The bright lights of the supermarket made He Xi Qian Yu a little dizzy. He pushed the shopping cart, heading straight for the candy section with a clear goal in mind.
"...Over here...the black ones..." Gluttony's voice carried an irrepressible excitement.
"...That one...the red one..." Gluttony's consciousness instantly locked onto another row of brightly packaged chocolate bars.
"Alright, alright, I get it," He Xi Qian Yu resignedly tossed five or six boxes into the cart.
"...This one...looks...not bad either..."
"I'll get it! Pull your tentacles back!" He Xi Qian Yu whispered.
"...Oh..."
...
At checkout, the cashier, a young woman, looked at the small mountain of chocolate, then glanced at He Xi Qian Yu's slightly pale face, her eyes filled with concern. He Xi Qian Yu pretended not to notice, quickly paid, and left.
"...That girl just now...her eyes...were strange..."
"Guess why," He Xi Qian Yu said, carrying the heavy bags, his voice full of helplessness.
...
As night fell, the city's neon lights flickered on one by one. He Xi Qian Yu turned into a relatively quiet alley and stopped in front of a bar with a faded neon sign—"Crow's Nest."
Murky light and faint music seeped from the door crack.
He had just lifted his foot to step into the doorway—
"...Wait..." Gluttony's voice suddenly rang out.
"What is it?" He Xi Qian Yu paused.
"...Smell of blood...deep in the alley to the left..."
"Might be a Ghoul foraging," He Xi Qian Yu waved his hand indifferently, not taking it to heart.
He had no intention, nor any reason, to interfere with a Ghoul's normal foraging behavior.
"...There are two...familiar scents...Hmm...a poor wretch targeted by a Gluttony...and...your little colleague..."
"...Want...to go see?"
"Alright," He Xi Qian Yu spread his hands helplessly. "Though I just wanted a quiet drink..."
...
Following Gluttony's guidance to the scene, He Xi Qian Yu immediately saw the tense standoff between Kirishima Touka and Nishio Nishiki.
Kaneki Ken knelt to the side, clutching his neck and coughing painfully. Two bodies lay on the ground, one of them decapitated, which He Xi Qian Yu vaguely remembered was a Ghoul—was his name Kazuo?
"...I already know, that person is dead, that Gluttony..." Nishio Nishiki's eyes had turned scarlet Ghoul eyes, his face showing the displeasure of being disturbed.
"So this became your foraging ground?" Dong Xiang's voice was icy, her Ghoul eyes also glowing. "The foraging grounds Rize took are meant to be shared with weaker Ghouls. The Twenty Ward is managed by us, Anteiku..."
"What did you say?" Nishio Nishiki mocked impolitely. "With you Anteiku's old, weak, sick, and disabled? What right do you have to tell me what to do? This place was originally..."
"Pfft—"
A sudden snicker instantly tore through the tense air.
He Xi Qian Yu couldn't hold back when he heard the words "old, weak, sick, and disabled."
"Who?!" x2
Two sharp gazes instantly turned towards the shadows where He Xi Qian Yu was hiding.
"...Exposed..."
"Uh...that..." He Xi Qian Yu raised his hands, walking out of the shadows with an awkward smile. "Am I...coming at a bad time?"
"Qianyu?!" Nishio Nishiki's face changed drastically, the scarlet in his eyes instantly faded, leaving only shock and a hint of panic. "Why are you here? Get out! It's dangerous here!"
Clearly, his good friend Nishio Nishiki did not want him to discover his Ghoul identity, nor did he want to drag him into danger.
Dong Xiang didn't speak, but her eyes were also full of questions. Knowing his Ghoul identity, she naturally wouldn't say something like "Get out."
"I just wanted to come out for a drink..." He Xi Qian Yu pointed helplessly at the bar's neon sign not far away. "I heard a lot of noise over here, so I came to take a look..." His gaze swept over the bodies on the ground, his voice a little bewildered. "Is this...a murder scene?"
The air seemed to solidify. Dong Xiang and Nishio Nishiki's gazes briefly met on He Xi Qian Yu, then quickly moved away, their mutual hostility not dissipating due to the third party's intrusion.
"Murder scene?" Nishio Nishiki's voice was a little dry. He suppressed the surprise in his heart, trying to maintain the composure of an ordinary person. "Qianyu, this is not your business, go!" He was practically growling, his eyes urgently signaling He Xi Qian Yu to leave.
In his early years, Nishio Nishiki and his sister relied on each other. After his sister died because of humans, he almost no longer trusted any human. It could be said that, apart from his girlfriend Nishino Kimi, He Xi Qian Yu was one of his few human friends.
He couldn't imagine how He Xi Qian Yu would look at him—a man-eating monster—with fear and disgust when he saw the decapitated Ghoul body on the ground and his scarlet Ghoul eyes. The panic of possibly losing a friend even outweighed the tension of confronting Dong Xiang.
"Alright, alright, I'll go then," He Xi Qian Yu showed a helpless smile. "It's getting late, you two should also go home and rest early."
With that, he turned neatly and quickly walked out of the alley.
"...Just like that...left?..." Gluttony's voice carried a hint of confusion.
"Of course not," He Xi Qian Yu stopped in the shadows at the alley's entrance, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Let's find a good spot and watch the show."
"...As you wish..."
Before he finished speaking, two scarlet, viscous tentacles silently extended from behind He Xi Qian Yu, wrapped around the edge of the wall, and exerted force. His body was lightly lifted, landing silently on the roof of a low building above the side of the alley.
One person and one symbiote, thus quietly overlooked the two people in the dim alley below.
The battle below was without suspense. In just one exchange, Nishio Nishiki was injured by Dong Xiang, his Ghoul eyes flickering with unwillingness and pain. He clutched his wound and turned clumsily, stumbling and disappearing into the depths of the alley.
"...Tsk..." Gluttony's thoughts carried undisguised disappointment. "...I thought...he was so strong...but...so easily defeated..."
"...Indeed," He Xi Qian Yu squatted on the rooftop with his arms crossed, deep in thought.
His good friend Nishio Nishiki seemed like a small boss when he first appeared, but it turned out he couldn't even beat Dong Xiang.
It was very strange.
...
Confirming that Nishio Nishiki's presence had completely faded, He Xi Qian Yu leaped. Scarlet tentacles precisely absorbed the impact upon landing, steadily returning him to the alley.
The slight landing sound instantly alerted Dong Xiang, who whirled around, her Ghoul eyes lighting up almost reflexively. Only after seeing that it was He Xi Qian Yu did her tense muscles slowly relax, and the scarlet in her eyes faded.
"Why did you just leave?" Dong Xiang's voice was still cold, but the confusion in it was obvious. Why would a Ghoul care about the feelings of an ordinary Ghoul?
"Nishio Nishiki is an important friend of mine," He Xi Qian Yu met her gaze, his voice calm. "He doesn't want me to discover his Ghoul identity. And I..." He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully. "...haven't figured out how to tell him that I, his human friend, am actually a Ghoul."
Absurd.
This word clearly surfaced in Dong Xiang's mind.
Hiding one's identity was a Ghoul's rule for survival, but this was the first time she had seen such a scenario where both parties pretended to be human for the other's sake; it was simply incomprehensible.
She didn't press further, her gaze shifting to the side.
"Let's not talk about that for now," He Xi Qian Yu followed her gaze. "What should we do with this guy?"