Chapter 116: Aberrant 6

In the Monster Domain, where daylight lasts only four hours, the speed at which light shifts is quick.

When Qian first woke up and went outside, the light was still shining on the left side of the building. After watching TV for a little while, the light had already slanted to the right side, and the rooms on the first floor had already darkened due to the lack of light.

Noticing the dimming light, Qian felt a little puzzled as she looked at her stomach.

She remembered that she had just gotten up, hadn’t had breakfast or lunch, yet she wasn’t hungry. Why was it getting dark so soon?

She put down the remote, jumped off the sofa, and went out through the open door.

The dimming building felt a little scary to her now.

At this point, none of the rooms had their lights on. She climbed up the stairs with all her might, and when she reached the third floor and exited the stairway, the orange sunset flooded her eyes.

The sunset cast a warm yellow filter of time over the building’s railings, corridor doors, and windows.

But that brief sunset vanished in an instant, and the last sliver of light was swallowed up, bringing on the darkness.

Only then did the lights in the rooms of the building start flickering on one by one.

Qian climbed to the fourth floor. She remembered she had come out from room 414, so she ran over to 414 after seeing the doorplate.

As she passed rooms 401 and 402, the lights were on, and she could hear the sounds of water running and dishes clattering. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she glanced in.

Before she could look any longer, a pair of hands picked her up.

She turned to see Aberrant.

Aberrant held her tightly, carrying her back to room 414 and placing her in a room with many small babies.

Qian pulled Aberrant’s long hair up, exposing her face. She had spent a long time looking in the mirror today, confirming that she looked very much like Aberrant.

After a few experiences, Qian now knew that the person who looked like her was always her father, so this person who looked like her must be her mother.

“Are you my mom?”

Aberrant rested her chin on Qian’s head and gently stroked her back. Qian tilted her head and rubbed her chin against Aberrant’s, silently confirming her identity as her mother.

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

Aberrant continued to slowly stroke her back. Qian guessed that this mom might not be able to speak.

She tilted her head and asked, “Mom, is this our home? Why isn’t there a bed, a sofa, or a bathroom?”

Qian suddenly remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything or gone to the bathroom today.

She grabbed her cheek, noticing the red and black marks on her hand, and added, “I want to wash my face, Mom, take me to wash my face.”

Hearing her soft, tender voice, Aberrant picked her up again, leaving room 414 and walking toward room 413.

Room 413 was about the same size as 414, filled with four bunk beds that took up most of the small space.

The beds were piled with messy, tangled blankets, and the floor was filled with scattered junk and shoes covered in stains. Several faded posters of women in short skirts were stuck on the walls.

The narrow bathroom smelled unpleasant, and the washbasin was cluttered with a dozen towels, mouthwash cups, toothbrushes, and shower gel, most of which were stuck together.

Qian looked at the dirty mirror and the water-stained countertop, turned her head, and clung to her mother’s neck, saying, “I don’t want to wash my face here.”

Aberrant paused, then turned and left room 413, passing rooms 412 and 411, heading towards room 410.

Although every door was closed, when Aberrant stopped in front of a door, it would automatically open.

The lights in room 410 suddenly turned on as Aberrant entered, illuminating the clean bed and wardrobe inside.

This room was also small, but it was very tidy. The bed and blankets were a fresh blue checkered pattern, the walls were snow white, and there was an electronic keyboard and an electric guitar leaning against the wall.

The washbasin was similarly neat, with just a few items: two white towels on the rack.

Having long learned to brush her teeth and wash her face on her own, Qian was placed by Aberrant at the washbasin and immediately grabbed a towel to wet and wipe her face.

She held the dripping towel with both hands, pressing her face into it and rubbing hard. But after a while, when she lifted her head and looked in the mirror, her face appeared like a palette, which startled her.

“Waa… Mom, help me wipe.”

Aberrant took the towel from her, initially awkward with the movement, but quickly became more skilled, as though she had regained some memory.

Qian tilted her face up, waiting for her mom to wash her face.

Many people had washed her face before; several fathers had used a lot of strength when doing so, while Daddy Tong was gentler and liked to play with her while washing her face.

But this mom was different. Her touch wasn’t too light or too heavy, and she wiped every part of her face, including behind her ears and her chin, without flattening her nose or making her face crooked.

After several wipes, Qian closed her eyes and almost fell asleep. When she opened her eyes, she was once again a clean, rosy, little child.

“Mom, I want my hair done.” She tilted her head toward Aberrant.

Her hair still had several Bougainvillea flowers stuck in it.

When Aberrant’s hand touched the flowers that had tightly gripped her hair, they immediately fell off with a soft sound, landing in the sink and still fluttering.

Qian’s hair was just as black and straight as Aberrant’s, only it was messy from being clipped all day.

“There’s no comb.” Qian searched the washbasin but couldn’t find the important tool.

Aberrant’s body vanished in place.

“Mom!” Qian cried out.

She sat on the washbasin, staring at where Aberrant had disappeared, nearly jumping down to search for her. But soon, Aberrant reappeared, holding a wooden comb.

The comb was smooth and didn’t hurt at all as it ran through her hair.

After her mother braided two pigtails for her, Qian tugged at her braids and asked her mom to clip the Bougainvillea flowers onto them. In the end, only two remained, and Qian raised her hand, trying to clip them into her mother’s hair.

But the Bougainvillea flowers wouldn’t stay. Every time she touched Aberrant’s hair, they loosened and fell out. After two attempts, the red Bougainvilleas withered.

Qian could only regretfully give up and admire herself in the mirror.

Aberrant seemed to enjoy seeing her like this as she gently touched Qian’s chubby cheeks before preparing to hold her and leave.

Having been carefully taken care of by her mother, Qian’s courage grew even more.

She whispered into Aberrant’s ear, “Mom, I want to drink yogurt.”

Though she wasn’t hungry, she felt a little greedy.

When Aberrant heard this request, she seemed to hesitate.

Then, she unbuttoned her chest, revealing her full breasts.

Qian quickly shook her head. “No, I want yogurt, not milk.”

Aberrant didn’t understand. The food her child needed was something only she could provide, but this child seemed to dislike it.

Aberrant’s dark eyes looked at her, then she glanced to the side into the darkness.

In the dark night, the scent of humans appeared in the nest.

Qian felt everything blur for a moment, and the doorplate number 414 appeared before her eyes. Then, everything blurred again, and she was placed by her mother into the baby room.

Her beautiful, gentle mother disappeared again.

Qian understood. This mother, like her previous dragon dad, had magical powers, which is why she could disappear suddenly and had many hands.

If she was like her mother, why didn’t she have many hands?

Qian groped behind her for a while but couldn’t find any extra hands.

However, seeing that she hadn’t moved, the babies in the baby room, who always forgot their beatings but remembered their meals, began to gather around her, eagerly sticking to her.

“You can’t pull my hair! The braids will get messed up!” Qian pulled away the little babies’ hands from her hair.

Tonight, the Tianzi Building wasn’t as lively as last night. There weren’t many chaotic troublemakers like Pyramid, and not every survival mission had people daring to cause trouble in the Tianzi Building.

More often, low-level players who didn’t know the situation wandered in, or players on other missions, or reckless gold miners.

Tang Jindou was one such gold miner.

He was somewhat well-known in the player forum, frequently active in A-class and B-class Ghost domains, making his fortune by reselling special items from those domains.

This time, he had taken on a big job and entered the Monster Domain using a special item called “ticket.”

His client was a wealthy man whose son had recently been chosen by the System and pulled into the Monster Domain, where he died in the Tianzi Building.

People bound by the Survival System were randomly pulled into any Ghost domain each month. This involuntary entry was unpredictable, so even though the young master had taken several high-level protective amulets, he was still unlucky and died in an S-rank domain.

The wealthy man, heartbroken, hired several gold miners like Tang Jindou, asking them to retrieve his son’s body from the Monster Domain or any personal items he had to get some comfort.

As long as they could find any belongings of the young master, they would earn an eight-digit reward, which was more than what Tang Jindou would make from finding ten special items in an A-class Ghost domain.

“I hope this one goes smoothly too,” Tang Jindou walked quietly through the Tianzi Building, almost making no sound, silently muttering to himself.

He was holding a string of black Buddhist beads that gave off a faint sandalwood fragrance.

These beads were a family heirloom and his greatest reliance. Many times in the Ghost domains, when faced with deadly threats, it was these beads that helped him survive.

Following the information provided by the last survivor, Tang Jindou headed straight for the second floor of the Tianzi Building.

It was said that the young master, entering the S-rank domain for the first time, had thought he could handle it thanks to his many protective amulets. He boasted about wanting to see what Aberrant looked like and was killed by an Ghost entity on the second floor.

“Hope the young master ran into an eerie being that doesn’t eat people. I hope his body is still hanging in the room, drying out, or maybe kept in the fridge. At least let me take a part of it…” Tang Jindou had originally planned to come on the first night, thinking it would be safer the earlier he came, but after the noise last night, he was too scared to approach. Today, he had only come because the reward was tempting.

Having safely passed many survival missions, he had used the Survival system to enhance his senses, especially his perception. Thus, he noticed the danger immediately.

A woman in a white dress, with countless arms growing from her back, appeared abruptly in the dark hallway.

Her skin was pale and luminous, eerie yet holy, and when she suddenly lifted her head, revealing her red lips from her hair, she gained an additional allure.

Tang Jindou felt heartbroken as he broke the string of beads, deeply regretting his greed. He wished he hadn’t come to the S-rank domain for the high reward.

However, he quickly stopped caring about the pain of losing his precious beads.

As he had expected, the beads could injure Aberrant. When he flung them at her, the beads embedded themselves into Aberrant’s fair, jade-like arm, causing the skin around them to melt away.

Tang Jindou hoped the beads would stop Aberrant’s advance, but the injured Aberrant instantly went berserk. Her body grew rapidly, filling the hallway, and surged toward Tang Jindou from behind, enveloping him in a mass of arms and flowing black hair.

The grease dripping from her body landed on Tang Jindou, causing him to scream in agony.

As Tang Jindou looked up, he saw Aberrant lean down, her red lips parted, revealing the crimson hollow and sharp fangs inside, descending toward him—

The remaining Buddhist beads in his hand fell to the ground with a soft, rhythmic sound.