ICSST Ch5: Killing Fish

Zhou Qi’an remembered that his mother had “fallen ill” twice.

The first time was shortly after a thick fog. Late at night, his mother stood by his bedside and asked if he wanted to get married. Zhou Qi’an was woken from his sleep, somewhat bewildered, and instinctively shook his head. The next second, an axe came down towards him. Fortunately, Zhou Qi’an reacted quickly and wasn’t killed.

The next day, his mother acted as if nothing had happened and even thoughtfully prepared breakfast for him.

The TV was playing an animation about Shen Xiang splitting the mountain to save his mother.

In this degraded world, it had turned into a loving mother splitting her son to force a marriage.

Zhou Qi’an dismissed it as sleepwalking or post-traumatic stress disorder from the disaster. During that thick fog, many people were infected by an unknown virus, and the hospitals were like hell on earth.

But soon, a second incident occurred.

That time, he had messed up a blind date and was chased with a knife for several miles late at night. In the end, a night school teacher took him in for a few days.

“Stupid child, when people turn into monsters, they naturally want to kill. She just wants to kill you.”

“What blind date? It’s just a leftover bit of humanity, an excuse to kill you.”

“She has lost all reason.”

Zhou Qi’an felt that, compared to the mother who raised him, the unpredictable man in front of him was even more dangerous.

“What about you?” he retorted, “Why do you keep pestering me?”

“I admire strength, Qi’an. You are strong; I can’t refuse.”

Zhou Qi’an recalled how he responded at that time.

“Get more health insurance.” He looked quite ill and could use the coverage in the future.

In the past, Zhou Qi’an believed in the mutation theory but didn’t believe in the existence of monsters.

He thought it was like antisocial personality disorder, but his mother’s infection from the thick fog caused genetic changes, awakening some homicidal genes.

However, after entering the game, it was enough to prove that the talk of monsters was not unfounded.

“Hungry—”

A tugging sensation came from his pant leg. Black fingernails tried to scratch the flesh at his ankle. The child’s mouth opened wide, stretching the skin on his cheeks and revealing dense teeth.

Through the moonlight, Zhou Qi’an noticed that the child’s sparse hair couldn’t cover his scalp, where two thin pieces of flesh were opening and closing.

A mouth.

There was a mouth growing on his head.

Neck, arms, instep… this was a monster covered in mouths!

Every mouth was filled with teeth. As the child opened his bloodthirsty mouths again, Zhou Qi’an suddenly bent down.

This act of throwing himself into the jaws of death puzzled the child. However, his eyes, filled only with a hunger for food, were soon attracted to the tender flesh of Zhou Qi’an’s slender neck. He was ready to bite down and enjoy the juicy taste.

A gust of wind interrupted his action.

A kitchen knife flew over his head. If Zhou Qi’an hadn’t bent down in time, his leg would have been severed.

“!!!” The child was also startled.

Apparently, Mother Zhou had taken more than one knife from the kitchen.

When the second knife flew over, Zhou Qi’an narrowly avoided it thanks to his speed, but the child, who was about to feast, wasn’t so lucky. Another gash appeared on his body, each gash equivalent to another mouth. “Mom—”

He cried out.

“Mom—” Zhou Qi’an also shouted, trying to bring his mother back to her senses.

Long, slender arms hung down from the air. The female ghost’s body freely moved through the wall, truly catching the blade with her bare hands.

The skin cut by the blade didn’t bleed but oozed a corrosive, foul-smelling mucus, making the sharp edge of the knife curl and dissolve like pixels.

“My dear son,” Mother Zhou approached, her smile chilling, “You ran away from marriage for them?”

“How can you mix with a married woman with a child…”

Her gaze fell on the woman’s body, oozing foul liquid, “and with skin disease?”

Following her gaze, Zhou Qi’an noticed a ring on the female ghost’s heavily scarred finger.

A wedding ring?

Could this female ghost be Xun Er’s wife?

Actually, he had an even worse guess: the female ghost was Xun the Wealthy’s wife, who had died early, so her appearance remained relatively young.

Mr. Si only mentioned that Xun the Wealthy was estranged from his wife and child, but that didn’t mean they were still alive.

Zhou Qi’an’s throat tightened. If that were the case, hadn’t he been playing the role of a dead person since he entered?

Meanwhile, Mother Zhou was already fighting the female ghost, making the scene extremely gruesome.

The female ghost, relying on her sharp nails, quickly clawed away a piece of skin from the corner of Mother Zhou’s eye.

“Mom!” Zhou Qi’an shouted.

Mother Zhou countered by stabbing the female ghost’s arm.

“Mom!” the child cried.

The female ghost, in pain, revealed that the place where she was stabbed was also full of teeth, almost biting off half of Mother Zhou’s finger.

“Mom!!!”

Mother Zhou, unwilling to show weakness, bit down fiercely, tearing off a chunk of flesh from the female ghost’s tiger mouth.

The child: “—Waaa, Mom!!! Waaa—”

On the second floor.

Ever since they heard the sounds of the chase, all the players had been alert and vigilant.

There was no strict rule requiring one person per room, so the university student and Han Tiansheng were in the same room tonight. Since hearing the commotion, Han Tiansheng shrugged and said, “This newbie is likely to die miserably.”

That room was extremely gloomy, surely hiding a dead person, and the kind that wouldn’t rest in peace.

The university student shook his neck, feeling a sense of foreboding.

He had insisted on sharing a room with Han Tiansheng but still didn’t feel safe at all.

Han Tiansheng sneered as he evaluated Zhou Qi’an, “Cruel but not smart enough. Don’t follow his example…”

Just as he was about to continue, a chorus of “mom” came from downstairs.

The university student, close to the door, pressed his ear against it, “Did I hear that right?”

Why was everyone shouting for their mom?

The big and small voices were all shouting.

Downstairs, Zhou Qi’an looked at the bloody scene and didn’t want to enter the ranks of orphaned children early.

Taking advantage of the chaos, he sprinted towards the kitchen.

Children instinctively chase prey.

Passing by the ‘battlefield,’ Mother Zhou noticed his movement. Zhou Qi’an hurriedly said, “Regarding marriage, I have three points to make…”

Taking advantage of the moment when his mother’s attention was diverted, Zhou Qi’an desperately ran the last two meters.

Scanning the kitchen, he finally reached out for the leftover rotten fish and shrimp on the cutting board and threw them at the child behind him.

A strange scene occurred.

Compared to the fresh humans, the child preferred the rotten fish and shrimp. He gobbled it up, his bellies quickly bulging.

After eating, he became quiet, and the female ghost on the other side stopped fighting. She was scared, pulled her half-exposed body back to the ceiling, floated to the kitchen, picked up the child, and left.

Mother Zhou didn’t stop them. After the two ghosts left, she stood a few meters away from Zhou Qi’an with her face full of blood: “Son, do you like other people’s wives?”

Zhou Qi’an shook his head vigorously.

Mother Zhou smiled, which was more terrifying than a stern face: “Then why are you running away from marriage?”

Zhou Qi’an reluctantly squeezed out a word: “Species.”

Different species, how can they love?

“It doesn’t matter.” Mother Zhou approached him step by step: “I have a brilliant idea.”

She shared her creepy insight, “The rice cooker is a dead object. If you die, you’ll become a dead object. A dead object with a dead object matches a soul, so this problem doesn’t exist.”

“Mom specifically picked a good time to buy the rice cooker; the birthdates perfectly match.”

“…Why not pick from the manufacturing date?”

Zhou Qi’an now believed what the night school teacher said, that besides magnified obsessions, the essence behind them is a rationalized reason for killing formed by remaining humanity.

The distance between mother and son was infinitely shortened. At a critical moment, Zhou Qi’an suddenly said, “Death won’t solve the problem either. The rice cooker is childless, and I’m not.”

Mother Zhou’s raised arm paused in mid-air.

Zhou Qi’an continued: “That’s why I was confused by the woman with a child just now.”

He believed his mother had a killing intent towards him, but the subconscious love had not completely dissipated. Zhou Qi’an said tactfully, “Otherwise, you can go back and bring my fiancée here. If I can’t find a suitable match here, I’ll die on the spot and marry the rice cooker.”

Mother Zhou’s gaze never left his face.

The faint plea in his familiar eyes softened her a bit. Mother Zhou walked to the cutting board and used a rag to wipe the blood covering her left eye.

She then threw the blood-stained rag aside and looked around the villa: “This place is more suitable for a wedding banquet than that small restaurant.”

Zhou Qi’an reminded her, “This is someone else’s place.”

Mother Zhou smiled: “Isn’t a hotel too?”

Zhou Qi’an had nothing to say.

“The last chance to choose,” Mother Zhou’s tone became cold: “Dear son, I’ll bring the bride you should marry tomorrow.”

To-tomorrow?

Zhou Qi’an: “…The day after tomorrow is fine too.”

Mother Zhou moved quickly, about to jump out of the window, and responded with a hum when she heard him.

The slightly rising tail tone carried a terrifying gloom.

Zhou Qi’an no longer argued and changed the subject: “How did you find us?”

Mr. Si had driven for a long time.

Mother Zhou asked: “Do you want to go back with mom?”

Go back to die?

Zhou Qi’an smiled sincerely and shook his head to refuse, but internally, he thought that once he became physically strong, he would run away immediately.

Before becoming a swift man, he always felt that no matter where he ran, he would eventually be caught.

After seeing his mother off, Zhou Qi’an was about to turn around when he suddenly remembered something and stood still for a moment. After confirming his mother wouldn’t return, he walked back into the kitchen, cleaned up the remnants of what the child had eaten, and put the scattered knives back in place.

He spent the rest of the night on the sofa, planning to check on the house in the morning.

Half-asleep through the night, Zhou Qi’an washed his face when dawn approached. When he returned, Han Tiansheng was coming downstairs, followed by a group of college students. Seeing him, they were shocked: “You’re still alive?”

Not using the towel that smelled strange, Zhou Qi’an’s heavy bangs were still dripping water. Coupled with his naturally thin frame, his deliberate attempt to hide his expression gave off a gloomy vibe.

“By luck.”

A college student curiously asked, “Last night, I heard you shout ‘mom’ several times loudly.”

Zhou Qi’an: “Wouldn’t you cry for your parents if you were chased by a ghost?”

“…” That seems reasonable.

Not long after, Han Li also came downstairs.

She noticed that Zhou Qi’an’s pants were torn at the ankle, exposing a wound that hadn’t completely scabbed over yet, with bruised finger marks that clearly weren’t from a normal injury.

Survived after all?

The other two players also came downstairs one after another, each showing an expression of disbelief at the sight of the still-alive Zhou Qi’an.

Among everyone, Zhou Qi’an and Han Li looked the most exhausted. She hadn’t had a good night either.

Han Tiansheng went over to ask about the situation.

“The old one made me guard the candle, almost didn’t survive it, and even ran into a ghost in the middle of the night.”

When mentioning the ghost, her tone carried some uncertainty, as if she wasn’t sure what it was.

After a while, Xun Er came down to prepare breakfast, “Why is everyone up so early?”

It was not even 7:30 yet.

Zhou Qi’an, sounding very tired, responded, “I was woken up by some noise last night and couldn’t fall back asleep.”

“Really?” Xun Er’s surprise didn’t seem fake: “I didn’t hear anything.”

Zhou Qi’an’s lips curled downward. 

Nonsense.

I almost kicked your door open with my foot.

As Xun Er walked past Zhou Qi’an towards the kitchen, he spoke very lightly, “Did you have a nightmare from sneaking a midnight snack? Eating too much raw food can cause that.”

Zhou Qi’an calmly raised his middle finger in his pocket.

Xun Er had emphasized not sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack. Although he didn’t eat, feeding the child was still crossing the line. It was uncertain if his last-minute remedy had worked.

“With so many people today, I can’t handle it alone.”

Seeing the cleanly swept kitchen, Xun Er’s attitude seemed to soften a bit when he looked at Zhou Qi’an again.

“Could you please help me get some fish from the lake?” he asked, scratching his head embarrassedly. “My father used to love fishing, especially skilled anglers, but I have no talent for it.”

“If he wakes up and sees fresh fish, he’ll be very happy.”

Implying that the one who catches the most fish would gain Xun the Wealthy’s favor.

While Zhou Qi’an was quietly processing the information, he suddenly heard businessman Wang Mu whispering to Han Tiansheng, “Is the side quest mandatory?”

Quest?

Seeing the college student asking if there were any fishing rods, Zhou Qi’an confirmed that everyone had a side quest.

So why hadn’t he received one?

“Brother.” The next second, the question was answered. Xun Er said, “Can you help me in the kitchen?”

The age disparity made Zhou Qi’an get goosebumps every time he was forcefully called brother.

“Okay.” Zhou Qi’an thought for a moment and didn’t refuse.

The fishing here must be different from the outside. He couldn’t compete with the veteran players, so it was better to try to get some information from Xun Er.

Xun Er then told the other players, “My father’s fishing rods are precious. You can just catch fish directly from the lake; the water isn’t deep.”

The fishing quest had a time limit, and at this moment, these players wanted to stay as far away from the kitchen as possible, so no one lingered.

Once everyone left, the temperature in the suddenly quiet house dropped significantly.

“The morning time is very precious,” Xun Er said as he took a frozen fish out of the freezer.

This fish was much larger than the small ones they had seen before.

Zhou Qi’an had heard a saying before that if any animal looks similar to a human, it’s either ugly or scary. Not to mention ordinary animals, even a baby with adult teeth would be quite terrifying.

This frozen fish had teeth similar to a human’s, even having neat front teeth.

From the front, it gave a human-like impression. The more Zhou Qi’an looked at it, the more it resembled a human face.

Xun Er raised the knife, and the fish head was chopped off.

The freezer’s temperature didn’t seem very low, as the fish wasn’t completely frozen and was still somewhat soft. When the knife came down, the stinky fish blood splattered.

At the moment of decapitation, the frozen fish emitted a scream that only humans could make.

Xun Er skillfully sprinkled salt.

Like a freshly killed fish, the half-fish body began to twitch spasmodically.

Zhou Qi’an quickly stepped back, while Xun Er’s glasses were splattered with sticky blood, and the friendly smile on his lips slowly turned sinister.

Killing the fish seemed to bring him immense joy.

“Brother, your turn.”

Xun Er carefully instructed, “First, scale the fish. Be careful when removing the innards, don’t puncture the gallbladder, or the bile will contaminate the whole fish.”

Zhou Qi’an clearly saw that the cut surface quickly grew new flesh buds and kept wriggling. The smooth surface seemed about to burst at any moment.

Zhou Qi’an had the illusion that touching it slightly would cause an infection.

The surrounding flesh was covered with tiny white dots. As he leaned in to examine them, he suspected they were teeth. Remembering the child with a face full of teeth from yesterday, Zhou Qi’an’s trypophobia was about to kick in.

“Don’t you know how to kill fish?” Xun Er spoke close to his ear, unnoticed.

Zhou Qi’an felt physically uncomfortable. This unpredictable NPC reminded him a lot of his night school teacher, both being adept at pretending.

The difference was that man liked to disguise himself as a genteel intellectual, not an everyday honest man.

Zhou Qi’an didn’t answer directly but asked, “What’s the technique for killing fish?”

Xun Er patiently taught, “First, don’t dirty your personal items. Second, make sure no dirty blood gets in your eyes; there’s a risk of infection.”

Zhou Qi’an followed up, “What happens if you get infected?”

“Your eyes will turn into fish eyes.”

“……”

“I’m kidding.”

Xun Er took off his contaminated glasses.

At some point, the whites of his eyes had become abnormally white, like fish belly white, squeezing the space of the pupil: “Have you heard the story of a fish eye mixed with pearls? Passing off the fake as real, the inferior as superior…”

Without the glasses, the old scars at the corners of his eyes were fully exposed. The remaining bit of the pupil was slightly orange-yellow, surrounded by a silver ring, resembling the eyes of a dead fish filled with blood.

“Father said brother used to love eating fish, but last night you didn’t even touch it with your chopsticks.”

Xun Er stared at Zhou Qi’an with his dead fish eyes, “So, are you really my adoptive father’s biological son?”

The air turned cold.

Zhou Qi’an felt like his feet were stuck in ice, unable to move. Meanwhile, Xun Er’s fingers lightly brushed over the fish scales, looking at him like he was a dead fish on the chopping board.

“Are you really?” Xun Er’s tone slightly intensified as he asked again.

Taking off glasses? Who couldn’t do that?

Zhou Qi’an also took off his glasses, revealing his unique eye color.

He lifted his bangs with one hand, exposing his smooth forehead.

Without the heavy, long bangs, his eyes, like light blue ice crystals, were fully exposed, appearing more demonic, more beautiful, and more mysterious than Xun Er’s.

Zhou Qi’an sneered, “Don’t think your eyes are the only ones that can change color.”

Xun Er: “…”

______

Author’s Note: 

Zhou Qi’an: Shine, my pupils!

Xun Er: “…”

Seeing the comments, Qi (qi) An (an) = qian = money, so calling him money baby, what an impeccable logic…