Monster - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Taste

After finishing breakfast, Lou and Miu the crow remained on a bench at the edge of the square. Miu had discreetly transformed into an inconspicuous brooch, which Lou pinned beside her collar.

The once-bright weather seemed to foreshadow coming events, suddenly turning gloomy. A wind kicked up, chilling for a spring day. Lou glanced at the sky and saw it was blanketed with dark clouds, a sign that rain was imminent.

Just then, the person she and Miu were waiting for finally appeared. It was a young woman in a dark gray suit, her hair tied up in a neat, professional style. She got out of a gray sedan and hurried into a tea shop.

In Lou and Miu's vision, the woman's identity was displayed simultaneously:

Name: Feng Li
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Current Identity: Secretary to the President of Dudian Red Wine Company
Profile: None.

The rain began to fall then, and a mist quickly rose, shrouding everything in a haze. Lou stood up and walked briskly, following the woman into the tea shop named "Cha Cha Cha."

"One latte, one fresh milk tea, no sugar, hot." There weren't many people buying drinks at this hour, so Feng Li quickly ordered what she wanted.

Lou glanced up at the menu hanging above the counter. The items listed were more complex than the incantations she used for her spells. She shot a look at the woman beside her, then said to the staff member who was already looking at her expectantly, "I'll also have a fresh milk tea, with… half-sugar?"

Given Lou's abilities, the missions she usually accepted took her to extremely harsh and chaotic worlds. It had been a long time since she'd been in such an orderly Tower World, and many things felt foreign to her.

"Would you like that room temperature, hot, or iced?" the employee asked dutifully.

"Um… hot, please. No bag, I'll drink it right away."

With few people in the shop, the sound of Lou's voice caught Feng Li's attention. She looked at Lou, then froze. "Lin Sandie? What are you doing here?"

Lou looked back at her, wondering why Yan Ting's secretary, the very person she was tailing, would suddenly call her Sandie. After a few moments of thought, a natural look of surprise appeared in her light-colored eyes. "You have the wrong person, miss."

Feng Li was stunned, seemingly unable to believe she could be mistaken. She stared intently at Lou's face, thinking how much she resembled Lin Sandie. They were practically identical.

Even the small black mole below the corner of her lip was in the exact same spot.

But upon closer inspection, she noticed the woman before her was more relaxed and at ease. Lin Sandie, by contrast, always seemed proper and reserved.

Still, the resemblance was uncanny. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Feng Li would have doubted them.

"You've been exposed. I suggest you kill her," Miu said in a voice only Lou could hear. "Besides, this person is already infected with the virus."

In Lou and Miu's eyes, the woman before them was indeed infected with the monster virus. Her facial features had vanished. When she spoke, the tough, pale skin covering her face would twist, and as her maw of sharp teeth split open, it pulled at the black, lightning-shaped cracks that webbed her face.

From the information they had gathered, the monsters in this Tower World could be roughly divided into three stages. Stage one: facial features disappear, the eyes on the arms have not opened, and clothing begins to show signs of assimilation but retains its original color. Danger level: Low.

Stage two: mouthparts and black, lightning-shaped cracks appear on the face, the eyes covering the arms begin to open, and clothing becomes severely assimilated, its original color fading. The monster has likely harmed others. Danger level: Medium.

Stage three monsters have already killed people. In addition to the terrifying mouthparts and black cracks on their faces, the dense array of eyes on their arms are all open. Any clothing they wear becomes a pale imitation of its former self, completely merging with the monster's skin like a second layer. Furthermore, four thick, spider-like limbs sprout from their backs, covered in black fluff resembling rotting, dark clouds. This indicates the monster has killed many people. Danger level: High!

The eyes on Feng Li's arms were open now, but she hadn't fully reached the third stage. This meant she had killed, but probably not many.

"Are you Lin Sandie's twin sister?" Feng Li asked with a spark of excitement before Lou could react.

"You know my sister?" Lou asked, playing along.

"Wow! I had no idea Lin Sandie had a twin sister. I've never heard her mention it."

Lou gave Feng Li a brilliant smile. "Do you work at my sister's company?"

"Yes, I do…" Feng Li continued to stare at Lou's face in disbelief, muttering to herself, "So alike, identical."

"What's your name?"

"Lin Yidie!" Lou's red lips curved upwards, and her eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. For a moment, Feng Li, standing opposite her, felt a sense of dislocation. The Lin Sandie she dealt with so often rarely smiled. Her eyes, the same rainy gray color, were different from this lively woman's; they always seemed veiled by a faint layer of sorrow.

"Hello, your latte and fresh milk tea are ready."

"Your fresh milk tea is ready as well."

The young man at the counter interrupted their conversation.

Lou took the milk tea she had ordered, inserted the straw, and took a sip. The milky fragrance was rich, sweet but not cloying. She looked down at the cup in her hand, pleasantly surprised.

"This is delicious!" Lou praised.

"You two sisters don't just look alike, you have similar tastes, too."

Feng Li took her drinks. Although she wanted to keep chatting with Lou, she was in a hurry to deliver the beverages to her boss and Lin Sandie. So, she could only smile and bid Lou farewell before picking up the bagged latte and milk tea and heading toward her gray sedan outside.

The spring rain fell in a steady drizzle, making the air outside cold and fresh. Lou followed her out. Just as Feng Li pressed the key fob, Lou asked in a pitiful voice, "Sister, could you give me a ride?"

"I'm going to Center Street. Are you heading there too?" Feng Li squinted, once again struck by how the "Lin Yidie" in the rain had a completely different aura from her sister, Lin Sandie.

Lin Sandie would never look at anyone with such eyes, not even her direct superior, who also happened to be her girlfriend, Yan Ting.

Lin Sandie was always so restrained, only offering a slight smile when she was with Yan Ting.

"Is that okay?"

"Get in." Feng Li found it hard to refuse someone who looked exactly like Lin Sandie; Yan Ting had given her strict orders regarding her. So, she gave a slight nod.

"Thank you!" Lou smiled again.

"It sounds like you have a bit of a southern accent when you speak."

"Do I?" Lou paused, a serious expression on her face. She sat in the seat directly behind the driver and, ever mindful of traffic safety, fastened her seatbelt.

"A little. Oh… I think Lin Sandie's accent is also from the south. She never mentioned it before. You two don't live together?"

"No, we don't." Lou grew more curious about this Lin Sandie. Could she really have a counterpart in this Tower World?

Once in Feng Li's car, Lou sipped her milk tea while gazing out the window. The rain grew heavier, and the streets were nearly empty of pedestrians. As Feng Li drove down a narrow street, Lou pulled a silenced pistol from her coat and fired two shots toward the back of the driver's seat.

"Thump, thump." Two muffled sounds echoed in the car.

Despite the seat between them, Lou accurately sent bullets into the back of Feng Li's head and her heart.

The moving car let out a sudden, sharp screech of brakes before veering sideways into the trash cans lining the street. The man-high bins, filled with all sorts of filth, were sent flying. The car's built-in safety system brought it to a stop.

Feng Li's body shuddered once, then she slumped silently over the steering wheel, blood trickling down from the driver's seat.

Lou was jolted back and forth by the violent motion of the car, but the seatbelt kept her from harm.

She put the gun away, then gave her milk tea a shake, confirming that she had finished it.

Calmly, Lou unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned forward to look at the front seat. She reached over and grabbed Feng Li's handbag from the passenger seat, slinging it over her own shoulder. As she was about to open the door, she saw the latte and the other fresh milk tea Feng Li had bought sitting in the cup holder, a few drops of blood spattered on the clear plastic bag.

Lou twisted around, opened the window, and tossed her empty cup toward the overturned trash cans in the rain. Then she picked up the milk tea that was likely meant for Lin Sandie and pushed the car door open.

The moment she opened the door, her rain-colored pupils dilated, and her delicate face contorted into a mask of panic, all its previous brightness gone. "Help!"

Lou shouted once but realized there was almost no one in the alley at this time.

She spun around and spotted, not far away under a tattered tent set up by a homeless person, a tall, flamboyantly dressed, middle-aged man with medium-length hair staring at her, dumbfounded. He wore a bright yellow scarf and appeared to be wearing makeup.

Beside the man stood a boy of about twelve or thirteen in shabby clothes, also staring blankly at her.

"Call an ambulance, quick! Save my sister!" Lou yelled at the man and boy as she ran toward them. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and the rain washed over her thin frame, making her look like a pitiful, drenched puppy.

As she ran, she scanned the two of them.

Name: Wang Dadong
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Current Identity: Unemployed
Profile: None.

Name: Wang Xiaoting
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Current Identity: Adopted son of Wang Dadong
Profile: None.

"Miss, uh, uh… calm down." The man in the bright yellow scarf had a look of pity on his face. He came out to meet her, holding a broken umbrella with several ribs snapped, and steadied Lou, who was still clutching a cup of fresh milk tea. "Do you have your phone on you? Mine is out of credit."

Whether intentionally or subconsciously, the man spoke in a soft, high-pitched voice, but it still sounded like a squawking duck, enough to give anyone goosebumps.

"…" Lou fell silent, looking at the foul-smelling homeless man and the little boy who had run out of the tent with him to meet her. She felt that continuing her performance was a bit pointless.

"Miss?" Seeing the "survivor" suddenly staring at his face in silence, the middle-aged homeless man looked at Lou with confusion.

Lou stood under the man's broken umbrella, listening to the downpour patter against it. She lowered her head, took a sip of the milk tea, and engaged her brain, a tool she wasn't fond of using.

"Heh, these two homeless people haven't mutated. Can't kill them," Miu said.

The middle-aged man turned to look at the now-silent sedan. Seeing someone slumped inside, he stamped his foot, handed the umbrella to Lou, and prepared to go rescue the person himself.

"Uncle, what's your name?" Lou didn't take the umbrella. Instead, she grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him back toward the tent. Although the scan had told her his name was Wang Dadong, Lou still asked as a matter of principle.

"My name is Wang Lirou! Aren't you going to save your sister?"

Hearing the middle-aged man say his name was Wang Lirou in that strained voice, Lou looked him up and down again. He wore a yellowed crew-neck sweater, light blue trousers, and pink sneakers, with a thin, wine-red windbreaker over it all. A bright yellow scarf was wrapped around his neck, and his medium-length hair was draped over his shoulders. Although there was a dark stubble around his lips, Lou could tell the man had put on makeup.

A cross-dresser? Lou thought. Aren't you Wang Dadong?

"I don't have time for this nonsense!" The middle-aged man's expression darkened. He stopped forcing his voice, and it dropped to a deep, rough bellow as he tried to run into the rain to save Feng Li.

But the moment he lifted his foot, Lou's grip on his wrist tightened. "Don't worry about her. Someone will come to handle it. Uncle, are you two homeless?"

"Don't call me Uncle!!" the man roared, even angrier. He tried to wrench his hand free but found that the seemingly delicate woman's grip was astonishingly strong.

"Uh… Sister Lirou?" Lou considered for a moment.

"What is it?! Are you sure we shouldn't check on the person in the car?" Wang Lirou's voice softened, though it was just as unpleasant to listen to.

"No need. I have a job for you. Are you interested?" Lou said, then looked around. She realized they were on the edge of the Black Goat Walled City. Just past the end of this street and across the road was the slum known as Leviathan's cancer: the Black Goat Walled City.

Even from a distance, the dense and uneven billboards of the small shops on the city's periphery were only veiled by a thin layer of mist in the heavy rain. Their overlapping, colorful lights created a scene that was both magnificent and bizarre, possessing a kind of crude yet strange beauty.

It looked like a filthy monster covered in brightly colored pustules, standing silently on the edge of Leviathan's Center City.

"A job? What kind of job?"

"Before that, let me treat you to a meal." Lou shook the milk tea in her hand and recommended with a smile, "I think milk tea tastes better with sugar."

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