Monster Girlfriend(Apocalypse) 1

Chapter 1

Summer is the season for thunderstorms, but even for the people of A City, three consecutive days of torrential rain was a rare sight.

The high temperatures didn’t drop despite the incessant rain; instead, the vast amount of water vapor made it even more muggy and humid. To make matters worse, the power suddenly went out tonight. The air conditioner beeped once and shut down.

The cool indoor environment quickly became uncomfortable. In the pitch-black night, Xia Weishuang lay in bed, staring at the ceiling with her eyes wide open.

The rushing sound of the downpour was clear to the ear. Tonight, with its lightning and thunder, was clearly not a good time for a peaceful sleep.

Her sleep quality had never been good. She was already tossing and turning before the power outage; after it, falling asleep became even more difficult.

Xia Weishuang sat up in the dark and unlocked her phone. The sudden light was blinding, making her instinctively squint.

11:57 PM.

August 7, 2021, 11:57 PM.

Xia Weishuang got out of bed in her pajamas and walked to the living room with a glass. Perhaps she’d need the help of sleeping pills tonight. It didn’t matter if she overslept tomorrow, as long as it could put an end to her racing thoughts in the dead of night.

Xia Weishuang went to the water dispenser to get some water.

On this night besieged by a storm, all other sounds seemed faint and unnoticeable, but suddenly, Xia Weishuang looked towards the front door.

She was still holding the glass, her expression puzzled.

Just a moment ago, she thought she heard a strange sound.

Drip, drip, drip…

Amidst the sound of the rain and the running water from the dispenser, this dripping sound still pierced through everything, clear and persistent, reaching Xia Weishuang’s ears.

When she listened carefully, it was as if she heard nothing at all, as if the previous sound had been a hallucination.

Xia Weishuang withdrew her gaze, her expression returning to normal. The water had unknowingly overflowed the glass. She pulled her hand back and grabbed a paper towel to wipe it.

She knew she had an old problem with hallucinations. When she didn’t sleep well, she would also experience tinnitus and dizziness. The symptoms used to be more severe. After three years of treatment, she normally didn’t have episodes anymore.

But when her mental state was poor, she would still occasionally experience auditory and visual hallucinations.

Ever since August began, Xia Weishuang had been in a gloomy mood. Her terrible mood, combined with the terrible weather, made it difficult for her to sleep. Experiencing auditory hallucinations was normal.

That’s what Xia Weishuang thought.

Drip, drip…

But the sound appeared again.

Accompanying the sound of dripping water was another bizarre, unidentifiable sound. Squelch, squelch… It was as if some soft, slimy, boneless creature was slowly squirming, twisting and squeezing against itself, making one instinctively think of disgusting things like slugs and snails.

The sound was slowly expanding along with the dark shadows. Xia Weishuang once again turned to look at the front door.

A strange intuition made her stare intently at the door as a shuddering chill crawled up her spine.

Xia Weishuang should have known this was likely another auditory hallucination, but at this moment, she suddenly felt that it might be real, not an illusion.

Suddenly, a third sound rang out.

Thump, thump thump.

The sound of the door being knocked on leaped across the space and resounded in Xia Weishuang’s ears.

As if bewitched, she walked towards the door. The closer she got, however, the more tense and heavy she felt, almost to the point of being unable to breathe.

When she reached the door, she heard the complex, overlapping sounds with perfect clarity.

They were right behind the door.

Was it real or was it fake?

As if guided by a phantom, Xia Weishuang put her eye to the peephole.

She saw a deeper, human-shaped shadow hidden within the heavy darkness, standing silently, like a corpse.

What is that?

The fear of the unknown vanished in a flash, replaced by an intensely bizarre curiosity.

And just then, a flash of white light tore through the night sky, illuminating the entire hallway and the room. In that fleeting glimpse, Xia Weishuang saw the person outside clearly—how could it be her?

With just one look, the appearance of the person outside was seared deep into Xia Weishuang’s pupils. Even after the lightning vanished and the hallway returned to darkness, Xia Weishuang was certain she hadn’t been mistaken.

It was a woman in a tattered red dress, soaking wet, her thick, long hair hanging messily about her. In the lightning’s glow, her skin was so white it was bloodless, like paper.

She was smiling, her red lips curved into a stiff arc. A pair of pitch-black eyes met Xia Weishuang’s through the peephole.

Xia Weishuang began to tremble, her hand shooting up to grab the doorknob.

A clap of thunder followed immediately, shaking the heavens and the earth, and it seemed to stun Xia Weishuang for a moment.

In that instant, she couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. Her entire being was consumed by a single thought: She’s back.

She’s back, she’s back… She’s back!

Fat tears rolled down from Xia Weishuang’s eyes, yet her face was ecstatic. She gripped the doorknob, pushing and pulling it forcefully, her eyes greedily pressed against the peephole, as if the person in the shadows wouldn’t leave again as long as she kept watching.

Her mind a chaotic mess, Xia Weishuang almost forgot she had locked the door. She trembled uncontrollably as she tried to turn the deadbolt, but failed repeatedly because she couldn’t perfectly control her arms.

Creeak—

From behind her, the sound of a door opening stretched out like a barbed wire, piercing through Xia Weishuang’s mind.

Pat, pat. The sound of slippers shuffling approached from a distance. A young woman’s lazy, sleepy voice asked from behind her, “Sis, what are you doing? It’s the middle of the night.”

Xia Weishuang paused and turned her head frantically. “Little Xue, she’s back! Quick, help me open the door! I can’t get it open, what do I do, I can’t open it…”

“Who?” Xia Qingxue, who was visiting her cousin for the summer vacation, was completely bewildered. She knew about Xia Weishuang’s illness, so she said cautiously, “Sis, did you see wrong? How could there be anyone outside at this hour?”

And who is this ‘she’?

“I didn’t see wrong!” Xia Weishuang said resolutely. “Sang Lu is back!”

Xia Qingxue shuddered violently. She took a few steps forward, grabbed Xia Weishuang’s arm, and pulled her away from the door. “Don’t scare me, Sis! She’s already dead!”

Dead?

Xia Weishuang gripped her cousin’s hand tightly, her mind muddled. A chill slowly brought her back to her senses.

That’s right, Sang Lu is already dead. She died on a summer night three years ago, buried in the vast, deep sea. How could she possibly come back to find her?

Xia Weishuang gave a sad tug at the corner of her mouth. “But I really saw her. If you don’t believe me, look…”

Xia Qingxue was at a loss for words. Peeking through the peephole on a rainy night during a power outage? That was just too terrifying and creepy. This wasn’t a horror movie.

“Okay, I’ll look for you.” But Xia Qingxue still agreed, moving slowly towards the door and hesitantly putting her eye to the peephole.

The fear brought on by the darkness made her dawdle. She kept talking, trying to use the sound of her own voice to dispel the sinister, terrifying feeling.

“Sis, it’s August. You’re probably in a bad mood and having another episode. It’s okay, it’s easy to let your mind run wild late at night. Let’s go back and get some sleep, it’ll be better in the morning… Phew, I told you it was impossible. There’s nothing outside.”

The hallway was pitch-black, but it was also empty. Forget Sang Lu, there wasn’t even a shadow of a person. Xia Qingxue breathed a sigh of relief, straightened up, and smiled to comfort her cousin. “Don’t overthink it. It’s not your fault. Let’s go back to sleep.”

When Xia Weishuang’s illness was severe, she often couldn’t distinguish between hallucinations and reality. Xia Qingxue had a good relationship with her and had taken on the responsibility of helping her tell fact from fiction.

Xia Weishuang trusted her, believing that Little Xue wouldn’t lie to her.

However, people always love to deceive themselves.

Xia Weishuang sniffled and wiped the wetness from her face with the back of her hand. To keep Little Xue from worrying, she forced a relaxed smile and said, “Really? Then I’ll take another look, just one peek.”

She walked to the door, raised her hands, and pressed her palms against the cold surface.

Xia Qingxue gave her a worried look and stepped aside, letting her persistent cousin look outside again.

The moment Xia Weishuang pressed her eye to the peephole, she froze. A moment later, her shoulders shuddered twice. She straightened up, wiped her face, and the smile on her lips was a little desolate.

“I guess I was mistaken. Let’s go back to sleep.”

“Exactly, exactly, let’s get some rest.” Xia Qingxue hugged her sister’s arm and said cheerfully, “Your fever just broke today. If you stay up late, what if it comes back?”

“I’m already better, and I’m not staying up late,” Xia Weishuang promised earnestly. “It’s just that the thunder is too loud to sleep.”

On this muggy night, with no air conditioning and a loud thunderstorm, who knows how many people were forced awake from their dreams. But suddenly, a strange wind blew up. It slipped through the crack of the door, carrying cool moisture that swept away the stuffiness in the room.

“Hiss!” Xia Qingxue wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What’s that fishy smell?”

Xia Weishuang shook her head, indicating she didn’t know either, but halfway through the motion, she suddenly stopped.

“It’s the sea…”

The next moment, she pulled her arm out of Xia Qingxue’s grasp, turned around like a stumbling fledgling swallow, and threw herself at the door. For the third time, Xia Weishuang looked out through the peephole.

Xia Qingxue didn’t have time to stop her. Not knowing why Xia Weishuang was acting this way, she frantically grabbed her hand, trying to pull her away from the door.

“Sis, what did you hear this time? Don’t believe it, it’s all fake.”

“It’s not fake.” Xia Weishuang’s voice held a strange calm. “It’s real. You smelled it too.”

Xia Qingxue froze. “Huh?”

Xia Weishuang was pressed against the door. She turned to look back at her, half of her pale cheek hidden by her jet-black hair. “You smelled it too, Little Xue. You were the first one to say it, you know… She’s really back. She came back from the sea to find me.”

After saying this, Xia Weishuang curved her lips into a smile.

Xia Qingxue shook her head, refusing to believe it. “Sis, are you under too much stress…? Don’t scare me like this. There are no ghosts in this world. Amitabha, Most High Lord Lao, protect me…”

But Xia Weishuang suddenly grabbed her cousin’s hand and pulled her to her side.

She bit her lower lip hard, restraining her impulse. “If you don’t believe me, look. Look at the floor.”

Xia Qingxue resisted, on the verge of tears. “Can I not look? It’s really scary.”

Xia Weishuang patted her cousin’s head and said gently, “Alright, Little Xue can go rest first.”

“What about you?”

Xia Weishuang glanced at her, then suddenly reached out, turned the deadbolt, and grabbed the doorknob to open the door!

Xia Qingxue shrieked. Reacting with lightning speed, she threw her entire body against the door to stop Xia Weishuang from opening it.

“I’ll look, I’ll look! Just don’t open the door!” Damn it, even if there’s nothing outside, a person scaring another person can scare them to death!

Xia Qingxue wanted to cry but had no tears. Trembling, she peeked through the peephole.

Xia Weishuang watched her expectantly. “Did you see it? On the floor, there’s a puddle of water! It must be proof that she’s back!”

Xia Qingxue pressed her eye to the peephole and looked carefully and seriously for a while. Then she turned around and pushed Xia Weishuang’s shoulders, walking her back. “Alright, alright, there’s really nothing there. You saw wrong.”

She also reached back to turn the deadbolt, but her hand was trembling slightly, its palm cold and damp.

Although Xia Qingxue was younger than Xia Weishuang, she had been practicing jujutsu since middle school and had joined a jujutsu club in college. She was much stronger than the sickly Xia Weishuang.

Pushed towards the living room by her, Xia Weishuang couldn’t resist at all. She felt both wronged and a little dazed. “I saw wrong again? But you smelled the wind just now.”

“That’s entirely possible,” Xia Qingxue said with conviction. “Maybe it’s the smell of seafood your neighbor bought. Don’t think too much about it. Come on, take your medicine and get to sleep.”

Xia Weishuang knew her own problems and trusted Xia Qingxue. So, she stood before the water dispenser, sighed softly, and took the warm water to swallow her pills.

This time, she took one more pill than usual.

It’s fake, it’s really fake, is it really fake…? The pain of being unable to tell, of not wanting to believe yet having to admit it, made Xia Weishuang’s heart ache with sharp pangs.

Fortunately, with the help of the medication, she soon drifted off into a muddled sleep, no longer having to endure the torment of her longing.

Meanwhile, Xia Qingxue, using the excuse that she was afraid of the thunder, hugged her blanket and squeezed onto Xia Weishuang’s bed.

After sensing that Xia Weishuang was sound asleep, Xia Qingxue finally let her terrified expression show. She gripped her phone tightly, opened Baidu, and, while cursing wildly in her mind, searched for how to exorcise a ghost.

Fuck! This is insane, insane, insane! My entire fucking materialist worldview collapsed tonight!!!