Chapter 155: Monster and the True Monster
Chapter 155: Monster and the True Monster
At intervals, a heavy thud resounded from one corner of the small town, as if the entire Happy Town was shuddering with it.
Around this quiet, peaceful Happy Town, many people toiled diligently beneath the Crimson Moon. They seemed affected by something, forgetting their tasks. In a stiff yet aberrant posture, they slowly turned their heads toward the same corner of the town. Under the crimson moonlight, they could see a patch of shadow expanding incessantly over Happy Town.
It was like a substantive Fear spreading.
……
“Monster!”
Not far away, Mother watched Lu Xin frantically smash every Human-Fruit Tree. There was no smile on her face.
Under the moonlight, her features looked delicate, yet unnervingly cold.
The shadow behind Lu Xin seemed to be growing larger and larger.
When it first appeared, the shadow was just bulkier than Lu Xin’s own body. But as more and more of the smaller Human-Fruit Trees were killed by him, or twisted and destroyed by his power, the shadow behind him grew increasingly vast. Now, it was almost twice the size of Lu Xin himself. Beyond the red eyes, even faint outlines of facial features began to manifest.
Lu Xin was diligently hunting down those Human-Fruit Trees — uprooting them, tearing them apart, ensuring their complete destruction, and…
…ensuring their screams were sufficiently delightful!
Mother watched Lu Xin annihilate the Human-Fruit Trees quietly, then murmured softly:
“The true Monster!”
“…”
As she spoke, she slowly turned and walked, her steps slightly hurried, towards the corner of a row of Happy Town houses. There, Little Sister was hiding against the wall, clutching something round and pieced-together tightly in her arms. She lifted her tense little face to look at Mother.
“What is that thing you’re holding?”
Mother looked at the object in Little Sister’s arms, her brow lightly furrowed.
Little Sister looked up earnestly and replied, “I like him. I don’t want Father to hurt him.”
“My dear, you can’t be falling in love so early. That’s what bad children do…”
Mother smiled faintly, covering her mouth with a light laugh. Then she took out her Scissors and made a snipping motion in the air above Little Sister.
Little Sister dropped the object and looked up at Mother: “Will Big Brother change?”
“Big Brother will always be Big Brother.”
Mother looked down at her, took her small hand, and whispered gently, “But now, we need to stay away from him…”
“…”
Saying this, she led Little Sister by the hand and slowly walked deeper into Happy Town.
……
“What kind of power is this?”
At this exact moment, Qin Ran — or rather, the Qin Rans — looked on in terror as Lu Xin smashed those thirty-odd Human-Fruit Trees as if they were fragile Toys. Their expressions united into one.
Pure terror.
Then they clamored in unison:
“We should unite, kill him first…”
“Is it to Annihilate that group?”
“No, we should escape…”
“Hahaha, I hate you all, I want to see you die…”
“I… I’m just a laborer hauling cargo in the Wilderness…”
“…”
Amidst the cacophony of cries, their opinions eventually unified. One Qin Ran, slightly stronger than the others, suppressed the differing views. The massive, ten-plus-meter tall Human-Fruit Tree then began to tremble violently. Its Tentacles, each appearing seven to eight meters long, swayed simultaneously in the air, along with the catching apparatus at their apex…
This swaying started to synchronize, and all Qin Rans turned their gaze towards Lu Xin.
They began to curse.
Indescribable, unspeakable words poured from their mouths, a chaotic murmur impossible to decipher clearly.
One could perceive these utterances, blending together into one malefic stream, affecting the very air. The air seemed distorted, fractured like countless shards of glass refracting light, creating a thousand minute, warped distortions.
It was as if immense power was converging, surging towards Lu Xin.
“Whoosh…”
Lu Xin, who was meticulously finishing off the last small Human-Fruit Tree, was struck head-on by this wave of cursed power.
His foot slid back a fraction, scraping a jagged mark on Happy Town’s rigid concrete road.
Then he lifted his head to look at the main body of the Human-Fruit Tree, revealing a terrifyingly grim smile.
He began to walk forward, step by step.
He walked directly into the force of the curses, advancing as if pushing back a tide. His footsteps were heavy, hesitant, yet utterly unstoppable. The shadow behind him, under this assault, didn’t weaken in the slightest. Instead, it seethed even more violently, growing more potent with each step, compressing the power of the curses relentlessly until he stood within three meters of the towering Human-Fruit Tree.
He looked up at this Human-Fruit Tree, a thrilled smile spreading across his face: “Is your ability immortality?”
“I like things that are immortal…”
“Because that way you can be in Fear forever…”
“…”
“Ah…”
Upon seeing that Lu Xin had approached so closely, one of the Qin Ran on the Human-Fruit Tree finally couldn’t hold back. His face showed a mix of fear and anger. He suddenly stopped cursing and pulled at the long tentacles, lunging down from the air.
He took on a ferocious look, as if he were determined to fight Lu Xin to the death.
“Crack…”
Lu Xin raised his hand and grabbed this Qin Ran.
Compared to those on the smaller Human-Fruit Trees, this Qin Ran on the main body appeared much more real. He also didn’t immediately become completely twisted by the influence of the black shadow behind Lu Xin when grabbed. Yet he still screamed out in pain, and his screams were even more miserable than those from the smaller Human-Fruit Trees. At the same time, they were somewhat more pleasant to the ear.
This cursing caused all the other Qin Ran to simultaneously stop cursing in shock. Terrified, they flew off the tree and lashed downward.
“Whack!”
“Whack!”
“Whack!”
One vine after another whipped down, fiercely striking at Lu Xin or, more accurately, at the black shadow behind him.
After all, the black shadow behind Lu Xin was becoming clearer and clearer now, seeming to come to life.
“Hahaha…”
As he was constantly assaulted by such powerful force, Lu Xin grinned and emitted strange laughter.
He had that Qin Ran in his grasp, along with the vines attached. They were yanked down forcefully together and then held in Lu Xin’s hand. The black shadow behind him spread along his arm, extending onto the vine. It then engulfed both the vine and the screaming Qin Ran, causing the vine to transform into what resembled a long black whip in his hand.
Lu Xin then swung his arms with force and whipped forward.
“Whack!”
That long whip struck the Human-Fruit Tree. All the Qin Ran shrieked in agony. A distinct scar appeared on the tree’s body. An unknown amount of flesh and blood was torn off by that lash, oozing fresh, bright blood…
“Hiss!”
“Hiss!”
“Hiss!”
“Hiss!”
“Hiss!”
“…”
The Human-Fruit Tree waved its dozens of tentacles, wildly whipping at Lu Xin.
And Lu Xin also wielded the long whip in his hand, his face bearing a furious, crazed grin, and lashed the Human-Fruit Tree.
Every time he got hit, the black shadow behind him trembled slightly. Then the expression on his face became even more excited. Every time he struck the Human-Fruit Tree, a large chunk of skin and flesh was scraped away. All the Qin Ran screamed desperately…
Lu Xin had chosen this method to destroy this Human-Fruit Tree. It wasn’t very efficient.
He seemed to have chosen this approach because he liked the feeling.
…
…
“I’m done with you all. I’m heading out first…”
In this battle that felt shrouded by Fear itself, one Qin Ran had long detached from the fight.
It was after Lu Xin had destroyed the Qin Ran inside the tree trunk. The first “fruit” to awaken seemed smarter than the others for that reason. Even before borrowing his own Will to suppress the other “Qin Ran” cursing at Lu Xin, he had secretly severed the connection between himself and the Human-Fruit Tree. He then escaped into a room.
The Human-Fruit Tree couldn’t move, but mature fruits could.
After a while, a man wearing coveralls—indistinguishable from other Happy Town residents—appeared on the other side of the room. He wore a fake smile, held a silver briefcase, and rushed quickly towards the outskirts of the Small Town.
From behind, incessant screams of countless “himself” made him tremble head to toe.
Damn it, this was the true Monster…
He silently swore to himself that he must never return hereafter…
“Hehe…”
Just as he reached the edge of the Small Town, he abruptly heard laughter ahead.
Lifting his head to look, he saw a dignified woman in a small white suit, with a sun hat on her head. She stood in a field blooming with pink flowers outside the town. She was also holding the hand of a strange-looking little girl whose face was covered by black hair.
They looked at him and smiled happily.