Chapter 105: Life-and-Death Battle

Chapter 105: Life-and-Death Battle

Gunfire erupted instantly, as dense as popping beans.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, everyone felt their vision blur—the creature had vanished without a trace.

"Quick, it's in the trees!" Chen Shouyi shouted urgently, his expression grim.

The speed of this Otherworld monster was astonishing. If not for Chen Shouyi's unwavering focus on its movements, he wouldn't have been able to track it at all.

By the time the gun barrels swung toward the colossal tree, the creature had already nimbly leaped to another.

This was a high-end residential area with excellent landscaping, filled with lush trees and verdant shade. The monster bounded and climbed effortlessly, closing in on the crowd in mere breaths.

Its fangs glinted faintly, its face twisted into a snarl as it fixed its gaze on them.

Clearly, it had no intention of fleeing. It was here to kill those who had attacked it.

Then, whether due to inexperience or sheer panic, one of the special police officers suddenly hurled a stun grenade. It landed with a deafening blast and a blinding flash.

Chen Shouyi's vision whited out momentarily, his ears ringing.

His face paled. This was bad.

By the time his sight cleared, the bizarre creature had disappeared again.

A sudden, agonized scream pierced the air.

Chen Shouyi whipped his head toward the sound. A sniper crouched on the wall now had most of his neck torn away, the gruesome wound exposing a bloodied spine.

A dozen meters from the corpse, a blurred figure scrambled toward another special police officer with terrifying speed. The officer hadn't even registered the threat before razor-sharp claws lashed out like lightning, tearing through his chest and sending his body flying through the air.

Seizing the brief moment the creature paused, Chen Shouyi nocked an arrow and loosed it—only for the monster to tilt its body slightly and evade with ease.

Its head turned slightly, locking eyes with Chen Shouyi.

The sheer malice in that gaze sent a chill down his spine.

He knew he was now its target.

Though the sequence felt drawn out, only half a second had passed from the first scream to Chen Shouyi's shot. By then, the special police officers finally reacted.

"On the wall! Open fire!"

Another barrage of gunfire erupted, but it was futile. The reaction speed of ordinary humans was far too slow, and the monster was cunning—it clearly understood firearms. The moment the guns aimed its way, it leaped off the wall and vanished.

Fear thickened the air. Heavy breaths and grim faces surrounded Chen Shouyi. Some of the younger officers trembled, their gun barrels shaking.

Chen Shouyi's expression darkened.

Damn it. He should've left this mess earlier. The mission was canceled—why had he stuck around?

Now, walking away would be shameful.

And with lives dropping one after another, he couldn't bring himself to turn his back.

The Bureau Chief paced frantically, sweat pouring down his face like an ant on a hot pan, muttering under his breath.

"Too late... Too late... This is going to be a disaster!"

Wei Xiang also wore a grave expression as he drew a massive weapon resembling both a sword and a saber, nearly 1.5 meters long. He slowly approached Chen Shouyi and said in a deep voice, "Your archery isn’t bad. I’ll take the lead in the attack, and you provide interference."

Chen Shouyi glanced at the other man’s towering, giant-like physique. A Martial Artist of such size undoubtedly possessed immense Strength, but his Agility would undoubtedly be lacking. Staring intently ahead, Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but voice his doubt, "This is life or death—no joking around. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Wei Xiang glanced at the special police officers still engaged in combat nearby and replied indifferently, "I don’t know. But let me give you a piece of advice, rookie Martial Artist: sometimes, you can’t run away. Battles between life and death—isn’t that what Martial Artists are born for?"

Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but feel a surge of respect. Whatever minor grievances he had toward Wei Xiang’s attitude vanished instantly. He knew deep down he could never measure up to such resolve.

Just then, another scream rang out. A special police officer crouching in a corner had his skull torn open by a claw, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

Chen Shouyi immediately fired another arrow, but it missed again. His Archery was far inferior to his Swordsmanship, especially against fast-moving targets—he was probably worse than most Martial Artists in that regard.

"Old Huang, order them to fall back. Continuing like this will only lead to more casualties. Leave this to me," Wei Xiang said solemnly.

Director Huang nodded grimly. At this point, they had no choice but to try anything. If they could hold out even for a moment, they had to. He could only hope Chief Consultant Cui would arrive soon. If this monster escaped the residential area, it would undoubtedly lead to a massive disaster, with countless casualties.

With that thought, he immediately barked an order, "Fall back! Everyone retreat 20 meters!"

At Director Huang’s command, all nearby special police officers—except for a few snipers positioned farther away—quickly withdrew.

Meanwhile, Wei Xiang strode forward, gripping his giant blade.

Chen Shouyi’s expression turned serious as he nocked an arrow and drew his bow, ready to provide cover. Though they might not see eye to eye, when facing an Otherworld creature, they were on the same side.

No sooner had Wei Xiang reached the doorway than a shadow darted out, lunging straight at him.

Wei Xiang was prepared. With a roar, he swung his giant blade at the blurry figure with lightning speed—only to feel the weapon slice through empty air. Undeterred, he advanced and slashed horizontally, but again, he struck nothing.

The creature retreated several meters in an instant, a mocking grin on its lips as it circled them. Then, like a phantom, it lunged again.

The two moved with incredible speed, exchanging over a dozen blows in mere moments. Wei Xiang had already sustained two wounds, blood trickling steadily from them. The most severe was a gash on his abdomen, nearly 2 centimeters deep—just shy of gutting him entirely.

"Damn it!"

His heart sank. The moment his focus wavered, he lost sight of the creature. A split second later, a fierce gust of wind howled behind his head.

"This is it!"

The thought flashed through his mind—then, with a whoosh, an arrow grazed the back of his skull, the heat searing his scalp and his ears ringing from the impact.

At the same time, a figure shot forward.

"Cover me!"

The words still echoed in his ears as two figures clashed furiously in the distance.

The battle between the man and the monster was as swift as lightning, the aftershocks of their clash even stirring up fierce winds around them.

He stood dumbfounded, but fortunately, his daze lasted only a moment before he snapped back to reality.

"Damn, newbie Martial Artists these days are all freaks!"

He quickly strode forward, picking up the War Bow Chen Shouyi had dropped. The bow felt a bit too light for him, but there was no time to retrieve his own now. He grabbed a few arrows and stuffed them into his pockets.

Drawing one, he nocked it and took aim, but the arrowhead swayed incessantly—east, west, up, down—yet the shot remained unloosed.

...

Only now did Chen Shouyi feel the overwhelming pressure.

After dozens of exchanges, his sword hadn’t even grazed a hair on the creature.

It was hyper-sensitive to danger, its reaction speed more than twice his own.

Its movements were blindingly fast, fluid as flowing water, without the slightest hesitation or pause.

If not for its small stature, lack of weapons, and reliance purely on Instinct rather than combat technique, Chen Shouyi wouldn’t have lasted half a second against it bare-handed.

Even so, he felt like a tiny boat on the verge of capsizing in a storm, teetering on the brink of disaster at every moment.

Cold sweat dripped down his face, his breathing growing increasingly ragged.

Just then, Wei Xiang—after what felt like an eternity of aiming—finally released his arrow.

Wei Xiang’s Archery skills were leagues beyond Chen Shouyi’s.

Especially since the monster, distracted by its fight with Chen Shouyi, only sensed the danger at the last second. It barely managed to evade a fatal strike to the chest, but the arrow still pierced its shoulder in an instant. The next moment, its agile movements froze in an unavoidable stagger.

"Perfect chance!"

Chen Shouyi’s eyes sharpened. With a powerful push from his feet, he lunged forward, covering over 6 meters in a single stride. Still mid-air, his sword slashed through the void, unleashing an invisible Air Blade that flashed and vanished.

The monster let out a shrill screech, darting backward—only to suddenly halt, standing motionless.

A thin line of blood slowly seeped from its forehead. Its body swayed, then—thud—it collapsed to the ground.