The Monster's Bride

Zhou Jiao stepped outside without an umbrella, her whole body drenched in rain. She unflappably donned a rubber raincoat and continued on her way. The streets were becoming rapidly flooded. Her shoes were full of cold, sticky, dirty water. The thought of meeting him soon made her frown unconsciously. Zhou Jiao was an emotionally detached person. No matter what she did, her emotions hardly fluctuated. Even if she spent all day among corpses and mutants, dissecting their grey skin with a scalpel, her heart rate remained steady at 60. But whenever he approached her, her cheeks would inexplicably heat up, and her heart rate would accelerate. Luckily, he didn't like her, he even despised her. A single glance from him was enough to reveal his evident rejection of her. Yet tonight, they were to spend the night together in a raging storm—if it weren't for the fact that the rendezvous was a lab, it would have been quite romantic. Zhou Jiao gave a shallow laugh. Looking back, she saw that the waves were already level with the breakwater. She hurriedly quickened her steps. The hall and offices were already deserted, only messy, wet footprints remained. Everyone else had gone home, except for her and him. Zhou Jiao took off her rubber raincoat, hung it on the umbrella rack, and headed for the elevator. There were three elevators in the hall. Due to the storm, two were shut down, and only the one on the far left was still operating, its bright red number display stuck at "-2". Having worked with him for so long, Zhou Jiao knew that he was an extremely calm and rational person under most circumstances. He was impeccable in his dealings with others. Even if he despised her, he would still ask for her opinion before lighting a cigarette. If she shook her head, even if he had already taken out the cigarette box and was sniffing the tobacco, he would calmly close the box and put it back in his coat pocket. Because of this, Zhou Jiao never harbored any animosity towards him. Of course, her strange physical reactions wouldn't allow her to dislike him either. Shaking her head, Zhou Jiao pressed the elevator's down button. "Ding—" The elevator door opened. A tall, slender figure suddenly appeared in front of her. The man stood tall, dressed in a knee-length white coat, wearing blue rubber gloves. He had a stern, handsome face, sharp lips, calm and indifferent demeanor, wearing thin golden-rimmed glasses. Even if his white coat and boots were splattered with a bit of blood, he still looked impeccably clean. In this dirty, muddy, and damp city, his overly clean demeanor made him seem almost intimidating. Zhou Jiao nodded at him, "Dr. Jiang." Jiang Lian glanced at her and coldly said, "Dr. Zhou, you're late." That was strange. She could interact normally with anyone, except for Jiang Lian—whenever he spoke to her, she would feel a tingling sensation at the back of her head. It wasn't fear. It was a sour numbness that spread from her racing heart to the back of her head. If he got any closer to her, she would even feel as if she had a fever, her throat would be dry, and she would start shivering. Thankfully, Jiang Lian despised her and never got close to her. Zhou Jiao thought, relieved. But Zhou Jiao forgot that Jiang Lian now was not the usual Jiang Lian. On rainy days, especially during storms, he would become particularly irritable, his stern eyebrows pressing down on a terrifying aura of hostility. Sometimes, he would even suddenly drop his scalpel in the middle of an experiment, tear off his rubber gloves, walk into the sterilization room, and, amidst the haze of white mist, lean a hand against the wall, swallowing saliva with an indifferent expression. Jiang Lian never explained why he did this. But during casual chats, his colleagues mentioned his background. He was not a professional doctor, never systematically studied human and non-human anatomy, yet almost no one in the department called him by his name, they all referred to him as "Dr. Jiang". Because he was recruited by the Special Case Management Bureau. They said his genes had a defect, he was born lacking Monoamine Oxidase A, unable to react to serotonin like a normal brain. Research shows that such people are often cold-blooded, aggressive, violent, vengeful, lack basic moral consciousness, and feel intense pleasure from others' pain. In other words, they are psychopaths. Although Zhou Jiao believes that genes cannot completely determine a person's behavior, Jiang Lian's case was exceptional. His family had a history of psychopaths for five generations. They all were gleeful criminals who returned to the scene of the crime to relish their handiwork. Their infamy was extreme. In addition, Jiang Lian was highly intelligent, effortlessly entering a top-ten globally ranked university. Before he could unleash his destructive potential, the Special Bureau hurriedly recruited him. Because he had a keen interest in dissecting corpses and mutants and was quick to learn, the Special Bureau assigned him to Zhou Jiao's department. Except for intentionally keeping his distance from Zhou Jiao, there was nothing wrong with Jiang Lian. He was good-looking, had a pleasant demeanor, and treated people with courtesy. He didn't seem like a psychopath at all. Gradually, everyone thought he was just a genius with a bizarre upbringing. Zhou Jiao thought so too. Jiang Lian really didn't seem like a bad person. The storm continued to rage outside. The more tightly the doors and windows were closed, the more clearly the sharp, whistle-like wind could be heard. Zhou Jiao entered the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. Jiang Lian didn't look at her, he walked straight into the corner of the elevator. He didn't make small talk with her, nor did he tell her what they were going to do next. Zhou Jiao was used to it. This was how Jiang Lian always was—he would keep as much distance from her as possible, and would never utter a word if he didn't have to. Soon, the elevator reached the second basement level. Aside from his deliberate estrangement from Zhou Jiao, Jiang Lian was practically flawless. He was handsome, had a good temperament, was gentle and polite. No matter how you looked at him, he didn't seem like a psychopath. Gradually, everyone thought that he was just a genius with an unusually strange background. Zhou Jiao thought so too. Jiang Lian didn't seem like a bad person at all. The storm was still raging outside; the stronger the doors and windows were shut, the more the wind's sharp, flute-like howl could be heard. Zhou Jiao entered the elevator and pressed the floor button. Without looking at her, Jiang Lian walked straight into the corner of the elevator. He didn't make small talk with her, nor did he tell her what work they were going to do next. Zhou Jiao was used to it. That's how Jiang Lian was. He would keep as far away from her as possible, and if he could avoid talking to her, he wouldn't utter a single word. Soon, the elevator reached the basement floor. As Zhou Jiao was about to put on her protective suit, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She saw one of their autopsy subjects for the night. It was a man. He was lying flat on the autopsy table, his skin a rigid grey-white color. It seemed like he had been dead for a while, yet water was still dripping from his feet. "Drip, drip." A pool of murky, sticky water had already accumulated beneath the corpse's feet. Zhou Jiao threw Jiang Lian a questioning look. "He was parasitized," Jiang Lian said. Understanding, Zhou Jiao went to the disinfection room to put on her protective suit and goggles, and walked over to the corpse. It was clear that the body had been parasitized by a low-level mutant creature. There was a certain degree of deformation; rubber-like tentacles had grown behind its ears, its nostrils were blocked by two pink fleshy lumps, like wounds healing, and two gill-like slits appeared on its neck. Some fish, even after death, continue to move their gills. This corpse was no exception. As Zhou Jiao approached, its gills were still twitching, opening and closing, oozing black, dirty blood. "Where did the mutant parasite?" Zhou Jiao asked. Jiang Lian walked to the opposite side of her. He also put on protective glasses. This practical, not fashionable attire somehow made his facial features look even more stern and beautiful. Whether it was Zhou Jiao's illusion or not, she always felt that Jiang Lian seemed a bit... damp tonight. Even though there wasn't a single drop of water on him, Zhou Jiao felt that his hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, and even the Adam's apple that occasionally bobbed down, were all covered in a layer of cold, gloomy dampness. It was as cold as the sticky fluid dripping down from the corpse. "Zhou Jiao." Jiang Lian suddenly spoke, each word cold and impatient, "Stop looking at me." Zhou Jiao looked away, "Sorry." Jiang Lian picked up the scalpel and cut open the corpse's stomach. It was hard to imagine that he hadn't received professional training. His hand was incredibly steady, without any trembling or deviation. Precise and swift. As soon as the grey-white skin was cut open, a dense mass of eggs gushed out, like a pomegranate full of pus. The outermost eggs had already begun to hatch, and through the transparent membrane, the embryonic form was vaguely visible. Zhou Jiao used a special pair of tweezers to pick up one of the eggs. Upon closer inspection, it was even more disgusting. Inside the egg was a fish with a human face curled up. Zhou Jiao put down the tweezers, feeling a bit nauseous. Sure enough, any creature that looks like a human is ugly enough to drive one insane. "What kind of mutant species is this?" Zhou Jiao asked. "It's the first time I've seen...ugh." She couldn't help but retch. "It's a marine mutant," Jiang Lian said indifferently, "It has no intelligence, only the instinct to survive. It parasitizes whatever it catches and imitates the strongest species around it to scare away predators during the hatching process." Zhou Jiao understood, "So that's why it looks so disgusting." She looked at Jiang Lian, intending to tell a joke to lighten the mood. She asked him if he had ever seen a compilation of ugly cats. There were no ugly cats in the world, but because they looked like humans, they became ugly cats. It was obvious that this fish was also in the same situation - it might have been a beauty in the fish world, but due to biological instincts, it would imitate the form of stronger creatures when encountered, and became an ugly human-faced fish. But before she could get the joke out, Jiang Lian suddenly picked up the egg with two fingers. His fingers were slender, with distinct knuckles. Even with blue rubber gloves on, one could still see the sharp and smooth contours of his finger bones. Jiang Lian looked at the egg with an inscrutable expression. After a while, he smiled faintly and put down the egg, "It is indeed disgusting." Zhou Jiao: "?" His interruption had put her off telling the joke. The storm seemed to be getting worse. The roar of the waves and the furious rain whipped around overhead like steel cables, accompanied by the sharp howl of the sea wind. For a moment, Zhou Jiao couldn't help but feel an illusion - on this violent stormy night, it seemed like the whole world was left with only her and Jiang Lian. But as soon as she looked down, the illusion disappeared. Besides her and Jiang Lian, there were several corpses contaminated by mutants, waiting for their identification and classification. Zhou Jiao sighed, stepping into the sterilization room to disinfect herself. Generally, such precautions aren't needed for mutant species, but this was a parasitic mutant species. One couldn't be too careful. Unbeknownst to her, the moment she entered the sterilization room, the eggs they had collected began to squirm. The faces within the thin translucent membranes showed expressions of terror. They recoiled, trembling, wishing they could defy biological constraints and sprout limbs to run away from the man before them. Jiang Lian removed his goggles and blue rubber gloves, replacing them with his gold-rimmed glasses. His features remained stern, his demeanor still pristine, in stark contrast to the dirty, moist, and densely packed human-faced fish eggs in front of him. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the beautiful eyes behind his glasses hadn't blinked for quite a while. Behind him, in the shadows where the light didn’t reach, something more terrifying than the darkness itself was squirming. This shadow, like a colossal creature, silently invaded the entire second basement floor with an unfathomable malice and power. “Bang—” One of the fish eggs, unable to bear the dreadful pressure emanating from Jiang Lian, burst and died. Transparent slime dripped down the autopsy table. Jiang Lian did not even glance at the fish eggs. He didn't care about the life or death of these lowly mutants, nor about whether the work could be successfully completed. He hadn't even paid attention to what Zhou Jiao had just said. He just felt... hungry. Very hungry. Every time he saw Zhou Jiao, he would be affected by the emotions of this body, feeling a terrifying hunger that forced him to stay away from her. It wasn't because he had a high sense of morality and chose to suffer the pain of hunger rather than harm an innocent human. He just felt that Zhou Jiao was not good enough to be his food. She was too ordinary. Every time he fed, he would temporarily inherit the personality and will of his food. Perhaps among humans, Zhou Jiao could be considered elite. She had beautiful features, and her every movement exuded a sharp, icy aura, like a snow-capped peak. She was highly skilled, capable of bringing down an adult man with one hand. But in his eyes, she was still too weak. Weak and mediocre. Had it not been for this body's intense interest in her— to conquer her, kill her, eat her. Jiang Lian wouldn't even have noticed her. In Jiang Lian's world, Zhou Jiao was like one of the thousands of small fish swallowed by a whale. A massive whale would never bother to discern the taste of one small fish. Even if that small fish was indeed, delicious to die for.