Desperate Escape

"Gu Hao!" "Jack!"

Lena and Beatrice's scream of despair echoed in the stairway as they stared at the jaws snapping upwards to gobble the two.

Seeing the jaw snapping upwards, Jack's muscles tightened as reached out to grab Gu Hao. Then, with a twirl in the air to gather force, he tossed Gu Hao over to the girls and out of the range of the jaws.The jaw continued its trajectory of gobbling Jack up as if he was its real target.

Time seemed to slow as Jack mentally focused. Although becoming a magician didn't give him a stronger body, it did give him enhanced mental capabilities!

With quick calculations, Jack then swiftly pulled out a thick baton and tapped the switch. Watching it extend, Jack centered it horizontally so it impeded the closing of the mouth. Releasing it, Jack pulled out a grappling gun and shot it at the wall outside of the mouth. He switched out his sword with a talisman that he activated before releasing. His sword swiftly came back to his hands as if it never left.

Click! Everything seemed to be happening in a moment. The baton impeded the jaws from closing for a moment as Jack was pulled upwards by the grappling gun's engine. Jack waved his sword and shattered the sharp teeth blocking his way out.

Jack's upper body was halfway out when suddenly ... Snap! The baton snapped in half due to the jaw's strength. The jaw continued to close. Jack's face darkened for a moment before he gritted his teeth and made his best decision. He used one of his foot and launched a kick against the flesh to launch his body out faster.

RIP! BOOM!

The jaws snapped closed as blood splashed out from between its teeth along with holy light spilling out between the gaps.

OWOOOOOO!

A ghastly howl of pain echoed in the stairway as the wall of flesh writhed in pain while some of the corpse legs on it began to dissipate into black mist. The jaws then sunk back into the ground as the stair steps rippled and returned to be normal concrete.

Thud! Jack slammed into the wall and his hands weakly loosened his grip on his grappling gun causing him to slide down to the concrete steps.

"JACK!" Beatrice cried in grief as she rushed up to Jack who was slumped against the wall, "N-no, Jack ... please ..."

Jack coughed a couple of times before he weakly comforted, "Beatrice, don't cry. I'm fine."

"No! No! Whatcha mean you are fine?! Y-Your leg ... it's gone!" Beatrice howled in grief as tears ran down her face.

Gu Hao walked forward slowly as he blankly stared at Jack's bloody lower body. Both of Jack's leg were completely torn off and eaten, leaving a bloody lower half with bones sticking out of it. Gu Hao trembled as he asked with a sad voice, "N-no .. why?"

Before Jack could answer, Lena shoved Gu Hao out of the way as she dashed up to Jack with a glass vial filled with red liquid.

"Drink!" Lena commanded as she stuffed the opened vial into Jack's mouth.

Lena then glared fiercely at Beatrice, grabbed Beatrice's hand and placed it on the vial, and yelled, "Help him!"

Letting go, Lena pulled out a small circular container. She opened it to reveal a penicillin like paste, but it was yellow and had a faint glow on it. Disregarding the blood, she began to rapidly apply the paste to the bleeding lower body.

As she applied the paste, she saw Gu Hao sitting on the steps while blankly staring over. As she continued to apply the paste, Lena gritted her teeth as she howled hoarsely, "Gu Hao! Wake up! Guard! Get ready! We are still in danger!"

Gu Hao snapped out of his trance as his eyes sharpened. He glanced at Jack who was wryly smiling back at him and he gritted his teeth. He then fiercely glared at the surroundings with his glowing eyes and a whole lot of murderous intent.

"Cough, cough," Jack coughed weakly as he choked on the potion before he weakly command, "T-that's enough. The bleeding should have stopped a lot by now. You got to go ..."

"Whatcha mean we got to go?! Do you think you can move in your condition?! Jack! I'm not leaving you behind!" Beatrice cried as she wiped her tears with her sleeve, "Drink, Jack! Drink!"

"Cough, cough, you are not strong enough to deal with that blood spirit. Based on my spiritual sense, it should be at least a mid-level blood spirit. It also has the intelligence to lay traps. Even when I'm at full power, I might not be able to take it down ..." Jack explained weakly, "So, go, escape ... before it's too late."

"No! Jack! No!" Beatrice cried as she hugged Jack, "I'm not leaving you behind, you can't do this!"

Standing on guard, Gu Hao then noticed bloody footprints slowly appearing on the wall below. Focusing harder, Gu Hao was able to see a wall of flesh slowly making its way up the steps of the stairway!

"It's coming! We got to go!" Gu Hao grimly stated as he briskly walked up to Jack while tossing his crowbar.

"No! Whatcha saying?! We can't leave Jack behind! He saved you! Or he would not be hurt-" Beatrice angrily growled but suddenly went silent as she watched Gu Hao carry Jack on his back.

"Let's go. No one is being left behind," Gu Hao solemnly said as he began to climb the stairs while Jack sighed softly on his back, "It's not your fault kid, I should have listened to you."

Gu Hao's face darkened as he replied, "No one expected this, but it's a fact that you saved me. Save your breathe, I promise I will get us to safety."

Jack weakly closed his eyes as Gu Hao carried him up the stairs rapidly. Lena and Beatrice quickly followed behind. Glaring downwards, Beatrice aimed her gun and began firing at the wall of flesh in anger as she dashed up the stairs.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Flashes of light accompanied the echoes of gunshots in the stairway as sparse holes appeared on the wall of flesh, but it seemed to not have much effect.

Owoooh! Sensing its prey escaping, the wall of flesh gave a ghastly howl as it sped up, causing loud, rapid footsteps to echo in the stairway.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Watching the wall of flesh pulling closer and closer, Beatrice howled in anger with tears leaking from her eyes while firing her gun, "Stop ya b*stard! Stop for me!"

Lena pulled out her only talisman stashed in her pocket and aimed it at the monster, "Holy smite!"

Zap! A flash of light pierced a hole in the wall of flesh, causing it pause for a bit.

Owoooo! A ghastly howl sounded as black mist gathered where the hole formed and Lena watched with wide eyes as it gradually recovered! Without watching further, Lena sped up her steps as she hollered, "It's coming! But even level one talismans don't work!"

"In my left pocket! One level 2 Holy Light!" Gu Hao gritted his teeth and shouted as he panted due to fatigue.

Catching up with Gu Hao, Lena reached in to his left pocket and pulled out a level 2 talisman. Turning around, she activated it,"Holy Light!"

A blinding light exploded from the talisman, causing the wall of flesh to howl in anger and pain. With their yin yang eyes, the trio was able to see the wall of flesh sizzling while black mist defused from it. It was as if it was being burned; however, stopping it in place was the most it did!

The group continued up the stairs rapidly as they watched the light fade away. Glancing back, the wall of flesh has now stopped in place as black mist funneled towards it, recovering its external wounds. It wasn't long before it continued its chase.

"Girls, get up in front of Gu Hao for a moment," Jack commanded as he opened his eyes, "Now. Cough. Cough. Cough."

Hearing this, Beatrice wiped the tears in her eyes as she dashed up, "Jack, ya okay?"

Lena dashed forward as well as she locked eyes with Gu Hao, showing deep love and worry at the same time, "Can you hold on? If not, let me."

Gu Hao shook his head as he whispered hoarsely, "I got this."

Gu Hao continued to trudge upwards as Jack growled, "Ladies, hurry. Up front, now."

Beatrice and Lena then ran in front of Gu Hao. Jack pulled out a water bottle and chugged the substance inside. Then, as the group turned a corner on the stairway, Jack pulled out a plastic sparkwheel lighter, lit a flame with one hand, aimed at the wall of flesh at the stairs below, and blew hard with his mouth.

Fwoosh! The tiny flame on the lighter magically grew into a flaming ball the size of a car! It then smashed towards the wall of flesh, setting it on fire!

"Fireball," Jack chuckled before he put away his props and closed his eyes.

Owooooo! The wall of flesh howled in pain as its body became scorched. Ripples formed on the concrete steps below it as the wall of flesh sunk into the ground as if it was water. Then, the stairway returned to silence.

Gu Hao and Lena stared with wide eyes in amazement. Beatrice weakly smiled as she wiped her tears, "If ya can do that, ya should be fine. Making me worry for nothing, Jack. Sniff."

After pausing for a moment, the group continued to head up the stairs. It wasn't long before they reached a door. The sign noted that it was the tenth floor. Gu Hao gritted his teeth as he hoarsely commanded, "Keep going."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Continuing up the stairs, it wasn't long until the group reached the seventh floor. Glancing at the familiar door that they were locked out of during the last adventure, Gu Hao sighed in melancholy internally, "In the end, we lived, you died."

Ignoring the door that he knew had danger, Gu Hao continued up the stairs while panting. Even though sweat rolled down his face, he didn't have the thought of giving up.

Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap! The loud footsteps sound began to echo in stairway again! Glancing down, Beatrice noticed the bloody footprints slowly appearing on the walls. She couldn't help but holler in a mocking tone, "Wouldcha look at that? It's coming again!"

As the bloody footprints came closer and closer, Lena glanced back and frowned as she hollered, "I see the bloody foot prints, but I don't bloody hell see the evil spirit!"

Hearing this, Gu Hao's instincts tingled as she came to a halt suddenly and hopped a couple steps downwards.

Roarrr! Fwoosh!

A wall of flesh pounced out of the wall next to Gu Hao's previous location with jaws wide opened, but it failed to hunt its prey as it continued to shoot outwards and dived back into the wall on the opposite side of the stairway.

Jack slowly cracked his eyes open as he stared at Gu Hao's back while muttering to himself, "This kid's got good instincts, he will live a long time as long as he has the opportunity ... sigh ... the evil spirit has gotten a bit more troublesome though ..."

Jack pulled out a talisman, closed his eyes, and told Gu Hao, "Keep going, I'll handle it. Girls, stay close."

Tap. Tap. Tap! The bloody foot prints still followed the group as they climbed the stairs. Suddenly, Jack's eyes snapped open as he activated his talisman, "Holy Barrier."

With the talisman as the center, a glowing cubic barrier appeared and surrounded the group inside. Fwoosh! The wall of flesh pounced out of the wall right beside the group with jaws wide opened, but it crashed into the barrier of light!

Boom!

As if scorched by fire, the flesh on the wall that had contact with the light wall charred and dissipated into black mist! Owooooh! The wall of flesh howled in pain and hurriedly retreated into the wall. Ignoring the calming ripples on the wall, the group continued their journey. The bloody foot steps continued to follow behind them as the hunter continued to silently stalk its prey.

After a while, Gu Hao glanced up and finally saw his goal, the door to the fourth floor. A tired smile appeared on his face before it wrinkled in worry as he stared at the holy light barrier that began to flicker and fade away.

"Is there another one?" Gu Hao gritted his teeth and asked.

"A level 3 talisman is not cheap, that was the last," Jack whispered weakly.

Grinding his teeth, Gu Hao hollered, "We are almost there! Everyone, run!"

Draining his energy for the final sprint, Gu Hao dashed towards the door while panting. Lena dashed forward and opened the door for Gu Hao. After Gu Hao passed through, she hurriedly followed in with Beatrice.

Owooohhh! BOOM!

The wall of flesh dived out of the wall opposite of the door and smashed towards the doorway! It then began to wriggle and squeeze itself through the doorway.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Beatrice fired as she ran back in fear, "Ahhhh! Stop chasing us would ya?!"

Thud! Owoooooh! The wall of flesh gave a ghastly howl as it stepped onto the fourth floor hallway. Sensing its prey right in front of it, it rapidly crawl forward as the legs on the wall waved around in excitement.

Staring at the closed door of apartment 444, Gu Hao's eyes had a tinge of despair as he ran towards it and yelled desperately, "P-please! Open! Save us!"

The door to apartment 444 silently stayed closed. It was unknown if Gu Hao's plead for help was heard. Will they be saved?