Monster - Chapter 152
Chapter 152: Center City - Family
Cheng Gui looked at Lou, who had called her to the Black Goat Walled City. Lou was wearing an apron, carrying a pot of soup from the kitchen, while Lin Sandie, dressed in loose pajamas, sat at the dining table, sketching on several sheets of paper.
"Are you two married?" Cheng Gui sat down at the dining table and picked up the chopsticks already set for her.
Lou, who had just been about to speak to her, froze. She placed the soup on the table, wanting to joke that they were parent and child, but remembering everything that had happened between her and Lin Sandie, she choked on her words.
"Not yet." Lin Sandie answered calmly, putting down her pen. She picked up the bowl in front of Cheng Gui, served her a bowl of soup, then served herself and Lou.
Lou sat at the table, taking the bowl of soup Lin Sandie handed her, looking somewhat distracted.
Lin Sandie explained to Cheng Gui the method she and Lou had discussed for weakening Tree's influence. Simply put, Cheng Gui, as the Law of Leviathan, could exercise any of her powers to restore Leviathan's derailed order, with Lou serving as the guarantor of her authority.
"Is she alone enough?"
"I will also provide necessary assistance…" Lin Sandie said this, and Lou finally reacted.
"My abilities have recovered by about 50%. I am your army."
Cheng Gui picked up a piece of fish. She was using the body Lin Sandie had previously possessed, a woman named Chelsea, with long white hair and deep red eyes. Because it was just a corpse, even with some medicine provided by Jian Yi to prevent skin decay, she still looked somewhat like a dead person. She merely sniffed the delicious food in front of her, picked it up to look at it, then placed it back in her bowl without eating.
"I have a lot of people on my list." Cheng Gui paused for a long moment, then smiled at Lou. She was usually expressionless, so this forced smile looked a little eerie.
"Do you need to prepare anything?" Lou nodded, asking as she ate, stealing a glance at Lin Sandie, who seemed more interested in the stir-fried greens she had made.
Was it because of an upset stomach? Or because the other dishes weren't good?
"We leave after eating. My presence is enough."
Lin Sandie also hummed in agreement. With things having reached this point, there was little left to ponder. Either Tree would be devoured by her, or she would be separated from Lou forever.
And even if unspoken, after everything they had been through, having finally reunited, neither of them wanted to be apart again.
After lunch, Lou cleared the dishes, and Lin Sandie insisted on helping. Cheng Gui leaned against the kitchen doorway, chatting with them, completely oblivious to being a third wheel.
"Can your body hold up?" After chatting with Lou for a while about their itinerary, Cheng Gui, uncharacteristically, showed concern for Lin Sandie, because compared to her and Lou's "work," Lin Sandie faced a more difficult and solitary challenge.
"Mm." Lin Sandie wiped the last plate clean, then paused and said, "Don't tell me your plans from now on, and it's best not to discuss them in front of me."
Lou and Cheng Gui both looked at her. Lin Sandie smiled slightly. "Just in case."
Seeing Lin Sandie smile, Lou, for a moment, superimposed her image with the black fog figure she had once only been able to see.
After tidying up, Lou and Cheng Gui didn't linger. Lou actually hated to let Lin Sandie out of her sight; she felt she hadn't seen enough. But she dared not say anything, nor ask, nor act spoiled, nor be unreasonable, nor hug Lin Sandie, nor hold her hand...
Lin Sandie seemed to be her usual self—composed, peaceful, even her sickly state didn't detract from her inherent grace.
"Then we're off." Lou walked to the door, turning to look at Lin Sandie, who was following behind.
Lin Sandie held the doorknob, looking at Lou and gently saying, "Be careful. I'll wait for you to come home."
Lou grinned and nodded.
The air around them was no longer thick, but light and warm. Lou savored Lin Sandie's farewell words, grinning foolishly as she walked with Cheng Gui to the elevator.
"So happy?" Cheng Gui saw Lou's silly expression and worried about her professionalism.
"Heh, it's been a long time since someone waited for me at home." Lou's lips curved into a wide smile, and she bounced lightly on her tiptoes twice. "You're a dead thing, you wouldn't understand this feeling."
Despite her sweet smile, Lou's words were still as provocative to anyone other than Lin Sandie.
"Lin Sandie certainly knows what you like to hear." Cheng Gui coldly snorted.
"Oh, she told me to be careful. This elevator hasn't been maintained in ages, let's take the stairs~" Lou said, then skipped towards the stairs. Cheng Gui glanced at her, then at the elevator stuck on the first floor, and shook her head helplessly, following Lou.
"Oh, right, since you're the Law, I have a question for you." As soon as she left Lin Sandie, Lou reverted to her usual talkative self. "If there's someone, she… well, she's like your adoptive mother, but not really, more like a teacher, a guide. If she falls in love with me, uh… would that be a crime?"
Cheng Gui still didn't bother to correct the facts revealed in Lou's words. Instead, she asked, "Did this guide, when you were little, ever guide you in sexual matters? With actions that would now be considered overstepping?"
Lou carefully thought about Lin Sandie's teachings when she was young. It seemed Lin Sandie had only told her about men and women forming families and raising offspring. When she was older, Lin Sandie simply bought her several books on sex education and warned her not to let others see her naked. Other guidance was mostly about how to survive.
"No, she was very indifferent about that, and didn't teach me much."
"Then how do you know she fell in love with you?"
"She fell in love with me after I grew up." Lou's smiling voice almost filled the entire narrow stairwell.
"From a legal standpoint, it doesn't constitute a violation. But from a moral standpoint, such a relationship might be criticized."
"No, no, when she fell in love with me, she didn't know I was the child she adopted when I was little. It was purely because of my charm!"
"Now that she knows, can she accept it morally?"
"Probably, she can…" Lou's smile faded a little. She suddenly couldn't tell if Lin Sandie's warning to be careful just now was as an elder or as a lover.
"What about you? Is your feeling for her love, simply a chick-like attachment, or true love?"
"It's destiny. For her, it's kinship, it's love, it's friendship, it's mentorship, it's the combination of all desires, all expectations." Lou blurted out without thinking.
Cheng Gui looked at Lou's serious expression, and the latter continued, "That's how the feelings between Sentinels and Guides are. Desire is the starting point, though, of course, most also begin with love."
"Ah, I started having desires for her even before I knew she was Little Rabbit. From the first moment I saw her at her company, my instincts kept guiding me to approach her, but I'm someone who doesn't trust my instincts that much. I'm so stupid."
"No wonder Little Crow always said I needed to review the basic precautions for Sentinels."
"No matter what, no matter in which timeline, as soon as I see Lin Sandie, I will definitely fall in love with her at first sight."
Lou chattered on, reflecting on her slowness, despising her oversight. She had truly missed too much with Lin Sandie.
"...You sound like you're lovesick. Do you know we're going to kill people now?"
"This is destiny, it's love at first sight, you know?"
"I know," Cheng Gui picked at her ear. "Let's go judge Lin Sandie's blood relatives first."
"And I am her emotional family!" Lou clenched her fists firmly.
As her emotional family left, Lin Sandie immediately rushed to the bathroom. Everything she had just eaten came back up, until she was retching bile, then streaks of blood, before finally stopping. She collapsed weakly to the floor, convulsing. The Red Scorpion on her back seemed to suddenly activate, devouring Lin Sandie's flesh and spirit. She let out a twisted wail, drops of fresh blood oozing from her nostrils, then curled tightly on the floor. After a long while, a thin layer of black fog covered her.
Curled on the floor, Lin Sandie looked at the spotless bathroom tiles Lou had cleaned. Her gaze shifted from pain to firm indifference. She knew the battle between her and Tree had already begun. From now on, Tree would constantly torment her with the Red Scorpion, and of course, she could also affect Tree in return.
She lay quietly curled on the ground for a while before trembling as she stood up, leaning against the wall and slowly walking back to the bedroom. After struggling to change her clothes, Lin Sandie lay flat on the bed and closed her eyes.
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