He had already fused two spirit sources, and his enhanced strength finally erupted at this moment.
The zombie monster was thrown off by Su Li, but its hands still clung tightly to his neck, though with slightly less force. Seizing the opportunity, Su Li grabbed those hands and yanked with all his might, finally tearing them away from his neck.
Free from its grip at last, Su Li let out a heavy breath. Regaining his composure, he pushed off the ground with his right foot and lunged forward, reversing their positions to pin the zombie monster down. With his right hand, he raised the hammer and brought it down with full force, striking the creature squarely in the face.
With a dull thud, flesh and a splash of white fluid burst outward. The zombie monster’s body stiffened instantly, its forehead caving in deeply.
That single hammer blow carried at least three hundred jin of force. A few more strikes, and Su Li had smashed the creature’s skull to pieces, half its face gone.
Only when the zombie monster lay stiff on the ground, motionless, did Su Li stop, panting heavily.
He watched as the white fuzz on the creature’s skin retracted inward, quickly forming a white fuzzy ball that shot toward Su Li’s forehead.
Having experienced this twice before, Su Li felt no fear this time—only a faint anticipation. Each additional white fuzzy ball he absorbed increased his strength.
The white fuzzy ball struck his forehead, seeped into his body, and transformed into a surge of warmth that spread through him, making him feel as if he were soaking in a hot spring. The area around his neck, injured by the creature’s grip, felt the heat most intensely. A large amount of warmth gathered there, as if healing him. After about two or three seconds, the heat suddenly vanished, and Su Li sensed a new power growing within him.
His strength had increased again, and the discomfort from his labored breathing disappeared, returning him to his normal state.
Su Li realized the injury to his neck had healed.
A new message appeared in his mind:
"Spirit Source: 3/5."
Still gasping for breath, Su Li gripped the cleaver and hammer, about to stand up slowly, when suddenly the sound of shattering glass came from the living room balcony.
Understanding what was happening, Su Li immediately turned and rushed out.
With prior experience, he was much calmer now. As he burst into the living room, he looked up at the balcony and couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
The balcony’s glass windows were shattered, and two zombie monsters were crawling in through the opening.
Su Li hadn’t expected two of them to appear this time.
Under the faint starlight outside, he could barely make out that one was a woman in her fifties and the other a man in his thirties in their former lives. Now, their faces were swollen and pale from water immersion, with white fuzz covering their exposed skin. They moved quickly. Within just a second or two of Su Li hearing the noise and rushing to the living room, both creatures had already climbed halfway through the window.
Su Li knew this was bad. Facing two zombie monsters at once would be extremely troublesome. He wasn’t confident he could take them both on simultaneously.
He charged at full speed, hoping to strike first while the creatures were still partially stuck in the window and unable to fight back effectively.
With three spirit sources inside him, Su Li’s strength had increased by over a hundred jin, and his speed had improved significantly. This full-force sprint brought him to the balcony in an instant, and he swung the hammer viciously at the woman in her fifties.
Fast as his attack was, the zombie monster’s dodge was equally swift. It jerked its head aside, and the hammer landed heavily on its shoulder instead.
The woman’s shoulder caved in from the blow, and her crawling motion paused momentarily. But the creature felt no pain. It opened its mouth and reached out to grab Su Li.
Su Li’s other hand brought the cleaver down, striking the woman’s slightly upturned face.
Her face, bloated and shiny from prolonged water exposure, was cut deeply by the cleaver. Su Li saw one of her eyes bulge out from the force and pressure of the strike, nearly popping from its socket.
Just as he landed that blow on the woman’s face, the man in his thirties from the other window crawled inside. Moving quickly, he grabbed the window frame with both hands, pushed himself through with a burst of strength, and charged at Su Li.
His movements showed none of the stiffness of earlier zombie monsters. His agility matched Su Li’s current level.
Su Li couldn’t dodge in time. The man collided with him, sending a powerful force surging through him. With a grunt, Su Li stumbled sideways. Almost simultaneously, a loud splash erupted from the water outside the balcony, sending up a massive spray.
Close as he was, Su Li caught a glimpse of a huge, dark shadow bursting from the splashing water.
The woman in her fifties, still half-hanging out of the window with her lower body outside, was suddenly yanked into the water with a whoosh.
Amid the splashing, Su Li couldn’t see clearly, but the woman’s body vanished into the water in an instant.
It all happened so fast that Su Li’s heart pounded with shock. Even the other zombie monster—the man in his thirties who had just knocked him back—paused, as if startled by the scene, its movements momentarily sluggish.
Su Li wasn’t about to miss this chance. As he stumbled back, he kicked off the wall behind him, using the momentum to lunge forward. He swung the cleaver down at the man’s face.
This man was far less rigid than the earlier zombie monsters. Just as the cleaver was about to hit his face, he reacted, leaning his upper body back slightly. The blade grazed past his face, but he didn’t fully evade it. The cleaver sliced into his chest, cutting all the way down into his abdomen.
The creature’s chest was nearly split open, but it felt no pain, and its counterattack was unimpeded. Its right arm swept sideways, its palm slamming heavily into Su Li’s left cheek.
The force was immense. Su Li felt as if he’d been hit by a hammer. His head rang with a loud buzz, half his face went numb, blood streamed from his nose, and tears blurred his left eye, distorting his vision.
This zombie monster was terrifying—far more so than the one he’d faced in the bedroom.