Starting with the flesh-based stimulant

Zhou He gripped the broken brick tightly and lifted it up, his forearm trembling.

With his arm's length between them, Zhou He raised his hand to its highest point and aimed at the old hunchback's temple.

Fortunately, the other person turned their face to the side so they could see me clearly.

Since you're playing dead, then keep playing dead!

The brick fell.

A muffled thud...

It's like hitting a piece of rotten wood.

The old hunchback's body jerked, and his temples shrunk.

Blood splattered onto Zhou He's face, warm and smelling of blood.

Those two eyelids probably wanted to open, but Zhou He was too fast!

It was too fast to avoid.

The old hunchback's hand, hidden in Zhou He's blind spot, hadn't yet touched another broken brick.

Zhou and He did not stop.

He picked up the brick again.

This time, my arms were shaking even more violently, not because I was afraid.

It's because I used up all my strength in the very first thrust.

Zhou clenched his teeth so tightly that the muscles in his cheeks tensed into two hard lumps, and the veins on the side of his neck throbbed.

The brick fell a second time!

The third time!

The fourth time...

The web between his right thumb and forefinger was worn raw by the edge of the brick, the skin peeled back, revealing the flesh underneath.

The blood and hair on the broken brick fragments were stuck together, making it impossible to tell whose it was.

Zhou He could no longer feel the pain.

He could only feel something seeping out from between his bones.

Scalding hot and forceful, it filled his entire body.

It wasn't hatred; he didn't hate the old hunchback.

He didn't even know the other person, so where did the hatred come from?

That was fear, the fear of being human.

Until the very last moment, a piece of brick became embedded in the old hunchback's skull, and he was stuck and couldn't pull it out.

Zhou He slowly crawled backward to the edge of the offering table and closed his eyes.

After the three incense sticks had burned out and the ash had broken into several pieces in the stove, he gradually got used to the dust and fishy smell in the air.

He opened his eyes.

The old hunchback said that opening your eyes means you're awake.

Once it wakes up, it's no longer flesh.

I am not meat!

Zhou He propped himself up and gradually regained control of his limbs.

The pain of being thrown to the ground belatedly reached my mind.

He breathed a long sigh of relief only after confirming that every part of his body was still intact and could move.

He stood up with some difficulty and approached the old hunchback cautiously and unsteadily.

He frowned, avoiding the disfigured head, and looked at the knife.

The knife was sharpened frequently, but the blade didn't get much blood on it.

The health bar was filled with a bunch of sticky stuff, scattered like stars, not noticeable unless you looked closely.

Zhou He frowned, struggled to turn the hunchback over, and gripped the knife handle to pull it out.

crunch--

It must have rubbed against the spine or ribs, the low, dull friction traveling up the hilt of the knife.

It made his teeth itch.

As the knife was pulled out, something seemed to be pulled out of the old hunchback's body at the same time, and the tip of the knife fell to the ground with a "thud" as it left his body.

It was a dark red light, not dazzling, but hazy, as if it could breathe, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

Zhou He rubbed the knife on the ground a few times, wiping away a few bits of meat clinging to it, then held it in a reverse grip with the blade facing outwards.

He didn't rush to touch that radiant light, but instead took off the hunchback's clothes piece by piece.

Except for his underpants, which he threw under the altar, he put all the other clothes on himself.

Fortunately, the hunchback's clothes were large enough to cover the big bag, and although they were a bit tattered, they weren't too ill-fitting on Zhou He.

The pants were a bit too short, revealing a few inches of ankle, and the cloth shoes were too tight, so he just slipped on them.

Only when he's dressed will he not feel like he's just a piece of meat.

Smelling the rancid stench emanating from his body, Zhou He frowned even more deeply.

His gaze swept around the temple before finally settling on the ball of light lying on the ground.

Seemingly sensing Zhou He's attention, the radiance burst forth with a dazzling light once more.

For a fleeting moment, it then withdrew all the colors, as if to let Zhou He see what it was.

A dark yellow, hard metal sheet lay forlornly on the ground.

Zhou He did not touch it and remained standing in the same spot.

There exists a systematic and mysterious force in this world.

This was something Zhou He had never encountered before, and he didn't know whether he should get involved.

Looking closer, Zhou He saw the hunchback's iron box.

The tin box has a raised design of a foreign woman, and her skirt seems to have several different patterns.

It must have been used for too long, as it has become mottled and peeling off in patches, almost like it has vitiligo.

Inside the box was a wad of cotton, half a box of matches, a large bunch of incense sticks, and a stack of banknotes in a red plastic bag.

The banknotes came in red and green, and all of them had a huge human head printed on them.

The man was thin, wore reading glasses, and had a gentle gaze.

Behind the head is a simple line drawing of an oil lamp, and to the side are familiar Chinese characters and numbers: red for one yuan and green for ten yuan.

Zhou He recognized the paper money. It took him a while to remember that the same paper money was burning in the earthenware pot in the room where he woke up.

Suppressing his doubts, Zhou continued searching.

There was also a small comic book in the box, which was also yellowed and worn.

The cover reads "The Affairs of Jinlian's Boudoir," and the old hunchback doesn't look like he has a wife. You don't need to think to know what this book is about.

Zhou He's expression twisted slightly, as if he was afraid of getting his hands dirty, and he threw it away.

There is nothing else besides that.

With a "crackling" sound, the oil lamp emitted a spark.

It seemed to have used up all its strength, slowly shrinking smaller and smaller.

Until a plume of black smoke rose up, the entire dilapidated temple was plunged into darkness.

Only then did Zhou He notice that the weather outside the temple was gloomy, as if a heavy rain was brewing.

After standing silently for a long time, Zhou He wrapped the yellow cloth strip hanging from the knife hilt around his wrist, tied it in a tight knot, and after making sure it wouldn't fall off, bent down and picked up the metal piece.

He made his decision.

The metal sheet was only the size of a palm, with writing on both sides.

The front has three large characters: "Beef Carrier" and below it in smaller characters: "Jincheng Road, Zuolong County, Tuozi Township".

It is engraved with a knife symbol, and its shape looks exactly the same as the knife in Zhou He's hand.

Turn it over, and you'll see densely packed text.

It seemed like a rule, yet also like proof. Zhou He frowned, silently trying to discern it in his mind:

"This is a meat-carrying traveler who hides a knife while carrying meat to avoid karmic consequences."

A person in tattered clothes walks past others; a ghost doesn't feel hungry when someone taps an empty bowl twice.

Three sticks of incense are burned before the Buddha, and four pieces of meat oil are rubbed together.

He abstains from worldly food at dawn, and saves up enough money to go to paradise early;

The travel permit serves as proof.

When the last four words were pronounced, he suddenly froze.

The dry, rough sound echoed in the dilapidated temple, faintly reverberating before fading away with a buzzing sound.

He had no idea when he started reading aloud!

Before Zhou He could think it through carefully.

The five fingers gripping the metal plate suddenly spread open, then pulled back slightly.

They seem to be fleeing this road sign.

but.

The metal sheet then emitted a dazzling light.

It spread out, like a spider with a dozen legs, and burrowed into his palm like a persistent leech.

Zhou He could sense that it hadn't truly disappeared, but rather seeped into his body like water.

Zhou He couldn't help but shiver.

Is a travel permit proof of travel? What is a travel permit?

Why does my body feel like it's trying to escape this road sign?

And this travel money, I think I just heard the old hunchback mention it.

Zhou He became increasingly confused.

But before he could think about it further, he felt that the metal piece, or the guide, had already found a suitable place to reside in his body.

The next second, he got hungry!

An instinctive, uncontrollable, frantic hunger arose from his body.

No, it's not hunger!

It wasn't an empty stomach or a stomach cramp; it was something deeper, like his very existence itself was lamenting to him.

He felt incomplete and needed something to fill the void.

The sense of loss came on fiercely and lasted long, like waves crashing against his reason.

Either find something to fill the void and satisfy this hunger.

Or...

Consumed by hunger, destroying itself!

Zhou He staggered back to the wall.

He was trembling.

Because he looked uncontrollably at the location of the hunchback, and then it was as if he was drawn to it by a magnet.

They couldn't even look away for half a second, and even the will to turn their heads was completely extinguished by wave after wave of hunger.

The reason he restrained himself from heading towards—no, from crawling on the ground toward the hunchback's corpse—can be summed up in just two words.

"fear"!

Fear of the hunger she felt towards the old hunchback.

A person.

Even if you're dead, you shouldn't have anything "edible" on your body!