Chapter 3

The hallway was eerily quiet, with not a sound to be heard. Jiang Feng pressed himself against the wall and moved slowly, not daring to make any noise.

The layout of the building was such that each floor had seven households. Huang Xiaoyue's home was the last one at the end of the hallway. The two households next to hers had their doors wide open, and there were glaring splashes of blood and chunks of flesh at the doorways. It was clear that these two households had been attacked by the lizardmen.

Looking further down the hallway, Jiang Feng could see another household with its door open, but he couldn't see the condition of the other households.

When all this happened, the ground had trembled, and many people must have thought it was an earthquake, all rushing out of their homes. Who could have thought that by running, they were actually delivering themselves into the mouths of the monsters.

In the future that Jiang Feng had seen, when the apocalypse arrived, he was in class. When the building shook, he, too, had run out. While running, he almost fell down the stairs. Later, when the monsters appeared, he was pushed down by the despicable Huang Sande during his escape, nearly getting himself and his two dorm mates killed.

"Pushing me, I'll make you pay when I get back. If that despicable person is still alive, I'll make you regret it," Jiang Feng muttered to himself.

Jiang Feng was unsure how many lizardmen were on the sixth floor where Huang Xiaoyue lived. But he had to come out; otherwise, he would be trapped and die in the house.

Approaching a household slowly, Jiang Feng peered inside. Finding no one in the living room, he quietly entered and carefully searched the house. After confirming that there were no living people or lizardmen, he retreated and moved towards the opposite household, whose door was also open.

The sight of the flesh and blood at the doorway made Jiang Feng somewhat nauseous, but having seen the future, his mental fortitude had strengthened, and he wasn't affected by the gore. It was precisely because the future he had seen was so vivid, as if he had experienced it firsthand, that he dared to come out and hunt the lizardmen.

The living room floor was covered in blood, and the entire room was in disarray. Clearly, a struggle had taken place. From the direction of the bedroom, a sound could be heard, like the cracking of bones.

Leaning against the wall, Jiang Feng peered into the bedroom and saw a lizardman gnawing on a corpse by the bed. Seeing this, Jiang Feng quickly withdrew and took a few quick steps to the side of the bedroom door, pressing himself against the wall.

After a few seconds, with no sign of the lizardman coming out, Jiang Feng assumed it hadn't noticed him. The strong smell of blood would likely mask his scent, and as long as he didn't make a sound, the lizardman wouldn't detect him for a while.

Holding the ice axe, Jiang Feng's hands trembled slightly as he considered whether to charge in and strike the lizardman from behind. But he thought that if he was discovered, the bedroom's smaller space would be less favorable for a fight compared to the living room.

As he pondered, Jiang Feng noticed a plastic stool at his feet. An idea struck him, and he kicked the stool out. The stool hit the opposite wall, making a noise, and as it fell, it knocked a photo frame off a cabinet.

The noise startled the lizardman in the bedroom. Jiang Feng, pressed against the wall, heard the sound of a snake's tongue and then footsteps. The lizardman in the bedroom rushed out in a few quick steps.

The lizardman that rushed out of the bedroom passed right by Jiang Feng without noticing him. Jiang Feng then charged forward, and as the lizardman stopped, he swung the ice axe in his right hand towards the lizardman's head.

Hearing the noise behind him, the lizardman turned just as Jiang Feng's ice axe pierced through its head. The ice axe in his left hand then swept horizontally, piercing through the lizardman's neck. The lizardman was now dead.

Jiang Feng, still trembling, struggled to pull the ice axe out. The lizardman's body fell to the ground. As Jiang Feng knew, the lizardman's abdomen, neck, and head were its most vulnerable spots. If he had attacked any other part, his current strength wouldn't have been enough to penetrate the lizardman's scales.

Of course, the lizardman's lower body was its most vulnerable spot. However, with the lizardman being only about 1.4 meters tall, attacking its lower body was unrealistic for Jiang Feng, who was 1.8 meters tall.

"This was easier than what I saw in the future," Jiang Feng muttered as he squatted down and placed his hand on the lizardman's body.

From Jiang Feng's expression, it was clear he was exerting force. A faint red light appeared on his right hand, which was pressing on the lizardman. A few seconds later, a red sphere, about the size of a glass bead, flew out of the lizardman's body.

Seeing the sphere, Jiang Feng quickly grabbed it, his face filled with excitement. This glass bead-sized sphere, with a flame-like red aura around it, was the essence crystal he was looking for.

On this essence crystal was a black dot, indicating that it was a Black Iron Rank 0 essence crystal. This was the energy source for Black Iron Rank 0 creatures like the lizardman and could also be used to enhance human bodies.

Although the essence crystal existed within the lizardman's body, it couldn't be extracted simply by dissecting the lizardman. It required the use of one's own power to draw it out. This power was a new ability that humans gained when the apocalypse arrived.

A Black Iron Rank 0 essence crystal could enhance a normal person's physical strength by 0.3 to 0.6 times. The exact enhancement depended on one's luck. Generally, a 0.5 times enhancement was achievable. If one's physical condition was poor, it might only enhance their strength by 0.3 times, or it might not work at all.

By simply consuming the essence crystal, one could enhance their physical strength. For Jiang Feng, who had not yet been enhanced, this was extremely important. However, he didn't eat it but carefully placed it in his waist pouch.

Before Jiang Feng could stand up, he heard footsteps in the hallway. Two lizardmen then rushed into the house. These two lizardmen immediately spotted Jiang Feng, who was just standing up, and without hesitation, they swung their sharp claws at him.

The sudden appearance of the two lizardmen startled Jiang Feng. Seeing them charge, he quickly retreated and swung his ice axe at them.

Sparks flew from the lizardman's arm that was hit by the ice axe. Jiang Feng's attack didn't injure the lizardman, but the lizardman's sharp claws nearly ripped him open.

With his first attack failing, Jiang Feng was forced against the wall. The lizardman's claws were already coming at him, and he had to dodge to the right. The lizardman's claws left deep scratches on his left shoulder.

At this moment, the other lizardman also lunged at him with its claws. The lizardman that had just injured Jiang Feng turned around and lunged again.

Jiang Feng, enduring the pain in his shoulder, kicked the lizardman in the groin. As the lizardman bent over, the other lizardman pounced, and Jiang Feng kept retreating, swinging his ice axe at the lizardman.

The lizardman's claws deflected Jiang Feng's ice axe and left three deep scratches on his chest. The lizardman then opened its mouth, full of sharp teeth, and leaped towards Jiang Feng's neck.

Jiang Feng, who was again forced against the wall, had no place to hide. He could only shift his body to the side, preventing the lizardman from biting his neck. The lizardman bit into Jiang Feng's shoulder, and as Jiang Feng screamed, the lizardman's left hand reached for his neck.

At this moment, Jiang Feng, enduring the intense pain, swung his ice axe at the lizardman's neck. As the lizardman's left hand was about to touch his neck, Jiang Feng's ice axe pierced through the lizardman's neck. The lizardman, in pain, failed to hit Jiang Feng's neck and only scratched his right shoulder. The lizardman's bite also loosened.

Without waiting for the lizardman to fall, Jiang Feng kneed it and then swung his ice axe with his left hand, piercing through the lizardman's head.

Not having time to tend to his wounds, Jiang Feng quickly pulled out the ice axe and rushed to the lizardman he had kicked in the groin. As the lizardman reacted, Jiang Feng thrust the ice axe into its head.

At this moment, the hallway was filled with more sounds. The noise indicated that it wasn't just one or two lizardmen. Jiang Feng, enduring the intense pain, quickly ran to the door and closed it just as the lizardmen in the hallway appeared.

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