Taoist priest goes to America

After the blood-red whip was retracted, Tono's body split open from the middle.

First, a crack appeared in his waist, and two fleshy tentacles emerged from his abdomen. The crack continued to expand outward, as if he were being grabbed and torn to the left and right by two hands.

With a "rip," his upper body slid off his lower body, revealing the person standing behind Tono.

The dark red outer robe clung to Ang Lee's body, and the hood cast a shadow over his mask.

When the Japanese saw this inhuman, dark red monster standing there, with Tono's blood and severed body scattered in front of him, they were terrified. The beams of their cell phone flashlights swung wildly as they screamed in horror.

The screams were in Japanese, and the content was very disjointed. It sounded like someone was asking questions of the person next to them, trying to confirm whether their companion had seen the same thing.

In the darkness, someone fired the first shot. The muzzle flash alerted the crowd, and more people snapped out of their fear and began to draw their guns and fire.

The beams of flashlights and gun muzzle flashes alternated in the darkness, sweeping across the goods and tables, while bullets whizzed between the shelves and walls. In a brief flash, Ang Lee's dark red robe could be seen flashing past the edge of the table; he was no longer in the same spot.

Some people were shouting, some were changing magazines, and some were retreating. Footsteps and gunshots mingled together, and the scene was chaotic.

Ang Lee was prepared for their shooting. He had just used Tono's body to distract them, and then quietly wrapped two thick, fleshy fibers around the legs of the two tables near the door.

With a sudden tug, Ang Lee lifted both long tables off the ground at the same time.

As the items on the table slipped during the lifting process, Ang Lee flipped the table in the air and hurled it horizontally at the group of Japanese soldiers who were firing.

"Boom—" Two long, horizontal tables slammed into them with tremendous force, sweeping them away like a swarm of soldiers. The first few Japanese men were sent flying, their backs slamming against the wall-mounted shelves. The metal shelves made a sharp scraping sound as they collapsed, pinning them down.

The Japanese behind them, quick-witted, immediately crouched down to dodge, and the long table whizzed past their heads.

As Ang Lee threw the table, he pushed off with both feet and jumped backward. Two strands of flesh extended from his hands, sticking to the metal door frame like stretched rubber bands, before snapping back sharply.

His body flew through the door like a cannonball, crashing directly into the group of squatting Japanese people.

Without pausing after landing, several fist-sized bulges rose from the surface of Li An's outer robe, the sharp spikes of flesh that had been gathering power for a long time exploding directly in the crowd.

Tentacle-like flesh fibers burst out from various parts of Li An's body, leaving dark red afterimages in the beam of the flashlight.

The flesh fibers morphed into sharp shapes in the air, piercing straight into the bodies of the Japanese people crouching around them.

Before the three people closest to Ang Lee could react, dozens of fleshy spikes pierced their faces, shattered their eyeballs, and dark red fluid gushed from their noses.

Several people further away had their chests pierced, their ribs snapping under the impact of flesh and blood, and blood splattered all over the floor beneath them.

The Japanese screams lasted only a moment before being replaced by a tearing, gurgling sound.

Each fiber of flesh stretches to its maximum length, forming a continuously expanding covering network around Ang Lee's body.

Blood gushed from the large, penetrating wound, and those nearby were so frightened that they fled for their lives.

Some people couldn't find their way in the darkness, stepped on something unknown, lost their balance, and fell to the ground, where they were trampled by their panicked companions.

After stretching to their maximum length, the fleshy fibers began to retract, each coiling up a pistol dropped by the Japanese, and brought them to Ang Lee. With the muzzles facing outwards, they lined up in the dim light, their dark muzzles aimed precisely at the survivors trapped at the bottom of the shelf.

The people who were dazed from being hit by the long table looked up and saw the ten guns hanging in mid-air, their muzzles pointed directly at them.

"Ah—" someone yelled, trying to turn around and hide behind the shelves, but it was too late.

The triggers were pulled by an invisible force, and ten pistols fired simultaneously. Bullets tore through the air, and the muzzle flashes illuminated the dimly lit factory, which reeked of blood.

The first volley of bullets riddled the Japanese soldiers at the front with holes. Several people behind tried to dodge to the side, but Ang Lee's "fight fire with fire" skill kicked in, and the bullets accurately struck the heads of the black-haired men.

Gunfire continued unabated in the factory, echoing through the enclosed space. The sounds of clashing metal and tearing flesh mingled together, lasting for a while before finally subsiding.

"Creak—" The factory's back door was pushed open by a hand stained with blood.

Ang Lee slowly walked out, his mask still dripping with viscous liquid, and his dark red robe was soaked with blood.

There was an open space outside the door. He walked outside, flipped his mask up a little to reveal his nose and lips, and took a deep breath of the cold early morning air.

Just then, a sound came from the direction of the iron fence on the left. Li An turned his head and saw a person climbing up the fence. He was in a panic, his hand gripping a bar at the top of the fence, his feet kicking wildly at the wire mesh below.

He was a Japanese man who had slipped through the net. Ang Lee aimed at his black hair and raised his right arm.

The flesh and blood fibers of the forearm began to split, as if kneaded and reshaped by an invisible hand, instantly forming a crossbow forged from flesh and blood. The bow arm was wrapped with a string made of muscle, and a sharp flesh spike was automatically loaded.

Li An released his fingers, and the fleshy spike flew out, accurately striking the area covered by his black hair, piercing through the back of the man's head, and exiting from the front of his forehead, the spurting blood splashing onto the weeds under the fence.

The person's body loosened from the railing, fell backward, and hit the ground, whereupon remaining motionless.

Ang Lee lowered his right arm, and the bow-shaped flesh fibers of his outer robe retracted, returning to their original shape.

He turned and went back into the warehouse to begin dealing with the bodies.

Ang Lee carried the bodies down from the ground and shelves one by one, and placed them in a row on an open space near the door. He counted the number and then dialed Nigel's number.

It was already six o'clock in the morning when everything was finished. The streetlights outside the factory were off, and the sky was a transition from dark blue to gray.

The phone rang several times before being answered. A groggy voice came from the other end. She turned over in her pillow, still not fully awake, "Who...is it?"

"It's me," Li An said. "We have stock, over forty bodies."

Silence fell on the other end, then the sound of someone turning over. Nigel clearly sat up in bed, his sleepiness gone: "How much?! Say it again?"

"More than forty bodies." Li An glanced at the neatly stacked pile of corpses. "They're all fresh, less than three hours old."

Rapid breathing came through the phone. Nigel's voice returned, much more energetic than before, his drowsiness mostly gone. "Wait a minute—I'll call you from another phone."

The call ended, and Ang Lee put his phone down. Outside, the sky was brighter; the morning light spread across the horizon, illuminating the clouds with a pale gold hue.

Ang Lee sat beside the body, his fingers resting on his knees, waiting for the phone to ring again.