Gu Shanhai actually had another speculation about the monster that he hadn't mentioned, and that was that this hole was indeed freshly made and the monster truly possessed the strength to prove it. Even he hadn't reacted when the creature had already snatched and eaten the Qingcheng Red Colt as evidence.
Therefore, even though such a formidable monster existed in Saint Mary Hospital, it was actually just one of the lower-tier monsters there. There could be even more powerful ones lurking.
As for its habits, well, that wasn't impossible either.
But this then led to another question: what did this group of monsters eat?
From what he had seen since entering, there wasn't a complete ecological chain present. So where did they get their daily nutritional intake?
Eat humans? That was even less reliable, saying they subsisted on the northwest wind would be more reasonable.
The presence of a hospital, newspapers, and such indicated it was a modern urban area. So there weren't many people out and about, and even if there were, they surely wouldn't come daily. Moreover, this was an abandoned hospital that looked sinister at a glance—who would come here for a stroll without a good reason?
Thus, surviving by feeding on humans was not credible, unless there was a storage here, but that possibility was small. Based on Gu Shanhai's speculation, Saint Mary Hospital had been abandoned for at least a year; by the dietary needs of the monsters, it likely wouldn't be enough.
A more likely scenario was that there was something, through a technique currently unknown to Gu Shanhai, maintaining the various physiological functions of the monsters.
Exactly what it was, he had no idea. After all, he had just arrived; it would be too much to know everything already, or else he'd be invincible.
"Split up." Gu Shanhai shouted.
Not far down the corridor was a crossroad. Being relentlessly pursued by monsters, sticking together now would likely get them all eaten.
Luo Sheng Gate went left, and the two players from the Qingcheng Team didn't hesitate to turn right.
"..." Gu Shanhai's forehead creased with lines. Great, that left him with no choice but to go straight.
But going straight was not without its benefits. Although it increased the likelihood of being followed, he didn't have to worry about ending up in a dead end.
Just as he had predicted, the monster above didn't chase after the biggest group, the Qingcheng Team players. Instead, it followed him.
This confirmed something: the monster couldn't determine their numbers to decide whom to chase, or else it would have undoubtedly gone after the larger group.
"We need to find a way to kill this thing."
With no one else around, Gu Shanhai didn't see the need to hold back any longer. Keeping this creature around was nauseating.
His abilities weren't strong, though his Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt was almost at the entry level, and he had just begun the Yunling Technique. But with his methods, he was more than capable of handling it.
He stopped in his tracks, and with his right hand, he drew a throwing knife from beneath his green robe. Infused with mana, the knife instantly penetrated the ceiling above him.
"Squeak" came a sound like that of a dying rat. Then, as the ceiling collapsed, a humanoid monster with the head of a rat and covered in black fur lunged toward Gu Shanhai.
A throwing knife was embedded in the creature's cheek, and thick, foul-smelling blood oozed out, trailing down its face. Malice flickered in its crimson eyes.
"Fast, but too reckless." With a slap, Gu Shanhai smacked the Rat Head Man to the ground.
"Not bad strength, just unfortunate luck."
Then, he followed up with a kick directly to the Rat Head Man's face as it hit the ground. The force sent the knife through, lodging it firmly into the creature's brain.
Had the knife been stuck anywhere else, Gu Shanhai would have had to finish it off with the Spirit Blade, but this saved him quite a bit of trouble.
"The internal body structure is ninety percent similar to humans; the remaining ten percent is like that of rats, and it's the enlarged kind."
Gu Shanhai quickly began a dissection. Since he hadn't succeeded with the living corpses before, he now took the opportunity to thoroughly understand this Rat Head Man.
"There's no obvious signs of rejection; it's not yet possible to determine whether this is the result of biological transformation or some dark, cult-like ritual. However, one thing is for sure, this monster is definitely one of those thousand 'cured' civilians."
After cutting away the layer of black fine fur, Gu Shanhai found that the skin was still mostly similar to human skin.
"The degree of mutation isn't high, aside from the head, hands, and the appearance of rat fur, there aren't many other issues. To talk about mutation, this Rat Head Man is probably not even as much as the living corpses."
In Gu Shanhai's view, although living corpses might look more human, appearance isn't everything; living corpses only have that outer shell left.
"So the degree of mutation doesn't necessarily represent strength."
As he delved deeper into the dissection, Gu Shanhai discovered something critical.
"Severely malnourished, it seems it hasn't had food in a long time, hence the desperation."
"This also proves there's something else sustaining their functions; otherwise, with this level of malnutrition, it couldn't even consider chasing me—getting up from bed would be a chore."
"Now, the possibility of some dark cult ritual is about seventy percent. The whole of Saint Mary Hospital is likely shrouded in some still-active, yet unfinished ritual."
"This could also explain why these monsters are within Saint Mary Hospital and not heading out to hunt, they're trapped in here."
"Moreover, it seems these monsters don't cannibalize each other. That's clearly one of the restrictions."
"However, where did the parts of Qingcheng Red Colt in its stomach go? How could it be so shriveled? Even with fast digestion, it couldn't be this quick, could it? Could they still be on the second floor?"
Having gathered almost all the information he needed and with plenty of doubts, Gu Shanhai looked around and realized that there wasn't much of value on the Rat Head Man. After pondering, he figured the claws might be of some use.
It dug with its hands.
He did think about taking them off but discovered that the corpse seemed to decompose rather quickly after death.
"Sticky and tough, not the easiest to extract parts." Gu Shanhai ultimately gave up on the idea of collecting the Rat Head Man's claws as a trophy.
"Given the current trend in mutations, for all I know, I might find some special plants."
Gu Shanhai wasn't disheartened. After all, if there could be animal-people, plant-people might also exist. Everything was odd enough already, adding a bit more strangeness wouldn't make a difference.
He casually dragged the Rat Head Man's corpse aside, so it wouldn't become an obstacle if he had to run back through this way later.
"If it is some kind of dark cult ritual, there is a high likelihood of a basement here. But Saint Mary Hospital is so big, there shouldn't be a need to search meticulously for the basement."
"Besides, they might prefer high places, too." With his speculation in mind, Gu Shanhai was naturally ready to reap the benefits first.
Solve it? Benefits mattered more than solutions. It was just two months of life at stake. If he really encountered the descent of an Evil God, that wouldn't be a matter of losing two months of life, but betting one's entire life.
So, before that, of course, he had to scoop up as many benefits as he could.