I bit the chicken's neck and started sucking it in big gulps . A fishy smell hit my nose.
I remember when I accompanied my mother to the vegetable market, what disgusted me the most was the smell of the chicken. Every time I walked by, I would cover my nose.
But at this moment, I was intoxicated and reluctant to leave, just like a person trapped in the desert for several days without water, who suddenly saw a source of water and wanted to drink it in one breath!
"What are you...what are you doing?"
the chef exclaimed, stunned.
Not only him, but everyone around me looked at me like a monster and kept their distance from me.
"Brother Tian, ​​calm down!"
Ma Qiang came over and snatched the cock from me.
"give me back!"
I looked at him angrily and grabbed him by the collar.
However, the moment my hand touched his, a burning sensation was triggered between my fingers.
I suddenly retracted my hand, and at this moment, my consciousness seemed to be clear.
"What did I just do?"
I sat down on the ground and said in a daze.
Ma Qiang came over, patted my shoulder and said, "It's okay, Brother Tian, ​​go wash up and let's leave here."
I went to the bathroom in a daze.
My face in the mirror was covered in blood, and there was a chicken feather stuck on my lips...
At this moment, I suddenly thought of something and understood everything...
I'm turning into a monster!
Just like Lao He back then, transforming little by little!
With unspeakable fear in my heart, I turned on the faucet, rinsed my face vigorously, and poured cold water into my mouth.
However, the smell of blood still could not be dispelled.
The rich feeling still fills my whole body.
When I walked out of the bathroom, everyone looked at me strangely.
"Is this young man mentally ill?"
"I think it's possible. He looked like a lunatic in a mental hospital just now..."
"Stop talking, he's out. Be careful not to let him hear you. It's not illegal for a madman to kill someone."
I heard a lot of people whispering and talking in low voices.
Ma Qiang came over and said, "Brother Tian, ​​let's go quickly."
"Qiangzi, I..."
"Don't say any more. I know what's going on. It must be the corpse poison taking effect."
Ma Qiang seemed quite calm. He told me not to be discouraged and to quickly find her grandmother, saying that maybe she had a way to temporarily suppress my corpse poison.
I tried to calm myself down and nodded.
Now, this is all we can do.
I can't accept myself becoming a blood-sucking monster...
…
Without further ado, after paying the bill, Ma Qiang took me on a bus to the village where his grandmother lived.
This village is located in the mountains of Lincheng. It is called Liujia Village. It cannot be said to be isolated from the world, but it takes a long time to walk in from the city.
After sitting in the car for more than five hours, it was almost dark, but strangely, I didn’t feel hungry at all.
This feeling made me very desperate. It was almost a day, how could a normal person not be hungry?
All I can say is, I'm no longer normal.
The car stopped, and Ma Qiang took me and walked towards the mountains without stopping.
It was already dark at this time. The mountains were covered with towering ancient trees, blocking out the sky and the sun. It was so quiet as if everything was sleeping in the fear of the night. The narrow mountain road was winding. The moon was covered by the surging black clouds, and only a vague dark halo was visible from behind the thick clouds. The wind was shaking the tall treetops, making bursts of huge and slow rustling sounds.
Although Ma Qiang hadn't been back for a long time, he was still very familiar with the roads here. With him leading the way, nothing went wrong along the way.
After walking for about an hour, I could vaguely see a narrow village ahead. It had rows of dark houses and occasionally a few lights flickering inside.
"arrive!"
Ma Qiang's eyes lit up, he let out a long sigh, and walked over quicker.
It can be seen that this boy is exhausted.
I followed him, and we arrived at the village, one in front and one behind.
"I didn't expect that after not coming here for so many years, there haven't been many changes here."
"This is Aunt Liu's house, and this is Uncle Cao's house. Ha, his house actually has a yard, not bad, not bad—Hey, why is Dongmei's well dry?"
Ma Qiang looked around and explained to me excitedly.
I said, since you have such feelings for this place, why don’t you come back earlier?
Ma Qiang's face darkened and he smiled bitterly: "It's not that I don't want to come back, but my grandma won't let me come back."
"Brother Qiang."
A timid girl's voice came from the house next door.
I took a look over there and found that the house was quite dilapidated. It had two floors, and the room on the ground floor was built with stones for nearly 1 meter, with earth walls on top. The stones had turned a little black, and the earth walls were mottled, as if telling of the age. The door of the room seemed to have been smashed open by a stone, with a big hole in it.
"Qiangzi, there's a girl calling you."
I said.
Ma Qiang didn't even turn his head and said with a sullen face: "No, Brother Tian, ​​you heard it wrong."
"Brother Qiang."
The voice appeared again, with a hint of resentment.
I looked at the dilapidated house again.
It was pitch black inside and I couldn't see anything, let alone any girl.
"Don't look, go!"
Ma Qiang said hurriedly, as if he was afraid of something, and quickened his pace.
I was confused, but didn't ask any more questions and quickly followed him.
After walking about two hundred meters, Ma Qiang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
I noticed that the boy's face was covered with cold sweat and his facial muscles were trembling, as if he was frightened.
I asked Ma Qiang, what happened in that room just now? Was someone looking for you?
"No, Brother Tian, ​​you must have heard it wrong." Ma Qiang forced a smile and said.
"Bullshit! I'm not deaf!" I snorted and said, "Qiangzi, tell me the truth, did you let down some girl? Okay, I understand. You don't dare to go back to the village because you are afraid of seeing this girl, right?"
"Brother Tian, ​​I really admire you. You have such a rich imagination." Ma Qiang said with a wry smile.
"Don't change the subject. Just tell me whether I'm right or not?" I said impatiently.
"Yes, but that's not right... Anyway, I'll tell you about this later. Hey, we're here at my grandma's house." Ma Qiang said, pointing ahead.
In front of us is a house that looks to be of a good size.
It has two floors, both with air conditioning. It looks like it is made of rosewood. The house is finely carved and you can smell the fragrance of the rosewood when you get closer.
It seems that Ma Qiang's grandmother really has a high status in the village.
Ma Qiang walked over and knocked on the door.
Not long after, the door opened. It was opened by a middle-aged woman.
"Hadron?"
When the middle-aged woman saw Ma Qiang, her eyes widened in shock.
"Second aunt, I'm back."
Ma Qiang smiled.
"You... why are you back now?" Second Aunt asked in surprise and looked at me again.
"I have something to talk to my grandma about... This is Brother Yong, the brother I met outside." Ma Qiang said with a smile.
Second Aunt frowned and said, "Another one from society?"
"Of course not. I met him in the hospital. Second aunt, what are you thinking? He is a college student." Ma Qiang said speechlessly.
When Second Aunt heard the word "college student", the way she looked at me suddenly changed.
My face was burning with anger, and I thought to myself that I was just a useless loser who was just waiting to die in a junior college, a worthless college student.
"Han Guo, come out quickly and see who's here." Second Aunt shouted into the house.
A skinny, honest-looking middle-aged man in a white vest came out. When he saw Ma Qiang, he was immediately surprised: "Qiangzi, why are you back?"
"Why do you always ask this question? Of course you have something to do when you come back." Ma Qiang said with a wry smile.
Then, he introduced me to his uncle and finally asked, "Second aunt, where is my grandma?"
Hearing this, my second aunt and second uncle's faces suddenly turned ugly.
Ma Qiang panicked and said in a trembling voice: "She, could it be that..."
"No, no, she is alive and well and in very good health." My second uncle said quickly.
“Why are you still looking like that?” Ma Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Is she really at home? I really have something to talk to her about!”
Second Aunt hesitated for a moment and said, "She's not at home."
"Then where did she go? Tell me." Ma Qiang was anxious.
"Forget it, just tell him." Second uncle sighed and said.
The second aunt nodded and said, "Your grandmother, she went to do something bad."
Hearing this, Ma Qiang was stunned.
Did you do something bad?
Second aunt said that recently many unidentified people came to the mountains and stayed in a dilapidated house. No one knew what they were doing... They stayed up all night, shouting, singing, and talking.
Many young people in the village were talking about this gang, saying that they were doing something illegal. Some villagers called the police, but when they went to arrest them, they seemed to have known about it in advance and escaped without leaving a trace.
However, after a few days, these people appeared again and continued to gather in the small house.
Second Aunt said that apart from a few familiar faces, there were new faces in most cases, and no one knew what they were doing - however, everyone was guessing that they were probably gambling.
Ma Qiang said: "What does this have to do with my grandma?"
"Your grandma has been running to that house frequently recently and not coming home all night long. No matter how we try to persuade her, it's useless... Alas, I think she is probably trapped in it." Second Aunt said helplessly.
"Impossible!" Ma Qiang shook his head and said, "My grandma knows nothing about mahjong, let alone chess, cards, and mahjong. How could she gamble?"
"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself," said the second aunt.
Ma Qiang said: "Okay, tell me where the house is and I'll go take a look."
After learning the location, Ma Qiang and I set off together.
Along the way, Ma Qiang frowned and muttered to himself, "It's impossible, my grandma is not that kind of person," "There must be some misunderstanding, it must be."
I remained silent, thinking that Ma Qiang seemed to trust her grandmother quite a bit... But when it comes to gambling, it's hard to say. It's fine if you don't get involved, but once you do, many people with pure minds will fall into an irretrievable situation.
After walking for a while, we saw from a distance an earthen house on the hillside with lights on inside.
I looked around. This place was overgrown with weeds and uninhabited. It was very desolate. I was afraid that even if I killed someone, no one would know. I could just throw the body off the cliff and it would be eaten by wild beasts until nothing would be left but bones in a few days.
"Brother Tian, ​​I'll knock on the door later. If they do anything unusual, we'll kill them!"
Ma Qiang said to me.
I nodded and said, "Okay."
Ma Qiang picked up a brick from the ground and approached the house.
The house was quite big, about 100 square meters, but its exterior structure was very dilapidated, almost like a masonry house. There was only a simple shed on the roof, and most of the windows were cracked and blocked with something like transparent tape. The walls were cracked and mottled, as if they would crack if touched lightly. It was a typical dangerous house.
I also followed Ma Qiang.
Through the door, a woman's voice was heard: "Now, let's give a warm round of applause to invite Teacher Cai to the stage to share his success story."
Successful experience?
What the hell?
Do you need to share your success stories in gambling?
Ma Qiang and I looked at each other .
Ma Qiang took a deep breath and was about to knock on the door.
Just at this moment, the door creaked open.
A middle-aged woman in a bright red coat was standing at the door. She was not surprised to see Ma Qiang and I. Instead, she frowned and said, " Why are you late? Come in quickly. Teacher Cai's sharing has already started."
I asked her, what to share?
"Of course, I want to share my experience on how to be successful and how to earn a million dollars a month. Is that even a question?"
The woman rolled her eyes at me, as if she thought I was asking a question that already knew the answer, and urged Ma Qiang and I to go in quickly.
I looked at Ma Qiang and he nodded at me. I guess he also wanted to know what the hell was going on here.
After entering, the scene inside surprised me greatly.
There were no dazzling array of gambling tables, nor were there any cards, mahjong, dice or other things - everywhere was filled with people of all ages. On a simple stage in the front, a middle-aged man in his 50s was speaking into a microphone.
The middle-aged man was wearing a tie, a suit and leather shoes, and his hair was combed slickly. When he saw Ma Qiang and I come in, he smiled and nodded at us.
"grandmother!"
Ma Qiang suddenly exclaimed and walked up to one of the old ladies.
The old lady was thin and had a head full of white hair. She was probably in her seventies. She was taking notes in a small notebook. She was a little surprised when she saw Ma Qiang, but her face soon darkened and she said, "How dare you come back to the village? Get out! Get out right now!"
"I……"
Ma Qiang looked at a loss, not knowing what to do.
"Mrs. Chen, is this your grandson?"
The middle-aged man on the stage walked over with a smile on his face.
The old lady said respectfully, "Yes, Teacher Cai."
"Since he's here, let him listen to my speech... Don't worry, I won't charge him any money." The middle-aged man said kindly.
The old lady showed a look of surprise on her face and said, "Really, Teacher Cai, my grandson can also attend classes here?"
"Of course." Teacher Cai nodded with a smile.
Ma Qiang glanced at Teacher Cai and asked impatiently, "Who are you?"
"My surname is Cai, and my given name is Song. You can just call me Teacher Cai." Teacher Cai patted Ma Qiang on the shoulder.
Ma Qiang pushed Teacher Cai's hand away, sneered, and said, "Don't give me that. I have never called anyone teacher since I was a child!"
"Qiangzi, don't be so presumptuous!"
The old lady shouted angrily, "What is Mr. Cai's status? You are so lucky to be able to attend the class here, and you don't know how to be grateful?"
After saying that, she quickly apologized to Teacher Cai.
Teacher Cai waved his hand and smiled generously, "It's okay. Young people are understandably impulsive. Although when I was his age, I was already a multi-millionaire, but everyone's destiny is different and cannot be forced. But young man, you must believe that destiny can be changed! Especially if you follow me, you will definitely make a lot of money!"
After he said this, there was a burst of applause from the audience!
Ma Qiang was so angry that his mouth was crooked. He said, "Stop fooling people here. You think I can't tell that you are wearing fake Armani?"
Snapped!
Before Teacher Cai could speak, the old lady stood up and slapped Ma Qiang in the face: "Qiangzi, if you are so rude to Teacher Cai again, don't recognize me anymore!"
"Grandma..." Ma Qiang looked aggrieved.
"Listen to the class carefully." The old lady snorted.
Teacher Cai asked the middle-aged woman to get two stools for us so that we could sit among the crowd.
Ma Qiang looked unconvinced and glared at Teacher Cai fiercely, as if he wanted to rush up and bite him.
I patted his shoulder and whispered, "Qiangzi, don't be impulsive. Let's see what's going on here first."
Ma Qiang let out a breath and nodded.
I glanced at the crowd next to me and found that they were generally older, most of them were over 50 years old. There were only three young people in their twenties, one woman and two men, who were sitting on small benches, looking at the podium intently.
The two young men sitting next to her whispered something to her, and I vaguely heard words like "Work hard and don't always think about escaping", "Work harder and you will have the chance to make a lot of money", and "We are all a family, you have to integrate and don't betray" and so on.
I frowned, probably having guessed where this place was.
Also, the girl behind me seems familiar. I seem to have seen her somewhere, but I can’t remember where.
At this time, I heard the old lady whisper to Ma Qiang: "Qiangzi, have you figured it out after coming back this time?"
"I...I still need to think about it." Ma Qiang said with embarrassment.
The old lady snorted, looked at me and said, "He is your friend?"
"Yes, he is my brother too." said Ma Qiang.
"Haha, Qiangzi, you are really getting better and better. In the past, you took a thief as your brother - now, you have taken a corpse as your brother!"
The old lady sneered, her eyes as sharp as a knife, and stared at me.