Su Xia

[Su Xia]

The day Su Xia went to the city to find Li Chengyuan, she thought her days of suffering had finally come to an end.

Ever since she was little, everyone in the village had sighed over the poor girl's fate. Her father had been a madman, shot for killing someone. Her mother had cried herself blind, then thrown herself into the river to the west.

The village chief, whose surname was Li, was a kind man. He took Su Xia into his home, letting her help with the chores in exchange for something to eat.

That was how Su Xia fell in love with Li Chengyuan.

Chengyuan was the village chief's son. He was neither tall nor strong, but unlike the troublemakers at the edge of the village, he didn't run around getting up to no good. Chengyuan was gentle and studious. After dinner, he always sat alone at the table, quietly reading.

Candlelight shone on Chengyuan's face, turning his brows and eyes golden. Su Xia washed clothes nearby, stealing looks at him until she lost herself in the sight.

Li Chengyuan noticed. He thought Su Xia was interested in the book in his hands. "Would you like to read it?"

Su Xia grew flustered, her whole face turning crimson. "I... I can't read."

She had never been to school. The village was poor, and even the village chief's family wasn't well-off. They had borrowed money from relatives in the county to put Li Chengyuan through high school. She wasn't their own daughter. How could she ask them to pay for her schooling too?

"I'll teach you." Li Chengyuan beckoned her over.

Su Xia blushed even harder, though luckily the candlelight hid it. She sat beside Li Chengyuan and watched him write on the paper.

His hands were so beautiful. His fingers, his palms-even the thin calluses were beautiful. He was so clever. Everything he knew was something she didn't.

That night, Su Xia had a dream. In it, she married Li Chengyuan.

She knew she wasn't worthy of him, but even dreaming about it was wonderful.

Unfortunately, Su Xia didn't get to dream for long before Li Chengyuan left for university in the city.

Those years passed quickly. The village chief and his wife weren't blessed with long lives; one after the other, they died before their son graduated. Before he passed away, the chief said he wanted to arrange a marriage for Su Xia. She bit her lip and said she wouldn't marry anyone.

In truth, she only wanted to marry Li Chengyuan, but she would never say it.

Li Chengyuan returned to pay his respects to his parents. As they left the graves on the hill behind the village, he gave her a box of pastries, saying he had brought them from the city.

The pastries smelled so sweet. Su Xia couldn't bear to eat them. She kept them for two months before breaking off a piece to taste.

They had already spoiled and tasted strangely bitter. Su Xia was so upset that she shed a few tears, though she didn't know whether it was because she had wasted something so lovely or because of something else.

Li Chengyuan never came back again. With both his parents gone, he had no reason to return.

Su Xia thought that had probably been the last time she would ever see him.

But that summer, she saw Li Chengyuan again.

Li Chengyuan came back, having drunk who knew how much alcohol. Su Xia had never seen him so drunk before. As she helped him onto the bed, he suddenly wrapped his arms around her.

It was a summer night when the cicadas cried especially loudly, and Su Xia experienced her first time.

The next day, Li Chengyuan was gone.

On the third day, he returned. "Su Xia, pack your things. We're going to the city to get married."

The day she went into the city carrying bags of all sizes, Su Xia was happy.

There were pastries for sale on the street. They smelled sweet.

Su Xia didn't buy any, but she wasn't sad either.

She felt certain that the days ahead would be sweeter than any pastry.

[Chengyuan]

When Li Chengyuan married Su Xia, he spent the whole time in a daze.

He had imagined getting married, but never to Su Xia.

Li Chengyuan had a First Love, someone he had loved desperately. She was his university advisor's daughter.

Their arguments were every bit as fierce as their conversations were effortless.

During their last big fight, First Love had firmly insisted on breaking up, and Li Chengyuan had actually agreed.

The days after the breakup were agonizing. He drank heavily every day and, for no clear reason, bought a ticket home. By the time he returned, he had already promised to marry Su Xia.

Li Chengyuan knew Su Xia loved him.

Love hardly even described it. She saw him as the sun in her world. She was willing to give everything, as long as he would shine for her.

Li Chengyuan felt for Su Xia. He thought that since they were married now, they should make a good life together.

Their first few years of marriage were uneventful but happy.

Li Chengyuan was among the first university graduates hired by the factory, and Su Xia joined it as a worker too.

When had things begun to turn strange?

Probably that day.

That day, Li Chengyuan received a call from a classmate telling him their advisor had died.

He went to the funeral and met First Love again.

First Love cried pitifully. She said she had nothing left, and that she had only asked to break up with Li Chengyuan in the heat of the moment.

Through her tears, First Love asked whether Li Chengyuan could keep vigil with her. Li Chengyuan thought of Su Xia waiting for him at home, but when he saw First Love's eyes, red from crying, his heart softened.

When Li Chengyuan came home, Su Xia was sitting at the table.

The table was covered with his favorite dishes, reheated over and over.

Li Chengyuan wanted to say something, but Su Xia merely invited him to eat.

Li Chengyuan hurried through some food. He wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

On his way to work, he heard Aunt Liu downstairs gossiping with several women.

"Wu Suxia's man is straying because she can't lay an egg."

"She ought to thank her lucky stars she married Li Chengyuan at all. She can't even give him a son. If I were Li Chengyuan, I'd find a woman on the side too."

Aunt Liu and the others turned and saw Li Chengyuan. With awkward smiles, they scattered.

When he came home that night, Li Chengyuan found the house filled with the smell of herbal medicine.

Su Xia began brewing and drinking herbal medicine frequently.

She told Li Chengyuan the medicine was to strengthen her body, but he knew she was taking it so she could have a baby.

He told Su Xia, "A baby... there's no rush."

Su Xia smiled faintly.

Li Chengyuan realized she no longer believed him.

A month later, First Love came to the factory to find Li Chengyuan. She was a beautiful, eye-catching city girl, and many workers gathered to watch.

Li Chengyuan worried they would go spouting nonsense to Su Xia again. For the first time, he lost his temper with First Love and told her to leave.

First Love ran off crying. Li Chengyuan hurried to find Su Xia.

He found her in the hospital.

Someone had still told her about Li Chengyuan meeting First Love, though there was no telling how much the story had been embellished.

Distracted while working, Su Xia had suffered an accident.

She survived, but she lost her sight.

After Su Xia went blind, her mind began to become unstable.

She would suddenly wake with a start, convinced Li Chengyuan had gone to meet another woman.

But she never questioned Li Chengyuan. She only grew increasingly desperate to have a child.

When Li Chengyuan went out to buy medicine for Su Xia, he heard Aunt Liu downstairs gossiping with a group again.

"I reckon Li Chengyuan will be asking for a divorce any day now."

"Oh, young Li has so much going for him. What rotten luck, marrying a barren field like her. And now he has to wait on her hand and foot."

"Who knows how much longer young Li can put up with her? If they had a child, they might keep the family together, but there's not much hope now. If I were Wu Suxia, I'd find a rope and hang myself."

Li Chengyuan exploded. He rushed over, shouting at them all to get lost. Aunt Liu began shouting back, spewing filthy abuse as though it cost her nothing.

Li Chengyuan shouted himself hoarse and nearly struck her, but someone pulled him away.

He bought Su Xia's medicine, wondering on the way home how to tell her.

There were no secrets in this building. Su Xia would certainly have heard about his argument with Aunt Liu.

But when Li Chengyuan opened the door at home, he froze.

The smell of herbal medicine drifted from the kitchen, its intense bitterness masking the smell of blood.

The bathroom was covered in blood. Aunt Liu lay on the floor with her eyes wide open, her arms and legs severed from her torso.

Holding a cleaver, Su Xia was focused on hacking at Aunt Liu's head. At the sound, she lifted her head and smiled in Li Chengyuan's direction.

"You're home."

Li Chengyuan couldn't quite remember what happened afterward.

He went to work and came home like a robot, but he could see that there were fewer and fewer people in the building.

Su Xia had eaten them all.

She tried hard to eat as much as she could, until her belly swelled. When it was swollen, she felt at ease and smiled tenderly.

"Chengyuan, we're going to have a baby."

But the swollen belly she got from overeating never lasted. When it shrank again, Su Xia would cry silently, then go to the kitchen to brew herself some herbal medicine.

Li Chengyuan felt he might have gone as mad as Su Xia.

Their world gradually grew unreal, as though it had broken away from reality.

In this world, Su Xia grew taller and taller. She had originally been a petite woman, but the last time Li Chengyuan saw her, she stood in the kitchen with her head almost touching the ceiling.

She had become a monster.

A monster born to kill, immensely strong and horrifying to look at, yet possessing a certain intelligence.

She knew to use the smell of herbal medicine to cover the stench of corpses, and to play music on the radio while killing and dismembering people to drown out the sound of chopping through bone.

Aside from that, she was no different from a monster.

After Brother Wang across the hall died, Li Chengyuan found the Special Investigation Team's phone number in the newspaper.

He decided to call the police. Whatever this monster was, she would die when a bullet pierced her heart.

As he held the phone, the monster appeared beside him without his noticing.

He thought he had been caught. Trembling with fear, he instinctively apologized. "Su Xia, I'm sorry..."

The monster suddenly began to cry.

She didn't move or stop him from calling the police. She simply stood there, tears falling silently.

In that instant, Li Chengyuan froze.

Could a monster cry? Could someone who cried at a single apology from him really be a monster?

This person who refused to make a sound no matter how much she hurt, who only wept in silence, was his wife. She was Su Xia, who loved him more than anyone.

"Let's... just keep living like this," Li Chengyuan said. "One day at a time. All right?"

[Appendix: Instance-clearing guide for ordinary players]

As you can see, this is a small instance, primarily used to conduct a preliminary assessment of players.

The difficulty of an assessment instance is up to you. It can be very hard or very easy, depending entirely on what kind of reward you want.

Below are several ways to clear it, each offering different rewards:

1. The opportunist approach

Clear difficulty: one star

Rewards: three stars

Recommendation: three stars

Introduction: this approach is the easiest, but requires exceptional luck.

As you have no doubt realized, the central challenge of this instance is completing the call to the police. However, calling the police will inevitably alert the Man-Eater.

If another player calls the police, you can keep hiding. As long as you make no sound, the Man-Eater will not discover you. She will only attack the teammate who made the call.

With sufficient composure and judgment, you can clear the instance by staying hidden when the Fake Police Officer knocks and holding out until the Real Police Officer arrives.

This method amounts to coasting through, so naturally, you won't get any items gifted by key characters!

2. The backstabber approach

Clear difficulty: three stars

Rewards: three stars

Recommendation: four stars

Introduction: rather immoral, but highly beneficial to your survival.

This approach requires sound judgment, emotional intelligence, and a way with words. You need to gather your teammates, then use your silver tongue to talk them into going to their deaths.

The Man-Eater will only attack whoever is making the most noise at any given moment, so do everything you can to make your teammates take on the jobs of calling the police and luring her away. Don't worry that it won't work. There are always more gullible fools in this world than you think.

Of course, don't expect any precious items with this approach. You can't have every good thing for yourself, can you?

3. The risk-taker approach

Clear difficulty: five stars

Rewards: five stars

Recommendation: one star

Introduction: the approach Shao Lan used, with the highest risk and highest reward.

This approach requires the most loops, and therefore leaves the least room for error.

You must correctly decipher every clue in this instance, then draw your conclusions.

After completing all your deductions, you must risk using one more loop, because the only possible chance to turn things around lies within the first two minutes.

Miss those two minutes, and your chance of survival will vanish in an instant. You and your teammates will have to use approach 1 or 2 above, clearing the instance at the cost of at least one person's life.

Although this is the only approach that can let everyone survive, and the only chance to obtain a precious item, we strongly advise against it.

After all, your life matters most. Such a risk simply isn't worth it, don't you agree?