The Dog Man no longer retreated when the situation turned unfavorable, regrouping like before. Instead, it persisted in biting Xiao Q to death despite taking repeated blows to its head and back, as if harboring some deep-seated hatred against him.
This gave Ke Bei a perfect opportunity. His eyes were bloodshot, his entire body drenched in sweat. Besides sweat, he was covered in blood - even the silver baseball bat had turned completely crimson. Each downward swing carried his full strength, feeling his physical stamina draining rapidly like mana in a game.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang!
He lost count of how many times he struck. Only after hearing Xiao Q yell "Stop!" at least seven or eight times did he finally cease. His mechanical movements halted, his vision blurred by sweat that stung when he tried opening his eyes, forcing him to blink repeatedly. Pushing back his sweat-soaked black hair into a fixed side-swept fringe, he looked down at the motionless Dog Man lying atop Xiao Q.
The back of its skull had caved in, white brain matter and tissue oozing out. Its spine was visibly fractured, the entire back grotesquely twisted downward - unquestionably dead beyond any doubt.
After confirming the Dog Man's demise, Ke Bei collapsed exhausted onto the floor.
"Hey... help get this thing off me... I'm spent," Xiao Q gasped weakly.
All three now lay identically sprawled across Room 1001's living room floor, savoring their hard-won respite.
After several minutes of rest, Xiao Peng suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Xiao Nuo! I've avenged you! Avenged you!"
When his laughter subsided, Xiao Q asked, "Xiao Peng, if Xiao Nuo had lived and you discovered she wasn't the wealthy heiress you imagined, would you have broken up?"
Xiao Peng replied, "I wouldn't have dumped her immediately after finding out. I'd wait until I felt I'd repaid everything I owed her before breaking up." He gave a self-deprecating smile. "This whole ordeal taught me something."
Xiao Q asked curiously, "What's that?"
Xiao Peng explained, "I used to read about professional athletes - soccer players, basketball stars - how some with incredible talent ruined their careers by chasing women. I always wondered - could women really affect their performance that much? I never noticed it in daily life, but now I understand completely."
"Of us three, I was the first to run out of steam. Honestly, if not for avenging Xiao Nuo, I'd have collapsed much earlier. After this, I'm cutting back on women. Never realized how much they drained me until this critical moment. My waist, thighs, arms - all feel numb and weak."
"Thank god you two were here, or I'd be dead!"
Xiao Q responded, "Don't say that. Any one of us alone would've died here today. Think about it - we came prepared as a team, armed, and still barely won. What really shocked me was this bastard hiding in the freezer ambushing us!!!"
Ke Bei lay like a man made of sweat and blood, as did the others. Panting, he added, "Thankfully you noticed in time. Losing someone at the start would've been disastrous!"
"Anyway, we won!" Xiao Peng laughed heartily, his grief over Xiao Nuo's death apparently resolved. "Like those anime always say - evil can never triumph over justice!!!"
Turning to the others, he asked, "So... what should we do about the male corpse in Room 602 and this Dog Man?"
"Dealing with corpses is tricky..." Xiao Q said weakly. "Let's rest first. I'm completely drained."
Ke Bei felt similarly, too exhausted to speak.
All three closed their eyes simultaneously, slowly recovering amidst the silence - the same silence they'd encountered upon reaching the 10th floor, though now it felt peaceful rather than oppressive.
Then an event shattered their hard-earned tranquility.
Click!
Three pairs of eyes snapped open, heads turning toward Room 1001's security door. That unmistakable sound of a key entering the lock couldn't have been misheard by all three simultaneously.
"Does the Dog Man have accomplices?!" Terror crept across Xiao Peng's face.
In their exhausted state, they couldn't resist another Dog Man - even an ordinary man would overpower them now. They were utterly defenseless.
"We're screwed! Totally screwed!!!" Despite their cries, they struggled to rise and retrieve their discarded weapons, but their limbs refused to cooperate. Their hearts pounded violently against their ribs as primal fear took hold.
Death loomed over them.
Creak...
The door swung inward.
Someone had entered.
Too weak even to crawl, weapons out of reach, despair flooded through them. Was this the end?
"Oh? So it's you three in 1001?" came a familiar woman's voice.
They strained to look - the intruder was none other than Su Mi, the beautiful thirty-year-old woman living next to Bai Ze in Room 202!
Was she the Dog Man's accomplice?!
Noticing their terrified expressions, Su Mi looked puzzled. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"My friend lives on the 10th floor. I came to go shopping with her when I heard noises from 1001, so I checked inside."
Her explanation made them wonder - had they overreacted? Maybe she wasn't connected to the Dog Man after all?
Still suspicious, Xiao Q demanded, "Then how do you have a key to 1001?"
Su Mi flipped her black hair, releasing a floral scent. "Got it from Xiao Zhang, of course!"
Xiao Q remained doubtful. "Why would he give another resident's key to a random tenant?"
With another hair toss, Su Mi smirked. "Simple - a woman's charm works wonders. Men will do anything if you sweet-talk them right!"