Spider

It turned out he was a gigolo.

The woman stood rooted to the spot, staring at Xu Ye in stunned disbelief.

More powder flaked off her pale face. As though disconnected from her brain, her eyes each rolled around at random.

It was past seven in the evening. The streets were bustling, and there were cameras everywhere. It would be bad if she attracted any of those special beings.

The woman sensed that, in this city, she had to be extremely careful when skinning people, or she could easily get killed.

"Fine, I'll give you some business. Come with me."

She adjusted her handbag and turned into an alley. The narrow, cramped passage had only one old, yellow streetlight, which flickered occasionally.

Xu Ye picked up his pace and walked beside her. "Sis, do you have a husband? Any family or kids?"

The woman forced a faint smile, her scarlet tongue licking along the roots of her teeth. "My husband died, and my child died of an illness too. It's just me. What about you?"

Xu Ye sighed mournfully, clasping his hands behind his back as he kicked a stone with his head lowered. "I used to have a girlfriend, but she was too beautiful. I was afraid she'd cheat on me, so I let the air out of her. Then I couldn't inflate her again, no matter how hard I blew."

"?"

The woman's breath caught.

What the fuck did he mean, let the air out?

She felt as though they were speaking entirely different languages.

Her steps faltered before she quickened her pace.

She checked the route ahead. They would soon reach where she lived, beside an old, neglected public restroom. There were no people or cameras nearby.

Xu Ye hurried after her. "Sis, why are you walking so fast?"

"I'm in a hurry."

"Hehe, I've met all sorts of weird clients in this line of work. One female client kept me busy all night in the kitchen, dining room, balcony, on the table, in the bathroom, and in the hallway, but we still couldn't get a phone signal."

The woman stumbled.

Her wet hair hung on either side of her shoulders, and her gloomy eyes looked ready to devour someone. "Stop talking. Save your strength. You'll have plenty of chances to scream later."

"Scream?"

Xu Ye slapped his forehead as though remembering something. He spotted a twenty-four-hour supply shop in the alley and blew the woman a kiss.

"Sis, wait here a moment. I'll buy a little toy. I guarantee it'll make your skull resonate and leave you feeling like you've ascended to heaven."

Under the woman's impatient gaze, Xu Ye dashed into the shop.

A moment later, he jogged out carrying a Screaming Chicken, a sleazy grin on his face.

"Look, sis! This is the ultimate tool I prepared. Now you won't have to worry about running out of stamina or screaming your throat raw..."

"Let me demonstrate."

Eager to show it off, Xu Ye squeezed the Screaming Chicken and belted out a song in the dark alley.

"Whenever I think of you, I go~"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!"

He released his grip.

The Screaming Chicken let out a shriek that could shake heaven and earth and make ghosts weep.

Its unending shrieks mingled with Xu Ye's atrocious singing and echoed inside the woman's skull, as though ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through her brain.

Fucking Screaming Chicken.

Fucking little toy.

Ooh, my fucking ass!

Deep breaths!

Deep breaths!

The woman almost lost control of her expression. She wanted nothing more than to transform right there and stab the annoying brat to death.

"Shut up!" she snapped in a low voice.

No. Just hold on a little longer. We're almost home.

"Sis, don't you like it? This is my secret trick. I don't share it with just anyone." Brimming with confidence, Xu Ye put the Screaming Chicken in his backpack.

"No, I don't. Actually, I prefer intellectuals." The woman recalled the two students she had encountered at the school that noon.

"You should've said so!"

Xu Ye patted his chest. "I'm still a student, and I really like our teacher."

"A teacher for a day is a father for life."

"But I don't know why my teacher's family doesn't like me much."

"Sis, why couldn't I get a share of his inheritance after he died?"

"..."

How have they not beaten you to death?!

"Sis, why are you still single? Is it because you're ugly or because you're poor?"

"Sis, could you cut off the fat around your waist and render it into oil?"

"Sis..."

The woman walked faster and faster, her heels clacking as she broke into a hurried jog. The foundation on her face cracked little by little like drought-parched earth. Her expression twisted, and her limbs grew somewhat uncoordinated.

Her head was about to explode.

Xu Ye stayed close behind, chattering nonstop, and took the opportunity to glance at the special app on his phone.

Her energy fluctuations had already reached fifty units.

"Energy fluctuations at fifty units. Probably a partially transformed Aberrant. Not very strong." Xu Ye sent a text.

Li Yunyao: "Recommend immediate elimination."

Snap!

Xu Ye put his phone away.

The woman stopped at that very moment.

The dim yellow streetlight flickered on and off, illuminating the two of them in the silent street corner like a camera snapping pictures.

"Sis, why did you stop?" Xu Ye asked innocently, fluttering his big, mascara-commercial eyes.

"I... can't take it anymore..."

The woman bowed her head, her hair hanging down. Some sort of liquid dripped from the strands.

Dark and wet.

Drip.

Drip.

Her shadow on the ground suddenly began to writhe. Two long, rounded legs sprouted from either side of her waist and abdomen, their bizarre knee joints bending with sharp cracks.

Finally, the woman dropped forward onto the ground, all six limbs contorted.

Her mouth split all the way to her ears, and crimson blood dripped from beneath them.

"Brat, I've put up with you long enough. Today, I'm going to skin you." The woman shook her hair as her pelvis and lower abdomen began to swell. Her entire body had transformed into a spider.

"Uh..."

Xu Ye turned pale and backed away two steps.

Then he took the Screaming Chicken out of his backpack and squeezed it.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!"

"Sorry, I'm really not scared, so I can't scream. I'm using this as a substitute. You understand, right, ma'am?"

"Xu Ye, you're such a troll!" Alice said, speechless.

The woman's pupils contracted.

Her seemingly huge, bloated body scuttled up the wall and lunged at Xu Ye in an instant.

She opened her mouth, unfurling a pair of scissors from her tongue, and stabbed viciously at him.

Xu Ye stepped back and dodged her attack. Immediately afterward, a black tentacle shot out and wrapped around the woman's tongue.

Hoist!

Slam!

Bang!

The woman's body smashed hard into the ground. Her handbag fell open, spilling scraps of human skin everywhere.

She looked at Xu Ye in terror. Only then did she realize that the boy who had seemed so deranged moments ago had now raised a pistol and aimed it at her-at her head.

He fired without hesitation.

A muffled bang rang out.

The bullet blasted her abdomen open. Her already cheap foundation cracked completely like the surface of a crumbling old wall, flaking away to reveal twisted, hideous features.

"Aaah!"

In excruciating pain, she spat two strands of spider silk, one toward the streetlight and the other toward Xu Ye.

The world fell into silent oblivion.

There was no moonlight that night.

Only pitch-black darkness remained.