Chapter 21: Cold-Faced Man

"Doh!" Lu Ren let out a low roar and twisted back, actually tearing off the monster’s head, with a large spurt of brown blood gushing from the wound. Thud! Watching the monster fall to the ground without any further movement, ignoring the barrage of system skill level increase notifications in his mind, Lu Ren sat down heavily on the ground, panting heavily, almost exhausted. The battle just now had lasted less than a minute, yet the high concentration of spirit and the all-out attack made him consume a great deal of physical strength, leaving him feeling extremely fatigued. The scenes in movies where they fight hundreds of rounds are definitely fake; this kind of focused, intensely concentrated battle costs a tremendous amount of energy. Looking at the pitch-black firelight outside the window, Lu Ren took a breath, then slowly stood up and walked to the side of the knife-edged segment monster. He shone the flashlight of his phone on the corpse, compared it for a moment, then bent down and forcibly tore off the creature’s two bone blades with an iron piece. This scene made several survivors watch with a bit of horror, facing the monster not only without fear but dismantling it barehanded! After wiping it slightly, the blade handle was completely a hard bone, a natural weapon indeed. And it felt quite handy to use, the long blade resembling a straight sword, but double-edged, extremely sharp, with a moderate length, about three feet. For double-edged blades, Basic Swordsmanship still categorizes it under the Sword domain; at least wielding it with Basic Swordsmanship was quite smooth. Lu Ren was extremely satisfied with it; without saying more, at least this monster contributed two weapons, which greatly increased his survival chances in this environment. A bit like getting initial tier equipment in an RPG game. While making sarcastic comments in his mind, Lu Ren repeated the process with the remaining blade, checked the monster’s body for anything useful, then carried the double blades out of the office. Glancing at Li Shu, still standing at the door holding a chair in dazed silence, Lu Ren said casually, "What are you doing standing here?" Li Shu, filled with shock, looked at Lu Ren; the scene of Lu Ren fighting a monster bare-handed still lingered in her mind as if it were right in front of her. So violent, so impactful! Just like the hero in the movies, swift and strong, skillful in combat, undaunted by these monsters. She felt a bit moist... tears welled up at the corners of her eyes from fright. This person was terrifyingly calm and decisive, even when attacking Chen Jin without a hint of emotion, like a cold-blooded machine. Li Shu felt a chill all over. "I, I thought I’d come over to see if there’s anything I can help with." Li Shu stammeringly replied. Lu Ren looked at her unexpectedly, then said calmly, "You coming over would just kill yourself, I don’t even have the strength to save you." Although Lu Ren said it politely, Li Shu could understand his implication; if she rushed in recklessly, Lu Ren would definitely watch coldly without any move to help. This was a fierce man who seemed to have no unusual mentality towards the sudden changes in this area. As if, he seems to have experienced it before?! Lu Ren paid no attention to the shifts in Li Shu’s facial expressions, having encountered the Alternate Space for the first time; no matter how kindhearted someone might be in reality, when life and death were at stake, after enduring hardships and extreme hunger, the ugliness of their heart would be magnified infinitely. At least in this Otherworldly Ruins seemingly dormant for decades, if no food was found, unable to obtain enough food to sustain oneself, then several people might reenact the scene in Silent Forest, later on, with no food, starving and eyes shining with a green light. Watching Lu Ren carefully honing the two sharp bone blades, Li Shu asked cautiously, "Brother, have you encountered this kind of situation before?" At this moment, Wang Chengliang and Zhao Hui had long since disappeared, whether dead or hiding somewhere; in this vast office area, only Lu Ren and Li Shu remained. Listening to her careful inquiry, with a meek demeanor, Lu Ren glanced at Li Shu. She is really observing carefully huh, not knowing what she does in reality, so pretty yet so skilled. He didn’t answer, confirming these two alien sharp swords connected to the bone of the knife-edged segment, a natural sword handle, then stood up and said, "You’d better find a place to hide, as long as you survive seven days." Li Shu precisely grasped the key revealed in Lu Ren’s words. "You know this place then" "Don’t know." Then, no matter how she pressed for more information, Lu Ren remained silent, bypassing Li Shu, heading for another floor. Chen Jin, Feng Zicheng, and Ren Zhoucheng were killed, dying tragically, the place reeked of blood. If there are more monsters here, there’s a high chance the strong smell would draw them in. In short, this place is not suitable for staying long. Watching Lu Ren’s departing back, Li Shu couldn’t help but whisper, "Where are you going?" Lu Ren gave no response, with one blade tucked at his waist, holding another sword blade in hand, rushed upstairs in a few steps with his phone flashlight still on. Under the condition where visibility was poor, staying in the dark posed far greater lethal danger than an area with a light source. After surveying this floor without finding any anomalies, Lu Ren remained cautious. Who knows if a monster might crawl out from some dark corner, the corpulent monsters and ones referred to as knife-edged segment monsters, Lu Ren still had no clue where they originated from. Following the usual practice of finding a central four-way room, he used scattered items in the office area to set up simple warning devices, then heavily lay back on a dust-covered soft sofa. He laid silently for a while, confirming the setup warning devices guarded all entry and exit points before tiredly closing the four-walls-tempered glass office door. Turning off the phone flashlight, seeing the scant battery left on his phone, Lu Ren could only silently power it down and tuck it in his backpack. Exhausted both mentally and physically, he almost fell asleep instantly, still gripping the longsword tightly, body slightly turned to ensure he could exert force instantly upon waking. Lu Ren’s vigilance was quite intense, sure to react instantly to any disturbance. The night passed without any further commotion, and the immensely weary Lu Ren gradually fell into a deep sleep. By dawn the next day, until the dull gray sunlight shined on Lu Ren’s face did he slowly awaken. Lu Ren sat up heavily, sweeping his gaze around, then paused slightly at the doorway, confirming no threats before unlocking and pulling the door open.