by N. Heller
This time, when he heard her fist whizzing toward his c.h.e.s.t, he vaulted with a single hand. As he flipped mid-air, he caught her fist with the momentum. However, that punch was too strong. Even though he caught it with both hands, the impact threw him several meters backward. Qing Jiuliu coughed and let out a guffaw almost as if he didn't feel any pain. He kept a firm grip on Sunny's right hand.
"A person can die even from a 10% blood loss. That is true even for a posthuman—"
"It's useless," the head's expression froze for a moment before a bright grin lit her face. "After I split my body limbs, my body isn't exactly like a normal person's. Look carefully. Can't you see that the blood in my hand is in a solid state? Otherwise, wouldn't my blood splatter everywhere while my hand flies?"
The smile on Qing Jiuliu's face froze. He cursed softly and threw the right hand aside. The fist circled once in midair before flying back to a spot beneath the human head. Right now, Sunny looked like an invisible person who was only showing her face and a hand.
"I'm quite curious about your past. Why don't you tell me about your time under the spotlight?"
As Sunny spoke with her gentle voice, many strangely-shaped shadows flew toward her under the veil of the night. The various fragments rushed and attached themselves to Sunny's head like iron filings drawn to a magnet. She seemed to be reassembling her body.
Qing Jiuliu took a step back and felt his calf hitting something. He looked down and realized that somehow there was a wooden fence around him.
The wooden fence was like a toy. It was very low and didn't even reach his knees. The diameter of the enclosed area was only around 10 meters. However, Qing Jiuliu was stunned when he tried to step out from the enclosure.
He was sure that the synapses in his brain had fired the command for his legs step over the fence— but his legs did not move. Then, that "command" disappeared into an abyss without reaching his legs. He tried again but the outcome was the same.
"You can't go out, you can only move within the enclosure. You have become my little lamb, after all."
While Sunny's voice rang out gleeful, Qing Jiuliu looked up at her, feeling a little confused.
Sunny's raven eyes sparkled under the dim night sky. The unnatural glimmer in her eyes seemed almost drug-fueled. That glimmer didn't belong to a normal person. It bordered on the edge of insanity. Yet, it was that same unbridled insanity which inexplicably gave her an intoxicating aura—
Qing Jiuliu shut his eyes immediately and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes once again, his expression turned serious. He observed the girl in front of him and realized that she wasn't complete.
She was like an incomplete puzzle. Generally, she still had a human form but she was missing various bits and parts. Sunny's left arm was missing. Half her c.h.e.s.t and pelvis was also missing. One of her legs was made of sporadic bits. Despite that, she seemed to be standing perfectly fine.
Qing Jiuliu looked around but realized that his stick of cigarette was missing. "Ha—" he let out an irritated sneer. "I'm a little lamb, huh? What shall I call you? Shepherdess? Or should I call you physically deficient sheep-tard?"
He knew that his opponent would punish him swiftly with an attack after he said that but he didn't expect it to be so bad. Due to the enclosure, Qing Jiuliu didn't even have the space to dodge. When her fist hit his stomach, he instantly coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"Queenie!" Sunny shrilled. He could hear the anger in her voice even though he couldn't see her expression. "Shrink the enclosure! Shrink it!"
"Sunny," the other girl's voice came from the darkness behind Sunny. As her voice grew closer, the moonlight slowly revealed the girl's body. She looked at Sunny and answered her with a docile but slightly nervous smile, "Ten meters is the shortest diameter. I still can't—"
"You're useless," Sunny turned around and narrowed her eyes at Qing Jiuliu.
"Hehe!" She snickered again. "Forget it. I'll let you be for now, since you're so good-looking."
"Oh my! So, the ability isn't even yours?" Qing Jiuliu somehow found another crumpled cigarette stick and held it in his mouth.
Sunny wasn't pissed off this time. She shrugged her remaining shoulder, "We came out from the same pocket dimension. She leveled up. I have to say, this ability suits her a lot."
[We are all sheep]
The term "free-will" is just a lie from the devil. We are all lost lambs. Living the illusion that we can make choices freely, we have to suffer the terrible consequences of our choices. The only way to escape from this predicament is to hand one's entire fate to a leader. She will decide everything. Living obediently is the greatest happiness and blessing a person can get.
Instructions: The user must first set up a sheep pen beforehand. When the user's leader throws a person into that sheep pen, the person would become like a herded sheep. As time passes, the target would gradually become gentle and obedient. The sheep pen is not portable right now so the user will have to keep the target in the sheep pen for a certain amount of time. The length of time that the target should be kept in the pen would depend on the strength of his/her will.
"Oh no," Qing Jiuliu uttered suddenly but he didn't appear too worried. "I have very little willpower..."
His words were followed by a quiet sigh from someone hiding in the darkness. Sunny's and Queenie's faces stiffened immediately. Before they could figure out where the sighing came from, a large tornado ripped across the flat ground. It pulled out a few trees, the tiles on the pavement and even a rooftop. The tornado rammed violently into the wooden fence.
"You've got to persevere!" Sunny turned around, "I know you can!"
As Queenie's face turn pale, the wooden fence shook. The fence vibrated violently as the tornado continued buffeting it. Even though it seemed like it would break into a million pieces the next second, it withstood the tornado nonetheless. When the tornado slowly died down, Queenie's face was already pallid. Thud. She sat heavily on the ground.
"I can escape with just a bit more. Why did you stop?" Qing Jiuliu was also sitting in the enclosure when he turned to the person behind him and questioned lazily."
A person covered from head to toe in a black cloth crouched down slowly beside the wooden fence.
"You already knew that I didn't leave," Lin Sanjiu asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"You even kept the bed I wanted, so why would you leave me behind."
"Drink your beer," Lin Sanjiu threw him a bottle of beer, "I'll settle the both of them."
"It's you?" Sunny narrowed her eyes the moment she heard Lin Sanjiu's voice. "I knew you'd survive but I didn't expect you to dress up this way. Did you pretend to leave so Queenie would come out too?"
"Yeah, I want to settle this in one session. I didn't want to waste time searching for her," Lin Sanjiu continued with her makeshift cloak over her head. "How did you know I survived?" she asked icily.
"That's because I understand Harry's sick logic," Sunny flashed a mellow smile. "He probably expected this confrontation when he placed the few of us into the 'weed' exit."
"What about Baldhead?"
"He's dead. He wasn't any fun alive anyway."
Lin Sanjiu was startled for a moment. While she sighed inwardly, she suddenly remembered that Number 45, whose true identity was already exposed, died, whereas Number 47, who managed to keep his identity a secret, lived. Harry certainly had a sick logic.
"You…" Lin Sanjiu lowered the pitch of her voice as she gradually understood the situation. "I know. You split your body when you were trying to escape from me. She jumped from the leaf after you split into countless bits. Some parts of your body must have fallen through some other doors, right? Well, at least you still have a human-like form. It's must be hard on you."
A twisted expression appeared on Sunny's convoluted face as her emotions ran high. She did not say a single word.
Pop. She suddenly split herself into countless small little pieces in an instant, which flew up
toward the night sky. Her head was the only thing which remained in midair.
"I can't use the full extent of my ability in the greenhouse," her voice rang out from her numerous body fragments. "I know you can convert things into cards. Try me. How are you going to change me into your cards? After some consideration, I think I don't mind getting another lamb… to cook mutton soup."
As her voice echoed, the countless tiny bits of her body seemed almost to have their own independent lifeforce. They came down upon Lin Sanjiu like torrential rain. Even though Lin Sanjiu whipped a tornado out from her [Tornado whip], the strong wind did nothing to impede the nearly hundred piece of falling flesh. Apparently, Sunny's intention was to let those bits of flesh come in contact with her skin. Even though Lin Sanjiu didn't know what would happen if they touched her, she didn't want to find out.
Lin Sanjiu wanted to deal with Sunny the same way she dealt with Sandwhale. She wanted to wrap all her opponent's body bits in her black cloth and change them into a single card. However, unlike Sandwhale's ability, Sunny's body fragments were too nimble and had an advantage as they could float. Lin Sanjiu tried to wrap her cloth around them but she failed every single time.
Watching as the countless body bits surrounded her, she noticed that her only escape route was into the enclosure whose door was now open. She clenched her teeth and finally resisted to urge to take out her [Empty-handed Kleptomaniac]. Instead, she ran toward the dense cloud of body fragments.
"You're courting death—"
Amidst Sunny's high-pitched laughter, a figure flew into the dense cloud of body fragments. The body fragments swarmed it immediately like a bee colony. Once it was caught within the swarm, the figure fell straight to the ground, as if it suddenly lost its lifeforce. Her expression changed before she could finish her sentence.
While the colony of body fragments swarmed and "consumed" the figure which was missing a left arm, Lin Sanjiu, freed from her black cloak, had already appeared above Sunny's head.
"Stop her!" she screamed. Unfortunately, before Queenie could stand up, Sunny's head which was flying rapidly backward hit Lin Sanjiu's palms.
Lin Sanjiu held Sunny's chin tightly as she landed on the ground. Lin Sanjiu grinned slowly at her.
"You can't even fight half as well as you think. I can't convert your head into a card," she said quietly. Lin Saniu seemed almost unaware of the countless body fragments flying toward her back and even Queenie. "This means that your lifeforce is in this head."
Lin Sanjiu laughed after she said that. "Make a guess. Would your body fragments reach me first or would I crush your head first?"
Sunny's expression turned so cold it could freeze a person to death. After a moment of silence, she raised one corner of her lip reluctantly, "Queenie, let him go. Since she wants that man so badly, let's return him to her."
The body fragments stopped and the door of the enclosure swung open soundlessly. Qing Jiuliu walked out slowly.
"I'll give him back to you. We'll—
Before Sunny could finish what she wanted to say, she heard a thump. Queenie was kneeling beside Lin Sanjiu''
"What are you doing?" Sunny asked sternly, raising her brow.
For the first time since they had known each other, Queenie did not reply. Queenie crawled toward Lin Sanjiu on her knees. With tears pouring from her eyes, she sobbed spasmodically as she begged Lin Sanjiu, "Please…"
Lin Sanjiu did not know which of her subconscious micro-expression on her face revealed her intention.
"If-if you don't kill Sunny," Queenie sobbed so hard that it was hard to hear what she was saying. Her face contorted from her fear and pain. "I-I'll do anything…"
Lin Sanjiu froze for a second. She felt no sympathy for Queenie but she found it a little hard to kill Sunny right in front of a person crying and begging at her feet. Lin Sanjiu heard footsteps heading toward her. It was Qing Jiuliu.
The latter's expression was blurry under the dim moonlight. The light from his cigarette glowed softly.
"Give her to me," he blew out a mouthful of cigarette smoke. He took out his cigarette and pointed at Sunny's head which was still in Lin Sanjiu's hand. After he took the head from her, he grabbed Queenie's arm and pulled her to one side.
"You don't have to deal with this matter anymore," he said as he walked away without turning her head.
Lin Sanjiu stared blankly at his back, feeling a little dumbfounded.
She watched as Qing Jiuliu whispered something into Queenie's ears. At first, the latter seemed confused and didn't seem to understand. After she understood his words, she started wailing loudly. After Qing Jiuliu whispered a few more words to her, Queenie's wailing gradually faded. She blinked and her eyes grew bright.
Sunny's face suddenly twitched. She stared at them vacantly for a few seconds before she finally understood what Qing Jiuliu meant.
"Queenie! You psycho bitch! No! I don't want that! Please, Queenie—" Her shrieks pierced the air.
However, this time, Queenie did not move but only looked back tenderly.
Sunny spat at her. The body which had just been pieced together split into a dozen pieces again. They simultaneously flew toward Qing Jiuliu's back.
Smash.
Without even turning his head, Qing Jiuliu gripped the empty bottle in his hand by its neck and smashed it. Then, he thrust the other end of the bottle with the broken protruding shards deep into Sunny's head.
The dozen pieces of body parts fell to the ground rapidly and lifelessly before Sunny could even whimper. They were now only a haphazard mess of broken body parts.
Queenie reached her hands out, trembling. Her face was covered with tears but she wore a smile. Qing Jiuliu placed Sunny's head into her hands and muttered "thank you" over and over again.
Qing Jiuliu turned around and tossed a glance at Lin Sanjiu. He turned back and placed his hand on Queenie's arm.
"I will absorb ⅓ of your blood right now," his voice was so gentle that it was almost compassionate. Each of his words spurred more tears from Queenie. "You will die quickly. It won't be painful."
Queenie hugged Sunny's pale-colored head. She nodded her head profusely. She gasped for air as she sobbed. However, no matter how afraid she was to die, she did not pull her arm back.
When everything ended, Qing Jiuliu stood up. His cigarette glowed softly in the darkness once more.
"That…" Lin Sanjiu took a few steps forward. "What did you say to them?"
Qing Jiuliu lowered his head and hid his expression.
"I told Queenie that Sunny would definitely die. However, I promised her that I could kill her and merge their bodies together so that they would never be apart from each other."
Lin Sanjiu was shocked, "W-why?"
When Qing Jiuliu looked up again, his eyes seemed to hold a galaxy of diamond starlight.
"On one hand, I wanted to set her mind at ease… On the other hand, you have a 1.8m female corpse which you can hand to Irezumi now."
Chapter 462 - Wasting a Chance Encounter
After Lin Sanjiu cloaked herself in the black cloth once again and secured the cloth to her neck with a belt, she realized that her fingers were trembling. Even though she washed the space under her fingernails and the sides of her fingernails many times with water, she could still see the traces of dark-colored bloodstains.
The sensation she felt as she plunged her fingers into another person's disassembled limbs was one thing she felt she would never forget. She could still remember that sludgy, sticky sensation as though it had been etched in her heart through her fingers.
Meanwhile, Qing Jiuliu emptied the bucket in his hands. The smell of gasoline in the air instantly grew stronger and they could almost taste the acrid stench on the tip of their tongues. Drenched with gasoline, the expression on Sunny's dead face remained unchanged. Her widened eyes filled with incredulity were staring at the night sky. A split second before her death, that was her expression.
In contrast to Sunny's petite size,
Queenie's 1.6m corpse was more suitable as a "skeletal frame". With that, they had an additional head and a few other body parts they didn't need. Qing Jiuliu looked down at his lighter. Using one hand to block the wind, he rolled its spark wheel. He exhaled a cloud of white smoke after the end of the cigarette glowed once more in the darkness.
"Are you ready?"
Lin Sanjiu exhaled sharply before she nodded her head.
A stick of cigarette flew through the air in an arc and landed on the palm of a right hand. Very quickly, a red-orange flame came to life. In the beginning, it flickered gingerly but it soon grew brighter, stronger and fiercer. Soon, the fire cast a red glow on the faces of the two people watching it.
"Let's go."
Lin Sanjiu turned around and her gaze fell on the corpse nearby. It was Queenie's corpse, but the height of the corpse was about the same as Lin Sanjiu's. Her eyes were tightly shut and her tears were already dry, but her tear stains remained on her cheeks. If a person was to lift up that corpse's clothes, he would find the body covered with many large gruesome stitches. Though the stitches were shoddy and unprofessional, they did their job and held the body pieces together.
Sunny and Queenie had different skin tones. The sizes of their limbs were also different due to their different body frames. As a result, throughout this process, it took Lin Sanjiu and Qing Jiuliu a long time to decide which parts to keep. Following Queenie's request, they stitched both hers and Sunny's c.h.e.s.t cavity together, even though they did not fit properly. Surprisingly, the corpse did not look even one bit unusual after they wore a piece of new clothing on it and covered all the stitches.
After wrapping a bandage around the corpse's neck, Lin Sanjiu looked once more at Queenie's face before she converted this melded corpse into a card.
Even though the process was gory, Lin Sanjiu had to admit that this seemed to be their only way out. After all, finding a 1.8m woman was hard enough, let alone get a corpse of a woman of that heigh.