At 23:55.
The time when Chen Jiabin left Dr. Lan’s private clinic.
In the past seven minutes, he experienced the darkest moment of his life.
Had he not become Dr. Lan's assistant, he would never have believed that anything could be pulled out from a patient’s stomach.
Fingers, watches, twigs, live rats, TV remotes, hair, feet...
When he pulled those things out of the patient’s stomach, he nearly fainted on the spot.
How could anyone eat that stuff?
How could it not wreck their stomach?
Afterward, Dr. Lan stitched up the patient’s mouth, which had split open 360 degrees, and the patient thanked the doctor as if nothing had happened.
When he left the clinic, he felt like his soul was no longer with him.
"Ssssss!!!"
At that moment, the trees in the park stirred with eerie, bone-chilling sounds.
Chen Jiabin snapped out of it in fear and realized he had less than five minutes to rush back and sleep.
With that thought, he started running.
"Ssssss!!!"
"Rustle rustle~~~"
As he ran, it felt like something was chasing him from the woods and the bushes.
"Chirp chirp!!!"
"Chirp chirp!!!"
After running less than a hundred meters, Chen Jiabin saw a terrifying monster covered in arthropod legs crawling down the outer wall of a building ahead. The sound of its limbs and exoskeleton clashing echoed like nails scraping against a wall, a piercing, uncomfortable noise that unsettled him to his core!
Not far from the grassy area, a massive, soft-bodied monster the size of a mountain lay on the ground. Its head had a mouth shaped like a volcano, and every time it breathed, it expelled a moth covered in tentacles. Within moments, dozens of such creatures filled the lawn.
The scene unfolding in the darkness almost made Chen Jiabin pass out on the spot.
In those few hundred meters, he swore he was running at the fastest speed of his life.
23:57
Chen Jiabin, drenched in cold sweat, reached the elevator entrance at the base of his building.
"17th floor, 19th floor…"
"Damn it, it’s too late!"
Both elevators were stuck on higher floors. Waiting for the elevator to descend would waste almost a minute, and another minute to ride it up.
This way, he wouldn’t make it in time.
"Stairs!"
With that thought, Chen Jiabin dashed toward the stairwell.
His floor wasn’t high.
The fifth floor.
"The fastest way up, I can make it in thirty seconds."
He took a deep breath, charging up the stairs, taking five steps at a time.
Second floor.
Third floor.
Fourth floor.
"Creek~~ creek~~ creek~~~"
Just as he neared the fifth floor, a strange sound came from above the stairwell, something like an elderly person groaning in pain, or a horrible sound like phlegm caught in a throat, unnervingly eerie.
Chen Jiabin's scalp tingled.
His steps slowed instinctively.
But when he thought about the time—less than two minutes left—he knew if he delayed any longer, he was doomed.
He gritted his teeth and pushed himself upward.
With one breath, he reached the fifth floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a human-faced spider-like monster lying on the stairs leading to the sixth floor.
He rushed into the floor, pulled out his key, opened the door, closed it, dashed into the bedroom, and jumped onto the bed—all in one fluid motion.
"Thirty seconds left!"
Chen Jiabin lay on the bed, drenched in sweat.
He hadn’t even turned on the lights.
Nervous, anxious, and exhausted, his body completely drained of energy, he found it impossible to fall asleep, let alone do so instantly.
He took out a syringe he had already prepared and without hesitation, injected it into the back of his hand.
"Hurry up, hurry up, faster!"
He had considered the possibility that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, so while at the clinic, he had secretly taken a dose of intravenous anesthetic.
The pitch-black night fog descended, like a black cloud descending, engulfing the entire community.
The black mist seemed to have a life of its own, twisting into countless strands of dark vapor, wildly surging through the community.
The park, the lotus pond, the paths, the woods—all were slowly devoured by the black mist.
The stairwell, balcony, windows, living room, bedroom—nothing was left untouched, as though entering an uninhabited realm.
"Ten seconds left."
"10"
"9"
...
"3"
"2"
"1"
Chen Jiabin suddenly opened his eyes, his emotions collapsing as he muttered, "Impossible, the intravenous anesthetic should make me lose consciousness in six seconds, but it's already been over ten seconds."
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!"
At that moment, streams of black vapor slithered through the cracks in the door, entering the room. They resembled swarms of black wild bees suddenly bursting in, as if they had caught the scent of food.
Chen Jiabin’s face changed drastically as he quickly looked down at the syringe on the back of his hand.
The syringe had indeed pierced his skin, but it had not entered a vein properly. The intravenous anesthetic hadn't entered his bloodstream, meaning the anesthesia effect had failed.
Chen Jiabin never imagined that, despite making all the preparations, he had made a mistake at the final step.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock."
Time: 00:00
Chen Jiabin was in utter despair.
"It's over!"
As his words fell, the black mist turned into terrifying black tendrils, wildly surging into Chen Jiabin’s eyes, ears, mouth, and nose...
...
...
The Fourth Day.
The morning sunlight was exceptionally bright.
This was the first time Li Ran saw sunlight in the instance.
Bathing in the sunlight, it felt as though the gloom of the past few days had been swept away.
"Do you think this outfit will make me look better than the other students' mothers?"
Su Bingyao was wearing a simple yet elegant pink dress. The high-waisted butterfly knot belt accentuated her already tall figure, and the V-neckline perfectly highlighted her graceful swan neck. Paired with light-colored heels and a matching light-colored handbag, she looked elegant and refined.
She slowly walked toward Li Ran, the sunlight bathing her fair, beautiful face. After a light application of makeup, Su Bingyao’s noble aura was even more pronounced.
"Among the crowd, one glance, and the colors of the world turn to dust."
The moment Su Bingyao walked toward Li Ran, he couldn’t help but utter those words.
"You’re so dramatic." Su Bingyao giggled, covering her mouth.
"I mean it."
Li Ran's sincere expression made Su Bingyao’s beautiful eyes tremble. Her cheeks flushed, and she shyly looked away.
"Son, are you ready? We should go."
"Coming."
Li Ziyang ran out of the room. "Wow, Mom looks so beautiful."
Su Bingyao gently patted her son’s little head, taking his hand. "Let’s go, time to go to school."
At that moment, Li Ran couldn’t help but sigh in his heart, "How wonderful would it be if time could stop at this moment?"
...
"Ding~!"
The elevator doors arrived, and the doors slowly opened.
Li Ran immediately stepped forward, protecting Su Bingyao and their son behind him.
However, the elevator was empty.
Su Bingyao and Li Ziyang were puzzled by Li Ran’s actions.
"It’s better to be cautious when going out," Li Ran said.
"Okay, we’ll listen to you," Su Bingyao replied.
Li Ran let out a slight sigh of relief.
If it were just him, he could use Shadowstep to go directly downstairs.
But now, with the whole family, they could only take the elevator.
What he feared most was encountering the murderous Demon Wang Qian in the elevator.
Fortunately...
They smoothly took the elevator down to the underground garage and drove directly to their son’s school.
Li Ran had an uneasy feeling in his heart.
"I hope the school doesn’t pull any weird tricks."
(End of Chapter)