24: Chapter 24: Skinny Monkey Goes Berserk, Unleashing a Powerful Kill!

Crack!

A crisp sound rang out.

Chu Xuan had just adjusted to the blinding light when he saw Skinny Monkey grab a beer bottle from nowhere. After smashing it, he charged toward Chu Xuan with large strides.

Chu Xuan felt something was wrong.

Skinny Monkey had clearly been as thin as a bamboo pole before, with barely any meat on his bones, looking loose and flabby. But now, his muscles were taut and congested, with lines as distinct as steel wires, resembling Bruce Lee in the movies.

Especially his speed; he was truly like a monkey—nimble and agile. In the blink of an eye, he circled to Chu Xuan's side, the jagged edge of the broken beer bottle aimed straight at Chu Xuan's temple as he thrust his hand forward.

Chu Xuan was inwardly startled. He instinctively leaned aside to dodge while gripping his fruit knife tightly in his right hand, stabbing hard at Skinny Monkey's abdomen. However, Skinny Monkey's speed was too fast; not only did he easily evade the strike, but he also managed a counter-slash.

Chu Xuan subconsciously leaned back and retreated, feeling a cold sensation on his cheek as if a cut had been opened.

"You son of a bitch!"

With an angry roar, Tang Zheng rushed over. Before he even arrived, a stool came flying from the corner of the room.

Skinny Monkey's eyes were bloodshot, his face hideous and ferocious. With a single wave of his hand, he swatted away the incoming stool. As if he couldn't feel pain, he continued to charge at Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan's pupils constricted. In an instant, he remembered the description of Berserk from the three transcendent skill options the System had given him when he first killed a monster.

[Berserk: Activating this state increases your Strength and Agility attributes by 50% and reduces pain perception by 50%. (Note: A weakling like you can maintain this for 30 seconds at most, after which you will fall into a state of lethargy. Young man, your stamina still needs improvement.)]

Damn it!

This guy must have activated Berserk!

Estimating based on the average values of an ordinary adult, this guy's strength might still be inferior to his own, but his agility was likely far superior.

Looking at Skinny Monkey's desperate stance, he was clearly going all out, wanting to kill Chu Xuan before the others could arrive.

"Fuck!"

Chu Xuan's ferocity was also triggered. With a ruthless expression and knowing his agility was inferior, he simply stopped trying to dodge and met the attack head-on. He raised his left hand to grab the bottle, and his palm was instantly pierced by the sharp glass shards.

At the same time, Chu Xuan thrust his right hand forward.

Puchi!

The knife stabbed directly into Skinny Monkey's abdomen.

Although the tip of the fruit knife had long since broken off, under the influence of Chu Xuan's 9 points of strength, it met no resistance. It instantly pierced through clothing and skin, the entire blade sinking in completely.

Skinny Monkey remained completely unmoved, attempting to pull back the broken beer bottle. However, Chu Xuan's fingers were like hooks, gripping the bottle tightly as blood flowed freely from his wound.

Skinny Monkey still tried to struggle for control, but Chu Xuan's fingertips suddenly exerted force.

Crack!

The remaining half of the beer bottle was crushed by sheer force, leaving only the neck. Skinny Monkey's eyes were vicious as he tried to swing and stab again, but it was too late. His arm had just begun to rise when it became immobilized.

Chu Xuan completely ignored the blood spurting from his left hand and tightly clamped down on the other's wrist.

"Why won't you just die?!"

Chu Xuan's eyes bulged as he twisted and pulled out the fruit knife, stabbing it into the other's abdomen again. After three consecutive stabs, he felt Skinny Monkey's struggling strength significantly diminish, so he directly slashed the knife across his throat.

Skinny Monkey tried to dodge, but one of his wrists was held firmly by Chu Xuan. He could only barely lean his neck back. As the blade swept across, a large gash was torn into his throat. A mist of blood instantly filled the air, spraying all over Chu Xuan's face.

"Ah!!" Skinny Monkey was still not dead, roaring and struggling with facial features twisted like a demon.

"Shut the fuck up!"

With a curse, Tang Zheng rushed to Skinny Monkey's back, reached out to grab his hair, and followed up with a heavy kick to the back of his knee. Skinny Monkey couldn't keep his footing and fell to one knee on the spot.

"Kill him quickly!" Tang Zheng pulled Skinny Monkey's head back with one hand and pushed up on the back of his neck with the other, leaving the throat completely exposed and unable to break free.

Without needing Tang Zheng's reminder, Chu Xuan had already seized the opportunity. He thrust the knife straight through with incredibly practiced technique. Amidst the gushing blood, another head was forcibly wrenched off.

Immediately afterward, Skinny Monkey's corpse twisted eerily. His skin began to tear and expand, eventually turning into a massive, hideous monster.

[You have killed an Eerie Clone. Your spirituality value +12.]

[Current spirituality value: 14 (Exchangeable)]

After confirming the kill, Chu Xuan immediately checked the System page. There seemed to have been a notification about his health decreasing just now, but the situation had been too urgent for him to be a Divided Soul.

[You have sustained minor damage. Health -1]

[Current Health: 79]

It was fine; a small wound didn't really count as an injury and was well within his tolerance.

"We finally killed this thing. We were already blocking the door and hiding in the room, yet one of us could still be parasitized. I really don't know how many more of these monsters there are."

Tang Zheng panted heavily with his hands on his knees, then looked at Chu Xuan with a smile: "I really couldn't tell before, but you're actually quite tough."

Chu Xuan wasn't so lighthearted and ignored Tang Zheng.

Instead, he was thinking about why, back in the dream, Chen Qing had chosen to self-harm after getting the fruit knife rather than activating Berserk to go on a killing spree.

But then he remembered the note regarding the 'Berserk' skill when he was choosing his transcendent skills—

"A weakling like you can maintain this for 30 seconds at most..."

Chen Qing's Physique was much worse than his own; he might not even be able to last 30 seconds. Plus, with Tang Zheng—someone with high base combat power and extensive fighting experience—present, that was likely why the other party hadn't directly bared his fangs.

In this way, although the Berserk skill was strong and could briefly and significantly increase combat power, the side effects were also extreme, even for monsters.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Chu Xuan's gaze swept over the crowd. He found that the others were also still shaken, only now daring to relax. Mixed with blood and sweat, they looked as pathetic as could be.

Looking around the room, besides Skinny Monkey who had turned into a monster, there were four corpses lying on the ground. Three of them had died horribly, with half their heads gnawed off, large holes in their abdomens, and their viscera eaten away.

The last person was relatively intact, but his waist and hips were a mess of mangled flesh, as if they had been flattened. His bones were crushed, and a large amount of blood pooled beneath him.

His eyes were full of tears, his face written with despair and pain, and he moaned indistinctly: "Save me... save me..."

"You're beyond saving."

Xu Zhiyou stood before him, shaking his head with a sigh. "He Yuan, I told you long ago to listen to Chu Xuan. You clearly didn't have the ability, yet you insisted on acting on your own. Who can you blame for all this now?"

"Save... me..."

Clang!

The monster was dead, and the dormitory's seal was lifted. The iron door, which was dented, deformed, and even had a hole in it, finally crashed to the floor after losing the support of the iron bunk beds.

Along with the booming sound of the iron door hitting the ground, He Yuan's last breath was completely cut off.

Thus, of the thirteen people who had come down from the fourth floor, only six survived this half-hour of darkness:

Chu Xuan, Tang Zheng, Xu Zhiyou, Yang Huancheng, He Ruhai, and Chen Yinghao.

"Everyone, stay alert. Now is not the time to rest. Everyone, quickly gather our homemade lighting and get ready to move out."

Chu Xuan called out, then endured the pain to pull out the larger glass shards from his palm one by one. The tearing pain made Chu Xuan frown involuntarily as blood spurted out again.

[You are taking continuous damage. Health -1]

[Current Health: 78]

Damn it!

Chu Xuan cursed inwardly. He didn't bother with the smaller glass shards and tore a long strip of cloth from his hem, skillfully wrapping and binding the wound.

The others watched, their eyelids twitching.

Xu Zhiyou suggested: "The palmar artery must have been injured. Maybe we should find a first-aid kit first to disinfect and bandage it properly, otherwise it'll be bad if it gets infected."