Chapter 3

The sky was growing darker, and rain began to fall in a steady drizzle.

Then the rain intensified, becoming an almost once-in-a-century downpour, with wind howling and water flooding the streets up to knee height, showing no sign of stopping.

The subway had stopped, and cars struggled to navigate the roads.

Jiang Suliu was in a foul mood today.

His grandfather had been in an accident and was unconscious, so Jiang had gone to visit him at the hospital. Only when he learned that his grandfather was out of danger did he finally relax.

On his way back from the hospital, he was caught in the storm. The radio broadcaster was issuing emergency alerts, advising people to take shelter. Yet traffic ahead was backed up, barely moving.

As he watched the raindrops drumming against the window in the gloomy weather, his irritation grew.

The driver mentioned that there had been an accident up ahead and parked the car in a sheltered spot. He hurriedly got out, saying he needed to buy something from a nearby mall.

Jiang Suliu sat alone in the car, his expression tight with worry.

His parents had already been informed and would arrive in City A by the evening at the latest. If his grandfather’s condition didn’t improve, they would have to contact an overseas specialist tomorrow.

He still hadn’t heard back from two schools he’d applied to, the summer camp competition needed to be postponed, and he’d have to invite his entire class to his upcoming coming-of-age ceremony…

The rain showed no signs of stopping, and the driver had been gone for some time.

As he drifted in thought, Jiang Suliu found himself suddenly thinking of his new deskmate, Yue Yin.

The dark-haired girl had left with a gentle smile, disappearing just as the rain had stopped.

“Thanks for your concern, but it’s fine. It’ll be sunny again soon.” Her voice had been soft, only audible to Jiang Suliu who was close by.

Almost as soon as she spoke, a break in the clouds appeared, letting sunlight pour through in a scene both strange and mysterious.

Perhaps it was the sudden sunshine, or maybe it was her words that made Jiang Suliu’s imagination run wild.

Her clear gaze made his heart skip a beat, and for a moment, he almost believed her claim of being a god.

He leaned back in his seat, rubbing his brow in frustration.

Was the stress from the competition getting to him? Was he really starting to let his mind wander so aimlessly?

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been waiting—maybe only a few minutes, or perhaps half an hour—when he heard a loud rumbling. The ground shook violently.

Many of the cars waiting in traffic were jolted by the noise. Panic broke out as someone shouted, “An earthquake!”

The power systems in the nearby buildings seemed to malfunction. The skyscrapers and streetlights all went dark. In the cloud-covered sky, the only light came from a faint trace of the moon.

“What’s happening?”

The sudden tremor had caused a few cars to collide. People began stepping out, and soon an argument broke out nearby.

“Are you blind? Why didn’t you let my car through?”

“You’re the one holding up traffic!”

…

Jiang Suliu thought it was an earthquake, too.

Ignoring the commotion outside, he pulled out his phone to contact the driver but quickly realized that everything around him had fallen unnervingly silent.

In the blackness of the night, something felt ominously wrong.

He sat up straight, and when he turned to look out the window, he saw something he would never forget.

With a faint “tap,” a bloody hand pressed against the window.

Outside stood a gaunt, humanoid figure. In a familiar yet eerie voice, it said slowly, “Young Master Jiang, I’m back.”

Jiang Suliu stared at the bloody handprint, his grip on his phone tightening.

“Young Master Jiang?”

The creature continued calling his name, but it was clear that it wasn’t human.

It looked human in shape, but no one would mistake it for a person. No one could ignore the disproportionately large head on its neck.

“Is anyone there?” The “driver” pressed his face against the car window, his blood-red eyeballs rotating a full 360 degrees, trying to peer inside.

Fortunately, Jiang Suliu’s family car was custom-made with a one-way mirror. From the outside, the creature couldn’t see a thing.

After a while, it muttered to itself and slowly shuffled away.

Not far off, two cars were still in the middle of a heated argument.

The sudden tremor had caused them to stop too close together, leading to a minor collision. The passengers got out and began to bicker.

“You’re looking to get yourself killed, cutting me off like that!”

“You were the one driving so slowly, traffic moved, and you just sat there…”

The overcast weather and the accident had put everyone on edge, and tempers flared.

As they argued, none of them noticed the creature creeping toward them.

A strange, low voice repeated, “I need money, money, money…”

The “driver” ambled over to them, and Jiang Suliu watched this unfold from behind.

He quickly climbed into the driver’s seat, honking repeatedly to warn the bickering drivers and other onlookers.

But they didn’t notice anything strange.

Annoyed, one of the arguing men turned around and yelled, “Who’s the idiot honking their horn? Are you—”

His words caught in his throat, and his expression turned to shock. “W-What is that?”

He finally saw the creature approaching.

It was a blood-soaked, human-shaped figure with an oversized head and grotesquely distorted features.

Everyone else turned to look and gasped in horror. “What the hell is that?”

One middle-aged man, the closest, didn’t even have time to scream. The “driver” lunged at him.

A chilling scream pierced the night as blood and chunks of flesh splattered against Jiang Suliu’s car window.

The man who had been yelling a moment before was now barely alive, his trembling hand reaching out as if for help, fingers grasping at the air.

Even with his strong resolve, Jiang Suliu felt a chill run through him.

All around, people were witnessing this nightmare, screams of terror echoing as they fled. What had been a quiet street was now filled with chaos.

Jiang Suliu discreetly pulled the handbrake, maneuvering the car out of the traffic jam and away from the scene.

As he drove away, more screams erupted, followed by the sickening sounds of flesh being torn apart.

Ahead, he saw twisted shadows cast against crumbling walls, accompanied by horrific chewing noises.

It took only minutes to leave the street behind.

But escaping was only the beginning. As he drove further, Jiang Suliu realized that the outside world was no better.

The ground was sunken in places, and monstrous roars filled the air. Above, towering over everything, was a massive, grotesque creature, half-human, half-serpent, with three distorted human heads.

The monstrous three-headed snake loomed over the city, blotting out the sky. Nearby, armed forces stood their ground. Gunfire and anguished screams sounded as the creature feasted on human prey.

Uniformed soldiers and officials fired upon the creature, desperately attempting to contain it.

In the streets, someone shouted orders: “Location: Yintai Plaza. We need backup! We need backup!”

“It’s an unregistered abomination. Could it be a newly formed malevolent entity?”

“Captain! Besides the A-class threat, there are several D-class entities as well!”

“Damn it! If I find out who’s behind this, I’ll kill them! Have the Mystical Division’s experts arrived? We can’t let these creatures escape!”

“Master Bi has arrived and is setting up a containment formation with the others.”

Ghostly white mice, each carrying a coin, scurried across the ground. Red beams of light soon stretched across the sky, forming a barrier to trap the entity within.

“Is Containment Unit A89 on its way?”

“There’s an anomaly in City C, and A89 has been redirected by the Deputy Minister to suppress it!”

Fury grew silent as realization dawned.

Xiaojun spat, “This is clearly a setup!”

…

People who had managed to escape into the street looked up, spotting the flying monstrosity.

“What is that?”

“Is this a movie?”

“We’re all going to die…”

Panic and despair spread, some collapsing in tears, others pulling out phones to capture it for social media, while the shrewd ones sought cover.

Closing the car door, the world seemed to quiet down, but Jiang Suliu’s heart continued to pound loudly.

Would the monster find him here? What was happening outside? Were the others still alive? When would his parents realize he was missing?

With the electronic signal down, all calls were useless. The lights were out, leaving only the faint glow of the moon.

In the pitch-black night, he had no idea how much time had passed.

Finally, he recalled Yue Yin’s words: “I’ll repay you.”

In his memory, she had raised a hand, mimicking the gesture of a phone call, her eyes twinkling with a smile. “When you’re about to die tonight, you can give me a call.”

Jiang Suliu took out the flyer and looked down.

“Beep… Beep…”

After what felt like an agonizingly long wait, he finally heard a voice.

“Hello? This is the great Moon of Many Faces, Mother of Monsters…” Yue Yin’s familiar voice came through the line.

“Yue Yin?” He was momentarily taken aback, but quickly regained his composure. “Does your offer from this morning still stand?”

Yue Yin, in the middle of a playful struggle with Shen Xiaodi over the last bag of chips, crunched away and said, “Sure does.”

“But it sounds like you’re in a pretty dangerous situation, huh? Prices have gone up—now it’ll cost five million.”

Originally, the deal had been a membership fee of 998, but now it had jumped to five million… It seemed a bit unfair.

Then again, taking advantage of a crisis was just part of a dark god’s nature!

As the monstrous roars echoed nearby, Jiang Suliu responded calmly, “I’ll give you ten million.”