Chapter 85 - The Institute (26)

Chu Yi felt a strange feeling in his heart,

He could feel his adrenaline rising continuously, however it wasn't because of the usual excitement and stimulation, but instead there was another foreign emotion circling his heart that made him feel as if an invisible weight was pressing against his chest and making even breathing seem like a struggle.

The surreal sense of cold anger rising confused him,

He couldn't even be sure if it was him nor should he care, so why was he so uncomfortable in his heart...

He tried to discard the unneeded sentiment, but a voice in the back of his head kept whispering, 'what if'

The strange sense of anger and betrayal were actually pulling at his heart, a tyrannical urge to kill wrapping around his veins,

Suddenly, intuitively Chu Yi smelled a light greasy musk flowing in the air and his head snapped towards the locked door, his eyes catching as the already dim light flowing from underneath the chipped door was gradually swallowed by a strange darkness.

The sense of danger in the air was heavy, he could detect the rapidly building killing intent from outside the door, making the already tense atmosphere cool to a freezing point.

Chu Yi's eyes never strayed from the wooden door, feeling slightly fortunate that he had pushed the door back and locked it, as a precaution when he had first entered, otherwise whatever was on the other side would have caught him off-guard, 

"Hello?" 

It sounded human.

It was a sweet voice-harmless even,

"Is anyone in there?"

"Come out. Don't be afraid"

"Why don't you be obedient"

Chu Yi still didn't respond, the thing on the other side didn't seem to care about this and kept repeating its line in an never-ending crescendo that ascended cruelly, distorted and shrill until eventually the words became nothing but ear-piercing shrieks at the door in garbled, intelligible syllables!

It didn't immediately break down the hollow door to get inside and seemed to want to drive its prey mad with fear first, deliberately pushing them to the brink of despair when they realize there is no escape!

In this open room, there was nowhere to hide, the office seemed to have been deliberately made so that anybody who enters would be able to see the room at a glance, therefore it also completely cut off all forms of retreat for anyone who was hiding inside,

In this case, it was Chu Yi.

Tch-

Chu Yi sneered hoarsely, his already struggling heart bursting in flames of anger directly,

His eyes were scarlet and fierce, the tyrannical murderous intent that had been accumulating from the moment he had found the hard drive that documented the merman's mating cycle, was getting more and more violent!

It felt as if there was a suffocated breath stuck in his chest, like a balloon slowly rising with hot, he would directly explode if not vented properly and yet it also like he had a cork screwed on his top that would not release until he made a decision,

A decision that would have to wait until he saw the video.

Chu Yi exhaled, feeling that his chest and lungs were filled with the a strange stench of the blood, it wafted in from outside along with the wretched screaming creatures and the smell itself was so strong it felt like poison traveling down his throat.

It was to the point where it became like gelatinous blood, sticky and lumped against the muscles of his airway, 

Just like before, it became difficult to even breathe!

In his heart, however, the excitement of being of the verge of death made his blood boil, and the rising anger at his uncontrollable thoughts stained his face in a fiery breath!

Huh—

It was another long exhale. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but the temperature inside Chu Yi's body was rising, and the usually faint red lines started shining, emerging from his skin with a tyrannical breath!

The the voice on his head kept urging, tempting him to just let loose of all inhibitions and begin a bloody reign of mass terror, to destroy anything that stood in his way!

The screeching became a backdrop for the heat that flowed like molten magma in his veins. The restlessness caused by the angry flame triggered a desire for destruction, it made him eager to tear anything to shreds and devour the flesh and blood of his prey!

The almost cannibalistic urge creeped into his heart and set his mind ablaze.

His chaotic and turbulent mind was unable to think calmly, It seemed as if thousands of dangerous knowledge were pouring into his mind, stirring his brain into a boiling soup, all kinds of disorderly memory fragments were expanding, colliding, and rolling! 

He wasn't able to decipher the outpour of information and instead it turned into an almost instinctive desire to kill!

He couldn't breath, he couldn't think, this was forcing him to collapse!

Chu Yi's eyes darkened with an almost crazed light and suddenly he lifted his arm and severely bit a bloody hole into his own hand! 

White teeth sank into the soft flesh of his palms, a deep wound was formed and he could taste the metallic sweetness of his own blood sliding down his throat- 

Almost instantly the pain suppressed his chaotic thinking and the voices in his head faded away as droplets of scarlet, red blood dripped down from his fingers and onto the floor!

Gasp-

He didn't have time to dwell on what just happened, and after closing his eyes and resting for a second, Chu Yi, who was in a tight situation opened his eyes alertly, squeezed the knife in his hand, and turned his gaze back to the door. 

From underneath he could see four black shadows pacing unsteadily at the hatch, they seemed to be waiting for the perfect time to barge in and feast on the delicate prey that was trapped in their net!

Unlike before, the shadows had a humanoid shape which was probably the leeway the system gave him during the day. With similar weaknesses and similar anatomy, he had a higher chance of escaping death-

As if feeling his gaze, one of the dark figures moved forward, Chu Yi only felt an extremely cold gaze looking at him, full of malice and greed, as if was selecting the best place to start cutting him from, Chu Yi didn't flinch, his red eyes started unwavering at the door with almost a mocking sneer.

The shrieks got louder,

Chu Yi could intuitively feel that although the creature was blocked by the door, it could still 'see' him in a sense.

He looked away, this situation was tricky to deal with.

If it was only one creature standing outside the door, he would have taken his chances against it, but instead he was outnumbered four to one. Fighting in such an enclosed place would prove as a disadvantage to him, but as he looked around, Chu Yi came to the conclusion that,

There was no place to hide.

The cabinets were too small and the bookshelf was tightly attached to the wall.

There was no possibility of him being able to hide there.

Would he really have to fight after all?

Boom!

The creatures had started banging on the door, the wooden block rattled in place sending dust and wood chips flying in the air,

This door would not be able to stand as a shield for long!

He needed to find a way!

Chu Yi surveyed the room, his mind moving at the speed of light as he quickly calculated all the known possibilities and discarded the ones that would likely lead to his death,

Finally his eyes locked onto the pool,

The only disparity in the otherwise closed off escape routes- the water itself was murky and clouded, no light could penetrate into its dark depths and any movement would be quietly concealed by the rippling waves, it acted as a perfect hiding spot in this situation except he would be faced with the threat of drowning at any moment-

Bang!

The knocks were growing harsher-

He needed to make a choice!

Drowning or Fighting-

His chest suddenly tightened with a feeling of breathlessness, a sharp pain came from both his arms as they glowed an ominous red for a second, although the light quickly dissipated, the sudden change did not miss Chu Yi's attention and he curiously observed his arms, only to see that a single piece of shimmering, pale pink scale had somehow grown from his body and was now sitting quickly at the base of his wrists.

He seemed to know what his transformation was, 

Don't be afraid—— "A weird voice came from outside the door, it was shrill, gloomy and sounded like a helpless woman but at the same time like a hoarse beast with saliva dripping from its jaws,

"Open the door——"

"Be obedient ——"

"Open the door——"

Looking at the creaking door, Chu Yi finally made a decision,

There was another sharp call, the doors would only able to last for a while longer, he needed to get something to help him sink in the water quickly, 

His mind churned quickly, 

The Liquor Box!

Although not his previous intended purpose it was heavy enough, 

He quickly moved from his spot close to the door and dashed for the desk, underneath was the same box and after immediately dragging it our from the desk, he started for the pool-

With a last second thought, he activated the invisibility prop, it wouldn't be of much use on land because when it wore off, he would still be directly exposed to the creatures, but it would work in the water,

Tick-

When he looked back one last time before slipping into the pond, Chu Yi's pupils couldn't help but shrink , he saw that from outside, a hazy dark mist was coming in from the crack in the door, drifting from the pile of debris into the room.

The mist seemed to be smeared with oil, dirty and greasy, and the air was filled with scent of corpse oil and coagulated blood,

More black mist penetrated into the door, forming a tall and thin black shadow, which seemed to be boneless, twisting and crawling on the ground.

Haha-- oooo-- " The shadow's sharp and piercing voice suddenly sounded, like a smile but not a smile, like a cry but not a cry, anger and malice rushed out like an evil storm,

It rushed towards the spot Chu Yi had just been standing in and seemed to form shape blades that immediately created a whooshing sound as it slashed through the air with the intention to kill!

The shadow seemed confused when it felt no resistance underneath its blade, and stopped crying-

The thing seemed to have lost its goal and stabbed everywhere with its tangible blade like a lunatic. Under the dim light, the shadow seemed like an evil ghost from hell! It searched everywhere in the room, rushing to the depths of the chairman's office, it's body twisted and crawled everywhere, and it's throat roared like a beast! 

It could smell Chu Yi's scent but it couldn't find him to its dismay.

"Haha-- oooooo--"

The shadow become more frantic and anxious, calling out like a angry wail of an infant, screaming hysterically, stern and angry, as it relayed its failure to the creatures on the other side,

From this angle, Chu Yi couldn't see it clearly, and could only vaguely infer from the still screeching voice outside that this was a preemptive strike from the creatures outside,

If he hadn't made a quick decision, then this thing would have already slashed his neck while he was unprepared-

Then he jumped!

Splash-

Instantly, the cold water engulfed his body in a freezing wave, the box helping him to quickly sink to the pond floor- 

And just in time, the large door went bang as it fell to floor, unable to stand the weight anymore!