Chapter 81: The Owl (Two-in-One Chapter)

Today's update is a two-in-one chapter.
Chapter 81: The Owl

Outside, the shrieks rose and fell in a brutal chorus. With people already dead and others missing, no one dared to step outdoors now. The only ones keeping their composure were Chen Xiao and a few companions. Chen Xiao, Junior Master Xu, and Baicai had already survived an abduction, so their nerves were tempered. Xiao Qing had been training in martial arts since childhood, and he carried a steadier presence. As for Yaya… she still seemed not to fully grasp what was happening.

The villa’s ground floor looked like a hotel lobby. Though the howling outside surged, the sound’s source seemed far enough; those unknown beasts did not seem to be approaching at once.

“Light!”

Xiao Qing spoke suddenly.

The word struck Chen Xiao like a bell.

Of course—light and fire are always things that wild beasts instinctively fear.

Chen Xiao ran at once and in one breath flipped on every light in the villa’s hall. Not only the lobby lamps, but also every outdoor lamp post beyond the walls blazed to life.

Soon after, the cries outside shifted with a touch of fear. Faintly, they seemed to retreat.

“All together, to the tool room,” Chen Xiao decided. He took Yaya’s hand and led everyone along the hallway beside the hall toward it.

The tool room, as the staff had said, was the only truly enclosed room in the building. It stood to one side, about ten paces away, a small detached room. Its door was a steel-plated security door—fire-resistant, supposedly sturdy enough for danger.

It was not large, only about twenty square meters. Along a row of shelves sat cleaning tools: buckets, brooms, mops, vacuum cleaners. Garden tools too—shovels, weeders, and more. There were pipes and spare circuits in the corner as well.

Chen Xiao rummaged through them and found what might be useful. First, several thick work overalls. It was near midnight, and on an island in the middle of a lake the air was cold, so he handed several to the girls. Then flashlights: now there was one for everyone.

As for shovels, he took one for himself and gave another to Junior Master Xu to use as a weapon if needed. When he handed out the weapons, he looked at Xiao Qing and signaled with his eyes; Xiao Qing only gave a light smile, as if to say he needed none.

The only real weakness was the windows.

They were small and had iron bars, as the staff had said. But to Chen Xiao the bars looked alarmingly thin—little more than finger-width. Against a large predator, their value was doubtful.

Chen Xiao and a few men moved the tool racks to block the window openings. At least it was something.

After some time, the howling outside seemed to calm down, but terror still filled the room. Some people kept dialing their phones back and forth, even though they all knew the signal was already gone—clinging to the thinnest scrap of hope.

Chen Xiao sat in a corner, studying the island map. Xu kept staring at him, uneasy.

Half an hour later, it was close to two in the morning.

Chen Xiao stood. He looked at everyone:
“From now on, no one leaves this room. No one.”

He turned toward the door and then to Xu:
“Xiao Xu, you stay. From now on, everyone follows your command. Remember, nobody leaves. Hold this place until dawn. I suspect those strange animals won’t dare move around by daylight; once it’s light, it should be safer. Stay here for a few hours, no matter what.”

Xiao Xu strode over and grabbed Chen Xiao’s arm. “And you? Are you really going out?”

“I’m going to find them,” Chen Xiao said, unbending. “No matter what, little Jin and Lu Xiaoxiao came with us. We can’t just abandon them.”

Xu’s face changed instantly. He locked eyes with Chen Xiao and said, “Fine, I’m coming with you. You can’t do this alone.”

“Enough!” Chen Xiao snapped, pushing him hard to the floor and saying in a low, firm voice, “Xiao Xu! This isn’t a moment for sentiment. Your fighting skill is nowhere near mine. Going out with me won’t help. I need someone here to lead. There are so many people here; we need a head. If you go, what about Baicai? What about Yaya? Should I leave them alone?”

He gave Xu a look, and everyone else—men and women alike—looked terrified through and through. Chen Xiao would not risk leaving Yaya and the other women with all those frightened people. In panic, anyone can do unpredictable things.

Baicai started to speak, ready to insist on going with Chen Xiao. He cut her off with a sharp look.
“Quiet, Baicai!”

His tone softened a little.
“I know you want to help. Then please—stay and take care of Yaya, and take care of everyone.”

From the look in Xu’s eyes, he understood he was not going to win.

“Then… I should have the right to go with you,” said Xiao Qing quietly.

“What?” Chen Xiao glanced at him.

Xiao Qing smiled faintly, bright-eyed. “Don’t forget—your skills are nowhere near mine. If you can go, why not I?”

So Chen Xiao and Xiao Qing left the tool room together. By then Yaya seemed to sense the danger.

“Chen Xiao… you…”

“Stay here.” Chen Xiao’s voice was gentle. He gave Yaya a light embrace and stroked her hair.
“I’m stepping out to look for people. Be good. Listen to Xiao Xu and Baicai, all right?”

He bent toward her and lowered his voice:
“If there’s danger… use the electric discharge.”

“What are we doing?” Yaya asked as they returned to the hall and headed toward the room. Xiao Qing asked at his side.

“Back first—I need to get a few things,” Chen Xiao said.

In his room, he quickly pulled out his leather case. Under Xiao Qing’s curious gaze, he pulled on black leather boots, put on an earpiece and a single-eye lens, then slipped into a leather jacket.

“Darn. This waterproof set doesn’t include an offensive weapon,” Chen Xiao muttered, glancing at Xiao Qing. “There must be a kitchen somewhere. We’ll get a knife.”

“Knife? Not needed.”

Xiao Qing spun once. With one hand she pinched the buckle at her waist and pulled.

A flash.

The next instant, a thin sword appeared in her hand. Its metal was some kind of soft steel, thin as paper.

“A soft sword?” Chen Xiao blinked.

“I always carry one,” Xiao Qing said, as if nothing more needed to be said.

He did not ask further, and spread the map.

“Look,” he said, “I’ve been thinking. If there are large predators on this island, they must have dens. We only focused on finding the missing people and ignored that entirely. I checked the map carefully. There is a cave below that slope. It’s small. During development, it’s marked as modified and now used as the resort’s wine cellar.”

“Wine cellar?” Xiao Qing frowned. “Did we check there before?”

“We didn’t. But staff have. They say nothing missing was found there.”

He gave a bitter nod. “Still, if there are beasts with a lair, this is the best possible place for them—from their point of view.”

Xiao Qing was silent, then said, “Then let’s go.”

As they stepped out, they heard a crash.

Both men stiffened.

The sound came from above—the clear ringing of broken glass.

“They can’t hold out,” Chen Xiao said quickly. “The lights can’t scare them forever. They’re forcing their way into the villa.”

“Trying to feed, is it?” Xiao Qing gave a cold laugh.

They sprinted to the stairs and back into the hall, where the glass door had already been shattered. Muddy footprints marked the floor—huge prints with three-lobed forefeet.

“They’re in. Move!”

Chen Xiao grabbed Xiao Qing’s wrist and pulled her out. They reached the patio by the barbecue set. Chen Xiao paused for an instant, then pulled out a lighter and tossed it into the grill.

A dull explosion of flame burst up. He dumped all the stored charcoal into it, feeding the fire until it roared. Then he bent, lifted the barbecue stand by the base, and held it up.

“Come on. This makes a good torch—and it can drive them off,” he said with a smile.

“It might attract them instead,” Xiao Qing sighed.

Chen Xiao stopped and spoke seriously. “I really think you should go back. This is too dangerous.”

“So you intended to lure them away on purpose, didn’t you?” Xiao Qing smiled faintly and shook her head. “No. If I came out with you, I won’t go back now. Besides… only a few beasts. I’m not afraid.”

Chen Xiao could see her expression had no doubt in it. He sighed.
“Fine. We can’t enter the woods. We go along the shore.”

He was right. With so many predators moving about, the woods were far too dangerous. Along the open shore the ground was clearer, and if a beast charged, they could see it. In the forest, humans are far less in control than beasts that know that terrain.

The grill was heavy, a few kilos at least, but with his level-enhanced strength even lifting and walking with it was easy.

The shore was about ten or more meters from the treeline. They moved carefully along it. After about five minutes, Xiao Qing whispered:

“Did you feel that?”

Chen Xiao nodded.

About ten meters off, within the leaf-rattle beyond the trees, he glimpsed several dark shadows darting rapidly through the underbrush.

“Five,” said Xiao Qing, frowning. “They seem to have been following us, but maybe they kept off because of your fire.”

Chen held the grill in one hand and gripped the shovel in the other. The charcoal would not keep burning forever, but soon enough they reached the slope.

The cave was on the far side of the lake and easy to find.

During development it had been remodeled. A wooden ovoid door still sealed the mouth of the cave, designed to block damp from seeping in. Inside, the floor too had been re-boarded, turning it into a dim storage space, suitable for food and wine—a natural vault, you could say. On this island, electricity came from a generator, so this was cheaper than building a powered cold room.

The door wasn’t locked. Pulling the bolt, they eased it open. The heavy board sighed and groaned. A cold draft slipped out, and with it a faintly strange odor.

“Do you smell it? Something… rotten?” Chen Xiao said, brow furrowing. “Has the food spoiled in there?”

They had gone less than half a meter inside when they heard a loud crack from within.

Like bottles shattering.

They exchanged a glance and ran forward.

The cellar wasn’t deep—after ten or so steps the space widened into a circular chamber. The walls had a moisture-proof finish, and the floor was boarded. Before them lay disorder: a row of wine racks had been knocked down; shattered glass and broken bottles were everywhere. The liquor had poured out, filling the air with rich scent.

Then, underneath it all—“Where did that foul stench come from?” Chen Xiao frowned, swinging the torch for light and scanning around.

At that instant he felt Xiao Qing stop breathing and poke his shoulder lightly.

“Above,” she whispered, tense.

Chen Xiao looked up. In a high corner near the ceiling’s curve, a dark shape was crouched.

The cave rose seven or eight meters high. The far corner was exactly the farthest point from Chen Xiao’s torch; a protruding rock formed the best barrier against the light.

In that corner, the dark figure finally resolved itself.

Both men drew in a breath of shock.

What in the world was this thing?

Long folded wings, all black feathers across its body. It hung upside down from the ceiling, head downward. Its hind feet had three-lobed claws, each ending in hooks that gripped the rock crack, anchoring its body hard against the stone.

The ends of its wings looked almost like human hands, with elongated, sharp black bony hooks at the tips.

Most terrifying was its head.

At once, Chen Xiao knew it was no bird.

The head was triangular, entirely bare of fur. Its face’s contours evoked an animal from the countryside in midsummer:

A bat.

Yet it was not exactly a bat. First, bats have never been that big. Its head was too huge. It snapped open a mouth full of sharp fangs at the two of them, and its eyes bulged outward like a frog’s. The sound from its throat was a sharp, repeated cry—threat and fear both in it.

And besides, bats should not have that length of black feathering in their build.

By rough measure, the creature’s body in that curled posture was already about a meter long.

From everything Chen knew, in the south—at least in the K City region—an organism like this simply should not exist.

“It seems afraid of us,” Xiao Qing said, moving with care, soft sword in hand.

Sure enough, as they turned, the thing shifted angle again, its clawed feet still locked in the same rock seam. Its cries only grew sharper, louder.

Suddenly Chen Xiao thought of one thing.

“It’s calling its companions!”

No sooner had he said it than they heard a swishing commotion outside the cave.

“The door!” Chen Xiao sprinted for it.

As he reached it, dark shadows swept in through the night beyond the entrance, flying in hard and fast.
He barely had time to brace himself against the door. Outside came a barrage of blows.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The collisions came with shocking strength. Chen Xiao staggered, almost losing the push, and the door gave a sliver of opening. Through it shot in a single sharp claw. Caught off guard, he was hooked and torn across his shoulder, a blood line opening through cloth and skin.

The scent of blood only seemed to enrage them. A chorus of screams rose, each one shriller than the last.

Chen Xiao forced the door shut and held it, while from behind him Xiao Qing shouted:

“Watch behind!”

He turned and saw a black shape lunging at him from the rear. He managed only to turn his head aside.

With a ripping sound, the claw bit into the board wall. Deep gouges opened in the sturdy planks, wood chips flying.
The lurking monster from the corner had dropped down. It missed a grab, then opened its maw and lunged for his neck.

Xiao Qing was already at his side. She raised her hand.

Whoosh.

The blade flew.

Clang!

Her strike was exact, perfect. The sword’s edge landed across Chen Xiao’s neck line. The monster bit down on the metal. Chen Xiao shrank clear at once.

Xiao Qing gave a cold laugh.

“With a subtle flick of the wrist…”

She spun the blade. The creature screamed as the sword twisted in its jaw, shredding and crushing the inside of its mouth as if wrung by wire. In pain, it screeched, then scrambled upward again, darting in a flash to the top corner.

On the ground below, scraps of flesh dropped. One looked like pieces of tongue, and two sharp fangs lay severed.

Landing the blow was only the beginning. Xiao Qing didn’t stop. She surged toward the wall, used her momentum to spring upward, then in midair sent a stabbing line toward the cornered creature.

Her form stretched, poised like a great bird in flight. The blade flashed. A true expert.

The monster was quick—but no match for that. It was hit.

That only triggered its fury. It shrieked once, spread its wings, and hurtled at Xiao Qing.

Chen Xiao moved to intercept as it was about to land. He caught her and rolled both of them to the ground, then kicked the beast as hard as he could.

Thud.

It toppled into a corner of the wall, then slammed its head and bled heavily. This time it had no power left to strike again.

Its mouth and face were torn open by the sword, one stroke in the chest, one kick from Chen, and a third wound bleeding from its head. It twitched hard, then lay unable to rise.

Chen Xiao stepped up cautiously, nudged it twice with his foot. It thrashed weakly, giving a blurred mouthful of blood-mixed flesh and snarling in a last, impotent cry.

Both of them were still shaken.

Though Xiao Qing was a formidable fighter, one clean hit from her should have ended it, yet this thing was so vicious that even after a mortal wound it had charged in like that. Even for her, and even with all her skill, she was still a girl, and panic had touched her. If Chen Xiao had not come between them, she might have escaped a wound, but her face would likely have been torn.

“Goodness…” Chen Xiao breathed, not from fatigue but from adrenaline and awe. “What sort of demon is this?”

“Body like an eagle, wings like a bat, head like…” Xiao Qing frowned, thinking. “Like a hybrid of monkey and bat.”

At that moment, the wooden door on the other side was still being hammered—again and again, each strike stronger than the last. The creatures outside sounded as though they were going mad to break in.

The heavy planks shook violently. Dust fell from the frame.

Chen Xiao suddenly glanced at the dying creature on the floor, then pressed a button on his earpiece.

In his mind he had expected nothing, but the detector responded.

On the lens of his left eye, a screen flashed into view. A string of symbols and numbers began to race.

Owl.

Rank: D-class.

Combat style: physical power and speed.
Endurance: D-class.
Intelligence: E-class.
Energy: E-class.

Database-identified known class; primitive-stage bioengineered beast.
Specializes in jump-flight attacks, claw-and-bite.

Special ability: bloodthirst evolution.

A flood of symbols followed—full-body analysis of this creature: strength, contour, skeleton, body shape, all complete.

The final text read:

“This known-class bio-beast is judged by the system as hostile.”

Bio-beast.
Hostile.

Would you all take a quick poll for me? The update count is fixed at two chapters a day. I’m only undecided about timing: one chapter at noon and one at eight in the evening, or both chapters at eight in the evening.
Option One: One chapter at 1 p.m., one at 8 p.m.
Option Two: Two chapters at 8 p.m.
Which do you think is better?