Chapter 7: The “Dowry” of the Bizarre

Chapter 7: The Monstrosity's "Betrothal Gift"

"Remember, under no circumstances should you get off at the terminal stop."

The Route 444 Last Bus paused for only a limited time at each station. Su Bai, if he could, would have reboarded before it even left the "Commercial Street Station." With so little time to explain to the trio, he could only offer the most concise warning to steer them clear of a near-certain death.

Having delivered this rare, well-intentioned advice, Su Bai turned and stepped off the bus.

"Passengers, please note that the bus will remain at this station for five minutes. Those wishing to disembark, please do so promptly." Hearing the oddly toned announcement from the Route 444 Last Bus driver behind him, Su Bai couldn't shake the feeling that the driver in his memory had been a silent, reserved figure, yet this time, he seemed overly attentive.

But, five minutes?

The moment Su Bai's right foot left the bus and touched the ground of the nightmare world, he felt the red moonlight wash over him, bringing with it a familiar, profound cold. It was a piercing chill, yet it didn't provoke shivers or a desire for warmth. Instead, it was a cold unique to the red moon's embrace—one that, once accustomed to, made the warmth of the sun in the real world seem a distant memory.

Returning to the familiar red moon and feeling the surrounding chill, Su Bai suddenly regretted that his rebirth had occurred on a rainy night. He hadn't even had a chance to recall the sensation of sunlight before being thrust back into the nightmare world, now facing a terrifying, unseen betrothed.

Had he returned to the past merely to be devoured by the monstrosity on the other side of a marriage contract?

Shaking off the jumbled thoughts, Su Bai's left foot also left the bus. He took a step forward, surveying the familiar yet alien surroundings. Familiar, because the nightmare world had many such dimly lit areas, almost devoid of light save for the red moon. Alien, because, outside of beginner stages, rarely were areas so completely shrouded in mist.

The Route 444 Last Bus had likely stopped at the "Commercial Street Station" the driver mentioned. Unfortunately, all Su Bai could see was a dilapidated streetlamp casting a dim, yellowish glow, and a nearby rusted bus stop sign.

There was no shelter, no waiting bench. Beyond the mist, Su Bai's gaze fell upon an eerie shop with its lights on in the distance.

The first time he'd seen this shop, the large glass display window, occupying most of the wall, had been empty. Only a faded, curled-up "double happiness" character was pasted on the glass. There was no store name or signboard, and the wooden door beside the display window looked ancient, like a long-vacant, unrented storefront.

But now, a dim yellow light emanated from within the clean, transparent glass display window. The adjacent wooden door appeared freshly painted, bearing a small sign with the character "Push." Above the wooden door, a new wooden signboard seemed to have appeared, pristine and blank, without a single word.

Peering into the display window, Su Bai could now clearly see the child's figure inside—a little boy in loose white clothes and black pants, still standing and waving in Su Bai's direction.

Su Bai glanced back at the Route 444 Last Bus, motionless under the red moon beside the station, then resolutely walked toward the eerie shop. He was a veteran player who had survived ten years in the nightmare world, not a hesitant novice. He knew this was the only path open to him!

"Ding-ding—"

Just as Su Bai reached the shop entrance, before his hand could even touch the wooden door, a sound like wind chimes chimed. Then, the wooden door creaked open on its own, revealing the lit interior of the shop to Su Bai.

Su Bai stepped inside, and the wooden door closed behind him. The red moon's chill receded, sealed outside the door.

The light inside the shop was brighter than it had appeared from outside, no longer dim or yellowish.

Perhaps to fit the identity of a shop, two tall shelves lined the west and north walls of the white-tiled, white-walled interior, while four slightly shorter shelves were neatly arranged within. Yet, every wooden shelf was bare, so clean that not a speck of dust could be seen.

To the east, a long wooden counter served as a checkout, also adorned with a few small, empty shelves.

The entire shop was not large, roughly the size of Su Bai's high school classroom. However, behind the checkout counter, two wooden doors stood side-by-side, possibly leading to a storage room or lounge.

After a quick scan of this peculiar shop that had been eerily following him, Su Bai immediately turned his attention to the child standing near the display window. The boy, dressed in black and white, appeared to be around five or six years old in human terms. He had blood-red eyes, like the red moon itself, and a delicate, charming face. The moment their eyes met, he half-closed his eyes and smiled.

If one could ignore his identity as a monstrosity, he would indeed be a cute child.

Unfortunately, Su Bai couldn't ignore it.

"You..."

"Madam." The child's young voice directly interrupted Su Bai. "Welcome to the Mist Shop."

"..." Su Bai was momentarily speechless. The other's reaction was quite different from the life-and-death crisis he had anticipated. He could only tentatively ask, "Madam?"

Su Bai even cautiously glanced around with the corner of his eye. Besides him and the child opposite, there was no third humanoid being in the shop.

"You signed your name on the marriage contract, so naturally, you are the master’s spouse—hence, the mistress." The child glanced again at the display window, where the Route 444 Last Bus stood parked under the dim streetlight. "Rest assured, mistress, the master has stopped time in this shop. You may return to that dingy bus whenever you wish."

The child’s tone carried a hint of disdain when mentioning the Route 444 Last Bus.

Su Bai could doubt the child’s words, or even choose to disbelieve them entirely, but doing so wouldn’t improve his chances of survival. As a veteran player of the nightmare world, Su Bai had long grown accustomed to believing in the slimmest possibility—that 0.1% chance—when facing a near-certain death situation with 99.9% odds, and committing himself fully to that one narrow path.

So, at this moment, Su Bai chose to believe that the uncanny being before him wasn’t planning to kill him right away. Instead, it seemed willing to stand here calmly and converse, even informing him that he could leave the shop and return to the bus at any time.

However...

"I am male, not a mistress," Su Bai still felt the need to correct the form of address.

As for the "master" the child referred to, it was likely the terrifying, otherworldly entity on the other side of the marriage contract.

Su Bai cautiously observed the child with flawless features before him, using this minor correction in address to test the other’s attitude—to see if they could truly engage in an equal and amicable conversation.

The child showed no sign of displeasure. Instead, they continued smiling and nodded. "Then, how about I call you 'boss' in daily life? After all, this shop is a gift from the master, and from now on, you are the owner of this store."

"..."

Su Bai fell silent. This weird shop that had been eerily following him... was it... a betrothal gift from some supernatural entity?