Doomsday Wonderland

Naga-ashi had been in a stew lately.

Its heart had long dried up, and it had forgotten how the feeling of being upset felt. Ever since it got turned into a nameless duoluozhong from a 14-year-old girl named Memphis, its consciousness had been drowned out by endless darkness. Whenever its hand stopped, the darkness would seize its chance and consume her whole, leaving it to become an empty shell that was driven by nothing but unfounded anger, hatred, vanity, and resentment.

Having retained a large portion of memory prior to its transformation, it still remembered a snippet of what people called the happy moments from its past life. Even though the scene, time, and some other details remained vividly clear in its mind, the happiness, the laughter, and the burst of joy when it found food together with Timo were long gone. Now, when Naga-ashi occasionally looked back upon the memories, it did not feel like its own memory. It felt more like it was looking through someone else’s old photo album.

As a duoluozhong, Naga-ashi was very clear that there was nothing in its heart but the seamy side. Duoluozhongs were blinded with anger and bounded by hatred. The unfair treatment they received from the society and the occasional surge of bloodlust often exacerbated their destructive impulses. Naga-ashi did not know about other duoluozhongs. However, this was the first time it was upset.

The main source of it feeling upset was now standing nonchalantly right in front of it with her hands stuffed inside the pockets on her cargo pants. She was wearing a black tank top, and every time Naga-ashi saw the bandage around her neck, it wanted nothing more than to tear it off along with the skin and flesh underneath.

“Morning!” Lin Sanjiu pointed her chin as she greeted, “I guess you know what I want. After all, we have known each other for so long. I’ll wait for my breakfast there. Call me when it is done.”

‘Screw you! I don’t know what you want!’

It took all of Naga-ashi’s control not to burst out at Lin Sanjiu. Its breathing quickened as it puffed air through its mask.

Blinking her eyes innocently, Lin Sanjiu urged, “Can you be faster? I’ve been visiting your stall every single day, yet you never give me any discount and you are still sluggish like a slowpoke. By the way, can you keep your bloodlust to yourself? It’s so thick that I can even smell it. All I did was just foil your revenge. You don’t have to turn yourself into a killing machine every single time you see me. You should get a mirror. Do you know you look really awful now?”

Crack.

Naga-ashi snapped the knife handle into two pieces. At that moment, it almost exploded. ‘The boss won’t be happy if the knife is broken, and if the boss is unhappy, he will punish me with a taser which will be very very painful. The spot where the woman hit me hurts too. Argh! I can’t control it anymore! I’m so angry! I want to destroy the table and slice Melhor into pieces! This is all Melhor’s fault! This is all Melhor’s fault! I want to kill her! I want to kill her! I want—’

Taking a deep breath, it calmed itself down and began preparing the bun.

Naga-ashi knew that Lin Sanjiu was totally out of its league.

It also knew that this woman had been staying in Black’s Market lately and would come to buy breakfast every day, so the bun had been prepared for a long time. To prevent the other foods from getting the powder on the bun, it deliberately put the bun in the corner.

When Lin Sanjiu took the bun, she squinted her eyes and scrutinized the duoluozhong in front of her.

“Honestly, do you really hate me so much?” She suddenly chuckled as if she recalled something funny. “I remember you only hated your mother and your childhood sweetheart. I’m not sure about your mother, but you hated Timo because you are jealous of him, am I right? You cannot accept the fact that he’s still a human while you, on the other hand, got the short end of the stick and became a duoluozhong. Don’t you think you are being a little harsh on him? He doesn’t want this to happen to you as well, you know?”

‘Can you just f*ck off? This is none of your business!’

A deep guttural roar burst out from Naga-ashi’s throat, and the veins on its arm and forehead bulged.

“Alright, alright, I can understand your self-denigration, but don’t get so offended. At the very least, the buns you make are delicious,” Lin Sanjiu said. She polished off the bun in several bites and began licking her fingers.

Naga-ashi had forgotten how long it had been since the last time it felt ecstatic. Was it ten years ago or was it even longer? Naga-ashi could not tell. The only thing the duoluozhong could tell right now was that its heart had picked up its pace. Even though it just lasted for a few beats, Naga-ashi found the sensation rather pleasant.

Truth to be told, Naga-ashi did not expect it to go so smoothly. However, it did not allow its exhilaration to escape into its eyes or its face since the woman in front of it had sharp eyes and could detect the slightest change in its expression. With that thought in mind, Naga-ashi forced its excitement away and put on an indifferent facade as it asked, “Is the purpose of you staying in Black’s Market to come and make fun of me every day?”

Whenever the woman appeared, it would inevitably evoke the memory of how she had thwarted its revenge the last time. When it thought of its childhood friend, it recalled how he was still a human being while it became a duoluozhong. When it thought of how humiliating it was for this woman to know all its past, Lin Sanjiu’s face was just like the taser in its boss’s hand that elicited the pain it had been feeling while being consumed by the darkness.

“Of course not.” Lin Sanjiu shrugged. “There are a few friends of mine looking for me, so I’m waiting for them.”

‘Well, then I wish them good luck because, in a little while, I’m afraid they won’t be seeing you anymore.’

Naga-ashi lowered its head and stifled a cold smile.

“I visit you every day. Has anybody come to ask you about me?” Lin Sanjiu asked as she rested her arm insouciantly on the windowsill. “Or do you happen to see any suspicious people wandering around?”

“Suspicious people? The most suspicious person around here is the one standing in front of me.”

“They are really patient as hell.” The tall woman sighed. Her countenance remained healthy as usual, and it seemed that the powder on the bun had not begun to take effect yet. “Well, I’m going off now. I still have another shop to visit.”

‘She’s leaving now?’

Naga-ashi was stunned for a moment, and when it raised its head, Lin Sanjiu was already gone. It hesitated for half a second, then hurled the knife aside. It proceeded to pull down the roller shutter and exited through the door behind the stall.

Being a duoluozhong was bad, but there was one thing good about them. Their nose was several-fold more sensitive than that of a human, so they could catch the scent of their target from a long distance. Therefore, it did not take Naga-ashi long before it finally caught up to Lin Sanjiu. However, the duoluozhong could not get too close to her as Lin Sanjiu might discover its existence. Keeping about two blocks away from her, it followed her by sniffing her scent that lingered in the air.

It had not gotten its revenge on any of its targets yet, so it decided to follow the woman. It wanted to get consumed by the feeling of excitement after getting its wish fulfilled once although there was a very high probability that it could not feel any excitement as a duoluozhong.

‘How long will it take to turn that woman into a corpse?’ Naga-ashi thought as it brandished its blade-like arms impatiently. It could feel its chest was burning as if there was a furnace in there. That bun should have worked a long time ago!

However, it followed the tall figure around half of Black’s Market, yet Lin Sanjiu still showed no sign of being poisoned. Her pace was light and she seemed as fit as a flea. Naga-ashi decided to keep following her for a longer while. Then, after what seemed like ages, the woman finally stopped in front of a shop that looked like a hole. She looked around for a moment and then went in.

Naga-ashi did not follow Lin Sanjiu into the shop but paced back and forth in front of the shop. After it waited for a few minutes and Lin Sanjiu still did not come out, it walked slowly and cautiously towards the shop. There was a sign which read “Survival At All Costs!” dangling crookedly on top of the door. Looking inside through the glass, Naga-ashi could make out nothing in the dark but several corpses that dangled from the ceiling.

Looking at those corpses, Naga-ashi could feel its own hot breath puffing against the mask. After that, it walked to a corner and took cover behind a waste container. After it ascertained that nobody could see it, it stared fixedly at the shop.

It was waiting for a scream or a commotion to break out from within the shop. Naga-ashi had no idea would if it be able to feel happy again, but right now, all it wanted to hear right now was a shout of “a woman is dead!”

Naga-ashi forced itself to wait for a long while. The woman was strong, far stronger than any of the posthumans it had seen before, so it might take a little while for the bun to begin taking effect. After all, it had watched Lin Sanjiu finish the bun with its own eyes.

However, why was there no sound yet?

Naga-ashi continued to wait, and finally, it heard a scream from the shop. The scream was sharp and it sounded like a child’s voice. Then, it heard a loud thump which caused its heart to leap into a gallop again.

‘Finally!’

Be that as it may, what surprised Naga-ashi was that the shop fell into silence after the loud thump. Just as it was dilly-dallying whether it should go up or not, it saw a small, round silhouette shoot out from the shop. The silhouette crashed through the window and sent shrapnel and glass into the air. As the round silhouette soared up into the sky, Naga-ashi caught a glimpse of short hair fluttering in the air.

Short hair?

Stunned, Naga-ashi raised its head and narrowed its eyes to have a better look.

The silhouette flew in an arc across the air and plopped in the center of the crowd not far away. The posthumans there all screamed and scattered away, bringing the true form of the silhouette into the light. It was a head soaked in blood with two eyes bulging like two large balls.

Staring with its two bulged eyes, Naga-ashi watched as Lin Sanjiu’s bloodied head rolling across the ground.