Monster - Chapter 28
Chapter 28: Upbringing
The second half began, and Lin Sandie was once again brought before the iron cage. The white shirt she wore was still dotted with blood, but it was still neatly tucked into her trousers. Her right arm was wrapped in a bandage, a patch of which was also stained red with blood.
Lin Sandie, who had mild OCD, rolled up her shirt sleeves before leaving the room, folding them neatly a few times, and also put her hair up again. If not for the horrifying bloodstains all over her white shirt, she would have looked like a well-mannered teacher.
She looked at Qian Kun opposite her with a relaxed expression. The stimulant made Lin Sandie's mind and body feel light and floaty. The pain that had been unbearable became dull and numb. She wasn't wearing her glasses, so she couldn't see that the monster across the cage had pale lips, a face covered in cold sweat, and breathing so rapid it was worrying.
Because the conditions here were limited, after being stabbed several times by Lin Sandie, he had only received the most basic treatment. Coupled with Lin Sandie's intentional mid-fight break, the time Qian Kun had to counterattack with his remaining strength was wasted. During the halftime break, he had needlessly consumed his stamina.
The two iron doors opened simultaneously, and Lin Sandie and Qian Kun entered the cage at the same time.
Lin Sandie didn't immediately walk toward the center of the cage. The cage had a diameter of about eight meters; she just stepped inside and didn't move.
"Come on! You can do it!"
Lin Sandie bent over and clapped her hands lightly a few times. Her words were gentle, with a hint of patient guidance, and a smile as encouraging as a kindergarten teacher's appeared on her face, continuing to provoke him at the edge of his fury.
Her eyes were bloodshot, filled with a neurotic madness.
"Fuck you!" Qian Kun cursed, but without his previous momentum. The stimulant provided here didn't last long. The pain had made him much calmer. At least he didn't fly into a rage at Lin Sandie's provocation.
He had taken off the shirt he was wearing, and his body was wrapped in blood-stained bandages.
Clutching the spot where Lin Sandie had stabbed him, Qian Kun held the same dagger in his right hand and slowly walked toward her. He knew that if he dragged this out any longer, it would only become more disadvantageous for him.
"She has no other weapons, and no trench coat. There's no way I'll be mocked by her like in the first half."
Qian Kun calculated in his mind, but just as he lifted his foot, he saw Lin Sandie's expression change from its original gentle smile to one that was solemn and filled with killing intent. This made his heart tighten.
Lin Sandie broke into a sprint and lunged at Qian Kun!
The effect of the stimulant made Lin Sandie's movements agile, made her fearless in the face of death, and allowed her to be dominated by her inner madness...
Without using any fancy tricks, Lin Sandie raised the Kukri in her hand and slashed at the monster. The already weakened monster was intimidated by Lin Sandie's aura and raised his dagger to block, but in the next second, Lin Sandie's left foot had already kicked him hard in the groin.
Just as the immense pain from his lower body reached his cerebral cortex, the monster lost his strength and started to kneel. The Kukri in Lin Sandie's hand slashed at him again, and more blood seeped from her arm, which was hastily wrapped in a bandage.
The recurve blade, covered in blood from Lin Sandie's arm, appeared in the monster's eyes.
Wounded in the neck, the monster fell backward uncontrollably. Lin Sandie's vision was also a blur of blood. In a calmer moment, she would have first seized the dagger still in Qian Kun's hand, but at this moment, she was dominated by madness. In her eyes, the monster before her overlapped with Yan Ting, and with herself.
Lin Sandie didn't just hate Yan Ting; she also hated herself!
Her cowardly self! Her selfish self! Her incompetent self! The self that let innocent people be harmed! ...
In Lin Sandie's eyes, which were much paler than an ordinary person's, was a crazed hatred. This madness, combined with her inherent calmness, made her like a finely tuned machine. Her thin lips were pressed tightly together, and the cold, silver glint of the raised blade reflected in her icy eyes.
The entire venue was deathly silent.
It wasn't until Lin Sandie felt a sharp pain in her right side that she snapped out of her momentary madness. The monster's dagger had, at some point, been plunged into her side, and he was no longer breathing.
Lin Sandie's forehead was beaded with cold sweat, and several strands of her previously tied-up hair had fallen loose. Sticking to her cheeks with blood and sweat, this version of Lin Sandie was neither dignified nor elegant, yet she radiated a light that made it impossible to look away.
Reaching down, she pulled the dagger out and threw it on the ground, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain. Blood flowed down her white shirt, onto her trousers, her shoes, and the floor. She slowly got up, looking up blankly at the stunned audience on the second level of the cage. They wore exquisite masks symbolizing nobility, which shimmered with all sorts of strange light under the lamps.
"Bravo!!" Someone shouted, and the audience on the second level couldn't help but give her a standing ovation. They offered frenzied cheers and applause for Lin Sandie, who had delivered a spectacular performance of the underdog defeating the strong.
"That was brilliant!!"
"Well done! Lin Sandie!!"
Lin Sandie, panting and shivering, stared blankly for a long while at the audience applauding her. Feeling blood foam well up in her mouth, she pressed her lips together and swallowed it back down. She wanted to scold these heartless spectators, but at that moment, she suddenly remembered how, when she was a mischievous child, people would curse her, saying she "had a mother who gave birth to her but not one to raise her." This wasn't an insult to her, but to her beloved mother. From then on, Lin Sandie became the well-behaved and sensible child everyone spoke of.
Subconsciously, the corners of Lin Sandie's mouth began to curl upward. One must return cheers with a smile. This was politeness, and it was upbringing.
Tucking the strands of hair that had fallen onto her forehead behind her ear, Lin Sandie extended her blood-covered hands. She mimed lifting a non-existent skirt, bent her knees slightly, and elegantly curtsied to the countless monsters all around who were cheering wildly for her.
Under the soft white light, Lin Sandie, her face slightly raised, looked at the monsters sitting in the high stands. Beneath her long eyelashes was a layer of gloomy, indelible mirth, madness, slaughter, and hatred.
Lin Sandie felt that she, too, was a monster.
"You didn't restock the blood bags?" Lou, who was looking down at a first-aid manual, heard the doctor opposite her and raised her head blankly.
"What blood bags?"
"Didn't I tell you to restock the blood bags before?" The paramedic, wearing a white coat and a mask, frowned. He had just checked the items in the ambulance against a list and found that many were missing—all things he had previously instructed her to restock.
"Uh..." Lou was speechless. She had been rushed into this to make up the numbers; how was she supposed to know she needed to prepare such things?
"Forget it." Seeing Lou's innocent eyes looking at him, the paramedic waved his hand in resignation. "It's not like those people really care anyway."
Just as Lou was wondering whether she should ask who "those people" were, Miu's voice sounded in her head. "Someone's coming out."
Not long after it spoke, someone suddenly knocked on the back door of the ambulance. The paramedic familiarly opened the door from the inside. Lou peeked out and saw a black bag on a stretcher being carried in. Her nose immediately caught a cold, fresh scent besides the smell of blood. Lou's eyes widened abruptly. This was Lin Sandie's unique scent, a smell she had firmly committed to memory the first time she met her at her company.
"Do your best to save her. The lords like her a lot." Lou heard one of the men carrying the stretcher instruct the paramedic in a low voice.
The paramedic nodded gravely and helped lift the stretcher up.
Without a second thought, Lou reached out and unzipped the black, blood-reeking bag as soon as it was placed on the emergency cot.
Lin Sandie's blood-stained face appeared before her eyes, as expected. Her eyes were shut tight, her face was frighteningly pale, and her breathing was very weak.
After a two-second silence, Lou peeled the entire bag off Lin Sandie. As she rolled it up, she noticed a lot of blood had pooled at the edge of the bag. Strangely, a thin trench coat was also inside.
Lou grabbed the trench coat, felt something in its pocket, and instead of tossing it, placed it by her feet.
By now, the ambulance had started and was heading toward the hospital.
"Lin Sandie..." While the paramedic was examining Lin Sandie's injuries, Lou quietly leaned close to her ear and murmured her name softly.
Lin Sandie's long, curly eyelashes fluttered. She opened her eyes slightly, looked at the gentle-faced young nurse before her, and her eyes filled with tears. "It hurts..."
"She says it hurts. Can you give her a painkiller first?" Lou looked deeply at Lin Sandie. The scent wafting from her made Lou's heart pound. She turned to ask the paramedic.
"What do you know?" The paramedic, who had already prepared the painkiller, shot Lou a glance and began to inject Lin Sandie.
"Her arm and abdomen are bleeding heavily, and she has a slash from her collarbone to her chest. You didn't restock the blood bags, so she won't even make it to the hospital. No, even if you had, she might not have been saved. She's too badly injured," the paramedic said with a frown.
"Lin Sandie, what's your blood type?" An idea came to Lou. She planned to find out Lin Sandie's blood type first, then go hunt down a blood bag for her.
"AB," Lin Sandie said, then closed her eyes tightly. She felt pained and cold and couldn't hold on any longer.
"My blood type is AB too. Give her mine." Lou felt that heaven always leaves a way out and immediately rolled up her sleeve.
"..." The paramedic looked at her, speechless. He felt that the nurse assigned to him this time was truly a bit peculiar. Nevertheless, he started setting up the transfusion equipment.
"Are you crazy?"
The paramedic didn't say much, but Miu the crow started squawking. "You can't just give your blood to the residents of a Tower World! Do you have any common sense? You're different from them now! You're someone who could become one of the Main Gods! Your blood is practically divine blood!! Idiot! Moron!"
"So what if it's divine blood? I'm saving Lin Sandie anyway," Lou replied to Miu in her mind. She was always so willful, unrestrained, and heedless of all taboos...
"She might just drop dead the moment you give her your blood! Can you be sure she can even handle it?"
"Well, if I don't save her now, she'll definitely drop dead anyway. It's a desperate measure, but at least there's a chance!"
Just as Lou and Miu were bickering, unwilling to back down, the paramedic's words made Lou quiet down.
"Are you in good health?"
"Perfectly healthy. I get regular check-ups." Wanting to quickly give Lin Sandie the transfusion and save her, Lou answered without thinking and temporarily ceased her argument with Miu.
The transfusion tube connecting Lin Sandie and Lou was quickly set up. Lou fell completely silent, watching her blood flow steadily into Lin Sandie's body. And Lin Sandie didn't suddenly drop dead as Miu had said. Her breathing gradually stabilized, and the pained expression on her face began to relax. This made Lou feel very good, and she couldn't help but start humming a childhood song.
It wasn't until the ambulance reached the hospital that she, unsteady on her feet, helped push Lin Sandie to the operating room. Before leaving, she didn't forget to search the pockets of the trench coat that had been sent in with Lin Sandie. Inside, she saw a pair of glasses with one lens fallen out and a slightly bent frame, as well as a photo of herself.
Lou, wearing her mask, couldn't suppress a huge smile. She found a black marker and, with flamboyant strokes, left her contact information on the back of the photo. She also drew a simple rabbit with long ears, a round head, round eyes, and an "X" for a mouth.
After leaving the message, she had originally intended to put it back in Lin Sandie's trench coat, but seeing that the coat was ruined, she decided to take the photo and Lin Sandie's precious glasses with her. She planned to get the glasses fixed first, then give them back to Lin Sandie along with the photo.
Perhaps this would help her leave a better impression on Lin Sandie.
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