Epoch of Twilight

The whole city was covered by the thick smoke, and so was the military base. The military defense power had dropped to its lowest point. If a big group of beasts were to attack the city, there wouldn’t be enough manpower to defend it. Luo Yuan’s brain was blank from fear.

“Is that a bomb that exploded over there?” Huang Jiahui asked after a few minutes of stunned silence.

“I think so,” Huang Yuying said. She looked lost too.

“Let’s go! Don’t look anymore. Let’s go back!” Luo Yuan said, jumping back into action.

The four of them felt cold as they quickly headed back to the villa, following the route they had taken there. They could hear the roars of beasts at the same time that the ground was shaking like there was an earthquake going on. Their house was in the West District, about 25 kilometers away from the outskirts of the city. They could still hear the roars clearly despite the distance. Apparently, the mutated beasts had entered the city. They could also hear the sound of shooting and minor bombing activities, but no one could tell whether it was working in the haze of it all. The four of them quickly entered the villa and shut the door.

They felt relieved. The house provided them protection and security, even though they knew it was not the safest way to defend against a mutated beast attack. Wang Shishi looked very pale. She kept shaking, and she would surely have fallen down on the floor, had she not been leaning against the wall. Luo Yuan did not look any better. His determination was lower than average and his condition was worse than Wang Shishi’s. He looked in pain, and occasionally anxious and afraid. He was about to have an emotional breakdown.

“Hurry up! Please get some water!” Huang Jiahui told Huang Yuying as she began to take his shirt off.

“Sure!” Huang Yuying replied nervously before she rushed to the kitchen.

Luo Yuan’s shirt was made of blue rank black owl feathers and the material was shiny and waterproof. Liquid had never penetrated it, even though Luo Yuan had spilled mud on it several times. There was not a single piece of dirt on it. His skin, however, was another story. Huang Yuying brought water from the kitchen. Huang Jiahui took the cloth from the pail and helped Luo Yuan wipe away the blood and dirt carefully. She inhaled a mouthful of cool air to calm herself down. He looked terrible.

His entire face was terribly injured. There were holes and blood all over it. Corrosive mud covered almost all of the holes. Huang Jiahui was able to see his flesh after wiping off all the pus. She could even see his bones through some of the holes. Luo Yuan was still bleeding. She helped him clean up, the water inside the pail slowly turning red in the process. Luo Yuan howled in pain. Huang Jiahui could not hold her tears back anymore. She stopped wiping for a few minutes. When she lifted the cloth, Wang Shishi also forgot about her fear and started sobbing in the corner. They had changed the water several times. Suddenly, they heard the sound of an explosion along with the furious roars of beasts. All of them looked hopeless as their faces turned pale.

“What should we do? The beasts are coming, we are going to die! I don’t want to die, I haven’t even had sex yet! I don’t want to die!” Wang Shishi said anxiously.

“Don’t be afraid, we will be fine! Remember how dangerous it was in Donghu City? We still survived! This time will be the same. We will survive, we just need to think positive!” Huang Jiahui said as she took Wang Shishi into her arms with teary eyes.

“Yes! We won’t die. There are so many people in Hedong City, we can’t be that unlucky. The house is strong, we will be fine,” Huang Yuying whispered. She was trying to comfort herself more than Wang Shishi.

Luo Yuan got up from the floor and said loudly, "Let’s go to the underground chamber! The space is smaller, but it’s stronger and there’s also a lot of food. As long as there is ventilation, we can survive there for a few months, even if the house collapses."

Luo Yuan would not have made such a decision, had he been his usual determined self. He was the kind of person who took control of his destiny and did not succumb fate. However, he was really afraid and was not in control of his emotions anymore. All he wanted was to get someplace safe. He took his knife and ran down towards the underground chamber. The rest of them quickly followed him. When the door was shut, they were left in the dark. Huang Jiahui found her torchlight and switched it on. The white light shined bright in the dark, providing some comfort. Wang Shishi had clutched Luo Yuan’s arm the moment they’d gotten there and had not let go since. They all sat down in the corner.

The roaring sounds were getting clearer as the cement on the walls and ceiling kept dropping on their heads. They heard the sound of bricks falling on the outside as well as the screams of someone dying. Nobody knew who started shaking first, but it soon became contagious. All of them cuddled close together. At the beginning, they’d tried to talk and comfort each other, but no one was bothering anymore. They were too afraid that the beasts would hear them. In the end, they switched off the torchlight. The room filled with the sound of their heavy breathing.

Luo Yuan closed his eyes and meditated like he used to do, trying to focus his mind. He knew it was not normal for him to behave like that, so he decided to meditate and seek the peace inside his heart. Luckily he had a few months of practice and could reach that state of mind. Although this time was a lot more difficult than usual, he was able to slowly regain his focus.

Boom!

The chamber started shaking vigorously. The three women covered their mouths. They were too worried the beasts would hear them. They were all afraid. Luo Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and thought, “Damn! The house is collapsing, the beasts are coming in.”

The sound of heavy footsteps was drawing closer along with the sounds of objects falling and breaking. They could hear someone banging and stomping around, and the sound of partitions collapsing. The beast was gigantic. Luo Yuan estimated that it was about 3 meters tall and 7-8 meters long, and weighed about 20 tons. Every single step it took caused dust to drop from the ceiling as the building shook vigorously. The house seemed quite strong though. Had it been a condominium, there would have been cracks and gaps in the walls and it might have already collapsed. There was not even a single crack in the underground chamber. The beast was sniffing as it tried to find the trail of its prey.

No one dared move or make a single sound, but they all kept shaking. The stressful power of the blue rank organism nearly made them faint. After a while, they heard the sound of water dripping and inhaled the choking smell of urine. Luo Yuan was holding his knife tightly. The system beeped again but he did not bother checking it.

He was still in a recovering stage, both physically and mentally, and he had several minor injuries on his body. He was not confident that he could kill a blue rank beast. After all, humans were physically weaker than mutants. He was taking a huge risk every single time he fought against a blue rank animal. Unless he wanted to die, he could not afford any mistakes. He could not just rush out and kill the beast. That might draw the attention of other beasts nearby. The only way to protect everyone was to stay inside the chamber. Hopefully, the beast would not smell their scent and would leave the house as soon as possible.