Chapter 9: Dad, I'm Hungry

"It's also possible that the 'Calamity' was just too weak... and was killed completely with one axe blow," Li Xiuchun suggested another possibility.

Chen Tan didn't answer. He stared at the figure in the pool of blood for a long time before turning to pull a kitchen knife from the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"Cutting open his chest to see if the heart is still there," Chen Tan said hoarsely. "At least I need to know... whether I killed a monster or the redemption God gave us."

He knelt halfway beside Chen Ling's corpse and struggled to slice open the chest with the blade. Li Xiuchun, standing to the side, turned pale, spun around, and rushed into the kitchen, retching violently.

A few minutes later, Chen Tan slowly stood up.

"How is it?" Li Xiuchun asked.

"It's empty," Chen Tan said, looking at the hollow chest cavity, feeling a sense of relief. "He has 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?"

"Let's hide it in the cellar... There are enforcers everywhere outside, we can't get it out."

Chen Tan pushed aside the corner of the living room table and opened the heavy wooden floorboards, revealing a dark, narrow underground space.

In this era without refrigerators, using the cellar's natural insulation to store food was the best choice. He was about to toss Chen Ling in, but seeing the gruesome wound on his neck, he paused.

"Go get A-Yan's costume," Chen Tan said. "Whatever it is, this is A-Ling's skin... If we can't bury him in a coffin, at least let's dress him in something decent."

At the mention of the costume, Li Xiuchun trembled slightly.

"But last night... he came back wearing that very outfit..."

"It's just a piece of clothing." Chen Tan was about to argue, but remembering the terrifying scene of Chen Ling returning home last night, he didn't insist. "Forget it, let's just leave it."

Chen Tan threw Chen Ling's body into the cellar, covered it with the wooden boards, and pushed the table back on top, finally finishing the task.

Next, Li Xiuchun began to clean up the blood in the room. Although it made her feel nauseous, she pinched her nose and continued.

Knock, knock, knock—

A rapid knocking on the door suddenly rang out.

Li Xiuchun, who was cleaning the room, felt her heart skip a beat and looked back at Chen Tan sharply.

"Someone's here?"

"Ignore them for now. Pretend there's no one home."

Li Xiuchun nodded. The two held their breath in the living room, with only the dull sound of knocking echoing continuously.

But the knocking showed no sign of stopping; instead, it became more forceful. Then, a low voice came from the door:

"Enforcers! Open the door immediately!"

Hearing the word "enforcers," their faces turned pale. Chen Tan hesitated for a moment, gave Li Xiuchun a look, quickly changed his shirt, and walked to the door without even buttoning it properly.

Creak—

The door opened a crack.

Chen Tan stepped out sideways and closed the door behind him. "Officer, is something the matter?"

A light, drizzling rain fell from the gloomy sky. Two figures in black and red uniforms stood outside, their expressions grim.

"We've been knocking for so long, why didn't you open up?"

"I was sleeping, it took a while to get dressed," he said with a sheepish smile.

The two enforcers glanced at his unbuttoned shirt, their expressions relaxing slightly. "Is this Chen Ling's house?"

"...Yes."

"Where is he?"

"He went out this morning and hasn't come back yet."

"When he returns, pass this notice to him," one enforcer said, pulling a document from his coat. "Districts 2 and 3 are under total lockdown. All reserve enforcers who passed the written exam are being temporarily recruited to assemble. He is on the call-up list.

Report to the District 3 Enforcer Headquarters tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM sharp. Failure to appear will be considered an automatic forfeiture of his spot."

Chen Tan's heart skipped a beat, but he took the notice without changing his expression and nodded.

"Alright, I will definitely pass it on."

The two enforcers turned and left. Chen Tan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

He pushed the door open and walked inside.

Scritch—scritch—

As soon as he entered, a harsh metallic scraping sound reached his ears, like someone dragging sharp fingernails across a chalkboard, making Chen Tan’s skin crawl instantly.

At this moment, Li Xiuchun was curled up in the corner, shaking uncontrollably.

Seeing Chen Tan return, she finally lifted her near-broken gaze and slowly pointed a hand toward the kitchen...

There, in the kitchen, a vermilion figure stood with its back to them, head bowed, as if chewing on something.

Seeing that back, Chen Tan's mind went blank!

It was a young man whose neck had been nearly severed, his scarlet flesh healing at a visible rate. He held a kitchen knife in his left hand and a blood-stained axe in his right, stuffing both into his mouth simultaneously...

Seemingly sensing Chen Tan opening the door, the figure in the bright red costume slowly turned around.

It was Chen Ling—the heartless, nearly decapitated Chen Ling.

His cheeks were slightly puffed out, forcefully chewing on the scraps of metal and wood. His dilated pupils looked like those of a beast, eerie and chilling.

"Dad."

A voice came from behind him, "I'm hungry..."

……

Chen Ling had a dream.

It was an afternoon shrouded in dark clouds.

As usual, he had finished working out at the suburban training ground and pushed open the door to his home, drenched in sweat.

It wasn't his birthday, but there was a cream cake on the dining table... The orange candlelight flickered in the dim living room, and two figures sat at the table, their eyes red-rimmed.

A cream cake cost 200 copper coins, an amount their family could absolutely never afford on a normal day.

He was confused and asked what day it was.

His parents told him that today was the day his younger brother, A-Yan, was about to have surgery.

He was happy to hear it. His brother's congenital heart disease had been a nightmare for their family. To cure his brother, his parents and he had traveled everywhere seeking help, but every clinic was helpless.

A few days ago, his parents said they had found a hospital in District 2 and sent his brother there, and they were confident they could cure him.

Hearing this good news, he happily finished the cake, but soon his consciousness began to fade. He slumped onto the table, and the last thing he saw was his mother, Li Xiuchun, covering her mouth and weeping bitterly.

"I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry," he heard his father whisper. "A-Yan's illness needs a heart... You'll be willing, right?"

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to answer something, but finally fell into a coma.

Then, he felt himself being stuffed into a bag. Rain pattered against the surface of the bag, and after a long time, he was finally lifted onto a table.

He felt his chest being cut open, and something taken from it.

Then, he was dressed in a costume and moved through the heavy rain to a certain place. Thick soil gradually submerged his body, and everything around him fell into darkness and silence...

……

In the darkness, Chen Ling's eyes suddenly opened.

Spotlights lit up one after another overhead, illuminating the red-clad figure lying in the center of the stage. After a moment of confusion, Chen Ling braced his hands on the ground and stood up shakily.

"Damn it... how did I come back again?"

Chen Ling's face turned pale. His gaze subconsciously fell on the screen in the center of the stage, and his pupils contracted sharply.

【Audience anticipation value +1】

【Audience anticipation value +1】

【Current anticipation value: 67%】

【Connection to actor lost, performance interrupted】

【Audience anticipation value -50】

【Current anticipation value: 17%】

【Warning! Warning!】

【Audience beginning to intervene in the performance!】