Monster - Chapter 43
Chapter 43: Surging Murderous Intent
After calling Lou, Lin Sandie knew that sooner or later, someone would come knocking to ask about Bai Xuan. It could be Yan Ting, or it could be Kang Yi and her people.
Although she was somewhat grateful that Lou had the tacit understanding not to mention Glory Road during their call, Lin Sandie's current predicament meant her ill feelings toward the woman still far outweighed any goodwill.
While she was conscious, Lin Sandie also received a call from a local police officer named Zhang Fan. He was investigating the murder of her father, Lin Zhenshuo, and her stepmother, Wang Xia. He mentioned they still hadn't caught Lin Youceng and was calling to inform her that the bodies of her father and stepmother were ready to be collected.
Lin Sandie's attending physician estimated she would need to stay in the hospital for at least another week and wouldn't be fit for long-distance travel afterward. But with no one else left in her family, she was the only one who could arrange her parents' funeral. After discussing it with Zhang Fan, Lin Sandie decided to have their bodies kept at the local morgue for the time being and would return home in ten days to handle the arrangements.
It was an unfilial thing to do, but Lin Sandie felt helpless. She was still recovering from serious injuries. For some reason, her mother Zhao Zhi's family had cut off all contact after she got married. Her father, Lin Zhenshuo, was an only child whose parents were long gone, and her stepmother, Wang Xia, had married into the family from a distant place. They had no relatives to rely on.
"Miss Lin, it's time for lunch." A nurse walked in carrying a well-balanced meal. Lin Sandie no longer needed an IV drip and could now eat solid food.
"Thank you," Lin Sandie said, quickly sitting up. The other patients in the special care ward had been discharged for various reasons, leaving her all alone.
"Today, we have mashed potatoes with sole, egg salad, and yogurt," said the nurse whom Yan Ting had given special instructions to, smiling. She set the tray aside, raised the back of Lin Sandie's bed so she could sit up properly, then pulled over a rolling table and placed the meal in front of her.
"Thank you for the trouble."
"Enjoy your meal. I'll be back later to collect the dishes."
"Okay."
After the nurse left, the special care ward fell quiet and cold once more. Lin Sandie opened her yogurt, simultaneously taking out the hidden photograph of Lou and fiddling with it as she began to recall all the details she had gathered over the past few months that might be connected to her.
At the beginning of the year, the serial killer from before became active again in Center City. Lou was suspected of being at the murder scene. She left fingerprints, but it's unclear whether it was intentional.
In March, Lou shot and killed Cheng Lina, who was trying to blackmail her with a honey trap. She exposed her face and voice. From this, I can infer that leaving fingerprints at the murder scene was likely unintentional. Or perhaps she knew but didn't care, just as she didn't care about revealing she had killed Cheng Lina.
After that, Xing Meilu started watching me, which led her to Yan Ting.
Feng Li was killed by Lou, and Yan Ting was also targeted by her...
At this thought, Lin Sandie blinked. She remembered the strange female janitor she had met at the company. Her eyes had looked familiar. The moment they met, she had asked if I was married and even complimented my looks...
"So full of herself," Lin Sandie muttered, instantly confirming the janitor's identity.
Sighing softly, Lin Sandie continued her train of thought.
Through Yan Ting, I was exposed to Lou. Given her curiosity about me, she most likely tracked me. Did she leave any traces?
The pad of her thumb unconsciously rubbed the photograph as her mind raced. She had to gather more comprehensive information to avoid being backed into a corner. Her sudden capture for that "certificate of honor" was partly due to her lack of awareness of the events unfolding around her.
A crow?
Lin Sandie suddenly recalled the sound of a crow cawing during her call with Lou a couple of days ago. She had also seen a crow perched on her windowsill at home before but hadn't paid it any mind. But since Lou came from the same place as Bai Xuan, it wasn't hard to believe she possessed some other strange abilities.
"That's going too far," Lin Sandie muttered with a frown, setting down the empty yogurt container. She couldn't be sure if Lou had secretly snuck into her apartment.
Not only was Yan Ting spying on her, but now this mysterious Lou was too. It infuriated Lin Sandie. Though she rarely showed it, she deeply detested such unfair and restrictive treatment. Suppressing her anger, she lost all desire to eat. Instead, her thoughts drifted to Glory Road.
Lou knows the secret of the glasses, so she probably knows I've been in contact with Glory Road... Could I assume that Lou disguised herself as me and met with someone from their organization?
Then, she must have obtained some information I'm not privy to. Acting on it, she did something that crossed a line for Yan Ting's group, exposing her face again. That would explain why they took their anger out on me, even though I was in my hometown at the time and had a perfect alibi.
"Little Crow, look, the words in the notebook changed." Lou was flipping through Xu Yao's Notebook while eating. She looked at the entry she had made for Lin Sandie. Before, it read, "Victim 3: Lou, Probability of Harm: 10%." Now, the probability had risen to 30%.
"Does this mean Lin Sandie's into me?"
"Being interested in killing you still counts as interest," Miu the crow replied, gulping down its share of the food.
"Changed to what?" Xu Siqian asked casually as she brought over another dish. She couldn't understand Miu, only having heard Lou's first comment.
After being "kidnapped" by Lou, Xu Siqian had ended up living with her, Wang Lirou, and Wang Xiaoting in the Black Goat Walled City—a place whose very name made outsiders pale. The environment was sunless, the sanitation was worrying, and illegal activities were rampant. However, it wasn't as terrifying as the rumors suggested. A clear line was drawn between the lawless elements and the ordinary residential areas. The best proof was the sight of children often playing in the streets. The Walled City even had a kindergarten, an elementary school, and a middle school, places the members of illicit organizations wouldn't dare touch.
The most delicate situation Xu Siqian had encountered was being panhandled by an addict on the street. She mentioned it once to Lou, and after whatever Lou did, it never happened again. Wang Lirou had told her that in all the time he'd run his shop there, no one from any illicit organization had ever tried to extort him. When he asked other shopkeepers, they all said they had to deal with extortion to some degree.
Xu Siqian had considered sneaking away, but she knew that after what had happened, the people watching her and coveting Xu Yao's Remnant would no longer be so gentle. Besides, living alone was desolate and lonely. Here, it was lively and full of warmth. Wang Lirou, the cross-dresser, was loyal and loved to gossip; his deaf-mute son, Wang Xiaoting, was well-behaved and endearing. An old woman with one foot in the grave, a noisy, gluttonous crow, and the reckless, willful Lou—somehow, they had all managed to get along in a boisterous sort of way.
Eventually, Xu Siqian gave up the idea of leaving.
"The woman I've set my sights on wants to kill me," Lou announced shamelessly, helping herself to the dish Xu Siqian had just set down.
"Set your sights on?" Xu Siqian shot Lou a glare and sat down beside her. "You've fallen for her?"
As for someone wanting to kill Lou, Xu Siqian wasn't surprised in the least. She often felt the urge to strangle the crazy girl herself.
"It's not that I like her. I just want to play house with her."
"How scary! Lou Lou, are you the type who can separate physical love from emotional love?" Wang Lirou's eyes widened as he asked, hungry for gossip.
"I'm always on the move. A long-term relationship isn't for me," Lou answered honestly. "For instance, I can only stay here for two years at most."
"Well, I can't do that. For me, sex and love must go together," Wang Lirou said flamboyantly, covering his stepson Wang Xiaoting's eyes. "When you make love, you have to connect with your hearts, you know? The pleasure you get will increase exponentially. It's amazing."
Wang Lirou lectured Lou with the air of an expert.
"What kind of position is 'connecting with your hearts'?" Lou asked, raising her chopsticks like an eager student.
The words had barely left her mouth when Wang Lirou rolled his eyes and flipped her the bird. Xu Siqian just smacked her on the back of the head.
"So who did you deeply love, Sister Lirou?" Lou asked with a laugh, her curiosity piqued.
"That was a long time ago, when I was young," Wang Lirou said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Why are you always on the move? Don't you have a permanent home?" Xu Siqian, uninterested in Wang Lirou's past, directed her question to Lou.
"My mom is dying. I'm looking for a way to save her," Lou said, chewing on her chopsticks. "Besides, only by constantly moving to different places do I have any chance of finding a little rabbit I lost."
"What little rabbit? Is it important?" Wang Xiaoting, who could read lips, chimed in. He tugged on Wang Lirou's sleeve and signed for him to translate.
"Xiaoting is asking what kind of rabbit it is."
"Red eyes, long ears, a round face, and a mouth shaped like an 'X.' She used to talk to me," Lou said, tracing its shape in the air with her finger.
"What's your mother sick with?" Xu Siqian was more interested in this. She hadn't expected a lawless, crazy girl like Lou to have someone she cared about so deeply.
"It's not a sickness. She's just getting old." Lou lowered her head and shoveled some rice into her mouth. "Her name is Pie."
"The mother who gave birth to you?" The others grew curious, including Miu. It had never heard any rumors that Lou was the daughter of Pie, the god who controlled time and space, only that she was Pie's successor.
"No, she's just my mom. The one who raised me was the Little Rabbit!" Lou said between bites, her expression completely serious. "I've been looking for the Little Rabbit for 483 years."
The moment Lou finished speaking, Wang Lirou stared blankly for a long moment before placing the back of his hand on her forehead. "No fever," he announced to Xu Siqian.
"Then maybe the crazy girl ate something bad this morning," Xu Siqian said, her brow furrowed.
"I'm telling the truth!"
"How long did you say you've been a Sentinel?" Miu, who understood the implications, was shocked. It had only been a Guide for seven years and already felt like a veteran, yet its partner had apparently lived for this long.
"About 493 years," Lou replied.
Counting from the day I met the Little Rabbit, Lou thought.
"Impossible! How come you show no signs of aging?"
"Because I have my mom's blessing. She said that time wouldn't harm me until I found the Guide I was looking for."
"...Fucking hell, I wish I could rely on my mom like that!" Miu was dying of envy. While Sentinels and Guides on missions lived much longer than ordinary people, their lifespans weren't infinite. Most had to spend their points on life-extending items. Only by working tirelessly to cross the threshold where they might be favored by the main gods could their blood gain a divine quality, which would then grant a significant boost to their longevity.
But in the Main World, where even gods could die, a deity would never seek a successor unless they foresaw their own natural end.
But as Pie, the main god who could manipulate time, why would she be dying? And why would she show such exclusive favor to the ill-tempered Lou?
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