Starting with the flesh-based stimulant

Zhou He understood his meaning instantly.

He chuckled softly, took out 100 yuan from his pocket, and handed it to Chen Erlv.

Chen Erlu took the money, shook it in his hand, rubbed his index finger and thumb together, then held it up to the sun to examine it before reluctantly putting it into his inner pocket, grinning from ear to ear.

Zhou He then belatedly realized that the peddler's missing front tooth had been replaced sometime earlier.

After laughing for a while, Chen Erlv finally continued:

"The meat carrier's technique is amazing; it's called 'Avoiding Cause and Effect'."

"What does that mean? It means that ordinary people, regardless of whether they are in a particular profession or not, will inevitably be involved in karma if they deal with meat."

"Those who eat meat must follow the proper procedures: light lamps and burn incense, bathe and sweep, and offer paper money as sacrifices. If any one of these is omitted, the karmic consequences will be difficult to wash away."

"Especially wild game, if you don't follow the rules, you might end up with your eyes open."

The peddler grinned slyly as he looked at Zhou He.

Zhou He didn't respond to him, but simply smiled and gestured for him to continue.

The information about the "open-eyed meat" was something that had been agreed upon beforehand; the peddler needed to pay for his journey on this business trip.

Although the money wasn't his own, he wasn't afraid to spend it. To be honest, being able to buy information with money was an incredible stroke of luck for Zhou He right now.

But he couldn't keep asking the peddler; who knew where this idiot might be hiding?

Zhou He still remembered Lao Han's words of advice.

Of course, he didn't trust Lao Han, but he also didn't trust the peddler.

The peddler, having been rebuffed, continued:

"The story of meat opening its eyes is just a legend, but eating meat without following the proper procedures, or even just touching wild meat, can lead to botulism."

"Botox?"

"Yes, the meat is poisonous. If you don't follow the rules, people will go crazy. First, they'll start talking nonsense, and then they'll start growing fat."

Zhou He frowned, repeating the peddler's last word: "Gain weight?"

"Yes, it grows everywhere. It grows fleshy things inside the eyes, inside the mouth, and even from the roots of the hair! One fleshy lump after another, just like bamboo shoots, sprouting out one after another."

"This flesh grows so fast, you can't even cut it with a knife in time, but that's not scary. Do you know what's scariest?"

"What is it?"

"You can't just grow flesh out of thin air. If you grow a piece of flesh in your eye, you might lose a piece of flesh on your arm, but you can't tell where the extra flesh is or where the missing flesh is."

When the peddler got to this point, his voice lowered, and his initial laughter disappeared:

"In no more than half an hour, even the bones start to grow flesh. Once all the flesh on the body has been replaced, the person will be a completely different person."

Zhou He's smile vanished instantly. His jaw clenched tightly, and he tried to maintain a calm tone as he pressed on:

"and then?"

"And then? Then they gain weight, then they change players, then they gain weight again, then they change players again, and the cycle repeats."

"Is there no solution?"

"Yes, of course we can. We'll supply it to the Buddha. We'll just supply it to the Buddha."

"The Buddha was cured just by providing the medicine?"

"If I supply the Buddha, I won't gain weight," the peddler said, his hand unconsciously stroking the handle of the rattle drum.

"Place it on the altar and offer it to the Buddha. The flesh will stop growing and will even decrease. Eventually, it will be reduced to just a skeleton."

Zhou He listened, feeling a chill run through his body. He took a deep breath and continued to press for answers:

"And then the person just disappeared?"

"It's a good thing he's gone. All that's left is a skeleton. People who have been exposed to botox will wake up then." The peddler sighed. "Now you can kill him, whether you smash him with a hammer, chop him with a knife, or saw him. In any case, you'll get a quick death."

"Oh right, the bones contaminated with botulism also have to be burned as offerings to the Buddha's incense burner."

"Clang—Clang"

The peddler's rattle drum began to ring, and he slowly regained his usual cheerful demeanor.

"Oh right, did I forget to mention that people who have had Botox injections shouldn't be touched by others, because it's contagious."

"Only meat carriers who have left their homes and possess the skill of 'avoiding karma' can carry wild meat, poisonous meat, and all meat in this world."

Zhou He fell into deep thought, recalling the first sentence on the meat vendor's travel permit:

"Hiding a knife in one's back to avoid karma"

Inside the inner pocket of his chest, the contents of the metal box rattled softly. He adjusted the brim of his hat and let out a long breath.

"Oh, I see..."

"That's right, that's exactly what I mean, hehe, thank you for your kind offer, 100 yuan."

The peddler stretched out his hand and offered it to Zhou He.

Interrupted from his thoughts, Zhou He took out a banknote and handed it to the peddler, who then rubbed, kneaded, and held it up to the sun to examine it.

The two continued talking without stopping, and had now reached the end of the road.

Opposite is a towering cliff, and below the loess cliff, hundreds of cave dwellings are lined up in an orderly fashion.

Below the cave dwelling, a chaotic crowd had gathered in front of a stage, where a slender woman was singing softly.

The sleeves were pink, as was the woman's face, and her elaborate headdress was adorned with pink rhinestones.

"He sits in a high-ranking official position, wearing an official hat, but little does he know that I have broken fingers and a hoarse throat."

The injustice is deep, the hatred is boundless.

I am a woman from Shangzhu, kneeling below the hall, to recount the root of this injustice in detail.

We grew up together, sharing the same father but different mothers, and were known as the twin sisters who ruled the household.

She had the face of a saint but the heart of a tiger; the sisters became mortal enemies.

The singing was melodious, seemingly filled with endless hatred and sorrow. For some reason, Zhou He was also moved to tears.

He recalled his past life, the inexplicable time travel, and the feeling of the old hunchback kneading and pinching his body. Unconsciously, his eyes widened in fury.

A line of bloody tears dripped down.

Zhou He was completely unaware of what was happening; he simply clenched his fists, wishing he could pull out a knife and slaughter everyone he could see.

"Clang~ Clang~"

The sound of a rattle drum woke Zhou He up instantly.

Only then did they realize that the dark mass of people in front of them all had fierce expressions and gritted teeth, as if they were all accumulating anger and might start a fight at any moment.

"Oh dear, this is troublesome, this is troublesome. Why is Madam Qin at the mine? We can't do business at the morning market now, Young Master Zhou, let's hurry up and go to the mine to pick out some meat."

The peddler said it was troublesome, but slowly shook a rattle drum in his hand, his eyes calm.

Zhou He raised his hand to wipe away the blood and tears from the corner of his eyes, took a deep breath, hummed in agreement, and followed the peddler around the stage and the crowd to a cave dwelling.

There were no signs on the cave dwelling; it was the first one on the left, and also the only stall selling wild meat in the entire Jincheng Meat Mine.

Did the old hunchback carry himself back to Zhoujiagou in Tuozi Township from here?

Zhou He couldn't seem to find this fragment in his memory.