Chapter 12: The All-Encompassing Medicine Chest

The iron door rattled, and the ground shook violently.

Wu Miaoran stepped back a few paces, her voice tense.
“These creatures are incredibly strong. I can’t believe they broke free from your water bubbles so quickly.”

“Something’s not right. That kind of strength is probably beyond what those spider hounds are capable of...” Lin Yu observed.

“So what do we do now?” Wu Miaoran swallowed hard.

“Miaoran, the cooldown on your Pest Exterminator should be over. See if you can whip up a potion with a strong binding effect!” Lin Yu urged.

“All right! I’ll give it a try.”

Wu Miaoran immediately pulled her medicine kit from her backpack and began fiddling with the buttons.

Her Device No. 3, the Pest Exterminator—known as “All Five Flavors”—was a medicine kit capable of synthesizing random functional potions, with a limit of five uses per day.

There were ten buttons atop the kit; the first nine bore labels: Prison Bull, Yazi, Taofeng, Pulao, Suanni, Baxia, Bi’an, Fuxi, and Chiwen. The last button was a golden circle.

Each of these nine buttons represented a different function: Strength, Pest Control, Restraint, Sound, Defense, Enhancement, Mind, Recovery, and Area. By pressing one to three buttons in sequence, the kit would synthesize a potion with corresponding effects.

A single-effect potion was the most potent; multi-functional potions balanced their effects but with weakened potency. Moreover, the first potion synthesized each day was always the strongest, with subsequent ones gradually less effective.

Today, Wu Miaoran’s first potion combined the traits of Yazi and Fuxi, making it extremely effective at repelling pests and healing.

But this time, since they were facing a derivative of the Core Bug, a direct confrontation was unnecessary.

Wu Miaoran pressed the Taofeng button and initiated synthesis.

The medicine kit pulsed with a riot of color. Electric currents crackled and acrid smoke billowed. With a click, the round cap at the upper right popped open, and out floated a vial of orange-yellow liquid.

A sticker on the vial depicted a weeping tiger’s head inside a cage.

Wu Miaoran picked up the potion and exhaled in relief.

“This time it’s a Binding Potion. If we use it on those spider hounds from earlier, it should keep them trapped for a whole day.”

“Good. In a moment, pour the potion onto my Mist Bubble. With the potion absorbed, the bubble will be that much more effective!” Lin Yu said.

“But hey, this is just a temporary fix. That Core Bug is still hiding below. We’ve got to lure it out, or we’ll never get rid of it!” Qin Qisan said, exasperated.

“There aren’t many living things left in this restaurant. Even if it keeps getting stronger, it’s running out of hosts to use as breeding grounds. Once we control these spider hounds, I have a way to go down and capture it!” Lin Yu declared confidently.

As the three conferred, an even fiercer assault struck from below.

The tremors grew so intense that the three could barely brace themselves against the debris piled before them.

In moments, the oil drums and discarded kitchenware stacked at the door were all knocked aside. The rusted iron door of the rooftop was torn open, leaving a gaping crack. Through it, five or six hairy hands reached out, dripping black blood.

“Third Brother! Now!” Lin Yu shouted.

Qin Qisan, startled by the monstrous hands, didn’t even reach for his Pest Exterminator. Instead, he snatched up a battered spatula and swung it hard at one of the hands.

But before he could land the blow, the blood-soaked hand seized him and yanked him toward the gap.

In that same instant, a hideous, twisted face emerged from the shadows into the moonlight.

Even Qin Qisan, fearless as he fancied himself, nearly stumbled in fright.

The grotesque, warped visage had a vaguely human outline, but its features were twisted and jagged; its dog-like teeth were uneven, with two long fangs protruding at the mouth’s edges.

Atop its head, eight bulging eyes swiveled restlessly, watching in all directions.

The trio finally saw the truth: all those monstrous hands, covered in alternating black and yellow stripes, sprouted from this single creature—six in total!

With a bestial roar, the fiendish, human-faced monster flexed all six arms at once and tore the iron door asunder.

It burst onto the rooftop, forcing the three back.

Bathed in moonlight, its form became clearer.

Its bald skull bore eyes and nostrils, but the body was no longer recognizably human. Its hunched back was matted with bristling black-and-yellow fur. Six arms, slick with fresh blood, ended in claws so sharp they inspired dread.

Even more bizarre, this abomination wore a gleaming golden Laughing Buddha pendant around its neck. One hand gripped the torn half of a spider hound’s corpse, while its mouth spat out a mass of shattered bone.

Wu Miaoran stared at the pendant and exclaimed,

“That pendant... it belonged to the proprietress! Did he even kill his own wife?”

“Good god, this thing is terrifying! It’s worse than any Western zombie!” Qin Qisan couldn’t help but blurt out.

“It seems the thing has spawned a new monster,” Lin Yu said, voice uneasy. “This creature must be a derivative bred from absorbing the traits of spider, dog, and human. This won’t be easy.”

“What’s worse,” Wu Miaoran added nervously, “is that now it’s eating the spider hounds too. It must be completely insane.”

The eight eyes of the spider-human chimera spun ceaselessly, while blood and saliva dripped from its jaws in a nauseating mixture.

Strangely, it didn’t attack immediately. Instead, like a true spider, it waited patiently, seeking the perfect moment to strike.

The three edged back until they were at the rooftop’s ledge. Below, the dingy yellow streetlights cast a weary glow; the distant streets and buildings tangled together like a winding, chaotic river.

Lin Yu had already infused the Mist Bubble with the binding potion, ready for battle.

She gripped her weapon tightly and said solemnly,

“If it were just those spider hounds, we could still handle it. But now, judging from this thing, it must’ve already devoured all the spider hounds below. If the binding potion can’t hold it, our only option is to jump!”

“Jump? You think you’re a cat with nine lives? The building’s too high—jumping would be suicide!” Qin Qisan protested.

Staring into the dizzying darkness below, Wu Miaoran hesitated.

“We’re right next to a residential area. If things get desperate, we don’t have to leap down—we can just call for help!”

“If we make a public scene, we’ll face punishment. Let’s try to handle this ourselves first,” Lin Yu replied firmly.

With that, Lin Yu raised the Mist Bubble, orange light flickering brightly.