Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Ji Feifan crouched at the corner of the service area, staring at the half-open door. It was pitch-black inside, impossible to make out anything, but the stench of rot and blood drifted through the gap.
There shouldn’t be any Madmen inside. He had been watching the place for almost two days and had tested it in every way he could think of. Besides, if he didn’t go in and find something to eat soon, he wouldn’t make it through the night.
It had been five days since he’d fallen off the bridge.
He had followed the river, walking until he couldn’t, crawling until he couldn’t, then resting before forcing himself onward again. When hunger struck, he ate bugs and stuffed anything remotely edible into his mouth. When he was thirsty, he drank from the river.
He kept telling himself that as long as he stayed alive, there was still a chance.
Now, standing outside the service area, his hands shook. His legs shook. His entire body trembled. His empty stomach burned like it was on fire, and his vision kept going black from hunger.
He had to go in.
Ji Feifan took a deep breath and braced himself against the wall, inching toward the entrance. When he reached the door, he poked his head inside and took a quick look. Nothing seemed out of place. Gritting his teeth, he stepped through.
His only weapon was a steel pipe he’d found. With every step, he strained to hear any movement from within.
There was none.
He ventured farther inside. Once his eyes adjusted, he could just barely make out the utter chaos around him. Corpses littered the floor, along with scattered food wrappers.
He bent down to pick one up, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure.
Bang!
The door was kicked shut.
Ji Feifan whipped around. Three deathly pale faces blocked the doorway. Crimson eyes stared straight at him, mouths stretched into grins that nearly reached their ears as drool ran down their chins.
“Hee-hee…”
“Meat…”
“You’re finally here…”
They lunged at him.
Fuck!
Ji Feifan spun around and ran deeper into the service area. The footsteps behind him drew closer and closer, while those laughs seemed to ring right beside his ears, driving him mad. These Madmen must have known he was nearby all along. How the hell had they managed to hold back for so long?!
He ran into a large hall and found himself trapped.
Shelves surrounded him on every side, some toppled over and others leaning crookedly, but there was no exit. When he turned back, the three Madmen were already blocking the doorway, advancing on him one slow step at a time.
“Run…”
“Go on, run…”
“It was… so hard to hold back…”
Ji Feifan’s head spun, and his mind nearly stopped working. He backed away until he slammed into a shelf. There was nowhere left to go.
The three Madmen came to a stop in front of him. They lowered their heads and stared down at him. One reached out and grabbed him by the hair.
Ji Feifan kicked it, but the Madman didn’t let go. Instead, it slammed him even harder against the shelf.
Bang–
The back of his head struck the cold metal rack, and stars exploded across his vision. The other two Madmen pounced at once, clamping their hands around his wrists and ankles.
“Hee-hee… Don’t play too rough… Don’t play too rough…”
Ji Feifan gritted his teeth and struggled with all his might, but he was far too weak. He could only watch helplessly as they pinned his limbs in place.
“It was… so hard to hold back…”
He felt three hands exerting force at once. One Madman twisted his arm in the opposite direction, another wrenched his ankles apart, while the third gripped his hair and forced his head toward the floor.
“You fucking mongrels…” The veins in his forehead bulged as he hurled curses at them. “I’ll fuck your whole goddamn family!!”
The Madmen squeezed harder and harder. Ji Feifan’s vision began to blur, and all he could hear was his own ragged breathing and the Madmen’s excited growls. He could feel it with terrifying clarity–he… was going to die.
Then his gaze met a pair of eyes.
A pair of eyes that had appeared out of nowhere.
Then-bang!
With a deafening impact, the hand gripping his hair went slack. An axe had buried itself in the Madman’s body, killing it instantly. It toppled stiffly to the ground.
Ji Feifan jerked his head aside, terrified that blood would drip into his eyes.
Bang! Bang!
The axe fell twice more. Blood sprayed everywhere.
The Madmen were dead.
The dark figure straightened and turned to look at him.
It was a boy of about seventeen.
From where Ji Feifan lay, all he could make out was the boy’s dark jacket and the axe dangling from one hand, blood still dripping from its blade.
The boy studied Ji Feifan, then tilted his head.
Ji Feifan struggled upright and knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. He stared at the boy, at the three corpses sprawled across the floor, and at the blood still flowing from them.
I’m saved.
The thought flashed through his mind.
Someone had saved him.
The boy approached Ji Feifan and crouched down, leaning close until his face was right in front of Ji Feifan’s. Then he sniffed at him like a dog.
Ji Feifan went rigid.
No. Something was wrong. Those eyes… were red.
“What is your name?”
Ji Feifan opened his mouth. “Ji… Ji Feifan.”
The boy said, “You… can… call me… Cat.”
He reached out and hauled Ji Feifan to his feet. His hand was so cold that Ji Feifan shuddered even through his clothes.
“Help me… find someone,” Cat said.
Ji Feifan froze. “W-What?”
Cat stared at him, not a trace of emotion in those hollow eyes. “You find someone. I let you live.”
Ji Feifan’s mind went blank. He stared at the boy before him, his throat suddenly closing up. After what felt like an eternity–though it might have been no more than an instant–he finally answered.
“Okay.”
The corners of Cat’s mouth slowly curled upward. The tip of his tongue brushed lightly over his teeth as he uttered two words.
“Little Dog.”
It crouched beside the three Madmen’s corpses and sank its teeth into them.
Ji Feifan tried to edge away, but no matter which corner he moved toward, Cat’s gaze clung to him like a spiderweb, never leaving him for even a second.
“Little Dog, do not… seek death.” The blood-red maw revealed whenever it spoke was a warning meant for Ji Feifan.
Ji Feifan ground his teeth and swallowed every last shred of fear and resentment.
He bent down, scooped up the snacks scattered across the floor, tore open the packages, and stuffed the food into his mouth. Cookie crumbs mixed with cold sweat and stuck to his cheeks, but he had no time to wipe them away. He simply devoured everything he could.
Right now, he wanted nothing except to fill his painfully empty stomach.
At least for the moment, he had survived again.