Chapter 186: Snow Mountain: [24W Nutrient Solution Bonus Chapter]

Chapter 186: Snow Mountain: "24W Nutrient Fluid Bonus Chapter"

The monster's "breaking out of the cocoon" speed was not constant.

Initially, when it first began breaking out, the process was very slow because its entire body was still wrapped in human skin. However, once its head and arms had emerged, with the arms assisting from outside, the rest of the process accelerated as if it had been put on fast-forward, growing faster and faster.

Rebecca clearly understood this as well.

While the monster was breaking free, she didn't stand there gawking like an idiot like the expendable characters in other movies. Instead, taking advantage of the monster's focus on cracking its shell, she bent down and picked up the awl that had fallen to the snowy ground.

After retrieving the awl, Rebecca reached into her coat and pulled out a bottle of silvery-white liquid of unknown origin, pouring it over the metal spike.

"Sizzle!"

The instant it touched the liquid, a large plume of black smoke erupted from the awl's surface.

When the smoke dissipated, the awl, which had been somewhat darkened, returned to its original rusty, corroded appearance, and a wave of ancient, mysterious aura washed over her.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!" Rebecca held the iron awl and continued chanting loudly in Spanish.

Influenced by its long colonial history, many traditional spells and rituals in Bolivia had blended in elements of Spanish Catholicism. The Madonna statue with candlesticks Rebecca had used during the Lucky Relief case was a typical example.

The metal awl she now held in her hand was clearly also a Catholic relic of some kind.

With her chanting, a faint, barely perceptible glow once again emerged from the awl's surface. The rust on the awl was no longer old and decayed but began to flow across its surface like blood, itching for a fight, eager for a final showdown against evil.

Success or failure, all in this one move!

As the monster's chest emerged from the skin sac, Rebecca took a deep breath, raised the awl, leaped high into the air, aimed at the heart thumping fiercely in the monster's chest, and with both hands, plunged it down with all her might.

"ROAR—!"

A bloodcurdling scream rang out as the sharp iron awl sank deep into the monster, piercing its heart.

Thick, foul black fluid gushed from the monster's chest like a geyser. This black liquid was clearly corrosive—wherever it splashed, billowing black smoke rose, burning countless large holes into the wooden walls of the inn. Even the hard stone floor, which crumbled like crackers under the black liquid, was pitted with small craters.

Fortunately, Rebecca had anticipated this.

Just as the black fluid sprayed out, the jingling sound of a bell rang. The copper bell clenched in Rebecca's palm hummed and vibrated, and a faint ripple spread outward from the bell, forming a protective barrier around Rebecca.

The bell was named the Harley Exorcism Bell. It was small and delicate, typically made of copper or silver. The bell's surface was engraved with sacred patterns and symbols, which had the effect of repelling and shielding against evil entities that approached the wearer. It was a very popular amulet among psychics.

Rebecca's bell had once received a clergyman's blessing, giving it greater power than an ordinary bell.

With the bell's protection, she redoubled her efforts, pulling out the iron awl, chanting prayers, and plunging it deep into the monster's chest once again.

"ROAR—!"

The heart was clearly the monster's weak point. As the awl sank deeper and deeper, cracks spread outward from the heart like a spiderweb, spiderwebbing across the monster's entire body.

As if refusing to die, the stag-headed monster let out a furious bellow, raised its thick, muscular arm high, and slammed it down toward Rebecca.

Rebecca naturally wasn't about to stand there and let herself be beaten.

Realizing the danger, she released the awl, agilely leaped backward, and retreated into the inn: "Everly, help me!"

She didn't even need to ask. Everly, Old John, and Misha had already, in silent coordination, drawn their pistols and fired a volley at the monster's chest outside the door.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

A hail of bullets struck the monster's chest, briefly checking its attack.

By the time that punch finally came down, the Himalayan pink salt Rebecca had scattered at the doorway made its final contribution. An invisible wall held back the monster's attack, and the rest of the salt rapidly evaporated. By the time the invisible wall shattered by the punch's force and the monster could finally charge unimpeded into the inn, the cracks of death had already crept up to its skull.

"Crack... crack crack crack..."

With crisp shattering sounds, the stag-horned monster's body fractured like glass, piece by piece, dissolving into foul-smelling chunks of flesh and white bone fragments that clattered to the ground.

Exorcism successful.

...

The inn's owner and his wife brought out brooms and mops, while Minnie, the front desk girl, hauled over an iron shovel from the boiler room.

Everyone worked together to shovel the foul-smelling corpse chunks scattered across the floor into buckets, then "splash"—dumped them off the cliff, leaving only the clothes the man had been wearing when he appeared.

Afterward, based on the personal items found in the pockets of those clothes, they deduced that the man who had transformed into the monster was indeed "Dana," the one the innkeeper had mentioned.

As for who Dana was—remember the news Everly had seen about missing hikers while investigating negative reports about Mount Nathan Joshua?

Dana was one of three hikers who had gone missing while crossing the snow mountain. Months earlier, to scout the location in advance, he and his companions had stayed at the Yormore Mountain Snow Resort for a period and had even pre-booked rooms for the Christmas holiday.

Later, because the three went missing, by a twist of fate, their rooms were taken over by Everly's group of four.

The terrible weather at the mountain peak had persisted for days. Everyone assumed the three had died in the snow, but unexpectedly, during the avalanche that trapped the group, Dana appeared as a monster outside the snow mountain inn.

Even now, recalling the image of Dana's face splitting open and the monster emerging from within, everyone couldn't help but shudder.

As a result, their gazes toward Everly's group grew even more reverent and admiring. Even Lucas, who was usually somewhat arrogant, wore a dazed expression of utter worldview collapse after witnessing the stag-horned monster firsthand.

"How can this be? This isn't scientific..." He pressed his lips together, leaned back against the sofa, stared blankly ahead, and muttered the same words over and over.

Yes, none of this was scientific at all.

But Everly thought that what was even less scientific than the monster's existence was the fact that Lucas had lived this long, directly or indirectly participated in so many cases, and yet had never once encountered a case involving supernatural forces!

Seriously, this was a horror movie world—how could he have perfectly avoided every supernatural event and lived his life peacefully as a mystery novelist? Did being the movie's male lead make him that special?!

After fuming for a while, Everly glanced at Lucas. Seeing how crushed he was—even his usually immaculate forehead hair now drooping limply, making him look like a dejected stray dog under the dim lamplight, pitiful and fragile—she suddenly felt cheerful again.

Heh heh, whatever his past life had been like, scientific or not, from now on, there was absolutely no going back for this guy.

She wondered how Lucas's mystery novel career would develop after witnessing the other side of this world firsthand. After all, many of the tricks in mystery novels relied on a materialist worldview for support. If supernatural forces were involved, things like locked-room murders and alibis would all become meaningless.

Hee hee, hee hee...

Lucas wasn't the only one whose worldview had been shattered.

As someone who had been in contact with Dana for a period, the innkeeper Joshua still couldn't figure out how a perfectly normal human being could suddenly turn into a monster.

"Last time I saw him, Dana seemed completely normal... Could it be that he was always just disguised as a human?" he asked in a daze.

This question was beyond Everly's knowledge, so she turned her inquiring gaze to Rebecca.

Seeing her do this, the others also looked at Rebecca.

As the one who had killed the stag-horned monster, she clearly knew something about it.

"That stag-horned monster earlier was called a 'Wendigo'—a creature from legend said to be formed when humans fall into cannibalism. They are born in freezing places, roam the wilderness, and feed on human flesh and blood. It's said their stomachs are like bottomless pits that can never be filled—the more flesh they eat, the hungrier they become, and the hungrier they are, the more greedy their nature grows. By consuming human flesh, a Wendigo's body can heal infinitely. Only by destroying their hearts can they be completely killed."

"So they're humans who fell into cannibalism... is that what you're saying?"

Picking up on the key point, everyone's faces changed at once.

Even without finding anything incriminating on Dana, just picturing it was enough for everyone to figure out what had happened on the mountain.

"Dana's two companions are probably dead by now..." After a pause, Joshua sighed and said.

"What about his clothes then?" The others murmured among themselves, sneaking glances at Everly and her group, clearly leaving the decision up to them.

After much deliberation, it was Old John, the most seasoned of the bunch, who made the call: "Let's keep Dana's clothes. After all, they're all he has left in this world. Once we're rescued, we can hand them to the police and tell them a wolf dragged them off the mountain. Don't say anything else."

"Alright, let's do that..."

After some discussion, everyone unanimously agreed to Old John's proposal.

...

Maybe the first two days had been so rough that they'd hit every possible stroke of bad luck, but after the Wendigo was killed, the following days turned out to be surprisingly calm, with nothing bad happening at all.

Another grim piece of good news was that after three guests had died in succession, the inn had extra food, so everyone could eat a bit more at each meal than before.

And so, in the freezing inn, they scraped by on meager meals, living alongside three corpses for five and a half days. On the sixth day of being trapped, the gloomy sky finally cleared, and the unreliable rescue team finally got around to the group stranded on the mountain. They sent a helicopter that flew to the mountainside and evacuated the 12 trapped people in batches... along with 3 frozen-solid corpses.

According to Rebecca's speculation, the Wendigo that appeared that night had likely been attracted by the scent of blood from those 3 corpses.

Though the people were rescued, the road down the mountain was still blocked by thick snow that hadn't been cleared, so their vehicles couldn't be driven down for now.

Given the Americans' efficiency, Everly seriously doubted she'd get her car back until the spring thaw.

After being rescued, everyone was first taken to the hospital for check-ups, then brought to the police station. Fortunately, Detective Lucas had a good relationship with the police, and with his help, Hilda's murder case was quickly closed, so the group didn't need to linger near the mountain.

Once all the hassle finally wrapped up, Everly and her three companions, looking beat, caught a long-distance bus and headed back to the ranger's cabin in Darami City.

And so, a thrilling ski trip came to an end in a way none of them could have ever imagined.

...