Li Dazhuang and Zhou Ming had completely transformed into mindless monsters.

They emitted low growls, lunging simultaneously at Fang Cheng and the others.

"Run!"

Wang Lan shouted, grabbing the dazed Lin Xue.

The two of them discarded their toy water guns and rushed toward the factory exit without looking back.

Fang Cheng was also stunned by this sudden turn of events.

He knew the talismanic water was useless, and he was too weak alone to handle two monsters.

After a brief thought, he turned and ran as well.

Lin Xue was slender and couldn’t run fast, still holding her Ghost Detector.

Suddenly, she stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.

In that brief moment, Li Dazhuang and Zhou Ming had already reached her side.

"Help, help!"

Lin Xue cried out in despair.

Upon hearing the cries for help, Wang Lan abruptly stopped.

She looked back, a struggle flashing in her eyes.

She saw Li Dazhuang and Zhou Ming bending down, grabbing Lin Xue’s arms.

Black liquid dripped continuously from their mouths, clearly intending to assimilate her into a monster as well.

"Lin Xue!"

Wang Lan shouted anxiously.

But reason told her that rushing in now wouldn’t save anyone, it would only be a needless sacrifice.

"Wang Lan, let’s go out and call the police for help!"

Fang Cheng shouted, grabbing Wang Lan’s arm, almost dragging her forward.

The two ran desperately, through one dark corridor after another, finally seeing the water plant’s gate ahead.

Wang Lan kicked open the rusty iron door.

However, outside was not where they came from, but a pitch-black void where they couldn’t see their own hands.

It seemed like an abyss, swallowing all light, even obscuring the ground beneath their feet.

Whoosh—

A chill, biting wind rushed in from outside, causing Wang Lan to shiver involuntarily.

"How did it become like this..."

Her voice trembled, barely concealing her fear.

Just then, Fang Cheng’s pupils contracted sharply.

He saw clearly, a twisted shadow silently emerging from the darkness behind Wang Lan.

Like a gigantic bag, it swiftly engulfed her.

"Wang Lan, watch out behind you!"

Fang Cheng immediately warned sharply.

Hearing Fang Cheng’s warning, Wang Lan instinctively looked back.

At that moment, the shadow completely enveloped her.

Fang Cheng only had time to see the extreme fear fleeting in Wang Lan’s eyes.

Then, her body stiffened, her eyes quickly rolled back, and black liquid oozed from her mouth.

She then emitted the same low growls as Li Dazhuang and Zhou Ming.

Fang Cheng felt his heart sink, not daring to pause for even a moment.

He immediately turned around, sprinting through the pitch-black darkness toward the road he remembered.

At this moment, only one thought filled his mind, to escape this cursed area, to get as far away from these eerie monsters as possible.

Fang Cheng stumbled, constantly bumping into debris while running, his knees and arms scratched painfully.

However, after running for a long time and taking a closer look.

He realized the surroundings never changed.

It was still the same rusted equipment, crisscrossing pipes, and that lingering stench.

Suddenly, Fang Cheng realized with horror that he had never escaped, still trapped inside the water plant.

The "gate" he saw earlier, the "pitch-black outside," were merely illusions!

The air instantly felt solid and the darkness became a tangible prison, trapping Fang Cheng tightly.

"Huff—huff—"

Fang Cheng stood still, his chest heaving violently, every breath searing with pain.

He scanned the darkness, desperately searching for an exit.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, a tingling sensation ran across his scalp.

It felt as if countless pairs of cold eyes were hiding in the dark, watching him.

Soon, eerie red lights flickered in the darkness, lighting up from all directions.

Fang Cheng widened his eyes, carefully discerning.

Suddenly, he saw many pitch-black shadows slowly emerging silently from the depths of the pipes, from the beams overhead, and from the gaps in the decaying equipment, encircling him quietly.

They didn’t rush in but kept a distance.

Like predators appreciating their prey, emitting faintly mocking laughter.

The sound seemed to scrape the eardrums, yet also seemed to explode directly in the mind.

Fang Cheng no longer wanted to run; he resigned himself to sit heavily on the cold cement floor, panting heavily.

Sweat soaked through his clothes, sticking to his skin uncomfortably.

Fang Cheng felt his chest burn like a bellows, his legs trembling and nearly cramping.

This body’s constitution was so poor; just running this short distance had reached its limit.

The laughter in the darkness immediately grew deeper.

Low-pitched screeching and rustling mockery sounded intermittently.

As if mocking Fang Cheng’s weakness and pitiful helplessness.

Those shadows drifted around like bodiless ghosts.

Forming an insurmountable circle around him, seemingly waiting for something, delaying for an attack.

Fang Cheng gritted his teeth, looked down at his trembling hands, and deep in his heart arose an unprecedented anger:

"How did I become this... weak?"

He suddenly clenched his fists, nails digging deeply into his palms.

The pain momentarily suppressed the fear.

Yet a nameless rage erupted like a long-suppressed volcano from his heart.

"Indeed, how did I become so weak?!"

Fang Cheng again asked himself, his voice low, full of resentment.

In the mist of thoughts, an idea sliced through like lightning.

Fang Cheng suddenly felt that he should be stronger, more direct, and should solve everything with his fists.

How could he be chased like a stray dog and mocked like a trapped beast by these formless entities?

This thought became increasingly clear and intense, finally igniting like a spark, breaking a certain shackle deep inside Fang Cheng.

Boom—

Fang Cheng felt as if a lock had been opened in his mind.

A vast power instantly surged into his limbs, vaguely touching distant memory fragments.

He didn’t have time to contemplate where this power came from.

Because now his body was unusually hot, as if it were about to catch fire, the skin even starting to simmer faintly red.

Blood surging, rushing straight to his head.

His muscles taut, veins bulging on his arms like gnarled roots.

Every nerve inside him seemed to be roaring for battle.

This was not a state of pain but an awakened wild instinct.

In the depths of Fang Cheng’s eyes, there seemed to be two faint flames burning, growing fiercer with each breath, flickering unpredictably.

The violent instinct within him could no longer be suppressed.

It roared within his chest, urging him onward.

"Damn!"

Fang Cheng cursed through clenched teeth, suddenly standing up.

His feet stomped heavily on the ground, his arms slightly lowered, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

His entire body trembled in tautness, every inch of muscle pulled straight.

He exuded the ferocity of a beast just awakened.

He entered a combat mode he had never imagined.

"Come on, it’s either you kill me today, or I kill you!"

Fang Cheng gave everything and roared in anger.

He then swung his fists and charged fiercely at the swirling shadows.

At this moment, one of the shadows suddenly leaped forward, straight at Fang Cheng.

Whoosh!

The blazing fists struck the air, with no dull impact sound.

Yet the shadow that was hit screeched sharply like ice touching a furnace.

It flew backward, crashing into a pillar.

Then it dissipated like vapor, leaving just a wet, black mark.

Fang Cheng was stunned by the scene, his eyes wide open.

This bizarre and sinister entity could actually be killed by his fists?