My Neighbor is a Monster

Cheap goods are never good, a truth that has held since ancient times.

The pharmaceutical factories recommended by Zhao Dapeng were all newly established ones.

Such factories had primitive equipment, crude processes, and inferior medicinal materials, so the drugs they produced naturally came with severe side effects.

However, what else could be done?

Just as Zhu Hong said, he also wanted to take medicine from big factories, but the problem was being poor.

If one's financial foundation isn't thick enough, one can only take inferior medicine and use their body to endure the side effects.

Regardless, at least it offered a glimmer of hope on the path of martial arts.

Gao Teng let out a long sigh, unable to help but lament the difficulty of the martial path.

Afterward, he pulled back his wandering thoughts and asked the nurse, "Which floor is Zhou Xing hospitalized on? I want to go see him."

"He is in the inpatient department; the entire seventh floor is filled with patients who were rushed here for emergency treatment due to drug overdoses."

Gao Teng offered a polite smile, "Thank you."

The nurse remarked, "You two must be very close, coming to see him so quickly."

Gao Teng replied with a sincere tone, "Our relationship is exceptionally close. He helps me every single day, allowing my strength to advance further. If it weren't for him, my strength wouldn't have improved so rapidly; he has helped me far too much."

The nurse looked surprised, "That's strange. He has such a bad temper; he doesn't seem like the type to be enthusiastic about helping classmates."

Gao Teng laughed, "Perhaps he treats me like his own father."

"Huh?!"

Gao Teng did not explain. After thanking the nurse once more, he turned and left the emergency building.

He did not go to the inpatient department; it wouldn't be too late to come back tomorrow morning.

He had to hurry home now; he still had to go into the sewers tonight to hunt mutated creatures.

Gao Teng quickened his pace, found his bicycle in the corner of the courtyard, unlocked it, and rode toward home.

After riding for more than half an hour, while still some distance from home, Zhang Meizhu suddenly called.

Gao Teng looked at the caller ID on his phone and answered with some curiosity.

"What's up?"

Zhang Meizhu immediately said, "Do you still want to kill monsters?"

Gao Teng raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? Didn't you say you didn't want to take risks yesterday? Why the sudden change of heart?"

Zhang Meizhu sighed, "I didn't change my mind; I don't want to kill monsters at all. The problem is that a monster is very likely living right next door to me."

"Oh?"

"How should I put this?"

On the other end of the line, Zhang Meizhu scratched her hair, "A man lives next door to me. He almost always brings different women home every night, and then some strange sounds come from his place. But for the last half month, there hasn't been a sound from his room; it's been exceptionally quiet at night. I kept thinking something was wrong today, so I checked the smart doorbell's surveillance footage and discovered that he still brings women home every night as usual. But once these people enter his house, they never come out again!"

Gao Teng took a deep breath; Zhang Meizhu's neighbor was indeed very suspicious!

His expression turned serious, "Where do you live? I'm coming over now."

"Xianghe Garden, Building 11, 1902."

Zhang Meizhu gave a detailed address.

After Gao Teng memorized it, he suddenly heard the sound of a doorbell through the phone.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Meizhu lowered her voice, "My neighbor is knocking on my door."

As soon as she finished speaking, a busy signal came from the phone, and when he tried calling back, the phone was already powered off.

Gao Teng's heart tightened; there was no time to waste!

He hurriedly locked his bicycle to a utility pole on the side of the road, hailed a taxi, and rushed toward Xianghe Garden.

Once in the car, the speed was completely different.

In just a few minutes, Gao Teng arrived at his destination.

He scanned the fare for the driver with his phone, ran quickly into the high-rise residential complex, and found Building 11 at top speed.

Since the elevator required a key card to reach specific floors, he had no choice but to climb up floor by floor until he reached the 19th.

It was right then that his phone rang.

Gao Teng took it out and glanced at it; it was a call from Zhang Meizhu.

He pressed the answer button while panting, and a familiar voice came through.

"It's fine now. A neighbor brought me some fruit and even wanted me to go over for a drink, but I already chased him off.

My phone died just now, and I spent ages looking for the charger, only to realize it had been in my jacket pocket the whole time. That's why I'm only calling you back now."

Listening to these words, Gao Teng felt nothing but absurdity.

He had rushed over in a panic, and this was it?

Are you kidding me?!

He walked up to Zhang Meizhu's door and pounded on it.

The door opened shortly after.

Zhang Meizhu was stunned: "How did you get here so fast? How did you get up here?"

"What do you think?"

Gao Teng was soaked to the bone, sweat dripping down from the tips of his hair.

Zhang Meizhu said in surprise: "You ran up?"

"I flew up," Gao Teng said sarcastically. "Someone downstairs was launching a rocket and gave me a lift. You didn't expect that, did you?"

Zhang Meizhu pressed her palms together: "I'm sorry, I didn't know my phone would suddenly die. I made you worry, I'm sorry."

Gao Teng put his hands on his hips, feeling utterly helpless.

Zhang Meizhu immediately turned sideways, clearing a path: "Come in and sit down, have some water."

Gao Teng slicked back his wet hair and walked inside.

The living room was decorated very warmly, with a soft, overall aesthetic.

Many photos were displayed on the TV cabinet, ranging from Zhang Meizhu's full-month baby photos to snapshots of her life as she grew up, including many family portraits taken at different times.

"Gao Teng, sit."

Zhang Meizhu pointed to the beige sofa, looking very embarrassed.

"No thanks, I'm covered in sweat. I'll get the sofa dirty."

Gao Teng waved his hand in refusal, then lowered his voice to discuss the real matter: "You saw the neighbor next door just now. Did you notice anything wrong?"

Zhang Meizhu turned serious: "I didn't see anything wrong with him, but there was a hard-to-describe fishy smell on him. There's definitely a monster in his house.

He came to find me just now, probably trying to use his good looks to lure me in so he could feed me to the monster.

After all, to a monster, the flesh and blood of a martial artist is too delicious."

Gao Teng felt a surge of secret excitement. Even though his climb up the stairs had been a waste of effort, at least the trip wasn't for nothing.

He listened as Zhang Meizhu continued: "The monster's strength probably isn't high, otherwise it would have just come to eat me directly. If we join forces, we should be able to handle it."

Gao Teng nodded slightly; Zhang Meizhu's analysis made some sense.

He asked: "When should we start the operation? Do you have a plan?"

"Do you want to rest a bit more?" Zhang Meizhu said apologetically. "I made you climb all those stairs for nothing, I'm really sorry.

I didn't notice my phone was dead, and I didn't think to check my jacket for the charger. I'm such an idiot."

"Be sharper in the future."

Gao Teng sat down right where he was. There was no need to rush a monster hunt; it was better to wait until his body was back in peak condition before acting.

"I'll go get you a glass of water."

Zhang Meizhu turned and went into the kitchen, returning with a glass of warm water with a few slices of ginseng floating in it.

Gao Teng took the glass and downed the water in one gulp: "Another glass, and make it from the toilet."

"...Huh?!"