# Chapter 217: Life and Death Crisis
These mutated animals were different from those seen on other floors. Compared to the emaciated animals inside the building that hadn't eaten for who knows how long, these were clearly more agile, had more stamina, and had undergone another level of mutation!
Xu Huo killed a large fox whose mouth had split into six petals as it lunged at him, then turned back to stab the xenomorphs that were entangled with Jiang Yihua and Dazhi.
"Go destroy the elevators. Don't save anyone even if they're there—they can't leave the instance!" he instructed before going to assist Gu Yu.
Jiang Yihua and Dazhi had initially wanted to save people, but after seeing that the xenomorphs appearing were more ferocious than any they'd encountered before, they could only close their eyes, temporarily set aside their conscience, and quickly pour water into the elevator!
In fact, some non-players present had quick reactions, boldness, and good luck. They had encountered empty elevators, so they poured water immediately and used pre-made shovels to scoop up potted plants by the wall that could spray corrosive poison powder, smashing them at the xenomorphs. Although the effect was minimal, they managed to protect themselves in the first moments, buying time for the players without throwing away their lives.
Clearly, other xenomorphs had entered the elevator shaft as well. After the elevator fell, faint screams could still be heard.
"Close the door quickly!" Seeing that only one mutated animal remained of the several that had been killed, Jiang Yihua immediately called out to those nearby who still dared to move.
On the other side, Kang Hong and Chen Shu were closing elevator doors nearby. In the rush, Chen Shu glanced into the elevator shaft and said in terror, "All the elevator doors on the lower floors have opened! Xenomorphs are coming up from the third and fourth floors!"
"Close the door!" Kang Hong shouted.
The two of them worked together to trap a xenomorph that had climbed up the elevator shaft wall inside, not daring to pause for a moment before immediately going to close the next elevator door.
But there were more xenomorphs than they had imagined, and they were faster. Kang Hong was caught off guard as a xenomorph bit his leg, half-dragging him into the elevator shaft. Chen Shu reacted in time and grabbed him. Seeing the xenomorphs below appearing one after another at the elevator doors, looking up and tentatively climbing, Chen Shu turned back and roared, "Come save Kang Hong!"
Xiao Ba, who was closest, immediately went to help, while Xu Huo and the others were entangled by a two-meter-tall xenomorph.
A two-meter-tall xenomorph—just from its height, it should have been very imposing. But in reality, this xenomorph seemed to have congenital defects. It looked somewhat like a wild boar, had no obvious fur, an oddly short body, unusually long limbs, and a pair of genuine large tusks in its mouth. Its mismatched body looked extremely unbalanced at first glance.
However, its speed and strength far exceeded those of other xenomorphs. It repeatedly dodged attacks from Xu Huo and Dai Wenqian, kicked Gu Yu into severe injury, and when Chen Shu called for help, it was stepping on Niu Dun and crushing Xu Huo against the wall!
Gu Yu charged from behind and knocked one of its hind legs off balance, allowing Xu Huo to break free, but then it twisted its head and sent him flying!
Zheng Liang used his trait's speed to attract the xenomorph's attention. After drawing it away from Xu Huo, he kept changing positions, and almost all the glass rooms on the entire thirteenth floor were smashed by the xenomorph!
Xu Huo landed near the elevator. Turning his head, he saw Chen Shu's legs trembling violently as she braced against a half-closed elevator door, while Xiao Ba held her waist but still couldn't pull the person up. He pushed himself up from the ground, went over, killed the xenomorph hanging on Kang Hong's leg with a few sword strikes, pulled the two of them up, and closed the elevator door.
Ignoring the crashing and roaring from inside, he quickly returned to the battlefield.
"Cough!" Dai Wenqian smashed a potion, blinding one of the xenomorph's eyes, but was then thrown and smashed against a glass room. As he landed with the broken glass, he coughed up blood and said quickly, "If we keep fighting, we'll definitely die. Get it into the elevator shaft!"
Fifteen elevators hadn't been completely closed. Xu Huo exchanged glances with Gu Yu and Zheng Liang. Zheng Liang was responsible for attracting the xenomorph's attention and leading it toward the elevator, while Xu Huo and Gu Yu flanked from left and right, acting as target distractions to keep the xenomorph from deviating from its path.
But they finally managed to lure it to the elevator door, only for the thing to move away from the elevator door the moment Zheng Liang left, chasing after the fleeing Zheng Liang at an extremely fast speed and stabbing a tusk into his armpit!
"Holy shit!" Zheng Liang, who had narrowly avoided injury, couldn't help shouting, then yelled again, "My trait time is up!"
At that moment, Xu Huo stepped in from the side and slashed his sword at the xenomorph's front leg!
The Crimson Sword could only target the nearest object. Now the entire thirteenth floor was covered in debris, so the special item's effect couldn't be fully utilized, making it only a sharp weapon!
But this strike still had an effect.
The enraged xenomorph turned back to chase him. Xu Huo, using his own speed and the boost from his super running shoes, charged toward the elevator and leaped inside!
The tall but short-bodied xenomorph followed him in!
This xenomorph clearly couldn't climb. Once it jumped in, it could only fall. Xu Huo hung above using his zither string, swinging his sword in small arcs, and killed it without any obstacles.
The xenomorph's corpse fell deep into the elevator shaft. He didn't kill any other xenomorphs but returned to the thirteenth floor and closed the elevator door.
By now, all the xenomorphs on the thirteenth floor had been cleared. Jiang Yihua, Dazhi, Xiao Ba, Zheng Liang, and Chen Shu had minor injuries. Xu Huo, Dai Wenqian, and Gu Yu had serious internal injuries. The most severely injured was Kang Hong—both his legs had been bitten by multiple xenomorphs, the flesh on his calves almost completely eaten away, with white bone exposed.
Chen Shu quickly wrapped his legs, while Jiang Yihua and Dazhi helped feed him a self-healing agent.
As for Zhang Biao, aside from one arm that was temporarily immobile, he had no other injuries. The bald player was even luckier, with only a few scrapes. None of the dozen or so people who had gone down with them returned.
"What the hell were you looking for down there?" Zheng Liang grabbed Zhang Biao's arm. "You attracted so many xenomorphs! Are you trying to get us all killed?!"
Zhang Biao looked aggrieved. "I was just rummaging through trash like yesterday. I didn't touch anything else. How was I supposed to know xenomorphs would come out!"
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone out at all!"
"Bullshit!" Zheng Liang clenched his fist, ready to hit him. The bald player quickly came over to hold him back. "Don't fight, don't fight. Fighting is among ourselves. No one wants to attract xenomorphs, but luckily we've closed all the elevator doors now..."
Before he finished speaking, chewing and slapping sounds came from the windows!
"It's xenomorphs!" Jiang Yihua said in shock. "They're climbing up the flower vines!"
"Don't worry, don't worry!" Dazhi said. "The windows are sealed with metal. They can't get in!"
But misfortune came in pairs. From the ventilation ducts on the thirteenth floor came the sound of something crawling.
Everyone looked up and saw the cover plate trembling.
It turned out that metal strips had been placed under the cover plate, supporting it along with the glass rooms. But during the fight, these metal strips holding up the cover plate had been knocked away along with the glass rooms. Now only a layer of tape was sealing it!