Chapter 107: The Human Skin Drum (11)

The man with the large swollen belly had eyes that gleamed a strange green. His entire being exuded an eerie green glow.

“Help me…” he whispered weakly, clutching his abdomen.

But if Tang Mu heard correctly, that deep, unsettling howl was coming from these two adjacent rooms.

It was either here or next door.

Tang Mu narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

The man rambled on, “I’m about to give birth any moment now. Help me! Just contact a few experienced midwives—I’ll pay you!”

Ha.

With a cold expression, Tang Mu replied, “Delivering a baby for a man? Even the most skilled midwives would be helpless.”

“I’ll pay you!” the man pleaded desperately. “You need clues to clear the levels, right? I’ve earned some eerie coins from other runs. If you save me, you can have them all—I won’t complain!”

Is that so?

“Where are these eerie coins then?”

“In my pocket.”

He was trying to lure Tang Mu closer.

“No worries. Once you’re dead, I’ll just search your pockets.”

“Besides, according to the receptionist, you won’t give birth until three days from now.”

“Why are you about to deliver now then?”

As Tang Mu voiced her doubts, the green glow in the man’s eyes deepened ominously.

“Saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda—especially since there’s a child in my belly!”

“…Whether your child can even be born is still unknown.”

Tang Mu was straightforward—she said whatever was on her mind. Whether her words would anger the other party to death was their problem, not hers.

“So, just stay quietly in your room. In three days, the villagers will come to collect the little monster in your belly. I’m not getting involved.”

Seeing Tang Mu actually try to walk away, the pregnant man grew restless.

The mutated green vines around him suddenly lunged toward Tang Mu.

—

But the attack of the vines differed from that of the eerie creatures. Their assaults were silent; yet, though the vines were mutated, they were still physical objects. Whether stretching or climbing, they made noise.

And moving swiftly, the sound was even louder.

Before the mutated vines could reach Tang Mu, she pretended not to notice. But just 0.1 seconds before the attack hit her, the red string bell on her wrist activated instantly. Countless red threads locked down the attack range of the mutated vines.

The moment the mutated vines collided with the massive red web, they were sliced into various sizes of sticky, green slime-covered stems.

Even the air was thick with the nauseating, sour stench from the green slime oozing from the vines.

“Disgusting smell. I should have brought a gas mask,” Tang Mu muttered.

While she was talking, the man, who had been lying on the bed with his swollen belly, had completely mutated into a giant green egg-like eerie creature. Like the aliens in “Sweet Home,” human DNA had been warped by the eerie mutation, forcibly evolving into various non-human forms.

From head to toe, it radiated a strange and unsettling aura.

The mutated man could no longer produce human sounds. He had no throat—instead, from his abdominal cavity came a unique, raspy hissing noise belonging solely to the eerie creatures.

Just looking at him made one frown in disgust.

“So that’s what being mutated looks like—ugly as hell,” Tang Mu sighed repeatedly. “I absolutely can’t be mutated. After all, I’m so beautiful. If I turned into some long-necked, long-legged monster, how would others see me?”

Perhaps Tang Mu’s vanity had provoked the creature.

The monster hissed angrily and suddenly sprouted eight massive green spear-like spider legs, wildly attacking Tang Mu.

“Red Thread Dark Arts, puppet strings. By the power of the law, go!” Tang Mu cried, activating the red silk on her wrist.

Billions of red threads wove into a giant web, blocking the monster’s path.

But strangely, when the monster’s two green spear-legs touched the red thread bell, they immediately transformed from spear-like limbs into vine-like states, slithering through the gaps in the threads and instantly spreading before Tang Mu’s eyes!

At this critical moment—

“Curtain of red threads, weave and strategize. By the power of the law, go!”

The red threads morphed into a vast red silk curtain, firmly blocking all the creature’s outstretched vines behind it.

The monster attacked the red curtain.

Perhaps because of its high rank, only the surface texture where the monster touched the curtain was corroded.

Its roots remained unharmed.

“B-level monsters are tough to deal with,” Tang Mu sighed. Even an A+ level item couldn’t easily harm it.

It seemed only the bane of eerie creatures—the bamboo shards from the Black Bamboo Forest—could do the trick.

—

Fortunately, her red curtain could be produced endlessly!

“Bind!”

With the eerie spirit’s blessing, the red thread bell’s toughness increased. In its curtain form, its ability to restrain the eerie creature grew even more terrifying. It even allowed a mental connection with its owner. As long as the owner wished, their spiritual power could traverse any thread to observe details invisible to human eyes.

And that was exactly what Tang Mu did.

Her vision was completely blocked by the wall of red silk.

At this moment, the item’s mental connection ability was essential.

Through this clairvoyance, Tang Mu saw that the eerie creature was still struggling violently behind the red silk.

She controlled the red curtain to wrap tighter and tighter, layer upon layer, like the insulating rubber on electrical wires, until no vine could slip through.

Only then did Tang Mu lower the red silk barrier between herself and the monster.

Without hesitation, she plunged the black bamboo shard into the creature’s heart.

The monster’s chest throbbed loudly—thump, thump, thump—oozing thick green liquid along the red silk.

Gradually, the rhythm of its chest’s rise and fall weakened until it finally lay still, lifeless as a corpse.

Congratulations on the drop:

[Mutated Green Vine Body (B)] — Auxiliary item ×3.

Can be used to upgrade other non-auxiliary items.

For example: Enhances the toughness and entangling effect of the [Red Thread Bell (A+)]. It also secretes a sticky liquid that, once it contaminates any player other than the owner, induces mutation. Therefore, a friendly reminder: exercise caution when using it to strangle fellow players.

However, combined with the [Mother-Child Gu (A)] item from this run, it causes mutated players to unconditionally trust the owner and be completely controlled by them.

The item’s amplification effects become significantly stronger~

After reviewing the item clues, Tang Mu decided not to upgrade for now. If she could acquire the highest-level item in this run—the [Mother-Child Gu (A)]—her Red Thread Bell would undoubtedly reach an astonishing level of power.

So, the [Mother-Child Gu (A)] item was already on her must-get list!