A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

Zhao Qiang crouched low and darted out from behind the machine tool frame, the chainsaw whirring. He moved quickly, circling around to the side and rear of the stitched-up corpse demon in just a few steps.

The stitched-up corpse demon was drawn by the light and didn't notice the movement behind it. Zhao Qiang leaped up, aimed his chainsaw at the longest stitch, and slashed down hard.

The saw teeth dug into the flesh, but the stitches were unusually strong. The chainsaw jammed, emitting a piercing scraping sound. Zhao Qiang increased the force, the veins on his neck bulging.

The Stitching Corpse Demon suddenly turned around.

It was too fast; Zhao Qiang couldn't dodge in time and was swept away by a thick arm, slamming into the machine tool's frame. The metal frame shattered, and parts rained down on him.

"Zhao Qiang!" Han Yingying called out.

The Stitching Corpse Demon raised its foot and stomped down on Zhao Qiang, who was lying on the ground.

Zhou Lang moved. He rushed out of his cover and hurled the oil lamp in his hand at the feet of the stitched-together corpse demon. The lamp exploded in mid-air, spilling kerosene, which, upon encountering a spark that had fallen from somewhere, instantly burst into a wall of fire.

A wall of fire stood between the stitched-together corpse demon and Zhao Qiang. The thing's feet sank into the flames, the smell of burning flesh filling the air. It retreated, looking down at its burning feet, and let out an even angrier roar.

Han Yingying rushed over to help Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang had blood on his lips, but he could still move. He waved his hand and used the machine tool frame to get up.

"Damn...that's fucking sturdy." He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, but his eyes lit up. "I sawed it in half an inch just now, and I could see inside."

"What's inside?"

"Intestines? No... it's a dark, lumpy thing, like a heart, but located where the stomach is." Zhao Qiang gasped for breath. "It's still beating."

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat. The core? No, the intelligence said the core was on the third underground level. But that pulsating thing was very likely the weakness of this stitched-together corpse demon.

"Try again," Zhou Lang said.

"What are we going to test it with? It can see me now." Zhao Qiang grinned.

The Stitched Corpse Demon was indeed looking over. The fire on its feet was still burning, but it seemed to feel no pain as it strode towards Zhao Qiang. With each step, the ground trembled.

"I'll go," Zhou Lang said.

"You?" Zhao Qiang's eyes widened. "What are you using to saw?"

"No need to saw." Zhou Lang took out the five defensive talismans from his backpack, pulled out two, and slapped them onto his chest. A pale golden halo flowed across his skin. "I'll wrap them tightly around my body; you find an opportunity to cut that stitch."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"There are three more, you take them." Zhou Lang stuffed the remaining talismans into Zhao Qiang's hands, and then, without waiting for a reply, rushed towards the Stitching Corpse Demon.

Seeing someone rushing towards him, the Stitched Corpse Demon raised its hand to strike. Zhou Lang dodged to the side, but his arm was still grazed, his clothes torn, and a bluish-purple mark immediately appeared on his skin, burning with pain. The aura of the defensive talisman dimmed slightly.

He crawled beneath the stitched-up corpse demon. It was too tall; there was space between his legs. He reached out and grabbed the longest stitch, pulling hard—but it didn't budge. The stitch was embedded in the flesh, as if welded on.

The stitched-up corpse demon bent down, its hand reaching downwards. Zhou Lang loosened the stitches, rolled to the side, and dodged the giant hand. A crater was smashed into the ground.

"Hurry up!" he shouted at Zhao Qiang.

Zhao Qiang had already circled around to the side. He slapped all three talismans onto the chainsaw, and golden patterns appeared on the saw teeth. He took two running steps, leaped up, and cleaved the chainsaw with all his might towards the seam.

This time, the serrations cut in. Golden lines spread along the serrations into the flesh, and the tough stitches snapped with a snapping sound.

The stitched-up corpse demon let out a sharp, inhuman scream. The stitches on its stomach burst open, revealing not intestines, but a fist-sized, throbbing black tumor.

"That's the one!" Zhou Lang shouted.

Zhao Qiang pulled back the chainsaw, intending to deliver a second blow. But the Stitching Corpse Demon swung its arms wildly, sweeping him away again. This time, Zhao Qiang fell even harder, lying on the ground unable to get up for a while.

The stitched-up corpse demon clutched its stomach, the throbbing of its black tumor quickening. Grayish-black mist began to billow from its body, corroding the ground and rusting iron frames wherever it touched.

"It's repairing!" someone shouted. "Quick, before its wound closes!"

Zhou Lang got up from the ground. The defensive talisman was only glowing faintly. He glanced at the black tumor, gritted his teeth, and rushed over.

The stitched-up corpse demon looked down, saw him, and reached out to grab him. Zhou Lang didn't dodge; instead, he jumped up to meet the hand, using his foot to step on its arm for leverage, and propelled himself upwards, heading straight for the exposed black tumor.

Press your palm down.

The tumor was slippery, cold, and throbbing like a living thing. Zhou Lang drew a short knife from his waist with his other hand and plunged it in.

It was only halfway in when it got stuck on something.

The stitched-up corpse demon writhed wildly. Zhou Lang was flung around like a tattered sack, but he gripped the hilt of the knife tightly. The short knife churned within the tumor, splattering a thick, black liquid onto his face and body, reeking of foul stench.

Finally, the blade severed something.

The tumor shuddered suddenly, and the pulsation stopped.

The stitching demon froze, then collapsed like a crumbling building. The gray-black mist quickly dissipated, its body began to rot, flesh peeling away to reveal the stark white bones beneath. The bones also weathered, and a few seconds later, only a pile of ashes and the not-yet-completely-damaged ghostly artifact remained on the ground—a rusty, enormous pair of scissors.

Zhou Lang scrambled to his feet, trembling all over. Not from fear, but from exhaustion. He glanced at the pile of ashes, then at the short knife in his hand; the blade was coated with a black, sticky substance that was slowly evaporating.

"You're fucking crazy." Zhao Qiang was helped over by Han Yingying. His face was covered in blood and ash, but his eyes shone with light. "He really killed the three-star monster."

"It wasn't killing it," Zhou Lang gasped, "it was striking its weak point."

"A weakness? How do you know that's a weakness?"

Zhou Lang didn't answer. He genuinely didn't know. But in that instant, a scene flashed through his mind—not a memory, but more like a kind of intuition—that black tumor, the energy core of all the stitched-up corpse demons, could only be completely destroyed with an energy-powered weapon. So Zhao Qiang's first chainsaw strike only cut through the flesh, while his final strike involved stabbing the dagger inside and stirring it, the blade still bearing traces of the "exorcising oil" he had just applied from the mall.

Coincidence? Or is there something within him guiding him?

He didn't have time to think it through. Gunshots and screams came from afar; teams on other routes were also encountering three-star monsters.

"Take a two-minute break." The middle-aged player walked over, giving Zhou Lang a complicated look. "Then continue. We're still 400 meters from the entrance to the underground passage."

The team regrouped. The casualty count was done: in the previous battle, they had three dead, two seriously wounded, and countless lightly wounded. Han Yingying had already used her healing hand twice; one last time was left.

"Use it sparingly," Zhou Lang told her, "You might need it more later."

Han Yingying nodded, her face a little pale. She had just healed Zhao Qiang and another player who had been rubbed by the Stitched Corpse Demon, which had taken a lot of energy.