My Girlfriend’s a Monster

Luo Ke went into the room to pick out some DVDs, and Zhong Qingxiao had just finished washing the dishes. He was about to enter the room when he met Luo Meihua’s worried gaze.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Zhong Qingxiao asked.

Luo Meihua hesitated. Luo Ke was her daughter, so it was understandable to ask her about such matters, but how could she discuss this with her son-in-law? She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Luo Meihua said, unable to voice her concerns, offering only a vague hint. “Qingxiao, there are some things… you don’t have to indulge Xiao Ke in everything.”

Zhong Qingxiao was puzzled. Some things? Indulging Xiao Ke? What things?

However, his intuition told him not to press further. He awkwardly agreed and quickly retreated to the bedroom, locking the door behind him.

He looked at Xiao Ke sitting on the bed, and his intuition kicked in. He asked, “Did you ask Mom some strange question?”

Luo Ke nodded nonchalantly. “I asked her how many times a week humans can make love before they die.”

Zhong Qingxiao was utterly shocked. “What!?”

He rushed over, pinching his girlfriend’s cheeks, almost laughing in disbelief.

“How could you ask Mom such a question?”

“Why not?” Luo Ke shrugged, freeing her face from Zhong Qingxiao’s grasp, responding earnestly, “It’s a normal question. Do humans have taboos about this?”

Zhong Qingxiao pursed his lips. It was his mistake; he had forgotten to add “ask me” when he instructed Xiao Ke to ask questions privately, not publicly. He had left out “ask me privately,” and now this had happened again.

Do Monsters have no sense of shame?

Having no choice, Zhong Qingxiao looked at the DVD she had chosen, “Finding Nemo,” an animated film. Well, it was indeed about the underwater world. He remembered watching it long ago when he was still a student.

“Xiao Ke,” Zhong Qingxiao asked, voicing his inner curiosity, “Are you an underwater creature?”

“In my sea, there’s only me,” Luo Ke smiled. Her planet was a vast ocean with only a small piece of land for habitation. Was Zhong Qingxiao asking because he had decided to go back with her?

It was impossible to discern what kind of creature she was.

Zhong Qingxiao gave up, embracing his little girlfriend and focusing on the film. In the past, he never imagined a day would come when the internet would be completely cut off, and humans would return to spending time with DVDs.

As night fell, the movie ended happily. Luo Ke lay on Zhong Qingxiao’s chest, feeling very content.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and sat up slowly.

She remembered something… something she had never cared about, almost forgotten.

Months ago, before the Monsters arrived, when the corpse on the 17th floor had just been discovered, one night, Luo Ke went to the scene to investigate. That night, she saw a man pressing his eye against the door of Room 1801, peeking inside.

He wore old leather shoes, his hair was messy, and he had on a brown, ancient jacket. At the time, Luo Ke didn’t pay him any attention and went straight downstairs.

Now, this image inexplicably resurfaced in her mind, and she suddenly realized-it was Zhao Xucheng.

It was Zhao Xucheng. His shabby appearance back then was completely different from his current glamorous look, which was why Luo Ke hadn’t recognized him or cared.

So he was a pervert… Zhao Xucheng must have set his sights on Zhong Qingxiao from that time. How dare he covet her dear wife?

Unable to wait any longer, Luo Ke felt the urge to pass judgment. Anyone in this world who dared to covet her treasure should be eliminated.

But… as she moved, trying to climb out of Zhong Qingxiao’s embrace, she was drawn by his unconscious mumbling.

He was sleeping soundly, gentle and beautiful, like a mermaid in a crystal ball. Luo Ke couldn’t help but caress him, her palm resting on his chest, feeling the steady, normal heartbeat, just like hers.

But Zhong Qingxiao’s heartbeat changed from time to time, while hers remained constant. Why was that?

“What’s wrong?” Zhong Qingxiao was awakened by her movements. Her fingers were so cold that it was hard not to notice. “Can’t sleep?”

He noticed where she was touching and remembered the previous incident, replying seriously, “I’m fine, Xiao Ke. I won’t die.”

So excited. Luo Ke didn’t know why she felt exhilarated just hearing Zhong Qingxiao’s voice now, unable to control herself.

“I love you so much.” Luo Ke hugged Zhong Qingxiao, nuzzling him, then said regretfully, “If only you were more durable.”

Zhong Qingxiao was momentarily speechless at her choice of words. He thought he was quite durable, unless…

“Did Xiao Ke have a very durable partner before?” He asked calmly, but Luo Ke, holding his heart, clearly felt Zhong Qingxiao’s heart beat twice.

An amazing sensation, surprising her greatly. She listened closely, unconsciously answering, “My neighbor was very durable.”

They often stayed up all night, partying every night, so Luo Ke thought that frequency was normal. Of course, Monsters indeed had insatiable desires.

“…Neighbor?” Zhong Qingxiao’s expression changed slightly. “Also a Monster?”

A Monster like Xiao Ke? Her kind?

“Yes.” Luo Ke sat up, touching his cheek with her fingertips. “But you’re much prettier than him.”

She really couldn’t appreciate the body her neighbor had crafted for himself, with deep and aggressive features, golden hair, skin so pale it was almost ghostly… a foreign human specimen, but he seemed to enjoy it.

Zhong Qingxiao lowered his gaze. He didn’t like his girlfriend’s comparisons, not at all. He disliked her comparing him to other men… or Monsters. Did she only like his looks? Did she prefer mating with that Monster, right?

Zhong Qingxiao was genuinely a bit upset, as if he were merely a good-looking bed companion, used only because of the label “pretty.”

Yet, he couldn’t help but ask, “How long have you been together?”

“I can’t remember, a long time.” Luo Ke shook her head. In the concept of Monsters, there was no time, no day or night, just survival. These concepts only slowly formed after Luo Ke began interacting with humans.

“Then why did you separate?” Zhong Qingxiao’s eyes were filled with sadness. For Monsters, the companionship of another Monster must be different, right?

“He and his human were too noisy, so I drove them away,” Luo Ke said. By Earth’s time, more than a decade had passed. She wondered if he had returned to his original place to live.

If they were also on Earth, would he, like her, deliberately tease his human every day for fun? Haha. Luo Ke thought of the label of being frightened that Zhong Qingxiao had and found it amusing.

Her smile, however, appeared entirely different in Zhong Qingxiao’s eyes.

Was Xiao Ke happy because she remembered that Monster?

“So, because that Monster was with someone else, you came to find me, right?” Zhong Qingxiao quietly looked at her.

Is that so? It seemed like it. Luo Ke nodded. If it weren’t for the neighbor’s inspiration, she might never have wanted to visit Earth in her lifetime.

Even if Earth were devoured by Monsters today, it would just be another planet occupied by Monsters, nothing more.

So that’s how it was. He was merely a substitute, even a replacement for another Monster.

A feeling of discomfort filled Zhong Qingxiao’s heart, making even his breathing feel heavy.

The fluctuation of emotional fields was evident, and it touched Luo Ke. She turned around to see her dear wife’s not-so-good expression, reminding her of Zhong Qingxiao’s expression of remembering his mother on the Ferris wheel at the amusement park.

Was he reminiscing about his mother again? Human emotions were a bit strange; they hadn’t even talked about anything related to mothers.

Just as Luo Ke was about to comfort her dear wife, they heard the sound of an alarm coming from the stairwell, a long siren. It was the pre-arranged signal to alert and gather people upon discovering a Monster, now echoing in the hallway.

Zhong Qingxiao snapped back to reality, quickly dressed, and walked out.

“Qingxiao, what’s going on?” Luo Meihua also heard the sound and came out nervously to check.

Zhong Shuping saw his son grabbing the Flamethrower and knew what was happening. He asked nervously, “Do you need my help?”

“Not for now.” Zhong Qingxiao quickly put on convenient shoes. He glanced back at Luo Ke, who was following him, and said to the two elders, “We will handle it ourselves, don’t worry.”

Then he opened the door and went out.

When they reached the stairwell, the chaotic voices had already begun to calm down. He stepped forward to check the situation, only to find that Ge Hailong had returned.

He hadn’t turned into a Monster and was now sitting in the corner, holding his head and crying.

“Please, please, I really have nowhere to go. I’m about to starve to death… I was too scared these days and ran out. I really didn’t mean to kill anyone, I really didn’t…”

He explained incoherently, tears streaming down his face, with the marks from when Luo Ke had hit him still visible.

Look who it is, isn’t this her tool?

Ge Hailong was surrounded by everyone, with a Flamethrower pointed at his side. People were afraid he might actually be a Monster, but no matter how they looked, Ge Hailong didn’t seem like one.

After a long silence, Yan Cheng spoke, “Where have you been hiding these days?”

“In, in a room on the 13th floor, there was a lot of cat food scattered on the ground. I’ve been surviving on cat food these days, really…” Ge Hailong cried miserably, a pitiful sight.

The crowd fell silent. It turned out he hadn’t turned into a Monster, and the tension of the past few days seemed to finally ease a bit.

“Get out of here,” Yan Cheng said. “After what you did, there’s no place for you here.”

“Why? Why?” Ge Hailong exclaimed, “I told you, I was instructed by someone! It was Chen Ming! Chen Ming wanted to kill!”

As he spoke, he frantically searched the crowd and indeed found Chen Ming, pointing at him and shouting, “Why can he stay here? Why are you driving me out? You’re deliberately bullying me!”

Chen Ming smiled smugly, “Coward, of course, it’s because I have gold bars. How can you compare to a stray dog like you? Three hundred! I paid three hundred gold bars!”

“Gold, gold bars?” Ge Hailong stared at Chen Ming, “Didn’t you say that if I acted as your dog, you’d give me the gold bars? Where are my gold bars?”

“Crazy,” Chen Ming glanced at him dismissively, not bothering to respond. However, just as he turned away, a gasp arose from the crowd.

Ge Hailong, in front of everyone, suddenly underwent a Mutation.

His eyes turned pitch black, with endless black liquid flowing out, corroding the whites of his eyes like acid, making a sizzling sound. The Monster’s transformation took less than a second, with countless arms bursting from his body like an ancient dead tree, spreading towards the crowd in an instant.

“Ah!!!” Someone screamed, and others hurriedly tried to activate the Flamethrower, but human speed could never match that of a Monster.

A hand, resembling a withered branch, pierced through Liang Yao’s body in front of everyone.

The 14-year-old girl’s face still bore a look of shock and delay, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she looked down at the Monster’s black arm protruding from her chest.