Chapter 115: The English Textbook
“End the summoning!”
[Affection -15]
[Affection: 0]
Expected, yet unexpected.
The Butcher was not foolish. Though it appeared to act with brutal, unrestrained fury, Fan Li knew that any monster confined within a small room not only possessed formidable strength but also a certain level of intelligence.
Even mutated creatures like Button knew to crouch and cover their heads when beaten, and would behave like a mouse cornered by a cat upon seeing Ellie. As for the Butcher, who was undoubtedly far more powerful than Button, its mind naturally had to be sharper.
This was Fan Li’s first time snatching a monster; the Butcher might have already grown suspicious. Now, the command “End the summoning” clearly reached its ears.
Fan Li had anticipated their mutual affection would drop somewhat, but never imagined it would plummet to zero.
His expression was solemn, but inside he was utterly frustrated.
The losses this time were beyond imagination. Button had just recovered, only to be struck to an unknown fate; Ellie had shattered over a dozen teeth, a costly injury to heal; and now, the already strained master-servant relationship with the Butcher had fallen to its coldest point ever.
Thinking of this, Fan Li felt a headache coming on. Even glancing at the fallen teacher monster, he found no joy, only a sense of emptiness. The creature seemed like the latest version of a hero skin—once purchased without hesitation, even with some secret delight.
But upon seeing the negative tallies accumulating, he sighed and lamented his earlier folly in choosing this path.
At this moment, the teacher monster had retreated to a corner, likely haunted by the Butcher’s shadow. Its dilated pupils still bore a trace of fear.
“Crush its neck, but don’t use too much force. Just enough to silence it!” Fan Li glanced at it knowingly; he understood well what made this monster truly terrifying.
Mental assault!
This was a power beyond physical combat—like hypnosis, it slowly seeped into one’s consciousness, altering memories or issuing commands, turning the victim into the prey.
If not for Fan Li’s resistance to fear and enhanced mental strength, he might have succumbed entirely to the teacher monster’s shrieks and become a bloodthirsty zombie.
Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself.
Fan Li knew he must reduce all risks when facing such a dreadful aberration.
***
Ellie’s beloved teeth were shattered, and coupled with lingering resentment toward the Butcher, her mood was understandably sour. When given the nod, she raised her hammer and approached.
She was measured, each strike precise—her aim was only to ruin the creature’s neck. After a few blows, the teacher monster’s neck was mangled and bloody, its vocal cords completely destroyed.
Though it still tried to make sounds, all that escaped were faint murmurs, making it utterly impossible to drag Fan Li back into its illusions.
Looking down at those eyes filled with resentment, hatred, and a thread of fear, Fan Li was momentarily stunned.
Zombies are corpses.
That was Fan Li’s initial understanding—zombies were the walking dead, mindless beings consumed only by destruction and killing.
Yet, after encountering Button and the teacher monster, he realized his understanding was far from complete.
These special zombies, besides their heightened bloodlust, remained obsessed with their past lives.
Button worked tirelessly at the front line day and night, though it had forgotten specific procedures, it still sat at the workbench stuffing buttons into its mouth, indifferent even when it was full.
Similarly, the teacher monster used its abilities to control nearly an entire class of zombies, conducting lessons. Its consciousness no longer allowed it to attend a full English class, yet instinctively, it turned the place into a deadly classroom.
It even tried to become a student itself, a mindless one.
Of course, if not for Fan Li, it might have “served” here for a long time.
“Will you submit to me?” Fan Li asked, looking down at the pitiful creature.
The teacher monster’s bulging eyes stared up closely. Without the Butcher’s suppression, it even waved its arms forward, attempting to grab the rebellious student.
“Bang!”
Ellie, standing nearby, sensed its hostility and swung her hammer down on its arm.
“Crack!”
A bone snapped sharply; the teacher monster’s arm went limp, unable to raise again.
Fan Li nodded approvingly at Ellie’s work, then raised his katana, inching it slowly into the teacher monster’s chest.
The blood-red patterns on the blade glowed vividly once more. Compared to slashing ordinary zombies, piercing a monster caused the red light to shine even brighter.
***
The teacher monster let out a sorrowful wail, its neck twitching uncontrollably, as if enduring unbearable pain.
Additional damage!
Only then did Fan Li realize that even a zombie, unafraid of anything and able to endure dismemberment without feeling pain, could experience agony when cut by a katana.
Sensing an opportunity, Fan Li scanned the surroundings and spotted an English textbook lying on the ground. He picked it up and held it before the monster’s face, issuing a threat:
“Submit, and you may continue teaching. Refuse, and you die!”
The red glow on the katana intensified, and the monster’s pained murmurs grew louder.
Whether due to Fan Li’s threat or the katana’s strange damage, the teacher monster began to show fear. Suddenly, Fan Li’s vision changed.
A line of blood-red text appeared on his retina:
[Monster (Endangered), meets sealing requirements.]
[Monster (Endangered) no longer resists, meets sealing requirements.]
[Seal monster?]
Endangered?
Fan Li frowned, wondering if he had been too cruel. When sealing Button, the status only indicated severe injury, not endangered.
Without hesitation, Fan Li chose to seal it.
[Detected that the sealed entity retains some consciousness, eligible for transformation. Place into sealing chamber?]
“Place it in!”
[Please select the medium. Once chosen, it cannot be changed.]
Fan Li looked at the thin English book in his hand. Remembering the monster’s obsession, he raised the book and said, “I choose this as the medium!”
As before, a dark energy surged around them. In the blink of an eye, Fan Li vanished from the zombie-infested corridor and appeared inside a small room resembling a general store.