23: Chapter 23 Daylight Finally Arrives

When they first entered the room, there were thirteen people in total. Subtracting Huang Guangming and Han Meimei, there should have been eleven left, but now only ten people were counting off.

Where did the last person go?

Although the others didn't know what had happened, they all sensed that something was wrong, and the atmosphere instantly became tense again.

"Skinny Monkey! I didn't hear Skinny Monkey's voice. Skinny Monkey, where are you? Why didn't you count off?" Xu Zhiyou's voice rang out.

"I'm... right... here..."

A slightly strange, raspy voice came through, halting and rhythmic.

"Skinny Monkey, what's wrong with you?" Xu Zhiyou asked. "Why didn't you count off just now?"

"No... thing... just... a... bit... tired... and... a... bit... dizzy..."

As Skinny Monkey spoke, strange sounds also came from his mouth.

"Heh—heh—"

It sounded like heavy panting, mixed with snorting low growls similar to a wild beast. Everyone could tell something was wrong.

"Skinny Monkey, how do you feel right now?" Chu Xuan asked.

"Heh—heh—"

"I'm—so—tired—"

Skinny Monkey's breathing grew heavier, and his voice dragged out extremely long.

In this pitch-black environment where one couldn't see their own hand in front of their face, an indescribable sense of eeriness lingered in everyone's hearts, and their hearts were in their throats.

"Chu Xuan, Skinny Monkey's state doesn't seem right..." a trembling voice rang out.

Chu Xuan said in a deep voice, "Loosen your grip a bit, I'm going to pull the iron bed out a little. Tang Zheng, go and see if the iron door outside can still be moved."

After saying that, Chu Xuan pulled the iron bed out a few inches.

After a few seconds, Tang Zheng shouted: "No, the iron door won't move. It seems to be stuck on the door frame."

Hearing this, Chu Xuan's heart skipped a beat. Listening to the increasingly heavy breathing in the room, his scalp was already tingling.

Previously, he had always been curious about how people like Chen Qing, Xu Fan, and Fan Lei were parasitized by the monsters, and what kind of state they were in at the time.

Now there was no need to be curious, because Skinny Monkey was currently undergoing that process!

"Everyone be quiet! Skinny Monkey is being parasitized by a monster. Everyone move back against the wall and crouch down!"

Chu Xuan barked in a low voice, took out the fruit knife he had just tucked into his waist, and tilted his head to listen.

Sensing that everyone around him had retreated, and that there was heavy "huffing and puffing" breathing constantly intensifying to his front right, Chu Xuan didn't hesitate and lunged forward.

Even if it was dangerous, he had to try!

He felt himself tackle someone, but from the chest up, they were exceptionally massive. The touch was slimy and sticky. Relying on intuition, he grabbed some hair, and his two fingers hooked downward, immediately finding two holes. Going further down, there was a long mouth; Chu Xuan even felt fangs.

He slammed the fruit knife toward the neck area further down!

However, there was none of the expected sensation of the blade piercing flesh. Instead, it felt like stabbing old tree bark—incredibly tough. The tip of the knife had already been broken off before, and although it inserted a bit now, it was very sluggish.

Chu Xuan quickly changed angles and slashed horizontally with the edge, but it felt as if the blade weren't sharpened. He used a lot of strength and felt it only cut in about two or three centimeters.

"This knife won't work..."

Chu Xuan's heart sank, but he was unwilling to give up and wanted to keep trying.

Suddenly, a massive wave of fear swept through his entire body, as if he were the only person left in the whole world. His ears buzzed, and his brain began to fall into chaos.

Skinny Monkey had been completely replaced by the monster!

As the thought arose, Chu Xuan quickly retreated. After putting some distance between them, he felt the sense of fear dissipate quite a bit.

"What's going on? How could Skinny Monkey be parasitized? Are we not going to keep blocking the door..."

Someone asked several questions in succession, their voice trembling. But before they could finish, accompanied by a low beastly roar, that person let out a shrill scream.

A thick smell of blood instantly filled the entire room.

"What's the situation..." someone else cried out in alarm.

The crowd was in a panic, making sounds of knocking things over. Some remembered Chu Xuan's warning not to make noise, but others continued to ask questions, and some even wanted to open the door to escape.

"Everyone shut up! Don't make a sound! A monster that has just finished parasitizing can't see. When it finishes eating one person and starts hunting the next, you'd better hold your breath."

Chu Xuan said in a low voice. Just then, the screaming stopped, and the chewing sounds seemed to vanish as well.

Startled, Chu Xuan instinctively held his breath and crouched down to move to a different position.

Thud!

A low, dull sound came from his previous position, like something had lunged over. At the same time, a strong sense of fear rose from his heart.

The monster was right beside him!

Chu Xuan's hair stood on end. He secretly thought it was a stroke of luck; he had only moved positions out of caution, but he hadn't expected it to actually save his life.

At the same time, a doubt surfaced in his mind.

Don't monsters only hunt the next target after eating the brain and heart of their prey?

[The Night Demon hidden in the darkness has already taken notice of you. Every decision you make will be a trial of life and death!]

This sentence, which the System had mentioned before, suddenly popped into his head. Chu Xuan's eyelids twitched wildly. He realized he had been targeted and had become a must-kill objective, to the point where the monster could even temporarily set aside the temptation of feeding.

Chu Xuan didn't dare to move. The sense of fear caused his brain to keep buzzing, and countless stray thoughts filled his mind. He just relied on instinct to tightly cover his mouth and nose.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the fear in his heart receded like a tide. Chu Xuan's thoughts gradually regained clarity, and the sounds of tearing and swallowing came again from the place where the screaming had happened.

Chu Xuan quickly caught his breath.

He glanced at the time shown by the System.

[3:18:12]

There were still twelve minutes until daytime.

"The monster is inside! What are we still doing here? Let's escape together!"

"Stop listening to Chu Xuan! We clearly could have taken the keys and escaped just now, but he insisted on finding us such a death trap. He just wants to kill us!"

Someone started moving the iron bunk beds, and the harsh sound of creaking reached his ears.

Then Xu Zhiyou's voice came again: "Don't panic! Chu Xuan already said the exit door can't be opened. Have you forgotten how Huang Guangming died? Everyone, follow Chu Xuan's arrangements..."

"To hell with his arrangements! Escaping is what matters now. I don't give a damn about anything else!"

This person had clearly been scared out of their wits by the monster that had suddenly parasitized Skinny Monkey. They only wanted to escape and didn't take Chu Xuan's words to heart at all.

"..."

Arguments broke out by the door, while the monster's tearing and chewing sounds only paused for a moment before continuing, as if it hadn't heard anything, devouring flesh on its own.

An icy chill rose from Chu Xuan's heart, and he dared not move even more.

"What's wrong with this iron door? Why won't it budge..."

"Use more strength!"

"Chu Xuan, where are you? Aren't you strong? Why don't you come over and push the door with us? Are you trying to kill us on purpose?"

From the sound of it, there were still three people trying to escape, shouting and yelling incessantly.

Chu Xuan turned a deaf ear. His previous risky warning had already fulfilled his obligations. Since some people were determined to rush to their deaths, he simply stopped caring.

With people competing to attract the monster's attention, his own chances of survival would be even greater.

"Night Demon... Eerie Clone... Parasitizing living people..."

Chu Xuan murmured in his heart.

This Night Demon's ability was too terrifying. It didn't even need its main body to be present; just by splitting off a Clone, it could ignore the barrier of the iron door to parasitize a living person. The Clone even had the Mind Reading ability and could become stronger after eating people.

Where on earth did this kind of horrific monster come from?!

"Aaah!!"

A scream suddenly rang out again. Of the three people trying to escape, one had been caught by the monster.

Chu Xuan glanced at the time.

[3:23:08]

Less than seven minutes until daytime.

...

[3:27:50]

The remaining two people were still desperately pulling at the iron door, making "clatter clatter" sounds, occasionally accompanied by curses directed at Chu Xuan, as if everything they were experiencing was caused by him.

Chu Xuan's heart felt no ripples, only a single thought grew stronger and stronger.

"This world is already different! In the face of life and death, the complexity of human nature is unpredictable. Traditional moral concepts and legal awareness will only become shackles that bind oneself. To survive, one must be ruthless and decisive!"

Chu Xuan suddenly felt a flash of realization. Recalling his series of actions tonight, his methods were ultimately still too soft.

"Different eras correspond to different Laws of survival. Some traditional concepts should be thrown away..."

...

[3:28:03]

Suddenly, two cries of pain rang out in succession. Those two people had been caught together by the monster. One person's voice gradually grew weak, while the other's screams became more shrill, constantly calling for "help."

The sounds of tearing and swallowing rose and fell along with the screams.

...

[3:29:05]

The screams had disappeared, replaced by faint cries for help, while the accompanying chewing and swallowing sounds became more intense, like a wild beast excitedly feeding.

...

[3:30:00]

As the final second of 3:29 AM finally ended!

A blinding light suddenly burst forth, dispelling all darkness. Chu Xuan closed his eyes, feeling slightly unaccustomed to it. All he could still see in his vision was the time from the System prompt continuing to flash.

[3:30:01]

[3:30:02]

[3:30:03]

...