The Monsters Were Even More Afraid of Humans

"Sure."

While the buyer was growing increasingly uneasy, Luo Qiu gently nodded. "We can sell you one night's worth of safety. However, I have one more thing..."

Before Luo Qiu could finish, the new customer immediately said agitatedly, "No, you, raise, price, after, sitting, on, the, ground!"

Luo Qiu smiled. "Don't misunderstand. It's only a personal curiosity of mine. If possible, I just want you to let me see what you look like... Of course, if you don't want to, I won't force you. I didn't make myself clear. Whether you let me see you or not won't affect the terms of our deal."

"Really?"

Luo Qiu nodded.

The new customer seemed to ponder for a long time. Only after a while did he nod, his hoarse voice ringing out. "Fine, but, only, you, one, look, not, tell, others."

The club owner's handbook had clearly stated that Luo Qiu was absolutely safe within the club.

After all, this was the first time in his life he had seen what a legendary monster looked like. His intense curiosity made Luo Qiu agree readily. He sent You Ye back to the inner hall to wait, then eagerly waited for the new customer to begin removing the clothes concealing his body.

The new customer still seemed hesitant. "I afraid, scare, you."

Luo Qiu shook his head and said to ease the atmosphere, "I may not look like it, but I actually enjoy watching horror movies and zombie movies. Those should be the limits of the terror and ugliness that humans can imagine... However, if you really don't want to, I truly won't force you. Perhaps we could discuss where exactly the so-called wilderness is, where you'll be staying tomorrow night... Well, where you'll have to stay."

"I, understand, now."

The new customer slowly stood up. First, he began unwrapping the scarf around his neck, one loop at a time. When the scarf was completely removed, Luo Qiu saw a dark green layer of something covered in wrinkles, with sparse, dry hair scattered across it... Even just this neck gave off a nauseating feeling.

But it was still within what he could endure. Luo Qiu took a deep breath and focused even more intently on the other's face.

The hat came off, the sunglasses were removed, and the mask was pulled away. Finally, even the black overcoat wrapped around the body was taken off.

Each time another item was removed, Luo Qiu's eyes flickered, and his breathing became slightly more rapid.

He finally understood what it meant to pay the price for his curiosity—but since this had been his own choice, he forced himself not to dwell on it too much.

Even though the visual impact of the new customer before him was nothing like anything in film or television.

Its body resembled that of an alien, but its skin was the same dark green as the neck and was equally covered in wrinkles. Yet that wasn't all. The other's skin was split open in many places, seemingly forming wounds. Patches of green skin had not completely peeled away, and green liquid occasionally seeped from the wounds.

Claw-like limbs resembling an insect's supported the sleeves of the white shirt. As for the head above the neck, it was even more thoroughly insect-like.

It was simply the head of a gigantic insect. Its round mouthparts were lined with syringe-like teeth. It seemed not to have an organ like a nose. Above the mouthparts hung two enormous black eyeballs without eyelids, one on each side.

Luo Qiu saw nothing resembling ears, and there was certainly no hair.

Of course, even the head was covered in patches where the skin had split open as if it were rotting.

When Luo Qiu came back to himself, the new customer had already put his clothes back on and was saying, "I, didn't, scare, you, did I?"

Luo Qiu took a deep breath and steadied himself. "It feels all right."

"No need, lie, I know, very ugly."

Luo Qiu shook his head. "But it's still a form of life. I imagine there must be some reason for you to have grown this way. Human aesthetics are different from yours. Perhaps among your kind, you might actually be considered beautiful."

The new customer said in a quiet voice, "Originally, not, like this, at least not, this, ugly. Humans, polluted, food, unpalatable, grew, like this."

Had eating polluted food caused the decay covering his body? Luo Qiu calmed himself. Judging by its appearance, this monster had cultivated intelligence from being some kind of insect—there was no rule saying that animals couldn't cultivate into spirits after the founding of the country, because a living Insect Yokai was standing right before him.

What did insects usually eat? The first thing Luo Qiu thought of was probably the roots, stems, and leaves of plants.

He had indeed heard that industrial pollution over the past few years had caused acid rain to fall in many places, damaging much of the vegetation. Some factories had even discharged wastewater containing chemicals or metal waste at will, contaminating water sources, causing mutations, and triggering disease.

He simply hadn't expected humanity's pollution of nature to have grown so severe that even monsters couldn't escape being affected.

Luo Qiu placed the jade token back inside the crumpled newspaper and pushed it toward the new customer. "Keep this jade token for now. Our rule is that payment is collected only after the goods arrive. Also, you can stay here until tomorrow night. Of course, if you don't like that, coming back tomorrow night is fine too."

The new customer was stunned. "I, can, stay?"

"Of course. There are actually quite a lot of empty rooms here." Luo Qiu smiled. "Besides, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a monster to chat with... Well, to talk about monsters with."

The new customer was silent for a moment before asking, "You, don't, dislike... me?"

Luo Qiu shook his head. "I told you, visual impact doesn't represent anything. To humans, you might have the ugliest appearance imaginable, but to your kind, you might look perfectly normal, or even beautiful. I just want to learn more about the conditions of different forms of life."

At this point, Luo Qiu smacked his lips. "Of course I don't dislike you. In fact, I'm even more interested."

The Insect Yokai seemed to be hesitating or considering something, but in the end, Luo Qiu never got the answer he wanted. The Insect Yokai declined his offer and hurriedly left the club, leaving behind only the specific time and place for their meeting tomorrow night.

After the Insect Yokai left, You Ye emerged from the inner hall.

At the same time, You Ye appeared carrying a black pistol on a tray. If Luo Qiu hadn't seen wrong, this should have been the one taken from Jin Zifu.

Somewhat astonished by the Maid's action, Luo Qiu reached out and took the pistol.

"If I need to protect the customer tomorrow night, You Ye may not be able to properly ensure the owner's safety. However, it is impossible for anyone else to harm the owner." You Ye said softly, "What I mean is, if the owner feels bored, he can play with this pistol."

Luo Qiu froze, then laughed. "A monster? Would it be afraid of bullets?"

You Ye said calmly, "The weapons created by humans are, in fact, feared by many monsters. Monsters are also a form of life. Although they possess many more abilities than humans and are much stronger, they are still made of flesh and blood. Most of them have no way to withstand the highly lethal weapons created by humans. Otherwise, if so many different kinds of monsters were lurking in the world, why would so few people in human society know about them? And why wouldn't monsters use their true forms to move about in society?"

Luo Qiu weighed the UPS in his hand and suddenly said, "It's because, compared to humans fearing monsters, monsters are actually even more afraid of humans."

"Does the owner know how to use a gun?" You Ye asked with a light laugh, smoothly changing the subject. "You Ye can teach you some simple techniques."

Luo Qiu shook his head.

But then his body suddenly turned to face the wall on one side of the club. At the same time, he spread his feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, bent his knees slightly, and angled his toes slightly inward. His arms extended naturally as well, his right hand gripping the gun while the web of his left hand rose beneath the grip, palm facing inward, wrapping around the trigger guard.

Finally, he aimed at a vase on the wall with an empty sight picture.

"My father was still around back then, and he did teach me how to shoot a pistol."

Luo Qiu said this with a wistful expression.

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PS1: Does getting shot scare you? Are you scared? Raise your hands and vote quickly, or I'll have a Nutritional Express in my left hand and another Nutritional Express in my right hand. Unlimited bullets—are you scared or not...

PS2: Unless something unexpected happens, I'll be entering a schedule of two chapters a day, generally around nine in the morning and five in the afternoon...