After he finished communicating with Slaughter, He Xi Qian Yu stood in the middle of the alley, which reeked of blood, with two gradually cooling corpses at his feet.
The moonlight filtered through the narrow alley, casting distorted silhouettes on the blood-stained walls.
He looked down at his blood-soaked hands; his shirt was already drenched in dark red liquid.
His immediate priority was to figure out how to deal with the scene.
Of course, he could have chosen to leave directly, but that would bring a lot of unnecessary trouble.
After a moment of thought, He Xi Qian Yu dialed the emergency number.
"This is District 20 Police Station," a formal female voice came from the other end of the line.
"I need to report a crime, in Aoba Alley…"
After hanging up the phone, He Xi Qian Yu let out a long breath.
The dispatcher clearly realized the case involved a Ghoul; instead of telling him to wait there, she urged him to leave as soon as possible, which saved him a lot of trouble.
He was covered in blood at the moment, and if anyone saw him in this state, it would be impossible to explain.
According to his speculation, the case would soon be transferred to the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul), and he would soon be summoned and investigated by the CCG.
But he was not a Ghoul—he had no Kakuhou, and his Rc cell concentration was within the normal range, so the CCG could never link him to the killer.
Once his innocence was confirmed, even if anything happened in the future, it would be difficult to suspect him.
...
[…Trouble…We could clearly kill everyone we see…]
Slaughter's voice echoed in his mind again.
"Then we'd be wanted," He Xi Qian Yu patiently explained to Slaughter.
[…Wouldn't that be better…Hehehe…We could have an even grander Slaughter…]
"…"
He Xi Qian Yu no longer paid attention.
This guy had nothing but killing on his mind; apart from being able to communicate normally, he was a complete lunatic.
Slaughter was happy to be wanted, but he wasn't.
He Xi Qian Yu took one last look at the scene, making sure he hadn't left any personal belongings, then turned and walked towards the alley entrance.
…
[…Where are we going now?…]
"Home," He Xi Qian Yu left the alley without looking back.
Although he had transmigrated, the system had already arranged an identity and residence for him.
He Xi Qian Yu, a second-year student in pharmacology at Kamii University, lived in an apartment near Anteiku Coffee Shop.
As a regular customer of the coffee shop, he spent time there almost every day.
"I remember Nishio Nishiki is also a second-year pharmacology student, right? We seem to have a good relationship?" He mused to himself, then shook his head: "Never mind, I'll deal with these things later."
Fatigue washed over him like a tide. He had experienced too much this day; all he wanted now was to go home and get some good sleep.
…
The curtain of night had already fallen, and under the starry sky, all things fell silent. The night breeze gently brushed his face, bringing a touch of coolness.
As soon as he stepped out of the dark alley, He Xi Qian Yu bumped into a familiar figure—Kirishima Touka was quietly watching him with her amethyst-like eyes.
"Good evening, Miss Kirishima." He Xi Qian Yu tried his best to show an awkward yet polite smile.
…
Kirishima Touka was also a little surprised. In fact, not only the manager, but everyone at the coffee shop had noticed He Xi Qian Yu being targeted by two Ghouls, and no one thought he would leave alive.
She was on her routine patrol of District 20 and came when she heard sounds of a fight here, never expecting to see him again.
The bloodstains on the young man's body silently told of everything that had happened in the alley.
"You…" Kirishima Touka was about to speak when He Xi Qian Yu raised his hand to interrupt her.
"As you can see, Miss Kirishima," he said calmly, even with a hint of ease, "I'm still alive."
"As for those two Ghouls," he tilted his head towards the alley, "their bodies are inside; you can go confirm if you're interested. Now, I need to go home and rest. Could you do me a favor?" His gaze rested calmly on Dong Xiang.
Kirishima Touka hesitated slightly, then finally stepped aside to make way.
Even if those two Ghouls were really dead, the other party was acting in self-defense.
She had no reason to stop him.
"Thank you for your understanding." He Xi Qian Yu nodded slightly, his figure quickly blending into the night.
…
After He Xi Qian Yu's figure disappeared into the night, Kirishima Touka slowly walked into the alley, and the scene before her made her pupils contract sharply—
Traces of the fight were clearly visible all around, and fresh bloodstains spread across the ground. Two headless bodies lay quietly, identified by their clothing as the two Ghouls who had been tracking He Xi Qian Yu.
How was that possible?
He killed them?
But wasn't he just a normal human?
Dong Xiang had never smelled a fellow Ghoul's scent on him. But the tragic scene before her forced her to re-examine this young man. What concerned her even more was that both Ghouls' Kakuhou had vanished.
"Cannibalism…"
…
"Woo-woo—"
A sharp and urgent police siren suddenly pierced the quiet night sky, interrupting Kirishima Touka's thoughts.
The CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul) had arrived.
Before the White Doves could seal off the scene, Kirishima Touka quickly retreated, her figure blending into the vast night.
Not long after she left, the CCG Ghoul investigators sealed off the scene.
…
"Click" went the sound of the key turning, and He Xi Qian Yu pushed open the apartment door, which swung open.
The moment the light bulb illuminated, a warm, soft, pale yellow glow filled the entire room.
As expected, the furnishings of the house were not particularly luxurious, but they were not simple either. The house was very clean, as if someone regularly cleaned it, spotless.
The only thing that surprised him was that the system had provided him with a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.
One must know that land prices in Tokyo were not cheap; it was truly an inch of land for an inch of gold.
But he wasn't in the mood to focus on these things now.
Kicking off his blood-stained sneakers, He Xi Qian Yu walked straight to the bathroom. As the hot water washed away the bloodstains, he carefully checked his body—the symbiote's healing ability had made all his wounds disappear without a trace.
After a hot shower, he changed into fresh, clean clothes and collapsed onto the bed.
He needed rest.
Slaughter had been silent since they got home, and He Xi Qian Yu figured he was probably digesting those two Kakuhou.
[…Do you want to hear a bedtime story…?]Slaughter suddenly spoke.
"…Weren't you digesting?"
[…Those things called "Kakuhou"…They digest very quickly…]Because of their shared existence, Slaughter immediately understood his confusion, […Strength…has increased…]
He Xi Qian Yu understood; it seemed that Ghoul's Kakuhou could indeed strengthen the symbiote.
However, he quickly realized another oddity.
As a pure killing machine, Slaughter would actually want to tell him a story.
Was this right?
[…You seem to have something on your mind…]
A mass of dark red substance separated from his arm, the liquid symbiote gradually forming a ferocious head, its grinning mouth almost stretching to its ears.
He Xi Qian Yu carefully examined the creature before him.
To be honest, he always felt that the Slaughter before him was somewhat different from the Slaughter he had known before.
The Slaughter that possessed Cletus Kasady was a complete killing maniac, but the symbiote before him, though still grotesque and terrifying, seemed to have gained some…humanized traits compared to the pure killing machine in the original work?
It even asked him if he wanted a bedtime story.
A symbiote's personality is influenced by its host, and his relatively rational thinking had clearly neutralized some of Slaughter's madness, so it was understandable that the Slaughter born from their union was slightly different from the original.
After all, he wasn't Cletus Kasady, that lunatic.
"Nothing." He Xi Qian Yu shook his head.
[…So…a bedtime story…]
"…No, thank you." He Xi Qian Yu was a little speechless.
[…What a pity…]Slaughter squirmed and retracted back into his body, […I prepared something about the art of dismemberment…]
"Shut up, sleep."
Before long, an indescribable sense of fatigue washed over him like a tide, and He Xi Qian Yu's consciousness gradually blurred as he sank into slumber.
"Good night, world."
In a daze, he seemed to hear a whisper in his ear.
[…I'm really good at telling stories…]
"…If you talk again, I'll soak you in sodium hypochlorite."
This time, Slaughter was truly quiet.
The night passed without a word.