As the neighbor finished speaking, the light at the top of the stairs that was emitting a warm orange-yellow light made a crunching sound as if it could not bear a heavy load, and suddenly went out.
The two of them were suddenly covered in darkness. The neighbor was completely assimilated in it and his expression could no longer be seen clearly.
In the face of such a sudden change, Jian Xie did not react at all.
He was exceptionally unfeeling and unmoved.
Although the last sentence may not sound like much at first, if one thought about it carefully, they would find that it revealed a lot of information.
It was as if Jian Xie’s daily routine had been completely figured out by this not-so-close neighbor in front of him.
A time would come where he would be like a puppy waiting for its owner to come home, guarding the door and calculating how long he was late.
The neighbor seemed stunned by his reaction, with obvious panic showing in his eyes.
“Are you… angry?” He said in a low voice, looking at Jian Xie uneasily. As if remembering something, he quickly stepped back and pressed his body against the wall. “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to.”
The stairs were sticky and silky. One could clearly feel the slipperiness when walking on them.
Truthfully speaking, it was a bit disgusting.
It was unknown who would be so lacking in public morality that they would dump garbage on the ground at will, making these steps emit a disgusting odor.
Jian Xie had already walked to the corner, meanwhile, his neighbor pressed himself closer to the wall. However, it could be observed that he was unable to completely stick to the wall, as if a group of small black hands and eye bubbles were pushing his back, encouraging him to go forward and talk to Jian Xie.
“Jian-Jianxie, that——”
The neighbor suddenly became a little anxious when the other party just passed him by, but when Jian Xie really turned around to look at him, he didn’t know what to say.
Jian Xie held the railing, looked at him expressionlessly, and waited for him to speak.
However, the other stopped where he was, lowered his head, blushed, and stammered for a long time before he managed to utter a stumbling sentence while looking up at him cautiously, “I just… I can’t sleep. Please don’t treat me like a weirdo.”
He explained with difficulty.
Actually, the other don’t need to say so much to him.
Jian Xie had used his wifi so many times and was familiar with his weird habits, so in his opinion, there was nothing wrong if he really had such a strange habit.
Essentially, as a neighbor he met by chance, he had no right to point fingers.
What was more, if one were to explore his eccentricities, there would be too much to uncover.
For example, the neighbor didn’t look very old and was supposedly going to school. He often wore a school uniform, but Jian Xie had never seen him go out during school hours.
Under his gaze, the neighbor showed an embarrassed expression as if he had been caught doing something bad.
So, he nodded and said politely, “Then I’ll be going.”
Jian Xie took a few steps, and suddenly, a weak voice floated behind him, “Did you… take the elevator?”
“No.” He didn’t look back, but just said, “It’s still under maintenance.”
Jian Xie didn’t look behind him and didn’t know that the other party was relieved by his words and relaxed completely.
Afterwards, he stood there, watching Jian Xie’s figure disappear into the darkness. When he was sure that the other would never come back, the original anxiety in his eyes disappeared, leaving only a dark and heavy gloom.
Because of indifference and ego, even if the other party found something unusual, he would not deliberately explore it.
This was a good character.
The reason why he was willing to be neighbors with Jian Xie and share his territory was because he liked this person very much.
But Jian Xie’s performance tonight made him feel a little unhappy, as the other party still seemed completely indifferent towards him.
He had clearly initiated a conversation with him before, but not only did he not continue to be friends with him, he also made him worry so much about him coming home late and fear for him being eaten by the blind monsters outside.
It was dangerous outside.
He could only muster up the courage to leave his room.
After expectantly waiting for a long time, Jian Xie finally returned in the middle of the night, but he had the scent of another monster.
What did Jian Xie encounter outside? Why was he back so late?
He had so many questions that kept circling in his mind, and he couldn’t suppress the jealousy in his heart.
But Jian Xie would not answer him, because they were not even friends…
The place where the neighbor’s cuffs used to be was now empty, and slime kept falling to the ground with a trickling sound, pulled by gravity ‘till it slid down the steps.
Good friend… I really want a good friend…
He felt very pained.
The lights in the corridor came on at the right moment, illuminating a shocking and horrifying scene that was deliberately hidden in the darkness.
The neighbor’s thin body was like a wax figure that was melting due to rising temperature. His human figure gradually distorted and deformed. His weak and handsome face was gradually stained with maliciousness because of the thoughts in his mind. The black slime pulled out the flesh and blood within. This was obviously no longer a form that a human being could have.
He was definitely no longer ‘him’, rather ‘it’ was the more appropriate term.
I really want him to stay in his room forever so I don’t have to worry.
This way he won’t go to dangerous places.
Especially schools and classmates at school… they are very unsafe.
Thinking of this, a layer of resentment emerged in the neighbor’s eyes, and it completely turned into a pool of black slime, rolling down the stairs to the corridor, and slowly flowing towards the elevator.
……
After breathlessly climbing up to the 17th floor, Jian Xie was so tired that he felt like he had lost all desire to live.
He simply took out the key and inserted it into the keyhole.
However, just after making this move, he paused and looked down at the rug.
It was indeed a very familiar scene.
Jian Xie’s expression became a bit subtle. The carpet became crooked again without his knowledge. His intuition told him that someone had broken into his house without permission.
“Is that you?” He asked the most likely culprit who did this.
[……]
As soon as he finished speaking and before he could get a reply from It, the door in front of him was pulled open, revealing the face of an unfamiliar young man.
Jian Xie took a quick glance and quickly discovered that his hands were empty, was well-dressed, and did not look like a thief at all. Instead, he looked more like someone who would be on the news headlines in the next second… not in the financial or entertainment section, but in social news.
In other words, the weary aura around him was almost taking shape.
Compared to his, Jian Xie’s dark circles were nothing.
Anyone who saw him on the street would judge in a second that this person may faint any minute, or might choose to commit suicide to relieve stress.
For some reason, Jian Xie felt that his face looked familiar.
The other party didn’t seem to expect Jian Xie to come back. He was stunned for a moment and didn’t say anything for a long time. It seemed that his reaction speed was half a beat slower than a normal person, and his brain worked a little slower as well.
However, almost immediately after he came to his senses, he knelt down in front of Jian Xie with a quick “thump” without any hesitation.
Jian Xie: “…………”
How should he put it; the posture was very standard and the movements were very skillful.
After waiting for a while, the other party looked up at Jian Xie in confusion because he didn’t hear any sound. After carefully observing his eyes, the other breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he stood up as if nothing had happened, brushed off the dust on his clothes, and walked away from Jian Xie.
It was as if Jian Xie had hallucinations due to staying up too late and the shocking kneeling just now was also a part of it. This made the corners of his mouth twitch and he almost couldn’t react.
Just as he saw the other party was about to pretend nothing had happened and disappear at the stairs when a voice suddenly stopped him in his tracks, causing him to freeze in place.
“Come back here.”
“……”
His stiff body had to go in reverse to come back to Jian Xie’s side. He didn’t look at him directly, which made it seem like he was trying to hide something, but this in return only made it more obvious.
“Sorry.” The young stranger spoke slowly, as if he had to think hard about each word before he could utter a complete sentence, “I left too late.”
Jian Xie: “…”
Why did he make it sound as if he was invited as a guest, when in fact they didn’t even know each other.
Is that the point? Shouldn’t the point be why you’re in my house?
“I’m not very good at installing air conditioning.” He tried to defend himself, covering the right side of his face with his hand. He looked like a suspect who had to avoid the flash of a camera. He seemed reluctant to let Jian Xie see his appearance. “It’s the first time I installed wifi, too.”
Jian Xie: “….”
He didn’t know what to start to complain about. Judging from their first meeting, this guy was a natural.
[I didn’t ask it to do this.]
It, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, with undisguised disgust, as if It felt the same as Jian Xie.
It would not bother to lie about such a small matter, which meant that this man seemed to have been observing him for a while. At the same time, he must have known that there was an evil god living in his body, otherwise, he would not have looked into his eyes right away.
Moreover, it was obvious that he was trying to please them.
“How did you two meet?”
It clicked It’s tongue. [When I fed you food. ]
Oh.
It said before that It used Jian Xie’s body to hunt, so this person was most likely the food that had luckily escaped from It’s hands.
In short, this guy who looked like a human was actually a monster.
Thinking of this, Jian Xie couldn’t help but frown, and the information he had seen flashed through his mind.
Known intelligent monsters have undoubtedly reached Special A-level, and only Special A-level investigators are qualified to kill them.
So far, Jian Xie has encountered several special monsters but there were only three Special A-level investigators at most.
Tsk, it looks like the human side is at a complete disadvantage.
It seemed to know that Jian Xie was communicating with It, so even though it looked like Jian Xie was talking to the air, it still stood there without saying a word, being very tactful.
[I let it come for only one reason.]
As It’s voice fell, a huge black fog instantly occupied the entire corridor. It descended into the small space in a mimicry and said bluntly, “Bring it here.”
Other party: “……”
It looked into Jian Xie’s house and said, “I left my account and password on the table.”
Hearing this, Jian Xie walked directly into the room without changing his shoes. As expected, he saw the note on the table and a turned-off mobile phone.
He picked it up and found two lines of words written on it in graceful handwriting.
ID: Wu Qinghe (investigator)
Password: 07112839
“This is my account password. The home page of my phone has the internal website of the Bureau.”
It stood at the door and did not come in again. It just spoke slowly, “You can… log in. The missions posted on the forum will be marked with the time and location, you can use them to choose appropriate monsters.”
As for why it was chosen, everyone present knew it very well.
For other investigators, this was the intranet for the distribution of missions, but for Jian Xie, it was no different from a menu.
It seems that It really cared about Jian Xie becoming stronger, otherwise It would not have arranged for it to appear.
Jian Xie raised his head and looked at it, saying calmly, “You got into the Investigation Department? But now you’re handing the monsters over to me?”
It seems that its position was very vague.
“I’m not alone.”
One has to know that the employees in each department of the Bureau were a mixed bag, and it was definitely not as simple as it seemed.
Semi-alienated humans, lurking special monsters, non-humans, investigators with extraordinary insight… This world was far more terrifying than most people imagine.
Thinking of the last point, it looked at Jian Xie carefully, and after a while, uttered a few words very cautiously.
“If you don’t like it, you can call me Qiang Toucao from now on.” It said in a tactful tone, “I don’t want to sleep for 23 hours a day. I love this beautiful world and I’m not tired of living yet. Don’t force me to kneel down and beg you.”
