Chapter 19: Chapter 19 The Tragic Little Monster
Zhang Xiaoman was extremely anxious as he followed the sounds all the way to the underground parking garage, only to hear another scream before he could spot anything.
"Fuck!! Don't eat me!!"
Following that voice was a loud and clear singing voice.
"Who brings forth~ the ancient call~~ Who leaves behind~ a thousand years of longing..."
Along with the singing, there seemed to also be the agonized howling of a monster.
This must be Brother Hero's music playing; that kid's phone volume is surprisingly loud. Once he played it, the entire underground parking garage seemed to echo with the soaring melody of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Zhang Xiaoman then saw a lithe and plump figure emerge from a corner deep in his line of sight and hurriedly opened an SUV's door with incredible speed before diving in.
Right behind him, another faceless monster charged over and slammed into the SUV's door.
With a "thud," the entire car shook under the terrifying force almost tipping over.
The sound of shattering glass reached him, and from a distance, Zhang Xiaoman thought he could see the car door caving in.
This monster was clearly much bigger than the previous one!
"Fuck your granddad!! Get the hell out of here!!"
Brother Hero's voice even had a crying tone to it; this guy who often bragged about his courage was now scared out of his wits.
Zhang Xiaoman didn't dare to delay. He raised his gun and aimed at the monster that was still clinging to the car door in the distance, his finger on the trigger.
"Bang!"
The faint sound of the water gun reached his ears, and a Holy Water Bullet shot out, heading straight for the faceless monster.
The monster appeared to be over two meters tall. It was climbing on Brother Hero's car door, its entire upper body having squeezed through the broken window, leaving only half of its butt outside.
Zhang Xiaoman's exploratory shot just now had struck the monster's lower half.
The point of impact immediately rotted away, creating a hole the size of a bowl, and the edges continued to expand and spread under the effect of the Holy Water, like the flame of bone-burrowing maggots, burning on its body.
Feeling the pain coming from behind, the monster let out a series of piercing screams.
It tried to back out of the car window, but its massive body seemed to have gotten stuck there, unable to pull free.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoman couldn't possibly pass up such a good opportunity. Without any hesitation, he took three more shots at the monster, hitting the mark each time!
Shooting at such a stationary target was quite satisfying for Zhang Xiaoman, but he didn't dare to get careless. He slowly stepped forward, keeping the gun aimed steadily.
Inside the car, Brother Hero was cornered and panicked, having completely failed to realize he could have opened the car door and run out the other side.
He watched in terror as the monster slowly made its way into the car, its sharp-clawed forelimbs constantly waving in front of his face, even the strands of flesh hanging from its foul-smelling gaping maw clearly visible.
The monster's fingers were getting ever closer to him, but at this critical moment, Brother Hero suddenly saw the monster's tooth-filled maw contort as if it were in unbearable pain, a truly horrifying sight.
After being hit by three more Holy Water Bullets, the monster's body twisted even more violently.
It struggled frantically to escape the window, the entire SUV swaying back and forth under its tremendous power.
However, all its efforts were in vain, for due to its size, it was now truly caught in a dilemma.
Zhang Xiaoman did not fire any more bullets, as the effect of the four Holy Water Bullets was quite evident.
The monster had long since lost its imposing appearance from the beginning; its skin was scorched black from the spreading Holy Water, with wisps of black gas ascending around it, and the foul smell filled the entire carriage.
Gradually, as time passed, the Faceless Monster's struggles lessened, and after about a minute, it let out a final unwilling roar before falling silent.
Looking at the creature now, it was charred black like carbon, its whole form seemed to shrink under the purification of the Holy Water, resembling a burnt corpse.
Zhang Xiaoman finally let out a sigh of relief. Initially, when he saw the monster charging into his field of view with such an aggressive momentum, and with its larger size, he thought he would be facing a tough battle.
But to his surprise, it had plunged headfirst into Brother Hero's car window, leaving only its buttocks exposed outside for him to use as a target.
Brother Hero finally came to his senses at this point, he fumbled about for a bit, then opened the door on the other side and ran out.
He retreated slowly, taking a few steps away from the car, only then did he belatedly notice Zhang Xiaoman standing not far away.
"Zhang Xiaoman!!"
Brother Hero's face was full of puzzlement; he ran around to Zhang Xiaoman's side and exclaimed in astonishment,
"Zhang Xiaoman? How did you get here?"
After that, he glanced at the two strangely shaped toy guns in Zhang Xiaoman's hands and then around at the surroundings, disbelieving,
"You, you took down this monster!?"
Zhang Xiaoman felt a headache coming on at those words. He wanted to say no, but there were only the two of them in the entire underground parking lot, and the situation was clear; he couldn't avoid it even if he wanted to.
Trying to appear calm, Zhang Xiaoman put the guns back into his pocket and lifted his chin towards the direction of the monster's body, not answering Brother Hero's question but instead changing the subject,
"Old Lu, ah, didn't I warn you before that there were monsters here? You just wouldn't listen."
Brother Hero initially froze at these words, then displayed an unnatural embarrassed expression, saying,
"Well, I was... confused... who knew that these kinds of monsters actually existed in the world..."
As he said this, he glanced involuntarily at the body still stuck in his car, swallowing his saliva uncontrollably and continuing,
"It's terrifying; it almost got me just now. I nearly lost my life over my two hundred plus pounds here! Brother Man, I was wrong! I really should have listened to you!"
Zhang Xiaoman's hands were also trembling slightly; this was his first time actively hunting a monster in earnest. To claim that he wasn't scared would be a lie.
However, in front of Brother Hero, since he had already put on an act, he naturally couldn't show any fear. He glanced at the other man and spoke with a deliberately profound tone,
"Brother Hero, it's good that you found me today, and it just so happened that I saw it at the first opportunity. If it had been someone else, the consequences might have been unimaginable!"
Brothing Hero shuddered at these words, his heart still grieving as he looked again at the Faceless Monster's body and then at Zhang Xiaoman, finally voicing his biggest question.
"Brother Man? How did you... take it down? It feels like you knew about them from the start... Have you often... dealt with these monsters before?"
Here it comes, Zhang Xiaoman thought warily. He knew Brother Hero would eventually become curious about all this. He was conflicted inside, uncertain whether to tell the truth.
Looking at Brother Hero's slightly excited eyes, a thought flashed through Zhang Xiaoman's mind, and suddenly he had an idea.
He decided to tell a lie.