Chapter 25: The Point of Divergence
Zhang Chenze's eyes flew wide open, and she couldn't utter a single word. All she could do was instinctively back away.
"What's wrong?" Qiao Jiajin's view was blocked by Zhang Chenze, so he had no idea what was happening.
They watched as the arrogant lawyer stumbled back several steps, then plopped down onto the filthy ground.
"You... you..." Zhang Chenze pointed a trembling finger at the female shop assistant.
Everyone else followed her gaze and saw that the shop assistant was holding a small arm in her open palm. The arm was tiny—far too small to belong to an adult. Moreover, each finger was clearly distinguishable; it absolutely wasn't from any animal.
It seemed that this female shop assistant had indeed cooked a baby.
The baby's arm was now emitting a tempting aroma.
Qi Xia saw this, and combined with the strange environment of the room, he instantly understood something.
"That's... the 'little piglet'?" Qi Xia asked tentatively.
"That's right," the female shop assistant nodded. "Don't you want to eat any?"
Qi Xia's face darkened, and he pressed further, "You said that if we sleep with you, we can eat the little piglet—this is the kind of little piglet you meant?!"
"Mhm." The shop assistant stared blankly at Qi Xia. "Little piglets taste really good."
The smell of blood here was very strong. There were bloodstains on the shop assistant's thighs and on the bed. If Qi Xia's guess was correct, this woman had given birth not long ago and had then cooked the child.
She had invited men to sleep with her just so she could eat the child.
"It takes me about a year to eat one little piglet..." The shop assistant smiled, revealing yellowed teeth. "I just wanted to ask if any of you would be willing to sleep with me? I can trade a pig trotter for it..."
"We... we don't eat that..." Officer Li shook his head.
"Since you won't eat... then forget it..." She fumbled around, stuffed the boiled baby arm into her coat pocket, and wiped the grease from her hands.
When Zhang Chenze saw how the coat she had draped over the woman had been ruined, she couldn't say a word.
She had never imagined that cooking human flesh would leave so much grease.
Tiantian slowly walked over to the female shop assistant and said to her with a complicated expression, "Miss, what you ate wasn't a little piglet—it was a child..."
"A child?" The shop assistant's glazed eyes shifted. "It was a little piglet. It suddenly jumped out and hurt me when it bumped into me."
Everyone exchanged glances, at a loss for words.
"Heh... I'm hungry again." The shop assistant raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to drink some pork soup. It feels so good to be full."
With that, she turned around and walked back into the employee break room. Just before closing the door, she seemed to remember something, smiled foolishly at the group, and said, "Feel free to take your pick!"
Then she slammed the door shut.
The group was silent for a long time, the atmosphere oppressive.
Finally, Qi Xia broke the silence.
"Everyone, even if this damn place doesn't destroy itself in ten days, we won't be able to return to the real world." Qi Xia reached up and touched his forehead. "If we have to stay here forever, sooner or later we'll end up just as crazy as her."
This time, Officer Li didn't object to Qi Xia.
He, too, was hesitant. In this city that seemed blatantly abnormal, under this dark red sky and yellow sun, how long could a human maintain their sanity?
From inside the room came the clatter of cooking utensils, sounding as if the shop assistant had ladled out another bowl of delicacies and was now feasting.
Just one door away, a woman was eating the child she had just given birth to.
Everything in this place was far too aberrant.
"I want to go out and take a look," Qi Xia said. "Aren't you curious? What exactly is this place? Who are these people? Does the city have an edge? What's outside? How did we get here, and how do we get out?"
If anything, the expressions on everyone's faces looked more like fear than curiosity.
"I just feel like danger is everywhere here..." Xiao Ran shook her head and said to Qi Xia, "Rather than going out to participate in those 'games,' I'd rather find a safe place to stay."
"Miss, there's no food or water here." Qiao Jiajin patted his stomach and said, "If we want to survive, we can't really go and eat that little piglet, can we?"
His position was clear: rather than waiting here to die, he wanted to go out and see.
The nine people now seemed to have split into two factions—some wanted to leave, some wanted to stay.
Dr. Zhao glanced at Han Yimo beside him and said, "Going out to look around is fine, but the injured man can't go. He's destined to stay here. As a doctor, I should stay and look after him too."
"Then I'll stay with you all," Xiao Ran said quietly.
"Are you all trying to get yourselves killed?" Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "One patient, one weak girl, and one doctor—the three of you are planning to live here?"
"I'm staying too," Officer Li suddenly spoke.
Dr. Zhao and the other two turned to look at him, knowing that with the physically fit Officer Li also staying, they would be much safer.
Officer Li nodded at Dr. Zhao and said, "This thug is right. The three of you alone here are too dangerous. Never mind those animal masks—even that woman in there, if she goes crazy, you won't be able to handle her."
Now four people had chosen to stay. Everyone's gaze shifted to Tiantian, Zhang Chenze, and Lin Qin.
These three women had yet to state their intentions.
"I'm staying, of course." Zhang Chenze smiled slightly. "I'm a lawyer. Before I have all the information, I won't make a move. It would lead to faulty judgment."
With that, she got up and walked over to Officer Li and Dr. Zhao's side.
By now, Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin seemed like outsiders—the only ones wanting to venture out into this seemingly perilous world, like children who hadn't grown up.
Tiantian glanced at Lin Qin beside her, then walked over to Qi Xia's side without a word.
She didn't seem to need any reason to join Qi Xia's team.
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd stay."
"Stay?" Tiantian shook her head with a bitter smile, then pointed at the ground and said, "Can't you see? There's a wall here, and it forces me to leave."
"A wall?" Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin looked down but didn't see any "wall."
"On the other side of the wall are cops, lawyers, doctors, writers. On this side of the wall are swindlers, thugs, and prostitutes." Tiantian's tone was flat as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Our 'camps' were decided from the start, weren't they?"
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin's expressions shifted as they understood Tiantian's meaning.
Yes, even though the nine of them were all ordinary people forced here, they still had their own "camps."
Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Tiantian were people who lived in the gray zones, destined to be out of place with the others.
Now, the only one left who hadn't chosen her "camp" was Lin Qin.
Given her identity as a "psychological counselor," she should have gone to the other side of the "wall."
But to everyone's surprise, she slowly walked over to Qi Xia and the others.
Qi Xia had a vague feeling there was something off about this girl, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"You're coming too?" Tiantian looked at the girl with doubt. "You're not the same kind of person as us. If you go with them, maybe..."
"But I'm useful." Lin Qin covered her mouth and nose, smiling at Tiantian, cutting her off. "I understand human nature. I might be able to help."
Qiao Jiajin stretched lazily and said slowly, "Great. With two beautiful ladies with us, I won't get bored, and neither will the liar."
"Don't call me a liar," Qi Xia said with a frown. "And I don't need you all tagging along."
"Fine, fine..." Qiao Jiajin nodded. "When do we leave? Now?"
"I..."
Before Qi Xia could finish, Lin Qin spoke up: "It's really getting late now. Personally, I suggest we go out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Everyone turned to look out the window—the sky had indeed grown darker.
The sky was an even deeper red now, constantly exuding a sense of danger.