Split Zone No.13

12

The Return of Slaughtering

Jie Pa could often be found in a store at the center of the first floor of the market building . He ran a small liquor shop where he was often mixing up cocktails . His gentlemanly appearance always attracted a lot of passing eyes .

Split Zone was a place that its inhabitants had grown accustomed to . Even though people enjoyed morphing into all sorts of creatures at the start, they would eventually grow tired of that pastime . Then, they would return to their ordinary, human appearances and live ordinary lives .

And where there lived humans, there existed love .

The Split Zone is no exception .

A lot of people found true love here . People were free to cohabit as they pleased, but it wasn’t possible to have children . Of course, that was a wish that many in the real world chased after—being able to live a happy life with the one you loved, without having to worry about caring for children .

I was currently sitting inside Jie Pa’s wine shop, waiting for him to deliver a new cocktail concoction he’d created .

“Test out my new drink, Foul Dismemberment . ” Jie Pa placed a glass of something red in front of me, and then he gave Nie Zun the same .

My mouth twitched . “Jie Pa, can I just give a suggestion? Can’t you choose a name that’s more normal, more moderate? Otherwise, who would want to drink this?”

“No, I think the name’s very fitting . ” Nie Zun had already taken several sips .

Of course, they were a pair of weirdos .

“If it’s not to your liking, I’ll make you something else,” Jie Pa responded respectfully . (t/n: uses polite form of you/your)

“My good sir, please, let’s not be so formal with each other . Just call me Ah Zhen . ” I waved my hand that there was no need to change the drink .

“Alright, Ms Ah Zhen . ”

……

“Oh yeah, has Mr Blond supplied any new and interesting items recently?”

“One of the weapons shops recieved something new, and I thought it would be quite fitting for you, Ms Ah Zhen . Why don’t I take you for a look?”

I shook my head . I didn’t want to change my weapon .

Then Nie Zun suddenly said, “You should learn how to use a second weapon . A bow and arrow aren’t very good for short range combat . Let’s go take a look . ”

After considering it, I decided that Nie Zun was right . So, I got up and followed Jie Pa .

Jie Pa led Nie Zun and me to the elevator and pressed the button for the 7th floor .

As the elevator ascended, Jie Pa suddenly turned to Nie Zun and said, “The weapons shop also received something that I think you’ll like a lot . ”

“Oh? That I’ll like? We’ll have to take a look then . ” A flash of intrigue crossed Nie Zun’s eyes .

We got off the elevator on the 7th floor and then walked for roughly three hours before arriving at Shop Number 77777 .

A middle-aged married couple, who I vaguely recognized, ran the weapons shop . I’d received my bow from a different weapons shop, but this place was much loved in Westside .

When he saw us enter the shop, the husband called to his wife, “Ah Wen, bring out the two weapons that Mr Jie instructed us to prepare . The Commander and Nie Zun have arrived . ”

“I’ll be right out . ” Shortly after her response, a gentle looking woman appeared .

The woman called Ah Wen was carrying two boxes . She handed one to me and the other to Nie Zun .

I opened the box, and my eyes couldn’t help sparkle at what they saw .

A purple whip . The craftsmanship was esquisite, and its length was very fitting . While I was alive, I’d learned ribbon dancing for a period of time, so with a bit of practice, I ought to be able to use this whip with ease .

The whip was made from some material that I couldn’t quite identify, but it was very tough . Its tail also seemed to be covered with extremely fine spines .

“Commander, be careful . This whip is called The Piercer . It’s a very unique weapon, and we had to leap through numerous hoops to get our hands on it . The spines on the tail of the whip have been infused with a special substance . If you strike an opponent, their ensuing wounds will not be able to heal for an hour, and the pain they feel will be increased one hundred fold . The body of the whip is formed with a special material that cannot be broken with ordinary strength or severed by knives and swords . ”

“Wow, that’s amazing . ” This weapon was delightfully surprising .

“Wow, that’s amazing . ” This weapon was delightfully surprising .

I turned my head to watch as Nie Zun opened his box, which contained a pair of gloves .

They were black and looked just like the ones on his hands inside his pockets .

I’d always scoffed at his odd hobby of covering up every inch of his body, so I naturally didn’t think much of the gloves . But when Nie Zun saw the gloves, his eyes seemed to light up in surprise .

He was so pleased with these new gloves that he quickly shed his old ones and exchanged them for this new pair .

Nie Zun rarely took off his gloves, and when he did, they would be replaced very quickly . But his hands were very pretty, with slender and pale fingers . On the little finger of his left hand, he wore a ring with a skeleton pattern .

The ring hadn’t left too much of an impession on me, but I did remember that it looked very delicate .

After thanking the couple, Nie Zun, Jie Pa, and I headed out to return to Jie Pa’s wine shop .

After exiting the shop, a loud noise suddenly sounded behind us . Everyone fell forward to the ground .

On the floor, I turned my head back and realized that the walls inside the shop were covered in blood .

The shopkeeper looked at his wife blankly .

It seemed that a small bomb-like object had been placed on her . Her body had broken up into pieces and landed on the ground . Her head and body had been separated as well .

She’s likely swallowed the explosive device, which wasn’t actually all that powerful . She was the only one to be blown up, while everyone else had remained unharmed .

One of her arms had landed outside the shop, writhing on the ground .

People started poking their heads out of the surrounding shops, curious about what was happening .

We got up from the ground and pat the dust off our clothes . Seeing that Ah Wen’s hand was still moving, I knew things would be okay . She would recover quickly enough, and then they could investigate the incident .

But then, a young boy suddenly appeared beside my leg . He looked to be about 5 or 6 years old, and I’d never seen him before . He ran over to where Ah Wen’s blown-off hand was, and then he turned back to look at me .

I saw something dark and sinister in his eyes, a look that a child wouldn’t have . As my suspicions started to grow, the boy suddenly bent over and grabbed the splitting key hanging around his neck .

I saw something dark and sinister in his eyes, a look that a child wouldn’t have . As my suspicions started to grow, the boy suddenly bent over and grabbed the splitting key hanging around his neck .

I could feel that something wasn’t right, so I leapt at him .

But it was too late . When I arrived at his side, I heard a click, like a key turning inside a lock . The key had already been shoved into the split symbol on Ah Wen’s bloody hand .

Ah Wen’s body parts had been crawling back together, about to rejoin, but then they suddenly stopped .

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blood splattered in all directions and bits of flesh flew into the air .

Right in front of my eyes, that little boy received his punishment for killing another, exploding into a shower of rain .

In accordance with the rules of this world, after committing the crime of murder, the offender was blown to bits, with no form or shape remaining .

After getting covered in blood, I simply stood frozen in place .

I could feel the fresh blood slipping down my face . A slimy bone and blood mixture dripped from my face onto my neck and collarbone, quickly covering my whole body .

Screams sounded from the crowd . Even as the smell of blood and flesh struck my nose, I seemed to be numb .

The shopkeeper suddenly ran out and knelt on the floor . He held his wife’s now motionless hand, as he sat still as a statue .

I suddenly wanted to extend a hand to comfort him, but when I saw my arm, I realized that my entire body was covered in the little boy’s fresh, sticky blood . My arm looked like it had reached out from the bloody river of hell, carrying malice and evil . I froze, staring but still not quite comprehending my arm’s appearance .

The shopkeeper seemed to sense something . He raised his head and looked at me with fearful eyes, looking like he wanted to hide .

Seeing the shopkeeper’s terrified expression, I couldn’t help feel a sudden pain in my heart, but I couldn’t move .

And then, something seemed to grab me from behind .

Nie Zun grabbed my hand without the slightest hesitation and pulled me to his side .

I looked down at Nie Zun’s tight clasp on my hand, the brand new gloves that he wore were now dirtied with blood . He stared coldly at the pool of blood on the ground .

Jie Pa quickly stepped forward and calmly crouched down . He gave the shopkeeper a pat on the back . “We’ll be sure to find out what happened . Someone will be coming to take her to the corpse grave . You should follow along to see her leave . ”

I looked down at Nie Zun’s tight clasp on my hand, the brand new gloves that he wore were now dirtied with blood . He stared coldly at the pool of blood on the ground .

Jie Pa quickly stepped forward and calmly crouched down . He gave the shopkeeper a pat on the back . “We’ll be sure to find out what happened . Someone will be coming to take her to the corpse grave . You should follow along to see her leave . ”

Sympathetic eyes appeared in the crowd, but no one made a move or said anything . Perhaps death was all too common in the Split Zone . But then, I realized that a lot of people were looking at me suspiciously .

And then I was hit by another realization . There were a lot of people in Westside that I didn’t recognize .

While there were tens of thousands of residents in a district and unfamiliar faces weren’t unusual, I suddenly felt that after half a year of being a district commander, I was completely unqualified .

Nie Zun was still holding tightly onto my hand . He took another look at the pool of blood, and then dragged me backwards .

Nie Zun ordered me, “Go back to your room and clean up . We’ll discuss this afterwards . ”

I didn’t retort or even respond, simply letting him drag me out .

With a nod towards Jie Pa, Nie Zun added, “I’ll leave this to you, Jie Pa . ”

Nie Zun pulled me along, running across the rooftop at his fastest pace, and it seemed that no one really noticed that I was covered in blood .

But when I got to the 13th floor, a lot of residents turned to look me over, like they were staring at an assassin who’d just made a kill .

Those expressions turned the air around me chilly . The scene didn’t bring up flashbacks of my killing Senior Gao Qi, but perhaps because of the blood, I did recall the truth that I was in fact a murderer . My body couldn’t help trembling .

Seeming to have felt my shaking, Nie Zun added force to his grip on my hand, as if he wanted to comfort me somehow .

After entering my room, You Ji, who’d been inside cleaning up my arrow bag, saw me covered in blood and cried out, “What happened?!”

“Let her get cleaned up . I’ll give you the details . ” Nie Zun dragged me over to the bathroom, opened the door, and gave me a gentle shove inside . Before closing the door, he looked at me and said, “Don’t think about it too much . Get cleaned up, and then we’ll talk about it . ”

After the door closed, I moved stiffly, like a wooden doll . I turned on the water and stepped into the bathtub .

The water streamed over my head, diluting the bloodstains across my body .

I trembled as I crouched down and hugged my legs .