28: Chapter 28 The Chase

Zhou Tunan subconsciously held his breath, his muscles tensing as he tried his best not to make even the slightest sound.

But a second later...

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out as his home's security door was smashed open, slamming heavily against the wall.

Footsteps echoed, unhurried, approaching the direction of his bedroom.

Zhou Tunan's heart skipped a beat. His eyes darted around in the darkness as his mind raced frantically.

If it was as he guessed and these Shadow Devourers didn't need dim light to hunt—if darkness was actually their comfort zone—then staying hidden here was just waiting for death.

The footsteps stopped outside the bedroom door.

Knock, knock!

The knocking sounded abruptly, as if done on purpose.

But at the very moment the sound rang out, Zhou Tunan made his choice.

He clenched his right hand suddenly!

Bang!

In the living room, a lighter he had placed on the coffee table beforehand suddenly exploded, sending up a brief flicker of fire.

Almost simultaneously, Zhou Tunan threw open the bedroom door and rushed out.

He intended to use the moment the opponent was distracted by the fire to escape.

The moment he opened the door, he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow—humanoid, but with a blurred outline, looking exactly like a ghost.

Without time for a closer look, Zhou Tunan ducked sharply and performed a sliding tackle through the opponent's legs!

His movements were extremely fast. His back grazed the cold floor as he twisted his body to stand up, then sprinted toward the hallway without looking back.

Zhou Tunan didn't dare look back, running forward with all his might.

The hallway was pitch black, with only the distant green emergency exit sign emitting a faint glow.

The footsteps behind him were getting closer. Zhou Tunan gritted his teeth and charged toward the stairwell in the darkness.

Unable to slow down, he lowered his shoulder and slammed into the heavy iron emergency exit door with a thud, stumbling his way into the stairwell.

The massive impact rang out, and the sound-activated light overhead flickered on.

But at this point, he couldn't afford to care about that.

Since he had already been discovered, why worry about a light source?

Zhou Tunan didn't flee immediately. Instead, he turned around and pressed his back against the iron door.

But just as he leaned against it—

Shink!

A pitch-black, sickle-shaped arm—looking as if it were condensed from shadows—suddenly pierced through the thin steel plate of the door. Its sharp tip was only a few centimeters from his waist.

Zhou Tunan was so terrified he nearly died on the spot. If that had hit him, he would definitely be dead!

Realizing he couldn't keep holding the door, Zhou Tunan was about to start running when the force from outside suddenly vanished.

Then, the light beneath his feet dimmed.

The opponent had actually melted, turning into a flat shadow that flowed in through the gap at the bottom of the door!

At that same moment, the sound-activated light happened to turn off.

The stairwell plunged back into darkness.

The loss of light completely extinguished Zhou Tunan's current courage. Without thinking, he turned and bolted upstairs.

He took seven or eight steps at a time, his footsteps echoing rapidly in the enclosed stairwell.

Just as he reached the landing, a massive boom came from behind—the iron door had been completely broken through.

Zhou Tunan didn't dare look back. His mind was a complete blank, with only the instinct for survival driving his legs to keep moving.

Zhou Tunan rushed up the stairs to the next floor and unhesitatingly kicked open the iron emergency exit door. After creating the noise, he continued sprinting upward without looking back.

He hoped the open door would slightly confuse the Shadow Devourer behind him.

When he reached the next floor, he repeated the tactic, kicking open another iron door.

Only this time, he didn't continue upward. Instead, he took out another spare lighter he had on him, tossed it upward, and crushed it with his Psychokinesis.

Pop!

A slight popping sound and a fleeting flash of fire came from the floor above.

After doing all this, Zhou Tunan slipped into the hallway of the current floor.

As soon as he entered the hallway, he immediately lightened his footsteps, even taking off his shoes. He then moved quickly on his tiptoes, finding a corner piled with junk to hide in.

Then, holding his breath, he tilted his head and cautiously peered through the gaps in the junk toward the direction he had come from.

However, contrary to his expectations, the opponent didn't seem to be lured away by the commotion upstairs.

After a moment, the dark shadow appeared at the hallway entrance, its head turning slowly as it looked toward his position.

Seeing this, Zhou Tunan's heart sank. He knew he couldn't hide anymore.

Then, he gritted his teeth and reached back toward his waist, gripping the hilt of the short sword he carried.

Since he couldn't run, he would have to fight. There might still be a chance of survival.

But at that moment, a hand reached out from behind him without warning and suddenly covered his mouth!

Zhou Tunan's whole body stiffened, his eyes widening instantly as he instinctively prepared to struggle.

"Don't move, don't make a sound," a very low voice whispered urgently in his ear.

Sensing that the person meant no harm, Zhou Tunan suppressed his instinctive resistance and stopped moving.

Seeing that he had calmed down, the hand slowly released him.

Zhou Tunan immediately looked back. In the near-total darkness, he could barely make out that the person behind him was a young woman, about twenty-three or twenty-four. As for her appearance, it wasn't very clear in the dark.

Zhou Tunan forced himself to stay calm, then asked in an equally low voice, "What should we do?"

"Wait for it to come closer," the woman said. "We'll strike together to stall it for a moment. Then follow me to break the window at the end of the corridor and jump down to the ground."

"To the ground?!" Zhou Tunan's expression was one of shock. This was over ten stories high, dozens of meters up.

Falling freely like that would be certain death.

In the darkness, he seemed to feel her glance at him before she said, "I have a way."

Having no better choice, Zhou Tunan gritted his teeth. "Fine."

The footsteps grew closer. Both of them lowered their bodies at the same time, holding their breath with muscles tensed, ready to strike.

They listened intently. When the opponent entered a range of five or six meters, Zhou Tunan suddenly lunged forward!

Then, with a powerful throw of his right hand, he hurled the short sword at the dark shadow, simultaneously activating his Psychokinesis to give the flying blade even more speed.

The short sword whistled through the air!

However, the dark shadow simply raised a hand casually, its fingers accurately pinching the sharp edge of the blade.

Zhou Tunan's pupils constricted.

At that moment, the woman on his left also rushed out. She rapidly chanted obscure syllables and pushed her right hand forward.

Whoosh!

A washbasin-sized, blazing fireball appeared out of thin air, carrying a searing wave of heat as it blasted toward the opponent.

The opponent reacted extremely fast, reaching out to grab the hilt of the short sword and then swinging it forward violently!

A flash of blade light actually sliced the fireball in half. Scattering sparks instantly illuminated the dim corridor.

By this brief light, they saw the visitor's face. It wasn't a Shadow Devourer, but a male human wearing a black jacket.