"Sister Almon!"
"Sister Almon!"
In a shack with a low-ceiling, the female robber, Almon, was holding onto a bamboo basket with a kind smile on her face.
After greeting her, a bunch of children surrounded her and looked at the basket which was steaming and gave off a nice aroma, they swallowed their saliva furiously.
"Come, let's eat!" Almon smiled while she pulled away the white cloth to reveal the soft and delicious white bread, jam… and even half a turkey.
"Oh!"
The other filthy children cheered together.
"Rayne, pass the food down. Little Peter's been ill recently and can't go out as he's very weak. He needs to eat more…"
Almon gave instructions and went to sit down at the doorstep with her back facing the children. Similarly, she took out her own dinner—two pieces of black, charred bread. A single bite of it would definitely cause her teeth to fall out, and let's not talk about the horrible texture; it was no different from eating wood.
"Sister Almon!"
Suddenly, a voice came from behind her. Almon jerked up and wrapped the bread with her handkerchief properly before turning and making eye contact with Rayne.
"Yes?"
"This… is for you!"
Rayne was the oldest amongst the teenagers. He was around 13-14 years old. Although his face was filthy, his eyes were bright and had a persistent and firm expression while he passed the white bread with jam spread on it to Almon.
"I've already eaten!" Almon emphasized, "That's your portion, eat it. I'm the oldest here so listen to me!"
"Phew…" Rayne had a stubborn expression and let out a long breath, "I'm already 15 and can start to work. I want to be a robber on the streets!"
"No way!" Almon expression turned into a stern one, something she never did. "Do you know that one's finger would be chopped off if the robber is caught? Also… without your protection, how will these sisters and brothers survive? Could it be that you've forgotten the lesson you learned from John and Jonna?"
"Sorry!"
At the mention of the pair of siblings, Rayne's eyes turned red as well.
"I didn't take care of them properly."
"It wasn't your fault!"
Almon was suddenly determined, "I've thought about it, we'll leave tomorrow!"
"Leave? Why?" Rayne didn't understand.
"Because it's… filled with danger here, even the Demon Hunters have been drawn here." Almon sighed in her heart.
In actual fact, she had been searching like a lunatic ever since the siblings had vanished. She had originally thought that because of their appearance, they might've been kidnapped and sold off as slaves.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no news about them in the entire Bay of Pigs, it was as if they had vanished into thin air.
Until the Demon Hunter appeared did it finally hit home.
"What man-eating monster…" Almon rubbed her eyes.
There was no famine or war at the moment, hence the allocation of food was enough for survival. In addition, the beggars and vagrants in the Bay of Pigs wouldn't have done such a terrible thing. Hence, there was only one possibility left.
"Thinking about it… there seemed to be fewer and fewer vagrants, even the lazy dog guarding Grimm Street has vanished, I'm afraid that it's been spread long ago…" She was extremely determined, "we need to leave this d*mn place as soon as possible!"
As for John and Jonna, she could only entrust her hope to the other Demon Hunters.
After all, she had to consider the other children and had to be realistic with her options.
"It's because it's not safe here anymore. I'm prepared to go to the Hurin area, there are more people streaming in and out of the area, we'll be able to earn more money!"
Of course, Almon hid her own worries perfectly in front of Rayne.
"Since it's your decision, I'll agree!" Rayne was silent for a moment before answering seriously.
"Very good. Now, be obedient and go back to sleep!" Almon forced a smile onto her face.
…
The still night was quickly enveloping everything.
Inside the shack, many kids were already sleeping and were making quiet or loud snoring sounds.
Almon, who was sleeping at the perimeter, had her eyes closed, however, her brows were tightly knitted as if she was having a nightmare.
He was getting closer and closer!
A large shadow, as big as a mountain range, blocked the sunlight and was towering over her. Within that shadow was a pair of scarlet, hungering eyes that were looking up and down at her.
"Ah!" Almon shouted softly and woke up in shock with cold sweat all over her face, "Again?"
Ever since who-knows-when, she had often been having nightmares. Moreover, the situation in the dreams was very similar; the large shadow with scarlet and hungering eyes jogged her memory.
"What is… that thing, exactly?"
This sharp and natural ability to predict danger had helped her avoid problems countless times.
At this moment, she felt absolutely terrified and couldn't get back to sleep. Hence, she did a patrol around the inside of the house.
The inside of the shack was very quiet. Many of the children had fallen into a deep sleep and even had innocent smiles on their faces.
In this environment, Almon felt that she was gradually calming down.
However, her expression froze promptly.
"Peter?! Where's Peter? Where did he go! Rayne!" Almon shouted and brought out a dagger in a flash.
"What happened?" Rayne rubbed his eyes while ignorantly transitioning to a standing position.
"We have trouble, look after the others… Run away!" Almon was regretting in her heart. If she had known then she would've gotten the Demon Hunter's address from the start.
Kaboom!
At that moment, the floor of a corner of the shack suddenly collapsed and two pale, white hands with suckers that were filled with fluid appeared. Like an octopus's tentacles, it curled around two children, trapping them and dragging them into the hole.
"Jerk!" Almon's eye vessels burst as he leaped over quickly. "Give them back!"
Zap! Zap!
More tentacles stretched out and destroyed the entire shack until there was nothing left.
While the air was filled with dust and fragments from the debris, a monster crawled out of the hole and moved its countless tentacles.
It was huge, like a large lump of meat that was formed by connecting many human body parts together. The monster looked as if it was casually made by putting broken limbs together, there were seven to eight limbs on the floor, and many faces in the middle, most of the eyes looked soulless. Only one pair of eyes gave off a red glow, "I… found… it!"
"Let me go!"
Almon was suspended in the air, with her head at the bottom. She stabbed the dagger into the tentacles ruthlessly, but, unfortunately, there was no effect.
"Eat… I'll eat you!"
The tentacles lifted her up slowly to the front of the lump of meat.
Crack! Crack!
The whole lump of meat cracked in the middle to reveal a terrifying mouth filled with snow-white teeth. It could totally swallow a human whole.
"Am I… going to die?" The strong premonition of death made Almon tremble, and her limbs were frozen, "No! I don't want to…"
Bang!
At that moment, a loud sound was heard.
Following the sound of a gun being fired, a tentacle dropped to the ground instantly. Almon felt that she was pushed and moved back at lightning speed.
"You're… Mr. Demon Hunter from earlier today!"
Promptly, she saw Fang Yuan and hot tears filled her eyes instantly as if she saw her savior.
"D*rn it… I'm only here to look for clues and I actually met the Voodoo Corpse, what kind of luck is this?" Fang Yuan looked at the tentacles-filled lump of meat in front of him, but his expression showed that he was speechless.
Bloop! Bloop!
At that moment, the broken tentacle on the floor wriggled like a long worm, crawled its way back to the lump of meat and immediately combined into one. A pus-like fluid exploded at the wound area and a new tentacle grew out again.
"Keke… this recovery ability. If it was made into a medicament, it would be even better than the treatment water!"
Fang Yuan was astonished and promptly went on to light up a firework without any hesitation, which then flew into the air.
Whoosh… Piak!
In the dark, a line of dark red fireworks exploded, it was very eye-catching.
"I would be a fool to fight against the Voodoo Corpse on my own. Vice President and the others are patrolling right now and should be here soon!"
Fang Yuan grabbed Almon.
"It'll be enough if we just stall for a little more time!"
"I beg of you!" At this moment, Almon was in tears. "I beg of you… please save the children. I'll give you whatever you want to repay you!"
"Alright… but there's still a problem here!"
Fang Yuan swung his head to look at the brats that were trapped among the many tentacles and felt a headache.
If it was only him going on this operation, he would've been gone for good; what has the life of an outsider got to do with him?
However, a Demon Hunter's responsibility was to fight against evil and protect civilians!
He had sworn to it when he had first become a Demon Hunter.
Although Fang Yuan could ignore the oath that Hulk had made, he couldn't appear to be too cold-blooded in the situation where a bunch of Demon Hunters would soon rush over.
Otherwise, he would've destroyed the image that he had previously built.
"Remember your promise!"
Fang Yuan placed Almon down and took out Starry Night. The silver sword twinkled with a charming brilliance in the darkness.
"It's starting!"
Bang!
Fang Yuan stamped his feet and charged forward as if he was a cannon.
Roar! Roar!
The Voodoo Corpse in front made a beast-like roar and many of its tentacles curled towards him like long, iron whips.
Kaboom!
The tentacles streaked across Fang Yuan's illusionary image and violently slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crack.
"Morning Stars Swordsmanship—Old Moon!"
Fang Yuan moved his right hand, his Starry Night streaked past and glided in a delicate arc before chopping off a tentacle that a child was trapped in.
Plop!
A large amount of liquid was sprayed around and landed on the floor. Instantly, it emitted a large quantity of white smoke and decomposed the floor to form a deep hole.
He caught the falling child mid-air and discovered that he was unconscious.
"Poison!?" Fang Yuan held his breath immediately. Even the pores all over his body tightened as if he had worn a layer of protective gear. He then retreated swiftly.
"It's Rayne!" Almon saw from afar but couldn't be bothered by anything at the moment and rushed over.
"Take him away!" Fang Yuan threw Rayne to her and turned around promptly. He looked at the Voodoo Corpse, which seemed to be triggered by something. "She is… what's your objective?"
Roar! Roar!
Despite being a lump of meat, the Voodoo Corpse was fast and in the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of Fang Yuan, it's many iron whip-like tentacles crashed down.
"Protective technique!"
Fang Yuan raised his sword to block the attack. Immediately, he felt that his arms were slightly numb and couldn't help but move back, however, his face showed a relaxed smile.
"Found it! It really is a Voodoo Corpse!"
At that moment, a group of Demon Hunters was outside as they had rushed over. Shockingly, it was lead by Flock!