Chapter 119: The Antique Cafe

“I’ll go over there and take a look. You two start investigating first.” With that, Sikong Xu immediately gave chase.

That purple figure always struck him as strangely familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before.

He had never seen the figure’s entire appearance, but he had a feeling that it did not belong to this world. Perhaps that purple figure was the target he had been searching for!

Sikong Xu had every intention of catching up, but unfortunately, after pursuing it for less than two hundred meters, he lost sight of his target.

“Damn it, who exactly are you...? I was so close to remembering...” Sikong Xu was somewhat frustrated. There were plenty of purple-haired characters in the world of anime and manga, and he dared swear that he could recognize any of the iconic ones from nothing more than their silhouettes.

Yet he had not recognized this person at first sight. Apparently, this individual was not one of those famous purple-haired characters.

“I lost it... Sigh. I hope it doesn’t cause any trouble...” After looking around for a long while, Sikong Xu even activated Precise Perception, but he still could not find the purple figure.

“You—you run ridiculously fast! You disappeared in the blink of an eye.” A breathless voice came from behind him.

Mu Qing had finally caught up.

“Huh? Why did you follow me?” Seeing her panting, Sikong Xu could not resist teasing her. “Could it be that you were worried I might get hurt?”

“Hmph! Who cares about you? It would be better if you died!” Mu Qing’s little face was flushed, though whether from the strenuous exercise or something else was impossible to tell.

“You’re always causing trouble for people. My sister was worried about letting you go alone, so she told me to follow you.”

“What could possibly happen to me on my own? Your sister is making a mountain out of a molehill.” Sikong Xu waved his hand dismissively. He was still preoccupied with the figure he had just seen, but unfortunately, he had lost all trace of it.

“Student Mu Qing, when you came after me, did you happen to see someone with purple hair or wearing purple clothes?”

“Purple?” Mu Qing thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Now that you mention it, I do seem to remember something.”

“You saw them?” Sikong Xu became excited. “Where did you see them?”

“In a coffee shop... Why are you getting so worked up?” Mu Qing asked, puzzled. “Did you take a fancy to some girl just now? If that’s the case, I’ll have to warn her about the pervert.”

Sikong Xu gave her a disdainful look. “Usually, girls are the ones who fall for me first.”

Mu Qing: “Heh.”

“Enough with that. Which coffee shop did you see the purple-haired person in?”

“Purple-haired?” Mu Qing was startled by his strange wording, but did not ask further. “More precisely, her hair was a pale purplish-blue.”

“Pale purplish-blue?” Sikong Xu hesitated. In his recollection, the figure he had seen had been a pure, vivid purple. How had it become pale purplish-blue in Mu Qing’s description?

“Never mind. Take me there first. What was the coffee shop called?”

“The name is rather bizarre. If it weren’t for the strange name, I wouldn’t have paid it any attention.” Mu Qing thought for a moment. “I think it was called Antique Coffee Shop.”

“Antique!” Sikong Xu cried out.

“It’s just a name. Is there really any need to make such a fuss?” Mu Qing was startled by his sudden shout and immediately complained.

Sikong Xu paid no attention to her. He had gone completely still.

A coffee shop called Antique... Then that meant...

“Was the shop opened recently?” Sikong Xu asked hurriedly.

“I wouldn’t know. Stop asking me everything and investigate it yourself.”

“Antique... Antique...” Sikong Xu rested a hand against his chin and murmured repeatedly.

If this was not all a coincidence, then he could already be certain about the nature of this mission. The identities of the pale purplish-blue-haired girl and the purple figure would soon become clear as well.

In the world of anime and manga, the name Antique Coffee Shop immediately reminded Sikong Xu of the series in which the protagonist was tormented from beginning to end, only growing stronger with every ordeal: Tokyo Ghoul, also known as Tokyo Eater.

That work featured an extremely unusual race—the ghouls.

Ghouls were a demi-human race that survived by eating human flesh. Because their tongues were structured differently, their sense of taste differed greatly from that of humans, making ordinary human food nearly impossible for them to swallow.

Ghouls looked little different from ordinary people. In their normal state, there was no obvious difference between them and humans. But whenever they fed or entered combat, their eyes turned red—their kakugan.

Their physical abilities far surpassed those of humans in strength, stamina, and speed. Ordinary blades could not even pierce their skin. Most importantly, ghouls possessed organs known as kagune, which aided them in hunting and combat.

Kagune were generally divided into four types: ukaku, koukaku, rinkaku, and bikaku. These four types countered one another in a circular relationship, though every ghoul’s kagune differed in its details, and their power varied accordingly.

“Where is that shop? Hurry up and take me there.” Information about Tokyo Ghoul flashed through Sikong Xu’s mind. For the moment, the most important thing was to confirm whether the coffee shop truly existed.

If the name Antique was not a coincidence, then they had to be cautious. Ghouls were extremely dangerous, after all—these creatures regarded eating humans as their primary means of survival.

“I’ll take you there. Why are you in such a hurry?” Mu Qing said irritably. Though she was still bickering with Sikong Xu, her expression had grown considerably more serious.

From Sikong Xu’s words and actions, she could tell that this matter was probably far from simple.

Antique Coffee Shop was not far from where they were, and the two of them arrived within a few minutes.

As soon as they entered the coffee shop, a young waitress in a black-and-white uniform approached to greet them.

She was the pale purplish-blue-haired girl Mu Qing had mentioned. She stood around one hundred and sixty centimeters tall, with delicate features, a slender figure, and bangs long enough to cover half of one eye.

The hairstyle was rather unconventional, yet on her it looked perfectly natural.

“Please, this way...” The waitress smiled sweetly.

The moment Sikong Xu saw her, he instinctively froze. Then the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile.

“What would you two like to order?” the waitress asked after leading them to a table.

Mu Qing glanced at Sikong Xu but said nothing.

“Two coffees, please.”

“Certainly.”

After the waitress left, Mu Qing finally could not hold back any longer.

“You’ve seen the person now. Can you tell me what this is all about?”

Sikong Xu glanced around the shop before replying, “I think you should call your sister over first. No, actually, we should call over every member of the team.”

By now, Sikong Xu was certain that creatures from another plane had indeed passed through the dimensional rift.

And he knew this particular kind of creature very well.

Ghouls.