Monster - Chapter 79
Chapter 79: Silver Stone City - The Sonnet
Madam Lilo's former residence was preserved just as it was when she was alive—simple and warm, but it didn't offer many clues. After a quick tour, they both concluded that the secret to her last words must lie within the sonnet.
"Madam Lilo never married, but she had two childhood friends: Charles, who was her age, and Charles's sister Julian, who was five years younger. Charles also never married and passed away three years ago. Julian has her own family, is still alive, and also lives in Silver Stone City. Many people speculate that Madam Lilo was in love with Charles, and that this poem was written for him," Lin Sandie said, relaying the information she'd read in a pamphlet.
"Why didn't Charles marry either?"
"There are rumors he was gay." In Leviathan, homosexuality was not an accepted behavior.
"Oh... there's a milk tea shop over there. Let's go get a drink." Lou, serious for no more than ten minutes, pulled Lin Sandie towards a nearby milk tea shop.
Lin Sandie also thought it would be a good time to study the sonnet, so she went along without protest.
"Half-sugar fresh milk tea." Lou ordered her favorite fresh milk tea without hesitation. "Lin Sandie, what about you?"
"The usual." Lin Sandie opened the poetry collection and began studying the poem intently.
"Two half-sugar fresh milk teas, and one unsweetened fresh milk tea," Lou continued ordering.
"Page 51 is in the very middle of this poetry collection. Why didn't Madam Lilo just say 'the middle page'?" Miu the crow stood on one side of the book, communicating with Lin Sandie in a low voice only she could hear. With Lin Sandie around, it no longer expected to discuss these things with Lou.
Because it had discovered that saying some things to Lin Sandie was more effective than saying them directly to Lou.
"I was thinking the same thing. Was Madam Lilo trying to emphasize something?" Lin Sandie's train of thought was the same as Miu's.
"Emphasize 'the middle'?" Miu invited Lin Sandie to brainstorm.
"Emphasize the middle of the poem, too?" Thinking it was better than nothing, Lin Sandie counted to the middle two lines of the sonnet. "...I have no path to life, nor a road to death; though I seek it myself, I still cannot die."
Reading these two lines again, a word surfaced in Lin Sandie's mind, turning over and over.
"Madam Lilo was in despair, too." Lou, sitting to the side lazily sipping her milk tea, said the word out loud. She felt that the Guide and Guide-in-training before her were two peas in a pod. Oh, no, Lin Sandie smelled nice.
"Unrequited love, so she despaired? Then we should still go check out Charles's former residence," Lin Sandie, ever the woman of action, suggested.
"First, we need to figure out what Madam Lilo's purpose was, or her last wish. Usually, when someone leaves behind last words, it's because they hope someone can accomplish something they couldn't in life. Only then can they peacefully hand over the Remnant," Miu, more experienced than Lin Sandie, said. "What's more, this is a living Remnant. If we don't fulfill her wish, it will run away even if we manage to snatch it."
That last sentence was aimed at Lou.
"A confession? Even though Madam Lilo was a famous poet, were there things she couldn't say, people she couldn't face? She loved someone but couldn't say it out loud?" Lin Sandie naturally thought of this possibility.
"Then we'll still have to pay a visit to Charles's and Julian's homes."
"Lou Lou is tired. Lou Lou needs Lin Sandie to coax her before she'll move." Lou, who had been left out for half the day, flopped onto the table and started acting shamelessly.
"You drive, I'll keep watch," Miu said to Lin Sandie.
"Okay." Lin Sandie got up and walked out. Miu deftly flew onto her shoulder. The two of them completely ignored Lou and headed outside.
At the door, however, Lin Sandie couldn't help but turn back and ask Lou, "Are you coming or not?"
Her voice had already softened.
Lou turned her face away, toward the inside of the shop.
"Then I'll call you later. I'm going to check out Charles's old house first." Lin Sandie helplessly and heartlessly abandoned Lou, really driving off with Miu.
"Cruel woman." Only after Lin Sandie and Miu had left did Lou mutter this, slowly getting up with her milk tea and heading outside.
After leaving the milk tea shop, Lou walked in the direction Lin Sandie's car had gone. On the side of the street, two monsters in loose-fitting shirts stood with their backs to Lou, looking like they were waiting for a vehicle. As she passed them, Lou suddenly drew the knife strapped to her thigh. With a flick and a thrust, the knife plunged into the neck of the stronger-looking monster, piercing straight through its thick neck. Before the other one could react, Lou's foot had already kicked the back of its knee joint—the popliteal fossa—a spot where even the slightest stimulation causes the knee to weaken and buckle, forcing one to kneel.
The monster, much taller than Lou, was forced to its knees by the seemingly non-threatening woman, the hair on its body standing on end, because the bloody knife that had just skewered its companion was now pressed against its neck.
"Who sent you to follow us?" They had been tailed the moment she and Lin Sandie left Madam Lilo's residence, which was far too quick.
This meant they had been spotted when they left the Auto Tavern.
Even though Lou's voice was calm and carried the characteristic softness of a southern accent, the monster still trembled in fear. This was the Disorder Land, a place completely devoid of order, where only strength and connections mattered. In other words, even if he were killed right here, no one would speak up for him, not even a single word.
"It-it was a man named Kang En. He, he's, I think he's from Bite Mark. He gave us 500 points each to watch your movements," he blurted out all at once.
"Besides following us, were there any other instructions?"
"N-no, nothing else..."
The moment the word "no" left its mouth, the knife Lou held against the monster's neck slid forward slightly, quickly ending its life.
Bending down, she wiped the blade on its clothes, then expressionlessly sheathed the knife on her outer thigh and continued walking in the direction Lin Sandie had gone, sipping her milk tea.
Those who witnessed her commit murder in broad daylight were deeply unsettled, automatically giving the terrifying and dreadful madwoman a wide berth.
She hadn't walked far before she saw the red car waiting for her at a street corner.
"Did you stop and wait for me on your own, or did Little Crow tell you I was dealing with the followers?" Lou asked Lin Sandie, somewhat aggressively.
"Little Crow told me," Lin Sandie answered heartlessly, but she reached out to wipe Lou's chin, where a drop of blood had splattered.
"...Cruel woman."
The two women and one crow continued toward Charles's former residence. Perhaps because too many people had been visiting lately, Charles's nephew—Julian's son—had set up a ticket booth. Entry required a ticket, which cost 10 points or 10,000 yuan, a perfect and profound demonstration of the phrase "you might as well just rob me."
Lou had no choice but to once again deploy her superpower of money, and only then did she and Lin Sandie enter Charles's former home.
"Nine out, thirteen back," Lou said, leaning close to Lin Sandie.
"Didn't I give you the photo of my mother?" Lin Sandie retorted sharply, while silently apologizing to her mother, Zhao Zhi, in her heart.
"Lin Sandie, you've got guts. We'll call it even, then."
Charles's former residence was in worse shape than Madam Lilo's. Many things had been moved out, and unlike Lilo's home, it wasn't preserved as it had been when he was alive. Moreover, its inheritor didn't seem to care for it much; the whole house gave off a strange smell. Many people were walking in and out, also observing the house, hoping to find the slightest shred of evidence that the person Madam Lilo loved was truly Charles.
"In any case, this house really doesn't look like a gay man lived here..." Miu commented dryly.
"Charles's family ran an accordion-making workshop, and he inherited the business when he grew up. He went to school with Madam Lilo as a child and they stayed in touch as adults. Madam Lilo didn't get along well with her family. When she was twenty-three, her family moved away from the Disorder Land, but she didn't go with them. Moving from the Disorder Land to Center City required a huge sum of money. At the time, Madam Lilo was an editor at a magazine and only wrote poetry occasionally, so she wasn't famous. However, it seems her family also used her money when they left, which left her in a very tight spot financially for a while. The Charles family often helped her out back then..."
Lin Sandie and Miu explored Charles's former home, piecing together most of Madam Lilo's life story from the information they found.
When she came back to her senses, Lou was nowhere to be seen.
"She went to the courtyard behind the house to watch them make accordions. Don't worry about her," said Miu, who had been keeping an eye on Lou's movements.
"How do you know?"
"It's a skill unique to us Guides. You'll know when you truly become one."
After hearing Miu's answer, Lin Sandie nodded. Though she knew it was presumptuous, she couldn't help but ask, "Crow Lady, may I ask you a question?"
Being called "Crow Lady" for the first time, Miu, perched on Lin Sandie's shoulder, was so pleased it lifted its head and cawed.
"Go ahead and ask."
"Is Lou's 'Blade Sheath' no longer alive?" Lin Sandie had been wondering about it ever since she read the poem "I'm Drunk" that Lou had written the previous night.
"Uh, probably not. She said she's been looking for her Guide for several hundred years. I don't know if that's true, but if she were still around, after searching for so many years, and both being Guides in the Main World, she should have found her by now."
"She's that old?" Lin Sandie repeated in disbelief. Lou looked even younger than her.
"Who knows?" Miu's bird face took on an "I don't care" expression. "Don't be fooled by her appearance. Even in the Main World, she's a very, very powerful Sentinel. I heard she's a candidate to be the Main God. Uh, don't tell her I told you this. She's also very petty and vindictive. I don't know if she wants you to know some of these things."
What do you mean, 'also' petty? Lin Sandie was a bit speechless, but she nodded anyway.
"Although I can't see through her, she usually does things with a purpose." After gossiping with Lin Sandie for a while, Miu had a realization. Before, in the Black Goat Walled City, when Lou talked to it and Wang Lirou about Pie, she might have actually been speaking for its benefit. After all, they were both from the Main World. She might have wanted to see if it had any way to slow Pie's demise, or to see if it recognized that "Little Rabbit" person...
"Phew, let's not talk about it anymore." Miu pictured Lou going crazy and quickly put an end to the gossip. When Lou was in a good mood, she was great, but when she was in a bad mood, it was truly life-threatening.
When they left Charles's former residence to head to Julian's place, Lou bought an accordion on a whim.
"What are you going to do with that?" Miu commented dryly.
"The journey is long, one must cultivate one's artistic sentiments~" Lou sat on the edge of the back seat, her back straight instead of slouched lazily like usual. Her feet were on the floor, one slightly extended outward.
Her long fingers pressed the black and white keys while her other hand drew out a beautiful melody. She paused, then asked with a grin, "Right, Lin Sandie?"
"Mm." Driving the car, Lin Sandie looked in the rearview mirror at Lou's face—a face identical to her own, yet one she found unfamiliar. Their eyes met.
Lou lowered her head slightly, avoiding Lin Sandie's gaze to look at the accordion in her lap. She continued, "Their accordions are pretty good quality. I'll play something cheerful for you."
Lin Sandie saw the wind blow sunlight in through the car window, casting it diagonally across Lou's chin and shoulder. The cheerful music flowed with the breeze. She truly looked like someone who lived in a magnificent palace, in a place Lin Sandie could not yet reach.
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