Muddle-headed and confused.
His mind was completely blank.
Zhou Yan’s thoughts struggled to coalesce. His last remaining memories hadn’t returned yet—he only remembered that earlier, a group of people had been doing deep mountain hiking near Mount Tai. As a member of the city’s volunteer search and rescue team, he had been assisting in the rescue operation, and then… nothing.
Had he stumbled and fallen down the mountain?
Mom always said I was a child she prayed for at the Lady of Mount Tai’s temple, and she never let me go up Mount Tai.
But I didn’t even go to the main peak of Mount Tai.
So hot…
His thoughts were a chaotic mess.
He seemed to be lying flat on a small wooden cart, only able to look up at the narrow strip of sky above. Perhaps it was a case of surviving a great disaster—though his body felt stiff and sore, his heart was greatly relieved. He even had the leisure to daydream, thinking the sky looked exceptionally blue, rivaling the level of a clear day on the grasslands.
The cart pulled him forward, and the scenery in his field of vision constantly changed.
The ground was rough, making the cart bump violently.
His bones ached.
Some people passed by and greeted the person pulling the cart. Seeing Zhou Yan lying there, they asked in surprise:
“Found him?”
“Mm, lucky break. Thought it was too boring to sleep early today, so I went for a walk and found this person who fell from the mountain.”
The conversation sounded like some kind of dialect, but Zhou Yan could strangely understand it.
These people looked at Zhou Yan and chatted among themselves, finally sighing:
“Really lucky.”
Yes, really lucky.
Zhou Yan himself felt that surviving a tumble down the mountain was incredible.
The ancestral graves must be practically glowing.
Great-grandmother’s credit card with the King of Hell was probably smoking from overuse.
Zhou Yan’s body swayed constantly, and he could only guess that the rescue team had found him and was transporting him out of the mountain ravine. No matter what, at least he was alive. Dad and Mom must be worried sick.
Mom would cry her eyes dry.
She was soft-hearted and cried at the drop of a hat.
He wondered what they’d feel when they saw him return home.
As for those fair-weather friends…
Heh…
Rolling down the mountain, his clothes slightly dirty.
Zhou Yan felt relaxed. He’d always been carefree, aimlessly thinking about various trivial matters, with some anticipation of getting home quickly. He wanted to speak, to ask for a phone to report his safety to his family, but his body was too exhausted. When he opened his mouth, only a sound as faint as a mosquito’s buzz came out.
The cart suddenly stopped.
A shadow seemed to fall ahead, blocking the increasingly harsh sunlight. Zhou Yan felt somewhat more comfortable, lying there squinting. From the edge of his vision, he could see what appeared to be a shop.
It was quite elaborately decorated, with beautiful curtains hanging down, swaying in the wind. The shadow fell across Zhou Yan’s face, and the curtain’s hem was exquisitely crafted with slits, so as it moved with the wind, sunlight and shadow formed wonderful intervals.
Clang!
The cart’s two wooden shafts hit the ground with a thud, making the cart’s back end snap down with a crack.
The impact made Zhou Yan’s skull buzz.
Someone called out loudly with a laugh: “Wang Chun! Buying meat?”
“Today’s meat is all freshly slaughtered, blood’s all drained clean. Want some?”
A genial voice replied with a smile:
“Mm, there’s a sick person at home, buying some meat to supplement their nutrition.”
“Hey, that makes sense. So what’ll it be?”
Wang Chun said: “Three jin of prime fatty pork loin, and half a leg of meat for wrapping wontons. When someone’s sick, they need proper nourishment.”
“Haha, good!”
The shop owner was quite enthusiastic. Zhou Yan lay there listening to the sound of the boss drawing his knife to cut meat, his movements quite skilled. Finally, he wrapped the meat and placed it on the cutting board, saying familiarly: “Cash or credit?”
“Cash.”
“Then it’s this much.”
“…How come it went up again?”
“That’s the current price.”
“Then put it on credit.”
“Credit? No way!”
“No way? Why not!”
“Of course not! Old brother, you’ve already filled up several account books. The meat shop’s meat doesn’t just blow in on the wind. Even with our good relationship, I can’t let you eat and drink for free like this. Since it’s convenient today, how about settling up everything together?”
“Come, let me show you the account book. I’ve written down every single transaction.”
“You, you—”
The sound of an abacus clicking and account books rustling.
Zhou Yan listened to their exchange, thinking this benefactor’s financial situation wasn’t very good—having to buy meat on credit. But this boss was quite nice; in modern times, who would still offer credit for a small meat business?
In that case, he’d have to properly thank this life-saving benefactor when he got back.
Zhou Yan’s benefactor sounded anxious: “You, it’s not time to settle accounts yet! Look at my situation—you know it well. I, I, where would I get money to pay you!”
The butcher said: “Hey, hey, hey, we need to follow the rules. Where’s the logic in buying things without paying? No matter what you want to do, you can’t just take my meat for free.”
“Either bring the sheep you’re raising to pay the debt, or don’t buy anything.”
“There’s no reason for you to eat for free.”
The person pulling Zhou Yan’s cart—Wang Chun—seemed very distressed, his facial muscles twitching. After hesitating for a long while, he said: “Fine, the sheep isn’t fattened yet. I was planning to raise it until New Year’s to eat. Killing it now would be a waste, but I can give it to you in exchange—you still need to give me a thousand coins.”
The butcher said: “Deal!”
Zhou Yan was thinking what a fine sheep it must be when the people in front suddenly moved aside.
A shadow fell, and a fishy stench assaulted his senses.
Then a hairy hand suddenly burst through, grabbed Zhou Yan’s collar, and yanked him upright. Sunlight stabbed into his eyes, Zhou Yan’s vision went black—having been lying down the whole time, being pulled up so suddenly made his vision swim.
His soul had seemed to be floating outside his body just moments ago, but this yank seemed to snap it back into place. Suddenly, all the colors and smells from every direction came flooding in—blinding sunlight, dogs gnawing bones by the roadside, the crossroads slope, the great scholar tree.
He couldn’t breathe, looking down below.
A butcher wearing only an oilcloth apron on his upper body, with a full beard and a scar over his left eye, grinned widely. Between his teeth, saliva was sticky, and his eyes looking at Zhou Yan had a slight greenish tinge.
At his waist was a delicate abacus with red silk tassels, and on the table the account book’s writing was meticulous and precise.
The butcher pinched Zhou Yan’s arm:
“Hahahahahaha, good sheep!”
He leaned in close for a deep sniff and exclaimed: “Good meat!”
“Wang Chun, you’re really lucky!”
?!!!
What did this mean?!
Zhou Yan couldn’t breathe. The luck and relief he’d felt at being rescued instantly transformed into absurd, helpless terror. That severe fatigue that had dulled his thinking suddenly cleared away. His gaze unconsciously shifted to see the wasteland around them.
At the crossroads slope stood only one meat shop.
Hanging from the shop’s curtains was a row of arms.
The arms were slender and beautiful, with delicate fingers and crimson nails.
Like the split tassels at the end of window curtains.
As they swayed in the wind, they cast alternating shadows and patches of sunlight.
Falling across the face lying on the table.
So beautiful.
Extreme terror surged up, but beneath the fear, an inexplicable rage exploded in Zhou Yan’s heart. He wanted to raise his hand—it felt like his soul had returned, his limbs finally obeying him. This time he actually managed to lift it.
But that hand was much smaller, and though he wore his own clothes, they seemed too big by many years.
The huge shock made his thoughts stutter briefly.
Only the meat buyer and seller had been talking earlier—he’d thought there were only two people.
Now he saw that behind the butcher’s shop stood more than ten people, quietly standing there with grass ropes around their necks, not daring to move, their eyes vacant and wooden.
In that moment of hesitation, the butcher grabbed both his wrists with one hand and lifted him up. Such tremendous strength! Zhou Yan looked at those eyes tinged with green as they examined him up and down. The butcher raised his hand to carelessly wipe the drool from his mouth, still saying:
“Good meat, good meat!”
“Young master, you smell so fragrant.”
His tongue extended, coated thick and yellow, licking toward Zhou Yan’s body, his breath reeking.
The scorching dry sun, curled leaves, people bound with thin rope.
The finger-made curtains swaying in the wind.
Zhou Yan’s heart pounded wildly with fear.
So scared, so scared!
I’m so afraid!
I…
Zhou Yan’s right foot instinctively lifted, then viciously kicked the butcher in the face.
His roar frightened even the cicadas into silence.
“Go fuck yourself!!!”
