After passing an abandoned fire station, the monastery on the map was within sight.
It looked different from the ones encountered before.
Unlike the brightly lit prayer houses they had passed, only one or two rooms and the entrance were illuminated by candlelight.
The building had two stories, with the rest shrouded in darkness, obscuring its full appearance.
However, some outlines were discernible: the entire top of the structure and parts of the walls were wrapped in massive vine-like objects.
Focus, Lin Yuan.
His hearing extended outwards. No voices were heard, only the sound of wind.
But the surrounding trees were quiet, so where was the wind coming from? It must be breathing sounds. Something was hidden in the courtyard.
To reach the foot of the mountain, this was the only way. Other areas were covered in dense vegetation. Taking a detour, who knew what strange things or traps might be encountered.
He had no choice but to force his way through.
After checking his equipment, just as he was about to move, he suddenly realized a problem.
Camille hadn't mentioned Wu Tian earlier, nor had she said if Lin Junhui had a woman with him.
Could it be…
Lin Yuan didn't dare to think further, only praying she was merely locked up. Lin Junhui still needed someone to feed the baby!
He tapped his helmet, clearing his head. He had to deal with the immediate issue first.
Drawing his stone spear, Lin Yuan cautiously approached the side of the building, looking for a small door or window to climb in.
But the entire side was covered by massive vines. He couldn't skim past directly against the wall; the path ahead was completely blocked by vines.
Although the main entrance wasn't a good option, he had no other choice.
Fortunately, there were no guards at one of the entrances. Perhaps this was a storage area. Maybe they were sleeping in the dark.
Taking out his pistol, Lin Yuan took two deep breaths. With a surge of strength, the door actually opened.
Unlocked?
The inside was also empty.
Was his guess right?
He cautiously advanced along the corridor. At the end of the path was a door, the exit.
In the middle was a crossroads, with passages on the left and right leading to unknown places.
But it didn't matter to Lin Yuan. He just needed to pass quickly through this less than 100-meter corridor.
He twisted and dodged effortlessly, avoiding it.
Now he could see clearly: it was something like a chameleon's tongue.
It was slowly retracting.
Without engaging in further combat, Lin Yuan directly opened the large door and charged out.
"Crash!" The sound of shattering glass echoed from above, followed by the flapping of clothes in the wind.
It was crashing down towards Lin Yuan's head.
With no other option, Lin Yuan had to retreat back into the monastery.
Turning back, he hurled his short spear, piercing the head of the pursuer behind him.
It tried to heal the wound, but the meteorite's energy blocked it.
Sensing Lin Yuan getting closer, it actually severed its own head and scrambled away from Lin Yuan, a terrifying red worm emerging from its chest and abdomen, ripping its entire neck apart.
Seeing the head of this peculiar worm-like creature tilt back slightly, Lin Yuan's alarm bells went off.
He looked around, grabbed a hanging painting from the wall, and used it as a shield.
Immediately, the worm-like creature in front sprayed a large amount of silk, which turned into a net while in flight.
Lin Yuan didn't want to become a trapped insect. He threw the painting he was holding, blocking the first net. He prepared to flee, but as he turned, he saw the entrance blocked by a deformed monster.
With wolves in front and tigers behind, it seemed like a dead end.
The monster at the entrance revealed an ugly smile; this prey could no longer escape.
"It's too early to smile now." As the monster behind shot a second net, Lin Yuan used the wall to leap onto the ceiling, grabbing a unpowered chandelier, clinging to the wall like Spider-Man.
Some problems could be solved with a jump.
The large net that lunged forward missed its target. It continued its trajectory and enveloped the monster blocking the door. The mucus on the net was highly corrosive, and Lin Yuan could see white smoke rising from the monster's body.
"Roar!!!"
The people of the Eternal Life Cult were different from zombies. Their pain receptors, whether before or after complete mutation, could feel pain, only to varying degrees.
The monster, clearly suffering from being wrapped in the burning net, retreated in agony, falling into the snow and rolling around.
The worm-like creature behind showed no remorse for hitting an ally. Brainless, it repeatedly locked onto Lin Yuan, who was leaping about, preparing for its next attack.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang." After five faint gunshots, the worm-like creature collapsed.
Dealing with such brainless things was all about overwhelming their reaction speed.
They knew nothing of prediction; a few random movements would disorient them.
Hit by the "enchanted" bullets, the worm-like creature's body twitched a few times before becoming still. The wounds could not heal and were worsening.
Lin Yuan fired in a straight line from top to bottom, and it could never grow a second head.
But still worried the worm-like creature wasn't dead, he drew his stone knife and chopped off its head, then cut its body in half before being satisfied.
"Yuck, disgusting." ka nshu wu. ξà
The fluid spewing from the worm-like creature's wound splashed onto half of Lin Yuan's pants, red and sticky, like thin snot.
Fortunately, this bodily fluid was not corrosive, and the chopping hadn't hit its silk storage organ.
The screams from outside were growing fainter. Lin Yuan knew the monster was about to break free from its restraints.
Checking the firing chamber, Lin Yuan walked out of the monastery expressionlessly.
He emptied his magazine into the mutating monster on the ground.
Half its head, half its heart.
Although Lin Yuan wasn't sure if he had hit these vital spots, the monster was so severely deformed that he wouldn't be surprised if its heart was on its back.
The monster on the ground went still. Lin Yuan knew such things might not die permanently, but he didn't take the time to finish it off. It would waste too much time if he couldn't find its weakness quickly. He had to hurry to Viewing Lake; he could take a detour around that place, not through the lake itself.
A few minutes after Lin Yuan left, the corpse on the ground suddenly moved. The bullet-damaged areas had become rotten flesh and were discarded.
What stood up again was a monster much closer to a human form. Its face and back were still deformed, but its limbs and torso had returned to normal.
"Amazing. Why…?"
Meanwhile, the vines on the roof writhed with the flickering firelight, and the flowers swayed in the wind, as if conveying some message.