As soon as Jiang Che spoke, the evil spirit in the room stopped what it was doing, and the blood-rusted saw meat knife in its hand dripped blood onto the floor, drop by drop.
"What did you just call us?" The butcher in the kitchen put down the unidentifiable hunk of flesh and, dragging the saw meat knife, walked toward the doorway.
His pants were already soaked with blood, leaving a smeared trail of red as he walked.
The livestream viewers held their breath; some had already switched to other Survivors' streams, unable to keep watching Jiang Che's feed.
[Shit, this idiot!]
[We already know he's insane, but seeing him serve himself up is still hard to take.]
[Even if he's mentally ill, someone in that hospital should've at least taught him the basics, right? If they're going to send him to die, at least let him test out the rules, not just die for nothing.]
...
Ever since this horror descended on reality, the number of lives lost has become countless.
People have stopped sympathizing with anyone; they only think his death wasn't even worthwhile.
The butcher pressed closer to Jiang Che, and even the viewers could hardly bear to watch anymore.
With the thick stench of blood practically suffocating him, Jiang Che just stared seriously into the butcher's eyes.
But the eyes behind the mask were nothing but cruelty and bloodlust.
When he heard the question, Jiang Che was stunned for a moment. Then, unable to help himself, he frowned, "They said my family's in this dungeon. Aren't you my dad?"
The man in front of him reeked of blood and death, but Jiang Che was definitely not the type to be put off by a bad smell.
No matter what his family did for a living, no matter their work, he would always want to be with his family.
Hearing what he said, the butcher actually seemed to be amused by this sudden question; the gaping mouth painted on his mask twisted into a hideous grin.
"Yeah, I'm your old man. C'mon, be a good son and come eat." He let out a low, guttural laugh. He was inviting Jiang Che in to eat, but anyone could hear the mockery cutting through his words.
Jiang Che was disappointed at first; he'd asked, just like every other time, not really expecting much. But when the man admitted it, Jiang Che's eyes turned red and bitter helplessness welled up inside him.
After all these years, he'd finally found his family.
"Look at you, your clothes are all torn. I'll patch them up for you later," the nurse inside put down the skin and flesh she'd been stitching together and addressed Jiang Che with a half-smile, half-sneer.
She waved her fingers—still gripping a scalpel and needle and thread—in the air, while the bodies hanging upside-down beside her showcased their tragic endings.
Jiang Che looked down at the patient's gown he'd been wearing for years—no one had ever cared whether his clothes were good or bad, and it was impossible for the old stains and rips to ever come out.
Moved to tears, Jiang Che nodded heavily.
The butcher, grinning hideously, stepped into the kitchen and shoved his hand into the soup pot, scooping out a pile of strange meat mush to slap onto a plate.
With a sneer, he set the plate on the table, then turned to Jiang Che and waved his saw meat knife.
"Good boy, come eat."
This scene left viewers in the livestream breathless—as if a black hand had wrapped around their throats, squeezing out every bit of air.
[I can barely breathe. Just seeing that… food makes me want to puke.]
[These two evil spirits are absolutely doing this on purpose. They just want to torment and then kill their human victims.]
[Look at that nurse ghost—her entire body is stitched up! She isn't patching clothes; she'll be stitching up people next!]
[I'd rather die than go through this kind of torture!]
[They're clearly treating this mental patient like a plaything.]
...
Jiang Che gazed at them, moved nearly to tears. The place was filthy and bloodstained everywhere, but he didn't mind at all.
He hurried to the table and gently set down his suitcase.
"Dad, Mom, I brought gifts for you this time. I don't know if you'll like them."
As soon as he opened the suitcase, both evil spirits' gazes snapped to his hands, instantly wary, bodies tensed—ready to kill at the slightest provocation.
They were sure he was hiding some kind of fatal weapon inside. But when Jiang Che finally popped it open, he just took out a good bottle of liquor and handed it to the butcher, along with a carton of cigarettes.
The butcher, seeing Jiang Che's expectant gaze, looked momentarily confused.
This kid—is he pretending, or just not afraid at all?
From the moment Jiang Che walked in, they felt not a trace of fear from him. Now, he was even staring up at him, as if desperate for approval.
"…Nice liquor."
The butcher stood silent for a moment, then took the bottle out of Jiang Che's hands.
He twisted off the cap. The strong aroma of spirits instantly mingled with the room's other, much stranger smells—thick, nauseating, and strange.
The butcher glanced at the nurse beside him, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Mom, I got you a gift too." Jiang Che took out a small jewelry box from the case, carefully opened it, and inside glittered a dazzling blue sapphire necklace in his palm.
He'd searched through several rooms in the rich folks' mansion to find that.
"Mom, let me put it on you." Jiang Che went right over, ran behind the nurse ghost, and gently fastened the necklace around her neck, lowering his head to snap the clasp in place.
The two evil spirits stilled, exchanging a puzzled glance.
They could sense it—neither the liquor nor that necklace were any kind of special items that could threaten spirits.
He clipped the necklace on, his eyes pure and clear. The sapphire sparkled, flawless and pure, a stark contrast to the nurse's black-red, filthy uniform.
"It's so beautiful!" Jiang Che said sincerely, oblivious to the increasingly disturbed looks on the two spirits' faces.
The box contained plenty of odds and ends—not just the things he'd taken out, but a few dolls and other objects, all clearly things from the outside world, harmless to evil spirits.
"Alright, let's eat." The nurse ghost twisted her body, sat down at the dining table, and picked a seat.
"Eat." The butcher glanced at the bottle of spirits, then promptly poured it onto the nauseating plate of meat mush.
The already-slimy meat paste quickly turned into an even more revolting soup, the smell now even worse, with a floating layer of greasy scum that could make anyone retch.
When Jiang Che saw his father pour the wine into the food, his eyes reddened, every breath sharp with emotion, and a tidal wave of gratitude washed over him.
He knew some people put wine into dishes to cover up the smell—now his own father was doing the same for him.
Jiang Che certainly noticed the food's disgusting stink,
but at this point, none of it mattered.
The food still stank, the reek not hidden at all, but wasn't Dad making an effort to fix it?
The meals at home were never like this; they must've worried he wouldn't be able to stand the food's stench when he came back.
As long as he had a family, what did a little smell matter?
His parents had done what they could—how could he blame them for not doing better?
Seeing him sniffling, tears nearly flowing, the chat sighed in unison.
[So even he can't hold back now—those tears are pure terror.]
[He's already got nerves of steel. If it were me, I'd never be able to calmly produce gifts and put on a necklace.]
[Sigh… He's not going to last much longer.]
[The evil spirits are just toying with him. He might as well die quickly and get it over with.]
...