Chapter 9: Dad, I'm Hungry
1315 Words
"It could also be that the 'Calamity' was too weak… It died completely with just one axe strike," Li Xiuchun suggested another possibility.
Chen Tan didn’t reply. He stared at the figure lying in the pool of blood for a long time before turning and retrieving a kitchen knife.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to cut open his chest and see if his heart is still there," Chen Tan said hoarsely. "At the very least, I need to know… whether I killed a monster or destroyed the salvation given by God."
He knelt beside Chen Ling’s corpse and struggled to slice open the chest with the blade. Li Xiuchun turned pale at the sight, immediately rushing into the kitchen to vomit violently.
A few minutes later, Chen Tan slowly stood up.
"Well?" Li Xiuchun asked.
"Empty." Chen Tan looked at the hollow chest cavity and seemed to let out a breath of relief. "He had no heart."
"No heart? Then how did he…?"
"I don’t know."
Chen Tan paused. "Whatever it was… it’s dead now."
"What about the body?"
"Hide it in the cellar… The enforcers are everywhere outside. We can’t dispose of it."
Chen Tan dragged the corner of the living room table aside and pried open a thick wooden board on the floor, revealing a dimly lit, narrow underground space.
In this era without refrigerators, cellars were the best option for food storage due to their natural insulation. He was about to throw Chen Ling’s body inside but hesitated when he saw the ghastly, gaping wound on the neck.
"Go get Ah Yan’s opera robe," Chen Tan said. "No matter what it is, this is still Ah Ling’s body… If we can’t give him a proper burial, at least let him wear something decent."
At the mention of that robe, Li Xiuchun trembled slightly.
"But last night… he came home wearing that exact robe…"
"It’s just a piece of clothing," Chen Tan started to argue but stopped when he recalled the chilling scene of Chen Ling returning home. "Forget it, leave it be."
Chen Tan tossed Chen Ling’s corpse into the cellar, sealed the wooden panel, and pushed the table back over it, finally bringing everything to an end.
Li Xiuchun then began scrubbing the bloodstains inside the house. The task made her nauseous, but she pinched her nose and forced herself to continue.
Knock, knock, knock—
A sudden, urgent knocking broke the tense silence.
Li Xiuchun’s heart nearly stopped. She whipped her head toward Chen Tan in alarm.
"Someone’s here?"
"Ignore it. Pretend no one’s home."
She nodded. Both of them held their breath in the living room, but the knocking persisted, growing louder and more forceful.
Then, a deep voice came from the other side of the door:
"Enforcer questioning! Open the door immediately!"
At the word "enforcer," their faces turned ashen. After a brief hesitation, Chen Tan shot Li Xiuchun a glance, quickly changed his clothes, and walked toward the door, not even bothering to button up properly.
Creak—
The door opened slightly.
Chen Tan slipped outside and shut the door behind him. "What can I do for you, officer?"
A light drizzle fell from the gloomy sky. Two figures clad in black and red uniforms stood outside, their expressions somber.
"We’ve been knocking for a while. Why didn’t you answer?"
"I was sleeping. It took me a moment to get dressed," he said with an awkward smile.
The enforcers glanced at his half-buttoned clothes and seemed to relax slightly.
"Is this Chen Ling’s residence?"
"…Yes."
"Where is he?"
"He left this morning and hasn’t returned yet."
"When he gets back, give him this notice." One of the enforcers pulled out a document. "Sectors Two and Three are now under full lockdown. All candidates who passed the written exam for enforcer recruitment are to report immediately. He is on the list.
"He must report to the Sector Three Enforcer Headquarters by 7:00 AM tomorrow. If he doesn’t show up, he forfeits his position."
Chen Tan’s heart skipped a beat, but he maintained his composure, taking the notice with a nod.
"Understood. I’ll make sure he gets it."
The enforcers turned and left. Only then did Chen Tan quietly exhale.
He pushed the door open and stepped back inside.
Screeech—Screeech—
The moment he entered, an ear-piercing metallic scraping sound filled the air, like nails clawing against a chalkboard. It made his scalp tingle.
Li Xiuchun was curled up against the wall, trembling violently.
She saw Chen Tan return, and her near-hysterical eyes finally lifted. With a trembling hand, she pointed toward the kitchen.
In the dim light, a crimson figure stood with its back to them, head lowered, chewing on something.
Chen Tan’s mind went blank at the sight.
The figure was a young man whose neck had been nearly severed. The gaping wound was regenerating at an alarming rate. He held a kitchen knife in one hand and a blood-stained axe in the other, shoving them both into his mouth—
As if sensing Chen Tan’s presence, the figure in the red opera robe slowly turned around.
It was Chen Ling.
Chen Ling, who had no heart.
Chen Ling, who had been nearly beheaded.
His cheeks bulged as he chewed on the metal and wood, his vacant pupils glinting with an eerie, animalistic glow.
"Dad."
A voice whispered from behind the metal shards in his mouth.
"I'm hungry…"
...................................................
Chen Ling had a dream.
It was an afternoon shrouded in dark clouds.
As usual, he had gone to the outskirts to train, sweating profusely by the time he pushed open the front door.
That day wasn’t his birthday, yet a cream cake sat on the dining table… The flickering orange candlelight illuminated the dim room, where two figures sat with reddened eyes.
A cream cake—worth 200 copper coins. Something their family could never afford.
He was confused and asked what the occasion was.
His parents told him it was the day of Ah Yan’s surgery.
He was overjoyed. Ah Yan’s congenital heart disease had been a nightmare haunting their family. His parents and he had desperately searched for a cure, only to be met with helpless shrugs from every clinic.
A few days ago, his parents said they had found a hospital in Sector Two willing to perform the surgery. They were confident Ah Yan could be saved.
Overwhelmed with happiness, he finished the cake. But soon, his consciousness grew hazy, and he slumped over the table. The last thing he saw was his mother, Li Xiuchun, covering her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I’m sorry… I’m so sorry," he heard his father murmur.
"Ah Yan’s illness requires a heart… You’d be willing, wouldn’t you?"
He opened his mouth, as if to answer, but before he could, darkness swallowed him.
Then he felt himself being stuffed into a bag. Raindrops pattered against the fabric.
After what felt like an eternity, he was lifted onto a table.
He felt his chest being cut open. Something was taken from inside him.
Then, someone dressed him in a robe and carried him away in the downpour.
Thick soil covered him, burying his body. Darkness and silence consumed everything…
......................................
In the abyss, Chen Ling’s eyes snapped open.
Overhead, stage lights flickered on, illuminating the crimson figure lying at the center of the stage.
After a moment of disorientation, he braced himself against the floor and shakily stood up.
"Damn it… I’m back here again?"
His pale face turned toward the screen in the middle of the stage. His pupils contracted.
【Audience Expectation +1】
【Audience Expectation +1】
【Current Expectation: 67%】
【Actor connection lost. Performance interrupted.】
【Audience Expectation -50】
【Current Expectation: 17%】
【Warning! Warning!】
【The audience is beginning to interfere with the performance!】
- Writer
