or six vague silhouettes emerged.
The sound of bowstrings being drawn grew tight and dense, like falling rain.
The arrowheads glimmered with something faintly green.
Wei's teeth were chattering. He knew exactly what his father was about to do.
He hated himself at that moment.
He stood there like an idiot behind his father, utterly useless.
He wrapped his arms over his head and broke down, tears streaming uncontrollably.
Lin laughed.
It was a very faint laugh.
"I'm getting too old for this?"
He suddenly lit the fuse of the ceramic jar.
Both monsters' pupils contracted at the same time.
"Wei Take Chun and run!"
His voice was hoarse beyond recognition.
At the same moment, Lin hurled himself at the monster in front like a mad dog that no longer cared about its own life.
"Run!"
Wei's entire body shook violently.
From deep in the night came the sharp snap of a bowstring breaking free.
The first arrow tore through the air.
Its tip was aimed straight at Lin's head.
The second. The third.
Some were aimed at his body. Others were aimed into the hut, toward the terrified children.
Wei stared into the peril soaked darkness. At his father fighting with everything he had. At the blood slick claws ripping through the air. At the poisoned arrows screaming as they flew.
The first arrow cut through the air, its tip glowing faintly green in the firelight, racing straight toward the center of Lin's forehead.
In that instant, Wei's vision suddenly went black.
A piercing, shrill ringing exploded deep inside his ears, as if countless needles were stabbing directly into his brain.
He instinctively reached up to cover his ears, but his fingers touched something warm and wet first.
Wei froze.
Then—
The first arrow was knocked aside, as if struck by an invisible hand.
Its path twisted in midair.
It skimmed Lin's scalp and slammed into the thatch above him. The shaft buried itself deep and shook violently.
In the next instant, one of the humanoid shadows froze.
The claw it had been swinging to kill suddenly twisted in midair, as if grabbed by something unseen.
The claw turned back on itself.
It drove straight into its own throat.
There was no pause.
No scream.
The sharp fingers tore through flesh. Blood and torn tissue burst out.
The creature pulled hard.
Its entire windpipe came free.
Ripped out in a single, brutal motion.