Monster Tavern

Li Changluo’s hands trembled as he fished out a pack of cigarettes, pulling one free and struggling for ages before finally lighting it. The cigarette tasted of nothing, but he instantly felt better. Instinctively, he wanted to offer smokes to those around him, but thought better of it. After all, he had no idea whether that thing across from him even smoked.

They were in a side chamber of an ancient tomb, a crude space containing nothing but a few battered coffins lying quietly on the ground—and a “radish” that had crawled out from one of them. At least, that’s how Li Changluo saw it.

It was long. It was pale. It had arms and legs. Just like a humanoid radish dug up from the earth. Only this one wore a vest and shorts, its belly bulging. But unlike a radish, this was a living thing—half a head taller than Li Changluo, and with a hideous, ghoulish face.

The chamber was silent and pitch-dark, save for the faint glow of Li Changluo’s cigarette and the harsh beam of his flashlight. In the electric glare, the “radish’s” face twisted ever more grotesquely, growing savage and warped.

Yet the two—man and “radish”—remained locked in a silent standoff, neither moving for a long time, their gazes complex, simply staring at one another.

Staring…

And staring…

Until, all at once, Li Changluo began to leap wildly before the “radish” like a rabbit, fierce and erratic.

He truly had started to believe the ugly creature before him was nothing but a radish. If this eerie tomb had a comment feed like a streaming video, it might look something